@dgw Thanks for the information. I wasn't not sure why they hadn't followed that story up. May I ask where you get your information from? I do own several books upon Star Trek but some of the info you provide I didn't know.
@finfan For this one in particular, I spent a fair bit of time reading IMDB's trivia, looking for background on Google (ending up at Wikipedia), and putting it all together in my head—with some help from writing and rewriting paragraphs several times.
That's the general process. If I'm curious about something in the episode, whether an on-screen detail or just a hint at production stuff (like the writers' strike), I'll go research it after writing my nitpicks down. (I try to write down only nitpicks/goofs I personally noticed, though occasionally something too good not to mention slips past me and I crib it from IMDB…)
It's interesting that you mention books. I, too, have several Star Trek reference books but it's far more convenient to simply leverage the Internet for research after (re-)watching an episode, since I'm already on a computer.
@dgw So no one source in particular, I see. I started Star Trek when there was no internet so books, documentaries and even convention visits where my main source of info. Much easier today now. I am surprised that even after decades I still find bits and pieces I didn't know.
Really enjoy reading your comments - keep them coming.
Good to know my instinct about this being a borg warning was on point. I really thought that’s where we were going with that last Quinn episode since I know they are an important villain in this series at some point.
Review by dgwVIP 10BlockedParent2018-11-25T06:50:27Z
Riker calls for emergency attention from security, so who shows up? Worf, with Geordi. Neither has a phaser. La Forge isn't even part of the security division—at this point in the series, he's the helmsman. But Dr. Crusher happens to bring along a phaser when called to a medical emergency onboard the ship… because that makes sense. (We'll try to ignore how Worf and Geordi play along with Admiral Quinn's lies about what happened to Riker. That's also bad.)
That chair Remmick is sitting in looks an awful lot like the one used for Admiral Jameson in "Too Short a Season". That's because it was the same prop, redressed.
Not a nitpick, but doesn't fit into the review proper, either: I had no idea Captain Rixx was a Bolian. This is the first appearance of the species in Star Trek, and I guess I'm used to the later makeup design—which uses a much more saturated blue. Bonus trivia: The Bolians were named after Cliff Bole, who went on to direct a total of 42 Star Trek episodes across TNG, DS9, & VOY. He also directed on numerous other well-known shows like MacGyver, The X-Files, Baywatch, and Charlie's Angels.
Some background information on what was happening in the television world at the time explains why this episode wasn't as good as you might think it should be. After all, it's clearly meant to be a taut thriller about the possibility of Starfleet being seized by aliens. It's obviously meant to be part of a larger story arc—that started several episodes back, when Quinn gave Picard that warning.
The writers' strike of 1988 was ultimately responsible for this letdown. This "Conspiracy" plotline was meant to be intertwined with the Borg, who were to be introduced at the start of season two. But the writers' strike delayed the rest of the Borg storyline several months, and this piece of it was dropped. That's why nothing ever comes of the "homing beacon" Data reports.
It's too bad. Aside from it being entirely too easy for Picard and Riker to win against the "mother creature" (in Remmick's body), I enjoyed this one. It's not perfect, but "Conspiracy" as part of something bigger would have been better than what ultimately happened: treating this like any other incident-of-the-week—essentially, pressing the "big reset button" and pretending like these events never occurred.