Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 161 (Force of Nature)

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

WARNING: I’m about to give away pretty much all of the important details about this episode. If you want to be surprised, stop reading here.

You’ve been warned…


The Enterprise is looking for a medical ship lost in a region of space known to be difficult to pass through. There have been other reports of lost ships, but this one is carrying a valuable and important cargo. While looking for the ship, the Enterprise comes upon a Ferengi ship, which has apparently fallen victim to a probe that disabled most of their systems. They might know something about the medical ship, but they’re too busy with repairs to check their sensor logs. Captain Picard offers to help with repairs…if it would give the Ferengi captain time to look for the information that they want.

Using the information that they gather from the Ferengi, the Enterprise finds a debris field that might be the ship that they’re looking for. As the Enterprise scans the area, a probe emits a beam that knocks out most of their systems, much like what had happened to the Ferengi ship. Two aliens, Rabal and Serova, transport aboard the Enterprise moments later. They claim that warp drive, which makes interplanetary travel possible, is killing their people. That might sound a little drastic, but they claim to have proof that warp drive is damaging the fabric of space. Picard tells them that there will have to be more research, but Serova feels that this is just another attempt to stall and delay them.

Serova is actually willing to take her ship out and overload the engines (thus killing herself) to prove their point. By destroying her ship, she creates a subspace rift, just as was predicted. To make matters worse, the rift actually affects the ship that they’re looking for. They can’t use warp drive to go over and rescue the people on the ship, but it would take weeks to get there without warp drive. Data comes up with a plan to save everyone. Everything works out in the end, but the rift remains and the Federation imposes a warp-five speed limit. It’s not a perfect solution and other governments aren’t bound by it. However, it’s supposed to be a step in the right direction.

If I had to compile a list of the worst episodes of The Next Generation, this would probably make the top three. Part of the problem is that the message is really obvious. Warp drive damaging space is supposed to be like an SUV destroying the Ozone Layer. The loss of warp drive would adversely affect space travel to the point where interplanetary travel would be impractical or even impossible.

Also, there were several story and plot points that I had a problem with. For instance, it seemed like at first, the problems were limited to that area of space. By the end of the episode, it seemed like the problems affected the entire universe to some extent. I’ll admit that it could be that Serova and Rabal were mostly concerned about their planet, but could show how it affected everyone. However, it just seemed strange to me.

Also, couldn’t Serova have put her ship on autopilot? I don’t think that the exact spot where the warp drive went critical was all that important. I also don’t think that her presence on the ship was all that important, either. Yes, I acknowledge that sacrificing your life is supposed to say something, but it still doesn’t make any sense to me.

Overall, I’d say that it was a two-star episode. I think that the plot could have been a lot better. The acting and effects were on par. One good point was getting to see Data consider having to train his cat, Spot. Anyone that’s had a cat or a dog or knows someone that’s had a cat or a dog knows the difficulty involved in training them. However, that’s not enough to recommend watching this episode. If it comes on TV, it would be worth watching, but I can’t recommend buying the tape.


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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 123 (I, Borg)

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

Think of the one person in this world that you hate the most. Think of the person that you despise beyond any other person on the planet. What would you do if you were driving down the street one day and you saw them just laying there dying? Would you take them to the hospital or would you just leave them there?

When scouting for planets to colonize, the Enterprise comes across a Borg drone. The Borg are a ‘race’ of cybernetic beings that assimilate entire cultures. Guinan, the ship’s bartender, lost most of her people to the Borg. Those that remain are scattered among the galaxy. Captain Picard was himself assimilated and used to fight against the Federation. Both of these people have very strong objections to taking the drone aboard. Picard would just as well leave the drone to die. However, Dr. Crusher can’t bring herself to just run off without doing something.

Against his better judgment, Picard allows the drone to be brought to a holding cell for treatment. Guinan isn’t too happy about it when she finds out. It’s a very dangerous call. Both Picard and Guinan know full well what he’s capable of. The one drone could very easily assimilate (or at least cause the assimilation of) everyone on the ship. However, Picard is a man with a plan. He realizes that once brought back to the collective, the drone could be used as a Trojan horse that would introduce a virus that would spread throughout the Borg’s collective consciousness and cause their ultimate destruction.

The problem comes down to being able to see the forest for the trees in a very literal sense. The Borg don’t see individuals. One drone is the same as any other; any drone is simply part of the collective mind. To use a drone to introduce a virus is like taking a cell out of your body to study and then introduce some disease into your body. However, the drone starts to become self-aware. He goes from having the designation (Third of Five) to having a name (Hugh). Eventually, people start to see Hugh as a person. Even Guinan and Picard are swayed. The drone even goes from referring himself as ‘we’ to referring to himself as ‘I’ in Picard’s presence. Picard allows Hugh the choice of remaining on the Enterprise, but Hugh realizes that the Borg will know that he’s missing. The Enterprise will never be safe as long as Hugh is there. He must return to the Collective.

Choice is a tricky thing. This is the first attempt in the Star Trek universe to actively try to wipe out the Borg in one swoop, although it won’t be the last. Picard is set to destroy the Borg because the Borg are so set on destroying entire civilizations. However, Picard is forced to deal with the ethics when only when he is able to look at Hugh as a person rather than in instrument of the Borg. By trying to wipe out the Borg, we are no worse than they are. Normally, I would have found Dr. Crusher annoying in this episode, but she came across more as someone who was determined to see the drone as a patient. Despite what she may feel about them, Hugh was still a potential patient.

Someone that hasn’t seen the series up to this point won’t really understand much of what’s happened to Picard and Guinan. Not much has been said about Guinan’s race up to this point. We know that she despises the Borg. (The only other race that she holds any ill will towards is the Q, but that’s another set of episodes entirely.) Picard’s assimilation was the subject of the cliffhanger that ended the third season and began the fourth. It was a horrible experience for Picard, who almost didn’t make it back. At the very least, you should watch those two episodes before watching this one.

This won’t be the last time we hear from Hugh. The consequences of the events in this episode will come up again in a later episode titled “Descent”. I had heard that there was supposed to be another episode after that, but that never came to be.

This episode gets four stars. 

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