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On the whole, the seventh season of Star Trek: The Next Generation returned
to the spirit and adventure of the third - the show's best season - featuring
several standout action stories, touching character pieces, and a healthy dose
of the weird and spooky. Robert Heyman provides his own unique episode guide to
those seventh season gems. Beginning with the season opener Descent II,
each issue of LogBook will feature two new episode reviews.
Descent II (3 out of 4 stars - good).
"I realize now my time aboard the Enterprise was a waste; my quest to
become human, misguided. An evolutionary step in the wrong direction."
- Data, to the captured Picard, Geordi and Troi)
A tame but otherwise satisfying follow-up to the Borg's return in the sixth
season cliffhanger. Lore imprisons Picard, Geordi and Troi, hoping to use them
to perfect his mind-control experiments on the Borg. In the meantime, the
Enterprise, in the hands of Dr. Crusher, fights off the Borg in space as her
first big challenge in command.
The space battles are exciting in the Crusher B-plot, reminiscent of Geordi's
"fish out of water" command experience in first season's Arsenal of
Freedom; but unlike that episode, Crusher's first real stab at command lacks
the sweat and edge-of-your-seat tension. Crusher seems almost too capable in
command. The sparks between Ensign Taitt and Lt. Barnaby work nicely, as do the
special effects, helped along by a refreshingly bombastic score by Jay
Chattaway.
Unfortunately, the fireworks in the surface don't prove quite as exciting.
It's an interesting idea for Lore to play David Koresh, and scripter Rene
Echevarria does inject moments of genuine tension, especially in scenes between
Data and Geordi. But most of this half of the episode is a lot of sitting
around, talking, trying to figure out the hand deus ex machina that will
make Data a good guy again. Were it not for the first-rate production values,
the return of Hugh, and the episode's provocative ending where Geordi saves
Data's emotion chip for future consideration, this episode would have been a
complete dud. It's also time to give the Borg a rest.
Liaisons (3 out of 4 stars - good).
"It was...excruciating."
- Worf to Riker after holodeck battle exercises by Byleth
On his way to a diplomatic assignment, Picard's shuttle crash lands on a
desolate planet, finding an obsessed female survivor of a forgotten crash seven
years earlier. Picard learns the woman, Anna, is actually the pilot of his
shuttle who had taken human form to understand love through a uniquely staged
crash scenario. Meanwhile, Worf and Troi must contend with two unruly
ambassadors.
Haven't we seen this story before? Aliens taking on human form just to
understand we humans (remember The Child?). This is the most hackneyed
story idea imaginable and would have earned it a single star had it not been so
well written with moments of comedic brilliance. It's a neatly constructed
mystery, and both Patrick Stewart and Barbara Williams, who plays Anna, give
fine performances. The ending, where Voval (Alien Nation's Eric Pierpoint)
discloses the purpose of his pretense, is a bit of a letdown. Had this actually
been a story about a crazed crash victim and Picard's stoic attempts to handle
her, the episode would have been far more successful. Nevertheless, Troi's
dilemma with food-obsessed Loquel and Worf's diplomatic headache with a
combative Byleth work splendidly. After 11 hours of holodeck exercises, Worf's
statement to Riker that "It was excruciating" makes this episode worth
watching.
Robert
Heyman
This article originally appeared in the October 1994
issue of LogBook: The Zine
Reprinted with the permission of Robert Heyman. © 1994, 2001
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