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 | DVD Movie Guide: news reviews columns interviews |
Star Trek The Next Generation—The Complete First Season continued.[Note: This is Part Two of this review. To see Discs One through Four, go here.]Disc Five: Episode 17: When the Bough Breaks Stardate: 41509.1 "It's Aldea, Captain. It has to be!" - Riker The Enterprise encounters the legendary planet Aldea, long rumored to be a civilization of great artists, isolated by a cloaking device and a great planetary shield. A strange beam probes the ship, and seven children are taken, including Wesley. It seems that the Aldeans are all sterile, and they want the Enterprise children to repopulate their world and create the next generation of artists and other hippie commies. Picard has to figure out a way to get them back without angering the Aldeans, who have the power to blast the ship across the galaxy (because they are so advanced and all). Personally, I wonder how they plan to repopulate a world with only seven people... Doesn't that mean a lot of mating with Wesley? Plus, the scan only accepted the "talented" children from the Enterprise. How would it feel to be the parent of a child who wasn't taken? Relief mixed with shame, I'd bet. Too much Wesley, and too many kids in general, make this one a pain to sit through, but at least someone else gets to be condescending to a "primitive" species. Picard needed the rest. Wesley saves the day count: 6. Keep the kids; just give us back our 2.5 comm badges.   Episode 18: Home Soil Stardate: 41463.9 "There was a mind working against me." - Data The Enterprise checks up on a terraforming station, where the researchers are unaware of an indigenous life form that they are killing as they try to transform the planet into something compatible with humans. A sample of the inorganic matter is taken on board the Enterprise after they seem to show intelligence, and soon the beings begin to multiply, becoming more intelligent all the while. They try to communicate, but eventually simply interface with the ship, as they are basically computer-like in structure themselves, and make plans to destroy it and stop the destruction of the planet. This episode was interesting throughout, even if extremely predictable, and the back and forth as the crew tries to regain control of the ship is riveting. Also, the life form calls Picard an "ugly bag of mostly water," which has to be the best line ever on TNG. They may be ugly bags of mostly water, but at least they know a good 4.5 comm badge episode when they see one. Episode 19: Coming of Age Stardate: 41416.2 "Something is wrong on this ship." - Admiral Quinn (Ward Costello) Too much Wesley! This one is a veritable overflowing fountain of Wes as we travel with him to take his Starfleet Academy entrance exams. He's ready for the intelligence portion (as he has proven by SAVING THE DAY! when more experienced officers cannot), but it is the psych test that he fears. Meanwhile, Picard is investigated by a Starfleet Admiral and his lackey who have one goal in mind: finding something wrong on the Enterprise. Each crew member is questioned about past missions, and a fault is discovered in Picard's personal log that may take him out of the captain's chair. This episode was a dud for me, for the most part. The Wesley scenes are ok, but inconsequential, as we know he won't be leaving the show to go to school anytime soon, and the feared psych test is rather anti-climactic (though he does get to save the day again, albeit unofficially), and the investigations on the Enterprise are really just setup for episode 25, Conspiracy. Here Wes comes to save the day, earning 2 comm badges in the process. Episode 20: Heart of Glory Stardate: 41503.7 "YAAAAAARRGH!" - Klingons A Worf-centric episode is never a good thing in my book, and here we have one that is a mixed-bag all around. While exploring a damaged freighter, an Enterprise away team discovers a group of renegade Klingons who have defected from their fellows and wish to return to the traditional Klingon life of battle. They try to get Worf to join them, taunting him for being a Starfleet lapdog. And it seems Worf might be helping them when they escape from custody and attempt to take control of the Enterprise and use it as a weapon of destruction. Really, overall, the basic idea is a good one, but mixing in the Last Temptation of Worf really doesn't work, as he has shown himself to be honorable and loyal to Picard, and it is never in question whether he will betray the Enterprise. But we do get two different, equally unintentionally amusing performances of the Klingon death ritual. A slightly honorable 2.5 comm badges. Disc Six: Episode 21: The Arsenal of Freedom Stardate: 41798.2 "Better living through firepower." - Salesman (Vincent Schiavelli) Geordi is left in charge of the Enterprise when the captain and an away team beam down to a deserted planet that turns out to be booby-trapped with "demonstration models" of war machines built by a long extinct civilization. As the crew on the planet tries to escape the constantly adapting war droids, Geordi is put to the test dealing with a strange, cloaked vessel orbiting the planet, and it seems that the Enterprise might not be there to beam up any survivors anyway. This episode is all action, all the time, which pretty much eliminates the chance for any good character moments, although Picard and a critically-injured Dr. Crusher do share a nice exchange. The little droids are quite menacing, which makes for some good fun, and the whimsical ending is quite effective. Better living through 3.5 comm badges. Episode 22: Symbiosis Stardate: Unknown "Their cargo? What could possibly be so important?" - Picard This episode features a good idea buried under a trite, condescending script. The Enterprise encounters a damaged cargo vessel, and beams off the crew and their cargo. It turn out that the humanoids are from two neighboring worlds: one planet is overrun with a disease, and the other has the cure. The afflicted depend on the other planet for the medicine, and they their patients for food and goods. Hence, symbiosis. But when Beverly examines the supposedly sick patients, she discovers that they aren't ill at all, and that the "medicine" is actually an addictive narcotic. This is all well and good, except it results in a lot of unsubtle speeches about the dangers of addiction (including an infuriating conversation between Yar and Wesley, where the boy "just doesn't understand" taking drugs—gag). It's also plot line number 8002, the one in which Picard can't act because of the Prime Directive, but he does, in the end, prove himself a sneaky little bastard anyway. The guest stars playing the drug addicts are a lot of fun, as they get all sweaty and shake when they are in "withdrawal," then "get high" and close their eyes and moan, like the After School Special version of a drug user. 2.5 comm badges, the first one's free! Episode 23: Skin of Evil Stardate: 41601.3 "You want to know why I killed her? I did it because I wanted to. It amused me." - Armus (Mart McChesney) A monumental moment in the series. Troi is stranded in a shuttlecraft on a mysterious planet, and when the crew beams down to help her, they discover a mysterious life form that seems to be pure evil in liquid black inky form. What would usually be only a fairly interesting encounter with alien life becomes much more when the creature kills Lt. Yar. There are also some great moments where Picard works to outsmart his adversary. The whole thing is capped by Yar's touching farewell on the Holodeck, one of the finest moments of the entire series in terms of strength of writing and emotion. I'm sorry Denise Crosby asked to be written out of the show, as she was always an interesting character, but it's obvious why she did so, as her role in the last few episodes has been limited to saying "Hailing frequencies open, sir." The sad thing is that nothing carries from one episode to another on this show, and by the next episode, it's like Yar never existed. Sigh. A fitting farewell that earns 4.5 comm badges. Episode 24: We'll Always Have Paris Stardate: 71697.9 "It's me!"- Data Picard and Co. investigate the source of an odd time distortion that is affecting the galaxy and discover ailing scientist Dr. Manheim, an old teacher of Picard's. It seems his experiments with timefields malfunctioned, sending his consciousness to an alternate dimension and leaving his body to die in the arms of his wife, Janice, who just happens to be an old flame of Picard's that he left in (you guessed it) Paris when he went away to join Starfleet. The scenes involving the time distortion are fairly disposable techno-babble, but the moments where Picard contemplates his past decisions, pondering what his life would have been like had he actually stayed in Paris with Janice, are quite effective, as is the final scene set on the Holodeck version of a Paris café (where, it seems, everyone speaks English). We'll always have 3 comm badges. Disc Seven: Episode 25: Conspiracy Stardate: 41775.5 "Something is beginning. Don't trust anyone." - Capt. Walker (Jonathan Farewell) The oogiest TNG ever. Building off of the conspiracy hinted at in Coming of Age, Picard is secretly contacted by an old friend in Starfleet who warns him that Starfleet Command has been taken over by some sort of alien force. Picard isn't sure, but he orders the ship back to Earth to investigate, and he and Riker discover just who (or what) is in control of the Federation. Though very entertaining overall, this one feels a bit rushed at the end, and in fact doesn't seem very much like any episode of Trek that has come before. Memorable moments include some truly disgusting, stomach-churning special effects (wanna see a head explode?), and the best fight sequence ever: Riker gets beaten up by an old man. So does Worf. Trust no one except those who agree that this one earns a solid 4 comm badges. Episode 26: The Neutral Zone Stardate: 41986.0 "Her name is Claire Raymond, 35, occupation homemaker. Must be some kind of construction work." - Data A strong close to the season. The main plot revolves around the Enterprise's mission into the Neutral Zone to investigate the destruction of several Federation outposts. The feared enemy? The Romulans, who haven't been seen or heard from in 50 years. Meanwhile, the ship encounters a derelict craft from 20th-century Earth with a strange cargo: the frozen bodies of three humans. When thawed, it turns out that they were cryogenically frozen over 200 years before, and they are understandably confused about 24th-century life. Both plots are very entertaining, even if the subplot does involve a lot of the typical preaching about the "primitive" 20th century. And the final scene with the Romulans promises a lot of menace in the coming seasons (too bad they really didn't fulfill that promise). Listen closely for the first hint of the coming Borg invasion. 5 comm badges decloaking off the starboard bow!
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