TNG - A Matter of Honor

[MerelyAFan]

https://sfdebris.com/videos/startrek/t134.php

While it indulges in the space Viking elements a bit too much for my taste, it does do an effective job of fleshing out the TNG era Klingons and far more effectively than if the episode had been made in Season 1 I suspect.

[CrypticMirror]

Ah, the Benzite approach is the same as the worst managers. "Don't bring me a problem unless you're bringing me a solution". It goes as well here as it does in reality. Just because you don't know how to fix it, doesn't mean it doesn't need fixing.

This episode is basically the reason everyone loves TNG era Klingons, and there would be [and still is] calls to have a Trek show set exclusively on a Klingon ship. Not sure I agree, but the occasional episode one on wouldn't be so bad. As long as it is the TNG version. Well, maybe the TOS version would be interesting, but only TOS flavour [maybe minus the brownface] and TNG era flavour.

A five out of ten is fair, it is typical TNG stuff. A five is not a bad score, for TNG, because it says this is average of the show. It can be a good episode, and still a five, because TNG was a good show overall.

Just as an aside, did anyone else have a problem with sound levels between the clips and Chuck's analysis or is it just my end?

[FaxModem1]

I have to disagree with Chuck on the Klingon food.


youtu.be/HoOfjGqo5EY

Add some soy sauce and I'd dig right in next to Riker

.

[Mabus]

The Benzite approach is something done by terrible company rules and Soviet-style dictatorships.
The result is always the guy who found the problem refuses to report it and does everything to hide it so he doesn't get in trouble, and since said problem did not originate with the guy who found the problem, since, well, he only found out the problem, it means that it's a result of the one before that hid it.
And this mentality always results in the management/leadership using the guy who identified the problem as scapegoat, so avoid admitting that there's a problem (or more), since when the general attitude is that everything is going well, that means that there can't be an unforseen problem since any problem would have been solved already, so this is clearly something intentional (conspiracy or sabotage). Not to mention presenting a problem and no solution to it, results in said management barking that "now we have to waste resources to solve the problem, wasn't it better when there was no problem to begin with?".
My theory is that the Benzanite government suffered some political change not long ago and was replaced with a corrupt incompetent leadership whose attitude is beginning the influence in the civilian population. I say this because there's no way any civilization could ever achieve FTL space travel with such a Soviet attitude, even the Soviets didn't go that far in space in the long run.

Just as an aside, did anyone else have a problem with sound levels between the clips and Chuck's analysis or is it just my end?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed this, for a long time I thought it was due to my crappy computer and browser. I had to tune up the sound to the maximum to properly hear anything, and if there's someone talking near me I can't hear a damn thing. Does Chuck keep the sound volume low to his reviews to avoid bots or is it something else?

[cloudkitt]

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[cloudkitt]

I've always loved this episode, and is in the running for my favorite Riker episode. As much as the Klingon captain is a dense moron, I did always really like the exchange about Riker's oaths being in conflict. And Chucks observations about the contrast between the mess hall scene and Menden on the Enterprise is something I hadn't even really thought about before.

I'd have scored it a bit higher myself, but as Cryptic observed, a 5 on a good show is a good score And is especially high in the context of seasons 1 and 2, lol

[Fianna]

I think what they were going for with the Benzite approach is that, if you discover a problem, you shouldn't try to pass responsibility for it to someone else, but endeavor to fix it yourself on behalf of everyone. Which isn't necessarily a bad approach, it just ignores that a) the person who discovers a problem isn't necessarily the one best equipped to solve it, and b) it creates an incentive for pretending you never discovered the problem in the first place.

[DanteC]

What I don't see is how the Benzite idea of seeing a problem, but not doing anything about it till they've got a solution, wouldn't have been drilled out of them when they hit Starfleet Academy? Surely by then, everyone would know the established protocol inside and out, as well as why a process is done the way it's done? Hell, they even cover that mentality in an episode of Voyager (Learning Curve as I remember). Starfleet might not strictly be a military system, but I'd want my fellow crewmates to be competent enough to ask how high to jump if Picard etc orders them to, but also point out just how impractical it would be in those season 2 uniforms.

Also, it's also a tragically stupid example of how to do things. If there's a problem, then someone needs to be notified of it, regardless of what the problem is. He should have reported it to Worf, who then could inform Picard, Data etc, if he'd deemed it necessary, which it would be, since Worf would know he couldn't either eat it or kill it. And that's just an example of a small-scale problem (relatively speaking). If the Borg turned up and the Benzite saw a cyborg gimp stumbling after him, there is no immediate solution, other than run away.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Really the only thing that TNG lost after season 2 was consistency in compelling Riker plots.

[MerelyAFan]

Really the only thing that TNG lost after season 2 was consistency in compelling Riker plots.

As Mike and Rich from Red Letter Media point out, Riker after season 3 basically existed to ask the questions that the scientific officers could then answer.