7-25, 7-26. All Good Things...

Picard is jumping back and forth through time...

THE PLOT

Jean-Luc Picard has become unstuck in time.

He is jumping between three time periods: The present; the past, at the very point when he first took command of theEnterprise; and more than 25 years in the future, when he is an old man who has been diagnosed with Irumodic Syndrome, a degenerative neurological disorder. The time jumps happen at seemingly random intervals; and after a moment of disorientation, Picard feels completely of that time period, with all the memories and characteristics that suit him in that time and place.

In both past and present, a large spatial anomaly has appeared, with the Enterprise sent to investigate. Convinced that the same anomaly must exist in the future, Picard convinces his old shipmates to join him in traveling to the Devron System - a region of space that, in this future, is controlled by a now-hostile Klingon Empire.

That's when Q appears, returning Picard to the Trial of Humanity that was their first meeting, and informing the captain that humanity has been found guilty. [I]"You are to be denied existence. Humanity's fate has been sealed. You will be destroyed." He adds that it is not the Q who will cause humanity's destruction.

The human race will end because of one man: Jean-Luc Picard!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: This story's Picard isn't "present" Picard transported to other time periods; as is spelled out early on, we are jumping between three Picards: the Picard of the present; the younger, less experienced pre-series Picard; and an elderly and infirm Picard. Stewart's performance differentiates these three incarnations. Past Picard was already a seasoned officer, so differences between him and "our" Picard are small and subtle, but there isn't quite the same sense of confidence to him. Future Picard is noticeably different, and it's here that Patrick Stewart gets his most memorable moments. He has the knowledge from the other two time periods, but his mind struggles through the fog of age and illness to make the connections. He sometimes stammers while trying to force out some kind of clear explanation, and he can't quite keep his temper when he sees the others doubting him. It is a great performance, equal to Family and The Inner Light as Stewart's very best.

Riker: The Riker of the future has risen to the rank of Commodore. He first seen dismissing the elderly Picard's pleas to investigate the Devron System. By initial appearances, he's become the "pompous bureaucrat" figure. When he re-enters the story in the second half, however, we get a fuller picture. He has made the Enterprise his flagship, saving the old ship from being decommissioned because of his great fondness for it. He may have appeared to have dismissed Picard, but he did investigate - He just didn't want to make public knowledge of a crossing into Klingon territory. He carries bitterness over a feud with Worf, an argument based around the bizarre triangle their present-day counterparts have formed with Troi, but it's clear that he is very ready to make peace with his old friend. Jonathan Frakes is very good in these "future" scenes, reminding us for the first time since The Pegasus how good he can be when given strong material.

Geordi: The "future plot" is kicked off when Geordi visits the elderly Picard. Their banter reveals that Geordi ended up marrying Leah Brahms, and we can see that his visor has been replaced by implants in his eyes, presumably allowing him more normal vision. Even after connecting with Data and Dr. Crusher, Geordi continues to feature prominently throughout the "future" scenes, which goes a long way toward making up for the sparse material he's been afforded the past two seasons (this season especially).

Dr./Capt. Crusher: The future timeline that we see is one in which Picard and Crusher married... and then divorced. Beverly continues to have fondness for her ex-husband, though, keeping the Picard name and agreeing to transport him to the restricted sector. When Geordi admits to her that he's not certain this isn't just a delusion, a result of Picard's neurological disease, she replies that it doesn't really matter. "He's Jean-Luc Picard. And if he wants to go on one more mission, that's what we're going to do."

Tasha: The "past" Enterprise timeline is immediately pre-series, which means Tasha is the Security Chief. With no Riker or Geordi, and with Data still in his early, overly literal stage, this leaves her effectively acting as Picard's First Officer. Denise Crosby gives a much better performance here than was her average, showing her concern over Picard's increasingly strange orders without overplaying it. The moment in which she finally questions Picard, insisting that while they have followed his every order no matter how strange, they need something more from him before putting the ship at risk, is one of the best moments given to a character who got far too few such moments back when she was a regular.

Q: First appears much as he had in Encounter at Farpoint, sitting in scarlet robes on a throne that hovers in the air, mocking Picard while pronouncing judgment against humanity. Unlike in the series' premiere, this is an act he's putting on, keeping up appearances for the Q Continuum. Q is strictly an ally in this episode. He only appears a handful of times; but every time he shows up, he gives Picard some vital clue to push him toward the solution. It's his intervention that allows Picard awareness of the time jumps, giving him a fighting chance to put all the pieces of this temporally fragmented puzzle together. Q reappears at the end, giving Picard congratulations as well as a mix of warning and promise: That the challenge to prove that humanity deserves its place is a "trial (that) never ends." Which is as much a statement of the franchise's own philosophy as a question of this one episode's plot.


THOUGHTS

Coming up with a suitable finale to Star Trek: The Next Generation had to have been a daunting task. By the end of its run, TNG had already become an iconic series - at the time, even overshadowing the original Star Trek (an imbalance that would slowly correct itself in the following decades). It was a rare genre show whose appeal had extended into the mainstream. Even if its final season had fallen short of the quality that viewers had come to expect, its final bow was not just a television show; it was an Event.

Writers Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga turned to literature for inspiration: To Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut's best-known science fiction novel. In that novel, Billy Pilgrim is a World War II soldier who becomes "unstuck in time" after being taken prisoner by the Germans and transported to a labor camp in Dresden. Throughout the novel, Billy jumps forward and backward between various points in his life, including his own death. There is even a central cataclysmic event: The infamous bombing of Dresden.

The form may be borrowed from Vonnegut, but the spirit is uniquely TNG. Whereas Billy Pilgrim is a very passive protagonist, doing little to affect his situation, Picard insists on acting on his bizarre predicament - with the actions he takes actually creating the very problem he's trying to solve! A common interpretation of Billy's time-jumps is that he's suffering from PTSD and not time-jumping at all.  Picard's time jumps are definitely real, with Dr. Crusher medically verifying his story early in the episode, and we learn exactly what (or who) is causing them.  It's all part of a puzzle to be solved, with everything made clear once the pieces are put together. 

The time jumps allow the finale to look backward at the series' origins while simultaneously giving viewers a look at one possible future for the characters. The series opened with Picard having only recently taken command of the Enterprise before being captured and put on trial by Q. This episode's "past" plot flashes back to immediately before that, with Tasha giving the new captain his first look at the vessel he will come to call home. The present plot shows a crew that trusts Picard without question. The future plot shows a crew that desperately wants to trust him, and at the very least indulges him because of the man he used to be. Meanwhile, the crew of the past isn't quite sure what to make of him, his bizarre orders leaving them quietly wondering if they are now in the care of a madman.

The ending sees Picard finally joining the crew's regular poker game. His presence makes things awkward for a moment. But everyone quickly relaxes as he takes his seat and begins dealing, observing that he should have joined them in this a long time ago even as Troi replies, "You were always welcome." The camera rotates as it pulls back from the poker game, showing the captain and his crew gathered at a round table, like a futuristic court of Camelot. The rotation of the camera move transitions perfectly into the pull-back from the Enterprise itself, making the final fade to black almost cinematic.

A perfectly-judged ending to an ideal series finale.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: Preemptive Strike

Season Seven Overview

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7-20. Journey's End.

Wesley undergoes a Vision Quest.

THE PLOT

A new treaty with the Cardassians has left several Federation colonies in Cardassian space - including a Native American tribe that lives on Dorvan V. Picard's orders are to relocate the tribe using "any means necessary."

Negotiations with Anthwara (Ned Romero), the tribe's leader, do not go well. Anthwara states that this world is their home, and that he has no interest in finding another. Efforts are further complicated when a Cardassian survey team led by Gul Evek (Richard Poe) arrives. Evek wonders why Picard needs to negotiate at all when the treaty has already settled all this, and his soldiers' heavy-handed presence sparks new tension among the colonists, threatening to reignite the very conflict the treaty was meant to officially end.

Meanwhile, Wesley Crusher visits the ship while on leave from the Academy. His mother and Geordi are eager to spend time with him. But Wesley is sullen and snappish, responding with exaggerated irritation to all attempts at conversation. When Wesley visits the planet, Lakanta (Tom Jackson), a tribal mystic, leads him on a "vision quest" that makes him discover that his disillusionment is because he is on the wrong path - leading him to a decision to resign from Starfleet Academy!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: His inclinations toward peace making are shown at the very start, when Admiral Nechayev (Natalia Nogulich) comes aboard. Picard resolves to diffuse the tension that has marked their previous interactions by laying out a snack tray that includes her favorite canapes. She responds to this gesture, and is clearly pained at having to give what she knows are terrible orders. Picard, to his credit, does not blame her for the assignment and makes sure that she knows this. This side of Picard, the patient diplomat, is on display throughout the episode. His solution is an imperfect one and he knows it, but his victory is that he manages to uphold his duty and avoid starting a new war, even if the colony will end up suffering more in the long-term than if they had simply allowed themselves to be relocated.

Dr. Crusher: Is bewildered by Wesley's sullen behavior, and tries to enlist Picard to snap him out of it. When Picard replies that Wesley will need to work through his issues on his own, she bows to his judgment, but her worry is clear. In a conversation with Wesley, she reveals fear that she pushed him too hard to be what was expected. She accepts his decision at the episode's end, but does not do so happily.

Cardassians: Gul Evek, who would later be seen in Deep Space 9's The Maquis, leads the Cardassian team that intrudes on Picard's negotiations. Evek initially comes across as the Cardassian stormtrooper seen in his DS9 and Voyager appearances. He is not immune to Picard's reasoned pleas for peace, however. He has too much first-hand knowledge of how much the war cost both sides to want hostilities to resume. In his willingness to listen to Picard, he shows that the Cardassian military is not simply made up of mindless automatons... Though his initial tactics show why Picard's solution at the end of this episode never had any chance of long-term success.


SHUT UP, WESLEY!

After the enormous strides made with the character in previous appearances, most notably The First Duty, this isn't so much a step backward as a giant leap. Adding to the disappointment is that this script is from First Duty co-writer Ronald D. Moore, who had previously done such a good job of making Wesley into a relatable human being. Here, he comes onto the ship acting like a bratty teenager. Then he allows himelf to be led by the nose by Lakanta to discover that he doesn't really belong in Starfleet after all. Never mind the years of episodes showing that Wesley genuinely loved being a part of Starfleet - It turns out that was just him doing what was expected of him. So he rebels by... doing what the Traveler (Eric Menyuk) said he should way back in Where No One Has Gone Before, right down to agreeing to have the Traveler guide him in his new studies.


THOUGHTS

Journey's End can lay claim to being an important episode for the franchise. It is the last real appearance of Wesley Crusher (discounting a throwaway cameo in Star Trek: Nemesis). It establishes the Federation/Cardassian treaty that would be so effectively followed up by The Maquis. And with a story that draws deliberate parallels to the forced resettlement of Native American tribes in the 19th century, it draws on the kind of historical/social fabric that has fueled many good and even great Star Trek episodes.

Journey's End is not a good episode.

The episode has many potentially interesting ingredients: The tying of up Wesley's "Traveler" storyline, and making that work with his Starfleet Academy arc by showing his disillusionment with that life (likely in part a reaction to the events of The First Duty); Picard's negotiations with Anthwara, and the revelation of heinous acts against Native American tribes by one of his own ancestors; the dispute with the Cardassians over how to resolve the impasse, and Picard's own ultimate solution. There's plenty here to make for a worthwhile episode.

Which is part of the problem: There's too much. The Wesley material never feels like an organic part of this episode. Tying up his storyline should have been a show in itself - It's not like Season Seven hasn't offered up some expendable storylines that could have made way for it! This episode reduces his story to a hastily-executed "B" plot, making it more of a distraction than anything else.

I will say that the scenes between Picard and Anthwara work well, in large part thanks to the performances and sheer screen presence of Patrick Stewart and Ned Romero. I also enjoyed Picard's interactions with Gul Evek, which provided new background on the Federation/Cardassian War by showing in Evek's final decision that it was a conflict that scarred both sides. The heavy-handed manner of the Cardassians, and the violent way in which the colonists react to them, sews the seeds of the entire Maquis storyline - something that was clearly deliberately done, given that The Maquis aired less than a month after this episode.

Unfortunately, as has been true of almost every Trek treatment of Native American culture, the colony is portrayed in broad and mystical terms. The tribe is mystical and the land speaks to them and they have deep wisdom to share with any white man who wants to be Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves. Voyager co-creator Jeri Taylor evidently intended that Chakotay came from this colony, and it's easy to see echoes of Chakotay's most tedious traits in the condescending way in which this tribe of "magic Indians" are treated. They aren't really individuals - They are stereotypes, with only Ned Romero managing to lend a bit of stature to the weak material.

I will say that Journey's End is far from the worst of TNG's disappointing final season. It is at least trying, and there are some good scenes and elements. But this is an "off day" for writer Ronald D. Moore, who is capable of so much better, and yet another weak episode in the increasingly long string of weak episodes that is bringing this show to its end.


Overall Rating: 4/10.

Previous Episode: Genesis
Next Episode: Firstborn


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7-16. Thine Own Self.

Data investigates a village's mysterious illness.

THE PLOT

Data is sent to the planet Barkon IV to retrieve a crashed probe carrying radioactive materials. His mission is to recover the radioactive metal while avoiding any contact with the pre-industrial population. An accident leaves him without memory. He doesn't know who he is or why he is carrying a case full of metal, nor does he remember that the metal is in any way harmful.

It is in this state that he arrives at a Barkonian village, where the kindly Garvin (Michael Rothhaar) takes him in. Garvin advises him that he will need money, so Data agrees to allow him to sell the strange metal. Soon, Garvin grows ill. As the illness spreads, the villagers settle on someone to blame: Data!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Barely present, to allow Patrick Stewart to do a one-man stage version of A Christmas Carol in London. Pops up briefly in the tag scene to justify his name on the credits (which, given that other regulars have sat out episodes, really wasn't necessary in any case).

Riker: The episode is burdened with another of the franchise's lamentable "B" plots, this one focusing on Counselor Troi taking a test to become a Bridge Officer. It's a very bad subplot, but it does at least provide Riker with some good scenes. Other episodes have shown him behaving sternly with junior officers. Now he gets to show this side to Troi, because as First Officer it is up to him to assess her suitability. He tells her frankly that he is "a pretty tough judge," later adding: "My first duty is to the ship. I cannot let any Bridge Officer serve who's not qualified."

Data: Brent Spiner is excellent, as usual. This episode strips Data of his memory. He does not even know he is an android, and accepts teacher/scientist Talur (Ronnie Claire Edwards)'s identification of him as "an iceman" at face value. His nature as an analytical being asserts itself quickly. An early scene shows him arguing with Talur over her beliefs about all matter including fire and water, which lays groundwork for his later investigations into the mysterious illness. As ever, Spiner manages to convey a character we care about and relationships between that character and others, without betraying the concept of Data as an emotionless being. His performance is the episode's single greatest asset, keeping the "A" plot highly watchable even as the "B" plot founders.

Troi: Speaking of that "B" plot, if it was intended to strengthen Troi as a character, it backfires badly. When she discusses taking the bridge officer's test, Riker warns her that as First Officer, he will have to judge her as harshly as any other candidate. She agrees... only to promptly become petulant when he insists on actually honoring his word and treating her the same as any other candidate. This amounts to her throwing snits at him for daring to do his job - Not exactly the best way to make her seem strong or even likable.


THOUGHTS

The concept of Thine Own Self is fairly hackneyed: a crew member has amnesia in a primitive village, and despite befriending some villagers, becomes feared as an outsider. TOS did variations on this theme more than once, never mind TNG... Fortunately, Ronald D. Moore's script gets some big things right. One is that Data may solve the radiation sickness in the village - but he also causes the problem by bringing the radioactive metal there in the first place. I liked the way the episode spent some time showing the various villagers handling the metal, letting us absorb what they were doing and what it meant while they (and Data) are completely oblivious. This allows a threat to be introduced early, while allowing the characters to be completely relaxed so that Data can get to know the village and its people.

Trek budgeting means that we only really meet a few villagers, but there's only one straw man in the form of Skoran (Michael G. Hagerty), a grasping brute who appears to have no redeeming qualities. Talur is haughty and self-important, but she doesn't outright reject Data's findings when they conflict with her beliefs. She wants more detail, but seems to find his reasoning persuasive. Garvin (Michael Rothhaar) and Gia (Kimberly Cullum) are the stock decent, likable villagers, but both are well enough acted to feel like full characters, and Gia's friendship with Data is convincing and enjoyable.

The "B" plot is much weaker, however.  Counselor Troi's pursuit of promotion doesn't play out in a convincing way. Riker is Troi's ex-lover and current friend; I do not for one instant believe that he would be allowed to administer the test. Nor do I believe that the process of becoming a bridge officer is so simple that it can be achieved, start to finish, within a few days. If dialogue had established that she had actually been working toward this goal ever since her command experience in Disaster and that the test was the last thing left for her to finish, then it might have been less ridiculous. Instead, she's merely been thinking about it since Disaster, and now is when she decides to act. The tag, which reinforces that after taking one test she now officially outranks Data (a command officer of many years' experience), just adds insult to injury.

Ah, well. Bad "B" plots are a regular feature of latter-day Star Trek, and this is far from the most insufferable "B" plot in the series. The "A" plot is engaging, even if it covers very familiar ground, and the show entertains. A solid piece of workmanlike television, this isn't one to get excited about by any means, but it also isn't one to avoid.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

Previous Episode: Lower Decks
Next Episode: Masks


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7-4, 7-5. Gambit.

Riker joins up with a band of mercenaries!

THE PLOT

After Picard vanishes while studying some ruins, the Enterprise crew goes to the bar where he was last seen. Their hopes of finding their captain are harshly dashed when Yranac (Alan Altshuld), a Yridian criminal, informs them that Picard was vaporized.

Riker is determined that the captain's killers be found and brought to justice. He uses information from Yranac to guide the ship to Barradas III, home to another archaeological site. He leads an Away Team to the surface, only to come under attack by a group of mercenaries. Riker is captured and taken aboard the mercenaries' ship, where the crew argues with their leader, the vicious Arctus Baran (Richard Lynch) over his fate.

"Kill him," a familiar voice grits out. Riker turns to see the mercenary who's spoken. The man Baran knows as "Galen," but who is actually Captain Jean-Luc Picard!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Goes undercover with the mercenaries to learn why they are stealing Romulan artifacts. He sizes up Baran very quickly and determines that his best course is to undermine the other man's command. He doesn't have to work too hard at this. He basically just acts as aggressive as possible while observing how poor Baran's decisions are at every turn. Well before the end of Part One, it's clear that the crew would happily remove their captain, if only something could be done to nullify the threat of death he holds over all of them.

Riker: When he learns that Picard was apparently killed by mercenaries, he is angry and is determined to remain so until he brings his captain's killers to justice. He focuses his rage in a very controlled way, intimidating Yranac into providing information. Once he's captured, he uses his wits to gradually gain Baran's confidence, making himself the mercenary captain's ally against Picard/Galen. This allows Jonathan Frakes to do trot out his "Riker the Rogue Pirate" persona, indulging in some entertaining ham - which he knows to swiftly drop every time Riker stops playing that part and has a chance to talk privately with Picard about their situation.

Data: With both Picard and Riker on the merecenary ship, Data spends the bulk of this two-parter in command of the Enterprise. We have seen Data in command before, most notably in Redemption II, so it's little surprise that he does a good job. He gives his orders with confidence.  He does not shut out alternative viewpoints - though when Worf gets a bit too free in voicing his own point of view in public, Data does have a private word with him, a situation which he also handles admirably.

Worf: The subplot with Worf showing irritation at Data's command decisions is a minor one, but worth noting both as a counterpoint to the belligerent mercenary crew and as a look at Worf's character. As Security Officer, he has always felt free to voice aggressive opinions, even when they have contradicted those of Picard and Riker. When Data makes him acting First Officer, he has trouble adjusting his attitude. When he grumbles once too often about Data holding back action instead of doing something/anything, the android finally talks to him about it. To his credit, Worf apologizes and amends his behavior in the remainder of the episode.

Hot Alien Space Babe of the Week: Robin Curtis, Saavik in Star Trek III and IV, is Tallera, Baran's Romulan second-in-command. I found Curtis rather poor as Saavik, but I actually quite like her as Tallera. She is clearly more intelligent than Baran, and the crew clearly recognizes this. Narik (Cameron Thor) tells Picard early in Part Two that if he hopes to have the crew's support in a mutiny against Baran, then he will need Tallera on his side. She is intrigued by Picard's self possessed attitude and his willingness to stand up to Baran, giving him room to hope to turn her to his side.


THOUGHTS

Gambit wastes no time in getting its story started. We open with the crew already searching for Picard, leaving the crew - and us - playing "catch up" with the plot for more than half of Part One. It's only when Picard finally has a chance to talk privately with Riker that we can more or less rest assured that we know what is going on. 

This is well-done, with writer Naren Shankar doing a good job of using our (and Riker's) ignorance of the full situation to allow the story a lot of momentum from the teaser on. The initial part of the story is given focus and coherence by Riker's anger, and the rapid movement from Picard's apparent death to Riker's determination to avenge it to the first action scene and Riker's capture maintains a brisk pace that doesn't let up until the story's true focus is revealed.

This isn't a particularly significant story. Compared to last season's Chain of Command, or even Season Five's Unification, this is simply a fun action caper. But it's a pretty good action caper, with writers Shankar and Ronald D. Moore maintaining a tight pace through some fairly clever plot turns. After a couple of less than compelling episodes, this is just what was needed to show that TNG can still deliver good entertainment.

The script draws some enjoyable parallels between the Enterprise crew and the mercenary crew, with Baran's command-through-intimidation contrasted with Picard's instinctive ability to command through force of personality. Baran's clashes with Picard are contrasted with Data's issues with Worf. Baran, a man not fit to lead, can only growl, snap, and threaten. Data, who has commanded a ship in the past and who has observed three very different but effective commanders (Picard, Riker, and Jellico), knows to simply take Worf aside and reason with him.

The story itself could easily have been condensed to a single episode, though writers Shankar and Moore deserve credit for keeping the action well-paced and absorbing through most of the 90 minutes. Gambit does suffer from a weak ending, however. Once all the plot twists have played out, the final turn in the end confrontation feels weak and labored by comparison with the rest. The result is an enjoyable caper with a limp conclusion. The ending doesn't negate the fun of what went before, but it does leave it feeling a bit unraveled. 

Thankfully, there's a very amusing tag that allows us to go to credits with a smile and possibly a laugh. A reminder that while the two episodes preceding the ending were insubstatial, they were at least good fun.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Interface
Next Episode: Phantasms 


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6-26, 7-1. Descent.

Data and Lore, united with the Borg against the Federation!

THE PLOT

A distress signal brings the Enterprise to Ochniaka III, a Federation science outpost which has suffered a devastating attack. Riker, Worf, Data, and a redshirt beam down to investigate and discover the Borg. But these Borg are behaving strangely, showing no interest in assimilating individuals or technology. They are simply focused on killing.

After the inevitable happens to the redshirt, Data experiences his first emotion: Anger. He wrestles with one of the Borg and kills it with his bare hands, prompting the others to flee. Back on the ship, Picard and Federation Admiral Nechayev (Natalia Nogulich) prepare for a possible Borg invasion. Meanwhile, Data relieves himself of duty to run diagnostics, concerned at his emotional outburst. Finding nothing wrong, he develops a new concern. What if, much as he has evolved to the point of having dreams, he is now becoming capable of emotion? And what if the only emotions he is capable of having are negative ones?

Also troubling is his revelation to Troi. Anger wasn't the only emotion he experienced on the planet. After killing the Borg, he experienced one other feeling:

Pleasure.


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Admiral Nechayev may manage the impressive feat of being the most unlikable Starfleet admiral in Trek history (yes, including the ones who were villains), but she is an effective devil's advocate for Picard's decision to send Hugh back to the Borg without the virus. With the Borg apparently preparing a new invasion, Picard is left to watch his recordings of Hugh and wonder if his "moral choice" wasn't also the wrong choice, an effective character beat neatly paralleled by his later insistence to Data that doing something morally wrong can never serve a "greater good." Picard's decision is proved out by Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco)'s return as an ally in Part Two, but his doubts make for one of the two-parter's more effective dramatic moments.

Data: Since the series' start, Data has pursued the goal of making himself more human. Now he gets to experience emotions, but only negative ones: anger, hate, a sadistic form of pleasure. He expresses concern to Counselor Troi that, if this means he is becoming like a human, perhaps he is becoming a bad one. When we discover that the emotions are being externally induced by his evil brother, Lore, we also see the effect is like a drug. Data is pushed into craving the emotions, to the point that Lore is able to influence him by threatening to cut him off from his supply. Spiner plays Data's reactions well, from the confusion to the craving for emotion to his struggle against Lore's influence.

Dr. Crusher: With only a skeleton crew left on the Enterprise in Part Two, Dr. Crusher is left in command. She does a surprisingly capable job. Her compassionate nature will not allow her to leave the crew stranded for the time it would take to report in person to the Federation - but she obeys the spirit of her orders to report by leaving a communications buoy to send the report before turning back to retrieve the others. She works with her "second string" command crew to come up with a plan to maximize their ability to beam the rest of the crew back before the Borg can detect and fire upon them, showing a strong ability to prioritize and to coax the best performance possible out of her relatively untried bridge officers.

Lore: This many years later, it's not much of a spoiler to reveal that Lore is behind the altered behavior of both Data and the Borg. It's always fun to see Brent Spiner trot out his sneering villain routine, and Lore presenting himself as the Borg's savior allows him to indulge in some entertaining speechmaking. It is less emotionally-charged, and thus less effective, than his previous appearance in Brothers. Still, Spiner is enormously watchable, and he retains the odd knack of playing so well opposite himself that you forget in the Data/Lore scenes that there aren't actually two actors present.

Borg: The franchise's reduction of the Borg really begins here. Previous episodes have shown them as an indomitable enemy, one that is single-minded (literally) in pursuing its goal of evolution through assimilation. I Borg veered away from this, but did so in a way that was itself highly effective, exploring the ideas of individuality that go along with the Borg's status as a collective hive. Descent changes the formula again... but instead of adding, it reduces. The Borg are now Lore's henchmen, nothing more. As such, they aren't scary in the least. Even before the reveal of Lore at the cliffhanger, these Borg are simply interested in killing. An enemy that will assimilate you into itself, wiping away your identity in the process? That's scary. An enemy that simply wants to kill you? Much less so.


THOUGHTS

Another season's end, another two-part cliffhanger to tie the seasons together. The Season Five to Six transition was marked by Time's Arrow, an entertaining two-parter that nevertheless felt rather expendable. For the series' last ever season cliffhanger, the decision was evidently made to go big. Descent is scripted by two of the series' best writers: Part One, by Ronald D. Moore; Part Two, by Rene Echevarria. It brings back the Borg and Lore, tying together continuity points from both Brothers and I Borg. Part One ends with Data having turned evil, pitting the crew against Data, Lore, and the Borg all at the same time. With all these villains, it's like watching one of the 1990's Batman movies!

And like most of those movies, it's all rather silly. The Borg want to assimilate, and consider most organic life irrelevant, killing largely as a side effect? That's chilling. The Borg are under the control of Lore, who they refer to as "The One" while using their strength specifically to kill? That just turns them into supervillains.

None of which stops this two-parter from being entertaining. The story may be fundamentally silly, but it moves along at a fast pace. As is almost customary with these season-bridging two parters, Part One is slightly better than Part Two, with more momentum as it builds to the cliffhanger. Still, both parts provide solid entertainment, and make good use of the entire ensemble.

It's also fun to see all the continuity points get used: The emotion chip from Brothers, the state of the Borg in the wake of I Borg. Even the metaphasic shielding from Suspicions gets a nod in a moderately effective game of cat-and-mouse Crusher plays against a Borg ship.

It's all resolved far too easily, and this 2-parter marks the reduction of the Borg from indomitable foes into... Well, thuggish henchmen. Still, while it may be pulp silliness, it's fun to watch, and thus merits a good score.

Still, for all the determination to make this two-parter an "event," it is a bit sad that this really isn't any better than Time's Arrow was.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Timescape
Next Episode: Liaisons


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6-23. Rightful Heir.

The fabled Kahless (Kevin Conway) returns,
as prophesied... or has he?

THE PLOT

A crisis of faith leads Worf to request a leave of absence.  He travels to the Klingon temple on Boreth, where the high priests await the prophesied return of Kahless. Here, he hopes that prayer and meditation will bring him a vision of the Klingon emperor, something to answer his doubts about his faith.

What he doesn't expect is the actual return of Kahless (Kevin Conway). While Worf is praying, a Klingon appears before him and claims to be the fabled emperor, returned to lead his people back to their roots as honorable warriors. Koroth (Alan Oppenheimer), the leader of the priests, is overjoyed, but Worf is skeptical. And Gowron (Robert O'Reilly), the Klingon Chancellor, is enraged, insisting that this is a ploy by the priests to steal his power.

Gowron, Kahless, and Koroth all are taken aboard the Enterprise and treated as honored guests. But it is clear that if the situation is not resolved before they reach the Klingon home world, then the Empire may descend yet again into civil war!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Recognizes that Worf's crisis of faith is not something the Klingon can resolve on the Enterprise. He grants him an indefinite leave of absence to find the answers he seeks, and wishes him luck. At the same time, however, he makes clear that he expects Worf to be ready to act as a Starfleet officer when he returns.

Worf: His experience in the Romulan penal colony, in which he awakened the faith of the young Klingons, has left him grappling with his own crisis of faith. It's no wonder: He grew up away from the Klingon Empire, absorbing the stories of glory and honor - only to come face to face with a corrupt Empire ruled by men more interested in power than integrity. He has also served as a Starfleet officer, trained to gather evidence before simply accepting a claim. This leads him to initially doubt Kahless, only to become his most devout acolyte once he is convinced of his true identity.

Data: Though his role in this episode is not a large one, he does get a key scene late in the show. He talks with Worf about his own "leap of faith," when he decided to consider himself as a person capable of being more than just programming rather than merely a machine. This gives Worf the inspiration he needs to find his own solution for the Kahless situation.

Klingons: Writer Ronald D. Moore fills in more of Klingon society, introducing the high priests and filling in substantial detail about Kahless and his teachings. We learn that Koroth has opposed Gowron's leadership from the start. Gowron has no belief in Kahless, dismissing him as an imposter from the first. Even when presented with evidence, he challenges the other man, refusing to reliquish his power. This puts Worf in the middle, with both Gowron and Koroth trying to win his support because of his brother's seat on the council.


THOUGHTS

After the disappointment of Birthright, I wasn't exactly overjoyed to see a follow-up. I should have had more faith. With Ronald D. Moore in the writer's chair, the Klingons come to life as a complex, genuinely interesting creation once again. 

Rightful Heir is the kind of episode Trek tends to do well. It uses a science fiction setting to examine human issues: In this case, the power of faith versus the need for empirical proof. The priests want Klingon society to accept Kahless simply because he exists, says all the right things, and makes all the right claims. Gowron rejects Kahless out of hand because his return after more than 1000 years is simply impossible. In between the two exremes is Worf, who desperately wants to believe but who will not make the leap of faith without evidence.

It's a thoughtful, layered script. Neither side is painted as entirely right or wrong. Gowron is clearly driven by a need to protect his own power, but he is right that the return of Kahless has the potential to split the Empire. Koroth is right that Klingon society has grown decadent and corrupt, something past episodes have provided ample examples of. Then there are scenes simply discussing faith, from Data's musings on his own decision to be more than a machine to the Klingons who kneel in the holodeck for hours on end, waiting for Kahless to return to the room to talk to them once more - to fill a need that's gone unfilled.

The plot is well-constructed, too. Just as Worf's time in the Klingon temple is becoming stale, Kahless appears and the Worf/Kahless conflict takes center-stage for Act Two. Once that plays out, the setting shifts back to the Enterprise, with the Gowron/Koroth conflict taking the fore. There's a plot twist that fits within the Star Trek universe, and which instead of rendering the issues explored irrelevant is actually used to bring those issues into focus for the resolution. It's well-structured, and the plot twists just enough to remain enjoyable throughout.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Suspicions
Next Episode: Second Chances


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6-15. Tapestry.

Picard's greatest regret - the one that almost killed him.

THE PLOT

An energy beam during a sudden ambush causes a malfunction in Picard's artificial heart, effectively leading to a massive coronary. Dr. Crusher works frantically, but her efforts appear to be for naught...

Leaving Picard in a white void, with only one companion: Q. His old adversary welcomes him to "the afterlife," and pushes him to reveal any regrets. It doesn't take much prodding before Picard relives the story of how he got his artificial heart, letting his youthful ego lead him into a fight with three Naussicans. Picard observes that, given the chance to repeat that moment, he would behave much differently.

Q grants him his wish, returning him to his days as an ensign fresh out of the Academy, when he and two friends visiting a recreation facility while awaiting their first assignments. Q offers Picard a bargain: If Picard can manage to avoid the fight, then Q will return him to the present to go on with his life with a real heart instead of an artificial one. "You'll die," Q assures him, "Just at a later date."

But even with Q honoring the exact terms of his arrangement, Picard soon discovers just how much of a difference a tiny moment in time can make to a life...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: This episode is absolutely focused on Picard: The Picard we know, the Picard of the past, and the Picard who might have been. As such, it is a showcase for Patrick Stewart, who is at the center of virtually every minute and is as good here as he was in Chain of Command. In some ways his work here may be even more impressive, because Picard is not reacting to torture or deprivation, but simply to the twists and turns of life. I particularly like the way Stewart plays the scenes of "Lieutenant, Junior Grade Picard" in the altered present. His bearing is a little more clenched, a little more hesitant and nervous, making him feel genuinely diminished. It's a subtle difference in performance, with nothing showy that draws attention, but there's enough of a difference to make him feel smaller on screen as he interacts with one-time subordinates who are now his superiors.

Q: This episode's Q is very different from the Q of several other episodes. He isn't really stirring up trouble. His powers give Picard access to an altered reality. Beyond that, he is content to sit back and watch, occasionally popping up to provide some wry commentary about Picard's success or lack thereof. "You've managed to get slapped by one woman, get a drink thrown in your face by another and alienate your two best friends. Doing pretty well so far." John de Lancie gives a suitably restrained performance, reflecting Q's more restrained role, but still lets enough of Q's impishness shine through to add a note of irreverence to the proceedings.


THOUGHTS

Tapestry is widely regarded as Star Trek's best "Q" episode. I would say instead that it is the best episode to feature the character of Q. Much as in Season Two's excellent Q Who, Q is not the focus of the story but rather its catalyst. The story is about Picard - Q simply enables it to happen.

The story itself is nothing too innovative. The basic template is a direct lift from the last third of It's a Wonderful Life. Only instead of seeing how the world would be like without him in it, Picard sees what his life would have been had he done a few key things differently. As with George Bailey, Picard is shown that those results would not have been what he would have liked.

The story itself is a worthy one, but Ronald D. Moore's excellent script makes it into something special. We all have certain things in our lives we wish we could do differently - Whether it's the girl we wish we had kissed or the stupid, thoughtless thing we wish we hadn't done. Moore's script doesn't only have Picard change his life by "playing it safe" with the Naussicans. Picard also avoids playing it safe by engaging in a romance with pretty young Marta Batanides (J. C. Brandy) with whom he remained "just friends" in reality. The results of fixing both regrets are the same: Things are made worse - palpably so, as we see when the narrative cuts forward to Picard's new, far drearier present.

Credit also to the script for taking an incident from Picard's past that had previously been mentioned in the episode Samaritan Snare and fleshing it out to a full story. We see clearly what Picard has not - That his brash young self really wasn't at fault. In Samaritan Snare, when he talked about this incident with Wesley, he clearly remembered himself as having instigated the fight. He remembers it that way again at the start of this episode, telling Q that he "picked a fight." But when we see it play out, we clearly recognize that the Naussicans are spoiling for a fight.

To avoid that fight, Picard has to do more than merely behave responsibly and with restraint. He has to go beyond what even the older Picard would do, suppress his own nature to actually be the coward the Naussicans accuse him of being. Only then does he avoid the brawl. It's that act, in which Picard goes against not only his nature then but his nature now, that I think makes the "altered present" scenes feel believable. To avoid getting stabbed, Picard has to become a different person, and so he is shown the future of that person. It's a future he wants no part of, the future of a man who "never got noticed by anyone."

With a sharp script, better than average guest performances, and Patrick Stewart yet again showing his versatility in a role that he now wears like a comfortable suit, Tapestry is an outstanding episode. One of the series' best.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: Face of the Enemy
Next Episode: Birthright


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