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Star Trek Blind! -- The Next Generation
- Thread starter Isrieri
- Start date
This is another thing that goes back to Gene Roddenberry's Vision of the Future. The guy's philosophy and what he wanted out of the future was a very humanist worldview. And cloning is an evolutionary dead end/the removal of a sense of humanity from the human condition. It's wrong on a fundamental, ethical level to such a worldview.
More deeply, it's because her idea of romance is more human, versus Worf's Klingon conceptions. And that helps to outline an even deeper fear of incompatibility with her Klingon heritage.
Cliff Bole, who later directed Best of Both Worlds I & II among others
ClaudiaSilvestri
(she/her)
I'm tangentially reminded of a 1980s SF novel where the main plot is a colony that needs to get more genetic material for their reproduction, in this case because they'rr a planet of all men. Ethan of Athos is sort of a sidestory in Lois McMaster Bujold's main SF series, but it's overall a great series and she deserves all those awards she's won over the years.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
This is the weirdest attempt for the show to tackle abortion in pretty much any science fiction show. "We didn't consent to these FULLY GROWN HUMANS, so we are going to explode them with our space guns." And it's such a small part of the episode.
This episode makes clear what kind of issues the producers and writers were having with the one-two punch of writer's strike and budget crunch. There are three plotlines going, and one of them is resolved in the first act! The Irish stereotypes are incredibly uncomfortable, to the point that Colm Meany hates this episode for it. Apparently the original concept was supposed to be a metaphor for American immigration policy, but it was lost in all the bullshit.
Isrieri
My father told me this would happen
Sorry for the delay. Christmas was pretty busy. I did binge the whole season though! Now I just need to put my thoughts together.
49 – Evolution (★★)
This feels like a do-over of what they were attempting with Home Soil. A scientist’s life work is on the line when a freak accident from Wesley’s science project nanomachines take over the ship, as is wont to happen, and the episode tries to explore the ramifications of what qualifies as life or not and the scientist’s struggles with losing what may be his one chance at notoriety. I feel that these types of episodes are what Roddenberry had in mind when he came up with the show. Meeting cool intelligent aliens and putting cowboy hats on them.
I wasn’t able to get into it. It’s pretty zany that Wes accidentally endangered the ship. Whoopsies! They don’t chastise him for not coming to Picard right away which seems unduly lenient. I also think the nanomachines are even less a candidate for a life form than the replicating rocks were. Plus it’s even sillier when they use Data’s body as a conduit to communicate with them. You’re able to suspend your disbelief better, but its such a gigantic risk not only for Data’s wellbeing but the security of the ship!
Couldn’t recall the actor who plays the scientist, then suddenly remembered he’s one of the doctors from Scrubs. Which feels like a lifetime ago. The way they decide to characterize this man, is that they have him use his genius imagination to play entire seasons of baseball in his head. For fun, he says. I want to say that this is very stupid and badly written. I want to say that this is lame and sad. I want to say that they clearly didn’t know how to make him look smart and this was the best they could do.
But honest and truly, it reminds me too much of my grandfather! He was a statistics professor. He tried to teach me statistics sometimes using baseball analogies to explain tricky idiosyncrasies of the field. All of it flying over my head and only solidifying my resolve to never take a statistics class. Thus, I could uniquely identify with Wesley here.
50 – The Ensigns of Command (★★★)
A trick I’ve noticed is that the opening moments of the episode will be related to whatever theme or message the episode is trying to convey. The thesis statement if you will. We open on a violin recital with Data in second chair. He tries to warn Picard & Bev that he might not do the best job because he hasn’t processed enough feedback to know how good or bad he’ll do in a live performance. They chastise him for underselling his talents before he even attempts to play. He’s trying to convince them of facts that they don’t want to accept until they’ve seen what he has to show for himself.
The Enterprise gets a very, very, short notice demand from the Sheliak Corporate that unlawful humans have been found on one of their worlds and need to either be removed or they’ll kill them. These aliens are very taciturn and don’t like dealing with humans so Picard has to scramble to get these people evacuated. However the colonists don’t want to leave, because its their home and they refuse to be bullied. Data (not Troi not Riker not O’Brian) has to go down and convince them to leave.
It isn’t as graceful of a script as I would like but, this is a solid B+ filler episode I’m quite fond of. I love it in particular for the Sheliak themselves. Most of the aliens till now have been humanoids with odd features or walking special effects. The Sheliak actor is under some kind of quilt and wiggles around in it, but he’s ensconced inside these crystals like Zordon in his tube, and some nifty mood lightning highlights his silhouette to make him sufficiently ethereal. I think he’s meant to be some kind of spectral entity, think a DnD wraith. They are equal parts intimidating and hilarious because the Sheliak insisted on a 500,000 word treaty with the Federation so they don’t have to deal with each other. Picard tries to talk with them, tries to bargin with them, tries to gaslight them by insisting they have a ‘mutual’ problem, and they quote regulations to him. It’s great, because on the one hand this is a real challenge for Picard that’s right in his wheelhouse, and absurd that he’s having any difficulties because there’s this GIANT TREATY that outlines all of the procedures to cover as many events and outliers as possible, that he doesn’t read until near the end of the episode. Granted, this whole problem has a very tight ticking clock of just a few hours so he needs to buy any time he can, but he should be nose deep in the thing after the first failed hail. Bonus points that they are the Sheliak Corporate. Of course they’d draft a tedious contract that beleaguers anyone who reads it.
The planet stuff is written sloppily and their leader is a giant dumbass for the sake of the plot. The thing is his arguments are not invalid. He’s trying to say that the aqueduct, the crown jewel of their colony, is a legacy left behind by the work of their forebears and that by abandoning the planet it’s as if the hardship and death that they worked their lives for doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. Data makes them aware of the threat the Sheliak pose and they really ought to be convinced by that alone. The struggle should be to change the minds of a few proud or sentimental people who want to stay behind to die and exploring that, instead of the entire colony just outright refusing to see reason.
But the leader doesn’t communicate this – he just talks about THE AQUEDUCT. SEE THIS? THIS IS LIFE. MY FATHER DIED ON THAT HILL. Etc etc. They make him into a cartoon bad guy. Nevertheless we get good Data moments. Except for the woman. I’m fine with them working together but she flirts with him and it’s weird and I don’t like it. She CHUCKS a hunk of metal at him when his back is turned before she ever says a word to him and that’s not how you introduce yourself to someone you want to kiss.
There’s a handful of great scenes here but my favorite is between Troi & Picard. They’re discussing how to talk to the Sheliak and Troi remarks how much of a miracle it is for aliens to understand each other at all. She holds up her glass and asks Picard a word in her language, and his guesses are all wrong. To decipher a complex language takes a long time and a lot of work and not just one way. Both the student and the teacher need to put in equal effort. Essentially, a willingness to commune. That is the challenge the Sheliak pose.
abeyance : noun
1) The condition of being temporarily set aside; suspension.
51 – The Survivors (★★★★)
Good tea. Nice house.
I always remember this as the one where Picard brings down the replicator to the old couple. I just thought it was cool that they could detach it from the ship and give it to people to use in their home. “What?! You mean it isn’t just something on a starship? WHOA! That’s so radical!”
This is a pretty nifty mystery. A bombed out planet after a vicious war left no one alive save two survivors. Yet, they live in picturesque idealism. A perfect home, a lovely garden, tripwire traps, everything you could want. But why was this old couple left alive? Very satisfying to watch Picard put the pieces together. Great acting and really good dialogue from the cast too. This feels like it could've been an independent sci-fi short story.
In a sense, you could consider this a P.D episode, but looking at what the consequences of dogmatic observance could look like. What kind of weight do you end up carrying when you have the power to stop a tragedy and choose not to?
49 – Evolution (★★)
This feels like a do-over of what they were attempting with Home Soil. A scientist’s life work is on the line when a freak accident from Wesley’s science project nanomachines take over the ship, as is wont to happen, and the episode tries to explore the ramifications of what qualifies as life or not and the scientist’s struggles with losing what may be his one chance at notoriety. I feel that these types of episodes are what Roddenberry had in mind when he came up with the show. Meeting cool intelligent aliens and putting cowboy hats on them.
I wasn’t able to get into it. It’s pretty zany that Wes accidentally endangered the ship. Whoopsies! They don’t chastise him for not coming to Picard right away which seems unduly lenient. I also think the nanomachines are even less a candidate for a life form than the replicating rocks were. Plus it’s even sillier when they use Data’s body as a conduit to communicate with them. You’re able to suspend your disbelief better, but its such a gigantic risk not only for Data’s wellbeing but the security of the ship!
Couldn’t recall the actor who plays the scientist, then suddenly remembered he’s one of the doctors from Scrubs. Which feels like a lifetime ago. The way they decide to characterize this man, is that they have him use his genius imagination to play entire seasons of baseball in his head. For fun, he says. I want to say that this is very stupid and badly written. I want to say that this is lame and sad. I want to say that they clearly didn’t know how to make him look smart and this was the best they could do.
But honest and truly, it reminds me too much of my grandfather! He was a statistics professor. He tried to teach me statistics sometimes using baseball analogies to explain tricky idiosyncrasies of the field. All of it flying over my head and only solidifying my resolve to never take a statistics class. Thus, I could uniquely identify with Wesley here.
50 – The Ensigns of Command (★★★)
A trick I’ve noticed is that the opening moments of the episode will be related to whatever theme or message the episode is trying to convey. The thesis statement if you will. We open on a violin recital with Data in second chair. He tries to warn Picard & Bev that he might not do the best job because he hasn’t processed enough feedback to know how good or bad he’ll do in a live performance. They chastise him for underselling his talents before he even attempts to play. He’s trying to convince them of facts that they don’t want to accept until they’ve seen what he has to show for himself.
The Enterprise gets a very, very, short notice demand from the Sheliak Corporate that unlawful humans have been found on one of their worlds and need to either be removed or they’ll kill them. These aliens are very taciturn and don’t like dealing with humans so Picard has to scramble to get these people evacuated. However the colonists don’t want to leave, because its their home and they refuse to be bullied. Data (not Troi not Riker not O’Brian) has to go down and convince them to leave.
It isn’t as graceful of a script as I would like but, this is a solid B+ filler episode I’m quite fond of. I love it in particular for the Sheliak themselves. Most of the aliens till now have been humanoids with odd features or walking special effects. The Sheliak actor is under some kind of quilt and wiggles around in it, but he’s ensconced inside these crystals like Zordon in his tube, and some nifty mood lightning highlights his silhouette to make him sufficiently ethereal. I think he’s meant to be some kind of spectral entity, think a DnD wraith. They are equal parts intimidating and hilarious because the Sheliak insisted on a 500,000 word treaty with the Federation so they don’t have to deal with each other. Picard tries to talk with them, tries to bargin with them, tries to gaslight them by insisting they have a ‘mutual’ problem, and they quote regulations to him. It’s great, because on the one hand this is a real challenge for Picard that’s right in his wheelhouse, and absurd that he’s having any difficulties because there’s this GIANT TREATY that outlines all of the procedures to cover as many events and outliers as possible, that he doesn’t read until near the end of the episode. Granted, this whole problem has a very tight ticking clock of just a few hours so he needs to buy any time he can, but he should be nose deep in the thing after the first failed hail. Bonus points that they are the Sheliak Corporate. Of course they’d draft a tedious contract that beleaguers anyone who reads it.
The planet stuff is written sloppily and their leader is a giant dumbass for the sake of the plot. The thing is his arguments are not invalid. He’s trying to say that the aqueduct, the crown jewel of their colony, is a legacy left behind by the work of their forebears and that by abandoning the planet it’s as if the hardship and death that they worked their lives for doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. Data makes them aware of the threat the Sheliak pose and they really ought to be convinced by that alone. The struggle should be to change the minds of a few proud or sentimental people who want to stay behind to die and exploring that, instead of the entire colony just outright refusing to see reason.
But the leader doesn’t communicate this – he just talks about THE AQUEDUCT. SEE THIS? THIS IS LIFE. MY FATHER DIED ON THAT HILL. Etc etc. They make him into a cartoon bad guy. Nevertheless we get good Data moments. Except for the woman. I’m fine with them working together but she flirts with him and it’s weird and I don’t like it. She CHUCKS a hunk of metal at him when his back is turned before she ever says a word to him and that’s not how you introduce yourself to someone you want to kiss.
There’s a handful of great scenes here but my favorite is between Troi & Picard. They’re discussing how to talk to the Sheliak and Troi remarks how much of a miracle it is for aliens to understand each other at all. She holds up her glass and asks Picard a word in her language, and his guesses are all wrong. To decipher a complex language takes a long time and a lot of work and not just one way. Both the student and the teacher need to put in equal effort. Essentially, a willingness to commune. That is the challenge the Sheliak pose.
“We will remove them, but we need time.” says Picard
“You need time Picard of the Enterprise? We will save you time. We will eradicate the human infestation.” the Sheliak assert. Badass.
abeyance : noun
1) The condition of being temporarily set aside; suspension.
51 – The Survivors (★★★★)
Good tea. Nice house.
I always remember this as the one where Picard brings down the replicator to the old couple. I just thought it was cool that they could detach it from the ship and give it to people to use in their home. “What?! You mean it isn’t just something on a starship? WHOA! That’s so radical!”
This is a pretty nifty mystery. A bombed out planet after a vicious war left no one alive save two survivors. Yet, they live in picturesque idealism. A perfect home, a lovely garden, tripwire traps, everything you could want. But why was this old couple left alive? Very satisfying to watch Picard put the pieces together. Great acting and really good dialogue from the cast too. This feels like it could've been an independent sci-fi short story.
In a sense, you could consider this a P.D episode, but looking at what the consequences of dogmatic observance could look like. What kind of weight do you end up carrying when you have the power to stop a tragedy and choose not to?
Isrieri
My father told me this would happen
52 – Who Watches the Watchers (★★★)
This season is shaping up to be the one with really cool sci-fi concepts. The Enterprise rolls up to Mentak 3 to recharge the battery of an anthropology (xenopology?) research station. An accident happens, an away team is sent, but one of the primitive natives named Niko sneaks a peak at the base and sees the crew cleaning up.
Troi & Riker are handed the crappiest and most thankless job in all of Star Trek: They have to beam down and ‘reverse’ the cultural contamination. Yeah we’ll just do that. We’ll just beam down and try to convince these people that the godlike aliens they saw are figments of their imagination. The story reason they do this is because the Mentakans rejected spiritualism and are known for being more rational then your common bronze age culture. So maybe they have a chance if they appeal to rational logic. And the best Troi can come up with is “You had a very interesting dream.” How can you not laugh your ass off at that?
But then I stopped and thought for a moment: This is a bronze age culture. They’ve rejected mysticism and you cannot say anything that might cause them to believe in some other kind of supernatural entity. Okay so, how exactly do you make this happen? Were they a mirage? Was it a trick of the light? Do they need to craft some scheme by planting evidence to make the native look like a liar? Distraction with a different impending problem? Maybe they were some strange new animal? Is this a doomed mission? Did they have a chance in hell? Seems like this was a panicked & poorly thought hail mary.
Ultimately it becomes an excuse to beam one of them up and fully expose them to humanity’s future tech. Turns out the anthropologist had the right of it: The culture is already contaminated and that they may as well go all in and confess because the damage has already been done. It’s a fun scenario: You can’t help but put yourself in the Mentakan woman’s shoes and wonder how you might respond yourself if whisked up to a starship by weirdos with bright colored skin and white heads.
Picard is faced with a choice, he has to prove that he isn’t a divine being and Niko draws a bow on him. Man saunters up, pulls down his shirt (he didn’t do that) and said “shoot.” True power move. Trust the man to take no half measures.
53 – The Bonding (★★★★)
This poor young kid is all alone in his cabin, enduring his mother’s death by watching old videos of his family. Then we see her loom from around the corner and call out to him. Young me said “Oh! That’s not right.” current me says “NO! THAT’S SO CREEPY!”
I like this episode but it’s definitely a YMMV deal. What’s interesting is as a kid I didn’t like it at all but appreciate it in new ways as an adult. Jeremy has lost his whole family in an accident and is adrift. The episode’s about how people process grief and how the crew reacts to Aster’s death. Worf, Troi, and the Captain all try their best to accommodate him but it annoyed me how they handled it. At the time it all felt very patronizing. Everyone speaks to him so gingerly, Worf’s presence is intimidating and unwelcome, and especially when they try to navigate Jeremy’s anger at the climax. I thought it was wasn’t respectful of the intelligence he ought to have, and how they prodded him to express his anger at Worf like it was right out of a textbook on how to ‘handle’ children.
I understood death and the finality of it, but what I didn’t was what it meant to be alone. Bereft of any family and cooped up with nothing but thoughts and memories. Of course he’s not truly alone and has support but that doesn’t banish the isolation. Beverly has a wonderful scene where Wes comes in to talk through the memories of his dad. It hits for me now when it didn’t before because I’ve since lost my own father, McFadden knocks it out of the park, and because the characters still have each other to lean on. Touching stuff. I also understand what Worf is trying to do. Troi’s quite correct that he needs to lay off till the proper time but the ending was a lot more poignant for me now. It’s still awkward because a kid’s not going to understand the significance of the act, and probably feels like the weird rituals you do at church that you just go along with cuz the grownups tell you to. But Jeremy is no longer alone now. Both of their families are stronger. Worf is the best damn character on this show.
Man, carrying children on a starship has got to be the stupidest idea anyone could ever conceive of. But I’m glad the show did it, because we can explore topics like this.
54 – Booby Trap (★★★)
There’s a number of choice scenes and good moments with Geordi and Picard, but I forgot that a huge chunk of the runtime is naught but technobabble. It’s impressively loquacious. Maybe you fondly remember the exciting ending where Picard is forced to manually maneuver the ship through a deadly asteroid field. But you should crack open the script and read it aloud to yourself: If you actually try to listen to what Geordi’s saying you’ll have steam coming out of your ears. Mr. Burton is very talented at delivering these lines. Emphasizing words precisely, such that you can follow his emotions even though it’s all gobbledygook.
This is the one where they stumble on an ancient battleship from a millennia old civilization, and Geordi has women troubles so he starts falling for a holodeck facsimile he’s working with. Picard gets to be stricken in awe when he steps aboard the derelict and that’s a lot of fun. This isn’t a bad episode but the bit in the middle where they’re trying to solve the trap is mostly dead air.
The booby trap in question is really cool. The aliens the ship was fighting set energy generators on these asteroids, but they calibrated them so that it draws power from anything near them when it detects radiation. I don’t know if that’s scientifically plausible but it sounds plausible enough. The idea of being caught in a thousand year old snare has a certain poeticism.
This is the second time the music has stood out and gotten me proper hyped apart from the dramatic crescendos preceding action or commercial breaks. The other time was Peak Performance. When they allow the musicians room to breathe it doesn’t always connect but a few times they zing out a good one.
55 – The Enemy (★★★)
“Electrically conductive objects?” who talks like that?? Excuse me as I pick up my pronged sustenance transmission utensil and commence mastication of my assorted fiber-based nutritional supplements. With balsamic.
This one is a solid 3 stars. The opening minutes meander quite a bit because the planet Geordi is stranded on is stormy and there’s nothing much for your eye to latch onto. But once we meet Centurion Bakra and get into the meat of things, the highs are real high.
Speaking of Bakra, somebody get a goddamn emmy to whomever plays him. This guy went all out and chews up the scenery with his dastardly romulan visage. When the atmosphere begins effecting him he also goes all in on the clammy shakes and really sells that the guy is suffering. A+ performance. Geordi is his typical self despite the desperate situation but paired up with Bakra it’s very funny how laid back he is. I like the talk the two of them have, and how Bakra comes to realize they need to work together. Geordi’s laugh when they get that tricorder going is truly priceless.
Meanwhile, Picard has to juggle rescuing Geordi with fending off the romulans from crossing the neutral zone. That’s all juicy stuff too and there’s some great lines spoken. The most interesting thing to me is that one of the romulans they beamed up is dying from nerve damage and the only one who can save him is Worf. We go through the expected song and dance, but I really like that in the end he refuses to donate his cells to save the romulan. The noble action would have been to selflessly save the romulan’s life. Perhaps Worf could have gloated that now he’s forced to carry a piece of him forever or something. But that would be cheap and more importantly undermine the entire act. It isn’t virtuous to save a man’s life just so you wound him later.
Instead, he is resolute in his decision: He can’t forgive any romulans for his parents’ deaths and I think it’s a lot more interesting to explore those feelings. They come from a place of prejudice, but you can’t fix a problem if you don’t acknowledge the problem first. Picard could have ordered him to do it and it would have been easy for the writers to take that road too, but he chooses to respect his wishes. You don’t see that angle every day.
One thing I expressed surprise of back in TOS was that the romulans didn’t show up very much. The majority of what would be codified as ‘Romulan’ nowadays stems from these TNG episodes, and a lot of that from this season alone. We get to see the smirking condescension of Commander Tomalok who will become the recurring Scooby Doo villain for the Enterprise crew, and the xenophobic patriotism of the romulans from Bakra. We don’t quite learn what they were up to on this Federation territory and that’s another aspect of the episode I liked. Sneaky, treacherous mind games.
56 – The Price (★★★)
Its here! A moment of genuine personality for Troi! She’s being allowed to emote! RED ALERT BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES!
You ever look at a man and immediately hate his guts? That’s Devinoni Ral. He suddenly appears at the episode start and there’s just something about him that shouts he’s a sleazebag who’s getting mary sued into the leading man role. Has a woman hanging off his arm wearing a look that dares you to envy her. “Best hired gun in the business” says the ambassador. He looks like a yuppie nepo baby which, I think is the idea behind his outfit and overall look. Even his voice is annoying! I guess when you’re not into the fantasy one can’t help but point out these things.
The romance between Ral & Troi is by the numbers, the appeal of this for me is the premise: A delegation gathered to bid for access to a highly stable wormhole. That’s such an esoteric, nerdy idea that only Star Trek would spend so much focus on. Of course, where there is bidding there are Ferengi, and they are delightful here. They’re starting to come into their own with this episode. Still a little bit of troglodyte crust but at least they can speak normally and have the wherewithal to sit in a meeting. Just bring us some chairs, we’ll handle the rest!
The Ferengi shenanigans are goofball fun, and I really like the conversation between Ral & Troi. He points out that she judges him for using his empathic abilities to give himself an edge in negotiations but she does the same thing for Picard and the Enterprise crew. I suppose in a sense that’s true but it misses that she’s using those abilities to protect her crew and further a mission of peace and exploration. Ral is just manipulating people to make himself rich. It’s a question of values, as Riker puts it. It did make me question how I felt about empathic abilities as a concept. I know I wouldn't appreciate people digging around in my feelings unwarranted, we have enough privacy problems in the modern day as it is.
P.S: What the actual hell are those champagne glasses? Look at those things!! They have no stand! What kind of ergonomic disaster is this?!
This season is shaping up to be the one with really cool sci-fi concepts. The Enterprise rolls up to Mentak 3 to recharge the battery of an anthropology (xenopology?) research station. An accident happens, an away team is sent, but one of the primitive natives named Niko sneaks a peak at the base and sees the crew cleaning up.
Troi & Riker are handed the crappiest and most thankless job in all of Star Trek: They have to beam down and ‘reverse’ the cultural contamination. Yeah we’ll just do that. We’ll just beam down and try to convince these people that the godlike aliens they saw are figments of their imagination. The story reason they do this is because the Mentakans rejected spiritualism and are known for being more rational then your common bronze age culture. So maybe they have a chance if they appeal to rational logic. And the best Troi can come up with is “You had a very interesting dream.” How can you not laugh your ass off at that?
But then I stopped and thought for a moment: This is a bronze age culture. They’ve rejected mysticism and you cannot say anything that might cause them to believe in some other kind of supernatural entity. Okay so, how exactly do you make this happen? Were they a mirage? Was it a trick of the light? Do they need to craft some scheme by planting evidence to make the native look like a liar? Distraction with a different impending problem? Maybe they were some strange new animal? Is this a doomed mission? Did they have a chance in hell? Seems like this was a panicked & poorly thought hail mary.
Ultimately it becomes an excuse to beam one of them up and fully expose them to humanity’s future tech. Turns out the anthropologist had the right of it: The culture is already contaminated and that they may as well go all in and confess because the damage has already been done. It’s a fun scenario: You can’t help but put yourself in the Mentakan woman’s shoes and wonder how you might respond yourself if whisked up to a starship by weirdos with bright colored skin and white heads.
Picard is faced with a choice, he has to prove that he isn’t a divine being and Niko draws a bow on him. Man saunters up, pulls down his shirt (he didn’t do that) and said “shoot.” True power move. Trust the man to take no half measures.
53 – The Bonding (★★★★)
This poor young kid is all alone in his cabin, enduring his mother’s death by watching old videos of his family. Then we see her loom from around the corner and call out to him. Young me said “Oh! That’s not right.” current me says “NO! THAT’S SO CREEPY!”
I like this episode but it’s definitely a YMMV deal. What’s interesting is as a kid I didn’t like it at all but appreciate it in new ways as an adult. Jeremy has lost his whole family in an accident and is adrift. The episode’s about how people process grief and how the crew reacts to Aster’s death. Worf, Troi, and the Captain all try their best to accommodate him but it annoyed me how they handled it. At the time it all felt very patronizing. Everyone speaks to him so gingerly, Worf’s presence is intimidating and unwelcome, and especially when they try to navigate Jeremy’s anger at the climax. I thought it was wasn’t respectful of the intelligence he ought to have, and how they prodded him to express his anger at Worf like it was right out of a textbook on how to ‘handle’ children.
I understood death and the finality of it, but what I didn’t was what it meant to be alone. Bereft of any family and cooped up with nothing but thoughts and memories. Of course he’s not truly alone and has support but that doesn’t banish the isolation. Beverly has a wonderful scene where Wes comes in to talk through the memories of his dad. It hits for me now when it didn’t before because I’ve since lost my own father, McFadden knocks it out of the park, and because the characters still have each other to lean on. Touching stuff. I also understand what Worf is trying to do. Troi’s quite correct that he needs to lay off till the proper time but the ending was a lot more poignant for me now. It’s still awkward because a kid’s not going to understand the significance of the act, and probably feels like the weird rituals you do at church that you just go along with cuz the grownups tell you to. But Jeremy is no longer alone now. Both of their families are stronger. Worf is the best damn character on this show.
Man, carrying children on a starship has got to be the stupidest idea anyone could ever conceive of. But I’m glad the show did it, because we can explore topics like this.
54 – Booby Trap (★★★)
There’s a number of choice scenes and good moments with Geordi and Picard, but I forgot that a huge chunk of the runtime is naught but technobabble. It’s impressively loquacious. Maybe you fondly remember the exciting ending where Picard is forced to manually maneuver the ship through a deadly asteroid field. But you should crack open the script and read it aloud to yourself: If you actually try to listen to what Geordi’s saying you’ll have steam coming out of your ears. Mr. Burton is very talented at delivering these lines. Emphasizing words precisely, such that you can follow his emotions even though it’s all gobbledygook.
This is the one where they stumble on an ancient battleship from a millennia old civilization, and Geordi has women troubles so he starts falling for a holodeck facsimile he’s working with. Picard gets to be stricken in awe when he steps aboard the derelict and that’s a lot of fun. This isn’t a bad episode but the bit in the middle where they’re trying to solve the trap is mostly dead air.
The booby trap in question is really cool. The aliens the ship was fighting set energy generators on these asteroids, but they calibrated them so that it draws power from anything near them when it detects radiation. I don’t know if that’s scientifically plausible but it sounds plausible enough. The idea of being caught in a thousand year old snare has a certain poeticism.
This is the second time the music has stood out and gotten me proper hyped apart from the dramatic crescendos preceding action or commercial breaks. The other time was Peak Performance. When they allow the musicians room to breathe it doesn’t always connect but a few times they zing out a good one.
55 – The Enemy (★★★)
“Electrically conductive objects?” who talks like that?? Excuse me as I pick up my pronged sustenance transmission utensil and commence mastication of my assorted fiber-based nutritional supplements. With balsamic.
This one is a solid 3 stars. The opening minutes meander quite a bit because the planet Geordi is stranded on is stormy and there’s nothing much for your eye to latch onto. But once we meet Centurion Bakra and get into the meat of things, the highs are real high.
Speaking of Bakra, somebody get a goddamn emmy to whomever plays him. This guy went all out and chews up the scenery with his dastardly romulan visage. When the atmosphere begins effecting him he also goes all in on the clammy shakes and really sells that the guy is suffering. A+ performance. Geordi is his typical self despite the desperate situation but paired up with Bakra it’s very funny how laid back he is. I like the talk the two of them have, and how Bakra comes to realize they need to work together. Geordi’s laugh when they get that tricorder going is truly priceless.
Meanwhile, Picard has to juggle rescuing Geordi with fending off the romulans from crossing the neutral zone. That’s all juicy stuff too and there’s some great lines spoken. The most interesting thing to me is that one of the romulans they beamed up is dying from nerve damage and the only one who can save him is Worf. We go through the expected song and dance, but I really like that in the end he refuses to donate his cells to save the romulan. The noble action would have been to selflessly save the romulan’s life. Perhaps Worf could have gloated that now he’s forced to carry a piece of him forever or something. But that would be cheap and more importantly undermine the entire act. It isn’t virtuous to save a man’s life just so you wound him later.
Instead, he is resolute in his decision: He can’t forgive any romulans for his parents’ deaths and I think it’s a lot more interesting to explore those feelings. They come from a place of prejudice, but you can’t fix a problem if you don’t acknowledge the problem first. Picard could have ordered him to do it and it would have been easy for the writers to take that road too, but he chooses to respect his wishes. You don’t see that angle every day.
One thing I expressed surprise of back in TOS was that the romulans didn’t show up very much. The majority of what would be codified as ‘Romulan’ nowadays stems from these TNG episodes, and a lot of that from this season alone. We get to see the smirking condescension of Commander Tomalok who will become the recurring Scooby Doo villain for the Enterprise crew, and the xenophobic patriotism of the romulans from Bakra. We don’t quite learn what they were up to on this Federation territory and that’s another aspect of the episode I liked. Sneaky, treacherous mind games.
56 – The Price (★★★)
Its here! A moment of genuine personality for Troi! She’s being allowed to emote! RED ALERT BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES!
You ever look at a man and immediately hate his guts? That’s Devinoni Ral. He suddenly appears at the episode start and there’s just something about him that shouts he’s a sleazebag who’s getting mary sued into the leading man role. Has a woman hanging off his arm wearing a look that dares you to envy her. “Best hired gun in the business” says the ambassador. He looks like a yuppie nepo baby which, I think is the idea behind his outfit and overall look. Even his voice is annoying! I guess when you’re not into the fantasy one can’t help but point out these things.
The romance between Ral & Troi is by the numbers, the appeal of this for me is the premise: A delegation gathered to bid for access to a highly stable wormhole. That’s such an esoteric, nerdy idea that only Star Trek would spend so much focus on. Of course, where there is bidding there are Ferengi, and they are delightful here. They’re starting to come into their own with this episode. Still a little bit of troglodyte crust but at least they can speak normally and have the wherewithal to sit in a meeting. Just bring us some chairs, we’ll handle the rest!
The Ferengi shenanigans are goofball fun, and I really like the conversation between Ral & Troi. He points out that she judges him for using his empathic abilities to give himself an edge in negotiations but she does the same thing for Picard and the Enterprise crew. I suppose in a sense that’s true but it misses that she’s using those abilities to protect her crew and further a mission of peace and exploration. Ral is just manipulating people to make himself rich. It’s a question of values, as Riker puts it. It did make me question how I felt about empathic abilities as a concept. I know I wouldn't appreciate people digging around in my feelings unwarranted, we have enough privacy problems in the modern day as it is.
P.S: What the actual hell are those champagne glasses? Look at those things!! They have no stand! What kind of ergonomic disaster is this?!
The Survivors often gets left off of best-of lists, or even "watch" lists, but at the time of its airing, I think it was the best TNG episode to-date, and it remains a personal favourite. That closing Picard monologue gives me chills every time. Banger.