7-7. Dark Page.

Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett) falls into a catatonic state.

THE PLOT

The Enterprise is escorting the Cairn, a race of telepaths who are learning to speak under the tutelage of Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett).  Maques (Norman Large), the lead Cairn, expresses concern to Deanna: When he communicates telepathically with Lwaxana, she hides parts of herself.

Deanna dismisses this as simple "privacy," a concept foreign to the Cairn. But after Maques' daughter Hedril (Kirsten Dunst) falls into some water on the holodeck, Lwaxana collapses into a catatonic state. Now Deanna must use a telepathic bridge, made possible by Maques' plot-specific powers, to travel into her mother's mind!

...Which is as dreary and unimaginative a place as you would expect.


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Supportive of Deanna's wish to try to help her mother, even if it poses a risk. As an authority figure, he is used by Lwaxana as the first barrier to try to turn Deanna away from her quest.

Troi: Marina Sirtis struggles gamely with some poor dialogue, keeping a straight face through lines such as:"Captain, I have to go back into my mother's mind. It's the only way we're going to get any answers." I once again find myself observing that Sirtis, in the series' earliest days a clear weak link in the cast, has become a very sympathetic presence. The story may be silly, much of the dialogue may be unintentionally funny, but Sirtis anchors it enough to keep it watchable. A big change from the days when I would have been happy to have seen the humanoid oil slick smother her to death.

Lwaxana Troi: Has carried a dark secret all these years, one which we never knew about before because... Well, because it never existed before! This somehow prompts her to attempt Matchmaking Session #372 between Deanna and Maques, then lash out at Riker when that fails. It's actually a relief when she becomes catatonic. Credit where it's due: Majel Barrett tries her best to make something of the episode's dramatic scenes, and she plays well opposite the very young Kirsten Dunst. But there's nothing here for her to work with, and her character is only marginally more tolerable here than at her all-time lowpoint in Season Two's Manhunt.


THOUGHTS

I am very hopeful that Dark Page represents the final Lwaxana episode. She's averaged one appearance per season, after all, and this is TNG's final season. Assuming this is her final bow on this show, that means that this review will allow me to bid the character an unfond but eagerly awaited farewell.

Dark Page is a bad episode - but more than that, it's a poorly-scheduled one. Coming on the heels of Phantasms, which centered around dream imagery, we get... another episode that centers around dream imagery. Did someone slip up here? Or by Season Seven, had it reached the point where nobody really cared anymore?

The scenes inside Lwaxana's mind make me appreciate how well Phantasms executed its dream sequences. There, while everything was a metaphor that eventually made sense when the plot came together, a sense of "strangeness" saturated the proceedings much like the quality of an actual dream. Images stood for things that were obvious once we were given the solution, but which seemed random and bizarre until then.

Here, everything is literal. Lwaxana's catatonic state is precipitated by a little girl falling into water. Sure enough, the solution involves a little girl and water. Deanna sees a dog and her father within Lwaxana's mind. Sure enough, this was all caused by a traumatic event in which both a dog and her father were present. It's not a metaphor if all it stands for is itself!

Director Les Landau does a workmanlike job with the material, which is quite good enough for the "real world" scenes. But despite using some distortion for some of the dream images, he just doesn't bring the level of atmosphere that was seen in Patrick Stewart's helming of Phantasms. With the two episodes coming one right after the other, it's really instructive to see how one show does everything within its dream sequences exactly right while the other does almost everything wrong.

Lest I lay this episode's failure entirely at Landau's feet, I should end by observing how poor the script is. It's slow and talky. It takes almost 20 minutes for the plot to really even start... and that's when it gets worse! We go inside Lwaxana's mind, and yet come out with no real additional insights into her as a character. Meanwhile, Lwaxan's traumatic secret should be a world-shaking revelation for Deanna, as well... But she shrugs off a major piece of information about her own family as if it was meaningless to her.

And why shouldn't it be? After all, this traumatic event will never be mentioned again; and when we next see Lwaxana on Deep Space 9, she'll be panting after Odo like a dog in heat just like she used to do with Picard on this show.


Overall Rating: 2/10.

Previous Episode: Phantasms
Next Episode: Attached


Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: The Next Generation


Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On Twitter:

Follow @RandomMusings09

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads

6-15. Tapestry.

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

THE PLOT

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

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

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

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


CHARACTERS

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

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


THOUGHTS

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

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

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

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

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

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


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: Face of the Enemy
Next Episode: Birthright


Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On Twitter:

Follow @RandomMusings09

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads

4-22. Half a Life

Dr. Timicin (David Ogden Stiers) faces
the prospect of his imminent death.

THE PLOT

The Enterprise hosts Dr. Timicin (David Ogden Stiers), a scientist from Kaelon II, a world that has not previously had any substantial contact with the Federation. Timicin has requested Enterprise's resources to run an experiment that he hopes will revive his planet's dying sun. Modified torpedoes will be fired into a sun that is experiencing similar conditions to Kaelon II's as a test. But the test fails, resulting in the explosion of the test star and the destruction of Timicin's hopes.

Also aboard is Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett). She quickly sets her sights on Timicin, who seems to actually enjoy her attentions. But as their relationship grows, Timicin must tell her a terrible truth. Kaelon II has found an efficient yet terrible solution to dealing with the elderly. At age 60, all citizens are expected to commit suicide in a ritual known as "The Resolution." Timison is days away from his 60th birthday - which means that he is returning home to die!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: He stands up to Lwaxana when she urges him to ignore the Prime Directive and stop Timicin's "Resolution." He refuses to use his influence to interfere with another planet's social order. However, when Timicin comes to him to directly request asylum, he is unflinching in facing down the representatives of Kaelon II. When Timicin ultimately decides to return, Picard neither encourages nor discourages the decision, save to make sure that he isn't doing so simply "to ease diplomatic tensions."

Troi: Though early scenes see her reacting to her mother as usual - with exasperation - a softer side of their relationship shows in the episode's second half. Once Troi's mother becomes genuinely emotional, Troi is equally genuine in being supportive. A decent showing for Troi, and a good performance by Marina Sirtis.

Dr. Timicin: David Ogden Stiers' performance as Timicin is a huge asset. Though a one-shot guest character, Stiers invests Timicin with such a sense of quiet dignity that it's easy to become invested in him. There's a superb moment, right after the test fails, in which Timicin is visibly knocked back by the failure. His entire life's work has just gone up in smoke before him, and for reasons which will soon be made clear he will never get another chance. And yet he take a moment to thank Picard for the attempt, even as it is obvious that his expression gratitude is choked out through barely-suppressed tears.

Lwaxana Troi: It's that dreaded time again: The time of the annual Lwaxana Troi episode. Thankfully, writer Peter Allen Fields digs past the obnoxiousness of the character's previous appearances to examine the much more thoughtful woman underneath. The script is flawed, but this is still the best characterization that Lwaxana has received in TNG to date. We see that she can show restraint if she thinks it might be called for. After Timicin's test fails, Lwaxana goes to him with her usual bombast. But when he doesn't respond, she offers to leave him be, staying only because he asks her to. It's a nice moment, and she receives several others as the episode progresses - none better than in the final scene.


THOUGHTS

When I realized this was a Lwaxana episode, I cringed. Visibly. I relaxed fairly quickly, though, when I saw that this was scripted by Peter Allen Fields. Fields would go on to wrtie many of Deep Space 9's best early episodes. Half a Life, his first Trek script, is not at that level. But it's a lot better than either Manhunt or Menage a Troi. Even in his first run through the Trek-verse, Fields is already reaching for a substantial examination of a genuine issue cast in a science fiction setting. He would get better at it, but at least one is never in doubt that this episode is actually trying.

The episode gets a lot of mileage from the guest performance by David Ogden Stiers, and features some good work by Majel Barrett, finally allowed to show a more human side to the overbearing Lwaxana. The two of them have some very good scenes, and Lwaxana's moments of obnoxiousness are fairly few, mostly confined to the opening Act. Les Landau directs with accustomed proficiency, and it's all very competent.

But unlike Fields' best Deep Space 9 episodes, there really aren't very many shades of gray to this situation. First is the choice of cutoff age. Even when this episode was made, 60 wasn't really considered very old. Even in the early 1990's, more people were vital and active at 60 than not. Timicin's vigor is hardly the exception at age 60. The entire episode would make more sense if the age selected was 70. Even then, arguments for the "Resolution" would seem wrong-headed... but at least they wouldn't seem stupid.

Then there is Timicin's 11th hour discovery of Technobabble, which pushes him to seek asylum because he now sees a way to finish his work. Prompt melodramatic hysteria, as his world refuses to even look at his new research. Arguments that his work may save his world fall on deaf ears... which strikes me as unlikely. Any government in history has found exceptions for their rules. In a situation such as this, surely such an exception could be justified. Also, in a society in which it is known that a person's vital work will be cut off at age 60, wouldn't there be a younger apprentice working closely with the elder for a period of years before that age, ready to step in and take over? Timicin being "the only person" with the knowledge is a way of melodramatically loading an already loaded situation.

An honest effort, with strong guest performances and some good individual scenes. But I think the main thing notable about Half a Life, within Trek circles, is that it led to much stronger and more shaded work later by writer Peter Allen Fields. This is a far cry from DS9's Duet - but at least it's a first step down that road.


Overall Rating: 5/10.

Previous Episode: The Drumhead

Next Episode: The Host

Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On Twitter:

Follow @RandomMusings09

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads

4-14. Clues



Is Data malfunctioning?

THE PLOT

The Enterprise deviates from its course to investigate an apparent Class M planet near a nebula. But a nearby unstable wormhole creates a disruption which hurls the ship a full day from its previous position, and which knocks out the entire crew for 30 seconds... the entire crew except for Data.

Upon awakening, they discover that the planet is not Class M at all, and that sensors had apparently been disrupted by the wormhole. Picard acknowledges that it's a "minor mystery... (but) one that has been solved to (his) satisfaction." The mystery deepens, however, when Dr. Crusher comes to Picard with an experiment she was running on some moss spores. Data insists they were unconscious for only thirty seconds. But the moss shows a full day's growth!

Further investigation shows that the ship's chronometer was interfered with. The culprit? Data.


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Somebody, please tell Patrick Stewart not to do fake "Bogart/Cagney" speech in his Dixon Hill scenes. It's much more enjoyable to see him playing Picard as Dixon Hill, rather than doing a poor man's Humphrey Bogart as Dixon Hill. With the exception of that opening scene, Stewart continues to be in outstanding form. At first, the innate trust Picard has developed for Data leads him to accept the android's explanations about the minor mysteries without question. As the mysteries deepen, however, he cannot ignore the evidence. When Data will not reveal the truth, Picard decides to force the issue by doing the one thing Data most opposes - returning to the planet.

Data: Another good showing for Brent Spiner's Data. The thing that really makes Data's evident deception so unsettling is that he doesn't behave at all abnormally. He is still unfailingly polite, even when regretfully telling Geordi or Picard that he cannot answer their questions. The episode's best scene sees Picard directly interrogating Data. Save for refusing to answer Picard's questions, Data is unfailingly honest, which is very effective when Picard asks him what Data would think in the captain's shoes. Most viewers will guess the direct cause of Data's actions (namely, who it was who gave the order) long before it is revealed on-screen, but that doesn't diminish the impact of seeing Data at odds with the crew while still being entirely himself.

Dr. Crusher: Her connection wtih Picard makes her a strong choice to bring the first substantial evidence that they were out for longer than 30 seconds - "a lot longer" - to Picard's attention. She is someone Picard will listen to, and maybe the only person on the ship at this point who has as much of his trust as Data has earned. She also discovers the evidence that the crew must actually have been conscious during the missing time.

Troi: Troi's empathic abilities are drawn upon again, as she experiences dizziness and hallucinations as a result of whatever occurred. This time, though, she is well-used, her predicament not only adding to the mysteries surrounding the lost day but also providing a sense that one of the regular's personal well-being has been affected. I am left wondering, at the end, how they are going to prevent a recurrence of Troi's issues... but that's probably best not lingered on. In any case, this is one of Marina Sirtis' more effective performances this season.


THOUGHTS

Clues was probably a rather inexpensive episode to make. Save for the holodeck scene at the beginning, the entire episode uses standing sets only, and most of its guest stars are members of the recurring cast who were probably already under contract. It has all the earmarks of a budget-saver.

It is also an excellent episode, one of many in what's shaped up to be a very good season.

The strongest element of the episode is the relationship between Picard and Data. Picard trusts Data, and it shakes him to see that trust worn away by fact after fact. The scenes with just these two characters are particularly good, with Picard trying multiple times to give Data an "out," only to see the android respond by stating - quite honestly and directly - that he cannot answer Picard's questions, not even to confirm or deny the captain's suppositions. The reason why isn't hard to guess, but in a way that makes it all the more effective to see Data put so firmly on the spot.

The story is extremely well-paced, the script having enough confidence in itself to allow the mysteries to escalate gradually. It also makes good use of the ensemble. Compare this to Devil's Due. That episode had strong roles for Picard and Data, a passable supporting role for Geordi, and virtually nothing for the rest of the cast. This episode gives moments to everybody: Dr. Crusher, finding some of the more damning bits of evidence against Data; Geordi, confirming that Data altered the ship's systems; Troi, dealing with her hallucinations; Worf, suffering a broken wrist. Riker probably gets the least to do, but he is a constant presence, supporting Picard and seeming increasingly distrustful of Data (almost from the beginning). Everyone is actually a full character in this episode - a relatively rare feat, for TNG!

With typically confident direction by Les Landau, and a nicely-conveyed sense of paranoia creating some decent atmosphere, this is a very strong "little" episode. It was probably a budget-saver. But as was the case with some of TOS' bottle shows, sometimes the best stories are the ones that have the fewest extra resources to rely on.


Overall Rating: 9/10

Previous Episode: Devil's Due

Next Episode: First Contact

Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On Twitter:

Follow @RandomMusings09

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads

3-17. Sins of the Father

THE PLOT

As payback for Riker's recent stint as First Officer aboard a Klingon vessel, the Enterprise accepts as temporary First Officer a Klingon officer: Commander Kurn (Tony Todd). Kurn is a strict disciplinarian, who upsets the crew with his demand for absolute protocol. He treats everyone harshly, but he reserves deliberate disrespect for one officer: Worf.

When Worf confronts him, Kurn reveals that he is Worf's younger brother. He requested the assignment to Enterprise in order to gauge Worf's suitability as a Klingon. There was a purpose to his deception. He reveals that their father has been accused of sending the Romulans the defense codes to Khitomer, which left the outpost defenseless when the Romulans attacked. He is being denounced as a traitor by the High Council. As eldest son, it is Worf's place to challenge that ruling. But if his challenge fails, then he will condemned as a traitor and executed!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Gives full approval to Kurn's goal of bringing Klingon-like military discipline to the Enterprise, feeling that it may do his complacent officers some good to have things shaken up a little. His loyalty to his officers shows in his fierce defense of Worf, however. He insists on accompanying Worf to the council chambers to speak on his behalf, and his words in Worf's favor do carry weight. Later, he acts as Worf's second, and showcases his strength of will and the value of his experience. When all is revealed, he recognizes the complexity of the situation but stands by his officer, long enough for Worf to come up with a solution satisfactory to all parties (for the moment, at least). Picard's final words to Kurn add resonance to an already strong episode, and this is yet another terrific showing for Patrick Stewart.

Worf: Has spent his entire life clinging to Klingon values. On his return to his homeworld, it must be a grave shock to him that the Klingons themselves are content merely to make a show of those values. Chancellor K'mpec (Charles Cooper) privately advises Worf to flee, and reacts with anger when Worf is outraged by the suggestion. Duras is an evident snake, surrounded by equally reptilian followers. In the midst of this, Worf clings to his dignity and honor, even as he sees - likely, for the first time ever - that the society with which he associates that dignity and honor is less than he believed it to be.

Klingons: TNG had already begun to reinvent the fairly one-dimensional TOS Klingons into a full society. In part through Heart of Glory and A Matter of Honor, but mainly filtered through the character of Worf and his insistence on maintaining Klingon traditions, we have been presented with a warrior society with a strict code in which honor is prized above all else. Sins of the Father shows an underside to that, presenting corrupt officials who uphold a miscarriage of justice in order to maintain a fragile status quo. Duras (Patrick Massett) seems to be the true face of this Klingon Empire, with Worf's unbending honor the exception in the council chambers rather than the rule.


THOUGHTS

A Matter of Honor may not have been up there with The Measure of a Man or Q Who, but it was still one of Season Two's better episodes. A follow-up to it is welcome. The first Act is content to merely act as a direct sequel, lulling viewers into expecting a "culture clash" episode centered around Kurn's efforts to force Klingon discipline on the complacent human crew. Up to the moment at which Worf confronts Kurn, I was settling in for a pleasant but inconsequential "little" episode.

Then Kurn's true identity is revealed, it becomes something much different, and vastly more interesting.

It's worth noting that Ronald D. Moore is credited as co-writer on this episode, and that most of what I can find online about the episode indicates that his was the main voice in the finished script. His influence is very visible in retrospect, with the details of the Romulan attack on Khitomer having more than a little in common with the details of the Cylon attack that begins Moore's re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. Moore's influence likely also shows in the dark tone of the episode. Worf is caught up in a trial worthy of a really violent version of the works of Kafka, his challenge "defeated before it even was made." Klingon society is brutal as seen here, and those at the top seem to be far from the best their society has to offer.

I already mentioned how good Patrick Stewart is in this. Again. Really, Stewart has been consistently good from the beginning, so the real credit has to go to the writers for how much Picard has improved as a character. Remember in Season One, when I intermittently made fun of Picard (even while praising Stewart), and in one review dubbed him "boring?" Well, Season Two saw a more refined and thoughtful approach to the character, one which has advanced even further in Season Three. At this point, Picard is a genuinely multi-layered character. At the beginning of the series, Patrick Stewart's performance was carrying an often poorly-scripted role. By this point, the character is as strong as the performer, and the results are a joy to watch.

With an ending that's powerful both in context and as a visual moment, and effective direction by veteran director Les Landau, Sins of the Father is an excellent episode in a season that's starting to really deliver on the promise of what TNG is capable of being. A few overly-abrupt transitions (i. e., a witness flipping from being pitiful to strong within 2 minutes' screen time) prevent this from getting full marks... but it's not at all far off.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: The Offspring

Next Episode: Allegiance

Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On Twitter:

Follow @RandomMusings09

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads