7-12. The Pegasus.

Riker is less than happy to be reunited
with his former C. O. (Terry O'Quinn)

THE PLOT

The Enterprise receives orders to pick up a Starfleet intelligence operative: Admiral Erik Pressman (Terry O'Quinn), who was Riker's first commanding officer. Riker served as his helmsman aboard The Pegasus, a prototype vessel lost near the border of Romulan space twelve years earlier. The ship was assumed destroyed - but now intelligence has leaked that debris has been located in an asteroid field in the Devolin system. It is urgent the the Enterprise find the lost ship before the Romulans do and either recover it or destroy it.

But a secret lies within the engineering section of the Pegasus, one which led to a shipwide mutiny and which has left Riker plagued with guilt ever since. If those secrets are discovered, Riker will have to make a choice - one which may lead to the end of his Starfleet career!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: In a scene that lends new context to the very first Picard/Riker scene in Encounter at Farpoint, he reveals that the reason he chose Riker as First Officer was the very thing he seemed angry about in that episode: Riker's insistence on blocking his previous captain from leading a dangerous Away mission. "I wanted someone who would stand up to me, someone who was more concerned with the safety of the ship and accomplishing the mission than with how something looked on his record. To me, that's one of the marks of a good officer." That statement echoes later, when Riker refuses to share information with Picard, using "orders" as his excuse. He makes it clear that if Riker is concealing anything that endangers the Enterprise, then he will "re-evaluate this ship's command structure."

Riker: The "Captain Picard Day" teaser may seem irrelevant, but it performs an important function: It establishes the norm for Riker's relationship with Picard. We see Riker completely relaxed, bantering humorously with his friend and captain... which makes his reaction to Pressman's entrance all the stronger by contrast. It's very clear that Riker hoped never to see his former C. O. again, and he's strained in every interaction. He does his job at all points, but he does not want them to find The Pegasus, and offers up the "destroy the ship" option at the very first opportunity. Jonathan Frakes plays Riker's anxiety and internal struggle well, delivering one of his best performances in the series.

Pompous Space Bureucrat of the Week: Admiral Pressman (Terry O'Quinn) has a complete opposite view to Picard of a good officer: "I've always felt it was more important for an officer to trust his captain's judgment. In a crisis, there's no time for explanations. Orders have to be obeyed without question or lives may be lost... (Sense of duty and loyalty) say more about a man than the rank on his collar or the uniform he wears. They define him."

Those words echo another character in a Ronald D. Moore Starfleet script - Locarno in The First Duty, who prized loyalty to the team above Starfleet honor codes. Like Locarno, Pressman comes across as an intelligent man who believes in what he is saying, which grants him a certain integrity, even though he is clearly the villain of the piece. Terry O'Quinn is excellent, and it's not hard to see why he went on to greater success after this role.

Romulans: More a plot device than anything, though the friction between the Romulans and Starfleet is the story's inciting incident - The secret Pressman and Riker are protecting simply would not exist without them. Beyond that, they wring a little extra tension out of the search for the Pegasus, introducing a "ticking clock" into the episode.


THOUGHTS

The Pegasus is a Ronald D. Moore script, which is almost always good news in itself. Moore is willing to play within the Trek rules, but he does like to push those boundaries a bit. Starfleet may itself be honest and above-board, but Moore knows human nature too well to accept that everyone within it is the same. Just as his Klingon episodes showed the corruption beneath the pretense of honor, his Starfleet episodes show some of Starfleet's most praised breaking rules and jeopardizing others to advance themselves.

The script for The Pegasus brims with tension in every strand. Riker has two internal struggles: his feelings of guilt over his actions from twelve years earlier and his desire to tell Picard what's going on despite his orders not to tell. This internal conflict also drives Riker's external conflicts with both Pressman and Picard. Pressman dresses him down for wanting to destroy The Pegasus rather than recover it. Picard later confronts Riker with evidence of a mutiny on the ship twelve years earlier. His grave disappointment when Riker tells him he is under orders not to discuss the issue hits Riker far harder than Pressman's chewing out had done.

Though the story could have been carried just through these conflicts among Riker, Picard, and Pressman, the external threat of the Romulans does not feel tacked-on. Instead, it enhances the episode, infusing the search for the lost ship with more suspense. There's a clever bit in which the Enterprise finds the Pegasus' location but can't go straight to it lest the Romulans notice. Instead, they emit an ion pulse to mask the ship's signature and move on before the Romulans get within sensor range. Then there's a wonderful pause with our characters just watching the screen, waiting to see whether the Romulan ship stops or moves on itself. It's just characters staring at a screen, but it is extremely suspenseful.

All in all, another excellent episode following right on the heels of the previous, excellent episode. Dare I hope that Season Seven may recover from its rather dismal opening set of shows?


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: Parallels
Next Episode: Homeward 


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6-25. Timescape.

Picard picks a bad time to develop a sense of humor.

THE PLOT

Picard, Data, Geordi, and Troi are on a runabout, returning from a conference about which the less said, the better. Even before they reach the coordinates of their rendezvous with Enterprise, strange things begin occurring. Troi witnesses the others freeze in mid-sentence for several seconds before resuming as if nothing had happened. Then she loses three minutes, as the others watch her freeze. Investigating, they discover that this area of space is surrounded by time anomalies.

But this is just a taste of what awaits when they reach the Enterprise. They discover the ship frozen in space, apparently under attack from an also-frozen Romulan warbird. Some quick improvisation on Geordi's part allows them to beam to the ship.  Once on board, they discover Romulans on the bridge and in sickbay, apparently attacking crew members in both places. In Engineering, they find a warp core breach in progress, apparently caused by a beam being reflected by the Romulan ship.

Obviously, something must be done to unfreeze time for both ships. But with the Enterprise mere seconds away from destruction, any action taken will have to be precise - meaning that Picard and the others will need to investigate the frozen situation on both ships carefully to determine exactly what was occurring. They will only have seconds to act when the time comes, leaving them no margin for midjudgment, assumption, or error! 


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: An early indication of the runabout crew's vulnerability to the time distortion comes when Picard reaches out to touch a suddenly-aged bowl of fruit - only to gasp in pain and horror as his hand suddenly ages upon making contact. Picard's susceptibility continues as he briefly loses it next to the frozen Warp Core breach, drawing a smiley face in the cloud created by the detonation. When not suffering from the distortion effects, he is fully focused on the task at hand, particularly on keeping the others from interfering in any way until they have a firm grasp on the situation. 

Troi: Apparently took advantage of her time aboard a Romulan ship to gain a working knowledge of Romulan engineering systems. It may seem a reach for this character to suddenly be the Engineering expert, but it does make sense that she would think to scrutinize some of the Romulan systems during her time with them. It's not like it was an opportunity likely to come along often for Starfleet. 

Data: Along with Geordi, gets to carry the Technobabble of the episode, explaining how the time fields work for the benefit of the viewers. Brent Spiner's performance helps to keep Data more than just a source of exposition for the episode, little moments such as his reaction when time moves backward and a crew members is about to back into him keeping him a character instead of just a plot device.

Geordi: The only one to actually enjoy the conference, having been fascinated by a demonstration involving a plasma field. This is appropriate, since Geordi is Technobabble Guy this week. He is the one who makes it possible for them to explore the Enterprise and the warbird, and his scrutiny of the situation makes it clear that while they are shielded from the effects of the distortion, they are not immune to it. 


THOUGHTS

With Brannon Braga scripting an episode centering around time moving backward and forward, complete with the Enterprise exploding and un-exploding at one point, it's impossible to watch Timescape without recalling Season Five's Cause and Effect. The earlier episode was better (was arguably Braga's best of the franchise), but that doesn't keep this from being a worthy episode in its own right.

As is true of most episodes, Timescape is much more intriguing while the characters are investigating than it is once the situation becomes clear. The reason for the time anomalies, involving aliens from an alternate time continuum trying to protect their offspring, is not terribly interesting and feels perfuctory, as if Braga stapled something onto the episode to justify "the cool stuff." As a result, the last ten minutes or so of the show represent by far its weakest portion.

However, the actual scenario, with the Enterprise frozen in time while Picard and his companions investigate, is very effective. There are several very memorable moments here: Picard's close encounter with a bowl of rotting fruit, which an eyeblink goes from rotting to disintegrated; Picard drawing a smiley face in the gas cloud of a warp explosion; Troi looking on in horror at the frozen tableau of a Romulan firing his disruptor into a helpless Dr. Crusher. 

The episode may be a collection of moments, with the story largely connecting one moment to the next - but these moments come at a steady pace, and each of them creates a reaction. I knew while watching that the episode was utter nonsense - but that didn't stop me from being sucked in. It's a roller coaster style episode: It doesn't matter that the destination isn't too interesting, as long as the ride throws you through a few fun loops along the way.

A fun 45 minute ride, and one that I will certainly take again in the future.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Second Chances
Next Episode: Descent


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6-20. The Chase.

Picard is reunited with his mentor (Norman Lloyd).

THE PLOT

Picard receives a visit from Professor Richard Galen (Norman Lloyd), his old archaeology mentor from his Starfleet Academy days. At that time, Picard had disappointed Galen by turning down the chance to become an archaeologist in favor of a career in Starfleet. Now, Galen is offering Picard a second chance at archaeology, asking him to take an indefinite leave to join him on an expedition to complete the most ambitious project of the old man's career.

Picard knows he can't leave the Enterprise, and so disappoints Galen a second time by refusing his offer. It isn't long before he crosses paths with the professor again, however. He encounters Galen's shuttle, under attack by Yridians. The Enterprise destroys the attackers, but not before Galen is killed.

Now Picard is on the trail of Galen's research - But he has competitors in this chase: Klingons, Cardassians, and even Romulans, all seeking this ultimate prize: Be it a power source, a weapon... or something else entirely!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Another good performance from Patrick Stewart, though I confess I'm starting to feel a bit Picard-weary at this point. I know he's the lead, but it feels like we've had almost nothing but Picard-centric episodes for quite a stretch now, with only Birthright having broken the pattern. Oh, well: At least Picard is a sufficiently multi-faceted character to carry it. Here, we focus on Picard's archaeology background. First, he is tempted by the ghost of the past, The Road Not Taken, by Professor Galen's offer. Then his feelings of guilt at Galen's death push him to pursue his old mentor's research to a point questioned by both Riker and Troi - though when his pursuit begins yielding results, all questions end.

Riker: He's actually doing his job as First Officer by pointing out to the captain that he is neglecting one of his commitments to chase after leads that are hardly promising, and it's good to see Riker questioning Picard - something we haven't seen in far too long. Even before the search begins yielding results, however, Riker stands by his captain, executing his own orders in his usual, professional fashion. 

Dr. Crusher: Her friendship with Picard is very visible in this episode. While Riker and Troi are initially skeptical, Crusher is supportive throughout. She is his sounding board when he mulls over Galen's offer, and she listens to his thoughts on that offer without pushing him in either one direction or the other. Once the pieces of the DNA puzzle begin falling into place, she becomes Picard's primary support, assisting him in quietly assembling the solution while the representatives of the other races exchange loud threats mere feet away from them.

Romulans, Klingons, and Cardassians: Oh, my! The episode basically delivers exactly what you'd expect of each of the three races. The Klingon is violent but straightforward; the Cardassian is crafty and deceitful; the Romulan watches the proceedings from stealth, waiting to make himself known at the most advantageous time. I could have wished for a more interesting portrayal, with something unexpected from at least one of the three, but it would likely have been difficult to have managed this within the strict 45-minute time limit. As it stands, each race is effectively represented, though I do rather wish the representatives had been recurring characters. The ending scene, in particular, would have been far more meaningful if the Romulan had been Tomalak - or even Sela. 


THOUGHTS

While Birthright offered up a two-parter that should have been a single episode, The Chase may be an example of the opposite. This episode gives us an intriguing and complex story, one with many good ideas... But one which feels underdeveloped and muted by the need to cram all those ideas into a single, 45 minute package.

Which is not to say that The Chase is a bad episode. Though it feels constricted and underdeveloped, it is still a highly entertaining piece. The base concept may be nonsense drawn from Chariots of the Gods, but it does fit well within the Star Trek universe. The ending, when we discover the ultimate secret, is a perfect reflection of the idealism of classic Trek, as instead of a superweapon, something far simpler and - to Picard, at least - far more meaningful is uncovered.

The episode gets a boost from the casting of Norman Lloyd as Galen. A veteran actor instantly recognizable to most viewers of the early '90's, Lloyd has a presence that makes Galen memorable despite very limited screentime. His scenes with Picard are among the episode's highlights, and enough of a relationship is drawn in those few scenes to make Picard's determination through the rest of the episode convincing.

In the end, I liked The Chase well enough. But the obviously limited budget hampers it. The action only leaves the Enterprise at the end, for a particularly cheap-looking planet set, and is otherwise restricted to standing sets. The limited running time keeps many of the story's ideas from being developed to their full potential. As a two-parter, with a few extra stops and some added complications, this might have been something memorable. As it stands, it's enjoyable but - as I said - muted. Easy to watch, but not one that lives in the memory.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

Previous Episode: Lessons
Next Episode: Frame of Mind


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6-16, 6-17. Birthright.

Tokath (Alan Scarfe), commandant
of a most unusual prison camp.

THE PLOT

The Enterprise is docked at Deep Space 9 so that Picard can coordinate with the Bajorans on rebuilding their aqueduct system.  Worf is enjoying a meal on the station when he receives a visitor: Jaglom Shrek (James Cromwell), a Yiridian information broker. Jaglom claims that Worf's father is alive, held with other Klingons in a secret Romulan prison camp. Worf is reluctant to believe this, as surrender casts a Klingon's line into dishonor for three generations, but he decides he must follow up. What he discovers at the camp is very different than what he was led to expect.

Meanwhile, an accident in Engineering provides Data with a vision of his own father, Dr. Noonian Soong. It is a flash of images, one that puzzles him when he can find no sign of malfunction. Determined to pursue it further, Data unlocks a dormant message from his creator - one that promises to expand the limits of his reality!

CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Looks almost physically pained at the prospect of spending days, if not weeks, poring over the finer points of Bajoran aqueducts. I can't say that I blame him for that. This makes him receptive to Data interrupting him, and the advice he gives is sound: Rather than drawing on cultures that are not his own to assign someone else's meaning to his vision, he advises Data to pursue it himself to find his own meaning for it.

Worf: One area in which Birthright excels is as a showcase for Michael Dorn's Worf, who has developed into a genuinely complex figure by this point in the series. He goes through a number of shifts across the two episodes. He first reacts as a man receiving news he doesn't want might, with denial. Then he is a Klingon warrior in the best sense, determined to face the truth whatever it may be. Then he is a defiant prisoner, determined to escape the Romulan camp. Finally, he takes on the role of teacher, demonstrating through himself the best virtues of the heritage denied to the Klingon children of the camp. Dorn is good throughout, and particularly good in the scenes opposite the Klingon youth. It may not be an excellent episode, but it is a fine showing for Worf.

Data: The glimpse of Soong in his vision is something he can't ignore. Data begins by falling back on his usual pattern: Questioning his friends to search for the ways they would apply meaning to his situation. This is hardly unusual, but then he does something that shows his development across the series: After his talk with Picard, he is actually able to act on the advice of applying his own meaning to the experience.

Geordi: Acts as a supportive friend to Data, listening as Data talks about his vision and helping him to recreate the accident to unlock it. Just as a good friend might, he is willing to go along to a point - but he tells Data that if the risks become too great, he will stop the experiment.

Dr. Bashir: Crossing over from Deep Space 9, Bashir plays a key role in Part One's Data subplot. Refreshingly, he gets more than just a cameo - He has a full supporting role, allowing TNG viewers to get a sense of his character. This is the Bashir of DS9's first season, but fortunately writer Brannon Braga steers clear of the character's early boorishness. Instead, the script focuses on his enthusiasm for new discoveries. He is amazed at the more mundane aspects of Data, recognizing the complexity that went into such things as growing hair and incorporating breathing and a pulse into the maintenance of his functions. Bashir recognizes how much work went into making Data appear so human, and recognizes that this is part of what makes the android such a marvel - not his computing capabilities, which many machines can match, but those traits that allow him to actually live as a man instead of just a machine.

THOUGHTS

Birthright is a two-parter that shouldn't be. There is certainly good material in it. Themes include generational conflict, prejudice, and the importance of connecting young people with their culture. Worthy topics, and there are many fine scenes and some excellent performances.  All that's missing is a story that justifies a 90 minute running time. Separate the Data subplot into an episode of its own, and the Worf storyline would play fine in 45 minutes. In fact, it would play better.

Part One just about works, the pace given a considerable boost by the strength of the Data subplot. Brannon Braga scripts the first episode, and he juggles the two plot strands well enough to keep either from ever feeling diminished by the other. There's a sense of unity, the strands brushing against each other at just the right moment for Data's personal quest to push Worf to act.

Rene Echavarria's script for Part Two, however, narrows its focus strictly to Worf's story. There are interesting scenes, as Worf pushes the young Klingons born in the compound to connect with their heritage. But it becomes very clear, very fast, that this episode has been left to fill 45 minutes of episode with maybe 25 minutes' worth of material. This shows - most particularly in a leaden and unconvincing romance subplot involving Worf and the half-Klingon daughter of Tokath (Alan Scarfe), the Romulan who runs the camp.

Scarfe is particularly good as Tokath.  He is in conflict with Worf throughout the episode, but he is never treated as a villain.  He is instead consistently shown to be a sincere and well-meaning man, one who has given up a promising career to protect his Klingon charges.  The climax is particularly good in its treatment of both Worf and Tokath, and allows the episode to end on a strong note.

Ultimately, this gets a mixed response from me. It has some good material, and Part One works quite well. But as a full piece, Birthright is just stretched a bit too thin. The main plot would have been better-served by being confined to a single episode, perhaps with the Data material allowed an episode of its own.

Worth viewing on the strength of several of the individual parts... It's just a shame those parts never form a very satisfying whole.

Overall Rating: 5/10.

Previous Episode: Tapestry
Next Episode: Starship Mine


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6-14. Face of the Enemy.

Troi wakes into a nightmare: Life as a Romulan!

THE PLOT

Counselor Troi wakes up in an unfamiliar room on an unfamiliar ship. She stumbles to the mirror, attempting to activate the lights all the way. The sight that greets her at the mirror is a shock. The face staring out at her is herself... as a Romulan!

Troi has been abducted from a conference by Subcommander N'Vek (Scott MacDonald), a member of Ambassador Spock's Romulan dissident movement. N'Vek has had her surgically altered to appear Romulan, and has furnished her with an identity as a member of the Tal Shiar. A Romulan intelligence organization dedicated to ensuring the loyalty of all Romulans, the Tal Shiar has wide discretion in its operations and is almost universally feared... giving Troi exactly the leverage she needs to force the shrewd Commander Toreth (Carolyn Seymour) to go along with a mission.

If successful, this mission could pave the way for mass Romulan defections, lending power and momentum to the dissidents. But if Troi's masquerade is discovered, then she is certain to be executed immediately!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Spends much of the episode dealing with Stefan DeSeve (Barry Lynch), a former Starfleet ensign who defected to Romulus in his youth. Now DeSeve has returned with a message from Ambassador Spock. Picard isn't sure whether to trust him, until the man tells him both why he went to Romulus and why he left. In his youth, the moral certainty of the Romulans appealed to him, but as he has gotten older, he has come to question the value of such absolute certainty. Picard recognizes the appeal of the first statement and the wisdom of the second - so from that point on, he largely accepts DeSeve at his word and stops treating him as a traitor and prisoner.

Troi: A Troi-centric episode that works, both as an episode and as a vehicle for Counselor Troi. A big reason why this is such a good episode for her is that she is thrust into a situation where she absolutely cannot be her usual, touchy-feely self. As a member of the Tal Shiar, she must behave as someone who assumes total control as her due. She cannot show empathy or doubt, and can only express remorse at loss of life behind closed doors. Marina Sirtis gives possibly her series-best performance here, managing to inhabit this ruthless facade without losing the sense for the audience that we are watching "our" Troi at all times.

Romulans: "Clarity of purpose is a more ambiguous matter than I had thought in my youth." One element of this episode that is mined to superb effect is the contrast between the two significant Romulan guest characters, Commander Toreth and Subcommander N'Vek. Toreth abhors the police state tactics of the Tal Shiar, which claimed the life of her grandfather. She is dedicated to her crew's welfare, and is appalled by the murders of the freighter crew. N'Vek is cold, calculating, and absolutely ruthless - The freighter crew is killed by his choice, because he cannot allow loose ends to endanger his mission. In the normal course of events, you would expect N'Vek to be the villain and Toreth the ally... Yet this episode traps Troi in a situation in which the ruthless N'Vek is the only person she can trust, and the more thoughtful Toreth is a deadly enemy. This adds texture to the interactions among these three characters, and gives added dramatic heft to an already strong episode.


THOUGHTS

Face of the Enemy is a very good episode, one that nicely washes away the bitter taste of Aquiel. It is effectively a Cold War thriller, a genre with which Star Trek has often had success. Naren Shankar's script is tightly structured, with no dead space in the episode at all. It gets a further boost by the direction of Gabrielle Beaumont, who makes good use of the lower light levels of the Romulan spaceship sets as well as the tighter quarters to create an effective, claustrophobic atmosphere.

The episode does an immediately good job of making the viewer feel trapped with Troi in this situation. We open as Troi wakes and discovers what has happened to her. We then spend the entire first Act of the show with her, receiving only as much information as she does. It's a superb first Act, giving neither Troi nor the viewer much chance to gain a solid footing. N'Vek gives some quick exposition before bundling Troi onto the bridge for her first confrontation with Commander Toreth, pushing Troi to face down this imposing woman with no real information at all.

Only after this first encounter, as Troi fully assumes her role, do we finally cut to the Enterprise. This is a good fifteen minutes in, a full third of the way through the episode, before we get any point of view other than Troi's. Nor is this wasted material, either, as Picard gets hints of the bigger picture that are denied to Troi (such as the involvement of Spock's dissidents).  From there, the two strands dovetail nicely.  The finale is also well-handled, with both Picard and Troi improvising to think their way out of a seemingly impossible situation.

All in all, a splendid episode. If Aquiel felt like a series going through the motions to fill airtime, then this feels like a show at the height of its power to hold the audience in its grip.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

5-24. The Next Phase

Geordi and Ro, ghosts on the Enterprise.

THE PLOT

The Enterprise responds to a distress call from a Romulan ship that has suffered a massive explosion. Riker, Geordi, Worf, and Ensign Ro beam over to render aid. Finding that a generator needs replaced, Geordi beams back with Ensign Ro to replicate it... only to vanish, apparently killed in a transporter accident.

But Ro and Geordi are not dead. They are on the Enterprise, able to see and hear everything going on around them. They can't be seen, however, nor can they interact with their shipmates. Shadowing Data when he takes a shuttlecraft to the Romulan ship, Geordi is able to put together the pieces linking their current state to the original Romulan explosion. But they also discover imminent danger to the Enterprise - with no apparent way to warn the crew of the danger!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: On the way to the memorial service, he reflects on the first time he met Geordi. He recalls the young LaForge's enthusiasm and the way in which he acted upon an offhand comment about a shuttle's efficiency, and how that was the moment he knew he wanted Geordi on his ship.

Riker: On the Romulan ship, he takes command of the situation almost instantly. He and his people assess the situation quickly and start completing the needed tasks right away. He does shift his priorities from the emergency to Geordi and Ro when they disappear, but returns his focus to saving the ship as soon as it is apparent there is nothing to be done. He works well with the Romulan science officer, but also heeds Worf's concerns about security when the Romulans ask for a Starfleet computer to replace their own.

Data: Once the immediate crisis is past, he requests permission to conduct a memorial service for Geordi, whom he considers his best friend. He talks to Worf about why this is important to him: "I never knew what a friend was, until I met Geordi. He spoke to me as though I were human. He treated me no differently from anyone else. He accepted me for what I am. And that, I have learned, is friendship."

Geordi: Refuses to accept, or even consider, that he and Ro are "dead." He is certain that there is a more rational explanation for their intangible state and sets about investigating - largely by shadowing Data's own investigation.

Ensign Ro: In contrast to Geordi, Ro is very quick to believe that they are dead and that they need to make peace with their pasts in order to move on. It ties in all too well with the traditional Bajoran beliefs of her upbringing. One of a few nice writing touches is that Ro never actually believed in those teachings - but experiencing something so close to them makes her wonder if her dismissal of her people's superstition was arrogant. Overall, this episode gives the most relaxed and purely naturalistic characterization of Ro this season, and results in Michelle Forbes' most appealing performance of the year.


THOUGHTS

"Written by Ronald D. Moore" has become the most welcome set of words I can think of when watching a TNG episode. Season Five has had more than its share of episodes that seemed to be just filling slots. Moore is a writer who rarely just fills a slot. His episodes are almost always characterized by their well-structured plots, with plenty of dramatic momentum mixed in with short but highly effective character moments.

The Next Phase isn't quite up there with Moore's excellent Klingon episodes, but it's still a good show. The story moves at a brisk pace, with the stakes raising continuously. At the same time, the characters are given moments that show their depth: Data, wanting to conduct a memorial service and discussing his friendship with Geordi; Worf, feeling that death is not a time to mourn because, for Klingons, dying in the line of duty is the highest honor; Riker, wanting to speak about Ro Laren (and the episode wisely withholding from us what he planned to say). And these aren't even the episode's focal characters! Moore knows the TNG regulars, and so they never come across as plot puppets in his episodes.

The Next Phase is a particularly well-shot episode. David Carson, who directed a couple of the best episodes of Season Three, makes good use of lighting and camera angles to emphasize the unreality of Geordi and Ro's situation. Look particularly at the camera angle on Geordi when he announces his rejection of Ro's "spirit" theory before walking through a bulkhead to get away from her. There's just enough of an effect to accent the drama and show a hint of unreality, but not so much as to distract. Also well-staged is the reveal of the "phased" Romulan (presumably the captain) late in the episode.

A good script which is well-shot, well-staged, and well-acted. The Next Phase has good character scenes, a strong story, and plenty of dramatic momentum. In short: A good show.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: I Borg

Next Episode: The Inner Light

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5-07, 5-08. Unification

Picard and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) are caught in a Romulan trap.

THE PLOT

Picard is given a top-secret mission from Starfleet Command. Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy) has disappeared from Vulcan, only to reappear on Romulus! Starfleet suspects Spock has defected. Spock's dying father, Sarek (Mark Lenard), thinks otherwise. Sarek suggests Spock has made a rendezvous with Pardek (Malachi Throne), a former Romulan senator who has been a voice for peace and moderation within the Empire. Picard calls in a favor owed by the Klingons to secure a cloaked ship for travel across the Neutral Zone.

Picard is able to find Spock fairly quickly and discovers that Sarek was right. Spock has not defected to Romulus, but is instead working with Senator Pardek and a Romulan underground movement. Through Pardek, Spock is trying to appeal to a new Romulan proconsul to work toward the reunification of Vulcan and Romulus. But when the proconsul appears a bit too eager to help Spock achieve this dream, Picard suspects they have all walked into a carefully-laid trap!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: It is now difficult to remember how weakly Picard came across in the early days of the series. Between the ever-improving character writing and the performance of Patrick Stewart, Picard has grown from the tedious grumpy old windbag of early Season One into a genuinely complex and formidable figure. We get to see multiple sides to him, even within the first twenty minutes. He is gentle and compassionate in dealing with Sarek, even as he keeps firmly on topic in getting what information the old Vulcan can give.  In contrst, he is all tough shrewdness in dealing with the Klingons, selecting his words with care to convey just enough of a threat to remind Gowron of how much he owes to Picard and Starfleet. These two scenes, coming one right after another, are masterful demonstrations of Picard's skill as a commander, and Patrick Stewart seems to revel in them.

Spock: Leonard Nimoy's special guest appearance as Spock was heavily advertised at the time... which probably left a lot of viewers of Part One frustrated, as Spock barely appears in that episode. Part Two makes up for that, giving him a very large role that respects the character's place within the franchise without marginalizing Picard in any way. Spock's interactions with Picard are vastly different than his interactions with Kirk. There, Spock was usually the voice of caution. Here, Picard fulfills that function, cautioning Spock about the likelihood of a trap and trying to make the Vulcan slow down and think. Effectively, Picard becomes Spock's version of Mr. Spock - adding to the humor of Spock's observation of how "analytical and detached" Picard is. It's actually a very interesting partnership, and I'm actively sorry that Spock wasn't seen again in TNG - either in the show or the movies.

Riker: The "B" plot puts Riker back in command of the Enterprise. It's a role that continues to suit him, which only reinforces how insupportable it is for him not to be transferring to his own command by this point. We do see some of the differences between Riker and Picard in command. Where Picard tends to be analytical, Riker is more instinctive. His handling of the Ferengi in the smugglers' bar is certainly more Kirk than Picard, as he does not hesitate to get physical and intimidating in order to get the information he needs.

Sela: Denise Crosby makes a return appearance as the half-Romulan Sela. I think she's better here than she was in Redemption, with her stiffness well-suited to a character whose only real emotion is thinly suppressed anger. Still, save for a single reference to Redemption, there's nothing here to really use the character's backstory. You could easily replace her with Tomalak for the same effect - and I'd actually have preferred that, as the thought of Patrick Stewart, Leonard Nimoy, and Andreas Katsulas all acting up a storm is genuinely irresistible. Ah, well. Crosby's not bad here, and I actually think it's a shame that the character never recurs again.

Sarek: Mark Lenard only has a single scene, but it's a powerful one. Sarek is reduced to near-incoherence, lying on his bed, shaking and moaning. We are told this has become an almost constant state, save for brief periods of lucidity. Picard's presence manages to spark one of these lucid moments, but it's not the old Sarek - not even the declined Sarek of the late Season Three episode - that we see. It's an old man who can, in his most lucid moments, remember being that man. A double torture, and he's unable to even cling to that for more than a couple of minutes. Lenard's performance is striking, and it's difficult to shake that this ignoble agony is the ultimate fate of such a dignified figure.  This, coupled with the standout performances of both Patrick Stewart and Mark Lenard, make this scene by far the best of the entire 2-parter.


THOUGHTS

This highly touted 2-parter opens with a dedication to the recently-passed Gene Roddenberry. Though The Game was the first episode broadcast after his death, this is an infinitely more appropriate story for the dedication. It's a big episode: the return of both Spock and Sarek, and the final appearance (chronologically, at least) of the latter character.

It's a story that pulls together many different running threads of the series. We touch on the Klingons again, and learn that Gowron is rewriting Klingon history to eliminate the Federation's role in his succession. We see more of Romulan society, with a culture that seems modeled on life in East Berlin before the Wall came down. There are informants everywhere, and Picard and Data are initially taken for being secret police. Meanwhile, we see that Romulan society isn't monolithic, with a growing group of younger Romulans clearly yearning for something more. In this way, both the Romulan and Klingon strands that have run through this series since Season Three are developed further.

It's interesting that this 2-parter has different writers for each episode. Jeri Taylor, the credited writer for Part One, is generally weak on plot but good with character scenes (at least, when not allowed to dip into soap opera melodrama). Part One is fairly light on plot, just putting some story pieces into play around several strong character scenes. Most of the story happens in Part Two - which is written by Michael Piller, arguably the series' best writer in pure plot terms. By tailoring the nature of each part to the strengths of the two writers, both are allowed to do good work. Even better, both halves fit together as a single piece. I watched both parts in one sitting, essentially as a "movie," and it played quite well.

Quite well, but not perfectly. It is clear that there isn't quite enough story to support 90 minutes. Part One has a blatant scene of padding in which Picard attempts to sleep on the Klingon ship, but is unable to relax because of Data's presence. The scene gropes about for laughs that it utterly fails to find, and the only reason for it to have remained in the episode was to stretch the running time. In Part Two, we get yet more padding, with endless scenes involving a four-armed piano player in a smugglers' bar that's basically a poor man's Mos Eisley. Despite all the padding, the resolution feels rushed, the defeat of the Romulans' trap accomplished all too easily.  It's not an awful ending, but neither is it entirely satisfying.

Despite the padding and the flaws, Unification is still a strong episode. Not only is it wonderful to see Leonard Nimoy's Spock again in a way that ties the full franchise more closely together, this is a good story, one that is mostly well-told. It's not the great episode that I'd have liked from TNG's sole Spock story. But it's still well above the series' average.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: The Game

Next Episode: A Matter of Time

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Thoughts on Season Four

The Enterprise at the edge of Federation space in The Nth
Degree, a good episode in the midst of a good season.

After two seasons that varied between pathetic and wildly uneven, TNG finally hit its stride in Season Three. The hit rate improved, with even the failed episodes mostly legitimately trying to be about something. The acting was better across the board. And the season cliffhanger, as Picard was converted into "Locutus of Borg," still stands as an iconic television moment.

Season Four's biggest challenge was to maintain that level of improvement. I'm happy to say it succeeds, and in some ways even improves on Season Three's successes.


THEMATIC CONSISTENCY

One thing that really stands out about Season Four of TNG is its thematic consistency. Even Season Three wasn't, as a unit, really about anything. It was simply 26 episodes that were of generally higher quality than what came before. In Season Four, whether deliberately or by happy accident, the writing staff have assembled a season with a unifying theme. This is best expressed by the title of the season's second episode:

Family.

Picard finds himself again after the Borg incident by returning home to his brother and his nephew. One episode later, Data is confronted with both his father and his brother. The crew meet Tasha Yar's sister, and they try with near-desperation to see something of their fallen comrade in a girl whose loyalties lie elsewhere. Riker is presented with a future in which he is a father, and he takes to it surprisingly well.

Though the tight focus on family broadens by the midseason, the sense of the Enterprise crew as a family unto themselves remains. Even the characters who don't and will never quite work are inhabited by actors who are now fully comfortable playing those parts. Interactions no longer feel forced. These are people who know each other and support each other without even having to think about it.

The family theme comes up in a very big way with Worf. Family reunites him with his human parents and shows us a glimpse of the pain he feels at his discommendation. Reunion presents him with a son and develops his discommendation further, as he agonizes over allowing his son to share a name that is tarnished. Finally, Redemption reunites him with his brother and allows him to reclaim his name - but at the cost of seeing just how poor a fit he is with Klingon society. He cannot be truly part of the Klingon family, so the start of Season Five sees him returning to the one place he does belong: the Enterprise.

Worf leaves the Enterprise to support his Klingon family.

ONGOING QUALITY

Season Four begins with a high-quality run. Of the first eight episodes, only two are weak and even those are legitimate efforts. The quality grows more variable thereafter, but good and very good episodes continue to come with regularity. It's a lot easier to wade through a couple of bad episodes when you know there's liable to be something like The Wounded or First Contact around the next corner.

By this point, the production staff knew how to make the show well. Production values are high, occasionally even cinematic, with only a few stray moments of cheapness. The days when this series looked even more dated than the 1960s original are far in the past by this point.

This is matched by attempts to stretch the series' narrative format. Family gives us an entirely character-centered episode, with no external threat at all. First Contact provides an episode that is largely from the point of view of the alien society Picard is contacting. The Romulan and Klingon episodes show a further push toward arc storytelling, with all the Romulan and Klingon stories of the past two years intertwined and built on. Reunion is a rich episode because it builds so effectively on Sins of the Father and The Emissary. Redemption actively assumes familiarity with Reunion and Sins of the Father, making few concessions to new viewers even as it folds in the events of Yesterday's Enterprise and The Mind's Eye.

It's not at the level that would later be employed by Deep Space 9, but the series is showing enough confidence to assume viewers can follow running arcs... and indeed, that they are interested in doing so.

Data comes face-to-face with his creator. It doesn't go well.

SEASON FIVE WISHLIST

For Season Four, I mainly just wanted to see the improved quality of Season Three maintained. Now that they've done that, I would like to see the show go a bit farther.

The series continues to be uneven, with great episodes sitting side-by-side with mediocre and even terrible ones. With 26 episodes per season, that's never going to be entirely resolved, but I do think there's room for improvement. The series has shown its facility for building and intertwining strong running arcs. Though I don't expect TNG to develop this as far as Deep Space 9 does, I do think that more focus on these arcs would diminish the number of bland filler episodes.


IN CONCLUSION

Another strong season in a series that, at its start, appeared to be a poor imitation of its classic predecessor. It's hard to say whether I would rate Season Three or Season Four as the stronger. This season had more thematic cohesion, and I think it had a slightly better hit rate... but Season Three's highs felt a bit higher; and, of course, it had a stronger finale.

In any case, this was a second very good TNG season in a row. Going into the series' fifth year, it's clear that these characters still have plenty of life in them - something that seemed inconceivable way back in Season One!

Previous: Season Three Overview
Next: Season Five Overview


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