Symbiosis

Episode: s1, ep 22 

Last episode it was arms dealers, now drug dealers are the villains of the piece. Although the situation and resulting moral dilemma is far more nuanced than most previous episodes and is not simply resolved.

What Happens

The Enterprise is studying a star with an intense magnetic field, which may cause system problems. The bridge watches the changes in the sun with awe. There’s a distress call, a freighter is going to burn up in the atmosphere. It’s an old ship with 6 lifeforms onboard and only minutes left. The people on the endangered ship don’t know what they’re doing, causing much annoyance and confusion to the Bridge crew as they try to help. Eventually Tasha has to talk them through beaming off the doomed freighter, and instead of the crew they send over cargo. At the last minute only 4 beam away and they are more concerned about the safety of the cargo than the two who died.

The rescued people are from 2 neighbouring planets and are in heated dispute over the ownership of the cargo. They have zappy, electric hands, which mean they’re permanently armed. Picard feels he has to resolve the issue. The aliens are impressed by Starfleet’s technical knowledge and ask if they can have parts for their own ships. The cargo is medicine that is desperately needed by the Buyer’s plague-ridden planet. The Sellers maintain that their people work very hard to create the medicine and cannot just give it away.

Crusher realises that it’s not medicine but a narcotic; the plague doesn’t exist, the symptoms are withdrawal. The entire Buyer planet has been addicted for 200 years. Crusher wants to help with a synthetic drug that will wean them off the addiction. Picard says they can’t do anything, the planets are symbiotic and the change would destabilise both. The Sellers offer this one batch for free and Picard realises that they know precisely what they’re selling. It’s not symbiosis, it’s exploitation. Picard still can’t get involved, which means that the Enterprise won’t help fix the failing freighters. The Addicts will have to figure it out. The Prime Directive means they can’t change the status quo, but it also means they don’t have to help maintain it. The Addicts are aghast and point out that Picard is dooming their entire planet by cutting off their supply of medicine, Picard says he knows exactly what he’s doing and casts a grim look at the crestfallen Dealers. Beverly points out the whole planet will suffer painful withdrawal and Picard speeches about Prime Directive, though it’s clear the decision weighs on him.

Riker: lover, adventurer, middle-management

While watching the sun Riker uses the word awesome in its original meaning, giving it an impact it has mostly lost.

In order to get hold of the cure the desperate Buyers/Addicts try to hold Riker hostage with their zappy hands. Picard won’t be coerced and since they aren’t bad people they let Riker go and are very sorry about it. His expression is hilarious.

 

Doctor Doctor

At the mention of plague all the aliens are sent to sickbay, since the badly functioning transporter may not have successfully run its usual med scan. Crusher examines the aliens (and the crew who have been in contact with them) and cannot find any sign of an illness, even in the suffering the Buyers. When the cure relieves their suffering immediately Crusher realises what’s going on.

As a Doctor she’s disgusted by the situation, urges Picard to end the exploitation, and is understandably frustrated that he can’t. She even offers to synthesise a non-addictive alternative to wean the Addicts off their dependency, a very sensible and humane option that nevertheless is not allowed.

Dark Past

Wesley incredulously asks Data about why people let themselves become addicts, because Data will know about that? It's Tasha who provides a nuanced and realistic answer. Her colony (the one with the raping and violence and poverty) was full of addiction, as people sought any way to feel good for a while. She points out that no one means to get addicted, but by the time the drugs feel artificial you have to take them, not to feel good but to keep from feeling bad. Wesley -a child of privilege- doesn't understand.

I thought this was good scene, especially as I'd been expecting a heavy-handed 'drugs are bad' speech.

Space Trumpets

I like that when Picard makes a ship-wide announcement it is preceded by a naval whistle. I like to imagine an Ensign somewhere blowing a whistle into the comms system. In discussion with friends we decided that a holiday camp/supermarket-style announcement with a xylophone intro would also be a nice touch. Hidey-Hi! 

The Prime Directive is a Harsh Mistress 

Despite the shameful exploitation of one species by another the Prime Directive means that Picard must ignore his moral outrage and refuse to offer aid, since it will certainly change the way of life of both species. However it’s clear the situation wasn’t sustainable anyway, and since Picard isn’t allowed to interfere he withdraws the offer of technical help (which presumably he shouldn’t really have given in the first place). It means that events will take the course they were going to anyway, the exploitation will eventually end, but there will be much suffering because of it.

This is the sort of clever but morally uncomfortable solution that Justice simply didn’t have.

 

Something Is Very Wrong

How come the Buyers/Addicts don’t seem to understand their own tech? They don’t know how their freighters work, which is kind of stupid. Their civilisation’s wellness depends on ferrying medicine, resources and tech between worlds, so surely those freighters are their number one priority. I suppose the implication is that the addiction stops them from functioning well, but that seems a bit lame, since there’s little indication that the drug impairs any abilities. I appreciate this is meant to be like the story of the grasshoppers and the ants, but with narcotics; however it doesn’t work if the ants have forgotten how to gather food.

 

Future Fashion

The costume design very neatly sums up the situation. The Sellers/Dealers look more affluent than the Buyers/Addicts, clearly indicating that they receive all the luxuries that their neighbours make. Also the Dealers have an appropriately 70s look.

Death by Space Misadventure

The other 2 unnamed people on the doomed freighter die, their own people don’t care.

Won’t Somebody Think of the Children?

At the start Picard warns the entire ship that studying the star will cause disruption to systems, despite the shields. Engineering is prepared, but even so there’s probably no way of knowing what will go wrong. As the Bridge crew watch the shiny dance of magnetic fields Picard sends the ship closer, even though it will ‘push the shields to their limits’. Gosh I hope that lightshow is worth almost overwhelming the systems that keep everyone onboard safe, and that life support continues to function as it should.

The End

Picard is sickened by the whole sorry situation and is no longer interested in looking at the sun (lets hope none of the science officers were relying on this trip for their work). He tells Geordi to decide where they go next, he just wants to get away. The episode ends on a bit of a low note.

 

Doctor Who - A Town Called Mercy

I'm afraid this post is a little late, I've been suffering from a cold the last few days so I haven't quite keep up with my Doctor Who blogging. Here are my slightly belated thoughts on 'A Town Called Mercy' which aired (in the UK) over a week ago.

We're in the Wild West and in the first couple of minutes me and my husband have concluded that it won't be Firefly, it could be like Muse's 'Knights of Cydonia' music video, and that the cyborg has the right shape head to be reminiscent of Kryten in that Red Dwarf Wild West episode. My husband also mentioned Westworld, but I've not seen that.

The Western version of the Terminator is terrorising a town and asks for the alien Doctor. So when the TARDIS landsand the Doctor introduces himself to the townsfolk they're all for throwing him over the line of sticks and pebbles that somehow keeps the killer cyborg out. Then it turns out that the town's much-loved doctor is an alien himself and the cyborg is bent on revenge and the situation gets complex.

Ben Browder dons a moustache, a cowboy hat and an accent to play the sheriff. It was good to have a big name sci-fi actor turn up, especially in a different sort of role to usual.
I must admit I failed to realise who he was without hints from my husband. I knew he looked familiar but couldn't tell who he was, then again I've not watched that much Farscape and can be confused by actors changing hair colour. I knew that Adrain Scarborough looked very familiar from UK TV, but had to look him up to figure out what I'd seen him in.

I quite liked the way the Jex doctor was very English and seemed terribly civilised, until he was cornered and had to admit what he had done. I also liked the way the cyborg seemed like a scary killer, but could barely bring himself to kill any innocents. The moral dilemmas presented were interesting and showed a lot more nuance than Dinosaurs on a Spaceship with it's 1D villain.


I wasn't sure about the framing device. The voiceover would have worked better if we'd met the narrator, if she'd been a main character. She never actually appears and we don't particularly care about her ancestor either. I can understand that they wanted to convey the idea of the cyborg being a long term protector, but there were better ways of doing that.

Arsenal of Freedom

Episode: s1, ep 21      Title: Arsenal of Freedom

This is a surprisingly action-packed episode in which there are no staff meetings and we see lots of shooting and some fancy flying. 

What Happens 

The Enterprise is sent to the Lorenz cluster to investigate the disappearance of the USS Drake, which was investigating the disappearance of intelligent life from planet Minos. The ship is hailed by an automated salesman, the planet was known for making and selling weapons. Their slogan was “Peace through superior firepower.” Tasha wants a small team sent down to assess the danger (as opposed to the dozens that normally go on these jaunts), so she, Riker and Data beam down to a misty jungle. Riker sees his old friend Captain Rice of the Drake, who intensely asks various, odd questions, and turns out to be an information-gathering hologram. A flying drone shoots Riker with a stasis field so he can’t beam away. Picard takes Dr Crusher to the planet, despite Troi’s protest. Geordi is left in command.

Riker is alive, but it will take Data a while to release him. Another flying drone shoots at the away team and Picard and Crusher flee before falling down a hole. Crusher is injured and must guide Picard through first aid. Tasha and Data destroy the drone then Data frees Riker. Before the away team can be beamed up the Enterprise is attacked in orbit. The attacker cloaks whenever they try to lock on, and Geordi’s decisions and rank are questioned by Chief Engineer Logan. After he is unable to locate the attacker, Geordi takes the ship out of orbit, gives the saucer section to Logan and returns to rescue the away team.

A third flying drone means Data has to literally throw Tasha out of the way. This one is even harder to kill, they’re upgrading. Meanwhile down the hole, Picard can’t find an exit, but he discovers they’re in a control chamber. The holographic salesman appears trying to sell the ultimate weapon system. It can take out ground personnel and ships; it learns, upgrades, and is invincible once activated. Here is what destroyed the populace. The orginal away team find the hole, Picard and Data are stumped by the machine until Beverley points out they should turn it off. Picard has to pretend to buy it so the saleshologram shuts down the drones. Meanwhile Geordi takes the ship into atmosphere, where the turbulence means they can locate and destroy the cloaked attacker. 


Guest Star

Vincent Schiavelli, plays the holographic salesman. He’s got one of those faces you recognise from various things, and is a great character actor.

Riker: lover, adventurer, middle-management

Riker goes on about Captain Rice of the Drake, who he knew (and presumably had a crush on) at the Academy. Rice is described as a risk-taker and arrogant, but also normally right. Riker explains that in one Academy test Rice rejected the 3 accepted answers and submitted his own, now there are 4 accepted answers.* Troi chimes in with a perspective on how such a man might react to stress or threats. It’s odd that they build Rice up so much since he’s already dead and all we see of him is a decoy. Although there’s an expectation that Rice will be in the episode, it’s clear from the circumstances (especially all the talk about lifesigns) that it isn’t really him. I don’t think the revelation about Rice has as much pathos as the writers were intending. That said it is funny when Riker tests the hologram by saying he’s serving on the newly-commissioned Lollipop, which is a good ship.

Riker gets frozen by a stasis field and is motionless for quite a while. At least he wasn’t pulling a stupid face when it happened.

Does Not Compute

Data is able to safely jump down over 11 metres, everyone seems surprised by this. I know Data doesn’t exactly have an instruction manual, but surely at some time while he was in Star Fleet someone tested his capabilities? I’m not sure why Riker fusses about this so much, Data should be able to judge his own abilities and while he might not be indestructible he can be reassembled.

Counsellor Pointless

In this episode Troi shows an advantage of having a Counsellor (rather than an ineffective empath) on the Bridge. Geordi is facing a lot of stress, he’s outside his comfort zone and being contradicted by a higher-ranking officer. Troi has a quiet word, not only to keep him calm, but to emphasise the importance of showing confidence in the inexperienced crew members. I wonder if she has had this chat with Picard? It seems like he could use it sometimes.

Blind Engineering

Geordi is put in charge of the bridge in the absence of Picard, Riker and Data,** even though there are higher-ranking crew onboard. I don’t understand how seniority works, since I know Troi (who doesn’t know how to fly or fix a spaceship) can be left in charge in an emergency. Chief Engineer Logan questions Geordi and makes a power-play by demanding Geordi relinquishes command. Geordi sticks to his guns and even comes up with a solution that appeases the contrary Chief.

Geordi’s plan is a bold and clever one. Once it’s clear they can’t accurately track or anticipate the attacker Geori forces it to show itself by descending into atmosphere. With Troi’s advice he’s able to guide inexperienced crew through a difficult situation. The attacker is destroyed, the away team is rescued and no children were put in extra danger to do it. I have to say I found Geordi a bit boring before, but I have renewed respect for him now. He absolutely deserves the enthusiastic “Engage” at the end of the episode.

Doctor Doctor

Despite being injured Beverley manages to guide Picard through caring for her. As well as standard considerations like how to treat shock (which he ignores), she also shows her skills as a herb woman. She gets Picard to test and taste some roots and from what he tells her realises that they’ll work as an anticoagulant/painkiller.She knows this because her grandmother was a doctor on a colony with few supplies so she had to experiment with natural remedies, and taught Beverley her knowledge. It’s lucky that the same rules apply on this entirely alien planet and that root was useful and not very poisonous.

Beverley often seems to be the voice of common sense. I love that she had to point out that they should turn the weapons system off, in order to disable it. I get the impressions there aren’t many off-switches in the future

Management Technique

Picard helps Beverley with her injuries at first, carefully following her instructions, but then he seems to get a bit bored with the whole first aid thing. So he orders her to stay conscious (even though she’s in shock and he knows she needs to be kept warm and awake) and wanders off to look for a way out.

That Beverley is still alive, and conscious, when he comes back is a testament to her willpower.

  

Random Crewmembers

I don’t know what happened to Chief Engineer Argyle, but I don’t like his replacement. Logan (who, despite his name, doesn’t seem to be Scottish) initially tries to get Geordi to leave orbit. Logan’s demand that he take command seems a bit presumptuous, but he could honestly want what’s best for the ship. However when Geordi does break orbit Logan argues with him again, making it clear that he’s just power hungry. Despite his contrary and argumentative nature, Geordi gives Logan the saucer section and charges him with taking it to safety.

Ensign T’Su and Lieutenant Solis are young crew who are guided through the attacks, rescue mission and flying in atmosphere. They acquit themselves well, though don’t get much thanks at the end.

Planet Of… Arms Dealers

The planet of Minos (which is not pronounced the same way as the ‘father’ of the Minotaur) makes weapons and sells them to whoever will buy. I wonder why they’re not in the Federation?

They learn the error of their ways when they are all killed by their own weapons, or presumably they would’ve if they weren’t all dead. I think there’s a message here (shocking, I know) about the dangers of commerce taking over a society.*** And probably something about war being bad too.

Death by Space Misadventure

All the intelligent life on Minos dies. The entire crew of the Drake was presumably destroyed soon after they arrived at Minos.

Won’t Somebody Think of the Children?

The Enterprise is being attacked. The ship is in danger, as well as the away team. Geordi retreats to a safe distance, splits the ship, and sends the children out of harms way. This is exactly the thing that Picard didn’t want to do last episode. Does the cost of every saucer separation get docked from the Captain's pay?

 

The End

Riker and Picard are mock angry at Geordi for separating the ship, but their approval shines through. Geordi stays in the big chair on the Battle Bridge and says “Engage”. It’s clear he loves it, which is nice.

* Is this guy supposed to be like Kirk? I think this guy is supposed to be like Kirk.

** Should so many of the senior staff be going on away missions? Geordi handles himself well, but it’s clear he’s not used to this situation and his status is open to questions.

 *** Actually I can get behind this message, and it’s not as heavy-handed as it could’ve been.

Heart of Glory

Welcome to the 25th Anniversary week of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
I will be blogging an episode every single day this week, finishing with the series 1 finale.*

Episode: s1, ep 20

We learn more about Geordi, Worf and Klingons, character development is good and there's a bit of action. The episode also shows that the Enterprise was not designed with security in mind.

What Happens

The Enterprise is sent to a disturbance in the Neutral Zone and finds evidence of weapons fire that looks Romulan, have the Romulans returned to the sector? A damaged Talarian cargo freighter is found. Riker, Data and Geordi are sent over to investigate, giving Geordi a chance to test a gadget that transmits images from his visor. Picard watches the away team’s progress on the unstable ship through Geordi’s ‘eyes’, and seems more interested in Geordi’s view of the world than the close-to-exploding ship. The only survivors are 3 Klingons, one badly injured, the whole group is barely beamed away in time (in fact it looks like they’ve been blown up at first, which prompted me to think temporal shenanigans were going on).

The injured Klingon can’t be saved so Worf and the other 2 mark his pasing in the traditional way, which hasn’t been seen by outsiders before. The remaining Klingons say that Ferengi’s attacked them and they went into the Neutral Zone by accident. Picard sense the Klingons are hiding something (even though Troi isn’t there to tell him this) and leaves Worf to deal with them. The Klingons mock Worf for living among humans and talk about how Klingons are hunters who lust for battle.

A Klingon ship approaches, hunting the 3 fugitives who destroyed  last Klingon ship sent after them. Picard says he’ll hand the 2 remaining criminals over and sends Tasha with a security team to detain them. There’s a standoff in a corridor, with Worf in the middle, and Tasha makes assumptions about the Klingons which anger Worf. The fugitives are taken in calmly, and Worf speaks to the Klingon Captain, asking that they be exiled rather than executed dishonourably. The Klingon prisoners assemble a hidden weapon so one can escape from the brig. He goes to Engineering and threatens to destroy the engine unless Worf talks to him. He tells Worf all about his glorious plan to fly around the galaxy with the battle bridge in some kind of reign of terror. Worf listens long enough to get close and kill him.

Klingon Warrior

It’s the first Worf-heavy episode and one that takes a look at the nature of Klingons. We learn that Worf was found by a Starfleet officer after a Romulan massacre and raised by humans on a farming colony. He was young so he’s spent little time among Klingons, which suggests that some of his isolation from the crew (not getting ‘their’ jokes) is intentional.

Though he’s not spent much of his life in Klingon society Worf clearly knows plenty about his own people, including their death ritual, which involves staring into the dying Klingon’s eyes then roaring to warn the afterlife he is coming. I’m not sure why this is meant to be the first time outsiders have seen this, I guess the Enterprise just has to be extra special. Klingons may keep to themselves as a society, but it seems unlikely this is the only time a Klingon has died amongst non-Klingons. As this episode shows, they’re an aggressive people and fond of battle, they must die in front of other races all the time.

The 2 Klingons mock Worf for restraining himself so much he can live on a vessel with ‘prey’. They make Klingons sound a bit like werewolves, but with a less obvious or predictable trigger. It’s clear that Klingons are meant to be a predatory as a species. The crew in the corridors certainly seem alarmed to see 3 Klingons walking around. The rogue Klingons say that peace is anathema to them and they should fly around the galaxy killing stuff, though they are shown to be extremists who use deception and killed their own people. The Klingon Captain who comes to capture them reveals that their brand of bloodthirsty extremism is very tempting to Klingons, which is probably why they have to be executed.

I think Worf is only persuaded by them because he likes being in the company of his own kind, and their descriptions of fierce hunters are appealing to the Klingon mindset, though it’s unfortunate that he tells them about the battle bridge. When security show up there’s a moment when Worf’s loyalty is uncertain, then a small girl steps out of a lift and Tasha assumes the rogue Klingons are going to hold her hostage. Worf is angered by this assumption, which is fairly offensive. “Cowards take hostages. Klingons do not.” It shows Tasha knows little about her crewmate’s culture, or about him.

Blind Engineering

Geordi's fancy visor transmitter really impresses Picard with its 'visual frenzy'. Picard is so impressed he rather forgets he has crew wandering around a disintegrating spaceship. Instead he asks Geordi loads of questions about his sight, and tries to direct his movements like it's a particularly psychedelic episode of Knightmare.
We can actually see how different Geordi's vision is to what everyone else sees. It now makes sense that he can detect things that even Data can't see. It's interesting that Geordi sees Data as having an aura and assumes that's a normal visible feature of androids.

Management Technique

When Picard discovers that the visiting Klingons are fugitives he decides not to tell Worf but sends Tasha and a security team to detain them. Despite Worf being a member of the bridge crew it seems he isn’t fully trusted. This instinct is proven to be unfounded when Worf saves the ship and says he isn’t interested in leaving the Enterprise.

Continuity

At the beginning it’s said that the Romulans haven’t been in the sector for a long time. If this is the case why was there talk of Romulans massing in Angel One? That was the whole reason the Enterprise had to leave quickly in that episode, feels like an excuse now.

Security Breach

No matter what the circumstances of your arrival on the Enterprise it seems you automatically get free reign of the ship and will be escorted by the crewmember who is most likely to sympathise with you (see Datalore). Though I suppose there is some sense in assuming that Worf is the best at dealing with fellow Klingons (though Data is presumably stronger than a Klingon).

The lack of security control onboard is dreadful. There’s little to stop anyone roaming the ship. Security has no powers to restrict movement (see Won’t Somebody Think Of The Children).** Prisoners aren’t checked for concealed weapons before being put in the brig (which doesn’t seem that hard to break out of). There are no special security measures preventing non-Starfleet personnel from getting into Engineering, and apparently no one in Engineering has weapons to hand. Once in Enginering an invader can simply walk up to the Engine, which can be destroyed (thus destroying the entire ship) with a single handheld weapon. If it’s that vulnerable put it behind a door or something. Next we’ll find out that there’s an exterior vent that would cause the ship to explode if someone shot into it.

Future Prejudice

On exploring the disturbance in the Neutral Zone Riker’s assumption is that it could be the Ferengi, even though Picard points out it’s outside their territory.

 
Death by Space Misadventure

A nameless yellowshirt is killed in a corridor by an escaping Klingon. At least I assume he’s killed, they don’t seem like the kind of guys who set their phasers to stun.

 

Won’t Somebody Think of the Children?

Riker suggests that the ship is split before entering the Neutral Zone. This would mean that the children and non-combatants are protected in case the disturbance turns into trouble. Sensible, right? Picard decides not to do this until they have a little more information, because the kids will be so useful in the information gathering process?

A small girl exits a turbolift and runs into the middle of a standoff between rogue Klingons and a security team. If security are running an operation on the ship shouldn’t access to that area be restricted? I mean you can’t necessarily stop people walking down a corridor, but surely you can put a stop on a turbolift? I'm also a little confused that an uncertain child decided to run towards an angry, armed stranger, but kids are weird.

                      

The End

Picard contacts the Klingon Captain to report the Klingon deaths. The Captain asks Worf about it and offers him a place serving with the Klingons, Worf thanks him. When the transmission finishes and everyone on the bridge eyeballs Worf, he points out that he was just being polite and has no intention of leaving the Enterprise. Picard is glad and says the bridge wouldn’t be the same without him... so presumably the mistrust and cultural misunderstanding isn’t going to change things. Good to know, I guess.

* For the sake of honesty, I'm actually going to be at FantasyCon (and possibly offline more) at the end of this week. The episodes have been blogged in advance, thanks to the magic of technology.

** It’s probably because I’m used to Deep Space 9, but I keep wondering where the bulkhead doors and security force fields are? I guess the Cardassians are more security conscious, which makes sense as they had to deal with rebels/terrorists/freedom-fighters a lot.

Coming of Age

Episode: s1, ep19

What Happens

Wesley apologises to a kid called Jake because he beat him and won the chance to try out for the Academy. Jake is disappointed, but has no hard feelings and wishes Wesley well (kids in the future are weird). While Wesley is being assessed, Picard hosts an old Admiral friend who has bought an inspector with him. Inspector Remmick makes everyone on the bridge uncomfortable and Riker acts defensive and unprofessional when questioned, then complains to Picard about the situation. It's soon clear that Remmick is investigating Picard, and the crew don’t like it one bit. Picard behaves with dignity in the face of accusatory questions, while Riker gets snappish again. That Jake kid from earlier steals a shuttle and decides to join a freighter crew because he can’t face his father after failing (so that’s why the kids are like that). He loses control and will crash into the planet until Picard talks him through a dangerous manoeuvre and saves him. Though the shuttle stealing looks bad Remmick sees what Picard does to help the kid.

Wesley meets up with 3 others who are being assessed; a human-looking girl, a Vulcan girl, and a blue-headed alien man. The human girl talks to Wesley in a way that is self-deprecating and sickening. Wesley is more impressed by blue-head, who invented something Wesley is interested in, I don’t know. The tests mostly involve tapping consoles and looking at screens. Wesley returns to the Enterprise for breaktime, where he and Worf talk about the psych test. At the assessment centre Wesley saves an injured man from a burst pipe, but fails to talk someone else out of danger. It turns out this was all part of the test. In another test Wesley helps blue-head, who ends up beating him.
Picard goes to the Admiral and demands to know why he’s being investigated. Remmick gives his report and reveals that his hardass attitude was part of the job and he actually wants to serve under Picard. Apparently something vague is threatening the Federation and the Admiral was testing him. The Admiral wants to promote Picard and put him in charge of the Academy, to be a trusted influence over the young minds.

Wesley isn’t accepted, instead blue-head guy is the first of his kind to get into the Academy. Blue-head protests that Wesley helped him, but this has been taken into account. There is much graciousness and warmth and well-wishing.* Wesley is disappointed and has a heart-to-heart with Picard, who demands that he not get mopey. Picard tells the Admiral that he wants to stay with the Enterprise.

 

Guest Star

I knew straight away that the guy running the assessment centre was familiar. It wasn’t until halfway through the episode I suddenly realised… it’s Sam from Quincy! (Or actor Robert Ito.) The Star Fleet uniform threw me off, and the fact that he wasn’t following an aging pathologist around.
I always liked Sam in Quincy, even though it was painfully clear that he was kind of in love with Quincy. I thought this years before I discovered the concept of shipping

Oh Captain, my Captain

Picard handles Remmick well, and only gets angry about the investigation when talking to the Admiral. It turns out that despite all the questions the only problem with Picard's leadership is informality among the crew, which is due to a "feeling of family."*

At the end of the episode Picard has a heart-to-heart with Wesley and points out that failing to get into the Academy isn't so bad. Picard failed on his first try too, though he swears Wesley to secrecy. I would have thought information like that would be public knowledge, or at least accessible in Picard's files.

Riker: lover, adventurer, middle-management

Grow up, Riker.

Riker is a Commander, he should understand the function of the Inspector General’s office and that it is his duty to answer questions put to him by staff from that office.
Of course he doesn’t have to like it, but he should know to behave like a professional. Getting defensive, even on someone else’s behalf, does little good. In his meeting with Remmick there’s some definite alpha-male posturing over whether Riker will answer the questions. Remmick may reek of officialdom, but he stands his ground and keeps up his badass interrogator role. I’m sure when Riker has to investigate people he doesn’t appreciate this kind of attitude either.

The Boy

This is an episode full of people kissing Wesley’s arse and it is sickening. Wesley is brave, and smart, and understanding of other cultures, and helps others despite being in competition, and blah blah blah. The fact that all this Mary-Sueishness is not enough to get him his Dream is of no consolation as it means the damn kid is going to keep hanging around.

In the first scene Wesley apologises to another boy for doing better than him, but disappointed Jake wishes him well anyway. Then Wesley calls his mum Doctor, which seems a bit lame.

At the assessment centre the human girl knows who Wesley is as she’s heard there’ll be “a very smart, very young man who'd be tough competition”.* Then she points out that he has an advantage as he’s got practical starship experience. This makes it clear that letting children actually work on the ship is weird. A Vulcan girl puts Wesley in his place by saying he looks too young, this is one of the few times I’m actually glad when a Vulcan is smug at someone. Later the human girl tells Wesley “It's a good thing you're cute, Wesley, or you could really be obnoxious."*

The hidden tests at the assessment centre are so obviously tests that I wonder how smart any of these kids can be that they are fooled by them. Despite having access to holodeck tech they use acting, props and special effects to administer the pysch test, it all seems a bit low tech.

We learn a bit about Wesley’s background, in this episode. It seems he fears being unable to make tough decisions because such a tough decision (which Remmick insinuates was made by Picard) was the cause of his father’s death. However when it comes down to it he is, of course, able to make a decision.

Klingon Warrior

Worf and Wesley have a conversation in the holodeck about the psych test, which is what worries Wesley the most. This may be the longest conversation Worf has had so far. He gives Wesley sound advice and points out that "only fools have no fear". Worf reveals that he has difficulty relying on others, even now. It shows Worf is more than that grumpy Klingon.

Management Technique

Remmick has many questions about Picard’s actions. Especially regarding security. This makes sense. Except it turns out the investigation is politically motivated and Picard has done nothing wrong. I’m not sure that’s true, the stuff Remmick asked about should cause legitimate concern.

Continuity

The Admiral has put Picard through all this because he was testing him. He needs people he can trust because “Something or someone is trying to destroy the fabric of everything we've built up in the last two hundred years.” It seems there’s a threat or conspiracy, but Admiral can’t go into details. He doesn’t know if the threat is internal or external, but he’s gathering people to his side. Then later Admiral suggests he’s exaggerated the whole thing
This feels like the set up for something, but I get the impression it isn't followed through in TNG. Picard is worried and dismisses it as politics, maybe that's all it is. Still I can't help thinking of some of the Federation's dodgier moves in DS9 and wondering which side the Admiral and his chosen officers are/will be on..

Awkward Moment

A bigger, older boy is rude to Wesley in the corridor at the assessment centre. He is immediately obnoxious and at first Wesley goes all humble and apologetic. The giant lad becomes enraged and Wesley starts shouting at him, which makes the guy smile and call him friend. My first reaction to this highly contrived little scene was WTF?
Then Sam-from-Quincy explains it was a test in cultural understanding. Wesley noticed the big lug had webbed fingers meaning he’s from a civilisation that hates politeness and responds positively to anger. Blue-head witnesses this and praises Wesley on his superior understanding*

It's not quite as sickening as when that girl called Wesley cute, but it just feels like another heavy-handed way of showing why Wesley is so great.

Something Is Very Wrong

That Jake kid steals a shuttle in order to run away to the freighters (which I’m guessing is the future equivalent of the merchant navy, rather than the circus). He loses control and is going to fatally crash into the planet. They can’t tractor beam the shuttle because it’s out of range. They can’t beam him to safety because he’s out of transporter range too, even though Wesley was beamed down onto the planet earlier in the episode.

So transporters can beam people onto the surface of a planet, but someone in a ship above the planet is out of range? Really?

 

Future Fashion

Picard puts the dress in dress uniform.

Staff Meetings: 8 
1. Remmick questions Riker in Picard’s ready room.

2. Remmick questions Geordi in Engineering about the events of Where No One Has Gone Before.
3. Remmick questions Troi about Picard’s mental state, especially considering the events of The Battle.
4. Remmick asks Data to help him find a hidden problem on the ship and suggests Picard is not what he seems. Data says Remmick is wrong.
5. Worf is questioned about security and accidental contaminant (I think this might be a reference to Lonely Among Us).
6. Remmick questins Crusher about her relationship with Picard and suggests Picard was responsible for Pa Crusher’s death.
7. Remmick asks Picard about violating the Prime Directive in Justice (so someone did notice that).
8. Picard demands to know what’s going on and the Admiral lets him hear Remmick’s report.  Then the Admiral tells Picard about a conspiracy and offers him a promotion. 

The End
The Admiral leaves, resigned to the fact that Picard will stay on the Enterprise. He says that he’s probably seeing conspiracies everywhere, but he would say that wouldn’t he. Wesley is driving the ship and Picard encouragingly tells him to engage. It is a touching moment that makes me roll my eyes.

"Perhaps I see conspiracies everywhere." Or do I?

* Oh God. Really? I roll my eyes and groan.