Encounter at Farpoint

USS Enterprise Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew are tested by Q.

This is long-winded but interesting introduction to The Next Generation with a strong theme and some decent character moments.

Even for a two-part episode spanning ninety minutes the story packs a lot in. The two main plot threads involving Q and Farpoint station are great but unfortunately there are many character introductions with background information that slow everything down destroying the flow developed in the early scenes. I felt a retread of themes from original series episodes like 'The Squire Of Gothos' and 'The Devil In The Dark', which work well. Some parts of the trial sequence are unintentionally funny as it mixes social commentary, absurdity and emotive performances.

Picard has a fairly aggressive introduction, thrown into immediate conflict with Q and these scenes are compelling due to the themes and characters. He is also pretty combative in his leadership style.

Riker makes a cinematic entrance with an immediate test of ability and a candid conversation with Picard. This is probably the best of all character intros for me and sets the scene for what is to come in the series.

Introductory exposition dialogue is pretty clunky and contributes to the pace being laboured. There is also a substantial amount of time spent introducing the technology and environment which clutters the episode up too much.

The scene involving a character from the Original Series is a nice bit of fan service but it adds to the unnecessary screen time as it is fairly irrelevant in the grand scheme of the series.

I find some of the dramatic camera movements and extreme angled shots on the bridge a bit distracting. The musical score is pretty dramatic and changes in tone on multiple occasions depending on the emotional theme of each sequence. The well crafted saucer-section sequence is reminiscent of the 'The Cage' episode where the show theme is used during the sequence where the warp drive is engaged. In one scene you can clearly see a stunt-player standing in for Tasha Yar.

Performances are mostly great with Patrick Stewart standing out significantly with a powerful presence and masterful delivery of dialogue. All supporting cast are solid with Marina Sirtis having just one or two ropey moments.