Third episode in a row involving heavy, preachy politics. The improvement over the previous seasons was satisfying but the content was getting stale. I wonder if I'm the only one who felt this way.
It's a Beverly episode. I like Dr. Crusher. She's one of my favorite Trek women. She hadn't gotten enough attention at this point and an episode revolving around her was long overdue, for sure. The Enterprise is giving medical supplies to an unaffiliated planet, Rutia IV. They're not part of the Federation but they trade with them. They're in the midst of a burgeoning civil war with their western continent, so I'm not sure why a few of the characters were taking lunch on the planet since shore leaves weren't permitted because of violent protests, but that's where it all begins.
Once again we see Beverly's stubborn personality. These people have doctors of their own but she insists on sticking around to treat the wounded. One of the Ansatan terrorists appears via a stealthy type of transportation method and abducts her.
The improvements allow for so much more to happen in the episode. They don't waste a lot of time on the why's. The Enterprise assumes that Crusher was the intended target. Although they don't know the reason immediately, they can operate without a lot of undo speculations on the kidnappers' motivations. After the obligatory set up of Crusher's introduction and objection to her situation, she proceeds to help the sick people in the Anastan compound because it's in her nature to heal. She also doesn't have figure out the cause of illness - they know it's their special transportation method that is making them sick. It's this kind of streamlining that allows them to weave in a more detailed story and even more of their politics but without the awkwardness that was present throughout much of the first two seasons.
The problem with their politics, as always, is blame America. Trash America. America has no right to help people fight for freedom because our own freedom is a lie of some kind and we'll demonstrate how. America needs to be taken down a notch. It's all very subtle of course. They were actually getting better with that as well! In the first two seasons the Federation was set up in a double role as the utopic ideal as well as a representation of America/humanity that needed to be repeatedly reminded of how inferior it was. In this season they decide to leave it as a utopic third party used as lens to focus in on the evils of America as demonstrated in other alien cultures to one degree or another so that the self loathing doesn't surface as prominently and they always get to be the level headed good guys. The episode is very watchable because even though they try to confuse and smear the line between terrorism and freedom fighting, they also would appear to be showing both sides of the conflict fairly... even though you could see the side they were trying to depict as the most righteous.
They demonstrate that the Rutian government has good reasons for trying to take out this bunch of hoodlums while at the same time trying to teach us that they're equally as hate filled and making it worse by using violence to defend themselves. They give Crusher a brief moment of Stockholm syndrome in order to humanize the terrorists because they can't actually justify their behavior which is dragging the Enterprise into this conflict. (At least not back then. I believe the left sees themselves as the Ansatans in our present time.) I suppose it's a good conversation piece type of episode. It's certainly a start as far as letting other points of view slip through, if only slightly at this point. But the biggest problem with these early "serious" episodes is that it was still a thinly veiled commentary of the left-leaning American political climate. The reason why "The Defector" stood apart for me within these three episodes, is that although it was borrowing from our own world history, it was also useful in helping the Star Trek franchise to set up a political climate of its own that would grow and change according to the circumstances of the fictitious characters, planets, and cultures created therein. These last two one-off episodes were an example of a Star Trek that had not quite taken on a life of its own yet, although it was very close and I suppose this sort of casting about for a cause was necessary for them to find their own identity in the long run. But the growing pains are nearly over.
The use of Wesley was good and bad. Good because he had a stake in the game with the need to rescue his mother and he gets to be a team player instead of just a boy genius that the adults can't keep up with and/or constantly marvel over. Bad because he was just doing the same kind of stuff that Geordi does. He should've been evolving and phasing like the Traveler at this point, but instead we get a compliment of how he'll make a fine Starfleet officer someday. I genuinely liked Wesley's character when it was used properly, but always lamented the wasted potential because the writers weren't thinking that big yet. Anyway, Geordi and Wesley figure out that their special transportation method that is making them sick is also making them traceable. It's a technique that would be used again.
And not a moment too soon either since the intensity has been amplified as the Ansatans get on board the Enterprise and kidnap Captain Picard as well to use as a bargaining chip since they're convinced that the Federation has sided with the Rutian government.
They track them down and the leader of the Rutian military force kills Kyril which would seem to have been unnecessary and then a child from the Ansatan side threatens to kill her. Beverly stops this with just a few words - "No more killing!" - and it makes for an emotionally touching ending. I guess... I mean, I'm not a kid person, so I'm just guessing that most women would have their hearts melted at this. But more importantly they were trying to prove their point that violence isn't the answer for either side. Peace, bro.
All political opinion aside, I like the episode cuz I like Beverly. I like how cool she is under duress and her natural desire to heal even when the people who are sick are an undesirable lot. And I like Beverly and Picard paired even if it was only for a brief period of time. Three and a half stars.
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