Thoughts on Season Seven

The series gets a dignified final bow. Too bad it comes
at the end of a desperately uneven final season!

All Good Things Must Come to an End...

And in the case of Star Trek: The Next Generation, they probably should have come to an end a season earlier. Despite a handful of bright moments and a genuinely superb series finale, the iconic science fiction show's final year is largely flat and stale, to the point that it's often a chore to plow through it.


THE FLAT EARTH SOCIETY

In my look back at Season Six, I observed that the series had not gotten stale yet, but that it was showing signs of doing so. Well, Season Seven sees the series grow as stale as a crust of a cheap bread left out for a week on a kitchen counter. Most of the episodes are so dramatically flat, I half-expected Christopher Columbus to sail off the edge.

There are echoes here of TOS' third season. The first half of the season is weaker than what preceded it, but not disastrously so. There are a few very strong episodes in the mid-season... and then it collapses into a sustained rut of shows that are downright awful, with only a scattered few rising to the heights of mediocrity.

I will say that the last regular episode makes a stab at recovery, and the series finale is genuinely fine television. But this dignified final bow is preceded by a full third of a season of dross, with the series too often seeming to be wheel-spinning while waiting impatiently to take the crew to the bigscreen.

When you've run out of ideas, that's when you turn
one of your regulars into a ghost-sex maniac.

CHARACTERS

In defense of the production staff and writers, I'll acknowledge how difficult it must have been to do much with characters already so thoroughly explored. But for the most part, the season doesn't even try to do anything new with them. Geordi feels bad when his mom dies, but that reveals nothing about him unless you were under the impression that he was the android regular instead of Data. Worf continues to struggle with his son's resistance to Klingon ways, but that is also nothing new. And Worf's not-quite-relationship with Troi is something that comes out of nowhere and never feels convincing - Just a desperate attempt to try to do something different with the characters.

A few episodes try to get around this by doing downright wacky things: Data gets possessed by an entire race's consciousness; Dr. Crusher is transformed into a ghost sex maniac; Troi becomes a hyper-jealous murderess; and the entire crew embrace their inner animals. I suppose when you can't think of anything to do with your characters, making them behave out of character is one solution... Though given how poorly all of those episodes are regarded, it doesn't seem to be a very good one.

Riker is unhappily reunited with his former captain
in The Pegasus, one of the season's best episodes.

FLECKS OF GOLD IN THE MUCK

Faring better are those episodes that reinforce and build on the characters' established attributes. Attached revisits the Picard/Crusher attraction that had been prominent in Season One, folding their unspoken mutual feelings into the "trusted friends" dynamic that had built up in later seasons. By working with what had already been established about the characters and and allowing the actors some mature and intelligent conversations within the framework of the story, it quietly emerged as an enormously entertaining piece.

Even better was The Pegasus, the mid-season Riker episode. A conversation between Picard and Admiral Pressman calls back to the very first Picard/Riker scene, in which Picard pressed his new first officer about overruling a previous captain's orders. That early scene is given new context, as we learn that the very thing Picard seemed irritated about was, in reality, the reason he had requested Riker be assigned. This adds a new level to their heated exchange in the pilot, making it a stronger scene in retrospect than it was at the time.

Thine Own Self proves to be a solid Data-centric episode (though the less said about the subplot, the better), simply because Data is so perfectly written that even a predictable story ends up being enjoyable. Pre-Emptive Strike brings Ensign Ro back to complete her arc from outcast to Starfleet officer in a way that isn't what most contemporary viewers would have expected, but that fits perfectly with who she has always been.

Basically, when the episodes don't try to push the characters in bizarre directions and just take them as they are, they tend to work. When the writers try to compensate for us already knowing the regulars by presenting bizarre situations for them to deal with, then the results tend to be a lot worse. The obvious exception is the excellent Parallels - but that one gets the characters so right that the strangeness is grounded in a way that isn't true in, say, Genesis or Masks.

Data gets possessed in Masks,
one of the weirdest episodes... well, ever.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I'm not quite done with Star Trek: The Next Generation, because there are still four TNG movies to review. Though I saw all four at the time, none of them is fresh in my memory so I will be able to rediscover them as new.

I won't write up a wish-list for them, save to hope that the lessons of Season Seven will be applied: That the drama works best when the characters are comfortably in-character, reacting to situations that have been well thought-out; and that it works much less well when the characters don't feel like themselves and are left to react to scenarios that have been poorly thought-out, that are bizarre with minimal explanation, or that are just plain dumb.

Basically: More flecks of gold, please, and a lot less muck.

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7-23. Emergence.

Data suspects the Enterprise is developing its own intelligence!

THE PLOT

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

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

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

CHARACTERS

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

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

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

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

THOUGHTS

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

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

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

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

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

Overall Rating: 3/10.

Previous Episode: Bloodlines
Next Episode: Preemptive Strike


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7-19. Genesis.

Picard discovers Troi, transformed into an amphibian!

THE PLOT

When a test of Worf's new weapons guidance system results in one of the torpedoes swerving off course, Picard and Data take a shuttlecraft to intercept and disable it. While they are away, crew begins exhibiting strange behavior. Troi complains about the environment controls, finding the ship too dry and too cold. Worf becomes hyper-aggressive. Barclay becomes just plain hyper, working around the clock at full-tilt speed with no sign of fatigue. Riker finds it increasingly hard to concentrate, or even to remember the ship's current assignment. Too late, Dr. Crusher and Nurse Ogawa realize that a disease is spreading through the ship... one that is slowly affecting every member of the crew!

Picard and Data return to find the Enterprise adrift in space with no power. They discover that the entire crew have transformed in various ways; Troi is an amphibian; Riker is a proto-human; Barclay is halfway to becoming a spider; Worf is some strange Klingon creature with an armored hide and an aggressive mating instinct.

They are able to determine that amniotic fluid is the key to curing the virus, and go in search of the conveniently pregnant Nurse Ogawa. But they have only a limited time to find a cure. The disease is airborne - and Picard is already showing signs of infection!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: When Picard begins to "de-evolve," he develops a heightened sense of fear. Patrick Stewart gives Picard a slightly higher pitch to his voice and makes him a little less still and a little more fidgety. Because the process never gets past its initial stages in Picard, we see the man we know struggling to maintain control. When the transformed Worf is battering his way into sickbay, Picard can see that Data - who is working on a cure - is indispensable and that he is expendable in this situation. So he creates a distraction to lead Worf away, despite his terror.

Data: As Picard's faculties start to be affected, Data takes the lead in their investigation. He observes that Spot's newborn kittens were not infected, which provides the vital clue to the cure. He argues against Picard's dangerous plan to lead Worf away from sickbay, but does provide Picard with what he needs to execute that plan. And, as the one crew member immune to the virus, he is in a unique position to save the day. Again.

Worf: Continues to inch toward a relationship with Troi. It seems a bit odd that they would have a dinner date when all their relationship progress occurred in either parallel dimensions or hallucinations. Then again, both Worf and Troi have glimpsed the potential relationship in non-realities, so perhaps by now they have compared notes and decided to give it a try in the real world. Though he ultimately is not "Patient Zero," Worf is the first crew member to be visibly affected. Michael Dorn does a good job of showing Worf's decline. At first, he just seems excessively stressed, then he becomes ridiculously short-tempered and aggressive. When he attacks Troi, he stops, appalled at what he's done... but that is the last time he is able to stop himself. The next time he moves, his mind is basically gone.

Barclay: The opening scene presents Barclay as a hypochondriac, with Dr. Crusher all but treating him like a child while treating him. The fact that she manages to identify a mild illness by the end of that scene in no way stops her from treating him like an idiot. Even after the events of the episode trace the virus back to Crusher being careless with a treatment, the tag scene sees her and Troi basically exchanging eye-rolls over how neurotic Reg is. Why exactly doesn't he want to transfer off this ship? The episode makes less use of Barclay than most previous appearances by him, but Dwight Schultz remains engaging. His scenes both as hyper Barclay and as spider-Barclay are a great deal of fun, largely because of the actor's enthusiasm.


THOUGHTS

"Captain, I believe the crew is de-evolving!"
-Data makes an earnest pronouncement, and actor Brent Spiner somehow manages to keep a straight face.

Genesis is surely one of the silliest episodes of TNG's run. Brannon Braga's script is a dumb premise that exists solely to allow the cast to act in weird ways, all of which is given only the flimsiest justification. It's "science" is straight out of a 1950's "B" movie: De-evolution of humans into amphibians and spiders(!)? The episode might as well have a crew member turn into a crocodile and snap at Picard's heels!

It also spends far too long on setup, with fully half the episode passing before the crew has firm awareness that there even is a ship-wide problem. It should have been restructured in one of two ways: With Picard and Data on the ship throughout, working to stop the infection as it spreads; or with Picard and Data returning to the ship much earlier, with the bulk of the episode focusing on their efforts to resolve the situation. As presented, there is no real mystery, because we spend half the episode watching the disease spread. Picard and Data are able to solve the problem a bit too quickly and easily, because no time is left in the episode for their efforts to encounter serious complications.

Gates McFadden, in her directorial debut, may have gotten lumbered with a ludicrous script, but she makes a good stab at bringing it to life. The dark corridors of the drifting Enterprise of the second half are eerie, the noises of the transformed crew members adding to the atmosphere. Spider-Barclay's abrupt entrance, banging against the glass through which Picard is peering, is a "jump scare" that works, and the makeup job on Dwight Schultz is highly effective (if slightly comical). The chase at the climax, in which the transformed Worf pursues Picard into first the turbolift, then a Jeffries tube, takes care to keep Worf in the shadows to avoid the budget limitations of his costume from ruining the effect. This has the bonus of keeping the focus on Patrick Stewart, acting the heck out of the increasing terror the infected Picard can barely keep in check. I'd love to see another episode directed by McFadden - preferably one with an actual good script.

In a way, this episode feels like the flip-side to Masks. That episode featured Data behaving strangely while the ship transformed around the crew. This episode features everyone except Data behaving strangely, while the crew transforms around the ship. Unlike Masks, there's no sense of anything interesting is struggling to get out. Much of it plays like Braga's first draft for Voyager's infamous Threshold, like he needed a warm-up to figure out what works so that he could be sure to remove those elements from his next try.

In short, it's all dizzyingly dumb... but it's also very watchable.


Overall Rating: 4/10.

Previous Episode: Eye of the Beholder
Next Episode: Journey's End


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7-17. Masks.

Data is taken over by an alien consciousness.

THE PLOT

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

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

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


CHARACTERS

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

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

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


THOUGHTS

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

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

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

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

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

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


Overall Rating: 4/10.

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


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7-16. 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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7-10. Inheritance.

Data meets his "mother" (Fionnula Flanagan)

THE PLOT

The Enterprise comes to the aid of Atria IV, a world whose molten core has begun to solidify. Dr. Pran Tainer (William Lithgow), the top-ranking Atrian geologist, comes aboard with his human wife, Dr. Juliana Tainer (Fionnula Flanagan) to discuss a way to inject plasma into the core to keep it liquified for centuries to come.

The meeting goes well, and Data is easily able to calculate the exact coordinates to make this plan viable. But once she is alone with Data, Juliana has a revelation for him: She was the wife of Dr. Noonian Soong, closely collaborating with him on Data's construction. She is, in effect, his mother.

But as Data spends time with her, gaining insights into a past that precedes his own memories, he begins to suspect something is "off" about her - that Dr. Juliana Tainer may not be precisely who she claims to be...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Largely absent from this episode, though he does show support for Data's interactions with Juliana.

Data: Presented with a mother he never knew he'd had, Data reacts as one would expect: With confusion. Emotion can be read into his responses, but Brent Spiner wisely doesn't play any emotion. Data's insistence on verifying as much of Juliana's story as possible before engaging with her is not unreasonable (would that this crew were always so cautious of strangers' tales). Data asking why Juliana insisted on leaving him is also a fair question, as is his follow-up as to whether that means she values organic life above synthetic. In all cases, Data is presented as seeking information in order to understand and process a situation that doesn't quite make sense. Anything more is the other characters (and a large swath of the audience) reading emotions into his responses. Brent Spiner is excellent as ever, representing the episode's single greatest asset.


THOUGHTS

Inheritance is not just a Data-centric episode... It's Data-centric to such an extent that the other regulars are reduced to little more than set dressing. Data and Juliana are effectively interacting in an echo chamber. It would have been far more enjoyable to have seen them discussing this new relationship with some of the other regulars, to get their various reactions. Worf, who only a couple years ago was presented with a son he hadn't known he had, should certainly have something to say. Sure, Geordi offers some quick words of encouragement and Data calls on Dr. Crusher for assistance. But both of these are short bits that exist to move the plot along, with little sense of the characters' relationships with each other in evidence.

That's not to say this episode is bad. It's a respectable premise, taking a situation much like an adopted child meeting his or her birth mother for the first time and transplanting it to a science fiction setting. Data's interactions with Juliana are well-played by two very good actors. If the dialogue in these scenes matched the talents of the actors delivering it, then this could be a good episode even with the rest of the cast reduced to "extras" status.

Unfortunately, the dialogue lacks bite.  Conversations that should be quick, sharp, and layered are instead merely functional.  In the hands of writers Dan Koeppel and Rene Echevarria (the latter of whom is capable of far better), the exchanges between the two are bland and obvious. Even a hurtful revelation by Juliana at the episode's midpoint exists largely on its surface, when the material demands a more probing treatment.

I'm torn about a twist late in the episode. Had the character work been as strong as the episode needed, then this twist would come as an unwelcome distraction. But given the blandness of what we ended up with, the twist adds a touch of interest, if only for the dilemma into which it thrusts Data. However, this twist either needed to come earlier or not at all. By making the reveal so late, the bulk of the story plays out slowly while Data's big decision is sandwiched into two scenes. 

So... Another disappointing installment of a disappointing season. The good news: Inheritance is a lot better than Force of Nature. It isn't actively bad, setting instead for a sort of tired mediocrity. Which is the bad news, not just of this episode but of far too much of this increasingly tired final season.


Overall Rating: 4/10.

Previous Episode: Force of Nature
Next Episode: Parallels 


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7-9. Force of Nature.

Two alien scientists deliver a dire warning.

THE PLOT

The Fleming, a Federation medical transport, has disappeared in the Hekaras Corridor. The corridor is the only safe path to travel through this region of space, which is characterized by intense tetryon fields. The Fleming isn't the only ship to experience issues. During the search, the Enterprise encounters a Ferengi vessel whose warp drive is offline and whose systems are crippled.

After Picard assists with repairs, DaiMon Prak (Lee Arenberg), the Ferengi captain, admits that they observed the Fleming traveling through the corridor and provides Picard with the ship's heading. But the Enterprise arrives too late. All that remains of the Fleming is debris.

Just then, the Enterprise is struck by a verteron pulse, taking the ship's warp drive and shields offline... at which point Hekaran scientists Rabal (Michael Corbett) and Serova (Margaret Reed) beam onto the ship with a potentially devastating revelation!

CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Though he is not pleased at the tactics of the Hekaran scientists, their claims are serious enough that he immediately agrees to let Data review their findings. He states that he considers it part of his job to keep an open mind, even when he's annoyed. When the rift opens near the end of the episode, complicating the ship's rescue mission, there are two obvious options - both of them bad. He tells his officers that he wants them to find him a third option, and trusts Geordi and Data to do just that.

Data: Has allowed his cat, Spot, such a degree of free reign that Geordi finds the cat unmanageable and "out of control." We see that whatever difficulties Data may face in training Spot, the cat has certainly trained Data, who feeds and plays with the animal on cue. In the "A" plot, it is Data who figures out how to complete the rescue mission without using warp engines in the rift, calculating what to do to the exact second.

Geordi: His engineering acumen gives him enough knowledge to improvise when Data's rescue plan gets thrown an unexpected curveball. His basic decency is such that, despite Serova displaying no sympathetic traits whatever, he still feels guilt when she is driven to rash action.

THOUGHTS

Force of Nature is TNG's environmentalist episode. It's the one in which warp drive turns out to be damaging the fabric of the universe. I'd love to say that this idea has potential. The truth is, it was a lousy idea from the start. With warp drive so integral a part of the Star Trek franchise, it was inevitable that the limits put on warp travel in this episode would never be enforceable across multiple series. The only possible result was what happened: The limit was paid lip service to a very few times before being utterly ignored thereafter.

Which... Fair enough. It's an episode that exists entirely in isolation, because it cannot affect the wider franchise. Fine. After all, Ethics paralyzed Worf, ended with us being told that he had a long, slow road ahead of him, and then saw him 100% recovered by the next episode with the incident never even mentioned again.  None of which prevented it from being a worthy episode in its own right. 

7-6. Phantasms.

Data is having disturbing dreams...

THE PLOT

Data is having nightmares. His dream program has suddenly started delivering disturbing images, ones he has difficulty shaking even when awake. Initially, Geordi and the rest of the crew think that this may simply be a part of the program - To more fully experience the human condition, the dream program is designed to occasionally give nightmares.

Then Data begins having "waking dreams," seeing images from his nightmares during his daily routine. When one of these results in him attacking Counselor Troi for seemingly no reason, it becomes clear that something is seriously wrong. 

That's when an even more disturbing discovery leads to the realization that what's wrong isn't actually with Data...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Over the course of his command, he has spent much energy finding ways to avoid the annual Starfleet Admirals' Banquet. This year, he feels obliged to actually be there, as much as he'd prefer to avoid it - and his sense of obligation is only increased when one admiral (Clyde Kusatsu) suspects that the Enterprise'slatest batch of difficulties is really just Picard's latest dodge. This "C" plot provides the bulk of Picard's material until the final Act, but when the situation with Data finally becomes serious, he takes the lead, using the holodeck to travel directly into Data's nightmare to investigate.

Data: That Brent Spiner is excellent barely needs to be said at this point. He was the first of the series regulars to fully find his footing, and he more or less perfected Data well before the end of Season Three (maybe even Season Two). He has taken a character completely incapable of emotion and invested him with a humanity that makes him impossible for the audience not to empathize - all without betraying the emotionlessness that is the core of Data's being. Neither Spiner nor Data really achieves anything in this episode that they haven't already done long ago... It just bears remembering, now and again, just how good he is. 

Troi: Gets thrust into the "victim" role this episode. She is the cake in Data's dream and, eventually, the object of his attack in reality. Before that, she attempts to "counsel" Data in a couple of scenes that should be interminable but that manage to play fairly well thanks to the performances of Brent Spiner and Marina Sirtis. It's fair to say that Troi is far from my favorite character on the show (she remains one of my least favorites). But it also bears observing just how far Sirtis has come from her dismal Season One performances. The character remains a weak link, but the actress has proved herself an engaging presence, often in an uphill struggle against weak material.

Geordi: Is yet again tasked with carrying the Technobabble. He does show himself a loyal friend to Data, listening to him as he discusses his dreams and going to Troi to express concern. He also gets lumbered with a tacked-on subplot involving a pretty young ensign (Gina Ravarra)'s crush, a subplot that the episode seems to forget about altogether around the 30 minute mark. Not that I'm complaining about it being a dropped plot, except to wonder why it couldn't have been dropped several scenes earlier.


THOUGHTS

Another reality-bending episode from writer Brannon Braga, Phantasms is neither the best nor the worst of the subgenre. This episode puts Patrick Stewart back in the director's chair, where he makes the most of the script's surreal dream sequences, playing with different angles and camera moves to accentuate the bizarre images. Those images are simple enough for TNG to do well, but also both funny and unsettling: Data, torn apart by odd workmen; Dr. Crusher, sucking fluid from Riker's brain through a straw; the sweets-loving Counselor Troi, turned into a cake, fully conscious as her body is cut into slices with a knife... All good, ghoulish fun.

Less fun are the too-lengthy intervals between dream sequences. The first Act of the episode juggles weirdness and exposition well, but the middle portion slows down with long stretches of exposition. The scenes in which Data seeks guidance first from a holodeck Sigmund Freud (Bernard Kates), then from Troi, may be necessary to the story - but they go on too long, and are not aided by the irritating "Ensign with a crush on Geordi" plot. Dropping that subplot, tightening the Freud/Troi bits, and allowing one more dream sequence into that stretch would have done wonders for the pace.

It picks up again in the final third, as the crew realizes that both Data's behavior and the engine problems are the result of a multi-phasic infestation. This is resolved as it should be: By going back into Data's subconscious and letting his dreams play out, this time with Picard and Geordi as audience. Everything after that point is just mopping up the plot stuff that was the excuse for the fun imagery, and it is dealt with swiftly enough that it doesn't get in the way.

Writer Brannon Braga has done better with this sort of thing. Last season's Frame of Mind was more effective in blurring reality and fantasy, and was better paced and plotted. Still, Phantasms is good fun for what it is. If only the middle of the episode didn't drag so badly, I'd probably rate this a point higher. As it stands, it still gets a high average mark.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

Previous Episode: Gambit
Next Episode: Dark Page


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