The Enterprise is rushing to the rescue of some miners on a distant colony world, all hands prepared for a medical emergency. Their rush is interrupted, however, by the arrival of Q, who was impressed by Riker on their previous meeting. Now the superbeing has a new game in mind. He whisks Riker and the command crew to a generic planet, to do battle in Napoleonic style against some animalistic rivals, while offering Riker the chance to save his friends by granting him the power of the Q. Meanwhile, Q separately bargains with Picard over Riker's decision. If Riker accepts Q's offer, and joins the Q Continuum, then Picard will reliquish command of the Enterprise!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: Patrick Stewart gets some excellent scenes in this, particularly opposite John de Lancie. A highlight of the episode's first half is the "Shakespeare quoting" scene. Q begins with the upper hand, idly reciting Shakespeare passages at an irritated Picard. But when Q successfully ropes Picard into the game, Picard one-ups him by taking an ironic passage from Hamlet and treating it literally, shaking Q by perhaps probing a bit too close to the immature superbeing's motivations. One can see the Shakespearian-trained Stewart relishing this scene, and the larger context within the episode works too, making it a genuinely memorable moment.
For a rare change, the backgrounding of Picard actually works in this episode. The set-up has Picard and Q effectively representing two possible paths, one of which Riker must choose. Picard's bargain with Q vaguely parallels God's bargain with Lucifer in The Book of Job, betting on the choices that will be made by one man. Picard takes a largely hands-off approach to trying to influence Riker's decision, right down to letting Riker give his "gifts" to the crew at the end. By allowing the crew to react to Riker's gifts (and the source of their power), Picard allows the situation to resolve itself. This is something I'm not sure Kirk (or Archer) could have done convincingly, and represents a good use of the more intellectual Picard.
Riker: A showcase episode for Riker, this unfortunately helps to show some of Jonathan Frakes' limitations as an actor. On the planet, he poses very self-consciously in several shots, sticking one leg up on the (unconvincing) papier-mache rocks as if he thinks he's posing for a GQ shoot or somesuch. He never convinces when Riker supposedly goes "power-mad," and as such there's very little drama in his choice.
Tasha: Though given some of the strongest character potential in the early episodes, Tasha has since sunk gradually into the background, where she still resides here. She doesn't even get a "gift" at the end. However, she does get a couple of nice character beats. When she's put into Q's "penalty box," we see her frustration at being left helpless to act, at being controlled by a stronger external force - which probably reminds her of her hellish childhood. It's a good moment for a character who seems to increasingly have been forgotten by the production team.
Q: His second appearance is stronger than his first. The production team seems to have realized that de Lancie's performance is not well-suited to generating fear, and have opted to play a bit more with Q's mischievous streak. Though the content of the episode insists that Q's interest is in Riker, de Lancie's best moments are all when playing opposite Patrick Stewart - which is likely why future Q episodes steered the focus to the Q/Picard rivalry.
BRATS IN SPAAACE!
Wesley dies!
Well, OK, he gets better almost immediately. Still, we do get to see him brutally stabbed, if only for a second or two. In the midst of an unusually decent episode, I will consider that as a personal gift.
THOUGHTS
Though not up to the standards of Where No One Has Gone Before, this episode is a rare, pretty good first-season TNG episode. The regulars all get something to do. Tasha gets that moment with Picard; Worf gets to demonstrate his abilities as a warrior by scouting the enemy camp and returning; Geordi, Worf, and Wesley get to reject Riker's "gifts." Even Dr. Crusher gets to act the role of a protective parent. The only person with no role is Troi, who we're told was dropped off for "family time." Too bad - she'd have been of great aid to the crew, by intoning "I sense hostility" when the animal-like Q creatures attack, or "I sense sorrow" when the girl's body is pulled from beneath wreckage on the mining colony. All told, the script uses the large cast very well, better than most of the show's episodes have managed.
Unfortunately, not all the news is good. The lack of jeopardy and urgency that has marked most of TNG's run continues here. The first half of the episode sets up a dilemma. Riker is given Q's powers, but makes a promise not to use them. This is tested by Riker refraining from using his powers to save a third party who is a complete stranger, which then cues a third act in which... Picard sits back while Riker, Q, and the bridge crew chat for a while. This last works better than it should, because the characterization is mostly good... With the exception of Worf, whose anemic character development is shown in that the most Riker/the writers can think to give him is a Klingon sex slave.
Still, think how much more dramatic the situation could have been, had the Enterprise been placed in imminent danger, with Riker having the power to literally blink the ship out of danger but having to refrain from using it. Q could be the devil on Riker's shoulder, tempting him to use his powers not to "bring (his) friends happiness," but to save his friends. Picard could be acting as the captain, and Riker could be looking on, tortured, as the (mostly) human crew work with what would seem like agonizing slowness to pull the Enterprise out of danger by inches. I think that would have worked just as well as a test of Riker's resolve. It would have further demonstrated that the Enterprise crew doesn't need a first officer with god-like abilities, and would have greatly enhanced the suspense of the third act.
Even so, the episode works quite passably on its own merits. Q's second appearance works much better than his first did, and the Enterprise crew all get their moments for a change. It might be slightly generous of me, but I think I'll give this episode a solid:
Rating: 6/10.
Previous Episode: The Battle
Next Episode: Haven
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