Graphics aboard the Enterprise must be different than those here on "backwards" Earth. After the process of reducing the gravity of the moon, a big graphic pops up on a screen opposite the warp core. Presumably, this shows the effect the Enterprise is having. Now, I'm no scientist, so correct me if I'm wrong, but somehow I imagined that this would encompass the entire moon. Obivously not so. Right before La Forge checks on the success, this graphics shows the "bubble" only passing through the center fifth of the moon. Seconds later, La Forge says that the process is working. Either this "bubble" can expand very quickly, or the graphic is misleading!

Good title! If i correctly remember my French lessons at school, its pronouncing in french sounds a bit like "deja vu"

ICBN: Q wants to reduce the gravity constant of the UNIVERSE! With an IQ of 2005 he should see, that this would bring the whole universe into BIG Chaos!

Data is sitting at Ops when Q arrives, later, while still sitting at Ops, Data scans Q with a tricorder. Does Data normally wear a tricorder while sitting at Ops? (Or other times for that matter? A female ensign walks up to Data and asks, "Is that a tricorder in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?")

In the opener, Q shows up naked and the crew believe him to still have his powers. After the title sequence Q is wearing a drab outfit and telling them that he has been stripped of his powers. At some point between these scenes, someone must have brought Q this outfit and told him to wear it, or Q himself may have asked for something to wear, in any case, why didn't Q explain then that he had been stripped of his powers? (And he could have complained about the outfit's color when it was handed to him.)

I loved Q's line to Worf, "Eat any good books lately?"

Why don't they attach rockets to the moon to help push it away?
In addition to the ship's tractor beam they could also use the shuttlecrafts' tractor beams to push the moon away. (If shuttlecraft have tractor beams, that is.)
Then again they could just blow up the moon like Riker suggested, but use the tractor beam to 'sweep' the smaller pieces away.
Also what is to stop them from beaming pieces of the moon into space as energy only? That would certainly reduce the moon's mass.

Q's IQ is supposed to be 2,005. However since the IQ system is supposed to be an average wouldn't that mean that somewhere there is a creature with an IQ of -1,905?

On page 170 of the NextGen Guide, Phil points out that the Tech Manual says the badge tap is a habit, but unnecessary, then point out that in The Most Toys Data only does things by the book, so if the badge tap is just habit and not in the book Data shouldn't do it. How do we know it is not in the book? Remember in The Outrageous Okona the regulation says the Enterprise must put up it's shields when threatened by lasers, even though they wouldn't get through the navigational shields. It's possible that the original badges needed to be tapped and the book on using the badges was written stating that you must tap the badge to communicate, but when the badge design was improved to need no tap no one bothered changing that part of the book.

Q is supposed to be hungry, having never before eaten, but when I have gone without eating for too long my stomach starts hurting, and Q did describe it as such, it tends to be really painful, but Q doesn't really act like he's suffering any serious stomach pains and even claims to have lost his appetite after being attacked.

Data's suggestions for what to eat were dumb. Shouldn't Data be programmed with what to feed people who are starving? Or does Starfleet just assume that people don't go hungry anymore? Data should have suggested some nutritious foods and not sugar filled deserts. (For that matter, Dr. Crusher should have given Q a list of nutritious foods to eat, but then she seemed to be enjoying Q's discomfort, so maybe her sadistic streak overrode her medical compassion?)

How does the computer know that the Calamarain signals are intelligent?

With 1,014 people on board was Q really the best choice to man an important station?

When the Calamarain originally attacked Q he was covered with energy fairly quickly, but the second time he was attacked the energy slowly covered him. Why the difference?

KAM: In the opener, Q shows up naked and the crew believe him to still have his powers. After the title sequence Q is wearing a drab outfit and telling them that he has been stripped of his powers. At some point between these scenes, someone must have brought Q this outfit and told him to wear it, or Q himself may have asked for something to wear.

Luigi Novi: It was probably the former, since Q himself mentioned with derision the custom of wearing clothes as being outdated.

KAM: In any case, why didn't Q explain then that he had been stripped of his powers?

Luigi Novi: Good point. Could he have done so, and was merely reiterating it when we heard it for the first time?

KAM: And he could have complained about the outfit's color when it was handed to him.

Luigi Novi: Given the hullabaloo that would accompany a visit by Q, there was probably an exchange of words while he was putting on the outfit, distracting him until he said it in front of us. It's also possible he did say it, and was simply repeating himself when he said it in Act 1.

KAM: Why don't they attach rockets to the moon to help push it away?

Luigi Novi: Are there such rockets capable of acting on a body so massive?

KAM: Also what is to stop them from beaming pieces of the moon into space as energy only? That would certainly reduce the moon's mass.

Luigi Novi: But doesn't that moon normally serve a function in Bre'el IV's tide system? Didn't the Bre'elian scientist, Garin (name from script only), and his colleague (name not even in the script, unfortunately) tell the crew that the change in the moon's orbit was causing dangerous tidal changes?

KAM: Q's IQ is supposed to be 2,005. However since the IQ system is supposed to be an average wouldn't that mean that somewhere there is a creature with an IQ of -1,905?

Luigi Novi: I wouldn't take Q's statement so literally, Keith. Putting aside the fact that the significance and ultimate meaning of IQ tests can be subjective, and open to interpretation and criticism, I doubt a quasi-omnipotent being like Q would actually have sat down and got himself tested with an intelligence test of a mortal, coroporeal species that he regards with such derision.

KAM: Q is supposed to be hungry, having never before eaten, but when I have gone without eating for too long my stomach starts hurting, and Q did describe it as such, it tends to be really painful, but Q doesn't really act like he's suffering any serious stomach pains and even claims to have lost his appetite after being attacked.

Luigi Novi: First of all, Keith, you're assuming that the amount of time he went without food was the same amount it takes YOU to feel such pain. Second, you're assuming all people feel the same type of hunger pains. They don't. Some feel painful hunger pangs. Some just get a grumble in the stomach. Personally, I get grumbles, and if I go for a day or more without eating, my nerves act up, and I begin to shake slightly.

KAM: With 1,014 people on board was Q really the best choice to man an important station?

Luigi Novi: How many of those 1,014 people had an IQ of 2,005? )

Would you really want Q running around nekkid? Personnaly I think they gave him the jumpsuit he pouted and wanted a uniform, Worf told him wear it or else.

AFAIK there are no rockets that could move a moon from adecaying orbit. Theoretically something like the Energia from Russia could move a fair sized asteroid around if given enough time and fuel. Or maybe a few of them clustered together. Same for the old Satern V.

As for beaming the moon apart, that might work if given enough time , but it would no doubt leave bre'el with no tides, nightlife would be disturbed etc... and maybe a few blown breakers aboard the enterprise.

When I get hungry small villages can hear the rumbles from my tummy. :-)

The largest thing we've seen transported (by technology comparable to that of the Federation) is a couple of whales in water.

Assuming that whale compartment was 20m x 3m x 5m (a humpback whale is 15m long), and a whale is roughly the same density as water (1 gram/cubic cm) then that's a transport of 300,000kg.

Our moon is 7.35x10²² kg in mass.

If a transport takes 5 seconds, then it would take roughly 4x10¹⁰ years to beam the moon away.

"in space travel all the numbers are awful"
Slartibartfast

Doesn't the Enterprise have 6 Transporters? (Not to mention Shuttle transporters, but those usually only do 2 or 3 people at a time.)

Besides I recommended the Transporter as a way to reduce the moon's mass, not as a way to completely get rid of the moon.

KAM, I often agree with your comments, but...

Assume 10 transporters.
Assume each can shift 10 times the mass moved in STIV.
Assume the moon is only 10% as big as our moon
Assume you want to reduce the moon's mass by 1%.

It will still take 400 000 years.

Sorta like bailing a lake with a bucket.

Sophie Hawksworth: The largest thing we've seen transported (by technology comparable to that of the Federation) is a couple of whales in water.

Assuming that whale compartment was 20m x 3m x 5m (a humpback whale is 15m long), and a whale is roughly the same density as water (1 gram/cubic cm) then that's a transport of 300,000kg.

Our moon is 7.35x1022 kg in mass.

If a transport takes 5 seconds, then it would take roughly 4x1010 years to beam the moon away.

Luigi Novi: But Sophie, this conclusion requires two other assumptions:

1. That the mass they transported in ST IV represents the transport limit.

2. That there aren't industrial-sized transporters.

Neither of these two things has been established one way or the other, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were industrial-sized transporters/replicators used for construction and excavation.

1. That the mass they transported in ST IV represents the transport limit.

Scotty did say that he had never transproted that much before.

2. That there aren't industrial-sized transporters.

Even if they had transproters that could transport 4000 times as much as this theory it would still take over a year to do it, not enough time in the case of this episode.

Math was never my strong suit, Sophie. (Personally I agree with the great philosopher, Barbie, when she said, "Math is hard.";-)

KAM:

> Q's IQ is supposed to be 2,005. However since the IQ system is supposed to be an average wouldn't that mean that somewhere there is a creature with an IQ of -1,905?

Nope. First, the IQ bases at the average of Humans (defined to be 100.00000000000000000000, and second, if Q is added tho the statistical mass of some dozen (or some hundred) billions of of humans, what will then be the new average? I suppose, the average will be increased by about 0.0001.

Kam,

No, that simply means Q's IQ is several hundred (thousand???) standard deviations above the norm.

Data's grasp of humor is becoming better. When Q is talking about Picards crew as "little trained minions" Data responds by saying "Your abilities is not in doubt, however there is questions about your ability to work with "HIS LITTLE TRAINED MINIONS""(emphasis mine) or something in that direction. Apparently Data is beginning to understand the concept of sarcasm.

So Riker doesn't need fantasywomen, yet Menuet seemed to interest him.

Just wondering: If Q had pressed charges against Guinan for her assault how would Picard react? Would he arrest Guinan or would he cover it up, simply because he doesn't like Q?

MISSED OPPORTUNITY: Of course Picard (if he wanted) could've put Q on trial for his crimes against humanity. I would have...just to give Q a taste of his own medicine.

What crimes? IIRC, but his point he's certainly inconvenienced humanity lots, but not in any chargeable fashion.

(If you mean the Farpoint trial, the strong implication there is that Q is acting as a rep for the entire Continuum, which means putting him alone on trial is moot. Or if he acted alone, then the threat is gone, and again there's no reason to put him on trial.)

Erm...please read that as 'by this point...'

What crimes? IIRC, but his point he's certainly inconvenienced humanity lots, but not in any chargeable fashion. - Kerriem

Um... kidnapping, torture, murder? I'd say those were more than simple inconveniences.

He froze two Enterprise crewmen in the pilot episode. It's been a while since I've seen it, but I seem to recall several crewmen dying in Hide and Q. I think that the fact that the crewmen in question survived the ordeal is immaterial. They retained the memories of those events.

In Q Who? he transported the Enterprise into Borg space, resulting in the deaths of several crewmen and a much accelerated conflict between the Borg and the Federation.

I think putting Q on trial would have been more than fair.

Mmmmm...OK, point half-way taken. I shouldn't have been so off-the-cuff about Q's escapades (it's been a long while since I've seen any of the eps and some details had evidently slipped my mind).

But I still wonder what exact jurisdiction a formal court of Federation law would have over him?
He's not a citizen, for starters, and so doesn't operate under the laws. Also in at least the first two encounters he's acting at the behest of the Continuum, not on a whim; arguably a ship exploring uncharted space should expect and be prepared to deal with the fact that their mission will bring them into conflict with hostile aliens...and if it's a Federation ship, the mandate is to conciliate wherever possible - not wreak vengeance.

Really, the only major option the Enterprise crew has that I can see is 'rough justice'...which Guinan and Worf take advantage of, but isn't at all Captain "chat up vicious crystal entities? Why not!" Picard's style.

Well, you mentioned nothing about jurisdiction. You simply claimed that Q had done little to merit being put on trial.

But to respond to your assertion that the Federation would have no jurisdiction in trying Q... there has been ample precedent set for various peoples to try non-citizens in their courts. Ardra (or the woman posing as Ardra) was detained although she was not a citizen of that world. The Female Changleing stood trial for her actions against the Federation, although she was not a citizen. O'Brien was tried in a Cardassian court. Kirk and McCoy in a Klingon court... etc.

I think there'd be a more existential question regarding putting Q on trial. Many of the actions I mentioned in my previous post occured outside space/time. So did they really happen? Then again, Q is probably arrogant enough to stipulate that said events did, in fact, occur, even if they weren't measureable b scientific standards.

As for Q acting at the behest of the Continuum, the claim that someone was "only following orders" has been used before to no avail.

POSSIBLE NIT: NEED 2ND PAIR OF EYES...

When the Hispanic guitarists appear with Q, you can see MIchael Dorn (Worf) lowering his head. Is he laughing? It certainly appears that he is.

This was the first TNG episode to get a "Close-Up" box in the local edition (New York Metro) of TV Guide.

I agree that it would be interesting to put Q on trial for all that the Q continuum has done or tried to do to the Enterprise in particular and the human race in general. I do believe the crew of the Enterprise was put on trial as representatives of the entire human race, so their fate would be shared by all mankind if they were judged guilty. As a result, it would be poetic justice to put the one ex-Q on trial for the "multiple and grievous savageries of the race," being the one chance the Federation will ever get to pay back the Q. As for jurisdiction, the moment he was mortal, Q went right to the Enterprise seeking protection from his enemies, so being subject to their laws goes hand in hand with that protection. As a result, Picard should have done something about Guinan stabbing Q, if he had pressed charges (being so smart, he should probably know that). However, his past actions would probably have to be left alone, since he was not a citizen then. As for the argument "I was just following orders," assuming the Federation decided to try Q for the actions of the whole continuum, I don't imagine a Federation court accepting that argument as a defense, especially if the judge was a human, and most especially if that judge was Picard. He'd probably remind Q of a line from Henry V, from the scene Data peformed in The Defector.

If it were me I certainly would've had Q arrested. He is responsible for the deaths of at least 18 crew members in "Q Who" and will be responcible for the deaths of hundreds of starfleet officers killed in Best of Both Worlds.

It's not like he'd be the first "omnipotent" Q to be killed. There was the Q family on earth (Kansas?) killed for using their Q-tastic powers.

(It was an episode in Season 6 I believe)

AFAIK, IQ is a measure of intelligence compared to age. Since Q is incredibly old, his IQ would probably not be 2005.

IQ measures the ability to score well on IQ tests.

I have no username: (It was an episode in Season 6 I believe)
Luigi Novi: True Q.

Does Data normally wear a tricorder while sitting at Ops?

Perhaps there is one stored at his console.

I wonder if they could have created an artificial singularity with a sufficient gravitational force to pull the moon away.(since a natural one was the cause in the first place, I believe.)

Now I know for dramatic purposes and in order to have a show he needed to be human and aboard the Enterprise but from a character standpoint does it make sense that Q would choose to be human and aboard the Enterprise? He said he could be ANYTHING he wanted to be as long as it were mortal. Q's main goal here is protection. so I wonder why he didn't ask to be a Borg and be dropped off in a Cube somewhere. I am pretty sure none of your enemies are going to bug you when your pose is 30 billion strong, not only that but with the knowledge of Q the Borg would be an even more unstoppable force, ensuring that no one will bother you.

Of course this would mean the Borg would spread through the Galaxy like wildfire but as I said in the beginning.... It makes sense for the character if not the show.

What's the deal with Q2 looking so intently at his hands? Hasn't he ever taken human form before? I ask this because he seems to be unfamiliar with the way humans are built.

Anyway, he was right about the clothes, they sure aren't MY colors either!

My favorite dialogue:

"Mortal Q": Who does he think he is?
Data: Geordi thinks he is in command here - and he is correct.

(Q complains that something Geordi wants to do isn't possible)
Geordi: You don't know what this ship can do, mister!

Also, I really thought that Q called Worf a Romulan would have REALLY ticked him off, but he restrains himself pretty well. If Worf had not been under orders from Picard to merely escort Q to a Brig and put him in the Holding Cell, I can imagine that he would have torn Q apart, if they had not been aboard a Starfleet vessel!

When Second Q enters the shuttle, First Q immediately recognizes him. How? It's obvious this is the first time Second Q appears in human form, and First Q no longer has his powers, so how can he recognize a Q in a form he never appeared as before?

Enterprise is trying to prevent the Moon from crashing on the planet. The strategy they use is not really the correct one. They wait until the moon is at its perigee to start acting on it. That will result in the highest point of its orbit to rise and have little effect on its lowest point. It would be far more effective to start acting when the moon is at its apogee, thus raising having the greatest effect on the perigee and diminishing the danger it represent to a much greater degree.