TNG Re-Watch: Hide And Q

Alright, honestly we're at episode ten and still in the vast expanse of "Episodes That Could've Been Written For The Original Series" and, really, that's not the worst thing ever. It just means that Next Gen hasn't found its own voice yet. But, here in Hide And Q we're starting to see hints at what the show would become.

SitRep: Picard and crew are on their way to a super important rescue mission when Q shows up and makes them fight a bunch of pig guys in revolutionary war outfits (btw-is it not jarring when Data can't even describe their "ugliness" and offers to put it in a report?) in order to test whether Riker will hold out when given the choice between being regular old Riker the human or godlike Riker the Q. This is Star Trek so we know what happens. Riker--though tempted--eventually resists the temptation and they go along their merry way (after Riker gets a good scolding from Picard) as if nothing has happened.

Again, this episode just doesn't reach the heights that later season stories would but the performances--especially those by DeLancie, Stewart, and Burton are great. In particular, the Shakespearean exchange (quoting As You Like It, Hamlet, and Macbeth) is fantastic and it's obvious that Patrick Stewart is in his element:

God, I could listen to this man extol the virtues of humanity all day long. Thankfully, I have six and a half seasons of Next Gen to go.