Romulan Episodes Always Great?

[Maj. Dick]

Something I have noticed over the last several months binge watching the first 5 live action star trek shows, I think it was a winning formula to involve the Romulans in an episodes storyline. I can't think of a single episode that wasn't great that had Romulans, even in a small capacity. They almost always create episodes that are sci fi political thrillers and episodes filled with tension. DS9s Romulan episodes were the best, In the Pale Moonlight, The Die is Cast, Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges, and the most underrated The Visionary. Nothing beats a Romulan thriller episode where Obrein is also tortured. The obvious standout from TNG for me was The Defector. Even the rare appearances on voyager and enterprise were very strong episodes. Is there any Romulan episode that was a stinker or were they all bangers? As far as I remember, they're all great.

 

[at Quark's]

Unification.

The episode itself may not be too bad, but the Romulan / Sela plot to take over Vulcan is just ... lame. You're going to take over a planet of billions, in the heart of a Federation of trillions with just three stolen Vulcan ships filled with slightly over 2,000 Romulan soldiers and expect them to hold Vulcan indefinitely? Really?

(Of course it would make more sense if massive reinforcements were to be sent immediately after the first wave, but the episode says nothing about that).

 

[somebuddyX]

Does Nemesis count? Because that one is uh um Hey it had that space battle scene at least.

 

[Maj. Dick]

Unification.

The episode itself may not be too bad, but the Romulan / Sela plot to take over Vulcan is just ... lame. You're going to take over a planet of billions, in the heart of a Federation of trillions with just three stolen Vulcan ships filled with slightly over 2,000 Romulan soldiers and expect them to hold Vulcan indefinitely? Really?

(Of course it would make more sense if massive reinforcements were to be sent immediately after the first wave, but the episode says nothing about that).

I think most of the episode worked for me because it's more so about the movement for unification, and the Sela part isn't the main focus. That being said, it is 100% the thing that holds those episodes back. What bothered me more is that Star Trek is usually too smart and well written to have the "bad guy explains evil plan to then have his big mouth being his undoing," but for some reason, a Romulan of all people sits there explaining their entire evil plan and then doesn't kill picard and data. There is no explanation as to why she doesn't kill them. So when Picard and an obviously unstoppable android break out, they are able to warn the federation of everything Sela told them. What would have been smart and more in line with the Romulans is if that entire invasion of Vulcan plan was a rouse to attack somewhere else.

 

[Maj. Dick]

Does Nemesis count? Because that one is uh um Hey it had that space battle scene at least.

That space battle was pretty sick. I will say, the movie does have really good scenes of tension building before the space battles, and the scenes focusing on Romulan politics worked for me as well.

 

[at Quark's]

but for some reason, a Romulan of all people sits there explaining their entire evil plan and then doesn't kill picard and data. There is no explanation as to why she doesn't kill them.

Perhaps the excuse is that Sela was only half Romulan?

What would have been smart and more in line with the Romulans is if that entire invasion of Vulcan plan was a rouse to attack somewhere else.

Even then, they'd better employ a more believable rouse than just 2,000 soldiers for the alleged capture of Vulcan

 

[Tosk]

I can think of several eps with Romulans that I personally don't rank very highly.

Birthright part 2, The Neutral Zone, Message in a Bottle...and a butt-load of PIC eps.

 

[at Quark's]

I can think of several eps with Romulans that I personally don't rank very highly.

Birthright part 2, The Neutral Zone, Message in a Bottle...and a butt-load of PIC eps.

For me, The Neutral Zone is the opposite case (in that respect, compared to Unification). The episode isn't very strong perhaps, even though it does have its charms, but that's not because of the Romulans that appear in it, they are fine.

 

[Maj. Dick]

I can think of several eps with Romulans that I personally don't rank very highly.

Birthright part 2, The Neutral Zone, Message in a Bottle...and a butt-load of PIC eps.

Damn I forgot about birthright part 2, you might be right. I'm shocked you don't like ship in a bottle though. In fairness with Picard, I was referring to the original 5 shows.

 

[Maj. Dick]

Neutral Zone is pretty fun. Weird clash of A plot and B plot that don't really have anything in common with each other, but those 2 different stories are pretty decent.

 

[Tosk]

I'm shocked you don't like ship in a bottle though.

Message, not Ship.

For me, The Neutral Zone is the opposite case (in that respect, compared to Unification). The episode isn't very strong perhaps, even though it does have its charms, but that's not because of the Romulans that appear in it, they are fine.

I nominated it due to this in OP's OP:

I can't think of a single episode that wasn't great that had Romulans, even in a small capacity.

 

[Maj. Dick]

Message, not Ship.

Oh. Well I will admit that I thought it was kind of sloppy myself, but it is fun. It is one of the most highly regarded Voyager episodes.

 

[Tomalak]

I've always enjoyed episodes with the Romulans, partly because they're actually pretty infrequent considering their status as one of the big three original series aliens.

 

[Tomalak]

Whoops, posted too soon.

Continuing: rare Romulan stinkers include the aforementioned Nemesis, and arguably Final Frontier (introduce Caitlin Dar but don't even have a Romulan ship? It could have been Starfleet, the Klingons racing to be the first to find God!)

I'm not massively keen on their ENT appearances, but they're ok.

Unification II and Birthright II aren't great either, but I don't think they're bad because of the Romulan aspects per se.

The rest of their TNG and DS9 appearances are all bangers, as are the rare VGR episodes.

They worked pretty well for me in PIC, and I'm glad that Romulan culture was actually explored a little bit for once. I liked Elnor and was sad that he was written out. Laris was great too.

 

[at Quark's]

I nominated it due to this in OP's OP:

I understood you mentioned it because of that, and I wasn't trying to 'correct' you or some such thing, just making a side remark.

But I do think the Romulans actually make The Neutral Zone somewhat better. First, because they introduce a serious threat/storyline for later TNG, secondly because after they appear, their presence allows Ralph (until then only a dick that's centuries behind the times) to make an accurate assessment of the situation, subverting the apparent Enterprise-D officers' view of them as hopeless cases of primitive people, and showing that these people will be able to adapt to the 24th century and that they have useful talents.

 

[Tomalak]

The Neutral Zone is one of the better S1 episodes. I like both plot threads, and the way they are tied together at the end.

Picard pompously lecturing Offenhouse about the superiority of 24th Century humans is a classic of the genre, much-mocked in various DS9 episodes.

 

[fireproof78]

Caveat being that Romulans are my favorite Star Trek alien race, and Balance of Terror and Enterprise Incident are my top tier Trek episodes.

That said, Neutral Zone rates lower for me, and the Romulans are a nice flavor but really don't help the episode at all. Data's Day, in contrast, has great Romulan items that are far more interesting than the rest of the plot.

Things like Unification, Nemesis, Picard Season 1, and the like are all interesting to me because I love seeing the day to day Romulan life. Similarly with the Face of the Enemy.