Worth watching
Themes: first contact, Reed development, Enterprise development
Enterprise is making way for future human space exploration by deploying subspace amplifiers, which apparently draws attention from a ship that even T'Pol doesn't recognize. They don't respond at all and just go away after taking a look. They return later, causing ship wide power failure, docking their shuttle, getting all old school alien with probing incapacitated crewmen and escaping before the crew can do anything. This makes Archer realise they are ill equipped for dealing with something as alien as this and turns them around to Jupiter station so they can get their phase cannons mounted. Reed and Tucker are certain they can do it themselves but Archer is too shaken to approve their request. That doesn't stop them from giving their all to do it themselves, which is the decision that ultimately saves them as they encounter aliens one more time, where it's finally clear their intention is to capture Enterprise. Aliens themselves have a part in their own defeat as their monitoring device causes power surge that boosts power of the cannons at the expense of other systems, which is something they use to defeat aliens and once more reverse course and go further into space.
Now this is really good. We get character development with having a character in question barely in that storyline at all, which is actually brilliant way to show just how much of a private person Reed is. We get truly alien looking aliens, not just humans with a little prosthetic detail to make them different (and also some slick looking ships). This goes a long way to show us there are other warp capable species in the universe whose motives and intentions can't be understood by usual human logic. Mystery surrounding them really brings a dose of scariness that isn't that usual in ST universe, as they genuinely seem as a threat, which really brings home the point of Enterprise and its crew not really being prepared for anything galaxy throws at them. Moreover, it also gives an opportunity to show us what the crew is made of, as they work relentlessly to mount those cannons themselves. It's everything one would hope for out of a Star Trek episode.
Fun fact: we get to learn there are 81 humans, 1 denobulan and 1 vulcan onboard.
So, I'm watching this series in chronological order. By far, this is one of the best episodes in the 1st season so far. This episode is so thought provoking for the sci fi dreamers, an incredibly well written character focused episode, with massive implications. If you are not a Trekkie or don't have the time to check out all the episodes, check this one out for sure, you won't be disappointed.
[2.4/10] What an utter chore of an episode. I love when Star Trek goes comedy. I love when Star Trek goes for something smaller stakes and more intimate. I love when Star Trek goes for cultural minutiae an introspection rather than explosions and firefights. But this was an attempt to do all of these things that quickly turned into forty-five minutes of hot wet garbage.
Let’s start at the most obvious point of this episode: you knew they weren’t going to kill off the dog. Outside of a choice action movie franchise, Hollywood never kills off the dog. So from the minute porthos was revealed to be sick (in another completely unnecessary decon scene), you knew the how the whole thing would end.
Granted, false peril is nothing new for Star Trek. Despite a few serialized elements (like the easily offended Kreetassans still holding a grudge), Enterprise is mostly a case-of-the-week show, which means the status quo has to be more or less restored by the end of the episode. That’s not a problem in and of itself.
The problem is that you have to make the fear and expectation and threat to a crewmember (even of the furry quadruped variety) meaningful through what the other characters do in reaction to it. Here is what “A Night in Sickbay” gives us instead. A goofy Odd Couple routine between Archer and Phlox, some C-level slapstick, a crappy monologue about Porthos being the Captain’s ex-girlfirend’s dog’s puppy, a bunch of Archer horny dreams that nobody was asking for, and a heap of Archer just generally stomping around with a bug up his butt in a way that’s broad and annoying and not especially relatable.
Let’s try to take this piece by agonizing piece. The biggest issue with this episode is that the misadventures of Archer and Phlox in sickbay are just unfunny and uninteresting. Archer being kept up by odd noises, or bitching about the Kreetassans, or trying to convey righteous anger in a way that puts you on his side even a little is just a dead on arrival. At times, the episode seems to be going for a lighter tone, which is something I tend to like, but the comedy here is so broad, so hacky, so sitcom-esque, that it almost makes you wish for a nonstop bout of the deadly serious/severe episodes.
That’s all before we get to the show trying to pull off a will they/won’t they bit between Archer and T’Pol that I find utterly baffling. I’m not blind to the fact that the show has tried to do some Hepburn/Tracy-type material with the two of them in the past, but I just completely fail to see any speck of romance or non-forced sexual tension between them.
The show has continued to try to make Archer/T’Pol happen, and it seems about as well-fated as trying to make “fetch” happen. I don’t know if its some odd, sublimated effort toward franchise penance given how many people seemed to want Kirk/Spock to happen, but the pairing makes no sense and has no chemistry, and devoting much of an episode to the idea that their friction is a projection and reaction to suppressed sexual feelings for one another is a doomed mission from the getgo.
Then it leads to us having to deal with more corny horndog dreams from Archer, mixed with the most cheeseball slips of the tongue immediately after. I’ll admit, the scene at Porthos’s dream funeral uses some nifty little noir tricks, and the focus on the hand-holding makes the sequence memorable, but it’s in service of utter drivel. The fact that Archer and Phlox have a bro-down heart to heart about it afterward only makes things worse, and the tease at the end between Archer and T’Pol is the rotten apple core on the top of the trash pile.
So what’s good about this episode? Not much, but there’s a few decent takeaways. For one, it’s interesting to learn a little more about Phlox’s history and his people’s culture. John Billingsley is one of the better performers on the show, and he can pull off a monologue about being proud of his children, not speaking to others, and missing the whole lot work in a way that Bakula just can’t.
And other the other side of things, I do appreciate the way that Archer realizing he was insensitive about Phlox’s people and their practices gives him the humility and understanding to both apologize to the good doctor, but also to go through the Kreetassans’ rituals for the good of his ship. I still think the whole “Archer’s pride vs. his love for his dog vs. the good of his ship” is half-baked as all hell, but it at least ends on a note of self-awareness and repentance from Archer, which is good and rare thing on this show.
It’s just a real pain to get to that point. Sure, the Kreetassans seem totally unreasonable about what they’re asking of Archer, but Archer is just as annoying in return. It’s fair to note that that’s the point here -- that Archer is being just as stubborn and pestersome as the people he’s railing against, and has to learn and grow. The problems are two-fold: (1.) It’s just not fun to watch Archer be a dick to people for forty minutes, and Bakula isn’t good enough in that sort of role to pull that off in the way that, for example, Hugh Laurie can, and (2.) the episode tries to chalk up most, if not all, of his irritability, to his feelings for T’Pol, which feels misplaced from the beginning, and unwelcome even if it weren’t.
The end result is an episode that you can’t even tell people skip, because it’s clearly setting up more indulgent and gratuitous “friction” between Archer and T’Pol down the line, but which has nothing of substance to offer beyond five good minutes or so with Dr. Phlox. More than anything, “A Night in Sickbay” exposes the weakness of Bakula as the lead of this show, with an episode that puts a lot on his shoulders in terms of comedy, drama, and relatability without much external conflict to sustain the episode otherwise, and he all-but completely fails to rise to the challenge.
(As an aside, one other irksome thing about the episode, which makes it hard to like Archer in this, is that he's a freaking idiot for bringing Porthos down to the planet to meet an easily-offended species in the first place! Sure, the Kreetassans may be unreasonable, but that doesn't excuse his stupidity for introducing an element that's very likely to create more problems than it solves.)
Ah, so she's a T-1001 model. LOL I like the little jokes and comedy in this one, especially the sad math book joke and the elevator scene. It also has some deeper meaningful stuff in it too.
Surprised to see Derek has a love interest from his time. Something's telling me that something's a brewing in that basement other than the A.I.
Whew. Finally watched this after having it in the queue for awhile. It's a classic and I only know it from the Cable Guy joke. I did not expect it to be as shocking as it was. I figured it was shocking for its day but there is some shit in this movie that I did not see coming. So shocking I was saying "what, what, whattttt" out loud to myself alone. And that Cable Guy scene? Spot on. This movie was definitely not fair to the Turks, I will say that. I mean the whole movie is rough but specifically the trial scene where he calls them all pigs, etc. Not cool. But Oliver Stone and the makers have since apologized more than once and done talks on it so I think it's okay to enjoy the movie otherwise. Yeh?
Jerome stuff was entertaining, but everything else was terrible, ESPECIALLY the League of Shadows stuff.
Awesome episode- I love the whole nod to The Killing Joke thing
The absolutely worst movie I've ever seen with Nicolas Cage. I always thought that he's an indicator for bad movies, but this is by far the worst ever.
I have watched this show so many times that I do look for other stuff going on now (watching it the first time in HD, too).
Did anyone notice Denis Crosby always grabbing her tricorder when she stood up and walked around? Seemed like the prob wasn't holding on to her uniform.
This is another episode that I am not looking forward to when I happen to watch the show again. A hyper-sexual society where everyone just seems to be making love all the time that has a death penalty for about every crime seems contradictory to me. The arguments against a death penalty felt unenthusiastic (personally I am opposed). And those godlike beings we don't see that speak in a booming voice (like probably some people think a god might) didn't really work well.
Funny how they know there are markings on the debris yet seem to be unable to look at them before beaming them aboard.
Clearly not a great episode I would categorize it as wasted opportunities. In itself both ideas, the lost ship from 2037 and the novel that becomes reality, could have been interesting. Doesn't help we don't learn more about, or meet, that alien race. Althought the idea of taking a ship and than bringing it to another place was later done in VOY "The 37's". Albeit it was a plane. But this is so hollow and without any substance that it is indeed a waste. And "repairing the dice" that made my eyes roll.
It's one of the episode that always made me wonder: if a script like that got into production, how much more worse were the ones that didn't ?
Isn't that a coincidence that Pa Riker shows up after Will mentioned him in the last episode ?
Well, it's not a bad one. It gives character background, which is never a bad thing. Althought, the way they mended their difficulties was a bit too Hollywood. Plus, those suits look silly now. And the connection to Dr. Pulaski felt out of nowhere. Granted, she's only just on board for a brief time now, but you being in love with a fellow colleagues father ? I think that would have come up. Well, maybe I am a bit picky.
One thing from the logic department: how do pain sticks cause pain on the holodeck ? Aren't there safeguards in place ? Usually they are mentioning it when those are turned of. OK, I am being picky again.
In hindsight it was obvious Riker wouldn't accept the promotion. As he will turn down others in the future. Loosing him would be like loosing........hmm. Whom, now? Who does Riker stand for compared to TOS. He's Number One. Which was Spock. Who himself is more represented by Data. Never really thought about that.
Superb episode! I really start to like Ro and it‘s nice to see a bit of her development. Has to be pretty strange to be in the situation Geordi and Ro are.. Other crew members, the captain, your friends.. Talking about you as if you were dead, not knowing you are there and receive every single word. And you have no possibility to make them clear you are there. Terrifying.
Other than that the plot is really well executed. For a brief moment you get the soothing feeling that maybe one day the Romulans and the Federation could get well with each other, but.. Oh well. :D The „interactions“ between Geordi and Data are pretty entertaining, especially the scene when Data follows every single step of Geordi but fails to get it quite right. I think I was more happy than Ro and Geordi when Data finally got the right trace. Very entertaining!
Our first hints at where Odo may come from, and our first time hearing the word "changeling". Of course, it all turns out to be completely untrue and given the nature of The Dominion that we learn in later seasons, it's kind of surprising that Croden knew nothing real. It basically boils down to the fact that none of that had been written or even thought of at this point. Still, seeds are planted.
It has a fairly emotional ending and some really beautiful cinematography during the scenes in the vortex, but this is overall a bland episode. Quark's scenes are great and its a good look at Odo as a character, but it's overwhelmed by all the poor alien designs and one-dimensional characterisations given to them. Rom still has the mean streak to his personality from 'The Nagus', given that he seems to relish the thought of Odo dying.
First contact with Gamma quadrant species sure isn't going well so far.
Odo getting knocked out by a rock - or even feeling any pain from it - makes zero sense. Somebody wasn't thinking that through.
I've watched each season of any Star Trek show more times than I can remember. The Next Generation was a show I rejected at first but with every time I watch it I embrace it more and more.
Yes, there are a lot of things debatable about the premiere season in terms of quality of the writing, continuity errors, character developement, actors performances to name a few. It is easy to critisize after the fact and with many years now gone. And even I am the first to admit that there are many cringe worthy or eye rolling moments in this first season. But remember, althought they had the original show to base it upon, they literally started with a white sheet of paper. Especially with the characters.
I also like to write a few words about the remastered HD version as I was initially oposed to that. Having now seen it I have to say it really looks great. The special effects are what most benefitted from the overhaul. They look much more crisp and detailed now. In general the picture looks great and I am amazed what they got out of the original source material. A minor negative is that the picture background looks very grainy at times especially if you're sitting close to your screen, whereas the important foreground is almost always amazingly clear. It also gets grainy when there is camera movement whereas static shots are really the best. But that is not really a downside. Brilliant and vibrant colours.
It is now easy to read the screens (which I did ocasionally). At the same time it is also easier to spot minor imperfections on the sets and props plus you sometimes spot the egdes of the make-up on characters. And it becomes really obvious now when a stunt double was used. But those are all not really flaws, nevertheless I thought I share this remarks.
Quark as a romantic isn't the most natural fit for the character, which is what makes this episode stand out a bit. It works surprisingly well while falling short of being a classic. Armin Shimerman takes to it with aplomb and makes it all quite fun. That also extends to his numerous scenes with Odo which leave room for a fair bit of humour to come through.
Garak would normally be the reason to watch this, or any DS9 episode, but he doesn't quite feel like himself here despite having some meaty scenes. We find out for certain that he's a spy and that he's been exiled from Cardassia but his motivations here never seem quite settled. The indication at the end would seem to suggest that he's in favour of the dissident movement and wants a significant change for Cardassia, which is intriguing and would make sense given his current circumstances.
I like Mary Crosby in the role of Natima Lang, for some reason her performance here has always kept the character memorable for me. At the start of the episode I was distracted because I thought that the role of her female student was being played by a young Amy Poehler!
If ever proof was needed that Star Trek episodes with featured guest characters only work if the actor in the role is good, here it is. Fionnula Flanagan absolutely steals this as Juliana Tainer and makes what is otherwise a bit of a flat episodes much more interesting. The background plot about needing to fix the planet's core is absolute pants and feels like something the show has done 3 or 4 times before, but the scenes with Juliana and Data are just mesmerising.
In fact, it feels like the rest of the main cast barely feature in this. Flanagan gives an emotional performance in a well written part, and there's constant doubt for us as to whether or not she's being truthful. The late revelations in the episode are surprising and the decision Data finally has to make is certainly a difficult one.
For all that, I can't really love it because everything else about it is just so bad.
A transformative season for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 3 sets the course that the rest of the series will follow. Featuring such classic episodes as “Sins of the Father”, “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, and “Best of Both Worlds”, the show makes the move to serial storytelling by setting up story arcs that will continue throughout the series. And with the return of Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher, the cast is finally whole again; with everyone in their proper place. Additionally, Denise Crosby returns to give Tasha Yar new life in the series, while Tony Todd and Dwight Schultz debut as fan favorite characters Kurn and Lt. Barclay. The third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation is incredibly bold and ambitious, and moves the show out the shadow of the original series.
"And their signal originated in the… Alpha Quadrant." How can you know that? Subspace signals relayed through a probe stuck inside a micro-wormhole carry spatial coordinates indicating their origins? They keep referring to analysis of the other ship's "hailing frequency" as if hailing frequencies are location-specific. Sometimes, Trek writers don't seem to think about what they imply with the technobabble they insert into their scripts.
Well, this is where "Joe" started. Takes him 33 years, but the Doctor gets his name eventually…
I think the first season was so-so.
They took about everything that worked for Star Trek so far in the past in terms of stories. We had Holo-Adventures, Alien-mind-takes-over, some sorts of time travel, other dimensions, nebular entities and so on. The rare exception, and highlight of the first year, being "Jetrel". Very powerful episode. And some stories just don´t work at that early stage of the show. I mean you build a whole show about the fact that they need 70 years to come back and than you have early episodes that promises to take out huge chunks of that trip. Not going to work.
I never quite had a favorite character from the beginning as I did in TNG or DS9. The Kazon were a race I never liked - I always saw them as a poor mans Klingon. Another general flaw of the show for me was althought they wanted to show that they are one crew, a Starfleet crew, and did everthing possible to create togetherness, you could always identify Marquis from their rank insignia. It might look minor but that shows seperation in my eyes.
Nevertheless, as with most shows, the first season is a building block from which you go on.
Bereft of ideas, Star Trek rips off Battlestar Galactica for its 4th series, Star Trek: Voyager. Thrown halfway across the galaxy and suffering from massive casualties, the U.S.S. Voyager embarks on a long journey to Earth after reforming its crew from a captured terrorist vessel and a pair of friendly aliens who offer to be their guides. Unfortunately the casting is rather poor, as none of the actors quite have the screen presence of previous Star Trek casts (except for Robert Picardo). And the series is unable to setup any interesting new alien races that compare to the traditional ones from the other series: i.e. Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, etc. However, the show is still Star Trek and manages to deliver a few good episodes full of adventure and mystery. Season 1 of Star Trek: Voyager is pretty rough, but it has its moments and shows promise.
I should like this more than I did, but for whatever reason on this rewatch the Ferengi episodes aren't clicking with me all that well. There's a lot of great stuff here, but I just wasn't really into it.
Such a shame, because the performances are stellar throughout. Notably brilliant guest star Jeffrey Combs is back as Brunt (I can't believe we still haven't met Weyoun by this point), but it's Max Grodénchik who steals the episode as Rom. Finally, his character is set on the path he was always meant to be on and after many misadventures has found his courage. There's a lovely look at the relationship of siblings Quark and Rom, and the reveal that they both really care about each other despite feeling the need to things which make life harder for the other.
Leeta finally makes another appearance too, it's easy to forget about her since she hasn't appeared much at all since her first episode. It's easy to understand why she's a fan favourite, but at this point she's really not been given anything interesting to do. There's a nice hint that she and Rom may like each other, though (I can't believe the episode gets away with a blatant conversation about masturbation).
More good stuff with Worf trying to fit in, too. Overall though, my attention was wandering through this one.
Some great plot revelations give this season finale an important feel, but it's a bit lacking in other areas - notably, for our characters. This is Odo's story but it feels like it doesn't tell us anything particularly new about him. The draw is the big change that he goes through. Garak also makes the episode quite fun to watch, even if he seems to act far more rashly than usual (I can only assume he was genuinely floored by what the Founder told him).
It probably could have also benefited from a b-story back on the station, because it all feels a bit thin. Still, a really good shocking moment to end a great season on.
I don´t want to be petty as I´m well aware that a lot of things concerning Star Trek are because of production issues. And as I mentioned before I like this two parter a lot but here are two things to think about.
Why does a Borg ship has an atmosphere? In "First Contact" we see Borg working in the vacuum of space without difficulties and with no air supply. That establishes they do not need air. And since the Borg are made of different species they very much would need different kind of atmospheric conditions so this independence from an atmosphere makes sense. Otherwise they would need different environments on every cube. Yet everytime someone encounters the Borg the cubes have a perfectly breathable human atmosphere.
And how does Voyager get their hand on Type III Phaser rifles? I know there is no canon set when they were actually introduced. But Voyager left the Alpha Qaudrant in 2371 and those type of rifles appear the first time in 2373. Makes you wonder.
But as I said, most of those things are due to production.
It's a lazy thing to say, but I just find this episode to be boring. And that's a real shame because it has a lot going on and it should have been much more enjoyable. Maybe it's just the concept of a religious cult that instantly makes me want to switch off.
This is still a great character piece for both Kira and Dukat. They're complex relationship has a lot of depth by this point, and it's fascinating to see their characters growth here. Kira reacts to everything in far more subdued way that she once would have, using words, logical arguments and restraint rather than aggressively lashing out. It also looks like Dukat genuinely believes in the pah-wraiths even through his own egotistical needs.
This is the third time we've been to Empok Nor, but it's the first time where it's felt like the DS9 set slightly redressed. A good way to save money, unfortunately it takes me out of the episode.
The episode has a couple of genuine "oh, shit!" moments - the reveal of the baby, the airlock sequence (why would she agree to meet there?) and Dukat's fake pill - which help it along, but this is all a bit too lacklustre for me. I'm also frustrated at how gullible the people shown here are.
The energy and the visuals in this episode are amazing. I also love how they show that Aang finally has the mindset of and confidence as an earthbender!
Simply. Perfection. 10/10 :fire:
Enterprise gets rebranded as “Star Trek: Enterprise” and is given a revamped theme song in its third season as it attempts an unprecedented season long story arc. In the wake of a deadly attack on Earth by an unknown alien race called the Xindi, the Enterprise is sent on an urgent mission into unexplored space to find them and prevent them from launching any further attacks. It’s a really interesting idea, but the execution is a bit lacking, as the Xindi story is broken up by a number of stand-alone episodes that disrupt the momentum. Yet, these breaks allow the show to balance out the main story arc with more traditional episodes about character development and exploration. Incredibly ambitious, Season 3 of Star Trek: Enterprise pushes the limits of the series and asks some very provocative moral and ethical questions.
Nothing happen and all of sudden she hates him and then loves him again really ????
Crap! Why this Korean flick (originally titled Gwoemul) created such a hype I absolutely do not get. The monster looks mostly ridiculous and the (for me) unbearable way of telling a story including absolutely silly dialogues and situations ruin what little potential this action-shocker could have had...
I think I am not made to get the drift that a lot of Asian movies have when it comes to story telling. Perhaps that's the reason why I do not like The Host, Battle Royale or House of Flying Daggers.
[8.0/10] One of the smartest things the powers that be did to advance The Next Generation from its predecessor was to flip the dynamic between captain and first officer. In The Original Series, Kirk was the swashbuckling adventurer and Spock was the seasoned officer. In TNG, Picard is the more stoic diplomat and Riker is the more roguish rule-bender.
That comes into play in “Unification.” Picard has a mystery to solve, but while it requires a bit of subterfuge, it also requires diplomacy, playing politics, calling in old favors and speaking with politicians and potentates. Riker’s mystery is a Kirkian throwback, one that requires flattering junkyard masters, flirting with piano-players, and roughing up venal profiteers. In a two-part episode, The Next Generation delivers a bit of each of those two complementary elements of what made Star Trek so notable.
But it also creates a bit of a problem, because episodes need conflict, and often, so do personal interactions in stories, and Picard and Spock are a little too much alike, their interactions with one another given too little time to develop, in order for what little disagreement exists between them to have much impact. Instead, “Unification” has to coast on the thrill of seeing the first officer of the original Enterprise coming face-to-face with the captain of the current Enterprise.
But it’s hell of a thrill! Despite having seen this episode in my distant youth, and knowing more or well when and how it happens, I have to admit to giving a little cheer when Picard declares that he’s in search of Ambassador Spock, and the man himself emerges from the shadows to declare “you have found him.” It’s a meeting 20+ years in the making, and as manufactured as the conflict between them feels, it’s hard to resist the energy that comes from seeing these two men bridge the gap between The Original Series and The Next Generation.
The way the episode tries to overcome the persistence of that similarity is to make Picard a stand-in for Sarek (Spock’s dad) whom he mind-melded with in the prior season. And it kind of works! If “Unification” does nothing else, it uses that momentous meeting to pay off a contentious father-son relationship that’s been present in the series from the first moment we met Spock’s parents back in 1967.
Having Picard be the vessel for that creates both a connection and a distance between him and Spock, and gives Spock a means that is both welcome and yet at a remove to reconcile his feelings about his father and receive his father’s feelings for him. Like the best Star Trek stories, it creates an emotional undercurrent and personal stakes to the wider political intrigue and action that take center stage in the episode, even if it’s not a perfect fit for Picard and Spock’s natural dynamic.
There is, naturally, a decent amount of fanservice in this one. There’s thinly-veiled (and clunkily-written) references to Kirk. Some Romulan goons are taken out by a combination of a nerve pinch and a punch to the face a la the original duo. And there’s pretty blunt notes of Picard’s resistance to the “cowboy diplomacy” of Spock’s era as the two men become representatives for their respective shows’ differences, but ultimate compatibility. None of it’s subtle, but it’s all enjoyable for blending the DNA of the two series, and that gets it far.
And yet, what should be the most fan service-y moment of them all ends up being arguably the best and most revealing scene of the two-parter. In many ways Data occupies the space in TNG that Spock once did in TOS. He is the emotionless, logical being who’s trying to understand humanity. But while that could create too much similarity between Data and Spock, instead it uses their differences to find insights and irony. Spock sees Data as having by design the purely logical state that so many Vulcans strive and struggle to achieve, and Data sees Spock as having abandoned the thing he wants most in the world by seeming to reject his human side and embrace his stoic, Vulcan one. The similarities and yet notable differences between the two create a particular resonance to their “grass is always greener” conversation.
Of course it can’t all be character work, fan service, and theme. There has to be some actual plot too, and the story here is basically split into two, dovetailing plot threads. The first one sees Picard and Data surreptitiously making their way to Romulus to investigate rumors that Spock has defected, and find the Ambassador attempting to help bring about Unification between the Vulcans and Roulans. The second sees Riker investigating some mysterious debris, and working his way through the clues until he’s caught in a web of missing ships and backroom deals related to that same unification effort.
The latter story feels mostly like an excuse to let Riker do his best attempt at Kirking it up, but it’s a fun outing. Whether he’s stifled by officious intergalactic quartermasters (and, ugh, basically using Troi as bait), putting the screws on Ferrengi gangsters, or recognizing a ruse when he sees one, his efforts to uncover the Romulan conspiracyspearheaded by Sela, with a fun performance from Denise Crosby are a fun outing, even if they feel a little superfluous.
The main story with Picard has a better setup than payoff. Watching Picard figure out the mystery, whether it requires him to commune with a deteriorating Sarek whose mind is in disarray, to negotiate his way with Gauron and a tempestuous Klingon ally (Stephen Root!), or to blend-in in Romlunan society, is a compelling build.
But when he meets Spock, all the fan-service and semi-contrived debates between the two take up time that hinders advancing the plot. Of course there’s a secret conspiracy, and allies turn out to be collaborators, and the FATE OF THE VERY QUADRANT is at stake, but what do you know, our heroes save the day in the nick of time. It’s a little too convenient, and a little too tidy, and all resolved a little too quickly, but there’s legitimate reasons for the characters to do what they do, and it’s an episode less about the plot as a story and more about providing enough of a spine to throw Spock and Picard together, and blend the spirit of TOS with that of TNG, and in that, it succeeds.
Let’s face it, Michael Piller and Rick Berman could basically have had Spock and Picard sitting in a dimly lit room discussing the proper way to cook chicken for 90 minutes and fans like yours truly would still lap it up. They are arguably the two characters, and two actors, who most elevated Star Trek as it burst onto the scene and then reestablished itself on television after a nearly two-decade hiatus. Just getting to watch these two holy figures of the franchise interact is a treat.
And so despite the fact that pairing them removes the dynamic that makes their relationship with their command counterparts interesting -- differences in temperament and philosophy -- saps some of the life out of their manufactured conflicts, the spark that Leonard Nimoy and Patrick Stewart bring to their roles wins out. “Unification” isn’t perfect, but it’s damn good, and those two men, who have done so much for Star Trek, are the biggest reason why.
