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| Worf champions Ensign Sito (Shannon Fill). |
The Enterprise's senior officers are doing reviews of the junior staff... Making this a very nervous time for the ship's young ensigns. Gossip leaks to Ensigns Sam Lavelle (Dan Gauthier) and Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill) that they are both contenders for the same promotion. Each feels the other is more likely to actually get the nod: Lavelle believes Riker dislikes him, and his attempts to ingratiate himself only make that situation worse; Sito knows that Picard hasn't forgotten her role in the cover-up of an Academy cadet's death, and fears that her spotless record since that incident isn't enough to make up for it.
Even as they fret over their future career paths, they are intrigued and puzzled by the ship's new heading. The Enterprise has taken up a position on the border of Cardassian space, and the senior officers are conferring privately. Geordi snaps at a Taurik (Alexander Enberg), a young Vulcan ensign, for running a routine scan to identify a lifeform on a ship they're rescuing: "No one told you to do that!" When that lifeform is beamed to sickbay, all staff are cleared out save for senior officers and a security officer is stationed outside.
Something clandestine is occurring - and that something is about to come very close to home for one of the junior officers, who will soon have much more immediate concerns than a mere promotion!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: Calls Sito into his ready room in order to give her a dressing-down, laying into her lack of character during the Academy incident and telling her that he doesn't know how she ended up on his ship. Patrick Stewart is terrific in this scene, which is written just enough within Picard's normal character that I believed his anger was genuine - making the revelation that it was actually an act all the more effective for tricking me as much as it did Sito. His disclosure that she ended up on the Enterprise on his specific request, to make sure that she got a fair chance to prove herself, says a lot about his own character (and reminds us that he also was involved in something scandalous at the Academy).
Riker: It's no wonder Lavell feels like Riker doesn't like him. The commander shows irritation or outright disapproval in their every interaction. This is consistent with what we've seen in previous episodes, notably in Hollow Pursuits and Ensign Ro. He may be easygoing with those high in the command structure, but he's quite firm with subordinates, particularly ones he finds fault with. In this episode, he's finally called on this, when Troi tells him that Lavell is very like he was when he was younger, and that he's not giving the young man a fair chance.
Worf: Acts as a mentor to Sito. He thinks highly of her work as a security officer, and he believes she is capable of being more. After Picard chews her out, Worf refuses to allow her to meekly accept that situation. He stages an impromptu challenge, putting her into a position where she can only lose and barking his disapproval when she does - all to push her to protest that his challenge is unfair. When she does so, Worf agrees and tells her:"Perhaps next time you are judged unfairly, it will not take so many bruises for you to protest." Odd that his paternal attitude toward her seems so much more authentic than his relationship with Alexander - but then, this episode is well-written, while most Alexander episodes... were not.
Hot Alien Space Babe of the Week: Shannon Fill returns as Sito. In The First Duty, her role was relatively minor. She was onscreen a lot, but was really just a background part of Locarno's entourage. Here, she gets the most prominent role. Sito comes across as sympathetic, while remaining individual enough to avoid the "Mary Sue" trap that can ensnare guest characters who take center-stage. Her final scenes are quite strong, with her Bajoran background used to good effect.
THOUGHTS
Lower Decks is a clever idea: Take the characters who are usually little more than extras and show events from their point of view. Rene Echevarria, a writer whose strength lies in character interactions, is a good choice for this piece. He is up to the challenge of taking one-shot characters and making them feel authentic and relatable.
Too relatable, sometimes. There is something decidedly uncomfortable in watching Lavell's attempts to ingratiate himself to Riker. When his friend Ben (Bruce Beatty) urges him to go up to Riker in Ten-Forward and strike up a conversation, my every instinct screamed: "Don't!" Riker may not go to the bar to be treated like the First Officer, but he also isn't there to enjoy the spectacle of junior officers jumping about like eager puppy dogs. The subsequent "conversation" is painful, in part because most viewers will at one time or another be able to relate to Lavell's awkwardness (some will be able to relate to how awkward that conversation would be for both men).
Scenes such as this, or Sito's dressing-down by Picard and Worf's unique way of getting her to stand up for herself, would have made for a perfectly fine minor episode. But the ambition here goes a bit further, with the point-of-view switch given to a story that would still have been interesting without that. This gives a dramatic structure to the character material in the first half. We can see that something is occurring that isn't routine, but the information is denied to us just as it is to them.
This acts as an effective hook for the first half, and it allows the story to transition from being purely a character piece to being a strong narrative in a way that feels absolutely seamless. As the episode goes along, we get more and more clues to the mission unfolding, unseen, around us. At the midpoint, we get a key revelation when Alyssa Ogawa (Patti Yasutake) is let in on the identity of their guest in sickbay - which fuels even more good character material, as she must then keep that secret from friends Lavell and Sito even as they continue speculating.
Ultimately, it's a good episode. Almost all of the individual pieces work, and the script's careful structure and strong handling of both character and plot material keeps it feeling unified throughout. One of Season Seven's better stories, and exactly the recovery the series needed after the idiocy of Sub Rosa.
Overall Rating: 8/10.
Previous Episode: Sub Rosa
Next Episode: Thine Own Self
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