YMMV / Star Trek: The Next Generation S2E16 "Q Who"

• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • Guinan's first advice to Picard on encountering the Borg ship is suspiciously specific: "Protect yourself Captain, or they'll destroy you." She most likely meant the whole ship, but her phrasing suggests that somehow she personally is not in danger. This also fits with her earlier advice "if I were you [Picard], I'd start back now", which also can be read as herself being detached from the situation. Versus, something like "get us out of here now." In later episodes, it's clear Guinan knows perfectly well she, Picard and various others will be fine, but that was certainly not known by the series at this point. Could this just be part of the apparently never again mentioned notion that she's an "imp"?
  • One could interpret Q's request to join the crew in the beginning of the episode as sincere or simply part of a ploy to trigger what follows, given that he never returns to the issue afterwards.
  • For that matter, why did Q choose to introduce Starfleet to the Borg? An early warning of an existential threat they really need to prepare for, or a test of humanity's, and specifically Picard's, "evolved sensibility" in the face of an utterly implacable foe? Given the events of Star Trek: First Contact, it would appear Picard ultimately failed that test.
  • Was Q informing Picard of a Borg invasion already in progress considering the attacks in the neutral zone, very close to Earth? Q is on the outs with the Continuum at the time and couldn't simply give a warning, so his clown act may have been a guise. This is Q's only overtly deadly encounter with the Enterprise.
• Creator's Pet: Guinan is really pushed hard in this episode by having Q himself regard her with alarm and presenting her as some sort of match for the omnipotent being.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • The away team finds an infant on the Borg ship, which they leave as is; they assume it's simply a Borg child. But it turns out the Borg don't reproduce sexually, they forcibly assimilate. Meaning the baby was abducted by the Borg, and they just left it there instead of rescuing it and removing its implants.^note This was a result of retcon, as originally the Borg were a single organic species who embraced cybernetic enhancement and were only interested in the technology of other races; "assimilation" was something the writers came up with in later appearances.
  • After her introduction, Geordi tells Sonya "You've made it. But you won't last long banging into walls". Sonya only appeared in one more episode, "Samaritan Snare", before being dropped from TNG. Apparently, she didn't stop banging into walls. (She does, however, return in Star Trek: Lower Decks.)
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: Sonya Gomez returns in Star Trek: Lower Decks as a Captain, and quite a badass one at that. She's not bumping into walls anymore!
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Picard refers to Q as "next-of-kin to chaos." Years later, John de Lancie would voice Discord, the spirit of Chaos.
  • At the end of the episode, Q tells Picard that if he can't take a little bloody nose, he should just stay home. However, the one time Q visited DS9, Sisko punched him in the face. Yes, Q never visited the station again...because of a little bloody nose!
  • Q says the Borg drone is "Not a he, not a she". Just wait till Seven of Nine comes along!
  • Q talks of the wonders and the terrors of the unknown galaxy ahead. Then Voyager gets thrown to the far side of the galaxy and finds out it's just like the Alpha Quadrant (right down to Q being there to annoy everyone).
• Special Effects Failure:
  • The Borg costume design looks dated thanks to higher video resolutions available than when the episode first aired. The fact that the suit is simply a body stocking with props attached is very apparent, and pales in comparison to the more sophisticated Borg costumes like in Star Trek: First Contact.
  • The shot of the Cube "regenerating" its damage, achieved as a stop-motion practical effect using a mocked up "close up" of the Borg hull, looked okay at the time of release, but really does not hold up in the slightest on modern viewing. The way the "pipes" bend look particularly like Claymation more than anything.
• Tough Act to Follow: With an introduction like this it's not hard to see how the Borg were inevitably toned down in threat over the years. They're The Juggernaut and our heroes needed what amounts to Divine Intervention just to escape from them.
• Values Dissonance: It's rather fortunate that the planned La Forge/Gomez romance never progressed past this episode. In modern times, it's seen as highly suspect for a manager to engage in a romantic relationship with a subordinate due to the imbalance of power.

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