Reviews (2)

Repellent attitudes
As a Star Trek story, this is standard fare, combining environmental disaster, conflict between characters, a holodeck problem, and a Prime Directive dilemma. Yes, it's well made and reasonably well-written. But it lacks emotional depth, and more was needed to explain Nikolai's actions and the difficult relationship between him and Worf. And I just don't believe that anyone could transport all those people into the holodeck with no-one noticing.
I've taken one star off because of the repellent atttitudes the crew of the Enterprise display in this episode. They will not lift a finger to intervene and save the Boraalans, which they could easily do without the Boraalans ever noticing. There seems to be no place for compassion or mercy in their world, as they flatter themselves that they are acting with nobler aims than is Nikolai. Picard's posturing was particularly annoying. Where would he and his crew be if Q had not shown them some mercy in "Q-Who"?

Another Prime Directive Fiasco involving Worf's "Brother"
The Enterprise responds to a distress call from Dr. Nicholai Rozhenko, the human stepbrother of Lt. Worf, who is on Boral Two. The planet's atmosphere will disappear in 30 hours ending all life. The problem is that Rozhenko is a Federation cultural observer who has broken the Prime Directive by setting up a force field over same caves nearby a Boralan village. Disguising himself as a native, Rozhenko led the villagers into the cave. Captain Picard refuses to set up atmospheric shields to provide the villagers with long term projection, so Rozhenko ups the ante: he creates an exact replica of the caves on the Holodeck and beams the Boralans on the Enterprise as their planet's atmosphere disappears. Now Picard needs to find a new home for the Boralans while Rozhenko and Worf lead them on a "journey" to their new home.

Having pretty much exhausted the possibilities of Worf's Klingon heritage, the series brings back his human family for another one of those episodes that reminds us that Starfleet believes the universe is served by letting planets of people die because they have not achieved warp drive and are therefore unworthy of belonging to the Federation. You would think at some point somebody in the history of Starfleet would have raised some objections, ethical or otherwise. Of course, the situation is contrived so Picard cannot simply beam the Boralans back to their lifeless planet. The relationship between Worf and his brother seems forced, while the subplot regarding Picard and the man who keeps the chronicle scrolls for the village (who manages to wander off the Holodeck) carries the emotional weight of "Homeward." This is an average STNG episode, burdened by the unnecessary stepbrother relationship of the Rozhenkoes, which adds nothing to the larger questions "Homeward" tries to raise. ... Read more

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The crew's much-needed shore leave has to be postponed when they runacross anomalies in the space-time continuum. Hiccups in time are causing occasional moments of déjà vu. The distress signal from Dr. PaulManheim (Rod Loomis), a scientist who's been working on experiments in nonlineartime, puts Picard into a bit of an emotional funk. You see, 22 years prior, Picard was supposed to meet a woman in a café in Paris--a woman whom he loved and who loved him. He stood her up for fear of being tied down by a relationship, choosing instead his Starfleet career. Needless to say, the old flame (Michelle Phillips) ended up marrying Manheim, and now it's up to Picard and the crew of the Enterprise to save them both. "We'll Always Have Paris" is an engaging examination of the personal sacrifices made bya workaholic, played against the backdrop of a smart, action-packed story. --Andy Spletzer ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Picard relives a moment of great weakness
On their way to a base to engage in some much-needed shore leave, the Enterprise suddenly experiences a brief looping of time. After verifying that the loop did indeed occur, they discover that it was not an isolated event, as it propagated across several thousand light years. Shortly after this, they receive a distress call from Dr. Paul Manheim, a scientist known to be conducting research in the fundamentals of time.
The situation is complicated because Manheim's wife is Captain Picard's first love, someone he was to have met in a café in Paris many years ago, but didn't due to an admitted lack of courage. Which raises the interesting human dilemma that some people who find it easy to face down physical danger fold like a cheap tent when faced with emotional danger. In order to prepare himself for meeting, Picard goes to a holodeck and has it recreate the café where the meeting was to take place.
Arriving at the laboratory, the Enterprise is able to rescue Dr. Manheim and his wife, the only two members of the research time still alive. Clearly, there is still a great deal of attraction between Picard and Mrs. Manheim, which stirs feelings of jealousy in Dr. Crusher. Dr. Manheim is phasing between dimensions, which is damaging his body, so we are once again made to suffer through more instances of Dr. Crusher saying she doesn't know what to do.
Eventually, Dr. Manheim recovers enough of his senses to explain to the Enterprise crew how to bypass the security system in his lab and heal the rift between the dimensions. Data beams down alone and manages to place antimatter in the rift at the right time so that it is sealed.
In terms of human interest with Picard as the focus, this is one of the best episodes in the series. We see him reliving his past, clearly with some sense of regret over his inability to let his emotions take some control over his life. While it is not part of the plot, it does raise the issue that perhaps that is one of the reasons why he is an excellent star ship captain. The feelings of jealousy in Dr. Crusher are also very evident, and both characters play their emotional conflicts very well. The ending scene where both Picard and Mrs. Manheim are in a holodeck simulation of the Parisian café is a classic example of two people putting closure to a part of their life. While they both still have deep feelings for each other, they clearly understand that they must part and they do so with a great deal of dignity.
The one part of the episode that I found detrimental was the role of counselor Troi, whose actions seem out of synch with the rest of the plot. When Picard first realizes that he will be meeting his first love, he obviously reacts with strong emotion. Before Picard can even leave the bridge, Troi stops him and offers him counseling services. We do not need to be told that Picard is undergoing emotional turmoil and he is rightfully annoyed at what should be considered an intrusion. Later, Troi approaches Dr. Crusher, expressing concern over her feelings of jealousy. Once again, this is an instance of over-zealous counseling. The feelings are of no danger to the ship and one would hope that the crew would be able to express natural emotions without having the counselor attempting to get involved in every instance.
Relying on one of the oldest themes in human existence, finding a long lost love, this episode shows Picard at his most vulnerable, where even he demonstrates weakness. Despite this, Picard also shows his greatest strength, in leading the Enterprise crew to the successful completion of a task that had to be done. This episode is good, but not great, slightly better than average when compared to all others.

Au contraire....
Contrary to the review "Time Distortion" just previous, I would have to say that chemistry of a former affair between the characters of Picard and Jenice was, in fact, in evidence. But this former connection was played with subtlety and maturity, not foolish hot kissing and furtive groping, as is so much in evidence on current television. The former affair would have had its after effects, years later, very plausibly in the way it was protrayed. It made an interesting foil to the time distortion story, as well as help to flesh out the human side of Picard's normally brusque character, a necessary development in the first season towards building audience interest in the new series. And it didn't hurt that Michelle Phillips was cast as Jenice - she played the part with the right mix of chic, loveliness and grace. This episode is one of my favorites, as it addresses the age-old story of lost loves, regrets, ambition, and other roads taken, all as a universal theme of the human condition.

Time Distortion
Manheim's Experiment

The highlight in this episode was not the flirtatious romance between Picard and Jenice (Michelle Phillips). It kind of fell flat because there was no chemistry between them. The effects shots that makes this one a keeper? The scenes where Data is attempting to plug the dimensional "hole" in the space time continuum. He exists in three different time lines simultaneously in the climatic scene.

The whole premise where Manheim spent his life studying time travel was tragic. A miscalculation put him in multi-dimensions. Why the producers threw in the former romance is a mystery to me. There was no spark between Philips and Stewart that led me to believe that at one time they loved each other.

Data saves the episode in this one. It was the only saving grace that put this one in my first season favorites list. I can understand how the producers must save money for the season. However, a little character conflict might have made this a dramatic episode. I see the contrast in the episodes done on Voyager and how far the producers have come in making the series more interesting for viewers.

Time to reveal Jean-Luc Picard's tragic romantic past
After reality starts to replay itself all over the ship, the Enterprise receives a distress call from the famous Dr. Paul Manheim. Fifteen years previously Manheim and his group of young scientists had disappeared trying to prove the doctor's theories concerning time. On Vandor IV the crew find everyone dead except for the doctor and his wife, Jenice. When the time distortions continue, Manheim confesses his experiments opened a rift to another dimension and if they can not seal this rift then reality will no longer exist, the laws of the universe will be undone, and life as we know it will come to an end. But more important than all that, we learn 22 years earlier Jean-Luc Picard had broken off a love affair with Manheim's wife!

As the first season of Next Generation draws to a close we have a belated effort to developed Picard as a romantic figure, although having Michelle Phillips play the role of Jencie is a very good start indeed. The series had began with the captain being pretty much the anti-Kirk and a celibate father-figure, career officer, who was married to his job. Ironically, in the end Picard will prove to be much more of a romantic figure than Riker, who was clearly set up to be the smooth talking stud on the show. The climax of this episode, where a trio of Datas have to figure out which one is at the correct point in the time continuum to seal the rift, is well done and a very nice last second hurdle to be overcome in solving the problem. It is that payoff to the other plotline which elevates "We'll Always Have Paris" above the melodrama of Picard's imitation "Casablanca" tragic past (For added fun, think of how the title applies to the crisis part of the episode rather than the romantic part). ... Read more

Reviews (9)

a weird crazy trip up the Howard family tree
Dr. Crusher travels to Caldos IV (all planets in Star Trek have Roman numerals - don't forget it! Caldos was such a popular name, they had at least 4 planets! We have trillions of stars, but each star gets its own name! Why not planets?!) to attend the funeral of her maternal grandmother, Felisa Howard. We learn that Beverly's mother died when she was only a little girl and she was raised by her grandmother, so they were very close.

The colony on Caldos IV started out as a terraforming project with the sole intent of mimicing the Scottish Highlands, so bagpipes are played at the funeral and Mrs. Howard's house is a modest & traditional stone and hay country home. As the mourners leave the gravesite, Beveryly notices a dashing young man (Duncan Regehr) who tosses a camellia (Felisia's favorite flower) onto her casket and as he walks away, he looks over his shoulder and gives a heartbroken, yet seductive look to Beverly.

Beverly enters the house to gather sentimental belongings of her grandmother and she tries to tie up the loose ends in her grandmother's affairs. She catches the caretaker, Ned Quint (Shay Duffin), attempting to throw out an old brass candle holder that has been in Beverly's family for generations, and perhaps one of her most treasured family possessions. Quint claims the candle is a source of bad luck, but Beverly kicks him out of the house and is quite brusque with him.

The Enterprise stays in orbit longer than planned, to fix an unidentified power fluctuation in the weather control net on the planet, which affords Beverly more time to stay on the planet and sleep in her grandmother's house. Beverly finds her grandmother's journals and discovers that she had a young lover named Ronin for years. She falls asleep after reading the journal, having what appears to be an erotic dream, only to be awakened by a man's sultry voice. When she wakens suddenly, no one is there.

The next day, she visits the grave of her grandmother to find it covered with camellias. Continued problems w/ the weather net cause storms to break out, so she runs back to the house, to find the house filled with camellias... and once again she hears the voice of the man who woke her from her special dream. He reveals that his name is Ronin, a ghost of sorts that has loved the Howard women for 8 centuries. He begins to touch her, but she tells him to stop and he retreats.

Geordi & Data discover that Quint is behind the problems with the weather net - as he's caught, he screams a warning, "he'll kill us all!" and is suddenly killed by a plasma discharge. Beverly's tricorder scans reveal that the plasma is not what killed him.

Normally one to investigate further, she is instead drawn back to Ronin and his wiles. He tells her that lighting the family candle will keep him in corporeal (touchable) form. On the Enterprise, she lights the candle and Ronin appears to her. She resigns her post on the Enterprise and decides to become a healer on Caldos IV like her grandmother. Apparently, loving a ghost that got jiggy with her grandmother isn't creeping her out like it should be.

Data discovers energy from the cemetery similar to what killed the caretaker, Quint. Picard goes down to investigate and Ronin blasts him with his green plasma kung fu grip.

Torn between her unquenchable desire for Ronin and her loyalty to Picard, she has an epiphany as to what Ronin really is.

An interesting story, but far from the best that The Next Generation has to offer. We do see some sides of Beverly we don't normally get to see - and for character development, it's a good episode - but easily forgettable.

The Worst Episode of the Series!
Out of every episode of the long run of Star Trek: The Next Generation I have only disliked a few episodes and I have to say that Sub Rosa is the episode that I dislike the most, my #1 least favorite episode followed by Samaritan Snare at #2 and Justice at #3. Bevery Crusher is one of my favorite characters but there are much better episodes that focus on her. I think this is the worst episode of the series but of course that is just a matter of personal opinion!

Sub Rosa,...Non! Sub Standard,...Oui!
While many episodes of the series rarely focused on ship's physician, Dr. Beverly Crusher, this one does and, unfortunately, it's rather tame with little that is commendable. At the end of my initial viewing, I couldn't help but wonder the mindset behind this installment. Repeat viewings have not altered this puzzlement.

Painful
Crusher is prepared to throw in her career for the sake of her new lover, Ronin - the family ghost who has loved the women of her family since the seventeenth century. But why isn't she telling her friends what's going on? And what is the connection with the problems with Caldos II's weather control system?
Gothic romance meets Star Trek? This might have been a good idea in theory, but it didn't come off. The writing is bad and the acting is over the top. The reasons for Crusher's strange behaviour are never really made clear. The faux Scottish setting is twee. And so what if Ronin made Crusher's female ancestors very, very happy? He was a lying creep who fed on them for centuries!
I would go so far as to call this episode unwatchable.

Bizarre!
This episode where Beverly Crusher gets it on with some kind of ghostly being is the strangest episode I have ever watched, not just of a Star Trek the Next Generation episode but of any TV show period! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Trek Meets "The Manchurian Candidate"
Like the 1960's classic film, "Mind's Eye" has one of the main characters programmed to assassinate a visiting Klingon governor. This is one of the rare occasions where the story line rests squarely on the shoulders of Geordi la Forge (Levar Burton). While it doesn't allow him much of a stretch, Burton does get such much-needed screen time in a show with seven principals. Veteran actor Larry Dobkin provides an air of respectability as a Klingon ambassador that may not be as he appears.

This installment of the series has the distinction of being one where the ominous, shadow-laden Romulan commander appears. Her identity when revealed will prove to be one the show's most memorable and surprising revelations.

Geordi La Forge, brainwashed Romulan assassin?
The Enterprise is taking a Klingon ambassador to investigate charges that the Federation is supporting a rebellion on one of the Klingon colony worlds. Meanwhile, in another part of space, La Forge is tooling around in a shuttle on when a Romulan ship uncloaks and takes him prisoner. The Romulans use La Forge's neural interface to brainwash him, feeding him the images they want and then sending him back to the Enterprise as a secret assassin. At the Klingon colony La Forge and Data discover that the "Federation" phaser rifles used by the rebels have been manufactured by the Romulans, a very impressive display of 23rd century investigative skills. The tension continues to escalate and as a host of Klingon warships surround the Enterprise, the true traitor orders La Forge to kill the commander of the Klingon colony.

"The Mind's Eye" is an average STNG episode, although certainly the idea of the bad guys using La Forge's visor is intriguing, as we see when the Duras sisters take advantage of it after capturing him in the Star Trek "Generations" movie. The character of Geordi La Forge was supposed to show how physical handicaps would not prevent someone from trekking around the Universe (Gene Roddenberry used the name of a real Star Trek fan who was, I believe, confined to a wheelchair) so usually his unique abilities are glossed over. This is one episode that actually takes some pains to deal with the implications of his visor. If they had done this more often they probably could have come up with a better episode along these lines.

Another Romulan story!
En route to the planet Risa, Geordi is kidnapped by Romulans who want to make the Klingons and the Federation bitter enemies. Rigging his visor to send his brain instructions to murder a prominent klingon, LaForge returns to the Enterprise unaware of the incident. Data senses E-band emissions aboard the ship, but will he stop Geordi in time? ... Read more

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Kivas Fajo is a man with "no moral difficulties. At all." Saul Rubinek plays him with the ruthlessness and charm of Dr. Mengele. (By all accounts, Mengele could be very charming.) And like Mengele, Fajo collects things that please him, such as the Rejac Crystal and Data.

"The Most Toys" is eerie and creepy and exudes a strange fascination. It's like a car wreck: one is compelled by the force of human nature to look.There's just something strangely attractive about evil. Make no mistake, Kivas Fajo is evil. Sure he prances about like a demented gnome, but he also kidnaps, steals, and kills without compunction. He uses Data's programmed value of all life against him. When degradation and threats don't work, the collector produces an illegal disrupter and aims it at his assistant Varria (Jane Daly), who is herself a prisoner in his stable. Fajo will stop at nothing to get Data to sit in the chair. When Data finally does sit in the chair, the viewer understands that everybody has his price--even Data. Especially Data. That price is another being's life.

This episode contains the most chilling line in TNG's history: "I cannotfeel pleasure. I am only an android." It's extraordinary not only for great writing and acting but also for its sad backstory. Actor David Rappaport was originally cast as Fajo, but committed suicide before filming could be completed. The ironic thing is that "The Most Toys" is all about the affirmation of life. --Kayla Rigney ... Read more

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How well do you really know someone?
His crewmates think he has died in a shuttle accident; but Data has been kidnapped. A wandering trader, Kivas Fajo, engineered the shuttle explosion to cover his acquisition of Data for his collection of unique, priceless objects. Data is used to being able to handle any situation. But when he discovers that Fajo seems to have thought of every contingency to block his escape - and worse, that his captor has absolutely no morals whatsoever - he is forced to realise how desperate his situation is. But how far can an emotionless android be pushed?
"The Most Toys" is a very well constructed episode; tight and well-written, even the brief scenes adding something important to the whole. The acting is excellent, from Brent Spiner, Saul Rubinek, and the actress who plays Varria. There are some affecting moments: Geordi's comment on what he thought Data's fate would be; Worf's reflection that his promotions have come after his colleagues' deaths; Varria's explanation of why she keeps working for Fajo; Fajo's realisation that he can still be surprised, by himself as well as others. There is a claustrophobic feel to the scenes on Fajo's ship, and as avenue after avenue is closed to Data, as the tension mounts, you can really understand why the climax develops as it does.
The last few minutes of "The Most Toys" are shocking in more ways than one. That the implications of this story were never explored is a fault of Star Trek: TNG as a whole, not of this episode.

One of the series' truly most despicable villains
When I first started watching this episode, I thought that it was going to be routine with little or no redeeming value. However, as the story developed, I became involved in this story of a creature totally devoid of conscience.

Saul Rubinek, a well-respected actor of stage and screen, is brilliant in the role of Kivas Fajo, a collector of one-of-a-kind items. He considers Data, as well as all that he desires, to be nothing more than acquisitions, deserving only for display in his compound. Fajo will stop at nothing to keep his "possessions".

His most malevolent act made me want a speedy demise for this heinous beast.

"Monsters" don't always have multiple legs or horns

A deranged collector adds Data to his special collection
Data is supposedly on the shuttle Pike that is transferring the unstable substance hytritium from a trader's ship to the Enterprise when the craft explodes. La Forge refuses to believe that his friend is dead without more proof; after all, Data is an android and it is possible his positronic brain survived. The more he investigates, the more suspicious he becomes. Of course, La Forge is right; Data is not dead, he has been kidnapped by Kivas Fajo (Saul Rubinek), a collector of the first order who just has to have Data the android in his eclectic collection. Fajo is essentially an evil child, who wants what he wants when he wants it without any compunction about any other concern than making himself happy. If Data will not comply with his wishes and willingly become an object in his treasure room, Fajo will simply kill his assistant.

"The Most Toys" is not only about Fajo's obsession with things but underscores once again that even if Data is not "human," his humanity is vastly superior to most beings encountered in the Star Trek universe. Of course there is a nice contrast between Brent Spiner's always understated peformance as Data and Rubinke's scenery chewing as Fajo. This is the episode from the third season that most focuses on Data, so it would be a must have episode for his legion of fans. ... Read more

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Dwight Schultz's shaky engineer Reg Barclay has only appeared in a handful of episodes as Lieutenant La Forge's stuttering assistant, but he remains one of the most memorable recurring characters and even earned a scene in the feature-film spinoff Star Trek: First Contact. In this appearance, he lets slip a secret: he's deathly afraid of the transporter. It turns out to be a fairly common malady of the future (who wants to be disassembled?), if understandably rare in Starfleet, so Barclay vows to beat it. Then he starts seeing monsters during his transports. He's convinced that he's going mad until one of the wormlike creatures bites him, leaving him with a microbial infection that may hold the key to a mysteriously abandoned Starfleet vessel nearby. Schultz has nicely transformed Barclay, in a few episodes, from a fumbling social misfit (he was nicknamed "Broccoli" in his first appearance) to a nervous but brainy junior officer with a gift for understatement. He finally gets to play the hero, fighting his fears and facing his demons with a dash of comic flair. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

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Oh oh; Reg Barclay sees giant worms in the transporter beam
The Enterprise discovers the USS Yosemite, deserted and damaged near a high-energy plasma stream. The away team finds the fragments of a smashed container, but as they beam back Lt. Barclay sees a wormlike creature swimming in the transporter's matter stream. The creature appears to bite his arm and when he returns to the Enterprise his arm has a blue glow and hurts. Data and La Forge try to reconstruct what happened aboard the Yosemite, while Barclay worries that he has "transporter psychosis" while Dr. Crusher and Counselor Troi try to deal with this fragile body and mind.

It is always nice to see Dwight Schultz as Reg Barclay trying to do his best under the trying circumstances that always afflict the character. However, the wiggly things in the transporter beam are a bit bizarre, especially when the truth about them is revealed. I do not know a lot about science, let alone how it functions in the Star Trek universe, but this is one of those episodes that certainly seem to be a bit of a reach for me. That downside sort of balances out the plus side of having Barclay back again, so this ends up being an average STNG episode.

Realm of Fear
If you ever have any reason to think that there is no way you could get past some of your worst fears, watch this episode, because you never know what you're capable of until you're scared to death badly enough, or if lives are at stake and you hold the only key to saving theirs as well as your own. Barclay's over exaggerated fear of transporters is put to the test when a transporter malfunction is causing a mystery as to the whereabouts of the crew of an abandoned ship. In his investigation, his growing malady from the first trip through the transporter takes a different turn when it causes physical side efects, therefore bringing further strain to his already taxed nervous system, and in trying to find an answer, everyone thinks he's going nuts. But when it all comes together as to where everyone is, his illnes turns out to be the best clue to the transporter malfunction. When its all over, Barclay's the hero and his fears (at least ONEof them) are laid to rest, until he meets an old friend of Chief O' Brien's. ... Read more

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Jean-Luc Picard would kill for the love of Lwaxana Troi...
This episode concludes with the funniest scene in the entire run of STNG. The Enterprise is attending a trade conference on Betazed, where Daimon Tog expresses an interest in a very unreceptive Lwaxana Troi. After the Enterprise leaves, Riker and Troi stay behind for a little shore leave. Lxwana joins them for a nice picnic when they are kidnapped by the Ferengi captain, who, as you recall, does not like the idea of females, "hu-man" or otherwise, being clothed. Eventually Picard learns of the abductions and the Enterprise gives chase. Meanwhile, Lwaxana makes Daimon Tog an offer he can not refuse: let Deanna and Riker go, and she will willingly stay with him. However, Lwaxana has failed to tell the Ferengi that Jean-Luc Picard is a very jealous lover . . .

The final scene, where Picard waxes poetic, spouting Shakespeare while threatening Daimon Tog, is absolutely hysterical. After all, Lwaxana is always giving Jean-Luc grief about all those amorous thoughts he has about her, which only makes this scene that much funnier. Besides, "Menage A Troi" does give you plenty of that fun mother-daughter interplay between Majel Barrett and Marina Sirtis. A fun episode from start to glorious finish.

A real winner.
This episode is one of the funniest EVER! When Deanna's mother shows up, she creates all KINDS of problems including the whole deal with her calling Deanna "Little One". Funniest scene is at the end, when Picard's reciting Shakespeare to the Ferengi who kidnapped Lwaxana and her...trying to conivce them of his "sincerity"

Lwaxana: I have a new love, Jean-Luc. And you can't keep killing all my lovers, now that simply has to stop.

Ferengi: KILLING?

Lwaxana: Oh, he's insanely jealous.

This one is really great. ... Read more

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Why should randy William Riker get all the ladies? When 16-year-oldSalia (Jaime Hubbard) boards the Enterprise in order to be escorted to Daled IV, the planet she is destined to rule, Wesley Crusher gets an immediate crush on her. She seems to like him, too, much to the displeasure of her overprotective guardian Anya (Paddi Edwards). Wesley roams the ship asking for dating advice while Anya tries to lock Salia in her room. Of course,Wesley is following that unwritten Enterprise rule that encourages flings with people and aliens from outside of the ship, which guarantees theywill be short-term affairs. It's a pattern established by Picard (see episode 24, "We'll Always Have Paris"), where duty and ambition always take precedenceover personal relationships. Back to Wesley, though. When Wesley discovers thetrue nature of this alien life form, he must come to terms with the fact thatlooks aren't everything. --Andy Spletzer ... Read more

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Teenage glandular activity leads to interspecies crush
As humans move out into the stars and encounter other species, we will take our basic functions with us. Even though we may move around in giant ships faster than the speed of light, our bodies will still require that we eat, sleep, perspire, excrete waste and teenagers will still experience hormonal overload. In this episode, Wesley meets what appears to be a teenage girl (Salia) who smiles sweetly at him, immediately setting the glands working.
However, the girl is being ferried to a planet where she is to assume the throne and rule the planet. Two groups have been engaged in an ongoing war and it is hoped that the new monarch will be able to unite the planet in peace. Of course, the smitten Wesley has no idea how to approach her and he seeks advice from Worf, which is hilarious. His description of the Klingon mating ritual is wonderful to behold and of no use to Wesley. After experiencing that dead end, Wesley seeks out Commander Riker, who enlists the aid of Guinan. Their dialog over the table is some of the best in all of the Star Trek episodes. Clearly not to be taken seriously, the frustration on Wesley's face is superb.
Wesley finally manages to meet Salia, when she seeks help in using the food synthesizers. Unfortunately, her guardian (Anya) strongly objects and this is when Wesley learns that Salia is not human. This is devastating to his young heart, and he spends some time moping around licking his emotional wounds. To his credit, he manages to overcome his sorrow and sees Salia off in the transporter room. Worf and Anya also have a clash, and yet in the end, they clearly reach a level of mutual understanding and respect.
One aspect of TNG that I consider to be a dramatic improvement over the original series is the emotional activity between humans and other species. If we ever encounter other intelligent species, there is no doubt that passionate emotions will be involved and that will eventually lead to sex. In many ways, the first interspecies sexual activity with extraterrestrials may be even more traumatic to the collective human psyche than the existence of the other species. It may take some time before sex between species is not considered bestiality, as it is a near certainty that the extraterrestrials will have far less biology in common with humans than humans do with dogs, sheep and goats.
I rank this as one of the better episodes, because it deals with the emotional trauma of a human able to maintain an emotional attachment to a member of another species after learning that she is not human. Hopefully, this is a harbinger of the future and will not always be nothing more than a theme in science fiction entertainment,

Wesley in love? I think I'm gonna be sick...
Aw gee-- it's Wesley's first teenage romance! Isn't that just precious? Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that... absolutely DISGUSTING! And he's fallen for some teenaged future-leader-of-a-wartorn-world who can morph into a giant Chewbacca-lookin' thingy when she gets angry! Heh, who knew Wes had a Wookiee fetish, hmm? And people call ME a sicko...

Speakin' of "Star Wars" ripoffs, our teenaged alien chick is accompanied by a very strict and overprotective guardian who kinda reminds me of Nurse Ratchett from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and Balbricker from the "Porky's" flicks, and morphs into a Wookiee-thingy AND an Ewok-thingy! The former of which she uses to try and scare Wes away from her charge during the climax. Bet'cha his uniform pants were brimmin' over after this confrontation, heh. Sadly, she stopped just short of killing the little twerp. Some freakin' guardian SHE is...

Oh yeah, this eppie also features a precious moment in Ten-Forward with Guinan and Riker showing Wuss-ley how to sweet-talk his newfound love. Some of Riker's comments about Guinan's (heh) beauty are really reaching for it in this scene! I mean, have ya ever taken a good look at Whoopi Goldberg? No offense, but she ain't exactly what one would consider a paragon of glamour. Just ask Ted Danson...

'Late

Wil Wheaton acts!
I'm not a big fan of Wil Wheaton as Ensign Crusher and I've always thought the show would do better without him (and did do better after he left). However, I have to offer praise for his performance in this episode. He actually acts like a teenager with overactive hormones with a need to explore, for the first time, what love is. It reminded me a lot of when I was his age.

The highlight of this episode is the humor. Worf explaining Klingon flirting rituals is humorous!! Then there is a scene where Jonathan Frakes (Riker) and Whoopie Goldberg (Guinan) are flirting with each other for a moment. I actually had to laugh out loud at this.

There was nothing really memorable about this episode and it doesn't stand out as a favorite, but I would recommend it regardless.

THE DAUPHIN (Wesley in Love)
This is one of my all-time favorite episodes of TNG. Wesley falls in love with Salia, a beautiful girl on her way home to rule over a planet. Ignore the silly monster costumes and enjoy the genuine heart and emotion of this episode dealing with first love!

Wesley Crusher tries to survive the pains of first love
The Enterprise is transporting Salia and Anya to the war torn planet of Daled IV. Salia, the Dauphin, is the daughter of parents from the two sides of the conflict and for sixteen years has been preparing to assume her role as leader, thereby bringing peace. As soon as Salia and Wesley see each other, you know there are going to be problems. Especially since Anya turns (literally) into a ferocious beast in order to defend her charge. Anya tells Salia to stay away from Wesley and Captain Picard orders Wesley to stay away from Salia. But do those lovesick kids listen? Actually this is one of the few romantic episodes during the first couple of seasons on the Next Generation, unless you count Riker and Picard being intrigued by a holodeck fantasy. The best part of the episode is when Wesley seeks advice on romance from the crewmembers, including Worf. Jaime Hubbard is a nice match for the gangly Wesley, but the best performance is Paddi Edwards as Anya, kicking Worf around. The basic plot line is predictable, since love never lasts long on this or any other Enterprise, but there are a few twists and you have to like any girl who's primary form is a shimmering pillar of light. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

'Weird Science'...Wait...Make That 'Really Weird Science'!
This late ST:TNG series entry has been the subject of much debate and the recepient of many negative comments. I cannot side with those who judge this the worst of the TNG episodes. It has many of the familiar series ingredients that makes it an engaging story, beginning with humor. Barclay obsesses needlessly about being infected with a deadly virus - Beverly informs him he simply has the flu, but only after mildly enjoying Barclay's discomfort. Riker reports to Sick Bay as well, having accidentally rolled onto a cactus in the arboretum and getting it's needles stuck in his back. Worf belches - loudly - during a meal with Deanna, ogles the waitress then Troi. Riker suffers a loss of intelligence (trouble concentrating he says) that is undeniably humorous to see develop - especially the conversation with Geordi about whether to run a level 1 diagnostic. When Picard and Data are in Sick Bay attempting to diagnose what happened to the crew they are interrupted by 'something' beating on the doors. Data scans the area with his tricorder and reports, "It is large. It is approximately 240 kilograms. It is heavily armored..." Do you really need to hear anymore to know that you should arm yourself or get out of harm's way?

Besides that the mystery builds quite nicely allowing for both suspense and intrigue. Worf becomes irriatiable on the bridge and is relieved of duties by Riker; later that night he scurry's about madly in his quarters destroying his bed and has fits of growling; Troi develops an overwhelming need to drink and later to be submerged in water; Barclays exhibits very odd behavior - even for him! However, the episode takes an unfortunate turn halfway through from which it never recovers.

But, ultimately this episode has some story elements that are intellectually difficult to accept. After Picard and Data encounter the Neanderthal Riker Data scans him with the tricorder. He then reports to Picard that Riker's cranial bone structure has increased 20% and that his brain has decreased in size. What happened to the discarded matter that once composed his brain? After the crew is 'cured' by Data's toxin how does Riker's brain reconfigure to it's natural state? Also, both Worf and Barclay are depicted as having their skin replaced or discarded in favor of the new life form they are becoming. How is their skin is repaired if it is missing completely? Actually I suppose one could suggest that in the 24th century an advanced type of reconstructive surgery process could this. Beverly did need it because of the facial damaged caused by Worf spraying her with venom.

Above and beyond all of these though is the theory that dormant genes within humans carry genetic sequences that could surface after an inexplicable event and effect such horrific changes. It simply is unbelievable and insufficiently supported. Some viewers were even offended or disturbed by the show's speculation of human's evolutionary development. Keeping in mind that Star Trek is a show that historically takes adventurous risks (indeed, "To boldly go where no one has gone before!") for such an outlandish idea a stronger scientific platform should have been developed before progressing with the production of this story. A more plausible development would have been that all the crewmembers regress to the same or near Neanderthal state that Riker does.

Still, I don't dislike "Genesis" for all it's flaws. Instead I like it because of the strong first half and also because it does dare take such a risk with storytelling. I don't necessarily agree with the theories it presents but it does make for a lively discussion.

actually not phenomenally stupid
"Genesis" is nowhere near as phenomenally stupid as the synopsis makes it sound. The basic premise is, yes, pretty darned stupid, but if one suspends one's disbelief (and if one cannot do that, why is one watching Star Trek?), there are some fun chills here.

Gates McFadden didn't have much to work with, but she created a fine eerie atmosphere. This one ends up being fun to watch (Troi scarfing down a big plate of caviar, Worf calvinistically suggesting it's too rich) -- and at least it's not preachy.

Excellent Episode That Sends Chills
....It's a television show designed to entertain. I loved this epsiode due to its suspense. The crew of the Enterprise slowly turns into different creatures due to a drug administered into Lt. Barclay. The thing that makes it exciting is that you don't know whats going to happen next and you don't know what everyone is going to turn into. Wipe the science of things out of your head and watch a classic such as this. .... 5 stars all the way.

Will Picard be a lemur or pygmy marmoset?
This is also my choice for the worst STNG episode ever. Dr. Crusher is examining Spot, Data's pregnant cat, and Reg Barclay (Dwight Schultz) in Sick Bay. She gives Barclay a synthetic T-cell that will allow his body to fight off this rare disease to which he is particularly susceptible. Meanwhile, the Enterprise is testing a new targeting program for photon torpedoes. One of them gets lost, which for some reason requires Picard and Data to get on a shuttle and go after it. They return three days later and find the Enterprise crew has de-evolved into hideous creatures. Every time some monstrosity shows up you get to guess who they really are.

I do not know a lot about genetic science, but this sounds pretty far-fetched to even me. A synthetic T-cell becomes an airborne virus and every one starts mutating like crazy? I don't think so. Nor do I think that undoing such genetic mischief is equally easy to accomplish. Certainly the make-up department does a nice job of turning the crew into various creatures. Also, the romance between Worf and Troi continues: he bites her, but this also turns out not to be a good thing. But this is a poor use of Barclay's character and when all is said and done I am left with the conclusion "Genesis" is just a lame episode.

very disapppointed
I'm afraid this is one of my least favorite episodes. The direction and filming were indeed good, but the science behind the episode was completely bogus. (I know a lot of medical people, including geneticists...they hate this ep.) Worse, and perhaps because she directed it, Gates' character,the doctor responsible for the trouble, showed absolutely NO sign of any remorse or regret for her actions...actions which caused a number of murder deaths among the crew. The only redeeming quality was the as usual high quality work of Dwight Schultz, as the neurotic and entertaining Barclay.

ST:TNG has often had trouble with its main characters being wooden or unemotional, or with weak science, but this one I just couldn't forgive. Sorry. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Should have been so much better
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. When a story is as reliant on plot holes and the stupidity of the characters as this one is, you know you're in trouble.
This story should have been epic. Instead, it was perfunctory and rushed. There was no real sense of the crisis the reappearance of the Borg caused; everything was focused narrowly on the Enterprise, with no recognition that anything else counted. The direction was very flat, and the writing so bad as to be laughable in places. The special effects, make-up, and art design needed to be a lot better, too.
Worst of all, there was no emotional depth to this episode. Moments that should have been shocking, or moving, or chilling, just weren't. Nor was there any sense of how very much all this should have mattered to Data.
"Descent Part I" needed a comprehensive re-write, a better director, and about twenty more minutes to really highlight what mattered. It was throughly flat, when it needed to be the exact opposite.

This One Kicked Buns!!!
This episode had alot of excitment and the Enterprise travels over warp 180!Yes,180!I love this episode because it has advanced borg men.This is the most coolest episode I have seen with the borg.As you know,people that are not importent without hearing their last names die.I liked the storyline to it.I enjoyed part 2 aswell.

I don't know about the other reviewers, but this rocks!
I watched this video, and thought: there couldn't be a better episode. But that's just me. I mean, I've only watched 1/8 of Star Trek The Next Generation. So don't blame me if I'm wrong, but I just plainly like this show, and you'll probably like this cool pool of entertainment.

Lore Returns with the Borg!
In this one Lore aquires a following that includes Hugh the Borg. Remember him? Hugh was the Borg Picard attempted to revive to it's human origins. The Borg have the capapbility to think on their own. That's what made them so dangerous.

It begins with Data, Riker and Worf with an away team beam to a station that was finished by the Borg. The big problem here was Data enjoyed destroying the Borg that eventually attacked the team.

What Data doesn't know is he was being controlled by Lore the whole time. That is why he was "feeling" hatred toward them.

This one is a keeper. It stands up to what I call the repeated viewing test. You can watch this one along with part two a few times and still find it entertaining.

We get to see Data question his way of life aboard the Enterprise.

The only fault I find is the music. If Paramount ever releases these with a new DVD set; the music should be more dramatic. The producer Rick Berman doesn't believe in overpowering music. I disagree. The music in this one would have set the sinister tone and threat the Borg presented. And it just wasn't there because the music was so dull.

Data gets emotional over killing a Borg
The Enterprise responds to a distress call from an outpost and arrives to find only dead bodies and a group of Borg. During the fight, Data strangles one of the Borg to death in a fit of anger. When the Enterprise chases after the Borg ship, it disappears. La Forge tries to figure out how the Borg managed to escape while Data spends time on the holodeck trying to recreate his emotional experience. When the Borg attack a second colony the Enterprise pursues the Borg ship and follows it into an energy vortex at which point A couple of Borg beam onto the Enterprise bridge. Worf kills one and they capture the other while the Borg ship escapes. When Data visits the Borg in the bridge they have an interesting discussion about the android's emotional experience. The Borg fiddles with a device on this arm and suddenly Data is willing to do anything to feel emotions again. The Borg promises Data that their leader can give Data what he needs, whereupon the android helps the Borg escape in a shuttlecraft. The Enterprise follows them to a planet where Picard, La Forge and Troi discover a large building. Inside they Data, a whole bunch of Borg, and...Lore! It turns out Lore is the leader of these Borg and that Data has joined his brother. Together, the sons of Soong promise to destroy the Federation. (To be continued)

Once again we get the Borg for a season finale as Data's desire to be more human takes a bizarre turn. Data suddenly declares he would be willing to kill La Forge, his best friend, just to experience the anger and pleasure he felt when he killed the Borg. The appearance of Lore at the end is certainly a nice twist, since it means there is a logical explanation for Data's radical personality change. What is not clear is why the Borg, or to be more specific this particular group of Borg, following Lore? For answers, see Part 2 of "Descent." ... Read more

Amazon.com

Continuing the story line begun in episode 65, "Sins of the Father," "Reunion" treats us to more of the machinations of Klingon politics. Klingon ambassador K'Ehleyr (Suzie Plakson) boards the Enterprise to meet with Captain Picard and inform him that he is to meet with the Klingon high council leader K'Mpec. K'Mpec is dying, having been poisoned by one of the two rivals for his place, Duras and Gowron, and appoints Picard to oversee the succession once K'Mpec has died. Picard's main task is to discover K'Mpec's murderer and make sure that the murderer doesn't assume power. Meanwhile, K'Ehleyr turns out to be Worf's mate and has brought along their young son, which invokes Worf's dishonor from the earlier episode in which he is basically shunned by the High Council for his father's supposed collaboration with the Romulans. As we know (if we've been following along), it is Duras whose father was the traitor. And Duras is one of the contenders for leadership. Hmmm, which one is the murderer of K'Mpec, Duras or Gowron?

If this is any real mystery to anyone, there are numerous clues thrown in your way to implicate the real culprit, and no expectation goes thwarted. While this is a major flaw for admirers of suspense, there is plenty of the Klingons' native ferocity in evidence to supply excitement, especially in the splendidly fierce visage of Gowron (Robert O'Reilly) and the sultry voice of Suzie Plakson as K'Ehleyr. We also move one step closer to Worf's vindication, continued in the future two-part episode "Redemption." --Jim Gay ... Read more

Reviews (3)

guess who's coming to dinner?
Half-human, half-Klingon ambassador, K'Ehleyr (Suzie Plakson) is back as her ship rendevous unexpectedly with the Enterprise. Leader of the Klingon High Council, K'Mpec is dying - a slow death by murder - someone has poisoned him. The two men up for succession as Leader are Gowron and Duras, and K'Mpec suspects that one of them is behind this cowardly act. K'Mpec pleads with Picard to find out who his murderer is so that a coward does not become the ruler of the Klingon Empire.

When K'Ehleyr beams on board, Worf is sent (reluctantly) to receive her in the transporter room. He is shocked to see a young (about 3 years old) boy beam aboard with her. Who is the father? Is it Worf? It has been almost 3 years since Worf & K'Ehleyr had their intimate moments on the Holodeck and later parted awkwardly.

It becomes clear that this young boy, Alexander, is indeed Worf's son. He is torn. Not only does he not feel like he is father material, he cannot claim the boy as his own, since Alexander will inherit his dishonor due to Worf's discommendation.

A suicide bomber of sorts, interrupts a meeting between Picard, Gowron & Duras. As it turns out, one of Duras's men had a Romulan-made detonator implanted in his body. As Picard's team continues the murder investigation, K'Ehleyr advises Picard on how to draw out the rite of succession as slowly as possible to avoid having a Romulan collaborator in leadership of the Klingon homeworld.

Duras, who is clearly behind a number of cowardly acts that are shameful to the Empire, is feeling the heat and seeks revenge by killing K'Ehleyr and Worf seeks revenge as is his rite within Klingon law.

Will he kill Duras? Will he raise Alexander? Who will lead the high council? The plot thickens and no one is really sure until the very end.

Worf has a hand in the question of the Klingon succession
"Reunion" brings together virtually every Klingon related plot-line on Star Trek: The Next Generation. A Klingon battle cruiser suddenly shows up with K'Mpec, the leader of the Klingon High Council and Worf's paramour, Ambassador K'Ehleyr. K'Mpec has been poisoned and wants Picard to be arbiter of the Klingon succession between the two aspiring leaders, Duras and Gowron, and find out which one of them killed the Chancellor. Meanwhile, not to be outdone, K'Ehlyer presents Worf with their son, Alexander, a by-product of their passionate encounter during "The Emissary" (Episode 46). K'Ehlyer presses for marriage, but Worf refuses because of his Discommendation ("Sins of the Father," Episode 65), although, of course, he will not tell her why he did what he did. K'Ehleyr undertakes her own investigation and learns the truth: that it was the father of Duras and not Worf's who was the traitor and Duras who poisoned K'Mpec. When an outraged K'Ehleyr confronts Duras, he kills her.

The producers might not have intended to have all these threads come together in this one episode, but "Reunion" certainly does a masterful job of bringing everything to a head. Few episodes in the history of the show have as many shocks as this one, combinging to bring Worf to the most pivotal moment in his life. With this episode the characterization of Worf becomes complete, giving actor Michael Dorn his greatest moments. From this point on you can never consider the Klingons to be the somewhat cartoonish enemies they were on the original series and the ramifications of what happenes in "Reunion" will last until the end of the series. A very impressive and important episode.

The Return of K'Ehlyr and Klingon Politics
In season two's "The Emissary", we are introduced to Ambassador K'Ehlyr, a half-Klingon, half-human Federation diplomat and former friend and lover of Lt. Worf. In season three's "Sins of the Father", we are introduced to Klingon politics and subterfuge and Worf is dishonored because of a crime his father supposedly committed. With season four, both plotlines come together in the intense and wonderfully constucted episode "Reunion".

The leader of the Klingon Empire, Chancellor K'mpec, is dying and decides that Captain Picard, in accordance with Klingon law, will choose the next leader of the Empire. Two Klingons council members are competing for the throne, Gowron and Duras (Duras previously had dishonored Worf by laying the blame of his father on to Worf's father). One problem: K'mpec has been slowly poisoned by either Duras or Gowron and wants Picard to find out which one has, ultimately, murdered him. Picard has Worf investigate. This puts Worf in an awkward position because, not only is he an outcast in Klingon society and Duras is the one who dishonored him, but his lover, K'Ehlyr (who is assisting Picard and the Federation in this diplomatic mess) just dropped a bombshell on Worf: She has a son by Worf and Worf won't acknowledge their son because he doesn't want his dishonor passed on. Whew! Did you get all that?

This makes for a fascinating episode filled with political intrigue and family dysfunction. The ending is a shocker and is quite bold on the part of Trek's creators and I give them kudos for their guts in writing and airing the episode's finale. I won't tell you what happens (you probably already know) but it is both heart-wrenching and, oddly, satisfying.

Great episode with great characters, both villainous and noble. What a story! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Riker Van Winkle
Riker and much of the crew are celebrating his birthday in Ten-Forward as the Enterprise detects strange readings from a planet near the Neutral Zone. An M-Class planet, yet unhospitible conditions - they are being probed and the crew suspects that this could be from an underground, secret Romulan base that there have been rumors about. Riker's birthday party is put on hold as he, Worf & Geordi beam to the surface to investigate.

Volcanic gasses including sulphur become overwhelming and they have to beam back right away, but the Enterprise cannot lock on to Riker due to unknown interference. He coughs as the gasses become thicker and he is overcome and collapses.

He wakes up in Sickbay to find Dr. Crusher standing over him - but she looks considerably older and her hair and uniform are different. He catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror and sees that he's a little worse for wear himself. Dr. Crusher then tells him what has happened. While on the planet, he contracted an Alterian Virus. The DNA from the virus lays dormant until one day, it becomes active, destroying memory synapses in the brain... all the way back to the date of infection. After 10 days of fever, he has awakened in Sickbay to find out that he is missing 16 years worth of memories. He is the captain of the Enterprise, and he is supposed to rendevous with the Romulan ship Decius to sign a landmark treaty that will mean peace between the Romulans and the Federation at last.

He finds out that he was married, but his wife died 2 years earlier, and he has a 12 year old son named Jean-Luc. It's all a little too much for him to handle as Admiral Picard thrust him into negotiations with the Romulans when he feels he lacks the proper information to proceed with the negotiations. He only needs to reveal the location of a long-time secret Federation base to clinch the deal and seal the bond of trust.

He feels uneasy about it, but is goaded by Troi and Picard to proceed. Trying to jog his memory to recall any memory from the past 16 years, he accesses the ship's computer to look at his family record and photos until he finally sees a photo of his wife and he realizes that nothing is truly what it seems.

Just when you think the mystery is solved, another one surprises you. This is a well-thought-out story with excellent acting and mind-stimulating plot twists.

Riker gets off the bridge and into character
While others have pointed out the surprising nature of this episode's hypothesis, the thing that impresses me most about "Future Imperfect" is how its premise allows for normalcy. The drama here is propelled by very ordinary concerns: fatherly instincts, the grief of a wife's death, and simple disorientation. Marina Sirtis, divorced from her normal psychobabble, provides an unusually sympathetic performance. And Jonathan Frakes is allowed to step outside his posturing bridge presence to display rather more individual concerns. The result is an episode which contains not only satisfying plot twists but more subtle acting as well.

Waking Up A Stranger
Imagine you go to bed tonight, and tomorrow morning you wake up in your bed, but the room has changed. And who is that woman in bed beside you? Soon you see that 16 years is missing from your memory!

This is not exactly the scenario facing Riker, but he does awaken to find 16 years missing from his memory. Most of the crew is there, but they, like himself, have aged. He is now the captain, Data is his first officer, and Picard is an Ambassador. It seems that during those 16 years Riker has married, become a father, and a widower.

But he has little time to adjust to his new world. He is the key in an important negotiation with the Romuluns. But as time goes by, Riker becomes suspicious. Is this future indeed reality? If not, who is fooling him and why?

This episode is well written and directed, and it provoked many thoughts in me. For instance, I am in my middle 30's, and if I woke up tomorrow and I was 50, in time I would be distressed how I had in a sense "lost" 16 years. It is in contrast to the 25-30 years that Picard "gains" in the "Inner Light".

It is also interesting to see how Riker reacts to his being such a changed person. He has always distrusted the Romulons, but it seems that in the last 16 years he has helped bring peace between this race and the Federation. This is one of several episodes that would have been a good movie.

A thrilling mystery involving Captain Riker of the Enterpris
"Future Imperfect" is probably my favorite Riker episode from the Next Generation series and certainly provides Jonathan Frakes with an opportunity to show the character at his best. Riker is leading an away team that is investigating a suspected secret Romulan base near the Neutral Zone. Suddenly the group is overcome by poisonous gas and the next thing Riker knows he is awake and back on the Enterprise. The only problem is that sixteen years have passed, he is now captain of the Enterprise, and he can remember nothing of the intervening period--including the fact that he is a widower with a son named Jean-Luc (winningly played by Chris Demetral). Although he is assured that the memory loss is just a side effect of his exposure to the gas on that fateful day way back when. And just to make things interesting Riker is in the middle of final negotiations for a peace treaty with the Romulans. But the more people tell Riker that everything is okay, the less he believes them.

It is somewhat ironic that the best "mystery" episode in the series features Riker instead of Picard/Dixon Hill. More importantly, not only are their multiple layers and solid twists to the story, the payoff is up to the challenge. Of all the glimpses of the "future" Riker, this is far and away the best and his best moment since he told Worf to fire on Locutus. A surprisingly great episode. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Wesley Crusher earns his pip
Ensign Crusher will soon be leaving the Enterprise to enroll in Starfleet Academy and Picard asks Wesley to join him on a final mission so they can spend some quality time together before Wesley is gone. Picard has always felt responsible for Wesley, ever since having to tell his mother that Wesley's father was killed during a mission about 15 years earlier.

Despite his longing of connection with Wesley, Picard has always been awkward in expressing affection with children and he is also wary of crossing the delicate threshold of familiarity with someone of considerably lower rank. Now that time is no longer on their side, Picard hopes to have a final bonding experience.

Picard and Crusher board a miner's shuttle to mediate a conflict on a mining colony. After a series of malfunctions, the shuttle crash lands on a small moon that supports life - albeit poorly. The heat is oppressive and due to injuries sustained on their journey to a cave to avoid the sun, Picard needs water to survive. Wesley and the shuttle pilot (Nick Tate) will also need water within a few days or suffer a similar fate.

Their tricorders detect water, only to find that the water fountain in the cave is protected by an electronic sentry that they cannot figure out how to circumvent.

As Picard fades in and out of consiousness, Wesley must have a non-stop duel of words, will and guile with the mining shuttle captain who believes he can strong-arm his way out of any situation. Although he has fewer years of experience in life, Crusher has the advantage of having been aboard the Enterprise for years, being exposed to more space anomolies and varied species and cultures than this rustic ship captain has in his life time and tries to talk reason to a man with a serious machismo complex.

The mining ship captain gets himself killed in a "you know he had it coming" scene, leaving Wesley to figure out a way to save Picard and himself, with life-saving minutes ticking away. Picard and Crusher bond in a touching last few moments and just when Crusher acts less kid-like and geeky, they get ready to shove him off to Starfleet. Oh well.

Felicitous contrivance amidst all the cliches . . .
Pros:
1) It's great to see Wesley finally gone. (ABOUT TIME!)
2) There are some nice moments between him and Picard.
Cons:
1) Cliche after cliche
2) Why is that fountain in a cave and guarded by a forcefield? Don't even ask . . .
If you liked Wesley, I imagine you'll like this episode where the Boy Wonder saves the day yet again. If you didn't like him, I tend to doubt you'll find much to like here, either. But whatever your opinion of Wesley Crusher, surely the writers could have come up with something better than this?

The bitter yet oh-so-sweet departure of Wesley Crusher!
Woo-hoo! Yes! He's finally gone! Wussley- whoops, Wesley- is finally off the show as a regular cast member! No more of that sniveling, goody-two-shoes attitude to nauseate the NextGen trekkies! Well, except for the once-a-season guest shot, but I can handle a small bit of Wesley every once in a blue moon.

Unfortunately, the screenwriters for this show decided to send off sci-fi's most-reviled teen by once again having him single-handedly save the day (and Capt. Morehead- whoops, Picard)! Man, do those guys know how to beat a concept to death or what! I'll take the umpeenth 'Holodcek malfunction' eppie over one of Wes' solo rescue shows any day of the week!

Yep, it sure is great to see the kid finally gone after this show. Now Jean-Luc can hit on Dr. Crusher and not feel so guilty about it! Go get 'er, chrome-dome! Oh yeah!

'Late!

Wesley saves Captain Picard and goes off to the Academy
As Welsey Crusher is about to head off to Starfleet Academy, Captain Picard takes the lad on one "Final Mission." However, on their way to mediate a conflict at a mining colony, the miner's shuttle crashlands on a desert-like moon. The Enterprise cannot look for the missing shuttle because they are too busy towing a barge of radioactive material into a nearby sun. Picard, Wesley and the shuttle pilot finally discover a fountain of water inside a cave, but when they approach it a force field is activated. The shuttle pilot, with a gift for making bad situations worse, fires his phaser at which point an energy entity attacks him. The next thing we know there are falling rocks all over the place and when Picard pushes Wesley out of the way, the captain is severly injured. After the entity kills the shuttle pilot, it is left to Wesley to save the day.

Knowing that Wesley had to receive some sort of sendoff as actor Wil Wheaton left the show, "Final Mission" is a much better episode than we would have expected, which I think even those who never liked the character would be forced to admit. Certainly the situation is somewhat contrived, but there is a wonderful moment between Wesley and Picard as the captain talks about how envious he is of the young man and his future. It is a wonderful scene and perhaps the closest the pair ever came to acknowledging their underlying relationship. The other nice thing is that like Tasha Yar, the character of Wesley Crusher was a lot more interesting after they "left" the show. The next episode with Wesley, "The First Duty" (Episode 119) will be the best of the bunch.

A somewhat touching story about survival
Wesley Crusher, Capt. Picard and a captain crash land on a mysterious planet, which is mostly a desert. However, the craft they crashed in is damaged beyond repair, and the team begins a long march to distant mountains in search of shelter and water from the blazing sun. However, when they enter a cave, the water supply in the cave is protected by a force field, but the obsessive member attempts to disable the force field, which causes rocks falling down on the away team, and seriously wounding Picard. Wesley must get to the water soon, or Picard will die. ... Read more

Reviews (24)

Star Trek's most pivotal & influential moment...
The two-part cliffhanger "The Best of Both Worlds" reacquainted the viewing audience with Star Trek's most relentless alien foes the Borg. The end of Part One disturbed viewers with the visage of Captain Picard, captured by- and assimilated into- the Borg collective. Now he is Locutus, one of the enemy, fighting against his former shipmates and comrades, his knowledge and experience involuntarily used against them. How can one possibly defeat an enemy who knows you almost as well as you know yourself? Find out in part two...

Considered by Trekkie (yes, TREKKIE) consensus to be the best two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "The Best of Both Worlds" also launched NextGen into a fourth TV season, surpassing the Original Series' run.

"The Best of Both Worlds" and its repurcussions would also have the greatest impact on future Star Trek continuity. A few subsequent NextGen episodes and the "First Contact" movie would feature Picard coming to grips with and facing his darkest nightmares about his forced assimilation into the Borg collective mind. Benjamin Sisko of "Deep Space Nine" was introduced facing a Borg attack directed by Locutus. The Voyager crew has a former Borg crew member.

To sum it all up: it's my belief that "The Best of Both Worlds" showcased Star Trek at it's absolute best. It set the standard which, in my opinion, has yet to be surpassed by any subsequent Trek movie or episode. If you've been looking for Star Trek's most pivotal & influential moment, look no further... you've found it!

Star Trek:The Next Generation at its best!
They are from the deepest reaches of the Delta Quadrant; they call themselves the Borg. Half-humanoid, half machine, their only goal is total perfection using one sole strategy-the assimilation of whole wo