At least the holodeck cut down on the amount of inexplicable time travel, theme planets, or theater-loving superbeings in order to get to the alt-history episod

At least the holodeck cut down on the amount of inexplicable time travel, theme planets, or theater-loving superbeings in order to get to the alt-history episodes. That excised a big source of random woo, and replaced it with one frequently malfunctioning plot device. If the writers of the original series wanted to set something in Victorian England, they had to invent an Victorian England planet, and then they could only use it once. The next generation writers could decide Data liked Sherlock Holmes, and have that be his recreational holodeck thing, just like Captain Picard had the hardboiled-detective noir novels. I thought the position of ship's counselor made sense, but not as a psychic bridge officer. That seat seemed more suited to a crisis negotiator type of person--the kind you'd ask to talk the aliens into powering down disruptors and releasing a hostage. Instead, it was "I sense anger and frustration, Captain." And Guinan trod perilously close to the "magical negro" trope at times, and definitely embodied the "the bartender" trope.