Star Trek 239: True Q

239. True Q

FORMULA: Hide and Q + Charlie X

WHY WE LIKE IT: Q.

WHY WE DON'T: What a girl-Q would do with her powers.

REVIEW: Q returns in great form, taking wonderfully scripted shots at both humanity and the crew. He's the ultimate Trek Internet fan, returning to the show to listen to Picard's wonderful speeches and finding Crusher gets more shrill with every passing year (he also turns her into a Scottish Setter, so he seems to have a beef against her specifically). He also says the jury's still out on humanity, which ties into the series finale in a couple years very nicely, but seems like an offhand remark here. Plenty of cool tricks besides, from the continuum "shadow" to the hide and seek game to the dramatic warp core breach.

But the focus of the episode is Amanda Rogers, a girl born of the Q who is just now finding her powers. Olivia d'Abo does an ok job with it, especially as the beginning of a loneliness sets in, but I couldn't help thinking of Bewitched the whole time. The hand gestures to activate her powers were a bit much. And then there's what she does with her powers. The emotional stuff is fine (seeing her parents, saving a planet), but puppies? Old-fashioned romance with Riker? I know she wears a girlie-pink costume, but is that what the writer imagined a female omnipotent entity would do?

LESSON: Even Riker has limits. No godlings.

REWATCHABILITY - Medium: Q's great, but Amanda's an unfocused character that ultimately lets the episode down.