All Star Trek (up through ENT) has great episodes and terrible ones. 11001001 is good example of an interesting concept (which is why we love Star Trek) which is poorly written (which is why some people dislike Star Trek). Overly simplified, ignorant of science, shallow in character, it's so caught up in the gosh-wow of its own concepts that it disregards much of the show's own premise. If this were the only/first Star Trek you ever saw, you would conclude that:
1. The Enterprise pretty much drives itself
2. Supernovas are akin to earthquakes, and happen only for short periods of time -- days, or even minutes -- and then life goes on as before
3. Combadges are powerful enough to talk from one star system to another instantly
4. A pretty face is all it takes to sidetrack a (male) officer from duty.
You might also reasonably wonder how crew members are tracked by their combadges in other episodes when they don't here, and what kind of vetting Star Fleet does for aliens working on their top-of-the-line starships.
Abounding also are the usual TNG weaknesses: the first guess anyone comes up with in a crisis proves to be exactly the right answer; the overweening social psychobabble (even when they're correct, it's superficially so); the characters explaining to each other what they should already know.
The good news is Carolyn McCormick's portrayal of Minuet is nuanced, if necessarily flawed by the script she was given. The Bynar actors are occasionally pretty good -- again, within the script they were given.
There was a lot of idea/concept shoveled in here, mostly haphazardly and incompletely -- and honestly, that is something to be excited about. The actual episode, though, suffers from ham-fisted assertions and flat-out ignorant science. Which is sometimes necessary for the structure of TV drama, but even that is mushy here.
So: is it good? No. Should you still watch it? Why yes, of course. Just know you're going to have a lot of "What the --?" moments.
You might also reasonably wonder how crew members are tracked by their combadges in other episodes when they don't here, and what kind of vetting Star Fleet does for aliens working on their top-of-the-line starships.
Abounding also are the usual TNG weaknesses: the first guess anyone comes up with in a crisis proves to be exactly the right answer; the overweening social psychobabble (even when they're correct, it's superficially so); the characters explaining to each other what they should already know.
The good news is Carolyn McCormick's portrayal of Minuet is nuanced, if necessarily flawed by the script she was given. The Bynar actors are occasionally pretty good -- again, within the script they were given.
There was a lot of idea/concept shoveled in here, mostly haphazardly and incompletely -- and honestly, that is something to be excited about. The actual episode, though, suffers from ham-fisted assertions and flat-out ignorant science. Which is sometimes necessary for the structure of TV drama, but even that is mushy here.
So: is it good? No. Should you still watch it? Why yes, of course. Just know you're going to have a lot of "What the --?" moments.