Weekend Trek “Remember Me”

A good episode of an ensemble show will generally give spotlight episodes to different characters of the main cast.  A very good episode will craft that episode so that it could be something that theoretically would only work with that character.  Is that the case with the TNG episode “Remember Me”?

Jimmy and Tom discussed that a little bit below.

“Remember Me”

People are disappearing off the ship like they never existed, and only Dr. Crusher can remember them!

tomk:

https://youtu.be/AYURxfaTdpY

jimmy:  I think my favorite part is right at the end.  Wesley collapses not two feet away from Picard, who then essentially leap frogs over Wesley to make sure Beverly is all right.

tomk:  Stupid Wesley and his stupid experiments.

jimmy:  Right?  Haven’t they learned yet?!?!

tomk:  Apparently no.

jimmy:  And Wesley can phase out of existence.  That’s special.

Though Picard didn’t seem too concerned.

tomk:  Eh, the kid keeps coming back.

jimmy:  So does that Traveler guy.

tomk:  Yeah, but he’s just a sightseer.

At least it was Beverly trapped in a shrinking universe. She’s something of a science nerd herself, so she might have the best chance of figuring out what’s happening.

jimmy:  Medical degree…shrinking universe…yeah, she should have no trouble.

tomk:  Where do you think Wes got it from?

Besides, she knew what questions to ask the computer when the time was right. Can’t see Troi or Worf doing that.

jimmy:  Worf maybe.

tomk:  WORF:  Computer, find my missing crewmates or I will disembowel you.

jimmy:  Could be surprisingly effective.

tomk:  So could mixing fig newtons with your GAGH! but I don’t think you’ll be eating any of it anytime soon.

jimmy:  Certainly not.

tomk:  Alright, so how did this episode work out for you?  Were you wondering why Wes was one of the last to go poof?

jimmy:  I was going to ask if you thought there was any significance to the order in which people disappeared?  If driven purely by Beverly’s psyche you’d think Wes would be last and not Picard.

tomk:  Picard seemed very…accommodating in that void.  I mean, I remembered this episode, and watching it this time, I was struck by how much Picard was willing to help Beverly in the fake universe.

jimmy:  Well, it’s not really Picard.  It’s a Beverly interpretation of Picard.  Everyone seemed pretty cool and accommodating to be honest.  Outside of the death stare Riker gives her at one point.

tomk:  Fake Worf gives her a very skeptical look when she calls him about her missing friend.

jimmy:  Skeptical but not daggers.  And no one seems in a rush to lock her away for medical examination…not that there was anyone left to do so.  Most people weren’t behaving logically anyway.  Especially near and at the end when they had like almost no one, and then just Picard and Beverly on the whole ship…and that was treated as normal.

tomk:  Good thing Worf didn’t stare daggers.  Klingons tend to do that with real daggers.

Still, while no one seemed inclined to think Beverly was making things up, but then you’d get annoyed looks from folks like Worf and O’Brien or just Riker’s…death threats.

jimmy:  It was an interesting concept.  Though, if anything, seemed like a “back door pilot” for Wesley’s powers.

tomk:  Oh man, that was the worst Trek spin-off.

jimmy:  Worse than Discovery?

tomk:  Wes was traveling around the universe with ALF, the cyclops from Krull, and Jenny McCarthy doing magical favors for pathetic losers.

jimmy:  So, not worse than Discovery.

tomk:  I haven’t really seen Discovery.  Is it anything like the Discovery Channel?  I mean, the Klingon episode of Naked and Afraid was brutal.

jimmy:  Ryan thinks it is the best Trek ever.  That’s all that needs to be said about that.

tomk:  Must be a musical then.

jimmy:  Don’t tempt them.

tomk:  It’s been done on other shows…

jimmy:  And they were all ridiculous.

tomk:  What if the show was ridiculous to start?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbJ3sbzbNW8

jimmy:  Oy.

tomk:  You have a problem with Neil Patrick Harris’s singing voice?

jimmy:  His voice is fine. The song…

tomk:  There are crazier songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=616WIdWwuLM

jimmy:  O…K…

tomk:  What do you have against the forklift as a weapon?

jimmy: Apparently it makes a great game.

 

tomk:  Point is, there’s a lot of song and dance out there, crazy song and dance, and you know who else apparently likes a lot of song and dance stuff?  Gates McFadden.

jimmy:  Classic.

I do wonder who was sitting around thinking, “you know what we need?  An episode dedicated to Dr. Crusher.”

tomk:  What’s wrong with an episode dedicated to a regular cast member?

jimmy:  Nothing really.  I just don’t find her overly interesting.

tomk:  Man, this void would have been terrible for you. No one left but Boring Bev.

jimmy:  I would have disappeared anyways.

tomk:  That would make the void even duller.

“Well, Ensign Impossible, at least you and Lt. Commander Moosely are here.  You guys are the life of the party and…oh poop!”

jimmy:  I was the life of the party?  Now we know it’s a fictional void.

tomk:  This is Crusher’s idea of a party.  Besides, Captain Jake and the Night Crew would have been the first to go.

jimmy:  What do you think Crusher was going to say to Picard before he vanished?

tomk:  “I have always loved you more than Jack, you sexy French cueball!”

jimmy:  Or something along those lines.

tomk:  Well, knowing how Picard initially reacted to Geordi’s dreaming that Data wasn’t really dead did make me think he was being too accommodating…appropriate for a universe Crusher accidentally created.

jimmy:  Good parallel.  They took off after 2 minutes when Data “died”.

tomk:  They had a schedule. And there was more evidence of screwiness for Data.

jimmy:  And at least Crusher was lost “on the ship” so if they did have a mission, they could carry on with it anyway.

tomk:  Plus, that made the episode less expensive because they could use existing sets.

jimmy:  And pay less extras.

tomk:  They literally disappeared.

jimmy:  Indeed. Saves on the catering bill too.

tomk:  Well, given how you feel about Crusher and her level of interest for you when she isn’t doing stretches with Troi, do you have anything else to add?

jimmy:  I feel like we kind of glossed over the most important happening in this episode: Wesley having some sort if inter dimensional powers.

For all the aliens and supreme beings they run into, rarely does a member of the crew have any outright special abilities.

tomk:  Like seeing when people are lying, sensing emotions when appropriate, being the MVP, massive robotic strength, playing the bone well enough to romance a hologram, or being a French guy with a British accent?

jimmy:  Yeah, besides those.

I guess you could argue that Troi does, but most Trek main characters do not. Odo I guess.

tomk:  You mean besides being Emmissary of the Prophets, girlfriend to a Bajoran holy man who was almost Kai, host to a generations old symbiote, a shapeshifter, a competent Ferengi businessman, and a guy who survived getting crapped on over two different shows?

jimmy:  But none of those are powers. Except the shapeshifting.

tomk:  You try living through everything O’Brien does and ask if he doesn’t have a superpower.

jimmy: 

tomk:  There’s a reason Lower Decks said in the far future, O’Brien is recognized as the greatest hero in Starfleet history.

jimmy:  I’ve never seen it.

tomk:  Trust me then. Would I lie to you?

jimmy:  No?

tomk:  Right. Have a cheeseburger with a side of good poutine.

jimmy:  Nice.

tomk:  Ok, so Wesley has powers. Political powers!

Happy now?

jimmy:  Sure.

I wonder was this setting the stage for his departure or just built upon when needed?

tomk:  Probably both. Or they needed a good plot for a Beverly episode.

jimmy:  It was a decent plot, but not much of a mystery. Which didn’t matter much since they revealed what was going on like half way through.

tomk:  And it really could have been anyone in that void.

Even you.

Well, maybe it’s time we looked into another family member of a crewman.

jimmy:  Worf’s Komono dragon?

tomk:  Um, not really.

jimmy:  Geordi’s holographic wife?

tomk:  Not this time.

jimmy:  This game is tough.

tomk:  Why not watch the episode and find out?

jimmy:  That I can do!

tomk:  In that case, we need to go to a very nasty place with Data.

Next:  “Legacy”