2x16 Q Who

[7.9/10] Captain Kirk’s “Risk is our business” speech is, perhaps, the peak of The Original Series. It is, at the very least, the clearest enunciation of the show’s ethos -- that exploration of the great unknown is inherently dangerous and maybe even a little reckless, but that it’s worth it to improve ourselves in the process, to unlock the knowledge of the universe and behold the wonders in contains.

But there is hubris in that sentiment, or at a minimum a certain foolhardiness to it. It assumes that we’re prepared for whatever’s out there, that whatever hornets nests humanity inadvertently kicks on its journey through the stars will be manageable enough that the resulting harms won’t grossly outweigh the glowing benefits we’re chasing out there. To bolt blindly into the skies, push the boundaries of knowledge and understanding, is to risk not just loss but annihiliation, a potential cost that practically became the currency of Star Trek’s big screen outings, but still carries weight in the smaller stakes world of T.V.

“Q Who?” essentially puts Star Trek’s ethos on trial. Q claims to want to join the Enterprise crew, appearing out of nowhere to cause a bit of his usual mischief. But his true goal seems to be his overarching mission -- to test us, to see if we’re worthy of the course humanity has laid out for himself. And what better way to measure whether humanity is truly ready for what lies ahead of it than The Borg.

This episode is the debut of those recurring, half-mechanical monsters who would become the franchise’s biggest big bad until they were nerfed into a standard villain of the week. Even returning to their Star Trek origin here, after we’ve seen beaucoup assimilations, a full-fledged war, and even Borg crewmembers, the steampunk monstrosities make an impression unlike anything Picard and company have faced.

Granted, part of that promise (Q’s promise, mind you), that this is an unprecedented challenge rings a little false. Lord knows that over the course of his five year mission and beyond, Kirk and his crew encountered plenty of what the Starfleet manual refers to as “profoundly weird shit” and, even in just a season and a half, Picard’s Enterprise had some unusual encounters. But The Borg still represent a shift from business as usual that justifies their existence as a distinctive, and arguably unwinnable challenge for our heroes to face here.

The Borg cannot be reasoned with. They cannot be soothed with diplomacy, repelled with superior force, or even run away from. None of Starfleet’s usual tricks will work here. Instead, they are single-minded, both in the sense that they want only to strip-mine humanity for its technological resources, and in that they are a collective intelligence, one that exists as a single consciousness despite the implied presence of thousands of humanoid drones at their disposal.

In that, The Borg represent the philosophical opposite of Starfleet and the Federation. As Picard tells Q, the Federation’s mantra is to seek out new life and new civilizations, whereas The Borg only want to consume the gears and mechanizations that make that mission possible, The Federation believes in strength through collective diversity and individuality, while The Borg consolidate every mind and thought they encounter into a singular whole. The Federation wants to explore, to embrace, to experience the magnitude of the galaxy, while The Borg only want to mine it for parts and consume it.

That’s what makes them the perfect enemy, and it’s a good thing, because “Q Who?” is pretty dramatically inert beyond the ways in which its an introduction for one Star Trek’s most enduring villains. Star Trek is often at its best when the crew du jour is in problem-solving mode, but this is, by definition, an unsolvable problem. So while there’s some building tension as the Enterprise team tries more and different things to engage with or escape from The Borg, all of which eventually fail, for the most part this is just an excuse for the audience to learn more about this weird new enemy.

That’s not to say the episode doesn't have other bits on offer. It’s always fun to see Q screwing with the stuffed shirts of Starfleets. (His “microbrain” exchange with Worf is particularly funny.) This episode introduces Ensign Gomez, who becomes something of a lost thread in the series, but whose overeagerness makes for a nice parallel to Picard’s own brand of the same in this one. And seeing Q recognize Guinan and hint at her deeper, weirder backstory is a cool bit of worldbuilding and character detail for the show.

But Guinan actually plays a vital role in the show. When Q tells Picard that humanity’s not ready for this and that it’s folly to think otherwise, Picard rightfully doesn't trust him. The Captain gives his own “Risk is our business” speech, about the desire to explore stemming not from arrogance, but from resoluteness, from a desire to grow and discover. Who is Q to halt or interfere with what, and why should Picard take him at his word?

Guinan, on the other hand, is an honest broker. And yet, when she tells Picard to be afraid, to get the hell out of there, to run and hide because they’re not ready for this, he ignores her. Instead, his natural inquisitiveness causes him to want to learn more about the Borg, to stick around even after his ship has been ensnared and threatened, to even send three of his best men over to their ship.

That is, in a word, idiotic. It exemplifies the very type of hubris that Q cheerfully yaps about throughout the episode, and the fact that it contradicts Guinan’s warnings, not just their nigh-omnipotent pest, underlines that fact. But rather than Kirk’s or Archer’s foolhardy jaunts that nonetheless worked out just fine because the plot needed them to, recklessness is the point here.

Picard has to be humbled. He can’t get out of this situation using his pluck or his wits or his superior strategy. All he can do is plea to a demigod that if he and his crewmates die, Q won’t be able to gloat to anyone about how he was right. He tells Q that he needs him. He admits that there are things humanity isn’t ready for -- not yet. He earnestly and egolessly asks for help.

That’s what it takes to win the day here -- humility -- something in short supply when Captain James T. Kirk prowled through the skies in a ship without wings. The point of “Q Who?” is that there are costs to these journeys through the stars, threats beyond the capability of what so confident a fleet imagines itself ready to face, and things beyond our imagination or comprehension that we must prepare for in order to have half a chance to withstand.

Part of those costs is the loss of life involved. When given an attaboy by Q, Picard pointedly responds that he could have learned this lesson without the loss of eighteen members of his crew. It’s then that Q delivers the defining words of this series, and maybe even the franchise: “If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home, and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here! It's wondrous...with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross; but it's not for the timid.”

There’s a certain irony that this small bit of oratory, that so defines the yin and yang of the series and what its heroes hope to find as they explore the galaxy, comes not from a noble captain or a decorated officer, but from their most irksome antagonist. Q’s pronouncement is The Next Generation’s best reaffirmation and rejoinder to Kirk’s celebration of risk -- a reminder that fortune favors the bold, even in the twenty-fourth century, but also that the delights and chances for enlightenment in the universe lie within a thicket of perils and costs commensurate to all humanity hopes to achieve so far from home.

"Con permiso, Capitan. The hall is rented, the orchestra engaged. It's now time to see if you can dance." - Q

Ladies and gentlemen - the Borg

They created an uber-enemy to make a point and on the original run no one would have known what prominent role the Borg will have (although I'll admit that at some point I thought Star Trek became over-borged). But do I smell a little logic error here ? Guinan stated, now that the Borg know of the humans existence they would come for them. It is hinted, but if I remember correctly never confirmed, that the Borg were responsible for the destruction of outposts along the neutral zone. It was an idea the writers toyed with. But in any case the Borg look like humans (I know, production costs) and at this point we didn't know of Annika Hansen. So it was proven later the Borg should have known about humanity.
It is also worth mentioning that Q states mankind was "exonerated" while in All Good Things he will be saying "The trial never ended, Captain. We never reached a verdict. But now we have. You're guilty."

Nitpicking - what can I say other than I love it.

John de Lancie is outstanding here. I always enjoy seeing him and Stewart facing each other. Two great actors. And the traits are reversed: it is Picard who displays a toned down version of Q's arrogance and superiority as to how prepared they are. He later has to admit defeat and realises that this loss could become a good thing. This round goes to Q.

"If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid."