I've decided to go and watch this groundbreaking series, as I've never experienced the joys of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Commander William T. Riker, Counselor Deanna Troi, Lutenant Geordi La Forge, Lieutenant Worf, Lt. Commander Data, Doctor Beverly Crusher, &-yes-even Ensign Wesley Crusher, to continue the USS Enterprise's on-going mission to "Explore strange, new worlds. To seek out new life & civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before".
I've taken precaution to avoid the first season of the show, given how it's notorious for being incredibly uneven & having more poor (even down right terrible) episodes than great ones, so I've read up a brief wikipedia summary of that season and went ahead straight into Season 2. I'll update this as I'm going through the series, as I marathon it.
Season 2:
Episode 26: The Child
Counselor Troi is shocked to find out she is pregnant; Wesley Crusher is weighing his options for the future, with the help of the mysterious proprietor of the ship's lounge, Ten Forward.
Both the main story and the subplot couldn't hold my attention. While I'm fine with Mariana Sirtis to have her expose & explore her character, they could've done a lot more instead of a generic "female gets impregnated with a foreign alien entity, goes through a nine-ten month cycle within 36 hours, then loses her child" story.
Episode 27: Where Silence has Lease
"When an alien traps the Enterprise and threatens to kill half the crew purely out of curiosity, Captain Picard is faced with a grim decision."
Really cool episode. I love how Nagilum goes and conducts experiments on the USS Enterprise crew, especially with how he causes a cerebral hemorrhage to that conn officer, just so he can understand the concept of "death" and witness the effect. I would be surprised that he doesn't show up later on.
Episode 28: Elementary, Dear Data
"The Enterprise is threatened when a character in Data and La Forge's holodeck simulation becomes sentient."
I had recently completed reading Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories of Sherlock Holmes, and geeked out with the references of the items and clues from past tales. It was also great to see Data being equally matched with the James Moriarty hologram that had gained a level of sentience. I also love the set pieces that are used in this episode. I still haven't gelled with the "Dr. McCoy-But-Not-Really" Katherine Pulaski.
Episode 29: The Outrageous Okona
"The Enterprise crew rescue a "roguish" freighter captain whose ship is malfunctioning, but his presence drags them into an interplanetary feud."
William O. Campell was pretty charming as Captain Thadium Okona, and I liked the ongoing joke with him seducing (almost) every female he had come across. The episode was otherwise pretty forgettable. Data's subplot was pretty cringe-inducing.
Episode 30: Loud As A Whisper
"The Enterprise brings a deaf negotiator to mediate the end of a planetary civil war."
Possibly my favourite episode of this season (so far), & I liked that it dispels untrue and prejudiced myths about people who are deaf. I was pretty pleased with how this episode had used Tori, and her chemistry with Riva was beautiful.
Episode 31: The Schizoid Man
"An away team discovers the dying Doctor Ira Graves, who claims to be Data's "grandfather." "
From what I've heard from my friends, the episodes that involve Data being out of character are some of the funniest/terrifying ones in the series, and seeing Data's mind being hijacked by the brilliant, but sexist, Dr. Ira Graves was a riot. Whomever was the actress that played Dr. Selar was great, especially with how she didn't give a shit about Dr. Graves or his advances.
Episode 32: Unnatural Selection
"The Enterprise investigates the deaths of the crew of the USS Lantree, who all died of old age."
I liked that this episode makes a statement about how some of Star Trek's fantastic scientific developments can be used for great benefit, while it also explores the dangers of how they can so oh so terribly wrong. I wished Katherine Pulaski had died of her condition in this episode, as I was unsympathetic of her all the way through.
Episode 33: A Matter Of Honor
"Commander Riker serves as an exchange officer on a Klingon warship."
Like with the older Star Trek episodes that had dealt with social problems, it was interesting to see Riker being the only human on an all Klingon vessel, which parallels Worf's position on the USS Enterprise. I liked Riker's semi-snarky response with a Klingon's comment that he had a sense of humour.
Episode 34: The Measure Of A Man
"Picard must prove Data is legally a sentient being with rights and freedoms under Federation law when transfer orders demand Data's reassignment for study and disassembly."
"... Starfleet was founded to seek out new life – well, there it sits! ...waiting." That perfectly summarizes this episode. It could very well may be setting a precedent for future court cases that involve advanced robotics, as it demonstrates one of the most morally important points regarding the development of so called "artificial" intelligence: Once such intelligence develops beyond our ability to discern between machine intelligence and biologic intelligence, it is NECESSARY that we treat it with the same rights as the biologic. This episode definitely
deserves the praise it gets.
Episode 35: The Dauphin
"Wesley falls in love with the new leader of a war-torn planet..."
Shut up, Wesley! Moving on, ....
In all seriousness, the actual episode was alright.
Episode 36: Contagion
"The Enterprise and a Romulan warbird are attacked by the same computer virus that has already destroyed one Federation starship of the same class as the Enterprise."
A rather unsettling episode. I'm half way through as I type this, but it's horrifying to see the USS Enterprise sister ship just fall apart as it did, and to see both the crews of the Enterprise and the Romulan ship being so helpless as both vessels fall apart is a scary sight to behold.
Episode 37: The Royale
"The Enterprise investigates the wreckage of a 21st century Earth spaceship orbiting a distant planet and the appearance of a casino with inhabitants based on a rather poorly written paperback novel."
A very fun episode with a rather sick twist. The actor who'd played Texas was pretty funny.
Episode 38: Time Squared
"The Enterprise discovers a duplicate of Picard from six hours in the future."
Possibly one of the more underrated episodes of this series, and I'm surprised that it isn't brought up more often. The fact that there was little explanation to what had happened to the future Picard & the USS Enterprise made the the whole scenario all the more unsettling.
Episode 39: The Icarus Factor
"When Commander Riker is offered command of the starship Aries, his estranged father, Kyle Riker, is sent by Starfleet to brief him on the mission. Meanwhile, Data, La Forge, Dr. Pulaski, Wesley, and O'Brien help Worf celebrate the anniversary of his Rite of Ascension."
I liked the subplot of Worf to celebrate his "Rite of Ascension," but the episode didn't leave much of an impact for me.
Episode 40: Pen Pals
"Data makes contact with a young girl from a pre-warp civilization on a planet facing imminent annihilation. The Enterprise must wrestle with the moral dilemma of violating the Prime Directive or standing by while Data's friend dies."
I like the premise of the episode with Data's innocence being tested, but it felt lukewarm after watching it.
Episode 41: Q Who
"Q throws the Enterprise into uncharted space where it encounters and is engaged by a vessel of a previously unknown species: the Borg. When the vessel instantly and effortlessly overwhelms the Enterprise, Picard realizes that the Federation may not be as ready for the future as he thought."
Q is incredibly annoying, but he proved a point to Picard that there are some things in the universe that he isn't prepared for, no matter what he thinks. The episode was otherwise a nice introduction to the Borg, even if I think they look kind of lame.
Episode 42: Samaritan Snare
"Picard must undergo a serious medical procedure while the Enterprise-D deals with a Pakled ship, which lures the Enterprise away in hopes of stealing its technology."
While I know people hate Wesley (&, to a lesser extent, his mother), I personally don't have a problem with him, and this episode was nice when he & Picard exchanged in some small talk & it explored why Picard never perused a relationship.
Episode 43: Up The Long Ladder
"The Enterprise discovers two threatened colonies which must cooperate to survive."
This episode would've been fine if it didn't have the hilariously bad Irish stereotypes. I get what they were going for, with regards to immigration, but why 19th century Irish immigrants? Brenna Odell's character, however, would've been a great as part of the cast, if she had stayed with the USS Enterprise.
Episode 44: Manhunt
"Lwaxana Troi arrives on the Enterprise, intent on finding a husband."
I liked the sequences that involved Picard going to Dixon Hill, as seeing Picard out of his element was fun to watch. The suff with Troi's mother was... Awkward, to say the least. (Do you guys feel the same?)
Episode 45: The Emissary
"The Enterprise crew has to deal with a Klingon sleeper ship whose occupants don't know the Federation and Klingons are at peace. On-board to help them is an emissary, who (coincidentally) is one of Worf's former love interests."
Not a bad episode. The bit where Worf had to fool K'Temoc to show that the Klingons had won the war he was the Captain of the Enterprise was great. In general, this was a nice episode to see more of Worf's past.
Episode 46: Peak Performance
"With the Borg threat in mind, Starfleet stages a war-game simulation pitting Captain Picard and the Enterprise against Commander Riker and the eighty-year-old starship Hathaway. However, when the Ferengi suddenly attack, the Enterprise is crippled forcing Picard into a seemingly no-win situation."
It was fun to see Riker go up against Picard, especially with how competitive they both were. Roy Brocksmith, who played Kolrami, was pretty funny. Probably another underrated episode, if there ever was one, for this season.
Episode 47: Shades of Grey
"Commander Riker fights for his life in sickbay after he is infected by an alien parasite while on an away-mission. Dr. Pulaski soon discovers that the only way to save Riker's life is to force his mind to relive painful memories."
As others have mentioned, this was essentially a clip show, so I didn't bother watching it. Also, goodbye Pulaski. I'll take the more mellow Doctor Crusher over your disruptive, loud mouth any day of the week. (Though thank you for saving Riker and his magnificent beard.)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Season 3:
Episode 49: Evolution
"An obsessed scientist arrives on the Enterprise-D to perform a once-in-a-lifetime experiment. Accidentally released nanites, however, threaten both it and the ship."
Seriously, this is so much better than Season 2's premier episode, "The Child." I'm glad Beverly Crusher has returned, even if it means I would have to put up with Wesley's antics (such as the case for this episode). It's great to see Picard dealing with those who don't immediately bow to his orders, as that makes him much more interesting. Also, it's cool to see Dr. Stubbs calling out on Tori's invasiveness.
Episode 50: The Ensigns of Command
"Data must convince a colony of 15,000 people to evacuate before the aliens who own the planet arrive."
This episode is a good reminder that Data, though he desires to have similar qualities that humans posses, he has the potential to make the right choices the rest of us might not be capable of. He initially approaches the problem with logic, but he realizes that only through shock value & direct honesty that was he able to convince the colonists that they aren't really making smart choice of staying behind. This is also a good reminder of the threat of losing your identity, and seeing how normal peaceful men & women will do whatever it takes to preserve that.
Episode 51: The Survivors
"The Enterprise investigates two survivors living on the only undamaged patch of land on a devastated planet."
A brilliant, but rather unsettling episode. What makes it great is Kevin, a powerful being haunting a planet with the memory of his lost love and the home they shared together. With Kevin's emotional connection to his mortal wife, Rishon, it shows the limits of his abilities. He is incapable of bringing her back from beyond the grave, and when she tried to fight alongside the colonists, it was his love & moral code that prevented him from stopping the invaders. And when Kevin tried to deceive the enemy through his powers of illusions and trickery, the alien threat soon figured out the ruse and struck back. Hard.
So, when he had lost everything that was dear & important in his life, Kevin's pacifism was put aside and he let his anger get the best of him, where he went & extinguished every single Husnock. Not the ones in the invading fleet, not a select few. He performed mass extinction of an entire species, all with the power of his mind. I couldn't blame Picard for leaving Kevin to his misery, as there's no way to judge him for his actions.
Episode 52: The Survivors
"The Enterprise investigates two survivors living on the only undamaged patch of land on a devastated planet."
Episode 53: Who Watches The Watchers
"The Enterprise must undo the damage when a primitive civilization discovers a Federation observation team and concludes that the Starfleet personnel are gods."
A lot of fans consider this episode to be an essential story in the series. One of the reasons the episode works so well, is how even with the best of intentions, it can show how a string of accidents can happen and could quickly spiral out of control. Picard's stand against irrational & superstitious ideals were powerful.
Episode 54: The Bonding
"Worf decides to take into his house the child of a slain subordinate, but the child is having trouble accepting his mother's death, especially when she mysteriously reappears."
If there's a reoccurring theme for this episode, is learning the importance of acceptance & moving on. Medical Doctor Aster, who had perished in this episode, had made no appearances in past seasons & we share little emotional connection with her. However, the crew of the Enterprise has been hit hard (Wesley in particular had a great breakout moment in this episode), especially Worf (who had lead the expedition which Aster was a part of) feels responsible for her senseless death, but it's her 12 year-old son Jeremy who's been hit the hardest. It's cool that the kid, after some time, had later become Worf's "brother".
Episode 55: Booby Trap
"While investigating a 1,000-year-old alien derelict, the Enterprise gets caught in the same energy trap which doomed that vessel a millennium ago."
Probably has my favourite quote from the series ("Good Lord, didn't anybody here build ships in bottles?"), but I liked the idea for this episode than it's final execution.
I've taken precaution to avoid the first season of the show, given how it's notorious for being incredibly uneven & having more poor (even down right terrible) episodes than great ones, so I've read up a brief wikipedia summary of that season and went ahead straight into Season 2. I'll update this as I'm going through the series, as I marathon it.
Season 2:
Episode 26: The Child
Counselor Troi is shocked to find out she is pregnant; Wesley Crusher is weighing his options for the future, with the help of the mysterious proprietor of the ship's lounge, Ten Forward.
Both the main story and the subplot couldn't hold my attention. While I'm fine with Mariana Sirtis to have her expose & explore her character, they could've done a lot more instead of a generic "female gets impregnated with a foreign alien entity, goes through a nine-ten month cycle within 36 hours, then loses her child" story.
Episode 27: Where Silence has Lease
"When an alien traps the Enterprise and threatens to kill half the crew purely out of curiosity, Captain Picard is faced with a grim decision."
Really cool episode. I love how Nagilum goes and conducts experiments on the USS Enterprise crew, especially with how he causes a cerebral hemorrhage to that conn officer, just so he can understand the concept of "death" and witness the effect. I would be surprised that he doesn't show up later on.
Episode 28: Elementary, Dear Data
"The Enterprise is threatened when a character in Data and La Forge's holodeck simulation becomes sentient."
I had recently completed reading Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories of Sherlock Holmes, and geeked out with the references of the items and clues from past tales. It was also great to see Data being equally matched with the James Moriarty hologram that had gained a level of sentience. I also love the set pieces that are used in this episode. I still haven't gelled with the "Dr. McCoy-But-Not-Really" Katherine Pulaski.
Episode 29: The Outrageous Okona
"The Enterprise crew rescue a "roguish" freighter captain whose ship is malfunctioning, but his presence drags them into an interplanetary feud."
William O. Campell was pretty charming as Captain Thadium Okona, and I liked the ongoing joke with him seducing (almost) every female he had come across. The episode was otherwise pretty forgettable. Data's subplot was pretty cringe-inducing.
Episode 30: Loud As A Whisper
"The Enterprise brings a deaf negotiator to mediate the end of a planetary civil war."
Possibly my favourite episode of this season (so far), & I liked that it dispels untrue and prejudiced myths about people who are deaf. I was pretty pleased with how this episode had used Tori, and her chemistry with Riva was beautiful.
Episode 31: The Schizoid Man
"An away team discovers the dying Doctor Ira Graves, who claims to be Data's "grandfather." "
From what I've heard from my friends, the episodes that involve Data being out of character are some of the funniest/terrifying ones in the series, and seeing Data's mind being hijacked by the brilliant, but sexist, Dr. Ira Graves was a riot. Whomever was the actress that played Dr. Selar was great, especially with how she didn't give a shit about Dr. Graves or his advances.
Episode 32: Unnatural Selection
"The Enterprise investigates the deaths of the crew of the USS Lantree, who all died of old age."
I liked that this episode makes a statement about how some of Star Trek's fantastic scientific developments can be used for great benefit, while it also explores the dangers of how they can so oh so terribly wrong. I wished Katherine Pulaski had died of her condition in this episode, as I was unsympathetic of her all the way through.
Episode 33: A Matter Of Honor
"Commander Riker serves as an exchange officer on a Klingon warship."
Like with the older Star Trek episodes that had dealt with social problems, it was interesting to see Riker being the only human on an all Klingon vessel, which parallels Worf's position on the USS Enterprise. I liked Riker's semi-snarky response with a Klingon's comment that he had a sense of humour.
Episode 34: The Measure Of A Man
"Picard must prove Data is legally a sentient being with rights and freedoms under Federation law when transfer orders demand Data's reassignment for study and disassembly."
"... Starfleet was founded to seek out new life – well, there it sits! ...waiting." That perfectly summarizes this episode. It could very well may be setting a precedent for future court cases that involve advanced robotics, as it demonstrates one of the most morally important points regarding the development of so called "artificial" intelligence: Once such intelligence develops beyond our ability to discern between machine intelligence and biologic intelligence, it is NECESSARY that we treat it with the same rights as the biologic. This episode definitely
deserves the praise it gets.
Episode 35: The Dauphin
"Wesley falls in love with the new leader of a war-torn planet..."
Shut up, Wesley! Moving on, ....
In all seriousness, the actual episode was alright.
Episode 36: Contagion
"The Enterprise and a Romulan warbird are attacked by the same computer virus that has already destroyed one Federation starship of the same class as the Enterprise."
A rather unsettling episode. I'm half way through as I type this, but it's horrifying to see the USS Enterprise sister ship just fall apart as it did, and to see both the crews of the Enterprise and the Romulan ship being so helpless as both vessels fall apart is a scary sight to behold.
Episode 37: The Royale
"The Enterprise investigates the wreckage of a 21st century Earth spaceship orbiting a distant planet and the appearance of a casino with inhabitants based on a rather poorly written paperback novel."
A very fun episode with a rather sick twist. The actor who'd played Texas was pretty funny.
Episode 38: Time Squared
"The Enterprise discovers a duplicate of Picard from six hours in the future."
Possibly one of the more underrated episodes of this series, and I'm surprised that it isn't brought up more often. The fact that there was little explanation to what had happened to the future Picard & the USS Enterprise made the the whole scenario all the more unsettling.
Episode 39: The Icarus Factor
"When Commander Riker is offered command of the starship Aries, his estranged father, Kyle Riker, is sent by Starfleet to brief him on the mission. Meanwhile, Data, La Forge, Dr. Pulaski, Wesley, and O'Brien help Worf celebrate the anniversary of his Rite of Ascension."
I liked the subplot of Worf to celebrate his "Rite of Ascension," but the episode didn't leave much of an impact for me.
Episode 40: Pen Pals
"Data makes contact with a young girl from a pre-warp civilization on a planet facing imminent annihilation. The Enterprise must wrestle with the moral dilemma of violating the Prime Directive or standing by while Data's friend dies."
I like the premise of the episode with Data's innocence being tested, but it felt lukewarm after watching it.
Episode 41: Q Who
"Q throws the Enterprise into uncharted space where it encounters and is engaged by a vessel of a previously unknown species: the Borg. When the vessel instantly and effortlessly overwhelms the Enterprise, Picard realizes that the Federation may not be as ready for the future as he thought."
Q is incredibly annoying, but he proved a point to Picard that there are some things in the universe that he isn't prepared for, no matter what he thinks. The episode was otherwise a nice introduction to the Borg, even if I think they look kind of lame.
Episode 42: Samaritan Snare
"Picard must undergo a serious medical procedure while the Enterprise-D deals with a Pakled ship, which lures the Enterprise away in hopes of stealing its technology."
While I know people hate Wesley (&, to a lesser extent, his mother), I personally don't have a problem with him, and this episode was nice when he & Picard exchanged in some small talk & it explored why Picard never perused a relationship.
Episode 43: Up The Long Ladder
"The Enterprise discovers two threatened colonies which must cooperate to survive."
This episode would've been fine if it didn't have the hilariously bad Irish stereotypes. I get what they were going for, with regards to immigration, but why 19th century Irish immigrants? Brenna Odell's character, however, would've been a great as part of the cast, if she had stayed with the USS Enterprise.
Episode 44: Manhunt
"Lwaxana Troi arrives on the Enterprise, intent on finding a husband."
I liked the sequences that involved Picard going to Dixon Hill, as seeing Picard out of his element was fun to watch. The suff with Troi's mother was... Awkward, to say the least. (Do you guys feel the same?)
Episode 45: The Emissary
"The Enterprise crew has to deal with a Klingon sleeper ship whose occupants don't know the Federation and Klingons are at peace. On-board to help them is an emissary, who (coincidentally) is one of Worf's former love interests."
Not a bad episode. The bit where Worf had to fool K'Temoc to show that the Klingons had won the war he was the Captain of the Enterprise was great. In general, this was a nice episode to see more of Worf's past.
Episode 46: Peak Performance
"With the Borg threat in mind, Starfleet stages a war-game simulation pitting Captain Picard and the Enterprise against Commander Riker and the eighty-year-old starship Hathaway. However, when the Ferengi suddenly attack, the Enterprise is crippled forcing Picard into a seemingly no-win situation."
It was fun to see Riker go up against Picard, especially with how competitive they both were. Roy Brocksmith, who played Kolrami, was pretty funny. Probably another underrated episode, if there ever was one, for this season.
Episode 47: Shades of Grey
"Commander Riker fights for his life in sickbay after he is infected by an alien parasite while on an away-mission. Dr. Pulaski soon discovers that the only way to save Riker's life is to force his mind to relive painful memories."
As others have mentioned, this was essentially a clip show, so I didn't bother watching it. Also, goodbye Pulaski. I'll take the more mellow Doctor Crusher over your disruptive, loud mouth any day of the week. (Though thank you for saving Riker and his magnificent beard.)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Season 3:
Episode 49: Evolution
"An obsessed scientist arrives on the Enterprise-D to perform a once-in-a-lifetime experiment. Accidentally released nanites, however, threaten both it and the ship."
Seriously, this is so much better than Season 2's premier episode, "The Child." I'm glad Beverly Crusher has returned, even if it means I would have to put up with Wesley's antics (such as the case for this episode). It's great to see Picard dealing with those who don't immediately bow to his orders, as that makes him much more interesting. Also, it's cool to see Dr. Stubbs calling out on Tori's invasiveness.
Episode 50: The Ensigns of Command
"Data must convince a colony of 15,000 people to evacuate before the aliens who own the planet arrive."
This episode is a good reminder that Data, though he desires to have similar qualities that humans posses, he has the potential to make the right choices the rest of us might not be capable of. He initially approaches the problem with logic, but he realizes that only through shock value & direct honesty that was he able to convince the colonists that they aren't really making smart choice of staying behind. This is also a good reminder of the threat of losing your identity, and seeing how normal peaceful men & women will do whatever it takes to preserve that.
Episode 51: The Survivors
"The Enterprise investigates two survivors living on the only undamaged patch of land on a devastated planet."
A brilliant, but rather unsettling episode. What makes it great is Kevin, a powerful being haunting a planet with the memory of his lost love and the home they shared together. With Kevin's emotional connection to his mortal wife, Rishon, it shows the limits of his abilities. He is incapable of bringing her back from beyond the grave, and when she tried to fight alongside the colonists, it was his love & moral code that prevented him from stopping the invaders. And when Kevin tried to deceive the enemy through his powers of illusions and trickery, the alien threat soon figured out the ruse and struck back. Hard.
So, when he had lost everything that was dear & important in his life, Kevin's pacifism was put aside and he let his anger get the best of him, where he went & extinguished every single Husnock. Not the ones in the invading fleet, not a select few. He performed mass extinction of an entire species, all with the power of his mind. I couldn't blame Picard for leaving Kevin to his misery, as there's no way to judge him for his actions.
Episode 52: The Survivors
"The Enterprise investigates two survivors living on the only undamaged patch of land on a devastated planet."
Episode 53: Who Watches The Watchers
"The Enterprise must undo the damage when a primitive civilization discovers a Federation observation team and concludes that the Starfleet personnel are gods."
A lot of fans consider this episode to be an essential story in the series. One of the reasons the episode works so well, is how even with the best of intentions, it can show how a string of accidents can happen and could quickly spiral out of control. Picard's stand against irrational & superstitious ideals were powerful.
Episode 54: The Bonding
"Worf decides to take into his house the child of a slain subordinate, but the child is having trouble accepting his mother's death, especially when she mysteriously reappears."
If there's a reoccurring theme for this episode, is learning the importance of acceptance & moving on. Medical Doctor Aster, who had perished in this episode, had made no appearances in past seasons & we share little emotional connection with her. However, the crew of the Enterprise has been hit hard (Wesley in particular had a great breakout moment in this episode), especially Worf (who had lead the expedition which Aster was a part of) feels responsible for her senseless death, but it's her 12 year-old son Jeremy who's been hit the hardest. It's cool that the kid, after some time, had later become Worf's "brother".
Episode 55: Booby Trap
"While investigating a 1,000-year-old alien derelict, the Enterprise gets caught in the same energy trap which doomed that vessel a millennium ago."
Probably has my favourite quote from the series ("Good Lord, didn't anybody here build ships in bottles?"), but I liked the idea for this episode than it's final execution.
