PATRON TIER LIST - TNG S7E1 - Descent Part 2

I understand that this is a TV show, and some plausibility will get sacrificed for the sake of plot convenience, good character moments and whatnot, but I can't get over the utter stupidity of the freakin' Doctor commanding the Enterprise with a bunch of glorified NPCs/wet-behind-the-ears noobs. That's a level of preposterousness I cannot forgive. Picard should be stripped of his command for being so moronically reckless.

This one falls right in the middle of my season 7 ratings, but it is still a D. Sadly, there is much worse to come.

I've made the case before, wasting potential is the worst sin. Lore, the Borg, Hugh, Data's emotions chip. Erase it from canon, pretend none of this ever happened, and put these chekov's guns back on the mantle.

D. Just an exercise in squandered potential.

I gave part 1 a B, so this can be nothing more than a C. It's an uninspired part 2 that wastes the Borg, Hugh and Lore on mediocre scenes. The ingredients are a recipe for an epic Borg episode, but instead they turned out to be a recipe for disaster. The Data/Geordi surgery torture is the only thing that saves it from a D.

These episodes are terrible, only overshadowed by some of the shit soon to come in S7!

You know, the more I hear people bemoan the fact that there’s no moment between Hugh and Geordi, the more I feel this episode really could’ve benefitted from that. I gave it B-Tier…but it may have been pushed to an A- by bringing those characters together one more time.

B Tier. I can agree that this episode needed a scene with Hugh and Geordi, most likely having Geordi be in the Picard position so Hugh could save him. Other than that, I actually enjoy this episode and Descent as a whole. I like Beverly working with the benchwarmers and calling back to Suspicions, and I don't mind having Lore being more of a by the numbers villain. The only way you would build him up more would be to give this another episode, which wasn't in the cards.

The most rote, by-the-numbers tying of the plot together, with nothing really explored for our characters except Beverly being in command. Mere weeks after nearly being drummed out of Starfleet for disobeying orders, no less.