Best of Both Worlds, Part II

[Takara_Soong 4]

Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Season: 4

Episode #:1

Production #: 175

Episode Name: Best of Both Worlds, Part II

Original Air Date: 09.24.90

 

Review not yet available.

 

Cast:

 

Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard

Jonathan Frakes as William Thomas Riker

Brent Spiner as Data

LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge

Michael Dorn as Worf

Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher

Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi

Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher

 

Guest Cast:

 

Elizabeth Dennehy as Lt. Commander Shelby

George Murdock as Admiral J.P. Hanson

Colm Meaney as Miles O'Brien

Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan

 

Director: Cliff Bole

Written By: Michael Piller

 

Related Items:

emergency transporter armbands

shuttle escape transporter

Defense ships, Mars

Kyushu, U.S.S.

Lalo, U.S.S.

Shuttlecraft, Enterprise-D various

Buran, U.S.S.

Princeton, U.S.S.

Rigel-class starship

Earth

Borg

[HRH The KING 0]

As the first part was, this episode was wonderful.

 

The best TNG episode of them all.

 

I would however have liked to see the actual Battle Of Wolf 359, but aside from that, this was Star Trek of the highest quality.

 

Gold Standard.

 

Rating = 5

[GhostofMajorHayes 10]

Yeah, i gotta agree that this was worthy of a 5. Great ending and our Capitan is rescued from cybernetic limbo. Some real good moments and suspense make this one better than part 1 imo.

[youbroughtheryouRiker 2]

A 5, but I thought Part I was better. The idea of putting the collective to sleep seemed like a cheap way out, but again, go with the less expected option... and a lesser function that could be more easily accessed. They could have blown up the cube once they were asleep, but either way, a good ending.

[ussvwbeetle 0]

This is the greatest episode of TNG. Awesome acting and suspense. An easy 5

[trekz 7]

A great episode. A 5! Some quotes and trivia from Memory Alpha:

 

Memorable Quotes

"The Borg have neither honor nor courage. That is our greatest advantage." - Worf

 

"We would like time to prepare our people for assimilation."

"Preparation is irrelevant. Your people will be assimilated as easily as Picard has been. Your attempt at a delay will not be successful, Number One. We will proceed to Earth. And if you attempt to intervene, we will destroy you."

"Then take your best shot, Locutus, because we are about to intervene." - Riker and Locutus

 

"What would you have done?" - Riker addressing Picard's empty chair in the ready room

 

"You must let him go, Riker. It's the only way to beat him. The only way to save him." - Guinan

 

"Worf, Klingon species - a warrior race. You too will be assimilated."

"The Klingon Empire will never yield!"

"Why do you resist? We only wish to raise quality of life for all species."

"I like my 'species' the way it is!"

"A narrow vision. You will become one with the Borg. You will all become one with the Borg."

- Locutus of Borg and Worf

 

"The knowledge and experience of the human, Picard, is part of us now. It has prepared us for all possible courses of action. Your resistance is hopeless, Number One." - Locutus of Borg

 

"Discussion is irrelevant. There are no terms. You will disarm all weapons and escort us to sector zero-zero-one where we will begin the assimilation of your culture and technology." - Locutus

 

"What do you remember?"

"Everything... including some brilliantly unorthodox tactics by a former first officer of mine."

- Riker and the newly-restored Picard

 

Background Information

Prior to the taping of "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II", LeVar Burton had surgery and his scenes were carefully edited from stock footage. Several of his major lines were rewritten for Colm Meaney, which is why Chief O'Brien was one of the main characters working to restore Captain Picard.

 

Piller himself did not expect to return to TNG and therefore found himself working on the final details of the plot just days before filming began - more specifically, using the Borg's interdependency against them. (ST:TNG Companion)

 

Wolf 359 itself is the real-life third-closest system to Sol after the Alpha Centauri system and Barnard's Star, 7.6 light years away. In the Star Trek universe, it would be a 36 hour trip at warp 9.

 

Sets

While the episodes took place roughly within the same few days, production of "The Best of Both Worlds" and Part II were actually separated by the summer hiatus, during which time subtle changes were made to sets and costumes. Thus, when the second episode begins, minute details seem to have miraculously changed in the blink of an eye – most noticeably different are the lighting on the main bridge and Beverly Crusher's hair and uniform.

 

Additionally, the blue tinge to the transporter "shimmer" effect has gone, leaving a white/silver color and smaller more refined "particles".

 

In order to show Picard being turned ghostly white by the Borg probe, the color scheme was turned off, making the film black and white. Picard's upper garment and mechanical implants are all black in order to disguise the loss of color in the picture. The beam, probe, and probe light are later edited to make their color seem to remain constant.

 

This is the last TNG episode to feature the saucer separation sequence and the Enterprise battle bridge (heavily remodeled since its last appearance in Season One's "The Arsenal of Freedom").

 

Firsts

This episode (and its predecessor) was the first in Trek to use the navigational deflector in such a way, a trend that would go on to become a staple of later episodes including "The Loss", "Night Terrors", "The Nth Degree", "A Matter of Time", "All Good Things...", several episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Voyager and even Enterprise's Season 3 finale "Zero Hour".

 

Models

As the Enterprise travels through the aftermath of the battle at Wolf 359, several of the destroyed ships are actually Enterprise concept models built for the ill-fated Star Trek: Planet of the Titans (not Star Trek: Phase II as so often stated). There are also remnants of the "destroyed" refitted Enterprise from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, as well as several new "kit-bash" starships including the Cheyenne-class, Challenger-class, Freedom-class, Niagara-class, New Orleans-class, and Nebula-class. The latter would go on to appear as a fully-realized design in "The Wounded" later in the season.

 

The shots of the saucer section and the stardrive section mark the last time new footage of the six-foot Enterprise model would be shot until Star Trek: Generations. Stock footage of the model was used for the separation sequence itself, and would continue to be used throughout the show's run.

 

The Mars Defense Perimeter ships, seen as the Borg ship approaches Mars, were based on the submarine model used in The Hunt For Red October, dubbed by the staff the "Blue-gray October".

 

Links to/from other episodes and series

While the Battle of Wolf 359 would go unseen (except for its aftermath) due to budgetary reasons, portions of the battle were recreated two and a half years later for the DS9 pilot "Emissary".

 

In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine pilot episode, "Emissary", the USS Saratoga was lost at the battle at Wolf 359, as Benjamin Sisko escaped with his son but lost his wife.

 

In a later episode, "The Drumhead", Admiral Norah Satie would state the loss at Wolf 359 as 39 starships and nearly 11,000 lives, while Shelby had said the fleet would be back up in "less than a year"; Starfleet would continue to prove shorthanded all the way through Season 5's "Redemption II".

 

Worf and Miles O'Brien recall the events of this episode in Deep Space Nine's own fourth season premiere, "The Way of the Warrior". O'Brien tells Worf that he thought that they would all end up assimilated like Picard.

 

At the end of the episode, a conversation is held between Shelby and Riker about the future careers of both officers with Shelby stating that Riker could soon have his choice of any ship in the fleet to Captain. Riker would not in fact become a Captain for nearly a decade later, in Star Trek Nemesis. Shelby however is referenced as a Captain in DS9: "You Are Cordially Invited" meaning that she became a Captain before Riker did.

 

While not technically a sequel to this episode, the following episode to air, "Family", dealt with the repercussions of the events seen here, including the repairs to the Enterprise and Picard's personal trauma; though, as seen in First Contact, Picard would never fully recover.

 

Reaction

While several sci-fi publications have voted "The Best of Both Worlds" Star Trek's finest and even in some cases one of science-fiction television's finest pieces, writer Michael Piller and director Cliff Bole have both stated that they felt Part II was a letdown after the strong build up of Part I. (ST:TNG Companion)

Awards and honors

 

This episode won two Emmy Awards. Only four other episodes of Trek have won this many. It was nominated for four, a distinction it shares with only three other episodes. It won for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series and was also nominated for Outstanding Art Direction for a Series and Outstanding Achievement in Special Visual Effects.

This episode was featured in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Viewers Choice Marathon.

Edited January 18, 2008 by trekz

[SeeingEyeBorg 0]

 

Reaction

While several sci-fi publications have voted "The Best of Both Worlds" Star Trek's finest and even in some cases one of science-fiction television's finest pieces, writer Michael Piller and director Cliff Bole have both stated that they felt Part II was a letdown after the strong build up of Part I.

 

I hear that. "Put them to sleep?" :) C'mon. *snort* The Best of Both Worlds was just an excuse to have a kick-*buttocks* season finale...you know, insurance to make sure we came back for more.

 

Like we'd really need additional motivation to keep watching TNG.