THE PLOT
With Wesley taking a shuttle out to a nearby Starbase for his second attempt at the Starfleet Academy entrance exam, Dr. Pulaski orders Picard to accompany him so that he can undergo a surgery that the captain has allowed to wait for too long. This leaves Riker in charge when the Enterprise receives a distress signal from an alien ship.
The aliens, known as Pakleds, appear extremely slow mentally. They plaintively tell Riker that they "look for things, things that make (them) go," and that their primitive ship is "broken." Riker allows Geordi to beam aboard to initiate repairs. But no sooner is Geordi aboard than Deanna storms onto the bridge, telling Riker that she senses something from the Pakleds, and that Geordi is in "great danger" from them. Her fears are confirmed when Geordi completes the repairs - only to immediately be stunned by the Pakleds, who raise their shields so that the Enterprise cannot beam Geordi back. They then demand all the information in the Enterprise's computer banks, or they will kill Geordi!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: In the midst of a mostly dire episode, Patrick Stewart gets one excellent scene to sink his teeth into. Naturally, it's a scene that has nothing to do with the plot. Picard opens up to Wesley - possibly to stop the younger man from speaking anymore - and tells him what happened to require this surgery. He recalls an incident in his youth, in which he got into an ill-advised brawl with some Naussicans and ended up nearly getting killed. It's an outstanding monologue, far better-written than any of the surrounding material, and Patrick Stewart hits all the right notes while delivering it. He truly relives the moment, and just through his face and voice, we can see it so very clearly as he recalls it.
Riker: I suppose this episode was intended to spotlight Riker's command abilities, as he uses deception to outwit the Pakleds. The problem is that there wouldn't have been a situation in the first place if Riker had listened to the advice of his senior officers, or even bothered to collect their advice. Worf cautions against sending an officer over without more information. It turns out that, had Troi been present (and where was she anyway?), she would have sensed the Pakleds' deception. So Riker fails to ask for his officers' recommendations, fails to listen to those that are volunteered, and spends the first half of the episode treating the whole encounter like a big joke. Sure, he ends up resolving it. But cleaning up one's own mess isn't necessarily something that merits great praise.
Geordi: In fairness, Geordi is also guilty of treating the Pakleds like a joke. After a brief attempt to communicate with them, he (metaphorically, at least) rolls his eyes at them and just has them show him the malfunctioning equipment. He does get consumed in making the repairs, and stays alert for an opportunity to escape when Riker is able to provide one.
Worf: Complains to Riker that they should have more information before beaming Geordi to the Pakled ship. His concerns are shot down by Riker. But even if the Pakled encounter had been exactly as it appeared, I would still think that Worf was right. Beaming the chief engineer over to an alien ship with minimal information is reckless. It's not like the Pakleds' ship was facing in imminent explosion. There was time to take a bit of time.
SHUT UP, WESLEY!
...Which, come to think of it, may be the perfect answer to Wesley's worry about what to spend six hours talking to Picard about. Given the stack of books Picard has in his hand as he walks toward the shuttle, I'd say the captain would just as soon fly in silence. Wesley's conversation certainly would make silence seem preferable. From his unmotivated sulking over Picard not liking kids, to his proclamation that when it comes to women, he is "in complete control" (Yeah, and when it comes to my trillions of dollars, so am I - for exactly the same reason, I expect), the Wesley scenes seem finely calculated to set one's teeth on edge. The only saving grace of Wesley's role in this episode is that it prompts Picard's quite splendid recollection of the Naussican incident.
THOUGHTS
How do you follow up the most purely intense, ominous, and truly "big" episode of the series so far? Well... apparently, by making a pile of total crap. Perhaps it helps to keep audience expectations under control.
Daniel Benzali, a very fine television actor, guest stars on a Star Trek episode... and it would be this one. He plays Picard's surgeon. Surgeons in the future are apparently decked out in red gowns and funny red hats. Just in case any semblance of dignity is left intact by the wardrobe, he is left to deliver lines of such a technobabblish level he gets to talk about how "the metabilation occlusions aren't holding," and then he fails to "stop the heterocyclic declination," and so must send for a "biomecular physiologist." All I can say is, I'd love to see the outtakes of that scene, because they must have been hilarious.
I would love to know who thought the Pakleds were a good idea. "Let's have our villains be very stupid and belligerent, and we'll physically model them after Down's Syndrome patients." On the one hand, you get to offend those members of the audience who see this episode as mocking those with special needs or medical conditions. On the other, you get to introduce a villain whose dominant trait is stupidity, which means that our crew has to behave with pheonomenal stupidity in order for them to be any kind of a threat. That's not even bringing up my questions as to how the Pakleds got their hands on any Klingon or Romulan technology. I would fully expect a Pakled/Klingon meeting to be brief.
Klingon: "Unidentified ship, please respond."
Pakled: "We look for things. Things to make us go."
Klingon: "We lay claim to your ship in the name of the Empire!"
Pakled: "We are smart. We are strong."
Klingon: "Officer Klarg - Open fire!"
Pakled "Gaack!" (boom!)
Now, that might make for a fun episode. Albeit, by necessity, a short one.
Rating: 4/10.
With Wesley taking a shuttle out to a nearby Starbase for his second attempt at the Starfleet Academy entrance exam, Dr. Pulaski orders Picard to accompany him so that he can undergo a surgery that the captain has allowed to wait for too long. This leaves Riker in charge when the Enterprise receives a distress signal from an alien ship.
The aliens, known as Pakleds, appear extremely slow mentally. They plaintively tell Riker that they "look for things, things that make (them) go," and that their primitive ship is "broken." Riker allows Geordi to beam aboard to initiate repairs. But no sooner is Geordi aboard than Deanna storms onto the bridge, telling Riker that she senses something from the Pakleds, and that Geordi is in "great danger" from them. Her fears are confirmed when Geordi completes the repairs - only to immediately be stunned by the Pakleds, who raise their shields so that the Enterprise cannot beam Geordi back. They then demand all the information in the Enterprise's computer banks, or they will kill Geordi!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: In the midst of a mostly dire episode, Patrick Stewart gets one excellent scene to sink his teeth into. Naturally, it's a scene that has nothing to do with the plot. Picard opens up to Wesley - possibly to stop the younger man from speaking anymore - and tells him what happened to require this surgery. He recalls an incident in his youth, in which he got into an ill-advised brawl with some Naussicans and ended up nearly getting killed. It's an outstanding monologue, far better-written than any of the surrounding material, and Patrick Stewart hits all the right notes while delivering it. He truly relives the moment, and just through his face and voice, we can see it so very clearly as he recalls it.
Riker: I suppose this episode was intended to spotlight Riker's command abilities, as he uses deception to outwit the Pakleds. The problem is that there wouldn't have been a situation in the first place if Riker had listened to the advice of his senior officers, or even bothered to collect their advice. Worf cautions against sending an officer over without more information. It turns out that, had Troi been present (and where was she anyway?), she would have sensed the Pakleds' deception. So Riker fails to ask for his officers' recommendations, fails to listen to those that are volunteered, and spends the first half of the episode treating the whole encounter like a big joke. Sure, he ends up resolving it. But cleaning up one's own mess isn't necessarily something that merits great praise.
Geordi: In fairness, Geordi is also guilty of treating the Pakleds like a joke. After a brief attempt to communicate with them, he (metaphorically, at least) rolls his eyes at them and just has them show him the malfunctioning equipment. He does get consumed in making the repairs, and stays alert for an opportunity to escape when Riker is able to provide one.
Worf: Complains to Riker that they should have more information before beaming Geordi to the Pakled ship. His concerns are shot down by Riker. But even if the Pakled encounter had been exactly as it appeared, I would still think that Worf was right. Beaming the chief engineer over to an alien ship with minimal information is reckless. It's not like the Pakleds' ship was facing in imminent explosion. There was time to take a bit of time.
SHUT UP, WESLEY!
...Which, come to think of it, may be the perfect answer to Wesley's worry about what to spend six hours talking to Picard about. Given the stack of books Picard has in his hand as he walks toward the shuttle, I'd say the captain would just as soon fly in silence. Wesley's conversation certainly would make silence seem preferable. From his unmotivated sulking over Picard not liking kids, to his proclamation that when it comes to women, he is "in complete control" (Yeah, and when it comes to my trillions of dollars, so am I - for exactly the same reason, I expect), the Wesley scenes seem finely calculated to set one's teeth on edge. The only saving grace of Wesley's role in this episode is that it prompts Picard's quite splendid recollection of the Naussican incident.
THOUGHTS
How do you follow up the most purely intense, ominous, and truly "big" episode of the series so far? Well... apparently, by making a pile of total crap. Perhaps it helps to keep audience expectations under control.
Daniel Benzali, a very fine television actor, guest stars on a Star Trek episode... and it would be this one. He plays Picard's surgeon. Surgeons in the future are apparently decked out in red gowns and funny red hats. Just in case any semblance of dignity is left intact by the wardrobe, he is left to deliver lines of such a technobabblish level he gets to talk about how "the metabilation occlusions aren't holding," and then he fails to "stop the heterocyclic declination," and so must send for a "biomecular physiologist." All I can say is, I'd love to see the outtakes of that scene, because they must have been hilarious.
I would love to know who thought the Pakleds were a good idea. "Let's have our villains be very stupid and belligerent, and we'll physically model them after Down's Syndrome patients." On the one hand, you get to offend those members of the audience who see this episode as mocking those with special needs or medical conditions. On the other, you get to introduce a villain whose dominant trait is stupidity, which means that our crew has to behave with pheonomenal stupidity in order for them to be any kind of a threat. That's not even bringing up my questions as to how the Pakleds got their hands on any Klingon or Romulan technology. I would fully expect a Pakled/Klingon meeting to be brief.
Klingon: "Unidentified ship, please respond."
Pakled: "We look for things. Things to make us go."
Klingon: "We lay claim to your ship in the name of the Empire!"
Pakled: "We are smart. We are strong."
Klingon: "Officer Klarg - Open fire!"
Pakled "Gaack!" (boom!)
Now, that might make for a fun episode. Albeit, by necessity, a short one.
Rating: 4/10.
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"Now, that might make for a fun episode. Albeit, by necessity, a short one."
ReplyDeleteGreat addition. :)