Star Trek TNG Genesis

Another silly episode that I liked. That I liked a lot. I don't think it deserved the "Spock's Brain" award for worst episode of the series. The main complaint is that the science fiction wasn't the best but neither is transporter or holodeck science fiction. It also won awards for make up and stuff so I know I'm not the only one that thought it was really creative and not too silly. It was better than Masks. I'd classify it as a "for fun" episode that was very funny though not overdone in my opinion.

It starts out with a busy day in Sickbay. Riker is being treated by Nurse Ogawa for rolling over on a cactus while gallivanting with a lady crew member. Barclay is freaking out over minor symptoms and assuming that he has an incurable disease. Crusher reminds him that he was to come to her before looking through the medical archives, the equivalent of WebMD (lol), but he's sure it's something terrible. She about to clear him altogether when she notices a slight imbalance of certain cells in his body which seems to confirm all of his fears. She orders up a test and goes to greet Data. He enters the scene with his back to the camera and he's carrying something. Beverly asks how her smallest patient is and he turns to reveal that he's holding Spot. Okay, this part is very silly... surely they have a staff veterinarian on the damn ship! But it's sweet. Spot is pregnant and she's nearly due. While Ogawa is checking out spot, Crusher informs Barclay that he has a mild case of Urodelan Flu and he's almost disappointed. She explains that most humans are naturally immune to it but the T cell in his body that would normally fight it is dormant. He perks up a little at the thought of  having bad genes, but she deflates his anxiety again by assuring him that it's just one odd gene and that she'll make up a synthetic T cell to fight off the alien flu. Returning to the cat, Data decides against knowing the gender of the kittens ahead of time since many humans like to be surprised as well and Nurse Ogawa takes the opportunity of that conversation to announce her own pregnancy. So it's just another day on the Enterprise. Later, on the bridge, Worf is testing out a new weapons guidance system that he designed personally. Picard is noticeably bored as Worf begins another round of testing by firing off a torpedo into an asteroid belt. The targeting system is off a little though and only two of the three torpedoes hit their mark. It's detonator isn't working and it's out of range for the phasers. Riker can't resist getting a dig in at Worf on that since the phasers are newly upgraded as well. Picard suggests going after it. Data points out that the Enterprise is too big to take into an asteroid field so Picard decides to pilot a shuttle himself and he wants Data to come with him. Riker objects at first, but he can tell that Picard is restless and just wants to get out for a while.

Their trip to seek and destroy the torpedo could take three days so Data takes a moment to commit Spot into Barclay's care since she's due to give birth any day now. Apparently Barclay is the only person on the ship that Spot gets along with and Barclay is thrilled to help. They talk about whether or not she's picked out a place to give birth yet and speculate on who the father could be. Data plans to run a DNA test. Meanwhile Worf is becoming highly agitated with his weapons guidance system. Riker tries to calm him but he is also feeling claustrophobic around his company. So Riker orders him to take a break since he'd been working for six hours straight. He goes to Ten Forward to have lunch. Troi arrives under the impression that they were to have lunch together while he's pigging out rather grotesquely. She drinks an entire glass of water very quickly, complains about how dry the air seems to be, and orders caviar which Worf finds strange. But she finds his choice of food equally as strange. He broods over the guidance system some more, so she suggests he get some rest. It sounds like a good idea to him so he leaves immediately without finishing their "date." Troi is mystified and continues to drink a lot of water. We cut to Worf trying to get comfortable for a nap but he can't. He takes his bedding to the floor and tears it up to make a nest. Now the audience can see things are getting a little weird. So the random weirdness continues for a couple of scenes, escalating with each one but without hinting at what the problem could be.  In Engineering, Geordi, Riker, and Barclay are discussing the problems with the guidance system and Barclay is bouncing off the wall with energy. He's talking too fast for Riker to keep up and flitting around to the different stations causing Geordi to follow him around to keep up with him. On the bridge, Troi is in command and she's sitting in the captain's chair shivering with cold. She orders the computer to raise the temperature which Worf countermands grouchily. He's aggravated because she's elevated the temperature three times already and it's hot. She hostilely raises it again, but leaves shortly afterwards in need of a bath.

One of the Engineering problems Barclay was tracking leads him and Geordi into the Jeffries Tubes to find a conduit that has been corroded away by some kind of acid. Geordi suspects that it's an organic. Barclay is ready to jump to and run an analysis, but Geordi is wearing down and needs a break so he finally just lets him go. On the bridge Riker is experiencing confusion and memory loss. An ensign informs him that Starfleet is asking when he expects to have the reports ready. Reports over what? He has to be reminded of the weapons systems they are currently testing. He kicks it down the road by telling him to tell them they're not done yet. Meanwhile Troi is getting her bath... fully clothed and still drinking water from a glass on the tub. Worf barges in and she's not happy to see him. But, in another sort of tease to their relationship, he insists that he needed to be near her. She's not interested; she just wants more water. He then attacks, biting her face. Now that's more of what we've come to expect from Klingon mating practices.

They're taken to Sickbay as this set of circumstances is now reaching its peak. Troi keeps begging Beverly for water and she notices that her body temperature has dropped dramatically. As she orders tests, Ogawa reports that other crew members have had complaints about the temperatures. Some of them are feverish while others are freezing like Troi. Beverly concludes it's a virus and goes to check on Worf. She tries to run down the usual symptom check but he's unresponsive. He just stares at her like a dumb animal. I think it's excellent acting on Dorn's part. He really looks like his mind has rescinded to an animal state and he has no recognition of Crusher or any comprehension of what she's saying. The audience can tell something is wrong with Worf. Crusher then notice growths on both sides of his jaw line. She posits that it looks like a venom sack and tells him to open his mouth. When he does, he sprays her with a poison that sends her reeling to the floor in pain and he escapes while everyone is tending to her. Riker holds a meeting to get everyone's reports. Ogawa assures them that Crusher will be fine. Barclay isn't sitting with everyone else but going from person to person in a heightened state of energy explaining that his venom matched the compound that was corroding the conduit. Riker, who is having trouble concentrating, slowly makes the connection that Worf is spraying this stuff all over the ship. Geordi has security trying to track him down but his bio signs are giving them the slip. He asks Riker if they should up the security level, but he doesn't know what to do so he leaves it to Geordi to recommend that they do. As everyone leaves, Riker begins to send a sub space message to Starfleet command, but he can't remember his security code. So we leave the Enterprise on that disturbing note to rejoin Picard and Data in the shuttle craft. It doesn't take them long to realize the Enterprise isn't at the rendezvous coordinates. They also can't hail them. After some searching they find it apparently adrift in space. Although there are life signs, Data can't determine exactly what they are. Picard flies the shuttle in manually and they discover that the ship running on back up and emergency power only. Nobody is flying the ship or attending to any station. It's dark and creepy looking. They have to go to the bridge to access the sensors. On their way they hear animal noises and come upon a large layer of skin that had been shed and cast off. They can't explain it since there are no species on the Enterprise that shed their skins. They also find that Counselor Troi's door is covered in condensation and decide to have a look inside. Her quarters are drenched in dripping water due to the environmental controls being so drastically altered. They find her underwater in her tub. When Picard pulls her out she begins gasping and looking around with no real comprehension as well. Her eyes have changed and she's grown scales. Data determines that her DNA is in flux and that she's no longer technically human but amphibian. They notice the bite on her cheek and discover that it has Klingon DNA. They let her dive back into the tub puzzling over what it all means and intending to run a complete scan of Troi.

They get to the bridge to find an ensign dead from an animal attack. Although he isn't transformed into an animal himself, Data determines that he was in the process of transforming as well. He finds that the Enterprise is now entirely peopled with the strange life forms whose DNA is in a state of flux like Troi's, mostly in the Arboretum and the Aquatic Lab. He also regains some control of the ship but there's too much damage to get the main power back. They hear a thumping from Picard's ready room. They enter to see Riker hunched up and pawing at the fish tank. I love this scene. For reasons I can't explain I loved it that they turned Riker into an ape. I laughed and laughed. With the tricorder up, Data explains to Picard that his brain is smaller and he can't comprehend language. They end up having to stun him. So they finally set up in Sickbay to get some answers. Data explains that a synthetic T Cell has invaded everyone's genes and activated dormant codes that are holdovers of the evolution process. Everyone and everything on the ship is de-evolving to an earlier form of life in the evolutionary chain. He also informs Picard that he is infected too and has about 12 hours before he turns into an early primate of some kind. They need to start working on a solution, but there's a lot of damage so Data suggests using his personal computer in his quarters since it operates independently. When they get to his room they find a litter of kittens behind the couch that Spot had picked to have them. They're alone and hungry but they notice an iguana with Spot's collar around its neck and conclude that Spot was affected as well. They also remember that a mother's body has several natural immune systems that protect the fetuses from viruses in the womb and that this is why the kittens are normal. Hey, the evolutionary science may be junk, but this is proven science, so point for creativity. Data confirms that an inoculation could be created from the amniotic fluid of a pregnant human female, making Ogawa's timely pregnancy very convenient indeed. But a plasma vent has failed so they have to go to Engineering first to fix the problem. The area is covered in cob webs. Data goes to check on the warp core while Picard looks through the glass. Without warning a uniformed person throws himself at the glass. He only has part of his face covered with several eyes. Picard cries out to Data who informs him that it's Barclay who is changing into an arachnid. Picard is more concerned about his own reaction and Data tells him that this new skittish and fearful nature is a component of his own transformation to come. Back in Sickbay Data announces that he can make a retrovirus compound out of the amniotic fluid in Ogawa (who is also an ape of some kind now.) It won't take long, but before he can get started there's a terrible banging at the door of a large creature that's trying to get in. Data reads the life signs as Klingon. They prepare to stun him, but wonder why he's so determined to get into Sickbay since there are other people scattered throughout the ship that would be easier for him to attack and eat. Noting that his bite on Troi wasn't meant to cause real harm, Picard suggests that perhaps Worf sees her as his mate. Data concurs. Together they decide to make a scent spray incorporating Troi's pheromones to lead him away from Sickbay. Data first offers to be the distraction, but Picard insists that he stay there to make the inoculation and takes off with the spray.

Picard begins to sneak through the darkened corridors spraying the scent into the air. He's suffering from the onset of paranoia, but his senses remain in tact. An armored beast follows him. Picard goes to a turbo lift and requests another deck, but it doesn't respond. Suddenly the there's a pounding at the turbo lift door as Worf is trying to break into it now. So, Picard escapes through the roof hatch. While he's on the run, Data is ready to test his inoculate on Nurse Ogawa and tracks the process of the DNA transformation. Picard has worked his way into the Jeffries Tubes. Worf appears on grating above him and sprays him with venom causing him to drop his phaser. While the inoculate is working successfully on Nurse Ogawa, Picard has gotten himself lodged into a dead end with Worf in pursuit. Without a weapon, he improvises by insulating him self on a panel cover and breaking off a live wire to electrocute Worf. It knocks him out but doesn't kill him. At that point Data calls to him over the com to announce that the retro virus works and that he'll spread it in a gaseous form throughout the ship but that it'll take some time to take effect. Picard green lights it and sits curled up watching an unconscious Worf and hoping that by the time he wakes up he'll be back to normal.

It ends with Beverly assuring Barclay that he's not to blame for what happened but she is. Her synthetic T cells she used to fight his flu ended up activating not one dormant gene, but all of them including the evolutionary holdovers. She also points out to him that this is an entirely new disease and that new diseases are usually named after their first diagnosed patient and decides to call this Barclay's Protomorphosis Syndrome. He doesn't know whether to be flattered or insulted but thanks her and leaves in a confused state. Deanna decides to clear some time on her calendar for the therapy that she knows will ensue from him being transformed into a spider and having a disease named after him.

So this episode was just fun. It was even smart at times with the antivirus being created from amniotic fluid. And there were several moments when it was genuinely intense with Worf's devolution and the hunt as Picard lured him away from Sickbay. Spot turning into a lizard is a moment that pushes the limits of silliness; it's almost too much. But really the rest of the show is fairly well balanced and has a good flow for what it is. It's an original idea for a ship wide disease instead of another rehash of The Naked Time, which I appreciate. It was Gate's McFadden's directorial debut and due to the '94 earthquake hindering production she didn't get to make her own final cut of it, so there's a lot to consider. Including the amazing makeup jobs and sound effects. So, this may be considered a dud, but I unashamedly liked it. Four stars.