George and Sikes tackle the apparent murder of a Newcomer video phone sex model, only to find that the situation isn’t what it seems – or so they’re told. While they try to navigate L.A.’s adult filmmaking underworld, which has eagerly embraced struggling Newcomer actresses, the cameras are rolling on them as well: a TV news reporter is shooting a series of profiles about George, both at work and at home, and Sikes finds the ever-present camera crew more than a little distracting. When the series brings George newfound attention and adulation, even from the mayor, Sikes finds his partner’s swelling ego more than a little annoying as well. When the violence against Newcomer sex workers turns real, Sikes also finds that the news crew may be impeding the investigation, and that with George hob-nobbing with the city’s leaders, it’s an investigation that Sikes is increasingly taking on alone.
written by Charles S. Kaufman & Larry B. Williams
directed by Lyndon Chubbuck
music by David Kurtz
Guest Cast: Angela Bassett (Renee Longstreet), Deborah Goodrich (Virginia Ham), Gene Butler (Arvin Kaufman), Hugh Maguire (Ernie Denton), Kelly Jean Peters (Mrs. Denton), Rob King (Louis Denton), John Mese (Roger Rose), Evelina Fernandez (Female Executive), Ian Patrick Williams (John), David Hoskins (Joe), Terry Nunn (Male Executive), Kerrigan Mahan (Cameraman), Jennifer Roach (Tilly), Joseph Graham (Bailey)
Notes: Angela Bassett may well be the highest-profile guest star in Alien Nation’s brief history; only a few years after this genre guest spot, she would play the part of rock icon Tina Turner in the career-making movie What’s Love Got To Do With It; other genre roles included guest stints on Alias, Strange Days, Contact, and the early ’90s TV adaptation of The Flash. She also guest starred in several episodes of A Man Called Hawk, alongside future Star Trek: Deep Space Nine star Avery Brooks.
LogBook entry by Earl Green
Stardate 43462.5: A legendary Romulan strategist/warrior assumes a new identity and races to warn the Federation of a massive Romulan invasion in the near future, but his attempts are thwarted by the crew’s prejudice and suspicions, not to mention the Romulans themselves, eager to do away with both the defector and the Enterprise.written by Ronald D. Moore
Notes: Although produced after The Bonding, The Defector was the first Star Trek spec script bought from writer and fan Ronald D. Moore, who would become one of the series’ most frequent writers, the co-writer of two of the four Next Generation feature films and numerous Deep Space Nine episodes, and later became the showrunner of the highly acclaimed 21st century remake of Battlestar Galactica. Prior to this script catching the attention of executive producer Michael Piller, Moore had not successfully sold a single television or film script and had no agent.
