Thoughts on Season Five

Picard lives another life in The Inner Light,
one of TNG's best episodes.

Season Five saw Star Trek: The Next Generation at its mainstream apex. The high quality of the previous two seasons had washed away memories of the series' weak start, and TNG had crossed over to mainstream success. The frequently-voiced (and in my opinion, wrong) view that this series was better than the original was gaining traction. High ratings, critical success, and a run that already exceeded the original show... in popular terms, TNG was at its peak.

I personally regard Season Five as a comedown from the heights of Seasons Three and Four, but I will be fair and say that it's not because the series suddenly decided to play it safe. Instead, Season Five marks a shift in focus, one that in my opinion comes at a cost.


PERSONAL STORIES:

The previous season saw the series, either by design or happy accident, hit upon a year-long theme: Family. Multiple episodes thoughout that season focused on the crew's relationships with their families, or with the families of former comrades, or with the extended family created by Starfleet in general and by the Enterprise in particular. This resulted in a thematically unified season with several outstanding episodes.

It's little surprise that the producers decided to build on that success. Season Five is extremely character-centered, with at least half of its episodes focused firmly on one character or another, often dealing with either family or with issues closely related to ones in society.

The problem is, this just isn't as artfully done as in Season Four. There's no larger theme unifying these episodes. They are just disparate pieces, most of which don't connect to any larger continuity. The result is that we lurch from one character to another, watching a play that centers tightly on them. Sometimes the play is good, sometimes it is bad - but the next episode generally renders it meaningless either way.

An assault traumatizes Troi... but don't
worry, she's all better by the next episode!

CONTINUITY, OR LACK THEREOF

Take Violations, for example. This is one of arguably too many Troi-centered episodes this season, and it sees her become a victim of (psychic) sexual assault. Yes, it's TNG's rape episode, with the fact of it as a rape episode made explicit in dialogue near the end. But Troi doesn't have to worry about any lasting trauma, because that's all wiped clean for future installments, never to be so much as mentioned again.

The same is true of Worf's paralysis.  Ethics is a rather good episode, with strong performances and a script that is willing to acknowledge both sides of its issue even if it clearly has its thumb on one end of the scale. But once again, something life-altering happens to a main character - and once again, it has no lingering effects. We end the episode with Worf and his son agreeing that they will work on his long recovery "together." Exactly one episode later, Worf is fully recovered, back at his station, and even assisting Riker in an action scene. In the 24th century, debilitating spinal injuries are apparently "just a flesh wound."

This lack of continuity is a blight on the season's ambitions to push the characters to the fore. We get a lot of episodes centered around a member of the regular cast, sure. But we can't really feel close to the characters when the events of a given episode are almost certain to never be followed up! The nature of the series, in which each episode largely stands on its own, is fine for adventures dealing with external conflict. But it doesn't lend itself to really digging into the characters as people, because they rarely get to change in any meaningful way.

Imaginary Friend. Arguably the worst of Season Five's
far, far too many child-centered episodes.

THE CHILDREN'S HOUR

Season Five also sees a significant increase in the number of child-centered stories. Worf's son, Alexander, comes onto the Enterprise full-time. This... is not a good thing. There might be some potential interest in watching Worf grapple with the responsibilities of being a father to a troubled son, but these are washed away by writing that is frankly not up to the task.

Every episode featuring Alexander has to have a happy ending in which his relationship with his father improves. This means that Alexander is never allowed to be truly troubled. The things that concern Counsellor Troi - lying to stay out of trouble, occasional misbehavior, playing when he should be doing classwork - basically add up to him being a normal kid! He hardly comes across as psychologically troubled. At worst, he might have a (very mild) case of ADHD.

Alexander would be hard enough to take on his own. But then the show has to give us multiple children's episodes in addition to the Alexander ones. I will admit that I enjoyed Hero Worship, though I would have enjoyed it more if it hadn't come immediately after the very similar (but much worse) New Ground. Even so, should a television series aimed primarily at teens and adults have a full 20% of the season be episodes focused the misadventures of small children? I would argue that anything more than two child-centered episodes per year is a bit much. 5 - 6 such episodes is definitely too much and would be even if those episodes were good! Not that "good" is much of a worry for the likes of: New Ground, Cost of Living, or Imaginary Friend.

Ensign Ro. One of Guinan's too few appearances this season.

ABSENT FRIENDS (AND ENEMIES):

I missed Q and Guinan this year. Presumably because of both actors' busy schedules, Guinan's role was reduced to a couple of appearances while Q was outright absent. Not taht one Q episode that may or may not have even been any good would have changed the shape of the season. Still, it's always fun to see John deLancie, and even a weak Q episode usually has some good interaction between him and Patrick Stewart.

That said, I think Guinan's absence was more keenly felt. After a major role in Ensign Ro, she vanished until very near the end of the season. I never realized how much she added until there was such a long stretch without her. In fairness, I'm sure the production staff would have loved Whoopi Goldberg to have been in more episodes. Given her stardom at this time, the series was lucky to have her at all. Still, her diminished role was felt this season, even if she came back at the end with some strong material.


THE GOOD NEWS:

I've focused so far on the aspects of the season that didn't work for me. Much of the season did work, and often quite well. The First Duty delivers what is almost certainly TNG's best Wesley Crusher story, one of only a few stories in which he really works as a character. The Inner Light brings us closer to Picard by putting him into a very different world and very different life and watching as he adjusts and eventually embraces these changes. In both of these cases, the season's decision to focus on character stories pays off in a big way.

There are several fine episodes. Darmok and The Inner Light triumphantly blend personal stories for Picard with intriguing science fiction ideas. I Borg uses the emphasis on the personal to tell a very different kind of Borg story, one that reveals the members of the Collective to be every bit as much victims as those they conquer.
Unification brings the TNG cast together with Spock, the original series' most iconic character. Cause and Effect, Power Play, and The Next Phase are good, fun adventures.

I might not think the balance is as good as it could be, but there is still some variety in the storytelling. And if the hit rate isn't as strong as it was in the previous two seasons, it still isn't as bad as it was in the show's first two years on-air.

The First Duty gives us a Wesley Crusher
who is both relatable and interesting.

SEASON SIX WISHLIST:

Season Five featured character episodes, science fiction "concept" episodes, and adventure stories. Unfortunately, I felt that the balance was tilted too much in one direction. Character episodes are a good thing - but not when they become this dominant. I hope to see a more even balance of episode types in Season Six.

I strongly hope that episodes centered around children are minimized. If Alexander is going to stay around, then either allow his issues to be genuinely complicated ones that aren't neatly resolved at the end of each episode, or else drop the whole idea of him being a "troubled child." From what we've seen, he's a fairly normal young boy. If that continues being the case, he should stop being treated like a delinquent who's one step removed from a lost cause.

Mostly, I'd just like to see quality control return to at least where it was in Seasons Three and Four. I know 26 episodes per season makes it hard to tell good stories every time. But there remain too many episodes that feel like they exist solely to fill airtime. When I plow through a few such episodes in close proximity, it kills my enthusiasm for the series.


IN CONCLUSION:

I found Season Five to be the most uneven since the series' early years. This season does feature a few of the series' very best episodes, but it's also overstuffed with filler. That sense is not helped by the insistence on telling stories that should profoundly change the characters, only to see those stories never followed up. If you're not going to deal with the emotional fallout of Troi being assaulted or the long physical recovery ahead of Worf... then just don't tell those stories in the first place!

There is enough good in Season Five to recommend it as a season of television - but unlike Seasons Three and Four, I'd label this one more a case of "rent it" than "buy it."

Previous: Season Four Overview
Next: Season Six Overview


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