HERO WORSHIP


The observant among you will recall that I had "nothing good to say" about
the last new episode, "New Ground".  I really have nothing much of anything
to say about the latest episode, "Hero Worship".  So, I will now proceed to
say nothing about it in a couple of dozen lines.

The episode reminded me, in a roundabout way, of "In Theory".  To be sure, it
wasn't nearly the atrocity that THAT episode was.  It did, I think, spend a
lot of time focusing on things about Data that we already knew (i.e., he's
an android), plus bringing back a couple of the things I DIDN'T like, and
with which I disagree, about his character, such as that he has no emotions.
(I frankly find it much more interesting to see Data stumbling around trying
to describe a "feeling" when he doesn't have the words - as in "Legacy" -
than this heavy-handed "DATA IS A MACHINE" garbage.)

I didn't find the kid as annoying as some of my esteemed viewing colleagues
did Saturday night (indeed, I don't think I found him any more annoying than
the writers intended me to find him), but he didn't really seem to add much to 
the show.  His imitation of Data was a nice gimmick, but the novelty wore off
pretty quickly, and there wasn't really much else to the characterization in
the episode than that.  We all knew what was going to happen in the long run,
and the episode gave us precisely that, no more.

I was quite intrigued by the prospect of an alien vessel out there laying
in wait for ships to enter the cluster.  (Why would they do so?  Who are they?)
Alas, the episode proved to be a disappointment in that respect.  The
revelation that the science vessel was destroyed by a natural phenomenon
(more or less) was pure anticlimax.  There was nothing of interest here.

The music rose briefly out of its usual coma when Data lay the boy down on
the couch to sleep.  A nice little wind part (pipes?) there, just before the
cut (or maybe fade-out).

Overall, I think the word that best sums up this episode is "irrelevant".  It
wasn't BAD, really, but it really contibuted little to my week.  It was
more frustrating than enjoyable, the tantalizing prospect of some new
threat with unknown motive finally yanked away and replaced with something
entirely ho-hum.  Pedestrian ideas, pedestrian execution.  A few points
off for the handling of Data.

Grade: C-

SEASON FIVE AT A GLANCE:
Redemption II: B-
Darmok: A+
Ensign Ro: C
Silicon Avatar: C-
Disaster: B-
The Game: B-
Unification I: C
Unification II: D+
A Matter Of Time: B-
New Ground:  F
Hero Worship: C-
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Total Points: 23 2/3
Season Average: 2.152  ( C )
(Fall of 0.048 from previous episode.)