Star Trek TNG: Season 6
Season 6 of Star Trek: TNG was pretty good but I can still see some bad writing that was left over from the previous season. There are some rehashing of previous episodes with slight changes, pacing issues, and loose ends either not being resolved or in a half-assed manner. It didn't ruin the series for me and there were plenty of good episodes.
"Man of the People": This episode was a little disturbing to say the least, especially since we see a darker version of Councilor Troi. A Lumerian ambassador, Ramid Ves Alkar, is accompanied by Sev Maylor, an old woman that he identifies as his mother. Troi and Alkar form a friendship but this causes Maylor to become bitterly hostile towards Troi. Soon, Maylor succumbs to some unknown fate and dies. Alkar doesn't seem moved by the loss but still requests a funeral ceremony along with Troi, having them touch "funeral stones" as part of the process. Something happens as this causes Troi to become seductive toward men but also jealous. She is seen advancing in age at a rapid rate. Turns out that the "funeral stones" used were transferring Alkar's negative emotions into Troi was the cause so he can conduct negotiations (kind of similar to Sarek and Picard in the episode "Sarek") and it killed the other woman earlier. Picard finds Alkar shows no remorse for his actions against the innocent Troi that it prompts Crusher to put Troi to death for half an hour so Alkar can sever the link from Troi. When Alkar tries to transfer to another woman, Liva, Troi is revived and the transfer is unsuccessful. It stays in him and he rapidly ages and dies in seconds. Troi is back to her youthful self and her caring personality restored.
"Relics": An episode with Montgomery Scott from The Original Series? Awesome! The Enterprise respond to a distress call and discover a nearby Dyson sphere. They trace the distress call to the USS Jenolen, a Federation transport ship that has been reported missing for 75 years. It crashed on the sphere's outer hull but still intact. Riker, Worf, and La Forge transport down into the Jenolen. La Forge discovers that the ship's transporter is sustaining two life signals, though one has degraded too far to be recovered. La Forge reverses the process and restores the remaining life form, which turns out to be former Starfleet officer Captain Montgomery Scott (or Scotty as he prefers). He is transported on the Enterprise-D and is checked out by Crusher in sick bay. Scotty explains that he was only a passenger aboard the Jenolen during his retirement, but when the ship was caught in the Dyson sphere's gravity field, only he and one other officer survived the crash, and Scotty had rigged the transporter to try to keep them "alive" until a rescue vessel could arrive. After his treatment, Scotty is eager to see the advances in technology including a tour of the Engineering deck - but quickly finds that his old knowledge has long been surpassed and his efforts to help are instead getting in the way of normal operations, much to the frustration of La Forge who tries to be patient. Ordered to leave Engineering by La Forge, Scott heads to Ten Forward, and is not thrilled to learn that alcohol is no longer served on Starfleet ships. Data offers to help out by giving Scotty a bottle of green coloured whiskey from Guinan's private stock. With bottle in hand (LOL! He he hasn't changed!), Scotty uses one of the holodecks to recreate the bridge of his old ship from The Original Series, to try to relive his past. In a touching scene, Picard joins Scotty after hearing of his difficulties in becoming adjusted to the 24th century and tries to console him, to which Scotty declares himself a relic of the past. Picard later suggests to La Forge to enlist Scotty's help in continuing the survey of the Dyson sphere to recover existing survey data from the older Jenolen systems, technology at which Scotty is adept. The two return to the Jenolen and begin to recover its memory core with Scotty's help. The Enterprise discovers a port on the side of the sphere, but when they try to communicate with the systems, the ship is pulled into the sphere by automated controls. The Enterprise's systems are temporarily disabled and while they are able to recover control before the ship impacts with the star inside the sphere, they find the star is unstable and emitting large amounts of radiation which will be lethal to the crew, and surmise that the sphere was long abandoned by its creators due to this. The Enterprise crew quickly realizes the only exit from the interior of the sphere is the port they used but cannot figure out how to open it from this side. When La Forge tries to make contact with the Enterprise, he discovers it missing, and works with Scotty to make the Jenolen flight-worthy. They discover the same port the Enterprise found and surmise the Enterprise is trapped inside. La Forge and Scotty manage to open the port without being pulled in and then wedge the Jenolen in the open port, using its shields to keep it open while the Enterprise escapes, rescuing the two engineers from the Jenolen just before destroying it with photon torpedoes. As the Enterprise returns to its mission, the crew of the ship give Scotty his very own shuttlecraft "on extended loan" to either continue to his retirement or to explore the galaxy. Scotty thanks the crew and reminds La Forge to make the most of his time as the Chief Engineer of the Enterprise before he departs. Strangely, he doesn't shake Worf's hand... I guess his opinion of Klingons hasn't changed since Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Still, I did like this episode though too bad Spock wasn't enquired about.
"True Q": I thought this was an interesting "Q" episode and shares a little similarity to the first season episode "Hide and Q". A teenage girl named Amanda has earned a Starfleet internship to be on board the Enterprise and study biological sciences under Dr. Crusher. It turns out she has extordinary powers and tries to fight the temptation to use them but ends up saving the lives of Riker, La Forge, and Data from accidents. Q appears and reveals that Amanda is part of the Q Continuum because both of her parents were Q but decided to take on human forms on earth. They died when she was young. Q is sent by the Continuum to determine if she truly is a Q and help Amanda understand her powers so that he can either return her to the Continuum, leave her to life as a normal human being, or kill her. Picard is suspicious as to the deaths of Amanda's parents given that they were Q. Data finds out that they died in Kansas by a tornado that could not be naturally conceived as a weather modification system would prevent it. It also specifically targeted the house they were living in. Picard confronts Q on this information and Q admits that the Continuum had them killed in their mortal form because they were viewed as a threat. Picard gets into an argument with Q over Amanda and the Continuum's amorality compared to human morality in which Q gives two options: either Amanda joins the Q Continuum or live her life as a human but resist using her powers. Amanda tries the second option but the Enterprise receives a distress call from a nearby planet where their ionic anti-pollution systems are failing rapidly, which would flood the atmosphere and block out the sun. Amanda ends up choosing the first option and uses her Q powers to restore the pollution systems to normal, saving the planet. Having made her choice, Q prepares to take Amanda to the Continuum, but she wants to say goodbye to the crew and fears that she won't see them again, particularly Dr. Crusher who has been helpful through the episode. Crusher reminds her that as a Q, she can do anything she wants which seems to comfort her as she disappears with Q.
"Rascals": A transporting anomoly turns Picard, Ro, Keiko, and Guinan into around 12-year old children but with their adult minds intact. I must say, the young actor playing the 12-year old Picard really captures him... despite the young accent he has! It's funny listening to him emulate what Picard usually says and laughed when he later threw a tantrum (I'm imagining the older Picard doing the same thing!). I also found the scene funny when he and Riker pretend they are father and son (again, Picard with an adult mind but acting like a child). It was nice to see a friendship between Guinan and Ro and both of them taking advantage of their second childhood. Keiko was more tragic as Miles is understandably awkward toward her and even their daughter doesn't recognize her younger mother. I notice they don't show Keiko at the end as a adult and any epilogue with her... The small amount of Ferengi taking over the Enterprise bit I thought was kind of dumb. At least Alexander was helpful this time!
"The Quality of Life": La Forge is growing a beard! Thank God no one shaved their beards in this episode! Nuff' said!
"Chain of Command Part I & II": I'll group these two-parter episodes together. Not much to say about the first part either than Picard being relieved of duty by Captain Edward Jellico to go on a secret covert mission with Crusher and Worf, and the Enterprise crew having to deal with Captain Jellico's change in command compared to Picard's. Both Jellico and Riker don't see eye-to-eye and even La Forge is irritated by him. On the Cardassian planet of Celtris III, Picard and company are ambushed when they are trying to locate a biological weapon but find it is a ruse. Picard is captured but Crusher and Worf escape. He is taken to meet the Cardassian interrogator, Gul Madred. In part two, Madred tortures Picard by use of pain, dehydration, starvation, stripping him naked (Patrick Stewart does have a nice ass, eh?), etc. to extract information on what the Federation is doing around Minos Korva, one of the Federation planets. One constant form of "choice torture" is Madred shining 4 bright lights in front of Picard and he asks him how many lights there are. Picard always answers 4 lights but Madred continues to torture him with that answer, wanting him to answer that there are really 5 lights. Meanwhile, the Cardassians inform the Enterprise crew that Picard has been captured though Jellico refuses to acknowledge that Picard was on a mission from Starfleet. By lying, Picard would receive the right to be declared a POW rather than being subjected to torture as a terrorist, but this would compromise the mission. Because of Picard being left viewed as a terrorist, a heated argument happens between Jellico and Riker. In retaliation, Jellico relieves Riker of duty. The crew observes signs of residue from a nearby nebula on the hull of a Cardasian ship, and Jellico suspects a Cardassian fleet may attempt to use the cover of the nebula to launch an attack on Minos Korva. He believes it is best to mine the nebula using a shuttlecraft. But... Riker is the most qualified pilot for the mission (derp!)! In an obviously funny scene, Jellico approaches Riker (who is out of uniform) and tries to be friendly with him. Riker, since he is not acting as an officer, candidly criticizes Jellico's command style and will only accept the assignment once Jellico personally asks him to pilot the shuttle, instead of ordering him to do so - a total contrast to Jellico's style! Riker successfully lays the minefield, and Jellico uses the threat of the minefield to force the Cardassians to disarm and retreat, plus demanding Picard's return. Before the officers come with the news and Picard is taken away, Madred offers him a choice: to remain in captivity for the rest of his life, or live in paradise on Cardassia by admitting he sees five lights. As Picard momentarily considers the offer, a Cardassian officer interrupts the process and informs Madred that Picard must be returned. As Picard is freed from his bonds and taken away, he turns back to Madred and defiantly shouts "there are four lights!" Picard is returned to the Federation and reinstated as Captain of the Enterprise. Picard admits privately to Troi that while he was willing to tell Madred anything, he was more concerned that, for a moment, he thought he really did see five lights. I have to admit, Patrick Stewart's acting was pretty good during the torture scenes.
"Face of the Enemy": A great episode showcasing what Counselor Troi is capable of. At the beginning, she awakens in an unfamiliar room, surgically altered to appear Romulan. Subcommander N'Vek soon enters the room and tells Troi that she is on the Romulan Warbird, Khazara and is to masquerade as Major Rakal of the Tal Shiar (the Romulan intelligence service and secret police). N'Vek tells her that her assistance is needed, and that her only chance of survival is to listen to him. Troi agrees for the time being. The ship's commander, Toreth constantly questions Troi but she settles into her role as Rakal, threatening Toreth as need be. Troi informs Toreth that she is to take the ship into the Kaleb sector once they have finished loading their cargo (as N'Vek instructed her). On the Enterprise, Ensign DeSeve transports on board - even though he defected to Romulus, but is now returning to the Federation. While the Federation plans to arrest DeSeve for treason, Picard listens when DeSeve says that he is delivering a message from Ambassador Spock. A Corvallen cargo ship will arrive in the Kaleb sector with a cargo that is important to the Federation. He requests that the Enterprise meet it. Back on the Khazara, N'Vek shows Troi their cargo: three Romulans in stasis. Vice Proconsul M'ret and two of his aides are defecting to the Federation. N'Vek is providing a pathway to freedom for them, which could potentially allow a means for thousands of Romulan dissidents to escape the Empire. Troi figures out that he works for Ambassador Spock but wonders whether a Romulan might be better suited to the plan but N'Vek insists that a Starfleet officer may be needed. The ship meets the Corvallen freighter, but Troi senses that they do not plan to keep their promise to deliver the cargo. N'Vek fires on the freighter, destroying it. The Enterprise, not knowing that N'Vek's plan has failed, does not find the freighter. Picard orders a search. N'Vek tells Troi that they must go to the Federation starbase on Draken Four, finally revealing why he needed a Starfleet officer: only they can provide the access codes to get into Federation space. Returning to the bridge, Troi informs Toreth about the plan of going into Federation space but Toreth is against the plan, knowing it is dangerous. The crew sets course for Draken Four, but suddenly detect the approaching Enterprise. The Enterprise discovers the remains of the Corvallen ship and Data concludes that the ship was destroyed by Romulans. Troi tells N'Vek they should get a message to the Enterprise. N'Vek has the chief engineer (who is part of N'Vek's plan) create a small imbalance in the engines that renders the ship detectable so the enterprise can trace the cloaked Khazara. When an opportune moment to attack the Enterprise comes by Toreth command, Troi relieves her of duty. Troi orders the crew to decloak the ship and open a channel. The Enterprise responds to the hail and the bridge crew is shocked when Troi appears on the screen, but they give nothing away. Troi apologizes for the incident with the Corvallen ship and offers to beam aboard to sort everything out. Picard acknowledges Troi's offer, and asks Worf to put a transporter lock on Troi and prepare to beam her aboard. The Khazara crew report that the Enterprise is lowering its shields and Troi orders N'Vek to fire on the Enterprise. The ship takes a direct hit but suffers no damage. Instead, the three Romulans in stasis appear on the bridge. The crew on the Khazara report that the disruptors were using minimal power and were used to disguise transport of cargo to the Enterprise. Toreth understands that Troi and N'Vek are traitors. N'Vek reaches for a weapon but is killed. Toreth orders the crew to cloak the ship and set a course for home. She vows to interrogate Troi and possibly execute her, but before she can take action, the Enterprise beams Troi away. Back on the Enterprise Troi gets her own face back and is reassured by Picard that N'Vek's sacrifice was not in vain.
"Tapestry": Picard is taken to sick bay after a blast from some radicals on an away mission damages his artifcial heart. He finds himself in the afterlife, which appears to be the domain of Q, who bluntly says, "Welcome to the afterlife, Jean-Luc. You're dead". To prove Picard is dead, Q introduces him to people that Picard knows have died, including his father and the voices of people for whose deaths Picard is responsible. When Picard accuses Q of causing his death, Q reveals that Picard's artificial heart caused his demise: a natural heart would have endured the energy blast he suffered. Picard's original heart was damaged during a bar brawl with Nausicaans - a quick-tempered, bullish race. One of whom stabbed him through the heart. Picard realizes his regret for his "wild youth" and that it has caught up with him. His current disciplined personality and seriousness is rooted in regret over his earlier days. Q offers to let Picard go back in time to prevent himself from being stabbed. Q assures him that any changes he makes will not affect anyone other than himself. He is sent back to two days before the injury, meeting with friends and academy classmates Corey Zweller and Marta Batanides. His "newly changed" personality comes as somewhat of an unpleasant surprise, and he alienates his friends - the person they knew as fun loving and quick to anger is now staid, slow to anger, and often unintentionally insulting. Events proceed as they did with Zweller becoming enraged with a group of Nausicaans who cheat him at dom-jot. Picard does what he can to prevent Zweller from starting a fight with the Nausicaans. Instead of taking on the Nausicaans when they are taunted, Picard throws Zweller out of the way of the fight. The Nausicaans call them cowards and leave - as do Zweller and Batanides. Picard has destroyed his friendship with them by refusing to stand up for Zweller. Q tells Picard that he saved his heart, and returns him to the present. Picard then finds himself on the Enterprise as a Lieutenant junior in the astrophysics department. Q tells him that, as a consequence of the changes to his past, he has led an unremarkable career doing routine work. Picard consults with Riker and Troi on the possibility of him moving on to higher positions; while they consider Picard a competent and hardworking officer, he fails to show initiative and does not take the necessary risks to have a successful command career in Starfleet. Picard confronts Q, who tells him that although the bout with the Nausicaan nearly cost him his life, it also gave him a sense of his mortality. It taught him that life was too precious to squander by playing it safe. Picard realizes that his attempts to suppress and ignore the consequences of his indiscretions have resulted in him losing a part of himself. Picard would rather die as captain of the Enterprise than live as a nobody. Q sends him back to the bar fight and events unfold as they did originally, with Picard being stabbed through the heart and laughing as he collapses to the ground. In the present, Captain Picard awakes having been revived by Dr. Crusher. As Picard recovers from his injuries, he talks to Riker and wonders whether he really journeyed into the past or whether it was merely a hallucination or one of Q's tricks. Riker expresses some difficulty imagining Picard taking on three Nausicaans but Picard then proceeds into another story about an encounter with Nausicaans.
"Birthright Part I": We get a nice surprise in this first part. A couple months prior to the original airing of this episode, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine debuted it's first season! At the beginning of this episode, the Enterprise is docked at Deep Space Nine. DS9's Chief Medical Officer Julian Bashir, has come aboard to get assistance in examining a piece of technology that was found in the Gamma Quadrant and is working with Geordi and Data. Bashir is fascinated by Data as he notices him do human actions (like breathing and growing hair) and so Data explains some aspects of his design that make him look more like a human. In a café on DS9 Worf is approached by an alien, Jaglom Shrek, who claims that Mogh, Worf's father, was not killed at Khitomer, but instead was captured by the Romulans. Since Mogh's capture would dishonor Worf and his own son, Worf at first refuses to believe the alien's claim but it upsets him. Data, Geordi, and Bashir are working in engineering with the piece of equipment Julian brought over. During a test there is a sudden energy discharge which hits Data, causing him to collapse unconscious. Data has a dream-like experience in which he wanders through one of the ship's corridors. He sees a bird and hears the sound of a hammer on an anvil. He finds the blacksmith banging the hammer and it is his "father", creator Noonien Soong. Before he can learn any more he is revived by Geordi. Data is puzzled as to what happened and Bashir suggests that maybe he had a dream. Data approaches Worf, who says that it is important for Data to find the dream's meaning, and on learning that Data's dream involved Data's creator, Worf says that "Your father is a part of you, always." This causes Worf to resolve himself to find out the truth about his father. He goes back to DS9 and hunts down the Shrek. The alien doesn't wish to go because the camp is on a planet on the fringe of Romulan space but Worf threatens him. After getting a leave of absence from the Enterprise, he sets off with Shrek to the planet in question. On arrival Shrek takes him to a clifftop from where they can see the camp. Back on the Enterprise Data visits Picard and relays the dream he had. He claims he has no culture, so he has turned to others for meaning. Picard fundamentally disagrees, informing Data, "You are a culture of one which is no less valid than a culture of one billion." He tells Data to turn to within himself to find the meaning of the dream. Data goes to his quarters to paint images related to his dream. On the planet, Worf and Shrek delve into the dark jungle but eventually separate. He spies a female bathing in the wilderness and pursues her, finding out she's a Klingon. The Klingon female goes back to the compound but doesn't reveal Worf. Geordi stops by Data's quarters, where in addition to dream-related paintings, Data painted a bird but can't explain why. He asks Geordi to help him recreate the experiment that caused the dream. Geordi reluctantly agrees, warning Data that it could fuse his brain. Bashir and Geordi initiate the experiment. Data is zapped again and has another vision. It begins the same as the first: Corridor, sound of a hammer, Soong. Soong plunges a bird's wing into a bucket of water, causing steam to billow out. When the steam clears, Soong is gone and a bird is left in his place. Data realizes that the vision is different, saying so out loud. Soong appears to him, saying that of course the dream is different. Data is now on the bridge. Data begins to relate all the things that are different: The bridge is there, his cat Spot, his potted plant, and his paintings. Soong says Data is showing progress. Awake, Data believes that the dream was pre-programmed by Soong. He also plans to "sleep" for a brief period every day, to "dream". Bashir asks if he could write a paper on this event, and Data approves. Worf breaks into the prison compound and encounters Klingons performing a ritual. A Klingon male warns Worf that there are things going on that Worf doesn't understand. The Klingon also informs Worf that his father, Mogh, fell in battle at Khitomer; hence, Worf's family honor is intact. He also states that he remembers seeing Worf as a child, and relates a story about how Worf injured himself as a child while on a hunt. Worf then says he remembers the old Klingon, who warns him that he should not have come here. The Klingon elders grab Worf, attempting to keep him in the compound. He easily defeats them and begins to run, only to be stopped by two armed Romulans.
"Birthright Part II": The second part deals entirely with Worf at the Romulan prison compound. Worf is puzzled by the Klingons' lack of desire to escape, but the elders explain that it is not a prison in the conventional sense: they have chosen to stay, since returning would be a great dishonor to their families, who have assumed the warriors died in battle. Worf is not allowed to leave, however, to keep the compound's secret. He discovers that some Romulans and Klingons have even inter-married and had hybrid children. Worf eventually inspires the young Klingons, who were born in the compound and know nothing of their heritage, to be curious about their heritage. He even inspires a young Klingon by taking him on "the hunt" and was able to kill an animal for food. Eventually the head Romulan, Tokath, offers Worf a choice: to live among them according to their rules, or to be executed. Worf chooses death, which is honorable in its defiance. The next morning, at Worf's execution, the young Klingons he has inspired suddenly decide to stand and die with him. Unwilling to kill them all, Tokath allows Worf and the young Klingons to leave. A Romulan warbird delivers them to the Enterprise, which had been searching for Worf since his disappearance from DS9.
"Starship Mine": Picard is totally badass in this episode! Playing cat-and-mouse all by himself with terrorists on the Enterprise. Also, I automatically recognized the actor who played as one of the terrorists - Tim Russ. This was his first Star Trek role and he would go on to play in the main cast of Star Trek: Voyager as the Vulcan, Tuvok.
"Lessons": A good romance episode between Picard and Lieutenant Commander Nella Daren. She gets Picard to practice his Ressikan flute (the same one he played in last season's episode "The Inner Light" - before I continue: while I didn't mention the episode in my review last season, I didn't dislike it but found it a little strange and just didn't bother to write about it; overall, it's a nice episode. Oh yes, Picard tells of his experience in that episode to Nella!) and both of them play lovely music together. After Nella survives an away mission, both her and Picard break off their relationship. While they discuss the possibility to be together albeit giving up their careers in Starfleet, Picard still has a job to do and that job requires duty, leadership, and sadly, to be lonely. After their final kiss, Nella encourages Picard to not give up on his music.
"The Chase": The Klingon, Nu'Daq is pretty woofy!
"Suspicions": I found out that this is the last episode to feature Guinan in the series. That's a shame as it would be nice to have her in the last season.
"Rightful Heir": This was another real great Klingon episode. Worf attempts to reconnect with his Klingon spiritual beliefs by performing a Klingon ritual to summon a vision of Kahless, the original messianic warrior who founded the Klingon Empire. Picard responds to Worf's crisis of faith by suggesting he immerse himself in Klingon culture, and grants him leave to journey to the Temple of Boreth, which is the core of Klingon beliefs concerning Kahless. After ten days of doubt-filled rituals, he sees what he thinks is a vision of Kahless. It is not, it is an actual being. Worf brings the prospective spiritual leader to the Enterprise, but is troubled that Kahless doesn't remember how Klingon Warnog tastes, or what Sto-Vo-Kor, the Klingon afterlife is like. Klingon Chancellor Gowron arrives, saying he has a test which will indisputably prove if Kahless is genuine. Gowron is displeased with the prophet's return, convinced he is an imposter foisted by the priests to gain power and could incite a Klingon civil war. Gowron requests that the Federation genetically test the sacred dagger he brought which was stained with the blood of the original Kahless in antiquity, but is disappointed when the test indicates a match. Gowron provokes a D'k tahg duel with Kahless and wins, leaving a dispirited Worf to ponder how the supposed "greatest warrior of all" could be beaten. Worf demands an explanation from Koroth, the High Priest of the Boreth Temple, who disconsolately replies that Kahless isn't a resurrection, only a clone of the original, offering the rationale that the legend of Kahless's return didn't specify the exact manner. He adds that such a legend is desperately needed to rally the people's faith and guide them. Data advises the uncertain Worf that once during a crisis of his own he made a "leap of faith" to "assume that he was a person", and thus could grow beyond the sum of his programming. Gowron is outraged when Worf tells him the truth and prepares to execute the clone and priests. Worf tells Gowron he has decided to support Kahless, explaining that he has made a leap of faith as Data once did, adding that the clone's origins don't matter. He suggests the Klingon High Council appoint Kahless to the ceremonial position of Emperor; while only a figurehead, he might be able to unite the Klingon people. In conclusion, Worf observes that while not the "true" Kahless, this man is at least the "Rightful Heir" to Kahless; opposing him might lead to civil war. Seeing the wisdom of cooperation, Gowron offers his devotion. Departing soon after for the Klingon homeworld Qo'noS, Kahless notes the troubled demeanor of Worf and reassures him by observing that the personal belief systems espoused by Kahless made the ancient Klingons what they were, the man was not important; even if the real Kahless never returned it might not matter, as his spirit lives within the hearts of all true Klingons.
"Second Chances": A fascinating and tense episode. On the planet Nervala IV, a Federation research base was abandoned eight years earlier due to the onset of a disruption field that prevented transporter use. Riker goes down with an away team having been part of the rescue team that helped to evacuate the base while serving on the Potemkin. Riker notes that he was the last person to be beamed out during that mission. Using a break in the disruption field, the away team beams down and discovers a man that appears exactly as Riker. This "Riker" has lived alone on the base for the last eight years and asserts he is Riker from the Potemkin, and left behind when they were transported back. Returning to the Enterprise Crusher determines that this person is truly Riker in every way while La Forge discovers that years before, when Riker was being beamed off the planet, the Potemkin has split the transporter beam to cut through the distortions, with one beam reflected back to the base creating the second Riker, while Riker was safely recovered on the Potekmin. Cmd. Riker suggests that Lt. Riker join them on a second attempt to recover the data. At the base, their personality styles conflict, and the attempt ends in failure when Lt. Riker refuses to follow Cmd. Riker's orders. As they work out a third attempt to recover the data, Lt. Riker tries to learn about what he has missed, and attempts to rekindle his previous relationship with Troi. She is initially hesitant but then considers it a second chance after her former relationship with Cmd. Riker waned. They enjoy their time together, and Lt. Riker suggests leaving the Enterprise together for a new posting but Troi tells him she will have to think about it. On their third attempt to retrieve the data, Cmd. Riker and Lt. Riker are successful but on the way out, a walkway gives out, threatening Lt. Riker's life. Though Lt. Riker tells Cmd. Riker to leave him be, Cmd. Riker saves his double. The two Riker reconcile their differences, and Lt. Riker states that he has been given a re-assignment, and plans to take on his middle name "Thomas" to distinguish himself from William. Cmd. Riker gives his double his treasured trombone as a parting gift. Troi also tells Lt. Riker that she will be staying on the Enterprise but thanks him for everything.
"Descent Part I": The beginning of Part I has Data playing a game of poker with holographic representations of Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton, and even Stephen Hawking - who is credited as playing himself. Hawking is winning but their game is interrupted by a red alert so Data suspends the program. The Enterprise responds to a distress call from a Starfleet outpost. An away team consisting of Riker, Worf, Data and another security guard find the entire crew of the outpost dead. Suddenly they are attacked by a group of Borg. During the course of the fire fight, Riker observes that the Borg are not acting like the Borg they have encountered previously. Each of them is armed with energy weapons, refer to each other as individuals, and appear to be fighting more like warriors. While fighting a drone, Data feels an emotion, particularly anger, which results in his breaking the neck of the drone he was fighting. At the same time, in orbit, an unidentified ship fires on the Enterprise and the crew returns fire. On the surface, during the firefight, one Borg begins talking to himself about the nature of the away team members, when he sees and mentions Data, he appears to signal a withdraw. The alien ship beams up the remaining Borg from the outpost and flees with the Enterprise in pursuit. Suddenly the ship enters some kind of vortex and disappears without a trace. Back on the outpost, Riker asks Data what happened, but Data cannot explain it; he just felt angry. Admiral Alynna Nechayev arrives to take command of the situation. She reprimands Picard for not destroying the single Borg, Hugh, when he had the chance (in the Season 5 episode "I, Borg") and orders him to do so if another opportunity should present itself, much to the disappointment of Picard. Meanwhile, Data is trying to understand what caused his behavior on the outpost. He tries to experience emotion again through simulations of the event, but does not succeed. The Borg ship reappears and attacks another outpost. It reenters the vortex and disappears when the Enterprise intercepts; however, this time the Enterprise is caught in its wake and follows. Once on the other side, the Borg attack, beaming drones onto the bridge. After a brief fire fight, one drone is killed and another wounded, but the distraction allows the Borg ship to escape, which again is unusual Borg behavior in that they always reclaim their drones, whether alive or dead. The crew discover that the vortex they entered is a form of conduit allowing them to travel from one star system to another almost instantaneously. However they have yet to work out how it is activated which means, for the moment, they are unable to return to Federation space. Data is sent to speak with the Borg whom the Enterprise has captured in an attempt to gather intelligence, but the drone is able to manipulate Data into releasing him, and escapes the ship in a shuttlecraft. Before the Enterprise can catch the shuttle it disappears into a conduit. However, the crew is able to learn how the conduits are activated and gives chase. They track the shuttlecraft to a planet. An away team finds no trace of Data or the Borg and something in the planet's atmosphere is blocking their sensors, so Picard decides to conduct a ground search utilizing nearly the whole crew of the Enterprise. Only a small crew remains on board with Dr. Crusher as the acting captain. Picard, Troi, La Forge, and a security officer search the area and discover a building. Upon entering, they are surrounded by Borg. The security officer is killed as he panics and prepares to fire. A voice calls out for the Borg to stop and stand down. Picard turns around to discover Data standing on a platform, but Troi corrects him and Picard, horrified, realizes that it is Lore, Data's brother. Then Data appears, announcing that "The sons of Soong have joined together, and together, we will destroy the Federation!"
"Descent Part II": The first episode of the final season! Lore has found a way to give Data emotions, and turned Data against the Federation. Lore plans to lead these breakaway Borg to destroy all organic life - believing that Lore and Data are perfect life forms. Picard, Troi, and La Forge are taken captive and La Forge's VISOR is taken by Data because, according to La Forge, it allows him to see a carrier wave being beamed from Lore to Data. It is the source of Data's emotions and Lore's control over Data hence, why Lore orders it removed. In orbit, the Borg ship is detected and acting-captain Crusher orders the away teams on the planet to be beamed back aboard. However, there isn't enough time to get them all and 47 away team members still remain on the planet. Riker orders Crusher to leave the planet and come back only when it's safe to do so since the rogue Borg vessel has detected the Enterprise. Rather than leave the system, Crusher orders the crew to take the ship into the sun. Using the technology developed by Ferengi scientist Dr. Reyga (from the episode "Suspicions"), they modify the shields to allow them to get closer to the sun than the Borg can go. They use the ship's phasers to trigger an eruption on the sun's surface which engulfs the Borg ship, destroying it. On the planet, Lore orders Data to perform an experiment on La Forge's brain that has a chance of killing him. La Forge tries pleading with Data, who ignores him and continues setting up the process. In their prison cell, the away team constructs a device which they believe will reactivate Data's moral subroutines, in the hopes that he will question the ethics of his actions, as well as the intentions of his brother. Riker and Worf encounter Hugh, who tells them that Lore is the leader of this Borg group. He says that at one time Lore's help was necessary, but he has since destroyed many Borg through his brutal experiments. Hugh's group are "rebel" Borg, wanting to remove Lore from power but is hesitant in helping Riker and Worf. The captured crew manage to reactivate Data's ethical programming just as Data is about to start the irreversible part of the experiment. La Forge continues to plead with Data, asking him to check his conscience. Data falters, claims that there are anomalies in the experiment and postpones it. Lore begins to doubt Data's devotion, and attempts to strengthen control by threatening to remove the emotions he has provided. Data appears to have been cowed, but Lore remains suspicious, and orders Data to prove his loyalty... by killing Picard! Data refuses, as the rebooting of his morality subroutines is complete. Two Borg seize Data and Lore is about to execute his "own, dear brother", when Riker and Worf arrive, accompanied by Hugh and some of his rebel Borg. Lore flees during the confusion of the battle, pursued by Data. In their ensuing confrontation, Lore attempts to talk Data into escaping with him. Unswayed, Data shoots him with a phaser then proceeds to deactivate him. His last words to Data, "I...love you...brother...". Just before deactivation Data says goodbye for the final time. In the aftermath, Hugh becomes leader of the Borg group and in a conversation with Picard admits that, "Perhaps in time, we will learn to function as individuals and work together as a group". Picard wishes him good luck and they part. The Enterprise returns to Federation space and La Forge visits Data in his quarters. Data reports that Lore has been disassembled and he now intends to destroy the emotion chip, as it is "too dangerous", citing the harm he has inflicted under its influence. Before he's about to fire, he says to La Forge, "My friendship with you is too important to me". However La Forge intervenes, and advises him to keep the chip until he is ready (The chip would eventually be implanted into Data in Star Trek: Generations).
I should have my Season 7 review of Star Trek: TNG sometime this spring, maybe around the time of the upcoming Star Trek: Into Darkness. As for the 4 movies in the TNG series, they will be reviewed in my monthly entries after the Season 7 review. As for this review of Season 6, let me know your thoughts and comments!
"Man of the People": This episode was a little disturbing to say the least, especially since we see a darker version of Councilor Troi. A Lumerian ambassador, Ramid Ves Alkar, is accompanied by Sev Maylor, an old woman that he identifies as his mother. Troi and Alkar form a friendship but this causes Maylor to become bitterly hostile towards Troi. Soon, Maylor succumbs to some unknown fate and dies. Alkar doesn't seem moved by the loss but still requests a funeral ceremony along with Troi, having them touch "funeral stones" as part of the process. Something happens as this causes Troi to become seductive toward men but also jealous. She is seen advancing in age at a rapid rate. Turns out that the "funeral stones" used were transferring Alkar's negative emotions into Troi was the cause so he can conduct negotiations (kind of similar to Sarek and Picard in the episode "Sarek") and it killed the other woman earlier. Picard finds Alkar shows no remorse for his actions against the innocent Troi that it prompts Crusher to put Troi to death for half an hour so Alkar can sever the link from Troi. When Alkar tries to transfer to another woman, Liva, Troi is revived and the transfer is unsuccessful. It stays in him and he rapidly ages and dies in seconds. Troi is back to her youthful self and her caring personality restored.
"Relics": An episode with Montgomery Scott from The Original Series? Awesome! The Enterprise respond to a distress call and discover a nearby Dyson sphere. They trace the distress call to the USS Jenolen, a Federation transport ship that has been reported missing for 75 years. It crashed on the sphere's outer hull but still intact. Riker, Worf, and La Forge transport down into the Jenolen. La Forge discovers that the ship's transporter is sustaining two life signals, though one has degraded too far to be recovered. La Forge reverses the process and restores the remaining life form, which turns out to be former Starfleet officer Captain Montgomery Scott (or Scotty as he prefers). He is transported on the Enterprise-D and is checked out by Crusher in sick bay. Scotty explains that he was only a passenger aboard the Jenolen during his retirement, but when the ship was caught in the Dyson sphere's gravity field, only he and one other officer survived the crash, and Scotty had rigged the transporter to try to keep them "alive" until a rescue vessel could arrive. After his treatment, Scotty is eager to see the advances in technology including a tour of the Engineering deck - but quickly finds that his old knowledge has long been surpassed and his efforts to help are instead getting in the way of normal operations, much to the frustration of La Forge who tries to be patient. Ordered to leave Engineering by La Forge, Scott heads to Ten Forward, and is not thrilled to learn that alcohol is no longer served on Starfleet ships. Data offers to help out by giving Scotty a bottle of green coloured whiskey from Guinan's private stock. With bottle in hand (LOL! He he hasn't changed!), Scotty uses one of the holodecks to recreate the bridge of his old ship from The Original Series, to try to relive his past. In a touching scene, Picard joins Scotty after hearing of his difficulties in becoming adjusted to the 24th century and tries to console him, to which Scotty declares himself a relic of the past. Picard later suggests to La Forge to enlist Scotty's help in continuing the survey of the Dyson sphere to recover existing survey data from the older Jenolen systems, technology at which Scotty is adept. The two return to the Jenolen and begin to recover its memory core with Scotty's help. The Enterprise discovers a port on the side of the sphere, but when they try to communicate with the systems, the ship is pulled into the sphere by automated controls. The Enterprise's systems are temporarily disabled and while they are able to recover control before the ship impacts with the star inside the sphere, they find the star is unstable and emitting large amounts of radiation which will be lethal to the crew, and surmise that the sphere was long abandoned by its creators due to this. The Enterprise crew quickly realizes the only exit from the interior of the sphere is the port they used but cannot figure out how to open it from this side. When La Forge tries to make contact with the Enterprise, he discovers it missing, and works with Scotty to make the Jenolen flight-worthy. They discover the same port the Enterprise found and surmise the Enterprise is trapped inside. La Forge and Scotty manage to open the port without being pulled in and then wedge the Jenolen in the open port, using its shields to keep it open while the Enterprise escapes, rescuing the two engineers from the Jenolen just before destroying it with photon torpedoes. As the Enterprise returns to its mission, the crew of the ship give Scotty his very own shuttlecraft "on extended loan" to either continue to his retirement or to explore the galaxy. Scotty thanks the crew and reminds La Forge to make the most of his time as the Chief Engineer of the Enterprise before he departs. Strangely, he doesn't shake Worf's hand... I guess his opinion of Klingons hasn't changed since Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Still, I did like this episode though too bad Spock wasn't enquired about.
"True Q": I thought this was an interesting "Q" episode and shares a little similarity to the first season episode "Hide and Q". A teenage girl named Amanda has earned a Starfleet internship to be on board the Enterprise and study biological sciences under Dr. Crusher. It turns out she has extordinary powers and tries to fight the temptation to use them but ends up saving the lives of Riker, La Forge, and Data from accidents. Q appears and reveals that Amanda is part of the Q Continuum because both of her parents were Q but decided to take on human forms on earth. They died when she was young. Q is sent by the Continuum to determine if she truly is a Q and help Amanda understand her powers so that he can either return her to the Continuum, leave her to life as a normal human being, or kill her. Picard is suspicious as to the deaths of Amanda's parents given that they were Q. Data finds out that they died in Kansas by a tornado that could not be naturally conceived as a weather modification system would prevent it. It also specifically targeted the house they were living in. Picard confronts Q on this information and Q admits that the Continuum had them killed in their mortal form because they were viewed as a threat. Picard gets into an argument with Q over Amanda and the Continuum's amorality compared to human morality in which Q gives two options: either Amanda joins the Q Continuum or live her life as a human but resist using her powers. Amanda tries the second option but the Enterprise receives a distress call from a nearby planet where their ionic anti-pollution systems are failing rapidly, which would flood the atmosphere and block out the sun. Amanda ends up choosing the first option and uses her Q powers to restore the pollution systems to normal, saving the planet. Having made her choice, Q prepares to take Amanda to the Continuum, but she wants to say goodbye to the crew and fears that she won't see them again, particularly Dr. Crusher who has been helpful through the episode. Crusher reminds her that as a Q, she can do anything she wants which seems to comfort her as she disappears with Q.
"Rascals": A transporting anomoly turns Picard, Ro, Keiko, and Guinan into around 12-year old children but with their adult minds intact. I must say, the young actor playing the 12-year old Picard really captures him... despite the young accent he has! It's funny listening to him emulate what Picard usually says and laughed when he later threw a tantrum (I'm imagining the older Picard doing the same thing!). I also found the scene funny when he and Riker pretend they are father and son (again, Picard with an adult mind but acting like a child). It was nice to see a friendship between Guinan and Ro and both of them taking advantage of their second childhood. Keiko was more tragic as Miles is understandably awkward toward her and even their daughter doesn't recognize her younger mother. I notice they don't show Keiko at the end as a adult and any epilogue with her... The small amount of Ferengi taking over the Enterprise bit I thought was kind of dumb. At least Alexander was helpful this time!
"The Quality of Life": La Forge is growing a beard! Thank God no one shaved their beards in this episode! Nuff' said!
"Chain of Command Part I & II": I'll group these two-parter episodes together. Not much to say about the first part either than Picard being relieved of duty by Captain Edward Jellico to go on a secret covert mission with Crusher and Worf, and the Enterprise crew having to deal with Captain Jellico's change in command compared to Picard's. Both Jellico and Riker don't see eye-to-eye and even La Forge is irritated by him. On the Cardassian planet of Celtris III, Picard and company are ambushed when they are trying to locate a biological weapon but find it is a ruse. Picard is captured but Crusher and Worf escape. He is taken to meet the Cardassian interrogator, Gul Madred. In part two, Madred tortures Picard by use of pain, dehydration, starvation, stripping him naked (Patrick Stewart does have a nice ass, eh?), etc. to extract information on what the Federation is doing around Minos Korva, one of the Federation planets. One constant form of "choice torture" is Madred shining 4 bright lights in front of Picard and he asks him how many lights there are. Picard always answers 4 lights but Madred continues to torture him with that answer, wanting him to answer that there are really 5 lights. Meanwhile, the Cardassians inform the Enterprise crew that Picard has been captured though Jellico refuses to acknowledge that Picard was on a mission from Starfleet. By lying, Picard would receive the right to be declared a POW rather than being subjected to torture as a terrorist, but this would compromise the mission. Because of Picard being left viewed as a terrorist, a heated argument happens between Jellico and Riker. In retaliation, Jellico relieves Riker of duty. The crew observes signs of residue from a nearby nebula on the hull of a Cardasian ship, and Jellico suspects a Cardassian fleet may attempt to use the cover of the nebula to launch an attack on Minos Korva. He believes it is best to mine the nebula using a shuttlecraft. But... Riker is the most qualified pilot for the mission (derp!)! In an obviously funny scene, Jellico approaches Riker (who is out of uniform) and tries to be friendly with him. Riker, since he is not acting as an officer, candidly criticizes Jellico's command style and will only accept the assignment once Jellico personally asks him to pilot the shuttle, instead of ordering him to do so - a total contrast to Jellico's style! Riker successfully lays the minefield, and Jellico uses the threat of the minefield to force the Cardassians to disarm and retreat, plus demanding Picard's return. Before the officers come with the news and Picard is taken away, Madred offers him a choice: to remain in captivity for the rest of his life, or live in paradise on Cardassia by admitting he sees five lights. As Picard momentarily considers the offer, a Cardassian officer interrupts the process and informs Madred that Picard must be returned. As Picard is freed from his bonds and taken away, he turns back to Madred and defiantly shouts "there are four lights!" Picard is returned to the Federation and reinstated as Captain of the Enterprise. Picard admits privately to Troi that while he was willing to tell Madred anything, he was more concerned that, for a moment, he thought he really did see five lights. I have to admit, Patrick Stewart's acting was pretty good during the torture scenes.
"Face of the Enemy": A great episode showcasing what Counselor Troi is capable of. At the beginning, she awakens in an unfamiliar room, surgically altered to appear Romulan. Subcommander N'Vek soon enters the room and tells Troi that she is on the Romulan Warbird, Khazara and is to masquerade as Major Rakal of the Tal Shiar (the Romulan intelligence service and secret police). N'Vek tells her that her assistance is needed, and that her only chance of survival is to listen to him. Troi agrees for the time being. The ship's commander, Toreth constantly questions Troi but she settles into her role as Rakal, threatening Toreth as need be. Troi informs Toreth that she is to take the ship into the Kaleb sector once they have finished loading their cargo (as N'Vek instructed her). On the Enterprise, Ensign DeSeve transports on board - even though he defected to Romulus, but is now returning to the Federation. While the Federation plans to arrest DeSeve for treason, Picard listens when DeSeve says that he is delivering a message from Ambassador Spock. A Corvallen cargo ship will arrive in the Kaleb sector with a cargo that is important to the Federation. He requests that the Enterprise meet it. Back on the Khazara, N'Vek shows Troi their cargo: three Romulans in stasis. Vice Proconsul M'ret and two of his aides are defecting to the Federation. N'Vek is providing a pathway to freedom for them, which could potentially allow a means for thousands of Romulan dissidents to escape the Empire. Troi figures out that he works for Ambassador Spock but wonders whether a Romulan might be better suited to the plan but N'Vek insists that a Starfleet officer may be needed. The ship meets the Corvallen freighter, but Troi senses that they do not plan to keep their promise to deliver the cargo. N'Vek fires on the freighter, destroying it. The Enterprise, not knowing that N'Vek's plan has failed, does not find the freighter. Picard orders a search. N'Vek tells Troi that they must go to the Federation starbase on Draken Four, finally revealing why he needed a Starfleet officer: only they can provide the access codes to get into Federation space. Returning to the bridge, Troi informs Toreth about the plan of going into Federation space but Toreth is against the plan, knowing it is dangerous. The crew sets course for Draken Four, but suddenly detect the approaching Enterprise. The Enterprise discovers the remains of the Corvallen ship and Data concludes that the ship was destroyed by Romulans. Troi tells N'Vek they should get a message to the Enterprise. N'Vek has the chief engineer (who is part of N'Vek's plan) create a small imbalance in the engines that renders the ship detectable so the enterprise can trace the cloaked Khazara. When an opportune moment to attack the Enterprise comes by Toreth command, Troi relieves her of duty. Troi orders the crew to decloak the ship and open a channel. The Enterprise responds to the hail and the bridge crew is shocked when Troi appears on the screen, but they give nothing away. Troi apologizes for the incident with the Corvallen ship and offers to beam aboard to sort everything out. Picard acknowledges Troi's offer, and asks Worf to put a transporter lock on Troi and prepare to beam her aboard. The Khazara crew report that the Enterprise is lowering its shields and Troi orders N'Vek to fire on the Enterprise. The ship takes a direct hit but suffers no damage. Instead, the three Romulans in stasis appear on the bridge. The crew on the Khazara report that the disruptors were using minimal power and were used to disguise transport of cargo to the Enterprise. Toreth understands that Troi and N'Vek are traitors. N'Vek reaches for a weapon but is killed. Toreth orders the crew to cloak the ship and set a course for home. She vows to interrogate Troi and possibly execute her, but before she can take action, the Enterprise beams Troi away. Back on the Enterprise Troi gets her own face back and is reassured by Picard that N'Vek's sacrifice was not in vain.
"Tapestry": Picard is taken to sick bay after a blast from some radicals on an away mission damages his artifcial heart. He finds himself in the afterlife, which appears to be the domain of Q, who bluntly says, "Welcome to the afterlife, Jean-Luc. You're dead". To prove Picard is dead, Q introduces him to people that Picard knows have died, including his father and the voices of people for whose deaths Picard is responsible. When Picard accuses Q of causing his death, Q reveals that Picard's artificial heart caused his demise: a natural heart would have endured the energy blast he suffered. Picard's original heart was damaged during a bar brawl with Nausicaans - a quick-tempered, bullish race. One of whom stabbed him through the heart. Picard realizes his regret for his "wild youth" and that it has caught up with him. His current disciplined personality and seriousness is rooted in regret over his earlier days. Q offers to let Picard go back in time to prevent himself from being stabbed. Q assures him that any changes he makes will not affect anyone other than himself. He is sent back to two days before the injury, meeting with friends and academy classmates Corey Zweller and Marta Batanides. His "newly changed" personality comes as somewhat of an unpleasant surprise, and he alienates his friends - the person they knew as fun loving and quick to anger is now staid, slow to anger, and often unintentionally insulting. Events proceed as they did with Zweller becoming enraged with a group of Nausicaans who cheat him at dom-jot. Picard does what he can to prevent Zweller from starting a fight with the Nausicaans. Instead of taking on the Nausicaans when they are taunted, Picard throws Zweller out of the way of the fight. The Nausicaans call them cowards and leave - as do Zweller and Batanides. Picard has destroyed his friendship with them by refusing to stand up for Zweller. Q tells Picard that he saved his heart, and returns him to the present. Picard then finds himself on the Enterprise as a Lieutenant junior in the astrophysics department. Q tells him that, as a consequence of the changes to his past, he has led an unremarkable career doing routine work. Picard consults with Riker and Troi on the possibility of him moving on to higher positions; while they consider Picard a competent and hardworking officer, he fails to show initiative and does not take the necessary risks to have a successful command career in Starfleet. Picard confronts Q, who tells him that although the bout with the Nausicaan nearly cost him his life, it also gave him a sense of his mortality. It taught him that life was too precious to squander by playing it safe. Picard realizes that his attempts to suppress and ignore the consequences of his indiscretions have resulted in him losing a part of himself. Picard would rather die as captain of the Enterprise than live as a nobody. Q sends him back to the bar fight and events unfold as they did originally, with Picard being stabbed through the heart and laughing as he collapses to the ground. In the present, Captain Picard awakes having been revived by Dr. Crusher. As Picard recovers from his injuries, he talks to Riker and wonders whether he really journeyed into the past or whether it was merely a hallucination or one of Q's tricks. Riker expresses some difficulty imagining Picard taking on three Nausicaans but Picard then proceeds into another story about an encounter with Nausicaans.
"Birthright Part I": We get a nice surprise in this first part. A couple months prior to the original airing of this episode, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine debuted it's first season! At the beginning of this episode, the Enterprise is docked at Deep Space Nine. DS9's Chief Medical Officer Julian Bashir, has come aboard to get assistance in examining a piece of technology that was found in the Gamma Quadrant and is working with Geordi and Data. Bashir is fascinated by Data as he notices him do human actions (like breathing and growing hair) and so Data explains some aspects of his design that make him look more like a human. In a café on DS9 Worf is approached by an alien, Jaglom Shrek, who claims that Mogh, Worf's father, was not killed at Khitomer, but instead was captured by the Romulans. Since Mogh's capture would dishonor Worf and his own son, Worf at first refuses to believe the alien's claim but it upsets him. Data, Geordi, and Bashir are working in engineering with the piece of equipment Julian brought over. During a test there is a sudden energy discharge which hits Data, causing him to collapse unconscious. Data has a dream-like experience in which he wanders through one of the ship's corridors. He sees a bird and hears the sound of a hammer on an anvil. He finds the blacksmith banging the hammer and it is his "father", creator Noonien Soong. Before he can learn any more he is revived by Geordi. Data is puzzled as to what happened and Bashir suggests that maybe he had a dream. Data approaches Worf, who says that it is important for Data to find the dream's meaning, and on learning that Data's dream involved Data's creator, Worf says that "Your father is a part of you, always." This causes Worf to resolve himself to find out the truth about his father. He goes back to DS9 and hunts down the Shrek. The alien doesn't wish to go because the camp is on a planet on the fringe of Romulan space but Worf threatens him. After getting a leave of absence from the Enterprise, he sets off with Shrek to the planet in question. On arrival Shrek takes him to a clifftop from where they can see the camp. Back on the Enterprise Data visits Picard and relays the dream he had. He claims he has no culture, so he has turned to others for meaning. Picard fundamentally disagrees, informing Data, "You are a culture of one which is no less valid than a culture of one billion." He tells Data to turn to within himself to find the meaning of the dream. Data goes to his quarters to paint images related to his dream. On the planet, Worf and Shrek delve into the dark jungle but eventually separate. He spies a female bathing in the wilderness and pursues her, finding out she's a Klingon. The Klingon female goes back to the compound but doesn't reveal Worf. Geordi stops by Data's quarters, where in addition to dream-related paintings, Data painted a bird but can't explain why. He asks Geordi to help him recreate the experiment that caused the dream. Geordi reluctantly agrees, warning Data that it could fuse his brain. Bashir and Geordi initiate the experiment. Data is zapped again and has another vision. It begins the same as the first: Corridor, sound of a hammer, Soong. Soong plunges a bird's wing into a bucket of water, causing steam to billow out. When the steam clears, Soong is gone and a bird is left in his place. Data realizes that the vision is different, saying so out loud. Soong appears to him, saying that of course the dream is different. Data is now on the bridge. Data begins to relate all the things that are different: The bridge is there, his cat Spot, his potted plant, and his paintings. Soong says Data is showing progress. Awake, Data believes that the dream was pre-programmed by Soong. He also plans to "sleep" for a brief period every day, to "dream". Bashir asks if he could write a paper on this event, and Data approves. Worf breaks into the prison compound and encounters Klingons performing a ritual. A Klingon male warns Worf that there are things going on that Worf doesn't understand. The Klingon also informs Worf that his father, Mogh, fell in battle at Khitomer; hence, Worf's family honor is intact. He also states that he remembers seeing Worf as a child, and relates a story about how Worf injured himself as a child while on a hunt. Worf then says he remembers the old Klingon, who warns him that he should not have come here. The Klingon elders grab Worf, attempting to keep him in the compound. He easily defeats them and begins to run, only to be stopped by two armed Romulans.
"Birthright Part II": The second part deals entirely with Worf at the Romulan prison compound. Worf is puzzled by the Klingons' lack of desire to escape, but the elders explain that it is not a prison in the conventional sense: they have chosen to stay, since returning would be a great dishonor to their families, who have assumed the warriors died in battle. Worf is not allowed to leave, however, to keep the compound's secret. He discovers that some Romulans and Klingons have even inter-married and had hybrid children. Worf eventually inspires the young Klingons, who were born in the compound and know nothing of their heritage, to be curious about their heritage. He even inspires a young Klingon by taking him on "the hunt" and was able to kill an animal for food. Eventually the head Romulan, Tokath, offers Worf a choice: to live among them according to their rules, or to be executed. Worf chooses death, which is honorable in its defiance. The next morning, at Worf's execution, the young Klingons he has inspired suddenly decide to stand and die with him. Unwilling to kill them all, Tokath allows Worf and the young Klingons to leave. A Romulan warbird delivers them to the Enterprise, which had been searching for Worf since his disappearance from DS9.
"Starship Mine": Picard is totally badass in this episode! Playing cat-and-mouse all by himself with terrorists on the Enterprise. Also, I automatically recognized the actor who played as one of the terrorists - Tim Russ. This was his first Star Trek role and he would go on to play in the main cast of Star Trek: Voyager as the Vulcan, Tuvok.
"Lessons": A good romance episode between Picard and Lieutenant Commander Nella Daren. She gets Picard to practice his Ressikan flute (the same one he played in last season's episode "The Inner Light" - before I continue: while I didn't mention the episode in my review last season, I didn't dislike it but found it a little strange and just didn't bother to write about it; overall, it's a nice episode. Oh yes, Picard tells of his experience in that episode to Nella!) and both of them play lovely music together. After Nella survives an away mission, both her and Picard break off their relationship. While they discuss the possibility to be together albeit giving up their careers in Starfleet, Picard still has a job to do and that job requires duty, leadership, and sadly, to be lonely. After their final kiss, Nella encourages Picard to not give up on his music.
"The Chase": The Klingon, Nu'Daq is pretty woofy!
"Suspicions": I found out that this is the last episode to feature Guinan in the series. That's a shame as it would be nice to have her in the last season.
"Rightful Heir": This was another real great Klingon episode. Worf attempts to reconnect with his Klingon spiritual beliefs by performing a Klingon ritual to summon a vision of Kahless, the original messianic warrior who founded the Klingon Empire. Picard responds to Worf's crisis of faith by suggesting he immerse himself in Klingon culture, and grants him leave to journey to the Temple of Boreth, which is the core of Klingon beliefs concerning Kahless. After ten days of doubt-filled rituals, he sees what he thinks is a vision of Kahless. It is not, it is an actual being. Worf brings the prospective spiritual leader to the Enterprise, but is troubled that Kahless doesn't remember how Klingon Warnog tastes, or what Sto-Vo-Kor, the Klingon afterlife is like. Klingon Chancellor Gowron arrives, saying he has a test which will indisputably prove if Kahless is genuine. Gowron is displeased with the prophet's return, convinced he is an imposter foisted by the priests to gain power and could incite a Klingon civil war. Gowron requests that the Federation genetically test the sacred dagger he brought which was stained with the blood of the original Kahless in antiquity, but is disappointed when the test indicates a match. Gowron provokes a D'k tahg duel with Kahless and wins, leaving a dispirited Worf to ponder how the supposed "greatest warrior of all" could be beaten. Worf demands an explanation from Koroth, the High Priest of the Boreth Temple, who disconsolately replies that Kahless isn't a resurrection, only a clone of the original, offering the rationale that the legend of Kahless's return didn't specify the exact manner. He adds that such a legend is desperately needed to rally the people's faith and guide them. Data advises the uncertain Worf that once during a crisis of his own he made a "leap of faith" to "assume that he was a person", and thus could grow beyond the sum of his programming. Gowron is outraged when Worf tells him the truth and prepares to execute the clone and priests. Worf tells Gowron he has decided to support Kahless, explaining that he has made a leap of faith as Data once did, adding that the clone's origins don't matter. He suggests the Klingon High Council appoint Kahless to the ceremonial position of Emperor; while only a figurehead, he might be able to unite the Klingon people. In conclusion, Worf observes that while not the "true" Kahless, this man is at least the "Rightful Heir" to Kahless; opposing him might lead to civil war. Seeing the wisdom of cooperation, Gowron offers his devotion. Departing soon after for the Klingon homeworld Qo'noS, Kahless notes the troubled demeanor of Worf and reassures him by observing that the personal belief systems espoused by Kahless made the ancient Klingons what they were, the man was not important; even if the real Kahless never returned it might not matter, as his spirit lives within the hearts of all true Klingons.
"Second Chances": A fascinating and tense episode. On the planet Nervala IV, a Federation research base was abandoned eight years earlier due to the onset of a disruption field that prevented transporter use. Riker goes down with an away team having been part of the rescue team that helped to evacuate the base while serving on the Potemkin. Riker notes that he was the last person to be beamed out during that mission. Using a break in the disruption field, the away team beams down and discovers a man that appears exactly as Riker. This "Riker" has lived alone on the base for the last eight years and asserts he is Riker from the Potemkin, and left behind when they were transported back. Returning to the Enterprise Crusher determines that this person is truly Riker in every way while La Forge discovers that years before, when Riker was being beamed off the planet, the Potemkin has split the transporter beam to cut through the distortions, with one beam reflected back to the base creating the second Riker, while Riker was safely recovered on the Potekmin. Cmd. Riker suggests that Lt. Riker join them on a second attempt to recover the data. At the base, their personality styles conflict, and the attempt ends in failure when Lt. Riker refuses to follow Cmd. Riker's orders. As they work out a third attempt to recover the data, Lt. Riker tries to learn about what he has missed, and attempts to rekindle his previous relationship with Troi. She is initially hesitant but then considers it a second chance after her former relationship with Cmd. Riker waned. They enjoy their time together, and Lt. Riker suggests leaving the Enterprise together for a new posting but Troi tells him she will have to think about it. On their third attempt to retrieve the data, Cmd. Riker and Lt. Riker are successful but on the way out, a walkway gives out, threatening Lt. Riker's life. Though Lt. Riker tells Cmd. Riker to leave him be, Cmd. Riker saves his double. The two Riker reconcile their differences, and Lt. Riker states that he has been given a re-assignment, and plans to take on his middle name "Thomas" to distinguish himself from William. Cmd. Riker gives his double his treasured trombone as a parting gift. Troi also tells Lt. Riker that she will be staying on the Enterprise but thanks him for everything.
"Descent Part I": The beginning of Part I has Data playing a game of poker with holographic representations of Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton, and even Stephen Hawking - who is credited as playing himself. Hawking is winning but their game is interrupted by a red alert so Data suspends the program. The Enterprise responds to a distress call from a Starfleet outpost. An away team consisting of Riker, Worf, Data and another security guard find the entire crew of the outpost dead. Suddenly they are attacked by a group of Borg. During the course of the fire fight, Riker observes that the Borg are not acting like the Borg they have encountered previously. Each of them is armed with energy weapons, refer to each other as individuals, and appear to be fighting more like warriors. While fighting a drone, Data feels an emotion, particularly anger, which results in his breaking the neck of the drone he was fighting. At the same time, in orbit, an unidentified ship fires on the Enterprise and the crew returns fire. On the surface, during the firefight, one Borg begins talking to himself about the nature of the away team members, when he sees and mentions Data, he appears to signal a withdraw. The alien ship beams up the remaining Borg from the outpost and flees with the Enterprise in pursuit. Suddenly the ship enters some kind of vortex and disappears without a trace. Back on the outpost, Riker asks Data what happened, but Data cannot explain it; he just felt angry. Admiral Alynna Nechayev arrives to take command of the situation. She reprimands Picard for not destroying the single Borg, Hugh, when he had the chance (in the Season 5 episode "I, Borg") and orders him to do so if another opportunity should present itself, much to the disappointment of Picard. Meanwhile, Data is trying to understand what caused his behavior on the outpost. He tries to experience emotion again through simulations of the event, but does not succeed. The Borg ship reappears and attacks another outpost. It reenters the vortex and disappears when the Enterprise intercepts; however, this time the Enterprise is caught in its wake and follows. Once on the other side, the Borg attack, beaming drones onto the bridge. After a brief fire fight, one drone is killed and another wounded, but the distraction allows the Borg ship to escape, which again is unusual Borg behavior in that they always reclaim their drones, whether alive or dead. The crew discover that the vortex they entered is a form of conduit allowing them to travel from one star system to another almost instantaneously. However they have yet to work out how it is activated which means, for the moment, they are unable to return to Federation space. Data is sent to speak with the Borg whom the Enterprise has captured in an attempt to gather intelligence, but the drone is able to manipulate Data into releasing him, and escapes the ship in a shuttlecraft. Before the Enterprise can catch the shuttle it disappears into a conduit. However, the crew is able to learn how the conduits are activated and gives chase. They track the shuttlecraft to a planet. An away team finds no trace of Data or the Borg and something in the planet's atmosphere is blocking their sensors, so Picard decides to conduct a ground search utilizing nearly the whole crew of the Enterprise. Only a small crew remains on board with Dr. Crusher as the acting captain. Picard, Troi, La Forge, and a security officer search the area and discover a building. Upon entering, they are surrounded by Borg. The security officer is killed as he panics and prepares to fire. A voice calls out for the Borg to stop and stand down. Picard turns around to discover Data standing on a platform, but Troi corrects him and Picard, horrified, realizes that it is Lore, Data's brother. Then Data appears, announcing that "The sons of Soong have joined together, and together, we will destroy the Federation!"
"Descent Part II": The first episode of the final season! Lore has found a way to give Data emotions, and turned Data against the Federation. Lore plans to lead these breakaway Borg to destroy all organic life - believing that Lore and Data are perfect life forms. Picard, Troi, and La Forge are taken captive and La Forge's VISOR is taken by Data because, according to La Forge, it allows him to see a carrier wave being beamed from Lore to Data. It is the source of Data's emotions and Lore's control over Data hence, why Lore orders it removed. In orbit, the Borg ship is detected and acting-captain Crusher orders the away teams on the planet to be beamed back aboard. However, there isn't enough time to get them all and 47 away team members still remain on the planet. Riker orders Crusher to leave the planet and come back only when it's safe to do so since the rogue Borg vessel has detected the Enterprise. Rather than leave the system, Crusher orders the crew to take the ship into the sun. Using the technology developed by Ferengi scientist Dr. Reyga (from the episode "Suspicions"), they modify the shields to allow them to get closer to the sun than the Borg can go. They use the ship's phasers to trigger an eruption on the sun's surface which engulfs the Borg ship, destroying it. On the planet, Lore orders Data to perform an experiment on La Forge's brain that has a chance of killing him. La Forge tries pleading with Data, who ignores him and continues setting up the process. In their prison cell, the away team constructs a device which they believe will reactivate Data's moral subroutines, in the hopes that he will question the ethics of his actions, as well as the intentions of his brother. Riker and Worf encounter Hugh, who tells them that Lore is the leader of this Borg group. He says that at one time Lore's help was necessary, but he has since destroyed many Borg through his brutal experiments. Hugh's group are "rebel" Borg, wanting to remove Lore from power but is hesitant in helping Riker and Worf. The captured crew manage to reactivate Data's ethical programming just as Data is about to start the irreversible part of the experiment. La Forge continues to plead with Data, asking him to check his conscience. Data falters, claims that there are anomalies in the experiment and postpones it. Lore begins to doubt Data's devotion, and attempts to strengthen control by threatening to remove the emotions he has provided. Data appears to have been cowed, but Lore remains suspicious, and orders Data to prove his loyalty... by killing Picard! Data refuses, as the rebooting of his morality subroutines is complete. Two Borg seize Data and Lore is about to execute his "own, dear brother", when Riker and Worf arrive, accompanied by Hugh and some of his rebel Borg. Lore flees during the confusion of the battle, pursued by Data. In their ensuing confrontation, Lore attempts to talk Data into escaping with him. Unswayed, Data shoots him with a phaser then proceeds to deactivate him. His last words to Data, "I...love you...brother...". Just before deactivation Data says goodbye for the final time. In the aftermath, Hugh becomes leader of the Borg group and in a conversation with Picard admits that, "Perhaps in time, we will learn to function as individuals and work together as a group". Picard wishes him good luck and they part. The Enterprise returns to Federation space and La Forge visits Data in his quarters. Data reports that Lore has been disassembled and he now intends to destroy the emotion chip, as it is "too dangerous", citing the harm he has inflicted under its influence. Before he's about to fire, he says to La Forge, "My friendship with you is too important to me". However La Forge intervenes, and advises him to keep the chip until he is ready (The chip would eventually be implanted into Data in Star Trek: Generations).
I should have my Season 7 review of Star Trek: TNG sometime this spring, maybe around the time of the upcoming Star Trek: Into Darkness. As for the 4 movies in the TNG series, they will be reviewed in my monthly entries after the Season 7 review. As for this review of Season 6, let me know your thoughts and comments!