My One Summer Mission

I was thinking about doing a season one recap, but "Oh lord, it gets better than this, right?" pretty much sums it up. If the mood strikes me, I might revisit Next Generation's illustrious first season, but for now -- let's look to the future.

Especially because I have ENDLESS SNARKY ASIDES about this episode.

Episode Notes: ( And here they are! )

Overall Reaction: Pretty much I only had to see the summary to know that this episode would be a hot mess. Who thought that a forcible impregnation plot line would be a good idea?

This episode was ridiculous -- hilariously so -- but beneath all the "Picard can't deal with babies" and "Data has inappropriate reactions to human experiences" and "Worf says hilarious things in a gruff deadpan" and "Riker can't handle Deanna having the sexual life that he himself richly enjoys" (OH WAIT) and other bits and bobs that make up my enjoyment of TNG, I just found this episode deeply problematic.

Deanna is an intelligent, emotionally mature woman living in the 23rd century. She is an empath and a counselor. She is surrounded by her thoughtful, affectionate coworkers and has a female physician. THIS SHOW IS WRITTEN BY PRESUMABLY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE. And yet no one thinks that, hey, perhaps FORCIBLE IMPREGNATION could be a traumatic violation of Deanna's bodily integrity? Deanna is so blissed out about this whole thing that I can only hope that the alien creature is exerting some sort of emotional sway over her, possibly narcotic. And in the aftermath of the impregnation, Deanna is subjected to a debate over what should be done with her body by two male crewmen (admittedly, they're the security officer, who has legitimate reasons for concern, and Data, who's an android, but still) and the blazing, irrational jealousy of Riker, an ex-boyfriend who certainly enjoys recreational sex wherever he can get it. Perhaps he's just surprised because accidental pregnancy has been eradicated in civilized society. Or maybe he's just a dick. (Seriously, he's the most diplomatic person in the show -- he can let anything go. UNLESS DEANNA DARES TO GET PREGNANT.)

The first issue is resolved by Deanna, who shuts down Worf and Data's debate over what to do with her abnormally fast-growing foetus, but the second issue continues throughout the episode, relatively unremarked upon. When Worf walked in during the middle of Deanna's childbirth, I was willing to dismiss it as a necessary security precaution (especially when Pulaski made a comment to the same effect). Data asked permission to be present and, in his own endearingly inept way, actually provided some emotional support for Deanna. But when Riker spied on her childbirth through a window? And Deanna's only response was an affectionate, "Were you here all along"? My head may have exploded. Did Deanna give up her right to privacy when she dared to become impregnated by an alien being in her sleep? And does she need to look so happy about it?

This episode... it was so bad it was funny, hard to get worked up over. But it failed, on so, so many levels.

Star Rating: * 1/2

Quote of the Episode:
"And who will tuck him in at night?" "C'mon, Commander..." "I will accept that responsibility." (Riker, Wesley, and Worf, in what is probably the funniest exchange to ever involve Wesley Crusher ever)

So, I have, in true summer vacation fashion, begun the EPIC AND VERY IMPORTANT project of watching (mostly for the first time) the Star Trek spin-offs. (I'm pretty much promising that Enterprise won't feature, but if anyone has an episode they think I have to watch, just for a sense of the series, I might be open to that.)

Thus, also in true summer vacation fashion, I streamed the first six episodes (counting the first two-parter as two?) yesterday and now I have THOUGHTS.

( General reactions. )

( Characters. )