Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 124 (The Next Phase)

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

If you’ve been reading some of my other reviews of Star Trek episodes, you know that I sometimes pick apart episodes that have mistakes. This is going to be another such episode and I’m not going to be the first person to do so.

The Enterprise responds to a distress call from a Romulan ship. Apparently, it has sustained a lot of damage and is in need of a lot of repair. Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge discovers a component that needs replacing; he and Ensign Ro Laren beam back with the damaged component to see if they can replace it. During transport, something happens and the two people end up on neither ship. Since it’s not understood what happened, the ship has to take all of the transporters offline leaving everyone to use shuttles. Ro wakes up near sickbay and quickly realizes that no one can see her. Also, she can seem to pass through solid objects like walls. She finds La Forge in Engineering and the two realize that they must have somehow been phased, which basically means that they’re out of sync with the normal matter. They can see each other and everyone else, but no one else can see them.

To make matters more urgent, Ro and La Forge overhear a conversation between two Romulans. The Romulans have a secret and are willing to destroy the Enterprise to keep it. The Romulans mention how they plan to destroy the ship, but La Forge and Ro are in no position to tell anyone. La Forge eventually figures out that when he passes through normal matter, he leaves some sort of residue, which the ship is able to get rid of. When La Forge is exposed to some of the radiation, it becomes harder for him to pass through normal matter. He figures out that if he can get himself exposed to enough of this, he will return to normal. He does this by causing a phased Romulan disruptor to overload, flooding the entire room with the residue. He and Ro return to normal in time to warn everyone about what the Romulans did.

Ok. The big, glaring error that everyone points out is that if Ro and La Forge can pass through walls, they should be able to pass through the floor. Throughout the episode, you’ll hear the shuffle of their feet on the floor, which means that they are able to interact with it. Ro is also able to touch a control panel and a phased Romulan is actually sitting down. They shouldn’t be able to breathe since Oxygen is still normal matter. For that matter, should they even be able to talk? Sound is essentially vibrations transmitted by matter. What we hear is sound transmitted through the air, so if Ro and La Forge can talk to each other, then others should be able to hear them. There are all sorts of implications dealing with phased matter, including the fact that Ro and La Forge reflect in the windows.

I also noticed that if La Forge and Ro wanted to get someone’s attention, they could have used the phaser to ‘write’ their names on a wall or something. It’s possible that the sensors wouldn’t have been able to discern exact shapes or that no one would have been looking for letters, but it was worth a shot.

I’m going to have to give this episode three stars. This is another last-minute-save episode. The Enterprise can’t go to warp, so of course there are several points in the episode where the captain wants to, but is stopped at the last minute. I’m sure that you’ve seen this in a few movies or TV shows over the years. There’s also the quasi-religious aspect surrounding the apparent death of Ro and La Forge. Ro, having seen Dr. Crusher fill out a death certificate, is ready to accept that she is a ghost or spirit. La Forge isn’t and at least gets Ro to play along for the sake of not giving up. It was an interesting aspect to the episode. 

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Star Trek The Next Generation - Episode 101 (Redemption: Part 2)

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

WARNING:  I’m going to give away major details about this episode, up to and including the ending.  I will also be discussing the previous episode.  If you have a problem with this, now’s the time to stop reading.



One of the disadvantages of a cliffhanger episode is that you have to wait several months to see how it concludes.  With the advent of VHS, DVD and now streaming, it’s possible to wait and simply see everything at once.  With a series like Star Trek: The Next Generation, you could conceivably watch the entire series over a few weeks.

In the last episode, Redemption, some major events unfolded.  Gowron was made Chancellor of the Klingon High Council, which led to a civil war.  Worf resigned his commission in Starfleet to support Gowron.  The opposition?  Toral, a puppet being used by the Romulans, including one that looks a lot like a former Enterprise crewmember.

In Redemption, Part II, some time has passed.  Captain Picard is trying to get the Federation involved, despite it being a Klingon civil war.  This would appear to be a Klingon matter, but the Romulans are involved.  Rather than get involved directly, Chief Engineer La Forge has a plan:  He can use a fleet of ships to create a tachyon net that will expose a cloaked Romulan ship.  The problem is that there aren’t that many ships available.

The shadowy Romulan woman, Commander Sela, takes notice of the plan.  Rather than try to go around the blockade, she uncloaks and reveals herself to a stunned Captain Picard, who realizes that she looks a lot like his former Chief of Security, Lt. Tasha Yar.  She beams over and tells how she’s the daughter of Tasha Yar.  This is difficult to believe, as Yar would have been a young girl when Sela was born.  (She’s the result of an alternate timeline’s Tasha Yar.)

Things aren’t going well for Gowron and his forces.  The Romulan influence is really tipping the scales against him.  Also, Worf is realizing that he’s not fitting in well with other Klingons.  Normally, a Klingon wouldn’t drink with his enemy.  However, his brother, Kurn, has no problem drinking with opposition forces.  Toral’s aunts, Lursa and B’Etor take notice and kidnap him, hoping to turn him.

It doesn’t really matter.  The blockade doesn‘t initially work.  Data, while in command of the Sutherland, is able to devise a plan to expose the ships.  It works and the Romulan fleet turns around, leaving Lursa and B’Etor on their own.  They manage to beam out, leaving Worf to take out the Romulan guards and take Toral to face charges of treason.  Realizing that he may not be cut out to live in the Empire, he returns to the Enterprise to resume his duties.

This is one of those follow-up episodes that didn’t really hold up that well.  We had this nice setup in Part I.  A civil war is starting.  We have this woman that looks a lot like a former Enterprise crewmember.  Worf is on a Klingon ship.  What we get is a kind of wimpy follow up.

First, there’s the issue of Sela.  She’s the daughter of Tasha Yar, a blond, and a Romulan.  Every Romulan I’ve seen has dark hair.  I doubt very much that Sela would be a blonde.  (Genetically, darker hair tends to be dominant.)  Yes, it’s possible that Sela bleached her hair in deference to her mother, but she states that everything human in her died after her mother made a failed escape attempt.  If anything, I think she’d dye her hair to look more Romulan.  Why stand out if you hate what makes you stand out?  Also, I’ve found the convention of using the same actor to play parent and child overused.  I know we’re supposed to recognize her as the daughter of Yar, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Speaking of Sela, how is it that the blockade works?  I’m not sure how big the blockade is that Sela can’t just go around it.  I’m not sure because it’s never mentioned.  This is a valid concern, as she’s already running late.  No one ever says, “It will take us an extra day to go around.  What are we going to do?”  Also, there’s a fleet of 23 ships, all of them making a net with the other ships.  Displays show it as being a net, meaning that there should be gaping holes.  The harder it is to go around the blockade, the easier it should be to go through one of those holes.

For that matter, how did they know exactly where to meet the Romulan ships?  You could probably get a pretty good guess, knowing where the Klingon home world is.  However, if I were a Romulan commander and I saw this fleet of ships going along the border, I’d change course immediately.  Cloaking devices may make them a bit arrogant, but wouldn’t it be better to not risk confrontation?

It is nice to see Data take command of a ship.  This is one of a few times in the series that he questions Captain Picard and gets what he wants.  One of the side stories is him having to deal with his first officer, Lt. Cmdr. Hobson, who doesn’t think that an android would make a good captain.  Data gets to put him in his place and eventually earn his respect.

This may not be the best episode to use to introduce someone to the series.  Those that have never seen Star Trek: The Next Generation before will be confused.  A lot of it depends on knowledge not only of the previous episode but of the previous four seasons.  At least the writers did a good job of incorporating previous story lines and building up to this one.


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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 63 (Yesterday's Enterprise)

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

Most of the first two seasons of The Next Generation weren’t that good.  You had episodes like “The Naked Now” that were rehashing episodes of the original series.  Then you had some like “Shades of Grey” that were just being used as filler.  The third season had its stinkers, too, but the quality seemed to be getting better.  One of the better episodes is “Yesterday’s Enterprise”.

The U.S.S. Enterprise is just minding its own business when a vortex opens up.  (It’s funny how vortexes seem to open up when the Enterprise is around.)  Out of the vortex comes another ship, the U.S.S. Enterprise.  The Enterprise from The Next Generation is the fifth to bear the call sign NCC-1701, making it NCC-1701-D.  The one coming out of the vortex is its immediate predecessor, NCC-1701-C.  As soon as it emerges, everything changes.  The Enterprise-D is now a battleship.  Star dates are now combat dates.  (I mean, really?)  Everything is darker and the bridge layout has Riker manning a station rather than sitting next to the captain.  Gone is the Klingon chief of security, Worf.  In his place is Tasha Yar, the former chief of security who had died late in the first season.

The Enterprise-C is badly beaten, which is understandable.  They were defending a Klingon outpost from a Romulan attack.  This explains why history has changed.  In the new history, the Enterprise-C was lost.  There’s no record of them defending the Klingons, who are now at war with the Federation.  Returning the Enterprise-C would surely result in its destruction, but that destruction would be viewed favorably (read: honorably) by the Klingons.  Add to this Guinan, who runs the ship’s lounge, Ten Forward.  Ten Forward exists on both ships, as does Guinan.  The alternate Guinan senses that it’s all wrong and urges Picard to do the right thing.  (It’s actually Guinan’s insistence that gets Picard to even consider it.)

So, the decision is made to send the Enterprise-C back to meet their fate.  At the last minute, Tasha Yar decides to go back with the Enterprise-C.  The reason for this is that Guinan suddenly senses that Tasha Yar isn’t supposed to exist.  All she knows is that the chief of security died a senseless death.  I’m not sure how many times the two met in the alternate timeline.  I find it odd that Guinan picks this moment to get the willies.  Either way, history is set right and the normal Enterprise-D barely picks up what appears to be a ship and go off on their merry way.

This is one of the few cases where I’m going to pick apart an episode I like.  Yes, I’m giving it more than three stars.  Yes, I’m recommending it.  This does not mean I don’t have issues with it.  First, I find it odd that both versions of the Enterprise-D happened to be near the vortex.  Generally, when you have alternate histories, the same characters exists.  If the histories diverged several generations prior to the events of the episode or movie, the odds of the same people being involved are low.  Do you realize the odds of all the parents and grandparents having the same set of kids?  The same sperm would have to hit the same egg billions of times.

Granted, we only have a 22-year divergence here and yes, we do have a character that ended up not dying when she should have, to say nothing of what happened to Worf.  (We’re left to assume that he’s somewhere safe in the Klingon Empire.)  Still, there are other time-travel episodes.  There’s even a two-part episode that sets up how Picard met Guinan.  It’s hinted that a very specific set of events need to occur.  I wonder if those events happen in the alternate time line.  The presence of Guinan was ultimately only necessary to send Tasha Yar back.  I’d imagine that the crew could have come to realize that they needed to send the ship back on their own.

Another thing that got my attention was that it was implied that the Enterprise-C defending the outpost was the cause of peace with the Klingons.  Star Trek VI would seem to indicate otherwise.  I think this was one of those cases where the episode aired before the movie came out.  It’s possible that something happened in the intervening years.

You really can’t watch this episode in isolation.  You really have to have seen the preceding episodes to understand this.  There was an emotional impact of losing Tasha Yar and a certain joy in seeing her return.  There is also a lasting impact on future episodes.  It’s one of those episodes where, if you’ve watched the entire series, your head will start spinning thinking of all the things that should have been and were necessary in the other timeline.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 55 (The Enemy)

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

WARNING:  I’m going to give away major details about the episode.  These are the kinds of details that will probably ruin the ending if you haven’t seen it before.  You’ve been warned.


One of the ideals put forth in the Star Trek universe is having a federation of planets where prejudice has either been eliminated or greatly reduced.  Sure, Doctor McCoy may make fun of Spock’s green blood, but it’s all in good fun.  They still work together as part of the same crew.  When The Next Generation came around, one of our enemies were now an ally.  We even had a Klingon serving onboard.  At some point during the intervening 70-80 years, we had made peace.  The Romulans, however, were still out there and were still a threat.

We had a neutral zone in place to act as a buffer.  Neither side could claim it.  Crossing it was considered an act of war.  Imagine the surprise when a crashed ship is discovered to be of Romulan origin.  The ship has had explosives applied to cover up the exact nature of the ship, but there is Romulan writing, plain as day.  Commander Riker, Worf and Geordi La Forge beam down to the surface of Galorndon Core and discover the wreckage and a survivor.  Riker and Worf are able to beam back up, but La Forge is left on the planet after he fell down a hole.  (There are severe storms, preventing the use of the transporter.)

Well, Commander Tomalak also received the same distress call that attracted the Federation.  He tries to send a message to the crew saying that he’ll be there shortly, but the only ones listening are the bridge crew of the Enterprise.  Picard promptly sends back a message, “Um…We don’t think so.  We know you‘re there and to prove it, we‘ll address you by name.”  Tomalak stays on his side of the Neutral Zone waiting for the Enterprise to extract Geordi.  The problem is that the Romulan survivor isn’t doing so well.  He’s dying and, as luck would have it, Worf is the only one that can save him.

You’re probably wondering what the big deal is.  All that’s necessary is a simple blood transfusion.  The problem is that Worf is that one Klingon and Klingons hate Romulans.  For Worf, it’s also personal.  Romulans attacked the outpost where he and his parents were living.  Both of his parents were killed in the attack, leaving Worf to be raised by humans.  The only way that the Romulan is getting the transfusion is if Captain Picard orders him to do so.  Otherwise, it’s sayonara for the Romulan.  (Not that the Romulan wants Worf’s dirty Klingon blood, anyway.)

You’re probably thinking that Worf will have some sort of last-minute change of heart or that he’ll be ordered to give blood.  After all, it’s supposed to be this enlightened era of peace and love for all, even if they are your enemy.  Besides, it wouldn’t look good if a Romulan died on a Federation ship, even if they were the aggressors here.  We can’t have random enemies attacking us, then dying when we could save them.  We have to be better than that.

Nope.  The Romulan dies.

As luck would have it, Geordi’s found another Romulan on the planet.  This one has taken Geordi prisoner, which is a shame.  Geordi has just found a beacon that he can modify to let the ship know that he’s ok.  When the next window opens, it will be that much easier to beam him back up.  Geordi offers to take the Romulan up with him, as the Romulan has no other opportunities and isn’t looking so good.  Geordi can tell all of this because he has prosthesis that allows him to see.  Without it, he’s blind.

Just as Centurion Bochra is about to trust Geordi, the VISOR goes out.  It’s a minor setback.  Bochra is able to convince Geordi that they can put the VISOR and tricorder together to get to the beacon, which they do.  They make it to the beacon and back to the Enterprise.  Bochra goes back to Romulus with Tomalak and Geordi stays on the Enterprise to fight another day.

There were a few things I found odd about the episode.  First, how is it that on a ship filled with about a thousand people, only one is capable of saving the Romulan?  Romulans and Vulcans have a common ancestry.  I believe there are Vulcans on the Enterprise, but a the Romulan has to rely on his sworn enemy.  Yes, it makes for an interesting story and some dramatic tension.  We get to see just how much Worf hates Romulans.  Those are some long odds, though.  Also, the Romulan did refuse.  Why didn’t Worf bring this up?

I also vaguely remember Geordi commenting on his VISOR to the Romulan.  Bochra commented that Romulan parents would not have permitted a blind child to live.  I seem to recall Geordi commenting that the Romulans would have missed out on better vision through technology or something.  It’s possible that my memory is playing tricks on me, but Netflix has 45-minute episodes.  I recall that some stuff has been taken out for subsequent (more commercial-laden) runs.  This is especially true of the original series.  I don’t know to what extent this holds true of The Next Generation.

I don’t think it was directly mentioned what the Romulans were doing so far in to Federation space.  I think the episode was meant to show that the Romulans were doing something and potentially setting up future episodes.  A few episodes later, a Romulan Admiral defects.  (I don’t recall how coincidental this is, but I’ll be rewatching the episode soon.)  Galorndon Core is also mentioned in later episodes, so there is a legacy here.

As with other episodes I’ve reviewed, this is a VHS tape that I’m talking about.  I have seen these on eBay, but you’d really be better off putting your money into the season-three DVD set.  It’s a good episode, but the problem with a TV series is that it’s hard to recommend just one episode.  Right now, I’m also able to watch episodes on Netflix.  If you have access to their streaming service, you may be able to watch the series online.  (Netflix seems to rotate their inventory, so I have no idea if it will be available when you’re reading this.) 

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