THE PLOT
Worf and an Away Team are investigating the ruins of a dead civilization, which destroyed itself after a conflict that lasted for generations. A long-dormant mine explodes, leading to the death of anthropologist Marla Aster (Susan Powell).
Since Marla died under Worf's reponsibility, the Klingon is left feeling an obligation to help care for her now-orphaned son, Jeremy (Gabriel Damon). But Jeremy's grief is complicated when an alien force appears on the Enterprise - an energy being of enormous power, who takes the form of his dead mother. The alien insists that she will care for him, even if she has to overcome the entire Enterprise crew to do it!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: He's always been uncomfortable at having children on starships. Here, he is able to express why in a way that extends his thoughts beyond, "I hate kids." As he says, there are risks to serving on a starship, which the officers and crew members understand and accept. Children simply cannot consent to those risks in the way that adults can. He is compassionate in his dealings with Jeremy, and eloquent in his talks with the alien.
Troi: This script tries hard to make Troi an integral part of the action. She is able to sense the presence of the alien even when ship's sensors cannot, which allows the crew to find the fake "Marla" before she can get the boy down to the planet. She is also able to prompt Picard, Worf, and Wesley into expressing the right emotions regarding grief and loss to make the energy being realize that the boy will be healthiest in the long run if he stays where he is. For all of that, she actually comes across worse here than in the previous episode. There's something too self-aware about a lot of Troi's scenes, and Marina Sirtis' performance is stilted as a result. Still, it's a good effort to do something with one of the series' weakest overall characters.
Worf: Suffers enormous guilt at the death of someone under his command, all the moreso for it being a death he regards as "senseless... (He) cannot seek revenge against an enemy who has turned to dust centuries ago!" He feels it is his responsibility to bond with the orphaned boy and to help take care of him, but he does listen to Troi when she advises him to move slowly.
Wesley: No "Shut Up, Wesley" this time, as both Wil Wheaton and his character have a rather good episode. There are two excellent scenes centered around Wesley's memories of his father's death: First, when he confesses to his mother that he has difficulty even remembering what his father looked like; later, when he tells Picard about how angry he was at the older man for surviving the mission that killed his father. Wheaton is particularly good in the scene with Picard, bringing a genuinely hard tone to his voice when talking about his anger, even as he insists that he doesn't feel angry anymore.
THOUGHTS
Ronald Moore's first Star Trek script. Like all of the Season Three episodes so far, it's strongly attempting to create good drama in a science fiction setting. Like most of the Season Three episodes so far, it doesn't live up to its ambitions, but at least it's trying.
There are too many scenes in which the regulars simply talk about their roles as if delivering exposition to the audience, I suspect a symptom of this episode's origin as a spec script. But scenes in which Troi and Picard talk about what a ship's counsellor does, for example, suffer from writing that is alost painfully on-the-nose. It's the episode's major weakness: a lot of what should be left as subtext has been directly written into the dialogue.
The script's greatest strength is that it actually uses all of the series regulars. Everyone gets something to do. The script may be a bit too artificial in its use of Troi, but Worf is used to very strong effect, Picard has a strong role, and both Crushers get some effective scenes. Even Riker, who is largely on the periphery delivering plot information, gets a good scene opposite Data, one which mirrors Spock's words in The Immunity Syndrome when Riker reflects that if all death affected us the way the death of a loved one did, then "human history might be a lot less bloody."
The alien plot, with the false Marla transforming the boy's sterile Enterprise quarters into a replica of their old house on Earth, evokes an effectively creepy atmosphere. I also appreciate that the alien is entirely well-intentioned, with no hidden agenda. Picard does get a "Picard Sledge-Hammer" bit, in which he talks at length about the need to accept loss, but it's actually a very good monologue which fits perfectly into the narrative and is splendidly acted by Patrick Stewart. So I'll refrain from making fun of it.
In the end, The Bonding is not all it might have been. There's a lack of subtlety and a wooden performance from the child actor at the center of the plot. But it also has a lot of strong elements, particularly in its use of the entire regular ensemble. A promising first effort, by a writer who would go on to deliver on that promise in later episodes.
Overall Rating: 6/10.
Worf and an Away Team are investigating the ruins of a dead civilization, which destroyed itself after a conflict that lasted for generations. A long-dormant mine explodes, leading to the death of anthropologist Marla Aster (Susan Powell).
Since Marla died under Worf's reponsibility, the Klingon is left feeling an obligation to help care for her now-orphaned son, Jeremy (Gabriel Damon). But Jeremy's grief is complicated when an alien force appears on the Enterprise - an energy being of enormous power, who takes the form of his dead mother. The alien insists that she will care for him, even if she has to overcome the entire Enterprise crew to do it!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: He's always been uncomfortable at having children on starships. Here, he is able to express why in a way that extends his thoughts beyond, "I hate kids." As he says, there are risks to serving on a starship, which the officers and crew members understand and accept. Children simply cannot consent to those risks in the way that adults can. He is compassionate in his dealings with Jeremy, and eloquent in his talks with the alien.
Troi: This script tries hard to make Troi an integral part of the action. She is able to sense the presence of the alien even when ship's sensors cannot, which allows the crew to find the fake "Marla" before she can get the boy down to the planet. She is also able to prompt Picard, Worf, and Wesley into expressing the right emotions regarding grief and loss to make the energy being realize that the boy will be healthiest in the long run if he stays where he is. For all of that, she actually comes across worse here than in the previous episode. There's something too self-aware about a lot of Troi's scenes, and Marina Sirtis' performance is stilted as a result. Still, it's a good effort to do something with one of the series' weakest overall characters.
Worf: Suffers enormous guilt at the death of someone under his command, all the moreso for it being a death he regards as "senseless... (He) cannot seek revenge against an enemy who has turned to dust centuries ago!" He feels it is his responsibility to bond with the orphaned boy and to help take care of him, but he does listen to Troi when she advises him to move slowly.
Wesley: No "Shut Up, Wesley" this time, as both Wil Wheaton and his character have a rather good episode. There are two excellent scenes centered around Wesley's memories of his father's death: First, when he confesses to his mother that he has difficulty even remembering what his father looked like; later, when he tells Picard about how angry he was at the older man for surviving the mission that killed his father. Wheaton is particularly good in the scene with Picard, bringing a genuinely hard tone to his voice when talking about his anger, even as he insists that he doesn't feel angry anymore.
THOUGHTS
Ronald Moore's first Star Trek script. Like all of the Season Three episodes so far, it's strongly attempting to create good drama in a science fiction setting. Like most of the Season Three episodes so far, it doesn't live up to its ambitions, but at least it's trying.
There are too many scenes in which the regulars simply talk about their roles as if delivering exposition to the audience, I suspect a symptom of this episode's origin as a spec script. But scenes in which Troi and Picard talk about what a ship's counsellor does, for example, suffer from writing that is alost painfully on-the-nose. It's the episode's major weakness: a lot of what should be left as subtext has been directly written into the dialogue.
The script's greatest strength is that it actually uses all of the series regulars. Everyone gets something to do. The script may be a bit too artificial in its use of Troi, but Worf is used to very strong effect, Picard has a strong role, and both Crushers get some effective scenes. Even Riker, who is largely on the periphery delivering plot information, gets a good scene opposite Data, one which mirrors Spock's words in The Immunity Syndrome when Riker reflects that if all death affected us the way the death of a loved one did, then "human history might be a lot less bloody."
The alien plot, with the false Marla transforming the boy's sterile Enterprise quarters into a replica of their old house on Earth, evokes an effectively creepy atmosphere. I also appreciate that the alien is entirely well-intentioned, with no hidden agenda. Picard does get a "Picard Sledge-Hammer" bit, in which he talks at length about the need to accept loss, but it's actually a very good monologue which fits perfectly into the narrative and is splendidly acted by Patrick Stewart. So I'll refrain from making fun of it.
In the end, The Bonding is not all it might have been. There's a lack of subtlety and a wooden performance from the child actor at the center of the plot. But it also has a lot of strong elements, particularly in its use of the entire regular ensemble. A promising first effort, by a writer who would go on to deliver on that promise in later episodes.
Overall Rating: 6/10.
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