7-23. Emergence.

Data suspects the Enterprise is developing its own intelligence!

THE PLOT

The Enterprise is on a routine mission, surveying potential sites for new colonies, when the ship suddenly goes to warp, seemingly of its own accord. Geordi has no idea why this happened, but reveals that it's lucky it did: The area of space the ship was in was subject to a "theta flux distortion." Had the Enterprise remained there for another 1.7 seconds, the ship would have been destroyed.

As Geordi and Data continue investigating, they discover new circuit nodes, protected by force fields and connecting ship systems that had previously been separate. The nodes are connected through the holodeck, which is running on its own, combining multiple holodeck programs into a single simulation. The result is a combination of Wild West gunfighters, armored knights, and Chicago gangsters, all riding on the Orient Express to "Keystone City," the place "where everything begins." When Data attempts to tamper with a node on the train, the characters turn hostile and the Enterprise crew are forced to leave.

As the nodes continue to appear, Data develops a theory: The nodes are forming a neural net. The ship is developing its own intelligence!

CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: When Dr. Crusher reveals that the Orient Express came from her holodeck program, Picard begins talking about the history of the line. He is actually surprised when Crusher explains that the history is not her interest, but the atmosphere and the varied people who traveled in the train. When it becomes clear that the ship has come to life and has a purpose, Picard is less interested in stopping it than in understanding it. He insists that if there is an intelligence at work, the crew needs to respect it as they would any other life form. He adds that he is inclined to trust any intelligence formed from the Enterprise: "It came from us. From our mission records, personal logs, holodeck programs, our fantasies. Now, if our experiences with the Enterprise have been honorable, can't we trust that the sum of those experiences will be the same?"

Data: As an artificial intelligence himself, he recognizes the nodes' resemblance to a positronic brain, and thus he is the one to recognize what is happening. He takes the most active role in investigating the holodeck situation, and his android strength allows him to deal with the intelligence's attempts to stop him. Unfortunately, despite Data's prominent role, no attempt is made to create some meaning, either in theme or plot, out of an artificial intelligence investigating an awakening artificial intelligence.

Troi: The script makes a big deal out of Troi going into the holodeck to try to understand what the various characters' roles in the situation mean. The episode then proceeds to do absolutely nothing with the concept. For all the story difference that Troi's presence makes, Riker might as well have led all of the holodeck expeditions.

Worf: The one halfway interesting thing Troi's presence does is to show the building relationship between her and Worf. On two occasions, after some incident occurs on the holodeck, Worf asks if Troi is all right. In both instances, the question is very specifically addressed to Troi, not to others, and in both instances the emotion in Worf's voice is audible.

THOUGHTS

Joe Menosky's last TNG script is, unfortunately, closer in quality (and content) to Masks than to Darmok. The plot ends up acting as a sort of hybrid between a "bizarre things happening on the ship" episode and a holodeck episode. As with Masks, it's clear that this episode really wants to be intriguing and thought-provoking. But, as with the earlier episode, it just doesn't quite come off.

I actually liked Masks better. That episode was so completely off-the-wall, I was hooked in spite of myself, wanting if nothing else to see what weird thing would happen next. Here, the proceedings are just kind of... dull. There is very little atmosphere, even to the "Orient Express" scenes. Worst of all, as my unenthusiastic take on the episode's use of the characters shows, this story does nothing at all with the regulars.

The characters are so passive as to be completely ineffectual. The episode's structure, such as it is, consists of: a team of crew members goes into the holodeck, observes strange behavior from the characters, then are menaced and forced to leave; stir and reheat as necessary. Sure, there are token gestures made by the crew to try to deactivate the nodes, but this just feels like a holding pattern.

Even when the crew is allowed to truly act at the end, it's in a manufactured third act crisis that is resolved by Geordi making a blind choice that fails to generate either interest or tension. Geordi can choose to hunt for Technobabble Particles in either a nebula or a pulsar. We are not told what the advantage of one choice over the other might be, or what the risks are. Picard just asks Geordi, "Nebula or pulsar?" Geordi picks, he's right, and the day is saved. Had we been presented with some risk in Geordi's decision, or had the final attempt seemed at risk of failing, then there might have been a bit of... well, drama in the drama. As it stands, it's just stuff happening with minimal context.

Which, unfortunately, describes the entire episode all too well. A few nice Picard bits aside, TNG's final holodeck episode has extremely little to recommend it.

Overall Rating: 3/10.

Previous Episode: Bloodlines
Next Episode: Preemptive Strike


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7-17. Masks.

Data is taken over by an alien consciousness.

THE PLOT

The Enterprise encounters a rogue comet, which has been traveling through space for more than 87 million years. Picard orders a full sensor analysis, but something in the comet causes an echo. Shortly after, strange things begin happening on the ship. The replicators produce primitive, ritualistic objects, adorned with alien symbols. Those same symbols appear on computer displays. Something in the comet has affected the ship.

Picard orders a widespread phaser beam to evaporate the comet's outer layers, revealing a structure at the center. Data states it is an archive of an ancient civilization... and shortly after, transforms, a symbol appearing on his head as his mind is taken over by personalities from that civilization.

Data's transformation is only the beginning. The Enterprise is being changed, deck by deck, into alien buildings and temples. Ihat, one of the personalities in control of Data, provides a warning: "Masaka is waking! ...Do you understand pain? Death? That is all you need to know of Masaka. It is what she is. Go - Leave this place before she finds you!"


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: As if to make up for barely being in the last episode, Picard dominates this one. His anthropology background makes it believable that his attention would so captivated by the alien archive. When Picard decides to safeguard his ship by destroying the archive (an attempt that fails, of course), his intellectual disappointment at having to do so is consistent. Patrick Stewart's screen presence and Picard's steady leadership provide an anchor for the audience against the parade of bizarre events happening on screen.

Data: If Thine Own Self allowed Brent Spiner to remind us how good he is when he's simply playing Data, Masks allows him to indulge all of his hammy tendencies. Data's possessed by multiple personalities, meaning that Spiner gets to put on funny voices and overly emotive factial expressions. Of the personalities he assumes, he is most impressive as Masaka's elderly father, his voice and posture conveying the character's age long before dialogue spells it out. However, Spiner is downright annoying as Ihat, a boisterous and sardonic character who Spiner basically plays as Lore channeling Jim Carrey. I found his Ihat to be generally obnoxious - and we spend a lot more time with Ihat than with any of the other personalities.

Troi: Speaking of obnoxious, Troi's condescending attitude toward Data in the opening scenes is incredibly grating. In the midst of a very unconvincing art class, she shows a snide irritation at his overly-literal representations. It's the equivalent of watching a bad teacher pick on a boy for interpreting a (vague) assignment in "the wrong way." I'd add that Data's choice of an object to represent music, in response to a direct instruction from Troi, is actually quite a good choice, making her weary reaction all the more irritating. She spends the rest of the episode tagging along after Picard so that he can have someone to listen to his exposition, though I did find it amusing that one of Data's personalities mistook her for Death Incarnate.


THOUGHTS

Masks is almost certainly the most bizarre episode of TNG's run. That's actually its greatest strength - It's so utterly strange that you can't take your eyes off it, because you're wondering what weird thing is going to happen next.

The episode does deserve some credit for its ambition. It deals with myth and ritual, using the archive's transformation of the Enterprise to show the crew experiencing something symbolic in a way that's all too literal. My interpretation of the episode is that Masaka, her father, Korgano, and Ihat are all actually characters from this civilization's mythology, summoned up as a representation of their culture. As Picard notes early on, it makes no sense that a culture this technologically advanced would actually be as backward as what we glimpse - but it does make sense that these characters would be represented in rituals, or religion, or pageantry.

Unfortunately, ambition does not equal achievement. One failing of the episode is that the above is just my guess: It's really not clear in the episode what is going on, not even at the end. We are told that Data had an entire civilization in his head, for instance, which seems to imply real people... but the Masaka/Korgano relationship only makes any sense at all if it's myth. One or the other should be clear at the end, even if it's not clear before that.

Beyond that, the story is so focused on concept that it forgets character - very unusual, in a Joe Menosky script. Data is fully transformed by about the 15 minute mark, with no certainty given that he will be recoverable. Picard should care, and Geordi should be actively worried. Instead, Picard seems intrigued by this as a puzzle, and Geordi betrays no reaction at all. From this point on, no character other than Picard gets to really do anything, and even Picard is mostly just acting as a walking plot device, dropping exposition with every step and literally conjuring up a solution at the very end.

Combine the weak character material with the general weirdness, and it's inevitable that the episode ends up feeling cold and remote. Even so, I will rate Masks a little higher than its overall reputation. It's definitely a failure, but it's an interesting one. Comparing it against some of season Seven's other misfires (Liaisons, Dark Page, Force of Nature, Sub Rosa), this episode at least seems to have interesting ideas at its core.

It's just a shame those ideas come across so badly muddled on screen.


Overall Rating: 4/10.

Previous Episode: Thine Own Self
Next Episode: Eye of the Beholder


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7-3. Interface.

Geordi receives a message from
his missing mother (Madge Sinclair)

THE PLOT

The USS Raman, a Federation science vessel, is trapped in the atmosphere of Marijine VII, a gas giant planet. Interference makes it impossible for the Enterprise's sensors tell whether the crew is alive or dead, and it is too dangerous to beam crew members directly aboard. The only option is an experimental virtual reality interface, in which the sensors Geordi uses for his visor allow the engineer to control the probe as if it were his own body.

Just before the mission, Geordi receives disturbing news. His mother (Madge Sinclair)'s ship, the Hera, is missing, presumed lost. Geordi insists on going through with his mission, however, insisting that if the crew of the Ramanare alive, they can't wait the time it would take to retool the interface for someone else's use. He dons the interface suit and plugs in.

He discovers that the crew are all dead. But then something more happens. While attempting to retrieve the data the ship had been collecting, his mother appears before him, telling him that the Raman needs to go down to the planet or else she and the rest of her crew will die!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: He's sympathetic to Geordi's desire to believe his mother is alive, but he isn't willing to risk Geordi's safety on a paper-thin hypothesis that Data deems "almost impossible." 

Geordi: Goes into denial about his mother's disappearance. "The Hera is missing, that's all," he insists. "Until I hear something different, my mother might just as well have taken the crew on an unscheduled holiday!" When his father (Ben Vereen) tries to make him accept that she is gone, Geordi snaps at him. He is more open with Data, however, acknowledging the likelihood of her death but confessing that he doesn't know how he'll be able to deal with it if she really is gone.

Dr. Crusher: Shows immediate concern when Geordi insists on increasing the safety tolerances for better control of the probe, but she does go along with the increases. After an accident with the interface puts Geordi in jeopardy, she has concerns about him returning to it. But she does agree that if the tolerances are kept within a safer margin, that the "risk is acceptable," showing a comprehension of the balance between crew safety and the success of the mission - something that hasn't always been evident in her character.


THOUGHTS

While it's only about an average episode, Interface is a solid piece of television. Writer Joe Menosky does his usual fine job with characterization, and the concept of the VR interface is a nice hook on which to hang Geordi's emotional dilemma. Geordi's need to deal with the loss of his mother is the real story, of course - but by folding that story within the structured narrative of the retrieval of the Raman's crew, Menosky keeps the story moving forward when it might otherwise bog down.

The last episode to spotlight Geordi was Aquiel, a turgid bore that had no interest in his character beyond using him as a plot piece. This episode actually focuses on Geordi's personality. His emotional turmoil surrounding his mother's disappearance is convincingly portrayed, from his guilt at not seeing her the last time he had the chance to his inability to accept her death without wreckage or a body. He grasps at thin theoretical straws to come up with a way that she might be alive - all of which makes his shipmates even more prone to believing, when he receives an apparent message from his mother, that he is actually hallucinating due to the VR interface.

Levar Burton's very good performance and the convincing portrayal of Geordi's emotions keep the episode grounded, but these positives can't disguise a few moments in which Geordi's behavior would simply not be acceptable within a military chain of command. I'm particularly thinking of the ready room scene, in which Geordi responds to a "No" from Picard by literally hitting a chair. There are a few such moments when Geordi's tone or behavior just seem too unprofessional for Picard and/or Riker to overlook, even taking grief into consideration. At the very least, they would look at that behavior and temporarily relieve him due to his emotional state.

That's one reason why this episode gets a "6" instead of a "7," though in truth it's not enough by itself. The other reason why I consider this more of an "average" episode than a truly "good" one is harder to define. It's more a question of personal response. The episode has merit, and I enjoyed watching it. But it just doesn't quite get the level of response from me that I'd have liked. I wasn't bored at any point while watching it. However, I was always watching it, rather than becoming truly involved in it.

If nothing else, this was at the very least substantially better than Liaisons.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

Previous Episode: Liaisons
Next Episode: Gambit


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6-22. Suspicions.

An experiment sends a shuttle flying into a sun!

Dr. Crusher is impressed by the research of Dr. Reyga (Peter Slutsker), a Ferengi scientist who insists that he has developed a metaphasic shield that will allow a shuttlecraft to fly safely into a star. The Federation's scientific community is skeptical, both because attempts to develop such shielding have always ended in failure and because Reyga is a Ferengi. But Crusher believes the data, and arranges for a team of scientists from different races to come to the Enterprise to see Reyga's work firsthand.

A shuttlecraft is equipped with Reyga's shield technology, and a manned test flight is arranged. Jo'Bril (James Horan), a Takaran scientist, volunteers to pilot the shuttle into a star. The test appears to be going perfectly, everything happening according to Reyga's calculations. Then there is a sudden rise in baryon particles. Jo'Bril begins to collapse, and by the time the Enterprise is able to retrieve him, it is too late for Crusher to save his life.

The autopsy cannot reveal a firm cause of death, and no malfunction can be found in either the shuttlecraft controls or Reyga's technology. Then Reyga turns up dead, apparently from suicide. Crusher cannot accept that he might have killed himself... but her insistence on investigating may put her entire career in jeopardy!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: As someone who has sent crew members on missions that have ended in death, he understands Crusher's feelings when Jo'Bril dies in a test she made possible. He doesn't attempt to comfort her, as such, knowing that consolation at this point is not possible. He is very protective of her throughout, even when she takes action that violates Starfleet ethics, and he does make a keen observation about her situation: "You're the loneliest person in the world right now. No one can say anything, no one can do anything that will help, and you think that it will never go away. And you're right, it won't. But you can get used to it. I know it doesn't feel like that now, but you can."

Dr. Crusher: The best Crusher spotlight episode since Season Four's Remember Me. Crusher is taken out of her comfort zone. First she acts as a "scientific ambassador," taking it on herself to arrange for the scientists to see Reyga's research in hopes of promoting an exchange of ideas. She really doesn't do badly at this, managing to direct the other scientists' skepticism in such a way that it leads to a demonstration of the technology instead of an outright dismissal. But when things go awry, she is put into another unfamiliar role - that of detective. The one investigative tool she is comfortable with, the autopsy, is specifically denied her, and she is forced to search for the truth without that data. Gates McFadden gives a solid performance, and is particularly good in the scenes that see Crusher feeling alone, out of her depth, and defeated.

Guinan: Seen for the first time since Rascals. Even though her role is small, restricted to the bookends surrounding the story, it's still a welcome return. I'm actually impressed at Whoopi Goldberg's ongoing commitment to a role on a syndicated television series during a period when her film career was at its height. Guinan's interactions with Crusher are a lot of fun. She's just the right sympathetic ear to allow the doctor to vent her frustrations, and knows exactly when to listen and exactly when to push Crusher to action. 


THOUGHTS

The second murder mystery of the season, Suspicions is an enormous step up from the leaden Aquiel. The script, by stalwarts Joe Menosky and Naren Shankar, gets right key things the earlier episode got so wrong.

First, the mystery. Whereas Aquiel suffered from a thin mystery that tried to evoke '40's film noir but came closer to '80's Scooby Doo, this mystery is passably intriguing. New revelations and complications come at a steady pace. There's a twist ending, one that admittedly isn't hard to see coming. But unlike Aquiel, the ending works - in part because that character has a convincing motive, and in part because the script lays groundwork early in the episode to make the revelation halfway believable when it comes. In short, this time the dog didn't do it.

Even more critically, this script grounds itself in the character of one of the regulars. The earlier episode may have been from Geordi's viewpoint, but he wasn't specifically used or examined as a character. Other than his (entirely unconvincing) feelings for Aquiel, nothing was at stake for him. He was simply the designated "character of the week," in a script that could have been rewritten to fit any of the other male regulars with virtually no changes. 

Suspicions feels specifically tailored to Dr. Crusher. The mystery is suited to her character, as is the central challenge: She is certain that an autopsy will solve the crime, and the tool of an autopsy on the Ferengi scientist is what she's specifically denied. There are personal stakes. We open the episode learning that events have put her career in jeopardy. As she continues to push for answers, even when Riker urges her to stop, she makes the situation worse and worse for herself. Picard tells her early in the episode that she is alone, and that ends up being exactly right at the close, her investigation isolating her more and more until she finally is truly alone. Effective structure, and very strong use of character.

Viewed in the context of Aquiel, this episode is a reminder that the murder mystery is a valid genre for Star Trek.  As an episode in its own right, it's well-paced and a lot of fun to watch. Not one of the great episodes, but certainly one I'd consider a good one.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Frame of Mind
Next Episode: Rightful Heir


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5-11. Hero Worship

Young Timothy (Joshua Harris) mimics Data.

THE PLOT

The Enterprise is sent to find the Vico, a research ship that disappeared inside a black cluster. They find the ship quite quickly - wrecked, with no apparent life signs aboard. Picard sends an Away Team to investigate. To their surprise, the officers discover there is a survivor: Timothy (Joshua Harris), whose life sign readings were masked by the debris he was trapped beneath. He is rescued by Data, whose physical strength allows him to lift the debris so that the boy can be transported to safety.

Timothy tells the crew that their ship was attacked. He also tells of a landing party wearing purple helmets - something Geordi finds unlikely, given the lack of traces that would be left by either a transporter or a physical breach. When it becomes apparent that Timothy has formed an attachment to Data, Picard grants Troi's request that the android spend time with the boy, in hopes that Timothy may tell Data the truth. What no one expects is that Timothy will decide to be Data, proclaiming himself an emotionless android in an attempt to hide from his own trauma!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: In Season One, it would have been difficult to imagine "Grumpy Picard, the Child Hater" responding to a child who is clearly lying about something with this much patience. Picard gives Troi leeway to use Data to help the boy, and is steady and non-judgmental in his few direct dealings with Timothy. The ending also shows how much trust he places in Data's judgment, as he confirms a seemingly bizarre order by Data with only a moment's hesitation. By this time, he knows that he can trust Data (at least, when the android isn't being controlled by an outside influence).

Data: The first time Data approaches Timothy, the scene is centered around a model of a mythological temple the boy is attempting to assemble. The boy's attempt is chaotic, much like his own mental state. He fails to secure one level before putting a piece on the one above, causing it to collapse. Data effortlessly assembles a perfect model in seconds. While this has little to do with Data's lack of emotions, it combines with Data's inability to feel sadness to make "android" seem attractive to Timothy. At Troi's urging, Data indulges the boy's fantasy. But when the time comes, he picks a perfect illustration of some of the negatives. While sharing a dessert, he explains to Timothy his inability to appreciate flavor. He can analyze a dessert, but he can't truly taste it, he can't like or dislike it. "I would gladly risk feeling bad at times," Data explains, "if it also meant that I could taste my dessert."

Troi: An episode involving a victim of emotional trauma, in which part of that victim's healing comes through a shared dessert... and Troi is on the sidelines? Much as I prefer Data-centric episodes to Troi-centric ones, she surely should be more involved in Timothy's healing than simply giving Data advice about how to deal with the boy. Still, Troi is reasonably well-used here. Her observations about Timothy's emotional state are apt, and her guidance to Data is steady without being controlling. Marina Sirtis' acting has also come a long way by this point, and she gives a confident and likable performance.


THOUGHTS

I'm mystified. By this point, the writing staff on the show has long since proved itself to be capable of structuring a season. So whether you love or loathe this episode and New Ground, it still begs the question: How did they not notice that they had two extremely similar episodes airing one right after the other? Wouldn't simple common sense dictate that if a season has two "troubled child" episodes (which is at least one too many to start with), then those two episodes should at least occur at different points in the season?

The issue of season placement aside, Hero Worship is a substantially better episode than New Ground. Joe Menosky's script paints Timothy's issues in a way that feels both layered and convincing, while Patrick Stewart's directing manages to be highly visual in a way that doesn't distract from what is, at heart, a character drama. It also helps that Joshua Harris is a much better child actor than Brian Bonsall. Harris gives an above-average performance for a television child actor. The scenes between Data and Timothy are both written and performed with sensitivity and intelligence, which goes a long way toward making what could have been a dreadful episode into a surprisingly good one.

Joe Menosky's script deserves a lot of credit. What is essentially a piece about survivor's guilt is turned into an effective mystery. For most of the episode's running time, we are led to believe one thing about what happened to the Vico. This generates a fair amount of tension as the Enterprise explores the black cluster, particularly when the ship's sensors start going crazy, insisting another ship is there to port - no, starboard - no, port. The transition between the Timothy scenes and the bridge scenes are well-handled, while the final third does an effective job in bringing all of the plot threads together.

Less good is the tag scene, which is meant to reassure us that Timothy is "fine" now. A couple conversations with Troi and his interactions with Data may have helped him, certainly. But what happened to him is more complex than that. The tag could just as easily have been written to show that Timothy, while progressing, is going to have some difficult times ahead - hopeful, without trying to put a shiny ribbon on top of his newfound orphan status. As it stands, the simplistic "Everything's going to be OK, mmm'kay" ending is an unwelcome reminder of Trek's usual desire to sweep complexities under the carpet.

Still a surprisingly good episode, much better than Star Trek "child episodes" usually turn out.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: New Ground

Next Episode: Violations

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5-02. Darmok

An alien captain (Paul Winfield) attempts
to communicate with Picard.

THE PLOT

The Enterprise makes a rendezvous with a Tamarian ship which has sent out a basic mathematical message at the edge of Federation space. Previous attempts to communicate with the Tamarians have failed, with Federation representatives describing them as "unintelligible." Picard is determined to succeed where his predecessors failed - but on first contact, he finds himself equally stymied, unable to make sense of the words spoken by the Tamarian captain (Paul Winfield).

The Tamarian seems equally frustrated. After several minutes without progress on either side, he gets into a brief, indecipherable argument with his officers. Then he makes an announcement: "Darmok and Jalad, at Tanagra." Abruptly, both the Tamarian and Picard are transported to a nearby world.

Riker's attempts to recover Picard are stymied by the Tamarian ship. Meanwhile, Picard tries to find a way to communicate with the Tamarian captain - something on which the survival of them both may depend!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Another terrific episode for Patrick Stewart, who gets to cover a wide range of emotions. Picard's brain never stops working. Even as he and the Tamarian captain are attacked by a mysterious energy beast, Picard continues to focus on the patterns and meanings of the other man's words and phrases, until he is able to pick up enough meaning to usefully communicate.

Riker: Though this is firmly Picard's episode, it also provides Jonathan Frakes' Riker with his meatiest material in some time. With Picard effectively held captive, Riker steps into the command role once more. He tries multiple strategies to break through the Tamarian interference. His poker instincts lead him to testing if the Talarians are bluffing in the seriousness in their interference, by sending a shuttle to see if the aliens will prevent it from landing. He pushes Geordi to work on finding a way to make the transporter work through the interference. And he assigns Troi and Data to work on deciphering the Tamarians' language. A good showing, though one that emphasizes what was clear at the start of last season - It no longer makes sense for Riker to be content at being anyone's first officer, not when he's so clearly ready for his own command.

Data/Troi: These two make a solid team, working together to unravel the structure of the Tamarian language. Between them, they figure out that the other species speaks in metaphors, with each phrase conveying meaning by capturing an image from a story. Which isn't really much help to Riker in finding a way to communicate with the other ship. As Troi points out, an image such as "Juliet, on her balcony," has meaning only because most people (even those who have never read the story) are culturally aware of the balcony scene from Romeo & Juliet. To someone with no awareness of the story at all - no awareness that the story and scene even exist - it would simply be a meaningless phrase. Data compares their situation with knowing the grammar of a language but none of the vocabulary.


THOUGHTS

Darmok is one of the definitive TNG episodes, one of a handful of shows people think of when Star Trek: The Next Generation is mentioned. It is somewhat divisive. While its reputation has been exemplary from pretty much the date of its first broadcast, a minority of viewers have strongly disliked the episode from that same date. On first broadcast, my father and I religiously watched TNG, often simply to make fun of its cheesier moments (which were regularly on display). Darmok was an episode he switched off, because he found it boring and pretentious - an accusation which the episode's detractors continue to use today.

I can appreciate that point of view. Certainly, I never fully buy into the existence of a purely metaphoric language. Among other things, as a former English teacher, I'm very aware of the simple fact that many iconic literary scenes are open to multiple interpretations. "The ghost of Banquo, at the feast." A visitation from beyond (Banquo's revenge), or a delusion of Macbeth's caused by his own guilt? The answer largely depends on how the director of a given production chooses to stage it.

But that doesn't interfere with my appreciation of the episode itself. In part, I look at the Tamarians' metaphoric language as a metaphor in itself. Picard's interactions with the other captain are a representation of the act of communication itself. Picard cannot make sense of the Tamarians and finds them unintelligible. He learns with and bonds with one of them, essentially learns the language - and at the end, the same words and phrases which had been meaningless gibberish at the start now have meaning.

Joe Menosky's script is quite tight, the story structure exemplary. The first half focuses on the division between Picard and the Tamarian, on their inability to communicate. Once they make some headway (Picard is able to correctly interpret one phrase), Menosky raises the stakes by bringing in an external threat - the beast. This provides some action and suspense, but it is also to deepen the communication between the two captains. The scenes on the Enterprise, which in a weaker script would be filler, effectively lend the planet scenes some context. The Enterprise plot intersects with the Picard one at a critical point, leaving both Picard and Riker in weaker positions for the final Act.

The acting is another strength. Patrick Stewart is at his best in episodes such as this one, in which Picard must contend with an intellectual puzzle. His bonding with the Tamarian folds in a strong emotional component, leading to a superb final scene between the two characters as Picard tells a fragmented version of the story of Gilgamesh by a campfire. It's a moment that easily could have been dreadful, but the combination of the story context and Stewart's fully-engaged performance make it one of the series' great scenes.

Paul Winfield is equally good as the Tamarian, taking a handful of phrases and imbuing repetitions of those phrases with a wide variety of emotions and meanings, some of which are still left for us to guess at the end. Winfield's commanding presence is also used to good effect. We never doubt that he belongs as the captain of his own vessel, and on the planet he is easily Picard's equal.

Oh, under trivia notes: Look fast for a young Ashley Judd as an officer in Engineering. Probably not something she puts at the top of her resume, I'm guessing, though unlike Teri Hatcher she at least gets to pop up in the background of a good episode.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: Redemption

Next Episode: Ensign Ro

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4-25. In Theory

Data tries to understand romance.

THE PLOT

Data has befriended Jenna D'Sora (Michele Scarabelli), a security officer who has recently broken up with her emotionally unavailable boyfriend. Jenna quickly becomes infatuated with the eternally kind and attentive android. When she gives him an unexpected and passionate kiss, Data decides to pursue a relationship, attempting to create a program to navigate his way through a romance. But the complexities of love (along with his choice of a perhaps overly needy girlfriend) are too contradictory for a computer program to untangle.

Meanwhile, the Enterprise finds itself experiencing odd incidents while exploring a nebula. These are minor, at first: an unlocked door that allows Data's cat, Spot, to escape; a smashed ship-in-bottle that Picard was working on. But as the disturbances become more frequent and serious, the crew realizes that the ship itself may be in danger!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Gets the punchline to the "Data's advice" montage. Patrick Stewart is terrific in this scene - a hilariously strained expression when Data approaches, followed by his blunt-yet-polite reply. His initial response to the incidents on the ship is to "be cautious" but take no action. Only when one incident causes the (nastier than usual) death of a crew member does he finally decide to get the ship out of the nebula.

Data: Another Data episode, another terrific performance by Brent Spiner. One of the best decisions of Joe Menoski and Ronald D. Moore's script is to emphasize from the outset Data's lack of emotion. He can emulate human interaction, but he does not actually feel. This leaves him attempting to emulate romantic emotions, which goes over about as well as faking romance ever does. When he attempts to be a solicitous boyfriend, he mainly comes across like a cheesy waiter ("What can I get you? ...An excellent choice"). When Jenna calls him on this, he is perfectly honest: "When it comes to romantic relationships, there is no real me."

Geordi: The sum total impact of last week's harrowing experiences... are nada. As I feared would be the case, Geordi is exactly the same as he was before. A limitation of the "standalone episode" format: Events that should change characters forever are emotionally reset the following week, with Picard's Borg experience being a rare exception. It doesn't harm this episode as such, but I would at least have liked some reference to Geordi dealing with what happened rather than it being completely ignored.

Hot Space Babe of the Week: Michele Scarabelli is suitably appealing as Jenna. She's attractive and likable enough for the viewer to care about, at least enough to be interested in her feelings during the episode. She is also able to project enough neediness to make it plausible that she would attach herself to Data, even after he reminds her that he is incapable of emotion. I get the sense that the relationship would likely have lasted longer had Data not attempted to emulate romantic behavior - though it's equally apparent that Jenna's neediness would make her entirely unsuited to an unemotional suitor.


ZAP THE REDSHIRT!

Geordi strides down a hallway with two engineers in tow: Thorne (Gary Baxley), who has previously had a line, and Van Mayter (Georgina Shore), who does not speak. Van Mayter is sent down a hallway. There's a scream. When Geordi and Thorne run back to investigate, they discover her fused to the floor, her arms and upper body sticking out like a particularly ghastly car hood ornament. It's a striking visual, and probably TNG's most memorable redshirt death in the midst of an episode that otherwise has little external threat.


THOUGHTS

"What were you just thinking?"

"In that particular moment: I was reconfiguring the warp field parameters; analyzing the collected works of Charles Dickens; calculating the maximum pressure I could safely apply to your lips; considering a new food supplement for Spot..."

"I'm glad I was in there somewhere."


Late Season Four has seen a number of romance episodes, none of which has quite worked. Qpid suffered by playing the comedy so broadly that the Picard/Vash relationship never had a chance to be explored. Half a Life presented a convincing romance, but sabotaged it with ham-handed social commentary. The Host presented a solid "B" plot, but suffered from a central relationship made up entirely of romance novel cliches.

In Theory somehow manages to succeed where those episodes failed. Much as I'd love to credit Patrick Stewart's direction in his debut directorial outing - and he does a very competent job - I think the bulk of the credit goes to the script. Joe Menosky and Ronald D. Moore wisely focus on Data's unemotional state throughout the story. He may look forward to his time with his friend Jenna D'Sora, but he isn't capable of returning her affection - something he bluntly tells her from the very start. The result of this is that anything artificial in the Data/Jenna interactions is simply part and parcel of Data's attentions being artificial.

There are two great scenes demonstrating this. The first is the one I quoted above, as Data demonstrates that he is a machine. He may look more or less human, he may have a personality of his own. But his mind works so much faster than the human brain that he pretty much never is absolutely focused on simply one thing - He will never give a prospective mate his full and undivided attention, simply because it isn't possible for him, nor does he give any more weight to his thoughts of Jenna than to his thoughts of the warp field, the works of Dickens, or the food supplement for Spot. It's all of equal importance, with his list enumerated (presumably) by complexity of the calculations.

The other great scene is the episode's closing. Data and Jenna's relationship reaches its inevitable close, as she realizes that she has moved from an unemotional man to a man incapable of emotion. Data asks if they have broken up. When she confirms it, he considers and states that he will "delete the appropriate program." No expression of regret or sadness, because he simply cannot feel regret. She leaves him alone, and his cat approaches and jumps on his lap. He strokes the cat, and the camera cuts to a close shot of his mechanical fingers, imitating the motion of stroking a pet with no accompanying feeling. The final shot sees Data in darkness, stroking his cat, feeling nothing: a situation that may satisfy a cat, but would never satisfy a human being (at least, not for very long).

The ship in jeopardy "B" plot is serviceable, doing its job of creating some dramatic structure to an episode that otherwise would have little. The nebula shots are some of the most visually striking effects shots TNG has yet presented, in an episode that otherwise is one of the least effects-oriented. And just as the threat appears to be too abstract to really build tension, we are presented with one of the most memorable Random Crew Member deaths to date.

Overall, an episode that holds up surprisingly well, given that "relationship" Trek episodes are usually either painful or, at best, merely dull.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: The Mind's Eye

Next Episode: Redemption

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