Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 167 (Lower Decks)

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

Every so often, there’s an episode of The Next Generation that at least mentions crew reviews, but we rarely ever get to see those crewmembers that are affected by those decisions. In “Lower Decks”, there are four ensigns that are worried about their crew reviews. One is Nurse Ogawa, who finds out a little early that Dr. Crusher is recommending her for a promotion. Two other ensigns find out that they’re competing for the same promotion. (One of them is Sito Jaxa, who was in “First Duty”.) There’s also Taurik, who’s apparently not up for a promotion, but is a friend of the other three.

Things get complicated when an escape pod is found adrift in Cardassian space. It’s just close enough that if the transporter is pushed a little beyond its limit, the occupant can be safely beamed aboard. Everything about it is top secret. With the episode done from the perspective of the four ensigns, it isn’t until later in the episode that the audience finds out what’s going on: it was a Cardassian who was in that escape pod. Ogawa is the first to find out when she’s called in to sickbay to help. Sito is the second to find out when she’s asked to pilot the shuttle that takes the Cardassian home. It’s a risky mission, but Sito volunteers for it. (Taurik figures some details about the mission, but isn’t told anything.)

I don’t really want to go into how the episode ends. I don’t think that it’s necessary. It’s an interesting episode that deals with crewmembers of a lower rank. The only problem that I had with it was that it seemed like a token episode. Ogawa is the only one of the four ensigns that had any real history. Sito may have been used because the writers needed someone with her background. I have to admit that it was convenient to have that character there. However, she had been on the Enterprise for seven months and this was the first we had seen of it. Granted, this is one of the final ten episodes, but it would have been nice if we could have seen more of the other two ensigns.

Those that have never seen the series before might find the story interesting, but will probably have some questions. Sito Jaxa’s history is explained, but those watching this as their first Next Generation episode won’t really know the significance of who she is. There’s also the history between the Federation and the Cardassians as well as the relationship between the Bajorans and the Cardassians. Again, someone would be able to follow the story and infer many of the details. However, I don’t think I could necessarily recommend this as your first Trek episode.

I definitely recommend this to people that have an understanding of the Trek universe. It looks like the writers were trying to have some continuity in the final half of the last episode and this episode does do well. It also does well with the writing and acting. I’d say that this is one of the better episodes. I’d give it four stars. 

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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 140 (Face of the Enemy)

Romulan society is seen as being rigid.  They even have their own version of the Gestapo, the Tal Shiar.  The Tal Shiar is known for keeping Romulan citizens in line.  Imagine Councelor Troi’s horror at waking up on a Romulan warbird with a Romulan face one day.  Not only that, she’s been given the identity of a Tal Shiar officer.  The ship’s first officer, Subcommander N’vek, comes in and explains that she’s there to help him with transporting some cargo.  He’ll explain everything once Troi gives the ship’s commander a new heading.

Once she tells Commander Toreth where to go, N’vek shows Troi the cargo:  A Romulan government official and his two top aides.  She realizes that N’vek is part of Spock’s underground from the two-part Unification.  (Parts I and II)  You might be thinking that there’s an easier way to do this.

They managed to abduct Troi from a conference.  Wouldn’t it have been just as easy to drop off three Romulans, instead?  If they can get the dissidents to Federation space this way, it will open up a method for others to follow.  Troi is there in case anything goes sideways, which it does.  She is able to get the three dissidents to safety onboard the Enterprise and is, herself, beamed off at the last second.

There were a few things that bothered me (and still bother me) about this episode.  First, Spock sends a former Starfleet ensign to the Enterprise.  Since this ensign was a defector, himself, he’s immediately arrested.  Again, I’d think that there would be an easier way to get a message to Captain Picard.  My impression was that it was done for two reasons.  One was to show how serious the situation was.  If someone was willing to be arrested for defecting, his reasons must be pure.  The second was to have him serve to move the plot along.  He’s able to offer important information as necessary.  Any information on Romulan society the ship would have might be inaccurate.  Anything the ensign would have to offer would be more accurate.

Abducting Troi serves as a bit of a McGuffin, as well.  It probably would have made more sense to abduct a security officer.  You might think that a security officer might be more of a risk, as they would want to gather information.  However, they’re transporting dissidents.  Any additional information would be that much more useful.  Even if you argue that they needed an empath, there had to be other empathic individuals that were better suited.  The writers needed a member of the Enterprise bridge crew so that she‘ll be recognized if necessary.

Speaking of abducting her, how did Troi get onboard the Romulan ship?  I suppose it’s possible that N’vek beamed her directly to her quarters.  There is at least one other Romulan officer sympathetic to the cause.  I’m surprised that no one said anything about not seeing Troi board the ship.  I’m also not sure how Troi was supposed to get off the Romulan ship.  I don’t think it was mentioned.  Was she to go with the third-party ship transporting the dissidents?  Was she to go back to Romulan space and be transported back later?  I think it was one of those things not dealt with because it would have unnecessarily complicated the story.

All things considered, it’s a well-written episode. I can overlook a few concerns, as there probably are viable answers to them.  If N’vek was able to kidnap Troi, it’s plausible that he had a plan for getting her back.  Unfortunately, we never learn if other dissidents make their way to the Federation.  I don’t recall any other attempts being depicted on The Next Generation or Deep Space Nine.  (There was one other attempt, which occurred before this episode aired.)  Face of the Enemy ended up being an enjoyable episode.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 122 (Imaginary Friend)

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

It’s amazing how often the Enterprise finds trouble. Occasionally, trouble finds the Enterprise, but the Enterprise is usually putting itself in harm’s way. In this case, the Enterprise is exploring a strange part of the galaxy. Some mysterious energy-based life form comes on board and starts scanning equipment and crew members. It comes across Clara, a child who’s working in the ship’s arboretum. The life form scans her and finds Isabella, Clara’s imaginary friend. (Clara’s developed an imaginary friend as a result of her father, an ensign in Starfleet, moving around a lot.) The life form takes on the appearance of Isabella to interact with Clara. She seems surprised to actually see Isabella at first, but eventually accepts it.

Isabella prods Clara to do things that she shouldn’t do in hopes of finding out more about the ship. Isabella makes a habit of disappearing when adults are around, the only exception being Worf. (The two literally run into him in one of the ship’s corridors.) Clara finds a lot of resistance from adults, the only exception being Guinan. (Guinan runs Ten-Forward.) When Clara enters, Guinan welcomes her and Isabella.

The ship is experiencing drag, which they can’t explain. Eventually, Chief Science Officer Data and Chief Engineer La Forge find a web that’s normally invisible, but that seems to be reacting to the shields and keeping the ship from moving at the speed that it should be.

It isn’t long before the two stories come together. It turns out that the life form impersonating Isabella is trying to decide if the crew of the Enterprise should live or die. The net is an attempt by others of her species to drain energy from the ship. Eventually, Captain Picard talks to Isabella and the two come to an understanding. Isabella realizes that there’s more to the Federation than what a child sees and Picard decides to release some energy for the life forms to feed on.

The episode primarily seems to deal with life as a military brat. It’s not easy having a parent that moves around every couple of years. Clara’s father even talks to La Forge about it. (Both of La Forge’s parents served in Starfleet.) Troi tells Clara’s father that Isabella will ‘go away’ when Clara makes friends. (Troi and everyone else keep dealing with Isabella as imaginary until Isabella eventually attacks Troi.) Isabella, played by Shay Astar, comes across as very creepy. Isabella had very little apparent emotion, even Clara pointed out that she never smiled. It was a great acting job.

Overall, the episode was good until the end, when it came off as being a little too preachy. It seems like I’ve been using that word about too many episodes, and in such a short period of time, but Picard basically lectures Isabella on why a child’s perspective is skewed and how it isn’t fair to judge the ship’s crew based solely on that.

I have to go with three stars on this one. Had it not been for the ending, I would have gone with four. I think that the writers could have done a little better with it. 

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Star Trek The Next Generation - Episode 105 (Disaster)

One of the complaints with Star Trek: The Next Generation was how often technology failed.  It was bad enough to have the captain trapped in a holodeck, but it would also happen right when he was needed for a key moment in a mission.  Here, the Enterprise is hit by something that causes the systems to go off line and the ship to compartmentalize.  Counselor Troi is trapped on the bridge with Ensign Ro and Chief O’Brien.  The bridge officer in command is dead, leaving Troi in charge.

Meanwhile, Chief O’Brien’s wife, Keiko is stuck in Ten-Forward with Worf, Riker and Data.  They can’t make it to the bridge, but they could make it to Engineering to regain control of the ship.  They leave Worf with Keiko to tend to the injured, as they’re also cut off from sickbay.

Captain Picard is stuck in a turbo lift with three young children, all of whom had won a science fair.  He was giving them a tour of the ship when the disaster hit.  His ankle is broken, making an escape difficult.  Add to this that Picard doesn’t deal well with children, especially when they’re all assuming the worst.

This leaves Dr. Crusher and Chief Engineer La Forge stuck in a cargo bay.  That doesn’t sound so bad except for the fact that a plasma fire starts, which is emitting enough radiation that it will become a problem if they don’t get out soon.  Add to that the fact that there’s some material in the bay that’s normally stable, but explodes when exposed to enough radiation.

Like most disaster movies/episodes, you have to assume that most, if not all, of the main characters will make it through.  There are several guest characters, but Keiko is the only one in any immediate medical danger, as she goes into early labor.  (She wasn’t due for a few more weeks, if I recall.)  As there’s no enemy for anyone to seek vengeance against later on, we can assume that everyone lives.

Mostly, it’s a matter of growth for several characters.  Picard has to get over dealing with children, which he does.  He even manages to earn their respect.  Similarly, Troi has never been in command before.  It’s revealed that she holds the rank of Lieutenant Commander, but she’s a counselor.  I’ve always gotten the impression that there aren’t even other counselors on board for her to manage.  You‘re maybe wondering where the suspense comes from.  Containment on the antimatter is falling. If it goes below 15%, the ship goes boom.  They have no way of knowing if anyone is in engineering to fix it.

The delivery of Molly O’Brien is played more for comedic effect.  It’s basically all of the jokes of an inexperienced male put on the spot because of an emergency.  Keiko is emotional and yelling at Worf, who has only a holographic simulation to go by.  (You’d think that they would have gone over a few common problems.  Worf has only a minimal idea of what he’s doing.)  When the baby is delivered safely, both are able to laugh about it.

The other two stories seem more like filler.  Data has to risk his life to get Riker past an electrical surge.  They make it to find engineering empty, which is strange.  They don’t even comment on finding dead people.  There should be at least one person there.  Even if there wasn’t, how is it that no one else was able to get there?  I get that the crawlways were blocked off, but you’d think someone else could have made it.  Oh, and remember how the containment on the antimatter couldn‘t go below 15%?  Guess when Riker and Data notice the containment failure.

As for the cargo bay, it’s like the writers needed one more story to round things out. You can’t have La Forge and Crusher just sitting there talking, now.  Can you?  Then again, why do they need two lethal problems to deal with in a way that doesn’t really make any sense?  Other people have pointed out that one panel is used to open the cargo bay door and another is used to shut the door.  For that matter, why not have it set up on a timer or something?  Set it for the longest that Crusher feels they can go without oxygen?

So far as I know, the only thing to come out of this is Troi eventually wanting to take the test to become a commander.  Worf delivering the baby is mentioned a few times.  Other than that, this is basically a throwaway episode.  I think the only thing that the episode was missing was an exclamation point at the end of the title.  (“Disaster!”)  If you’re watching it streaming on Netflix or get the season set, go for it.  If you’re paying by the episode, don’t worry about it.


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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 60 (The High Ground)

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

One thing that science fiction is good at doing is making a point.  Very often, the point can be made without calling it what it really is.  You can criticize a war by having it take place on a distant planet.  You can comment on racism by having an alien race be the recipient of someone‘s prejudice.  You may not even realize that the author is trying to make a point until you’re done with the book.  Other times, they beat you over the head with it.

Episode 60 of The Next Generation was about terrorism.  When “The High Ground” first aired, times were a little different.  Most notably, The Twin Towers were still standing.  We didn’t have the TSA sticking their latex gloves everywhere.  Our concept of terrorism was not what it is today.  This is probably why I have only a vague memory of the episode.

The Enterprise is delivering medical aid to the planet Rutia IV.  Shore leave is suspended as Rutia IV has a group of separatists called the Ansata.  There is an away team on the planet when a bomb goes off, injuring people.  Captain Picard wants the team to come back up, but Dr. Crusher wants to stay on the surface.  She is a doctor and she can at least help until the Rutian doctors show up.  The problem is that a rebel shows up and kidnaps her, taking her to a series of caves.

The Ansata are led my a guy named Finn.  It’s kind of odd that they’d want a Starfleet doctor until it’s revealed that their special method of transport slowly warps their DNA.  They need a doctor to reverse the condition.  (The easy answer is to not use the technology, but these are rebels.  They need every advantage they can get and this gives them a big advantage.)  Dr. Crusher is resistant.  She doesn’t talk at first, but can’t resist helping people in need.

On the surface, we see kids being arrested.  Apparently, the Ansata recruit young.  Anyone could be one of them.  The crew of the Enterprise eventually figures out where Dr. Crusher is being held.  This leads to a battle where many Ansata are detained and/or injured.  Since Dr. Crusher goes on to be in several more seasons of the show, I think you can guess that she gets back to the ship.

Upon watching it recently, my biggest objection to the episode is that it seems a bit too obvious.  We’re shown a planet where a group has resorted to terrorism to get what they want, which is independence.  Much of the episode is overacted, with Dr. Crusher or Finn giving some eloquent speech about why their position is correct.  The only decent scene in all of it is Data, the emotionless android, asking Captain Picard why terrorism seems to be so effective.  Data lists several instances where groups have actually gotten what they wanted.  The answer is that it’s only human to wonder these things.

The message ends up being that terrorism is bad, but it works.  Finn points out that it’s a matter of perspective.  He just happens to know a few North American historical figures that are heroes where others might consider them thugs.  It all comes down to who wins and gets to write history.  The episode doesn’t really paint a sympathetic view of Finn’s group.  We don’t get to see any of the Ansata distraught over killing anyone.  Everyone is ready to pick up a gun and use it.  The episode would have worked better if we had a more sympathetic bad guy.

If you’re just getting in to Star Trek: The Next Generation, I doubt this episode will sell you on the series.  I’d say that it’s safe to skip altogether.  If you’re really set on watching it, watch a few other episodes first.  Part of the problem with watching them in order is that Episode 59, The Hunted, was also about war.  It seems odd to me that they’d produce two fighting-related episodes back to back.  I have to wonder if they were short an episode for the third season.  I could see someone pulling this script off the shelf and saying, “Oh, why not?”  If this is the case, I can only hope I’ve answered your question. 

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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 54 (Booby Trap)

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

I was always amazed how much trouble The Enterprise got into over seven years of Star Trek:  The Next Generation.  I’m sure they had plenty of routine missions where no one got hurt or killed.  I’m sure a few even went as they were supposed to with no Ferengi trying to horn in on some deal or half the ship breaking down.  You’d think that finding a derelict Promellian ship that had been floating around for 1,000 years would be uneventful.  Captain Picard even beams over just to show how comfortable the crew is letting their commanding officer off the ship.

I suppose if it was that simple, we wouldn’t have much of an episode.  Just as the Enterprise is about to leave, these strange power drains show up.  It wouldn’t be a problem except that the ship won’t move.  Everything’s running fine, but the ship just won’t go anywhere.  Funny thing is that the same thing that trapped the Promellian ship is now acting on the Enterprise.  (Apparently, no one stopped to ask what happened to the old ship in the first place.)  The Enterprise is now stuck just as the Promellian ship is.  As if that wasn’t bad enough, the devices that are sucking energy are converting it into deadly radiation.

The away team is able to bring back some Promellian logs and find out from their captain that the crew acted bravely.  Not much help there.  Geordi La Forge, the chief engineer, gets the idea to not ask any of his engineering staff for help and, instead, waste power on the holodeck recreating the station where the Enterprise was built so he can work with a recreation of the woman that designed the Enterprise.  (I think if I had worked hard enough to get to the Federation’s flagship, I’d be pretty depressed if my boss didn’t even ask for my help in an emergency.)

Part of the problem with having a series set on a ship is that you can’t really get rid of the ship that easily.  This episode was pretty early in the third season, so we know that someone’s going to save the day.  I mean, the actors all have contracts.  Right?  I doubt that they’re going to end the show this early in the season.  Yes, Geordi La Forge and the simulated Leah Brahms save the day.  The Enterprise makes it out, but the decision is made to destroy the Promellian ship.

There have been a few things I’ve wondered about over the years.  First, why doesn’t Geordi ask the engineering crew for help.  Isn’t that why they have an engineering crew?  I know I’m not the first to ask about this and I won’t be the last.  I can’t even think of a good reason other than  to let Geordi get along with an attractive woman in the holodeck.  (The episode starts out with Geordi failing miserably on a date, so he gets a chance at a rebound of sorts.)  It would also set up a later episode where the real Leah Brahms shows up.

Another thing that I was wondering was how the distress call was working after 1,000 years.  I’d imagine that the distress call wouldn’t be affected by the energy drain, as it would be a good way to trap a few more ships.  However, even without the power drain, the ship should have stopped working centuries ago.  The same goes for the bridge.  When the away team goes over, they can turn the lights on and get a console working.   What are the odds that the ship still has both power and working equipment?

I also felt bad that they couldn’t save the ship.  I understand having to blow it up.  It would have been irresponsible to leave it there so that someone else could get trapped.  You’d think they’d at least get some more logs or take some souvenirs.  Maybe take some pictures for posterity.  I’ve always hated when some historical artifact was wasted like that.  You’d think they’d make an attempt to tractor it out or something.

It’s one of those episodes that holds up, but not so well on second viewings.  This is why I didn’t give away how the day was saved, exactly.  A good part of the episode relies on the suspense.  Once you know how it goes down, you many not want to watch it again.  For this reason, don’t buy it on VHS.  (Honestly, though, who has a working VCR anyway?)

On a side note, I was looking at IMDb to make sure I had the names spelled right.  I came across Susan Gibney, who played Leah Brahms in this episode.  (I also wanted to make sure she’d be the one returning in the later episode.)  The only listing I found for that name was for someone born in 1968,  I didn’t think that could be her, as it seemed a little too old.  Leah Brahms is a young woman.  When the episode came out, she was in her early 20s.  Then I realized that the episode came out over 20 years ago.  I’ll leave you with that thought. 

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