Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 116 (Ethics)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

The episode starts with Security Chief Worf and Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge discussing a poker game. La Forge, who wears a special device to see, is commenting on Worf's hand, despite the fact that Worf folded. Shortly after the two split up to scan some containers, one falls on Worf. He awakens in sickbay; he tells Dr. Crusher that restraints won't be necessary. She tells him that she's not using any; his spine has been shattered leaving him paralyzed in his lower body.

For a proud Klingon, this is unacceptable; he wants to die. In Klingon society, he'd be allowed to, but Dr. Crusher maintains that he consider surgery to repair the spine. At best, she can restore 60% of his mobility. That's not enough. Worf doesn't want to be pitied. It's an all-or-nothing proposition for him. If he can't regain his former life, he wants to die. He asks Commander Riker to assist him.

Riker has a hard time coming to terms with the request. He almost does it, but refuses Worf on the grounds that it traditionally falls to a family member. Since Worf has a son on the ship, Riker has no place granting his request. The thing is that Worf can't bring himself to allow his son, Alexander, to see him like this. Worf is proud and stubborn. To be weakened is bad enough; to admit weakness is beyond him.

There is an alternative; Dr. Crusher has called in Dr. Russell, who has experience with Worf's type of injury. The problem with Dr. Russell, though, is that she has some radical methods. Dr. Crusher confronts her about a dead patient who might have lived had he been given a traditional treatment. Crusher believes that Russell's methods are extreme and unwarranted. In fact, Russell's proposed treatment for Worf is to actually create a new spine and replace the damaged spine with it. Considering that it's never been tested on a humanoid and has simulated success below 40%, Crusher wants no part of it and won't even let Worf consider it.

Russell brings the idea to Worf anyway. He accepts, even knowing that he might die anyway. (Actually, this option was perfect for his all-or-nothing mentality.) To those that have seen the final seasons of Deep Space Nine, it should come as no surprise that Worf lives. I thought it was a little cliche to have an ending where Worf dies, but comes back to life when everyone's given up hope on him. I think it would have been better to simply have the operation succeed.

The beginning was also pretty bad. I think it was one of the worst staged accidents that I've ever seen. However, the beginning and ending of the episode were the only two bad parts. Otherwise, I'd have to say that this is one of the best episodes that the series has to offer.

"Ethics" doesn't even begin to cover it. The episode deals primarily with the ethics of assisted suicide. It also deals with what a doctor is obligated to do (or not do) for a patient. Can a doctor do too much? It also brings up the ethics of cloning for the sake of medical uses, even though it doesn't really deal with it.

It looks like Worf is finally getting used to the presence of Alexander. Worf's involvement with Troi also develops a little more. I'd like to echo the sentiments of many other Star Trek viewers when I say that it was a total waste to end that relationship when Worf joined Deep Space Nine. (Speaking of Alexander, Brian Bonsall seems to be getting more comfortable with his role. In previous episodes, he seemed like he hadn't quite gotten the hang of it.)

I'd recommend this episode for regular viewer and occasional viewer alike. As I said, this is one of the best that the series has to offer. 

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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 86 (The Wounded)

I remember watching an episode of Star Trek (the original series) and thinking that Ferengi, Borg, Bajorans and other races from the spin-off series existed.  They just hadn’t been invented yet.  At some point, each race was created for whatever reason.  The Ferengi and Borg were to serve as enemies, for instance.  In The Wounded, we get to meet the Cardassians, who are not on friendly terms with the Federation.

There is a peace treaty, so it comes as a surprise when a Cardassian ship attacks the Enterprise.  Captain Picard is able to get the situation under control pretty quickly.  When pressed for an explanation, Gul Macet explains that a Starfleet ship attacked first.  (A gul is their equivalent of a captain.)  Picard asks for an hour to verify this with Starfleet.  Turns out it’s true.  Captain Maxwell, in command of the Phoenix, attacked a Cardassian base.  He’s not responding to anyone, so no one has any idea what happened.  Oh, and Picard is to preserve the peace…at all costs.

Macet and two of his aides come onboard the Enterprise to find Maxwell before any more harm is done.  Interestingly, Chief O’Brien served with Maxwell.  They responded to a Cardassian attack in which Maxwell lost his family.  The Enterprise finds Maxwell, but can’t get to him before he finds two more Cardassian ships.  Picard reluctantly agrees to give the Cardassians the prefix codes for the Phoenix, which would allow the Cardassians to lower the Phoenix’s shields.  This doesn’t help; the two Cardassian ships are destroyed, anyway.

Up to this point, Picard had been resisting.  He realizes now that he can’t drag his feet any more.  He increases speed to warp 9 to get to Maxwell as quickly as possible.  Picard and Maxwell talk.  Maxwell is under the impression that the Cardassians are rearming.  He throws out a few vague statements.  (“Lives were at stake.”  “We had to act now.”)  Picard bluntly informs Maxwell that Maxwell will return to the Phoenix and follow the Enterprise back to Starbase 211.  Maxwell agrees insomuch as he’ll bolt at the first sign of a Cardassian ship.

Sure enough, Maxwell finds one that’s using subspace shielding, which makes scanning impossible.  Maxwell insists that Picard beam over, which Picard refuses.  O’Brien is able to beam over during a fiftieth-of-a-second window that the Phoenix’s shields provide.  (Yes, 1/50 of a second.)  O’Brien convinces Maxwell that he’s not getting his way on this.  Maxwell hands his ship over to his first officer and spends the rest of the trip to the starbase confined to quarters.

I remember when this episode first aired.  The thing that stood out the most was the song, The Minstrel Boy.  I don’t know why, but it was one of those things that stuck with me.  I also remember thinking it was odd that we never got to see any of Maxwell’s crew.  When O’Brien beams over to the Phoenix, we go from O’Brien telling Picard that he can do it to O’Brien walking into Maxwell’s ready room.  I think the writers wanted to avoid the issue of the crew being complicit in his actions.

Maxwell was someone who lost his family.  It took a while for him to finally snap.  I’m sure other Starfleet officers present had similar issues.  O’Brien even snapped at the Cardassian aides during the episode.  The fact that Maxwell was in command of a starship made things more dangerous.  O’Brien was in pretty deep denial about his feelings.  After snapping at the aides, he goes to have dinner with his wife and says that he feels fine about the Cardassians.  The war’s over.

The ending also stuck with me.  Picard and Macet have a conversation in the observation lounge.  Macet asks Picard why he didn’t inspect the ship, to which Picard responds with the truth.  If Picard had gone over, both sides would be making preparations for war and that’s not what Picard was instructed to do.

I originally took the scene to mean that we’d never know, even though it’s likely that the Cardassians were up to something.   There was a scene with Glin Telle, one of Macet’s aides, getting caught looking at sensitive information.  Macet confined Telle to quarters, but I always took the scene as the outcome of plausible deniability.  Macet probably had his aides look at stuff every chance they got.  Telle just has the bad luck of getting caught, so Macet had to appear to reprimand him.  Likewise, Picard points out that Maxwell was a good man that happened to do something very wrong.  The fact that he was right about the Cardassians doesn’t excuse killing 700 people, but the Cardassian government has been caught.  Picard can’t do anything about it…at the moment, but the Cardassians are on notice.


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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 84 (The Loss)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

There were a few episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation that dealt specifically with the ship’s counselor, Deanna Troi, being empathic.  Since she can sense the emotions of others, it can be an advantage.  Is it fair?  That depends on who you’re asking.  In The Loss, Troi has to deal with just that.  She loses her empathic abilities, forcing her to live as a mere human.  (She’s half human, half Betazoid.)  Everyone tries to help, but it seems that nothing can be done.

The loss coincides with two-dimensional aliens attaching themselves to the ship, so it’s entirely possible that Troi will regain her abilities once the situation is resolved.  (Spoiler alert:  This is exactly what happens.)  Before that happens, she decides to resign as counselor.  She doesn’t feel that she can perform her duties any more.  Captain Picard points out that many ships do just fine with non-empathic counselors.  In time, Troi might be able to cope.

Commander Riker’s the one that hits the nail on the head.  Troi is used to having an edge, knowing what everyone else is feeling.  Now that she doesn’t have that, all she wants to do is run and hide.  Now that she can’t lean on her ability, her true colors come through.  I can’t say that I’d be any better, but Troi comes off as a little whiny.  She lashes out at Dr. Crusher and tries to push Riker away.

This actually brings up an interesting point, which is that (as far as I know) the Enterprise has only one counselor.  There are over a thousand people on the ship.  Even if one counselor could handle that workload, you’d think that it would be nice to have the choice of who to talk to if you don’t like one of the counselors.  More importantly, even counselors need counseling, themselves.  Who does Troi turn to when she has a crisis?  There isn’t even any talk of giving her a few days off when this thing with the two-dimensional creatures is all over.

Also, Troi seems to go through the stages of grief very quickly.  I remember an episode of Wings where one of the characters, Lowell, finds out something bad where the other characters know he will grieve.  One of the other characters mentions even mentions the stages.  When Lowell comes in, he goes through all the stages in rapid succession, getting over his loss in under a minute.  This episode was sort of like that.  We get to see all the things someone might go through if they experience a similar loss.

The whole episode seems forced.  We have someone experiencing a loss that we know isn’t permanent.   When Odo became human on Deep Space Nine, it was done much better.  It lasted for almost half of a season.  There was some time to actually write some stories around it.  Here, it doesn’t seem that serious.  Overall, it’s a missable episode. 

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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 67 (Captain's Holiday)

Note: This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

The episode starts with two aliens looking for Captain Picard in a hotel on some distant planet. He’s not staying there, nor does he have reservations. The two aliens are certain that he’ll arrive.

Captain Picard never was the kind of character that was willing to show signs of wear. After a difficult negotiation process, the crew is beginning to pick up on the fact that he’s had a difficult time. His responses are short and he doesn’t seem to be in the mood to be with others. Commander Riker and Counselor Troi decide to get him to take a vacation on a planet called Risa.

Risa, which has made other appearances throughout the series, is a resort planet; the entire economy is based on tourism. It doesn’t take long for Picard to realize that the planet is more suited for Riker. Beautiful women are everywhere and many keep coming up to Picard, even though all he wants to do is read a book. On his way back to his room, Picard meets Vash, a woman who’s on the run from a Ferengi named Sovak. (Sovak is played by Max Grodenchik, who plays Quark’s brother on Deep Space Nine.)

They’re both after something called the Tox Uhtat, which is a device so powerful that it can stop the nuclear reactions inside of a star. To make matters more complicated, the two aliens from the beginning of the episode, who call themselves Vorgons, are also after the Tox Uhtat. They are from the future and believe that Picard will lead them to it.

The way that the story plays out, the Vorgons say that history has unfolded as it was supposed to. The end of the story was a bit of a disappointment. It almost seemed too easy. It seemed like it just ended. However, we get to see Patrick Stewart shine in this episode as Captain Picard. Picard is often described as a very private man, and that’s made clear in this episode

Grodenchik was also great as Sovak. The Ferengi of the first season weren’t that well developed and it was difficult to see them as anything other than comic relief. Sovak was the first real threat to anyone. The Vorgons were never seen or heard from again, so far as I can recall. The two characters seemed to be there just to further the story line and came across as being two-dimensional. (I think it had to more with bad writing than bad acting, though.)

If you missed this episode, I think you could get through the rest of the series and not be too confused. Even with the episodes where Vash appears, you could still follow those story lines without being confused. (If this episode had never aired, the other episodes would require very little rewriting.) I’m in between recommending it and not recommending it. (It’s because of things like this that I’d be in favor of doing away with mandating the recommendation.) I’ll recommend it only because I really can’t find any real reason to not recommend it.

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