In "Hide and Q", on the way to bring medical attention to a mining colony that has suffered a mining accident, the Enterprise is waylaid by Q ready to put Riker to a test. After transporting the bridge crew sans Picard down to an unidentified plant and forcing them battle with alien forces dressed up in French Revolutionary garb, Q gives Riker all the powers of the Q to do with whatever he pleases.
Picard warns Riker that humanity is not ready yet for anyone to have so great a power. Riker promises to never use it again after saving the crew of the Enterprise from Q's trap. He lives to regret that when they show up to the mining colony and a girl dies just before Crusher can save her.
In an attempt to appease the crew if the Enterprise, Riker offers to give them all gifts. They all feel unsettled by this. Riker offers Wesley adulthood, skipping all those awkward teenage years. He offers Data the chance to be an actual human. Geordi is offered his vision. Worf is offered a Klingon mate to accompany him in the Enterprise. But all these gifts are rejected by the crew since they just don't feel right. Riker, understanding the error of his ways, asks Q to remove the powers from him and put him back to normal. Q leaves in a huff and the Enterprise continues on unscathed.
The first return of Q! Like a nagging pest, Q won't leave the Enterprise alone here in the first season, always interrupting a mission at the most inopportune time. Here he thinks he's found a weakness in the crew in the form of Riker, someone who can get sucked into temptation (and he's not wrong). But alas, Q underestimates humanity again. One of the crew mentions in this episode how Q can understand time and space so well yet still be so in the dark about how humanity operates. I found that quote interesting if not a but misguided.
All in all, this episode is okay for a Q episode. I liked their time on the planet's surface and the dumb pig soldiers that Q created for them to fight. I typically enjoy little anachronisms like that; I don't know why...
The set is pretty atrocious though. I like the way Riker gifts everyone what he believes to be their greatest desires, only for everyone to reject him. I think there might be a bit TOO much Q in this episode. He's better in smaller doses but he's all over this episode which might be its downfall.
The "game" he sets up for the crew doesn't really make all that much sense. The moral quandary Riker is supposedly dealing with is half-baked at best here and screams of some kind of adapted-for-Q TOS script. I know this show gets better on in later seasons, but sometimes this first one can be a bit of a slog.
Picard warns Riker that humanity is not ready yet for anyone to have so great a power. Riker promises to never use it again after saving the crew of the Enterprise from Q's trap. He lives to regret that when they show up to the mining colony and a girl dies just before Crusher can save her.
In an attempt to appease the crew if the Enterprise, Riker offers to give them all gifts. They all feel unsettled by this. Riker offers Wesley adulthood, skipping all those awkward teenage years. He offers Data the chance to be an actual human. Geordi is offered his vision. Worf is offered a Klingon mate to accompany him in the Enterprise. But all these gifts are rejected by the crew since they just don't feel right. Riker, understanding the error of his ways, asks Q to remove the powers from him and put him back to normal. Q leaves in a huff and the Enterprise continues on unscathed.
The first return of Q! Like a nagging pest, Q won't leave the Enterprise alone here in the first season, always interrupting a mission at the most inopportune time. Here he thinks he's found a weakness in the crew in the form of Riker, someone who can get sucked into temptation (and he's not wrong). But alas, Q underestimates humanity again. One of the crew mentions in this episode how Q can understand time and space so well yet still be so in the dark about how humanity operates. I found that quote interesting if not a but misguided.
All in all, this episode is okay for a Q episode. I liked their time on the planet's surface and the dumb pig soldiers that Q created for them to fight. I typically enjoy little anachronisms like that; I don't know why...
The set is pretty atrocious though. I like the way Riker gifts everyone what he believes to be their greatest desires, only for everyone to reject him. I think there might be a bit TOO much Q in this episode. He's better in smaller doses but he's all over this episode which might be its downfall.
The "game" he sets up for the crew doesn't really make all that much sense. The moral quandary Riker is supposedly dealing with is half-baked at best here and screams of some kind of adapted-for-Q TOS script. I know this show gets better on in later seasons, but sometimes this first one can be a bit of a slog.