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.

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Thoughts on Season Five

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

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

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


PERSONAL STORIES:

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

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

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

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

CONTINUITY, OR LACK THEREOF

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

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

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

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

THE CHILDREN'S HOUR

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

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

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

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

ABSENT FRIENDS (AND ENEMIES):

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

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


THE GOOD NEWS:

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

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

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

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

SEASON SIX WISHLIST:

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

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

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


IN CONCLUSION:

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

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

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5-23. I Borg

Hugh of Borg (Jonathan Del Arco)

THE PLOT

The Enterprise is exploring an uncharted system when it receives a repeating signal from a Class M moon. The crew investigates and finds a crashed ship with a single survivor: a Borg!

The lone Borg (Jonathan Del Arco) is beamed up to the ship on Dr. Crusher's insistence. She stabilizes him, and he quickly recovers. Guinan is appalled that Picard would beam a Borg on board, but the captain has a plan. They will implant a virus in him, then return him to the Collective. The virus will spread, and the Borg will be destroyed from within.

It's a sound plan. Atypically ruthless for Picard, but effective and within their abilities to achieve. But as Geordi works with the Borg, whom he and Dr. Crusher dub "Hugh," he starts seeing hints of individuality and personality.  And he begins to wonder if they are truly doing the right thing...

CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: The instant Riker says the word "Borg" over the intercom, Picard's entire bearing changes. He doesn't become overtly angry. Instead, he grows brittle and distant. He settles on a course of action that will destroy the Borg and shuts out alternatives.  In short, he becomes a lot like the alternate Picard of Yesterday's Enterprise. His actual rage only flares up when Guinan confronts him with the individual Borg also being a person, something Picard is desperate to avoid facing.

Geordi: Initially approaches his work with the Borg as an engineering problem. But as the Borg becomes "Hugh," and Geordi sees hints of the vulnerable individual buried inside the programming, his innate compassion emerges. He doesn't stop the work, but he does express his doubts. At the end, when Hugh is returned to the collective, Geordi insists on staying with him right up to the moment he is beamed away, so that his friend won't have to be alone while he is re-assimilated.

Dr. Crusher: While Geordi's compassion feels genuine and makes him more likable, Dr. Crusher's reaction feels false and strident. If her resistance started after Hugh began showing signs of individuality, then she would come across better.  But because she is arguing against treating the Borg as an enemy from the very first, she just comes across as stubborn and self-righteous.

Worf: "Kill it and make it look like it died in the crash!" I applaud the episode for allowing one of our heroic regulars give voice to this cold-blooded yet obvious solution to finding the Borg. Worf is very much in the background this episode, but his constant vigilance is worth noting. He is extremely careful when letting Geordi into the Borg cell, watching the prisoner's movements like a hawk. He waits until Geordi has left the cell before following, and backs out so that he never takes his eyes off the Borg.

Guinan: Writer Rene Echevarria remembers that Guinan's people were all but destroyed by the Borg, and mines that to good dramatic effect.  Her hard, brittle anger is compelling, becoming the center of every scene she's in.  Whoopi Goldberg's scenes opposite Patrick Stewart are wonderful, two first-rate performers soaring through some good, meaty dialogue.


THOUGHTS

After several subpar throwaways, TNG returns to form with one of the best episodes this season. The idea of revisiting the Borg in the form of a lone unit, cut off from the hive, was a terrific one. If they had just done another "Borg attack" episode, they couldn't possibly have topped the excitement of The Best of Both Worlds, and the threat of the Borg would have been undermined by their inevitable defeat. By taking a completely different approach, I, Borg sidesteps comparisons to Best of Both Worlds even as it builds upon its foundations.

Following up on the experiences of Picard and Guinan gives real dramatic heft to the story. We usually see Picard as thoughtful, able to look at every side of an issue as a matter of course. Guinan listens attentively, and responds to anything put to her with patience, compassion, and humor.

With the Borg, that's turned on its head. Picard was kidnapped, assaulted, made helpless and turned into a weapon by the Borg. Guinan watched as her people were all but exterminated by the Borg. The word "Borg" is itself enough to drive them both to rage. Guinan doesn't even listen to Geordi as he talks about the Borg "like it's some lost child." She lashes out at Picard for bringing it on board, and at Geordi for showing it compassion.

Picard's anger is even more interesting. First because his anger manifests in a way that fits so well with his character. He turns his fine, analytical mind to how the problem of this lone Borg can be used to Starfleet's (and his own) advantage. But even more interesting is how neatly his plan parallels what was done to him. The Borg took him and turned him into a weapon against his own people by assimilating him. Now he has taken a lone Borg, and he plans to turn it into a weapon against the Borg Collective through use of a virus. His revenge is, in effect, to do to the Borg exactly what was done to him.

This is also a good-looking episode. The shots of the Enterprise flying through this uncharted region of space are eye-catching, and the planet sets are well above the series' average. Director Robert Lederman uses close-ups to good effect in the scenes between Picard and Guinan, Geordi and Hugh, and especially Picard and Hugh. He also sometimes allows lines to play off-camera, focusing on the reactions of the person listening rather than on the speaker. This enhances the impact of this thoughtful script, making us really notice how the characters react to what they hear.

An excellent episode overall. Almost enough to wash away the bad taste left by the previous three installments.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

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4-02. Family

Picard receives a frosty homecoming.

THE PLOT

The visible scars have healed, the nightmares have ended (or so he claims)... but his protests to the contrary, Picard doesn't quite feel ready to be himself yet. While Enterprise is receiving a much-needed refit, Picard decides to take a vacation, returning to his childhood home in France. "what better place to find yourself," he observes, "than on the streets of one's home village?" As he returns to the estate now belonging to his brother, Robert (Jeremy Kemp), going through the difficult process of reconnecting with family members that are now strangers, he finds himself weighing the question of whether he truly wants to continue as captain of the Enterprise.

Worf also faces a struggle with family members. His human parents, Sergey (Theodore Bikel) and Helena Rozhenko (Georgia Brown) have insisted on visiting him aboard Enterprise, much to his evident discomfort. When they beam up, his adoptive parents seem only to be interested in alteratively telling stories about him and exploring the ship. But when they get a moment alone with Guinan, they confess their real reason for coming: Worry after hearing of Worf's discommendation on the Klingon homeworld.


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: His assimilation by the Borg has left its mark on Picard. The utter confidence he always had is gone as the episode opens. There's a hesitance in his manner, an uncertainty in himself that was never there before. When he hears of an opening acting as director of a scientific project on Earth, he seriously considers stepping into the post. Given what we already know of Picard's situation, it is downright painful when his brother rudely snorts about how much he thinks Picard needed "a little humiliation," though I doubt when Robert says those words that he realizes just what Picard had truly gone through. Patrick Stewart is outstanding, and after effectively viewing what happened to him through Riker's eyes, it is good to have an episode with Picard in which the tightly controlled captain deals with the emotional fallout of his loss of control.

Riker: Though he's only briefly seen in this episode, it's worth noting how very much Riker is still in "captain" mode. He's overseeing the Enterprise refit, and he's clearly still the man in charge of the ship, even before Picard disembarks. Given that Picard returns seemingly fully back in charge of himself, it will be interesting to see if Riker has difficulties stepping back down (though I suspect Riker's development over the past few episodes will simply end up being forgotten).

Worf: I write down in my Season Three overview that I would really like to see some impact on Worf of his discommendation... and here it is, in the very next episode! Writer Ronald Moore even attempts to explain why Worf showed no reaction during the latter half of Season Three; he was being stoic, because his dishonor is his "to bear alone." When his parents refuse to accept that, telling him that while he may consider it too "human" of them, they are there for him, his harsh reserve breaks down and we see the esteem in which he holds them - an esteem he's apparently withheld throughout the episode more as a way of punishing himself than them. Michael Dorn is as reliable as ever, and I appreciate the way in which both actor and writers have picked up on each other's cues to gradually develop Worf into a genuinely complex character.


THOUGHTS

This is a rare Star Trek episode that has no alien threat, no mystery, no external action of the kind generally associated with the show. Instead, it is entirely centered around the characters and their emotional states. A viewer turning the dial and catching this part way through might take several minutes realizing that this is a Star Trek episode at all. Some probably dislike the episode because of this. But I think this was exactly the episode needed in the wake of The Best of Both Worlds. The events of that show were simply too momentous to thrust the characters straight back into adventures with Intergalactic Forehead Creatures plotting their destruction.

Ronald D. Moore showed himself to be one of the show's strongest writers very early upon joining in Season Three, and he does a good job with this character-focused installment. He picks up on Picard's control and confidence - which could be viewed as "arrogance," and is by his brother - and explores the ramifications of Picard losing both control and confidence. By making Picard's brother as stubborn as he is, only focused on trying to live in the past instead of the future, he provides an effective contrast between the two. It doesn't hurt that this story allows Patrick Stewart to share screen time with two other fine veteran actors, Jeremy Kemp and Samantha Eggar. With Theodore Bikel and Georgia Brown guesting in the "B" plot, this has to be one of the most impressive TNG guest casts of all, and the acting talent elevates the episode a lot.

There's also a "C" plot involving Wesley which is, almost surprisingly, not an annoyance. Thematically, it's a perfect fit for the Picard and Worf stories. My only real complaint is that the speech by Wesley's father is less effective than it should be, due to a guest actor who is technically adequate in his performance, but who somehow just doesn't convince.

The resolution of Picard's dilemma seems a bit pat and easy, and a part of me wishes that this could have been a feature-length episode or a 2-parter to truly, seriously deal with the fallout. As it stands, Picard has a fistfight with his brother, finally breaks down and admits how he feels about what happened to him, and then is completely recovered. More time would have allowed greater complexity. But in fairness, for TNG to make this episode at all is remarkable - to ask them to take twice as much screentime to develop it would probably fall under the heading of "Asking Too Much."


Overall Rating: 9/10

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Thoughts on Season Three

As readers of my reviews will already know, I did not find the start of Star Trek: The Next Generation to be a promising one. Season One was mostly awful, albeit with a few flashes of inspiration. Season Two saw substantial improvement, with the characters starting to come into focus. But with two long stretches of back-to-back substandard episodes, it was still well short of what I'd consider a good season of television.

Season Three represents a change from the very first. The effects have taken not so much a step forward as a leap. The title sequence has been altered, and looks almost cinematic, particularly by the standards of the time. With this opening, as I said back in my review of Evolution, the series seems to be promising that the warm up exercises are over, and that the real series begins here.

Despite some stumbles and a handful of bad episodes, the promise of that opening is mostly delivered on. This is the first year of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which the series actually qualifies as good television, rather than as a hit-or-miss cult item that occasionally manages something special.


Characters

Season Two's major triumph was in characterization. In the second season, Picard became a thoughtful leader, rather than a grumpy cipher given intermittent life by star Patrick Stewart. Season Two also effectively rebooted the character of Riker, transforming him from a bland Kirk wannabe into a distinctive character with a sharp mind and a pleasantly laid-back sense of humor. Data's characterization - the only one that worked in Season One - was further refined, making him an even more interesting character, while Worf and Geordi were given new facets that helped them emerge as characters in their own right. Finally, while I still didn't warm to either character, both Wesley and Troi were less annoying in Season Two than they had been in Season One, and less in the way.

With all this accomplished, Season Three really only had to maintain the balance and perhaps build a bit on what came before. To their credit, the writers seem to realize this. Picard and Riker, both of whom worked extremely well in Season Two, are largely kept on the same course. Riker's characterization also receives more refinement. We see him act as an executive officer would, as the direct face of authority for the general crew - very noticeable in Hollow Pursuits. The Best of Both Worlds follows up on Riker's refusals to accept his own command, by putting him in a situation where he is forced to step out of Picard's shadow and be the captain. It shows what we've probably already guessed from about mid Season Two to now: Riker is more than ready for command. Which does rather raise the question of where the show goes from here with him, given that we know he doesn't get his own ship until Star Trek: Nemesis - roughly a decade later.

Other character notes. Season Three does a good job of giving every member of the ensemble a turn in the spotlight. Geordi gets a couple of very good episodes, with Booby Trap, The Enemy, and Hollow Pursuits showing how good Levar Burton really is. Worf also gets a prominent role, with his reaction to the injured Romulan in The Enemy giving his character more depth than had previously been the case. His spotlight episode, Sins of the Father, is also a high point of the season, as Worf finds that all he values in Klingon culture has been turned on its head by a government that's just as prone to corruption as any other.

Of the others: Dr. Crusher returns, and her blandness is quite a shock after a year of having a real actress on hand. Still, the character does well opposite Picard, with her scenes in Sarek actually working better than similar scenes would have worked had Diana Muldaur stayed on. Dr. Crusher's spotlight episodes, however, are uniformly bland, which suits the character all too well. The writers seem to have figured out that Wesley doesn't work as a character, and deal with this... mostly by pushing him so far into the background that he's practically an extra. On the other hand, Ronald D. Moore does give Wil Wheaton possibly his best scene ever in the otherwise unremarkable The Bonding, when Wesley is actually allowed to show some realistic resentment against Picard for being in command when his father died.


Old Enemies and Friends

Though Season Three will always be remembered for the return of the Borg in a big way (more on that later), I think the season's real triumph is in its handling of the Romulans. Though the Romulans were brought into The Next Generation by the Season One finale, and received mentions and an episode in Season Two, they were treated in a very simplistic fashion for the most part. Their role in Contagion could as easily have been filled by some generic alien of the week! Given the evolving reinvention of the Klingons on the same series, such shoddy treatment of TOS' most interesting (and underused) alien adversaries seemed a real missed opportunity.

Season Three changes that. The Enemy and The Defector, a pair of episodes that almost work as a 2-parter that happens to have some episodes in between, gives depth to the TNG Romulans. The recurring character of Tomalak (Andreas Katsulas) is particularly interesting, and I hope we see more of him. He smiles and is superficially pleasant even as his eyes and general demeanor all but cry for war, but he is also a very clever operator, an adversary who is evenly matched with Picard. The major guest characters of these two episodes show a multifaceted society: a simple soldier, who clings to Romulan dogma about superiority even as he forges an unlikely friendship with Geordi; and a career officer, who sees his society on the wrong path and sacrifices all he holds dear to try to correct it.

The conflict between the Romulans and the Klingons makes for particularly interesting backstory. Yesterday's Enterprise, desite being an "alternate reality" episode, actually shows how intertwined the Romulan and Klingon cultures are, as it shows how the final moments of a single starship influenced the Federation's alliance with the Klingons. By destroying the older Enterprise while attacking a Klingon colony, the Romulans created the bond between Starfleet and the Klingons. Remove that ship from that battle, and instead of an alliance, we are instead shown a devastating war: Doubtless, with the Romulans waiting in the wings to dispatch the (now weakened) victor.

Instead of a tedious universe at total peace, with the Enterprise-D ferrying itself smugly around the cosmos, we see that even this particularly idealized version of the Trek universe is in many ways maintaining a precarious balance. Klingons to the right of them... Romulans to the left... and the Federation in the middle, with a chasm of war ready to open up beneath them at any moment.


The Best of Both Worlds

One standout aspect of Season Three is in its writing. There are several episodes that don't work, particularly early in the season. But there are very few episodes that don't at least seem to be trying something interesting, even when they fail. Evolution has a weak third act, with everything far too tidily resolved... but it also has a genuinely intriguing science fiction premise involving the boundary between artificial and organic life. Who Watches the Watchers is a Prime Directive episode, with much of the tedium that description implies... but it also has some of the best characterization given to Troi in the series, some superbly written and performed scenes between Patrick Stewart and guest star Kathryn Leigh Scott, and an interesting argument about how even a minor intervention at the wrong place and time can create ripples.

About the worst Season Three manages to do are The Vengeance Factor and Menage a Troi. Both pretty bad episodes, but still far more watchable than some of the stinkers from the first two seasons. I could fill the rest of this paragraph just listing Season One and Two titles worse than those. The overall quality has risen, to a point at which an episode like Manhunt or Shades of Grey is now borderline unthinkable, let alone a run of shows of that quality. Prior to Season Three, I had awarded TNG a single "10," for The Measure of a Man. This season, I awarded four such scores: The Defector, Yesterday's Enterprise, Sarek, and The Best of Both Worlds. Other episodes (The Enemy and Sins of the Father, in particular) weren't far behind.

Even returns of old characters were not simply treated as nostalgia fests. The Romulans return, but are given depth. We actually travel to the Klingon homeworld, and discover the corruption at its core. Tasha Yar returns - and is given dignity and a proper exit, both things that were denied her when she was actually a regular. Sarek makes an appearance - but a diminished Sarek, dealing with an illness that renders him a shadow of his former self. Q returns - but he's stripped of his powers, rendered completely vulnerable, stripped as naked in character as he is physically when dropped onto the bridge. And in the process, he's reinvented. Q can no longer again be a simple villain. We now genuinely sympathize with him, we care about him in a way that wasn't true before. He's moved on from where he was, at least in our understanding of him, and he will have to be written with a new complexity in the future.

The familiar is blended with the new. Which brings us to the season finale. The Best of Both Worlds.

The return of the Borg proved to be the series' turning point. It had grown in popularity across its first three seasons, but it really wasn't fully accepted as mainstream television. Where it was reported on at all, it tended to be regarded as an inferior cousin to TOS, with multiple TOS personalities happily dismissing it. The improving quality of Season Three rightfully boosted its reputation, which may also have gained by comparison against the failed Star Trek V. But while mainstream America was certainly aware of Star Trek: The Next Generation, maybe even occasionally tuned in here and there, the show wasn't really "water cooler" television. Nobody outside sci-fi fandom was really inclined to gather around the water cooler and talk about last night's episode.

The Best of Both Worlds changed that. Since this write-up is just about Season Three, I'll just deal with Part One here. The season finale offered a driving pace, sterling production values, and a strong mix of character conflict (between Riker and Shelby) and external conflict (the Borg). It was, quite simply, terrific, and would have stood as terrific even had it been fully self-contained.

Then came the cliffhanger. The strong, noble Picard, last seen by viewers declaring his and humanity's defiance to the Borg, is transformed into a Borg. There isn't a trace of anything human in him as he throws up a shield to stop Worf from reaching him. He's already fully an automaton. "He is a Borg!" Worf cries out, the anguish evident in his voice. Then the real gut punch. Picard appearing on the Enterprise viewscreen, declaring that he is "Locutus of Borg," followed by Riker's order for Worf to fire a weapon that we have been led to believe will destroy Picard and Borg together. "Mr. Worf, fire!"

The show became mainstream television almost instantly. Almost anyone of my generation, even those who disdain both science fiction and Star Trek, will instantly catch a reference to "Locutus of Borg," and probably be able to summon up the mental image. Post-TOS Star Trek, whatever you may think of it compared with the 1960's series, offers very little that is truly iconic. The Borg, The Best of Both Worlds, and particularly "I am Locutus of Borg" - These things are iconic.

And Star Trek: The Next Generation would never be seen as the poorer cousin to "real Star Trek" again.


Season Four Wishlist

A brief one this time, not least because I've already gone on far too long. Season Three largely got it right. I'd like to see the series continue turning out ambitious stories, as even when these stories fail they tend to be a lot more interesting than some of the sludge from before. I would like to see some of the events from this season followed up. Not just the Borg and Picard's temporary transformation (which I know does get a follow up), but also some of the development of the Klingons and the Romulans. We've seen in three episodes this season that there's only a thin line keeping the Federation from open war with the Romulans. That's something to build on.

We've seen Worf's illusions about the Klingon Empire shattered by Sins of the Father. Now let's see that change Worf. The rest of the season sent him basically back to "business as usual." Let's see the events of that episode have a real impact on him. Finally, we've put Riker in command, and he's done well with that command. He shouldn't simply go back to being Picard's "Number One." Even if the format of the show requires Riker to stay where he is, there should be some new confidence, new notice in him from Starfleet, and perhaps either some new responsibilities or some chafing at being pushed back down to where he had been.

By and large, if they maintain the quality of the best of this season, I'll be a very happy viewer indeed.


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3-26, 4-01. The Best of Both Worlds

The Enterprise is caught by the Borg.

THE PLOT

The Enterprise responds to a distress signal from one of the Federation's outermost colonies. Riker leads an Away Team, beaming down to the center of town... only to find himself standing at the edge of a giant crater where the colony should be. An investigation of the wreckage confirms what they already suspect. This was the work of the Borg. They have arrived in Federation space - years before anyone could have projected, leaving Starfleet all but completely unprepared for the fight to come!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Tries to push Riker into taking the profferred command of the Melbourne, telling his first officer that "Starfleet needs good captains," and that he is ready to "work without a net." As they prepare to face the Borg, he indulges in a moment of reflection, touring the ship on the eve of the hopeless battle. When talking with Guinan, he refuses to aknowledge the situation as hopeless, insisting that they might yet win. "It may be conceit," he allows, "but it's a healthy one." Comparisons are drawn to Nelson at Trafalgar, with Guinan pointing out that Nelson did not return from that campaign and Picard countering that despite Nelson's death, the fight was won. This was clearly designed as foreshadowing in the event that Patrick Stewart chose not to return for Season Four (a distinct possibility, at the time of filming).

Riker: Given the possibility of losing Patrick Stewart, the writers make sure to give Riker a meaty role so that it would feel natural for him to take over as lead. The first portion of Part 1 deals with Riker's lack of career advancement. He has been offerred command of the Melbourne, marking the third time he has been offered his own ship. Riker remains indecisive about moving on, even as it becomes clear that his hesitance is now hurting his career. The bulk of the 2-parter then puts Riker in command after the Borg take Picard. Riker is preparing an Away Team when Troi must tell him the same thing he once told Picard: As acting captain, it is inappropriate for him to lead an Away Team. His place is on the bridge, commanding the ship.

Commander Shelby: Part One establishes Commander Shelby (Elizabeth Dennehy) as a potential replacement for Riker. Had Patrick Stewart bowed out, she would presumably have taken over as first officer to Riker for the remainder of the series. Assuming writing as sharp as what's on display here, it might even have worked. She bristles under Riker, accusing him of knowing only how to "play it safe." Though Riker finds her reckless and lacking respect for chain-of-command, he acknowledges that she "knows her stuff," and is willing to put up with her aggressiveness for the sake of her genuine skill.

The Borg: The design of the Borg interiors is noticeably more polished than in Q Who, though the producers wisely chose to keep all the design elements consistent with that first appearance. The Borg took note of Picard and, seeing him speak for humanity, have decided that he will be the perfect "human voice" to speak for them as they "improve themselves." The Borg's collective mind ends up also acting as its weakness at the end - though the amount of damage they inflict up to that point is such that they are defeated here without it affecting their status as a genuine threat.


THOUGHTS

Long before Star Trek: Generations hit the big screen, The Best of Both Worlds had already delivered what that film promised (and largely failed) to deliver: Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Movie. The fantastic teaser sets the tone right off. This is going to be something big. The Best of Both Worlds had a lot riding on it. The Borg made a real impact on their first appearance, the first original TNG villain to really do so. They were established as a threat Picard and his crew simply could not stop. It took Q snapping his fingers and whisking them away to save them.

This time, the Borg are here. Q isn't around to blink away the danger. Our heroes have to genuinely stop them. And, as the opening hammers home for us... Starfleet isn't ready. The Borg are too powerful. Obviously, the Enterprise will stop them. The trick for this 2-parter is to stop them in a way that still leaves them feeling like a legitimate threat, something that doesn't feel like a letdown after all the buildup.

Part 1 has to pull double-duty, as well. Given the uncertainty about Patrick Stewart's return for Season Four, the writers had to construct the first part of what might have effectively been a second pilot, setting up a new crew dynamic for the potential Picard-less series. A part of me can't help but wonder what that series would have been like, with the leader established in more than 70 episodes suddenly removed and Riker having to take his place. It might have been interesting, particularly given the tension between Riker and Shelby. Then again, without Patrick Stewart's strong presence anchoring even the weakest episodes, it might just have resulted in the Star Trek franchise getting a much earlier rest than ended up being the case.

Thankfully, Patrick Stewart decided to stay on… leaving Part 2 to also pull double-duty. It has to resolve the cliffhanger in a way that doesn't feel like a cheat, while ending in such a way that both Picard and Riker can convincingly return to their previous roles. Though Part 2 isn't quite at the level of Part 1 (building a threat is always more dramatic than resolving it), it still succeeds admirably. The notion of Riker having to defeat the thing that was Picard by deliberately doing things in a way that differs from Picard's methods is an interesting one. Meanwhile, the visual of the graveyard of starships left in the Borg's wake at Wolf 359 hammers home how powerful a foe Riker's Enterprise is facing. The look on Riker's face at the destruction of the Melbourne - the ship that might have been his - is a nice touch.

There aren't many Star Trek episodes of any series that have achieved iconic status. This is one of them, and it's fully deserving. A two-part action movie with a driving pace, which nevertheless finds time to do some excellent character work. A piece that revolves around the characters of Picard, Riker, and Shelby, but which also allows every member of the ensemble something to do. Mix in the best special effects the series had seen up to this point and an outstanding music score by Ron Jones, and what you have is a better Star Trek movie for the small screen than well over half of the actual bigscreen entries. In just about every significant respect, The Best of Both Worlds is a triumph - and on a level that in the dismal days of Season One would have seemed frankly unimaginable.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

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2-16. Q Who?

An entertaining but unthreatening returning villain introduces us to a villain with threat to spare.


THE PLOT

Q has been ejected from the Q Continuum, and would like to make Enterprise his new home. To that end, he offers his services. When Picard rejects his offer, Q stresses that humanity is not ready for what it will soon encounter. Picard insists that they will adapt... and Q decides to put that to the test.

With a snap of Q's fingers, the Enterprise is hurled into deep space. At maximum warp, it would take more than 2 years for them to get back home. But that's not the worst of it. Q has brought them into a region of space that has been devastated by the Borg, a relentless force that uses both living beings and technology as fodder for its collective consciousness. When the Borg detects Enterprise, it sees it as fuel for itself - leaving Picard in a desperate struggle for his ship's very survival!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: He does find Q's proposal intriguing, stating that learning more about Q would be fascinating. But he insists that humanity is ready for whatever awaits them, and does everything in his power to prove that diagnosis accurate. He actually deals fairly well with the Borg. His responses are appropriate to each situation, and only at the very end is it clear that Picard truly cannot win in this confrontation. When it does become clear that his ship is doomed if he continues on his present course, he gives in and asks Q for help. Patrick Stewart's performance is outstanding, particularly when he admits that he and his ship are "inadequate" in this situation. His facial expression when he says "inadequate" is just a terrific bit of nonverbal acting.

Riker: When Picard and a shuttle vanish from the ship, he initiates a methodical search of the sector. When Picard abruptly reappears in Ten-Forward, Riker's slight smile indicates that he already knows who is responsible. When Q dubs Riker's reactions as smug, he isn't wrong.  But it's the last chance Riker gets to be smug in this episode.  He does his job as First Officer throughout, offering Picard the alternatives as he sees them and eagerly volunteering to transport to the Borg cube to see what this new life-form is like.

Guinan: It is here that we learn that there is far more to her than appears to be the case. She and Q are old adversaries. When they first see each other, both go into immediate combat postures, and only Picard's intervention prevents hostilities. That she could be Q's enemy and survive indicates some abilities on her part. She is also aware of the Borg. She identifies them for Picard, and confirms that they are a genuine threat, one that all but destroyed her people.

Hot Space Babe of the Week: Lycia Naff is Ensign Sonya Gomez, a recent graduate of Starfleet Academy who has just been assigned to Enterprise. We are told that she is a very skilled young engineer. We see a young woman who is constantly flustered at her new assignment. Geordi takes her under his wing and tries to get her to slow down and calm down.

Q: When Picard finally admits that he is incapable of dealing with the Borg, Q is surprisingly gracious. He does bridle a bit when Picard protests that the lesson could have been learned without the need for crew deaths, with a pretty good speech about how the universe is a place of wonders, but the one thing it will never be is "safe." John deLancie's performance has been dialed way back from his first two appearances. Even when Q is being impish, it's more a lazy and laconic commentary than the hyperkinetic, multi-costumed camp of his early shows. His final conversation with Picard is direct and unblinking, displaying a maturity that one would have thought impossible in the character. Of the Q episodes I have thus far reviewed, this is by far John deLancie's best performance and by far the strongest characterization of the role.

The Borg: Introducing... the Borg! They are introduced as an ultimate threat. A faceless enemy, simply because there is no one face that represents them. They consume whatever they come into contact with, using it to advance themselves. When the Enterprise succeeds in doing significant damage to them, they put their collective consciousness to work repairing the damage. In one shot, we can see a close-up of the cube literally coming back together. They quickly adapt to anything that damages them. Worf destroys one Borg with phaser fire. Another appears, and Worf fires again - this time with no effect. The Enterprise's torpedoes damage the Borg. After the Borg repairs itself, Picard orders the use of more torpedoes - this time with no effect. The Borg is relentless, and Picard's crew simply lacks the technology necessary to either stop them or escape.


THOUGHTS

One of the things that makes this genuinely big, important episode work so well is that it doesn't start out feeling like a big, important episode. We get a comedy teaser, with Picard getting splashed with hot chocolate before he runs into Q. Going into the credits, most contemporary viewers were probably expecting a semi-comedic retread of the previous Q episodes. There's little in the episode's first act to indicate otherwise. Only when Guinan pops her head up above the level of the bar and she and Q recognize each other, does it become clear that this is more than just another Q episode.

In fact, it's barely a Q episode at all. Q is merely the instrument that brings Enterprise into contact with the Borg. He appears at the beginning, to set up the danger to come. He returns at the end, to rescue the Enterprise. In between, he largely just comments on the action as Picard and his crew attempt to deal with this situation themselves.

The Borg scenes, particularly the scenes inside the Borg cube, are superbly directed by Rob Bowman. The pull-back from the one row of Borg to reveal row after row of Borg going up and down and opposite Riker's Away Team is, given the technical limitations of the day, quite a strong piece of filmmaking.

I also appreciate this episode tying in with the mysterious enemy that destroyed the outposts in The Neutral Zone. I had forgotten that detail, and had honestly assumed that the hints in The Neutral Zone ended up disappearing into the same plot alcove as the aliens in Conspiracy.  By tying the Borg to the destruction of the neutral zone outposts, we are finally provided some payoff to the earlier episode.

Overall, this is one of the very best episodes to date. From the moment Q whisks them off into deep space, the pace doesn't let up. The sense of threat is maintained throughout, with a nicely ominous note in the tag scene. We have seen that Starfleet's flagship is virtually helpless in the face of the Borg, and we know that the Borg are coming. What might that mean for the future...?


Rating: 10/10.

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1-26. The Neutral Zone

THE PLOT

As Picard attends a top-secret meeting at a starbase, the Enterprise discovers an ancient Earth satellite. Data and Worf beam over to investigate this historical oddity, and are startled to find a series of cryogenic containers. Most of the occupants are dead, but there are three survivors.

Riker has them beamed over as Picard returns to the ship. The captain is all business, briskly ordering a course plotted to take the Enterprise into the Neutral Zone bordering Romulan space. He reveals to his command crew that several Federation outposts have been destroyed. The Enterprise has been dispatched to determine if the Romulans are responsible - a potentially perilous mission, which is further complicated when the three cryogenic survivors begin intruding on the captain's valuable time.


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: His best material comes when dealing with the Romulans. He listens to his department heads, and particularly relies on Troi's observation that the Romulans will wait to react to Picard's own method of approach. Then he navigates the encounter with tactical shrewdness, avoiding hostilities and gaining information. Though the encounter doesn't exactly end on a friendly note, Picard's approach insures that it goes as well as was possible.

Riker: This episode demonstrates why Riker isn't actually ready for his own command yet. He is rather ineffectual at dealing with the three '80's Stereotypes, not even able to enforce Picard's single order to "keep them out of (his) way." When Worf urges an aggressive stance with the Romulans, Riker supports the recommendation - a course which would have ended in disaster.

Data: His drive for knowledge leads him to push to use the time waiting for Picard in order to beam over and investigate the derelict. He forms a sort of vague bond with Alcoholic Musician, which seems to have its roots in Data's ability to replicate a martini for the man. He is intrigued by Alcoholic Musician's offer to join him as a musical act back home, but not seriously tempted.

Troi: Is able to sense great sadness from Generic Housewife... When Generic Housewife is in tears and "can't stop crying." Those Betazoid powers of perception are eerie, aren't they? At least she gets to show intelligent compassion by helping the woman to track down her own descendants, so that she'll have "a place to start" when she gets back to Earth. She also provides Picard with a very useful insight into the Romulans, one which helps Picard to navigate a tricky situation.


THOUGHTS

The first season ends with an episode that represents much of what's been wrong with this season. An episode in which the Enterprise is off on a sensitive mission, making contact with the Romulans... and this ends up being the subplot, with the bulk of the running time given over to the crew's interactions with the three guest stars formerly known as popsicles.

Thisdoesn't have to be bad. Truthfully, the plot idea of thawing out three people from the late 20th/early 21st century 300+ years later has plenty of potential to carry an episode. But that assumes three guest stars who are well performed and are scripted to be fully faceted individuals. Instead, we get: the obnoxious rich guy; the whiny housewife; and the reject from The Andy Griffith Show. Three cliches, whose characterization never extends beyond their "type."

Peter Mark Richman, at least, does a reasonable job with "Obnoxious Rich Guy," though the character is too one-note to particularly spark off any of the regulars. The really dire thing about this episode is how the interactions with these three irritating guest stars make the regulars look stupid, as well. Picard recognizes early on that O. R. G. has no compunctions about interrupting the command staff to demand attention. And yet the three unwanted guests are given free run of the ship, with no real supervision to prevent O. R. G. from barging right onto the bridge in the middle of the encounter with the Romulans. Also, for whatever reason, Picard only makes a token gesture to have him thrown off the bridge at that point, when surely Worf should have been tossing him bodily into the turbolift.

Seeing this episode only reinforces my opinion that Conspiracy should have been the season finale. Not least because the Romulan plot here would actually have made a good lead-in. The substance of the story tells us that there have been attacks by an unknown force. With only very mild tweaking, that force could have then been revealed as the aliens preparing for invasion in Conspiracy.  Instead, we get another episode setting up an arc that may or may not ever actually take place.  Even if there is some payoff down the road, it's far less satisfying dramatically than what might have been.

Rating: 5/10.

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