Q; Where does Riva, who is dumb, think he is going when he storms out of the observation lounge, bearing in mind that he needs to be able to speak to direct the turbolifts?
A; It's difficult to tell. It may be, of course, that his chorus hadn't bothered to tell him of the exact nature of the lift's workings, leaving him free to concentrate on higher matters. It could otherwise be that he simply storms off in a huff without any real idea of where he's going, bearing in mind that he's probably in shock from seeing his chorus killed.
Q; Why does Picard threaten to leave unless the planet dwellers stop firing lasers at each other on the basis that he will not endanger his ship, when we know lasers can't harm the Enterprise?
A; I don't think that we, as sophisticates, are supposed to take this last too literally. We might assume though that those on the planet below, however, were intended to be and, as we saw, three out of four were impressed by this. Let's face it, they weren't likely to know what could harm the Enterprise or not. A little gunboat diplomacy from Picard there, I thought.
Q; How can it be that the weapon used upon the chorus, presumably a laser, has such a strange effect upon them?
A; Just because laser fire had been reported from the surface, it doesn't mean that every weapon used was necessarily a laser. From the looks of things, this one wasn't.
Diana Muldaur (Kate Pulaski) is credited with a 'special appearance' in this show. Eagle-eyed viewers might well consider that she should have been credited with a 'special disappearance', bearing in mind her abrupt vanishing act from the Bridge in one scene. Our Kate, thinking about it, is the only person to have appeared in Star Trek as three different doctors, two in TOS and Pulaski now.
Incidentally, lending support to my theory that it is perfectly possible, though unusual, to move around while in the transporter beam, Riker (after some rather casual handling of his phaser), can be seen to have unholstered said instrument during transport at the time of the second landing with Riva.
When Picard et al first beam down to the planet, the production team do a really nice piece of work in making the shadow of, well, one of them, on the wall to Picard's right disappear as they dematerialise. One problem though; where is the light source to create such a shadow? Off on the side where the light source would need to be you have the Heisenberg Compensators and not much else.
Lots of interesting snippets in this show. First off, you know the girly chorus? She's Mrs Q in real life. Second off, Howie Seago who plays Riva is genuinely deaf. Third off, do the chorus sound a little, well, strange to you? The production boys have treated their vocals, I believe, I think I hear some ADT and a little reverb in there. Listen to when the three of them are introducing themselves, hear the dark-haired guy on the right (from our viewpoint) say the word "passion". Hear that echo? See what I mean?
The Child Where Silence Has Lease Elementary, My Dear Data The Outrageous Okona
Loud As a Whisper The Schizoid Man Unnatural Selection A Matter of Honour
The Measure of a Man The Dauphin Contagion The Royale Times Squared The
Icarus Factor Pen Pals Q Who Samaritan Snare Up The Long
Ladder Manhunt The Emissary
Peak Performance Shades of Grey