THE PLOT
The Enterprise is investigating a mystery in the Selcundi Drema Sector. All the planetary systems in that region of space are undergoing bizarre geological upheavals, leaving the planets burned out husks. While investigating, Data receives a transmission: "Is there anybody out there?" He responds - and soon discovers that the girl on the other end of his communications lives on a planet that is just beginning to experience the same world-ending upheaval. But how can the Enterprise intervene without violating the Prime Directive?
Meanwhile, Riker decides it is time to further Wesley's education by giving him a leadership responsibility. He assigns Wesley to head up the team investigating the geological disturbances. Wesley is excited at the prospect. But he soon has trouble maintaining his authority in the face of the older, more experienced members of his team.
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: The episode opens with a lovely character scene for Picard, as he takes some down time to go to the holodeck and ride a horse. He confides in Troi that he finds riding to be relaxing. He's "not looking to anthropomorphize" the animal. He just finds the company of a horse relaxing to him. He also responds well to Troi's observation that, by creating a horse on the holodeck, they have essentially made true the old legend about the winds being gathered to create the animal. I love the look of weariness and annoyance on Picard's face when his playtime is interrupted by duty, just one second before he would have mounted the animal.
Riker: Jonathan Frakes beautifully mirrors that weary/annoyed look when Wesley interrupts his carousing for some command advice. He does give sound advice, both to Wesley and to Picard, and he does it in a particularly well-judged way. The writers seem to have abandoned "poor-man's-Kirk" Riker and have instead developed a character who is very effective at listening to others, and giving them the support they need to make the correct decision - whether that support ends up requiring him to simply ask a few questions about how Picard would handle the same situation, or whether it requires him to play devil's advocate. This Riker is a far more interesting character than the bland "action man" of the series' earliest episodes.
Data: After he makes contact with Sarjenka (Nikki Cox), Data clearly becomes attached. He demonstrates concern for her at every turn. He does not forget his duty, however. When it becomes clear that her world is in trouble, he goes to Picard immediately and offers no excuses for blurring the lines of protocol. He does not actually act against Picard's orders at any point, though his actions late in the episode do push the line of those orders severely. When Picard orders him to sever all communications, he is prepared to go through with that order - though he clearly lingers with the channel open just long enough to allow Sarjenka to become "human" for Picard and the command crew.
Wesley: A rare, Wesley-heavy episode in which Wesley is not annoying. Given his first command, Wesley acts as you would expect someone his age to react. He is nervous, and has problems with his self-confidence. At first, the episode seems to be going along a route in which Ensign Davies (Nicholas Cascone) is going to be bullying Wesley into a power struggle. Thankfully, the episode doesn't go in that direction. Davies is simply doing his part to provide his opinion to Wesley. When Wesley finally gets over his nervousness and gives a direct order, it is followed without hesitation.
THOUGHTS
It's instantly apparent that this will be a much better episode than the last one. There's something about the teaser that displays a real confidence in both the writer's own storytelling ability and the actors to play character moments that don't simply exposit character traits. The script is by Melinda Snodgrass, whose previous outing was The Measure of a Man. This isn't the outstanding episode that one was... but it's still a good one, and Snodgrass' name is looking like the one to hope to see on an episode's front credits.
As with Measure of a Man, she really does capture these characters. She seems to be as tuned into the distinctive voice of each Next Generation character in much the way D. C. Fontana was tuned into the voices of the TOS characters. After Measure of a Man, it's no surprise that she does so well with Riker and Data. But she also writes the best character episode for Wesley since Coming of Age, managing to make him work as a character where many other writers have failed.
The plot is reasonably engaging, though I find it difficult to get too wrapped up in "Prime Directive" dilemmas. After all, the rules of the Prime Directive seem to change with each new episode. Here, it's indicated that saving the planet using Wesley's torpedoes is a gray area, even though the planet can be saved without alerting the populace to their presence. If that's actually a violation of the Prime Directive, then I guess the TOS Enterprise had no excuse for diverting that asteroid in The Paradise Syndrome. Still, it gives the characters something to struggle against, and helps to make it feel like something is at stake for the characters, particularly Data.
If Data's actions did violate regulations - and I would say that his actions near the end probably went at least one step over the line - then it seems odd to me that there are no consequences. I would have preferred the final scene between Picard and Data to have been just as compassionate, but with Picard assigning some form of official reprimand. Data's actions may have been morally right, but the episode never questions that he breaks protocol in executing them. Still, it's a solid episode, one which passes 45 minutes quite pleasantly.
Rating: 7/10.
The Enterprise is investigating a mystery in the Selcundi Drema Sector. All the planetary systems in that region of space are undergoing bizarre geological upheavals, leaving the planets burned out husks. While investigating, Data receives a transmission: "Is there anybody out there?" He responds - and soon discovers that the girl on the other end of his communications lives on a planet that is just beginning to experience the same world-ending upheaval. But how can the Enterprise intervene without violating the Prime Directive?
Meanwhile, Riker decides it is time to further Wesley's education by giving him a leadership responsibility. He assigns Wesley to head up the team investigating the geological disturbances. Wesley is excited at the prospect. But he soon has trouble maintaining his authority in the face of the older, more experienced members of his team.
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: The episode opens with a lovely character scene for Picard, as he takes some down time to go to the holodeck and ride a horse. He confides in Troi that he finds riding to be relaxing. He's "not looking to anthropomorphize" the animal. He just finds the company of a horse relaxing to him. He also responds well to Troi's observation that, by creating a horse on the holodeck, they have essentially made true the old legend about the winds being gathered to create the animal. I love the look of weariness and annoyance on Picard's face when his playtime is interrupted by duty, just one second before he would have mounted the animal.
Riker: Jonathan Frakes beautifully mirrors that weary/annoyed look when Wesley interrupts his carousing for some command advice. He does give sound advice, both to Wesley and to Picard, and he does it in a particularly well-judged way. The writers seem to have abandoned "poor-man's-Kirk" Riker and have instead developed a character who is very effective at listening to others, and giving them the support they need to make the correct decision - whether that support ends up requiring him to simply ask a few questions about how Picard would handle the same situation, or whether it requires him to play devil's advocate. This Riker is a far more interesting character than the bland "action man" of the series' earliest episodes.
Data: After he makes contact with Sarjenka (Nikki Cox), Data clearly becomes attached. He demonstrates concern for her at every turn. He does not forget his duty, however. When it becomes clear that her world is in trouble, he goes to Picard immediately and offers no excuses for blurring the lines of protocol. He does not actually act against Picard's orders at any point, though his actions late in the episode do push the line of those orders severely. When Picard orders him to sever all communications, he is prepared to go through with that order - though he clearly lingers with the channel open just long enough to allow Sarjenka to become "human" for Picard and the command crew.
Wesley: A rare, Wesley-heavy episode in which Wesley is not annoying. Given his first command, Wesley acts as you would expect someone his age to react. He is nervous, and has problems with his self-confidence. At first, the episode seems to be going along a route in which Ensign Davies (Nicholas Cascone) is going to be bullying Wesley into a power struggle. Thankfully, the episode doesn't go in that direction. Davies is simply doing his part to provide his opinion to Wesley. When Wesley finally gets over his nervousness and gives a direct order, it is followed without hesitation.
THOUGHTS
It's instantly apparent that this will be a much better episode than the last one. There's something about the teaser that displays a real confidence in both the writer's own storytelling ability and the actors to play character moments that don't simply exposit character traits. The script is by Melinda Snodgrass, whose previous outing was The Measure of a Man. This isn't the outstanding episode that one was... but it's still a good one, and Snodgrass' name is looking like the one to hope to see on an episode's front credits.
As with Measure of a Man, she really does capture these characters. She seems to be as tuned into the distinctive voice of each Next Generation character in much the way D. C. Fontana was tuned into the voices of the TOS characters. After Measure of a Man, it's no surprise that she does so well with Riker and Data. But she also writes the best character episode for Wesley since Coming of Age, managing to make him work as a character where many other writers have failed.
The plot is reasonably engaging, though I find it difficult to get too wrapped up in "Prime Directive" dilemmas. After all, the rules of the Prime Directive seem to change with each new episode. Here, it's indicated that saving the planet using Wesley's torpedoes is a gray area, even though the planet can be saved without alerting the populace to their presence. If that's actually a violation of the Prime Directive, then I guess the TOS Enterprise had no excuse for diverting that asteroid in The Paradise Syndrome. Still, it gives the characters something to struggle against, and helps to make it feel like something is at stake for the characters, particularly Data.
If Data's actions did violate regulations - and I would say that his actions near the end probably went at least one step over the line - then it seems odd to me that there are no consequences. I would have preferred the final scene between Picard and Data to have been just as compassionate, but with Picard assigning some form of official reprimand. Data's actions may have been morally right, but the episode never questions that he breaks protocol in executing them. Still, it's a solid episode, one which passes 45 minutes quite pleasantly.
Rating: 7/10.
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