This is an example of a series finale done right. It draws from the history of the show to bring closure to the characters while imagining a future that is tainted with sadness, but with the reassurance that it isn't set in stone. It brought a touch of class to the first season and validated its part in the growth of the show. It also facilitates continuing plot lines in DS9 and the three TNG movies, building the strong foundation that enabled the Star Trek franchise to continue through the 1990's and early millennium. All three of the other series used characters from this series in different capacities; they couldn't have done it without this show. It's one of the most perfect episodes constructed for the series because there was a sadness that the series had to end, but it was an ending that was left opened to all the new possibilities.
It opens with Worf and Troi returning from an exhilarating walk by the Black Sea in the holodeck. After being teased several times, their friendship is about to change into a romantic relationship in earnest now. Worf finally calls attention to how much time they've been spending together after Troi begins to plan their next date. True to form, he wants to discuss Riker's feelings, hinting at an earlier script that indicates that Worf would want to ask Riker's permission to court Troi. Troi isn't interested in such formalities but is ready to proceed with their romance. However, before they can seal it with a kiss, Picard comes barging out into the corridor in his night robe looking confused and a little frightened. Unaware that he's interrupted their special moment, he asks for the star date. They tell him and then ask what's wrong since he's so obviously disturbed. He tells them that he thinks he's moving back and forth in time. So, Troi must make time to talk to him in her quarters. He describes the sensations of being in the past and talking to someone but he can't remember who and then being transported into the future in the outdoors somewhere. The movement between three periods of his life is borrowed from Slaughterhouse Five, continuing Star Trek's tradition of paying homage to other works of science/literary fiction. It's all very vague to him though. Troi suggest that it could be a dream, but Picard assures her that the sights and smells were all too real. As he's describing the disorientation he experiences before he feels like it's perfectly normal for him to be in each time, he's cut off mid-sentence. We then see him in a vineyard. He's an old man now. He does indeed look disoriented for a moment and then begins to tie off grape vines as though nothing unusual had happened. From down the field a little ways, Geordi calls out to him. He no longer has his VISOR, but ocular implants that are similar to the improved design created for the TNG movie First Contact. While Geordi is choosing what title to address Picard by in a joking fashion, we learn that he is retired after having been at least an ambassador since his command stint on the Enterprise twenty-five years prior. Geordi has aged too. They talk family mentioning Geordi's wife, Leah. (Brahms? They left it to the imagination which was very cool.) But Geordi lives far away from Earth now and Picard suspects that the reason he just dropped in for a visit out of nowhere after nine years was because he'd heard that his old captain had been diagnosed with Irumodic Syndrome, a kind of 24th century version of Alzheimer's. This keeps with the continuity of his claim that his grandfather's mental health deteriorated in the episode Night Terrors; excellent writing. But Picard points out that it takes years for the disease to run its course which lightens the mood. As they walk down the field, Picard briefly begins to critique Geordi's new book when he's distracted by voices. Looking out across the vineyard he sees some dirty, peasant type people jeering at him. The scene doesn't last long. Just long enough for those scraggly people to seem familiar to the audience.
Before Picard has time to react he is abruptly in a shuttle with Tasha Yar. She's asking him if he's ever been on a Galaxy Class starship before and notices his disorientation. He claims his mind wandered and reports that he'd not been on one before. He continues to stare at her as she hints at what a treat he's in for with this new class of ship as they approach the Enterprise in the docking bay. She notices his strange behavior, but he only says that she looks familiar to him. Suddenly, Troi is calling him back to his senses in her quarters where we'd left them moments ago. To her great concern he tells her that he'd just been with Tasha Yar in a shuttle. In sick bay, Crusher beings to give negative reports on all of the many scans she's run to see if he'd been abducted or transported through time. They joke about him liking to cause trouble, but then Beverly dismisses Troi to tell Picard privately that she checked for Irumodic Syndrome as he suggested. She discovered a minuscule defect on his brain that wouldn't show up in normal scans. It can lead to many neurological disorders including Irumodic Syndrome and although she assures him the defect also may not lead to anything at all, she's worried. Riker and Worf give their reports that nothing unusual has happened around them to cause the captain's movement through time and Picard is called away to speak to an admiral. The admiral reports inordinate aggression from the Romulans. They're sending a lot of Warbirds to edge of the Neutral Zone to have a look at the Devron system because of a spatial anomaly that has formed there. He orders Picard to park the Enterprise just outside of the Neutral Zone since he doesn't have permission to cross it yet. He's then thrown back to the vineyard in the future. This time he's able to retain a little more of what has happened before it starts to fade away. He tries to tell Geordi that he'd just been in the past, but has trouble describing it precisely. Geordi suggests a doctor, but Picard vehemently defends himself as not having succumbed to the Iromodic Syndrome yet. He requests to see Data which puzzles Geordi, but he takes him where he wants to go. Data holds Isaac Newton's position at Cambridge on Earth and stays at the traditional residence for his job. He has added a rather lopsided streak of gray to his hair, can use emotions now, and is tended to by a fussy woman who thinks his gray streak is appalling. Picard describes being in the past to Data. His first inquiry is into his health and what medication he's on for the Irumodic Syndrome. Picard is frustrated at the assumptions, but since Data can see nothing that disproves Picard's story either he offers to run tests of his own to get to the bottom of it. He's grateful as he's thrust aboard the past Enterprise again to formally take command of it for its maiden voyage. His disorientation is almost nonexistently brief as he picks up a PADD to read the orders that charge him with command of the ship. Signed by Admiral Nora Satie - another nod to past scripts; The Drumhead in this case. As he's trying to read out his orders he sees more of the rabble crowd from the vineyards in the upper level of the shuttle bay they're congregated in. They disappear but reappear again as he continues with the ceremony, greeting his new crew. Alarmed, he calls for red alert and sends everyone to their battle stations. Everyone is confused, but they quickly hop to.
He is now completely lucid in this past and makes a note in his personal log that he won't tell the past crew about his time shifting to prevent any damage to the time line. When the officers report to the bridge he asks them peculiar questions about anomalies in space or aboard the Enterprise. About alien presences of superior intelligence which the audience knows is a reference to Q. But there's nothing so far. He mistakenly orders Worf to go to a level 2 security alert which prompts Tasha to remind him that she's the security chief. This was a really smooth way of explaining her presence to new viewers that might not know her history. O'Brien brings a report of several vessels headed towards the Devron system in the Neutral Zone and that their mission to Farpoint Station has been postponed so that they can proceed there as well to investigate an anomaly. It's a big deal and they're all surprised when he orders them to proceed to Farpoint. He also seems to intuitively know what kind of engine troubles they're having and offers his own help to Chief O'Brien to get them fixed which mystifies them even further. There was no chief engineer in the first season, so they explain that he hadn't transferred aboard yet. It gives O'Brien more of a part than he had in the pilot episode and gives a chance to show Picard having complete faith and trust in people that think they haven't met him yet. In Engineering we're introduced to past-Data who is fascinated with figures of speech as he was in the early seasons of the show. But what was a little overdone in the early years is now looked warmly upon by Picard (and the audience) who has watched Data grow out of his initial wonder and curiosity of humanity into as good of a human as an android can be. As they're working on the engines, he's shifted into the present in Sickbay again. The memories of his time shifts are staying put in this time as well. He calls the staff together to ask them if they remember anything unusual about their first voyage to Farpoint, specifically if they remember being ordered by Starfleet to the Devron system. They don't remember that happening, but only remember the events as they happened in the first episode. Now they can be relieved to know that what happens in the past doesn't affect the present, but also the fact that the anomaly in the Devron system is present in the past can't be a coincidence. There's not much they can do at this point except speculate about how it's connected to his time shifting and sure up the Enterprise for battle if there's going to be trouble. After they're dismissed Riker asks Troi to dinner, but she tells him that she has plans with Worf in a way that subtly indicates that they are seeing each other as more than friends. Riker accepts the rejection but he's obviously disappointed and the moment is awkward for he and Worf. On the other hand, Beverly takes a moment alone with Picard to discuss the future again. Her feelings for him have been eluded to but never acted upon and she's clearly upset about the thought of losing him to a dreadful disease in the future. So she takes the initiative to make the next 25 years count and kisses him. They're interrupted by a shift to the future where Picard asks Geordi and Data if they've arrived at the Devron system yet. This only alarms Geordi who still thinks Picard's mind is starting to degenerate and he reminds him that they're going to run tests on him. But Picard insists that they must get to the Devron system in the Neutral Zone. It all looks very bad for him as Geordi brings him up to speed on the fact that there is no Neutral Zone anymore since the Klingons took over the Romulan Empire and they've become hostile to the Federation as well, closing the borders to Federation ships. Picard does remember all of this though and decides to call in old favors to get a ship so they can go to the Devron system. He contacts Admiral Riker first. Riker is impatient with Picard and tells him that he'll have the ship they've got by the border run some scans. But he declines his request for a ship and unceremoniously ends their call without so much as a goodbye. Now that his mind has caught up with the time he's in though, Picard now remembers that a plague has broken out on Romulus and suggests getting a medical ship to take them into the Devron system. He arranges to get on board the Pasteur captained by Beverly... Beverly Picard. There's an awkward moment when they don't know whether to shake hands or hug, but it's clear that they've remained close friends since their divorce. They discuss a way to get across the Klingon border via their connection with Worf and set about to track him down. After Beverly, Geordi, and Data shuffle the old man off to his quarters they privately agree that they doubt he's actually moving through time and that his mind is deteriorating. But their older loyalties to their former captain are enough to spur them into giving him one last adventure if he wants it.
Picard, in the turbolift of the Pasteur headed to his quarters, steps out onto the bridge of the past Enterprise and immediately asks for a report of anything unusual from Farpoint Station which they are approaching. There's nothing unusual at all. Frustrated, he says aloud that the time is right and that "he" should be here now. The crew is baffled as he starts shouting for Q, telling him to stop his nonsense (as we've all become so familiar with), and asking Troi if she senses an alien presence. The crew stare at him not knowing what to say, wondering what a "Q" is. He orders that they hold the position and goes to his ready room. But instead of his ready room, he walks into the 22nd century courtroom Q had set up for them in the pilot episode complete with the angry, peasant crowd jeering at him. So if the audience was wondering why they looked familiar, this brings it all into focus. This time however, Picard is in his present day uniform as Q emerges from the wall in his judging seat. There's no need to pretend they're meeting for the first time. Q remarks at how long it took Picard to get "here." However when he inquires as to what's going on, Q indicates that the trial of humanity is happening. Picard was under the impression that they'd proven themselves worthy by Q's standards and doesn't understand why he's been brought there again. Q toys with him and begins a game to answer any ten questions he might have that call for a "yes" or "no" answer. Picard starts to narrow things down with his questions. The Romulans aren't trying to start a war. Mankind is not on trial again but there's a connection to the events now and the trial from seven years ago. The anomaly has a lot to do with what is going on but Q didn't create the anomaly. Q is enjoying himself as always as he taunts Picard with his affirmations and denials. But when Picard asks him if he is responsible for his shifting through time, he becomes serious and whispers confidentially to him that he is. Picard accidentally stops the game by asking him "Why?" instead of another yes-no question. Q informs him that the trial from seven years ago never ended, that they've been found guilty of being inferior and that it's time to put an end to their trek through the stars. Picard rather naively asks if they're to be denied space travel, but Q explains that they are to be denied existence. Picard states that he doesn't believe that Q would do such a thing but Q points out that he won't be the one that destroys humanity - Picard will. He cryptically tells him that he's doing it right now; that he's done it before and he'll do it again. This piques Picard's temper so Q backs away adjourning the court with his usual acerbic attitude. Picard leaves his ready room to the present day bridge of the Enterprise and orders Riker to assemble the senior staff and go to red alert, saying that the problem is bigger than he thought.
So, as a long two-hour episode, the first part is a lot of dialogue without as much action. But it's meaningful conversation which helps set the table for the climax along with the slow and deliberate introduction of the other two timelines that will play a significant role. Like the pilot episode, Encounter At Farpoint, the story is a simple one so a lot of time can be devoted to the characters, in this case developing a possible future for them and bringing a sense of closure to this chapter of the franchise. It's slow, but it's also very busy with Picard's time shifting to shape the episode which is an example of how the writing had improved over the years. It appears to have flaws. If I remember the episode Hide and Q right, the Q Continuum snatched Q away for punishment not only for his toying with Riker but for his hubris for putting humanity on trial to begin with. But as you'll see in the next part, his reprisal of the trial isn't technically a goof. Q's cryptic warning at the end gives an obvious hint as to what's coming but it doesn't give too much away either. Overall, the first part does its job of pulling at the hearts of the audience by going full circle with the pilot episode, bringing back memories to reinforce how much its changed for the better, and establishing a dire threat that has everyone holding their breath to see if the end will be "the end" for everyone. There's nothing to not love about it. Five Stars.
Continuing on a theme from yesterday regarding the dance numbers in old musicals. They're great to watch when not spliced up to Uptown Funk as well. I'll start with a Mojo list and then add five of my own favorites that didn't make the cut.
This is actually a pretty good list. I liked it more than I thought I would although I'm a little surprise that the finale of Dirty Dancing didn't get the number one spot. But in effort to include musicals from all decades, it ended up leaving out some of my personal favorites. Not all of them are old, mind you.
But a few are. This scene from White Christmas is one of my favorite romantic dance moments and I think it's better than a couple in the Mojo list. There was actually a lot of great dancing in White Christmas. Vera Ellen was the "professional dancer" of the group and although Danny Kaye was talented enough to keep up, they took the opportunity of putting her range on display during scenes where their acting company were having rehearsals and they'd pair her with another professional male dancer for a couple of brief numbers. But they weren't relevant to the plot so they wouldn't be put on a list like this.
Shall We Dance from The King And I. Just a polka perhaps, but you can cut the tension with a knife and it deserves to be noted as one of my personal favorites. I suppose they didn't want to make it exclusively one-on-one dances either and I totally get that.
This one is a major choreographic undertaking with a couple of one-on-one moments for the leading characters. It makes full use of the set with amazing wide shots of perfect rhythm and a variety of dance styles. I'm a little surprised this one wasn't on the Mojo list because it was a very well constructed dance sequence. And it's humorous as well. It's certainly equal to the chimney sweeps of Mary Poppins which I also loved.
*Warning - naked butts in this sequence if it offends you. Like I said, they're not all from the "old" musicals and this is an exclusively group dance to add variety to my own list. You may not expect a choice like this, but I loved this movie too and there's a lot of talent on display especially during the Aggie U victory celebration. You can't help but be impressed at how precise the choreography is while also looking completely random at the same time so that it continues to appear manly. I haven't seen West Side Story, but as far as more modern musicals go, I think this is stiff competition for other "manly" dance routines.
Finally the scene from Annie when she's first taken to the Warbucks mansion. It's group dance divided into segments of song. The dances of the butlers and maids are unique and make use of props as well. It's another big, sweeping number that builds and builds like Marion the Librarian. It's one of my all time favorites.
I can't remember if I've posted this on here before, but I know it's been going around on Facebook for a while. It never gets old for me. I love musicals and when I saw this compilation it's actually the first time I ever heard Uptown Funk, so I'll always love that too just because of this video.
Posting may be spotty this week. I have to practice my trumpet for church in a couple of weeks. Have a great day!
Penultimate episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In this we see the sad but not unexpected end for the character of Ro Laren who had been crucial in the early development of the Bajoran race which came to prominence in DS9. This is another episode that they could've devoted a little more time to as with the ending of the Wesely character. But it's a strong episode to have before the finale because it's not as flaky as some of the others in this season.
It begins with the Enterprise heading for a briefing on a situation in the DMZ. They also welcome back Ro, now promoted to Lieutenant. They throw a party for her in Ten Forward. She's more humble than when she was there last and uncomfortable that they'd gone to the trouble for her. She's also overwhelmed by the way they pile on her with small talk about her training and where her quarters are and what she's planning to do now. Picard slips out in the background and calls her to the bridge. When she leaves, she finds him standing there in the corridor waiting for her. He could see how suffocated she was feeling at the party and only called her away to give her a little breathing room. He congratulates her on graduating from her Advanced Tactical Training which we are to presume is a kind of special ops schooling for the most elite officers. She was able to do it on his recommendation and she thanks him for it. She knows her life is in a very good place now and she's sincerely grateful as he walks her up to the bridge and has her take over at the navigation while they find out what's going on in the DMZ. They have to attend to a Cardassian ship in distress. It's being attacked by Federation vessels, but they are not commanded by Starfleet personnel. When they zoom in on them they discover that they are the Maquis. They hail them to warn them that they're breaking the treaty with the Cardassians and that they are to stop their attack or the Enterprise will be force to engage them. They don't answer and nobody is happy about having to fire on Federation citizens to protect the Cardassians. When they get close enough, Picard suggest firing a spread of torpedoes between the attacking ships and the Cardassian vessel. It works as the Maquis are scared away. They bring the wounded Cardassians aboard to tend them. Gel Evek makes another appearance and he's naturally on his high horse about being attacked by Federation ships. All Picard can do is assure him that they were not provided to them by the Federation and when Evek pushes further, he points out that Federation ships have been subject to similar attacks from Cardassian radicals. Evek leaves with a threat to deal with the Maquis himself. Later, Admiral Nechayev comes back to talk to Picard about the situation. It's established here that the Federation people who ended up in Cardassian territory due to the new treaty in the Demilitarized Zone were being run off from their homes as in Journey's End. Instead of just defending themselves they've now organized into the Maquis. But she's more sympathetic this time since she also knows that the Cardassians have been arming its colonies in the DMZ. She feels that putting someone in under cover with the Maquis will help to stop them. The person she has in mind to infiltrate their organization is Lt. Ro. She's not even unpacked when Picard tells her of her new assignment. He explains that she was picked because of her new special training and because of her spotty record in the past that would lend credibility to the part she must play. She's uneasy at the thought of helping Cardassians but accepts the mission just to justify his faith in her. And she means it.
On another day, Ro enters an alien bar with a mixed crowd and chooses a table in a darkened corner. Worf and Data enter, Worf looking menacing. Ro hides from them by grabbing the man next to her and kissing him passionately. Worf asks the bartender if he's seen a Bajoran woman with dark hair who is wanted for killing a Cardassian officer. He also threatens to shut the place down if they don't cooperate. The bartender tells them she just left and they grudgingly leave. Ro pushes the man she's kissing away and goes to the bar to thank the bartender for covering for her. He wants to know if she really killed the Cardassian. She only hints that she might have wondering why he would lie to protect her. He tells her that there are people in the "Zone" that would appreciate more Cardassians being killed. She flippantly expresses a desire to meet them and the bartender stuns her. When she wakes up she's surrounded by three humans, a woman called Kalita, a younger man called Santos, and an older man called Macias. The old man is friendly but the other two badger her with questions about her past, learning about how she'd watched her father tortured to death by Cardassians, her court martial, and the enhanced version of how she ended up on this planet wanted by Starfleet. She asks them if they're part of the Maquis and expresses great interest in joining them. Kalita and Santos leave to check on her story while Macias gives her a tour of their current base of operations. He tells his own story of abuse at the hands of the Cardassians when his home fell into their territory and they end up bonding over a Bajoran dish that Ro's father used to make. Kalita returns to confirm that her story checks out but Macias claims he never doubted it.
As she stays with them, she learns that they've heard rumors that the Cardassians are arming their people with biological weapons. They want to make a preemptive strike on them to prevent this, but their medical supplies are running low. Ro jumps in and offers to steal medical supplies from the Enterprise. This scene in particular is why I think more time should've been spent on this story, perhaps breaking it into two episodes. Obviously time has passed and when she lures the Enterprise into a solar system that has heavy magnetic interference from an unstable star, the Captain's log even mentions that they haven't heard from her in weeks. And even though Kalita is skeptical the entire time it's still so condensed that it seems like she's earned their trust way too quickly. But, it helps that Macias has a fatherly adoration of her. He talks Kalita into going with her plan. They send out a distress signal and the only ship available is the Enterprise. There's so much magnetic interference in the system that they can't see Ro's ship. Ro maneuvers between the nacelles, penetrates their shields and transports out a lot of medical supplies. All of this is a showcase of her Advanced Tactical Training. The Enterprise does detect her, but Picard suggests that they allow her to get away with this theft to preserve her cover. They fire on a place that the ship had been before it leaves so that it seems convincing and finally Kalita is won over with Ro's incredible skills. They celebrate their little excursion later with Macias again mentioning that he's always known in his heart that she's one of them. The Captain's log breaks in again to tells us that Ro now has a ship and the freedom to move on her own, so she comes back to report on her progress. She tells him that they're worried about biological weapons. Picard thinks it's unlikely but decides that they should use a fake report of this nature to give the Maquis such a large target that they'll send as many ships as possible to attack it while the Federation waits in the shadows of a nebula to trap them. Ro is now noticeably disturbed at being asked to carry the false information and arrange the sting. Picard isn't happy that she seems unwilling but gives her the opportunity to let him know if she's got a problem with it. She notes that even if she does, it won't stop her from doing her duty. His attitude is stern and she genuinely doesn't want to disappoint him. She does a very good job of portraying the growing divide of her loyalty between Picard and people that are being bullied by Cardassians. She feeds them the false intelligence of a Cardassian convoy carrying legal medical supplies which, when combined, would create toxic weapons. They react with the desire to launch a large attack, but have to discuss it with other leaders first. Meanwhile Macias and Ro walk about the compound. She looks increasingly on him as a father figure since his interests parallel her father's so closely. She confides in him memories of her father and he talks joyously of the celebration they'll have when they finally teach the Cardassians that they can't drive them off their lands. At that point three disguised Cardassians enter and begin firing on people in the street. Macias is killed stating that when an old fighter dies, another steps up to take his place. Ro is devastated.
Ro next meets with Picard under cover at the alien bar under the pretense that she's soliciting him. She insists that the mission be aborted claiming that they didn't go for the bait. Picard doesn't believe her since the intelligence he's received indicates that the Maquis are anxious to expand their attacks. It's the only time when we hear her addressed correctly by her first name when he asks her what's going on. It's important since it's a distinguishing feature of the Bajoran race that would be carried on in DS9 and it's one of my favorite creative components, borrowing from east Asian culture in putting the family name first. She confesses that she's having second thoughts even though she truly doesn't want to let him down. He's not very patient with her though. Between the lines you can see instead of appreciating the fact that she still admires him so, he's more appalled that she could be on the verge of ruining the plan after all of the strings he'd pulled to help her career to take off. To me it's another display of the story being moved along too fast because it's uncharacteristic of Picard to be so worried about his image that he doesn't even notice the feelings of a crew member. He rather coldly reminds her of the kind of trouble she could get into for lying to him or if she should choose to sabotage the mission. He also decides to send Riker in undercover as one of her family members to keep an eye on her. (Yet, another thing that happens all too quickly as far as them trusting another new person in their ranks.) Riker pilots Ro's ship with her. The plan is to lead them over the border into the Federation trap while they slip off into a nebula to hide. The Cardassian convoy sees them and with only 30 seconds to go Ro suddenly sets off a particle beam into the nebula which will allow the rest of the Maquis ships to detect the Federation ships lying in wait. She holds Riker at phaser point to tell him that she feels like she belongs with the Maquis in a way she never felt like she belonged in Starfleet. They drift towards the Enterprise and Picard is prepared to take her into custody when she gets on board. But she arranges to have Kalita beam her over to one of their ships before leaving Riker to return on hers. She asks him to tell Captain Picard that she's sorry. He can tell she genuinely is and although Riker's let down as well he wishes her well before she's transported away.
Later Riker, still surgically altered to appear Bajoran, submits his report to Picard. He tells him that she seemed sure that she was doing the right thing but that she truly regretted letting him down. It ends with Picard fuming silently over her betrayal.
So they send off the character of Ro by releasing her back to the troubled waters they'd found her in. Like I said, sad but not unexpected since Ro was always
rebellious and untameable. It's a fitting end for her and a good episode, just
too quickly executed. Really, they could have combined it with Wesley's
end and made a fabulous two part episode or even three part arc that would've aided in giving Wesley a better send off. So other than pacing, I have no problems with it. It was another good connection to DS9 which only helped it to flourish even more.
They were also trying to set the groundwork for Voyager. When Ro first talks about the Maquis to Picard, she mentions that one of her tactical trainers deserted Starfleet to join them. This was supposed to be a reference to Chakotay which I think was later torpedoed in Voyager on a technicality of the date. But they'd originally wanted Michelle Forbes to reprise Ro as a main character on Voyager as a part of Chakotay's Maquis crew. It may have made the show more interesting, but she wouldn't commit so Torres was created to fill that spot. That and the fact that they couldn't work in Nick Locarno from First Duty (TNG) was just a string of bad luck for for that series that caused the weak birth of Voyager as opposed to the strong commencement of DS9.
Anyway, it's an excellent next-to-last episode for the series. Four stars. It may have been four and a half, but they blew through it just a little too fast for my taste.
Final holodeck episode of the series. It's another for-fun episode and more stretching of the imagination for Star Trek but it's also another demonstration of concept recycling. It's kind of like the episode Quality Of Life with the exocomps only on a larger scale.
It begins on holodeck with Picard observing Data as he enacts a portion of The Tempest, playing Prospero. It's too dark to see anything and Picard calls Data's attention to it. Realizing he had designed the set too literally, he increases the light and they begin to parse the character of Prospero and what his character signifies in Shakespeare's work. They're interrupted by a train headed towards them. At first Picard is only confused and asks if it's part of the program. Then Data realizes that it's not going to stop and pushes the captain out of the way. He's scratched up a little, which is alarming since it indicates the safeties are off, but he's more interested in finding out what that was all about than his scrape. Data checks the holodeck and determines that the train is from Crusher's Orient Express program. A glitch had linked the two programs together. He has Data shut all the holodecks down to be safe until it's fixed. He then goes to Sick Bay to get his scrape healed up and Beverly eagerly tells him about the historical significance of the Orient Express. She encourages him to take a ride on it sometime to meet fascinating people. He's only moderately interested and goes to the bridge at Riker's bidding to continue with a routine survey. Without warning the Enterprise jumps into warp speed. They appear to be on a random heading and they can't get control of the engines or the override controls. Geordi offers to do an emergency core shut down which will leave them without warp power for a week. It's inconvenient but they don't seem to have a choice so Picard okay's it. When the ship comes to a stop he compliment's Geordi's efficiency, but Geordi admits that the ship stopped on its own since he didn't have time to complete the shutdown. Later they discover another mystery on top of the this first one. If the ship hadn't warped away when it did, the warp core would've been ruptured by a distortion that had been building up around them. It was a distortion that the sensors weren't designed to detect, and the rupture would've destroyed the Enterprise. So Data and Geordi set off to investigate and as they're crawling through a Jeffries Tube puzzling over whether the warp jump was luck or not they open a panel and discover strange, brightly lit complication inside. It's a new kind of circuit node that is attached to the sensors and several other systems on the ship. They try to take it out of the panel but it generates a forcefield.
They discover that the nodes are responsible for the warp jump that saved the Enterprise from destruction. That was a good thing, but the nodes are spreading throughout the ship, protecting themselves with forcefields, and making it harder for them to control the systems. The connections all intersect at holodeck 3 so they decide to go down there to see if they can disable the nodes permanently. When they get there, they discover that a program is running in spite of the fact that the holodecks had been disabled. When they enter they discover at least seven different programs running at the same time. A strange assortment of people are riding on Crusher's Orient Express including a knight in plate armor cutting paper dolls, a farmer, and several gangster era people putting a puzzle together with a picture on it that resembles the nodes. A conductor comes through asking for everyone's tickets and they listen as they talk about their destination, Vertiform City. Data locates a large concentration of nodes behind a wall and they begin to depolarize the holodeck grid. At that point the conductor asks them for their tickets. He's aggressive when they don't have any and asks them to leave. An engineer comes out and tries to tell them that the strange people are only trying to help but he's shot by a gangster who claims that he's driving the train. At the same time a panel explodes at Geordi, overloading the navigation. On the holodeck, the conductor pulls a cord which causes the train to lurch and the Enterprise to jump to warp again. Data notices the train has changed directions and the conductor confirms that they're on the right track now. The gangster retrieves a gold brick from the dead engineer while they both urge Riker and Data to leave in a threatening manner. The safeties are off so they comply.
In the observation lounge they discuss how the nodes have taken control of most systems and that the ship is being controlled from the holodeck citing the evidence of the direction change corresponding to the warp jump. But it's more complex. The nodes resemble the make up of Data's positronic brain and are forming a rudimentary neural net on the Enterprise. Data explains that the ship is developing an intelligence describing it as an emergent property like consciousness - more than the sum of its parts. The sensors are the eyes, it talks with the communications system, etc. The holodeck is a processing center like the mind or the imagination as Troi likens it to and she volunteers to go in to see if she can find out what this new intelligence wants. Since there appears to be a new life form at stake, the priority now is to regain control of the ship without damaging the nodes. Data goes back with Worf and Troi. He asks them to distract the passengers while he works and they watch as the puzzle continues to form the picture of the nodes though nobody can say what exactly it's supposed to be. Pictures of the nodes also appear on playing cards. Troi is curious about the gold brick but the gangster tells her to keep away from it insisting that it's valuable and that he has to get it to Keystone City. When Data starts to make progress the conductor walks through again announcing that the next stop is Keystone City and once again ushering them off the train due to lack of tickets. The gangster takes the brick and gets off the train. They avoid more pressure from the conductor to leave since Troi wants to follow him off the train anyway to find out what's so important about Keystone City. They exit to an empty New York City street. I can't help but like this set. It has a touch of the cheesiness that I associate with TOS, but not overdone. It gives it a nostalgic feel. Data with tricorder out approaches a manhole that he can access the power grid from while Troi takes off after the gangster. Worf follows her. When Data attempts to start working on the grid a taxi appears around the corner and tries to run him down. Meanwhile Troi and Worf follow the gangster to a building that's still under construction. There is a brick wall with one brick missing from the center. The gangster places the gold brick in and it glows momentarily before blending in with the rest of the wall. His only explanation is that he's laying the foundation before he returns to the train. The laying of the brick causes activity in the cargo bay and Geordi goes down to discover a large node glowing in the middle of the floor.
Geordi suspects the replicator systems were used to form this thing. Meanwhile Data solves the problem of the attacking taxi cab by holding it steady while he works. Picard gives the order for him to begin depolarizing the grid which causes an earthquake in the holodeck and catastrophic failures on the ship causing it to lose integrity. So he stops and they regroup to discuss it some more. They ascertain that the ship was protecting itself again but that it was unaware of what's going on like an infant acting on impulse. Troi lists the different systems represented in the different personalities on the ship and confirms that their activity represents constructing or forming something. She wishes to go back to try and communicate with the intelligence on its own level to try and cooperate. They return with tickets this time which pleases the conductor. They also offer help so the conductor chooses Worf to come up to the engine and shovel coal so they can keep on schedule. His efforts to stoke the fire gets the warp drive working again and they discover they're headed for a white dwarf star. The ship modifies a tractor beam to collect vertion particles from the star, explaining why they call their destination Vertiform City. The object in the cargo bay begins to grow, but when the vertion particles are depleted, it starts to lose energy. On the train they're disappointed because this isn't Vertiform City like they thought. So the conductor changes directions again for New Vertiform City, causing the ship to pitch around violently. They can tell they're headed for another white dwarf star since white dwarfs are the only natural source of vertion particles. But the ship is also using up the life support to propel it onward. The star is 12 hours away and they only have 2 hours of life support left. Picard speculates with Geordi about creating artificial vertion particles. He finds a couple of choice spots along the way to launch a modified torpedo at and Picard leaves the decision of where to try it up to Geordi. In order to go where they want to, the crew members on the holodeck must gain control of the navigation of the train though. The conductor guardedly believes them when they assure him that they know a short cut to New Vertiform City and allows Data into the engine room to navigate the train. With his help they stop at a nebula Geordi was eyeing for the artificial vertion particles. They fire the torpedo which causes a stream of particles to flare out.
As the ship drinks in the particles, the systems begin to return to normal as the nodes deactivate themselves. Picard postulates that some species only exist to reproduce and that perhaps the only reason for the ship's intelligence was to produce this new life form. In the cargo bay, the life form glows brightly and floats up and away, flying out of the hull into space. In the holodeck the people on the train are celebrating with champagne and as Worf, Troi, and Data partake in the party the program ends. Later, Data goes to Picard to invite him to another Shakespearean performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream in which Miranda first has contact with other humans which he thinks is befitting of the situation. He notes that Picard took a substantial risk in allowing the Enterprise to finish completing the emergence of the new life form since it could be dangerous. But Picard is confident that since the experiences it drew from were human experiences, it has a good chance of being as honorable as they have been.
So, the Enterprise comes to life briefly to create a node creature and then, what, dies? That's kind of sad. You'd think the whole ship would cease to function if it wasn't "alive" anymore. I have to assume that being alive is what they mean by forming an intelligence. And it's equally confusing since it just spontaneously came to life after seven years. This is one of those episodes that you're meant to just sit back and enjoy and not think too much about it because it'll make less sense the more you do. And it is an enjoyable episode. The holodeck characters range from odd to funny and the crew's interaction with them is entertaining. The psychology of what's going on in there makes some sense. And the lighting and colors are pleasant to view. Although this episode is somewhat nonsensical I have nothing against it and the characters make it work as always. Four stars.
