For those who are new to my episode reviews, you can find the post where I establish my point criteria here.
As I promised in my post "Celebrating 30 Years of the Next Generation", here is the first of ten TNG episode reviews. I will publish one a week in addition to other reviews and posts. Enjoy!
Overview – Picard is invited to a secret meeting of Starfleet captains
by his old friend, Walker Keel. At the meeting, Captain Keel informs those
gathered of a conspiracy that has infiltrated the highest ranks of Starfleet.
Shortly after their meeting, and continuing on their route to the planet
Pacifica, the Enterprise detects a debris field, which is revealed to be the
remains of Keel’s ship, the Horatio. Picard confides in Riker about Keel’s
suspicions, and after reviewing some of Data’s research on uncustomary personnel
shuffling in Starfleet, Picard orders the Enterprise to head to Earth. Upon
arriving at Earth, he is greeted by three admirals, including Admiral Quinn. Before
long the crew find themselves battling fellow Starfleet officers who have been
taken over by a race of parasitic-like aliens.
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| Dinner is served |
Score: 8/10 – This episode bears the distinction of
being (thus far) the only episode to be given a “viewer’s discretion advised”
warning. This is due to the amount of violence. The events of this episode
where set up in an episode earlier in the season, “Coming of Age”, in which
Remmick and Quinn investigate Picard, attempting to see if he had been
corrupted by the conspiracy. Things come to a head in this episode and we see
that the conspiracy is due to a group of parasitic aliens that upon entering a
humanoid can take control of the new host. It’s an interesting twist on the
story, and action rules the day. We see lots of shooting, people getting thrown
around, and the infamous exploding head. In fact, there is so much packed into
this episode it almost seems to be too much. I think they could have
strengthened this episode by making it a two-parter, but it is still a fun
episode to watch.
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| The alien parasite |
Relevance – 2 points. Definitely scores a point for
picking up where “Coming of Age” left off. This is the first time that we see a
direct follow up to a previous episode. We also score a point for “Drumhead”,
where it was revealed that Admiral Norah Satie was instrumental in the
uncovering of the conspiracy.
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| Riker disabled by Quinn |
Continuity – 2 points. Story continuity is working
here. As I researched this episode, I did come across a few thoughts that
suggested that there were some inconsistencies, but as I thought about it
myself, there was nothing that was glaringly obvious. An example of this is
that when Worf and Geordi arrive at the admiral’s quarters after Riker calls
for security, Quinn tells them that Riker slipped. Some people took issue with
the fact that it is hard to slip on carpet, but the way I see it is that Quinn
just wanted to get their attention somewhere else so he could surprise them.
Well, he accomplished it. Universe continuity also works. Some have said that
when the Vulcan admiral used the neck pinch on Riker, it should have
immediately disabled him, but the admiral was under the control of the
parasite, and it makes sense that he would not have mastered the neck pinch.
Where I am going to take a point off is for character continuity. In the
previously mentioned scene from Admiral Quinn’s quarters, Riker calls for
security. Sprinting down the hallway come Worf (security chief) and…Geordi? In
all fairness to La Forge, he was not a security officer, and all that ended up
happening was that he was thrown through the door. That really could have been
any security officer, but what is really bothersome to me is that Worf, the
security chief who knows there is something afoot, responds to an emergency by
arriving UNARMED! I am sorry, but I don’t care how much of a hurry Worf was in,
he would have had the sense to have grabbed a phaser. I always found this part
a bit off. Still, we get some great action out of it. We also, sadly, get to
see Worf lose another fight. Oh well.
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| Remmec as the host of the mother creature |
Character Development – 1 point. While the focus on this episode
is Picard, that is about all there is. We learn that to Picard, when it comes
to friendship, he will not always play by the rules. He shows that he trusts
not only his gut instincts, but those of his closest friends. Aside from that,
there is very little that moves along any character development.
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| Picard is not impressed with the main entree |
Social Commentary – 0 points. As much as I enjoyed this
episode, here is where I struggle to find anything to check off this segment.
The old “Don’t trust the establishment” just seems a bit too nutbar-paranoia
for my liking. I really don’t mind that this episode doesn’t give us a lot to
think about with respect to our own society. A good, fun episode does not have
to be a poignant one. It just won’t score you anything here.
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| During the fight with Quinn, Doctor Crusher is the only one smart enough to bring a phaser |
Cool Stuff – 3 points. One point scored for the
parasitic invaders. I liked the fact that you could detect them by the presence
of a gill on the back of the neck. A clever way of identifying who your enemies
are. I am also scoring a point for exploding head. Never has there been such a
gruesome effect in Star Trek, and it still is noteworthy. I am scoring a third
point for a quick “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” picture that Data comes across
when he is researching Starfleet activity. There is a picture of a bird with a
human head that looks a bit like Gene Roddenberry’s. Below it is written “The
Great Bird of the Galaxy”, which is one of the nicknames of the beloved Star
Trek creator. It happens at about the 16-minute mark if you want to see it. I
neat little Easter egg.
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| The Great Bird of the Galaxy |
Rank – Captain (16 points). Personally, I think this is one of those episodes
everybody should see at least once. I have always enjoyed how this episode
deviated from the typical Star Trek flavor. While I am glad that Trek is
generally not like this, a little variety spices things up nicely.
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| Likely the most gruesome scene in Star Trek |
If you would like to read an episode review from any of the Trek series, click the following link to get to the series catalog. If the episode you want reviewed has not been done yet, then feel free to request it in the comments and I will see what I can do.
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| Star Trek's first Bolian |
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