GUEST CAST
Lieutenant (j.g.) Jenna D’Sora: Michele Scarabelli
Keiko O’Brien: Rosalind Chao
Lieutenant O’Brien: Colm Meaney
Ensign McKnight: Pamela Winslow
Guinan: Whoopi Goldberg
* * *
Data takes one more step on the road to understanding humanity when a shipmate, Jenna D’Sora, begins to view him as more than a friend.
The two had grown close while studying a dark-matter nebula, the Enterprise’s latest assignment. After getting mixed advice from his friends when she comes on to him, Data decides to pursue the relationship and creates a special program to provide a guide to love. He and Jenna have their ups and downs, and eventually his true nature gets through to her: his seemingly artificial behavior is, of course, artificial.
Meanwhile, a Class M planet in the nebula suddenly winks out and then reappears. Data theorizes that the nebula causes pockets of deformed matter that phase out anything they contact, and with his ship’s vital areas endangered, Picard orders the Enterprise out of the nebula.
But the starship is too large to sense and dodge the pockets, so the captain pilots a scout shuttlepod himself to relay back course directions. His craft is nearly lost, but the ship breaks clear at last.
That crisis over, Jenna tells Data she now realizes she went from one unemotional boyfriend to another who was even more so and now she wants to break the pattern. He agrees and erases his special program without a second thought.
Following up on Jonathan Frakes’s lead, Patrick Stewart became the second cast member to direct an episode. The story chosen for Stewart’s debut was a no-fail Data show by Ronald D. Moore and Joe Menosky that confronted questions about the android and love that TNG had backed away from in “The Ensigns of Command” (149).
Television SF watchers will recognize Michele Scarabelli as Sam Francisco’s wife Susan on Alien Nation. A name for Pamela Winslow’s character had been mentioned during the Paxan affair in “Clues” (188). Among the uncredited extras were Ritt Henn as the alien bassoonist, Phil Maliory as the French horn player, Gary Baxley as engineer Ensign Thorne, and Georgina Shore as the ill-fated Lieutenant (j.g.) Van Mayter.
The O’Briens turn out to be a musical family with Keiko on clarinet and Miles on cello (“The Ensigns of Command”/149). Meanwhile, Data is seen to have learned to play the oboe and the flute as well as the violin (149, 171, 245, 262); his cat, first seen in “Data’s Day” (185), gets the name Spot here (see notes, “Birthright, Part I”/242). Longer-term Trek notes include Saurian brandy (repeated in “Bloodlines”/274), referred to in 1966’s “The Enemy Within,” among others; milk from a targ, the Klingon boar that can either be a pet (106) or food source (134); and transparent aluminum, subject of some necessary historical meddling by Scotty and McCoy in Star Trek IV. Also, this story’s shuttlecraft was the Voltaire.
Jenna D’Sora (Michelle Scarabelli) decides Data is the man for her.
REDEMPTION
* * *
Production No.: 200 Aired: Week of June 17, 1991
Stardate: 44995.3 Code: rd
Directed by Cliff Bole
Written by Ronald D. Moore
GUEST CAST
Gowron: Robert O’Reilly
Captain Kurn: Tony Todd
Lursa: Barbara March
B’Etor: Gwynyth Walsh
K’tal: Ben Slack
General Movar: Nicholas Kepros
Toral: J. D. Cullum
Guinan: Whoopi Goldberg
Klingon First Officer: Tom Ormeny
Computer Voice: Majel Barrett
Commander Sela: Denise Crosby
* * *
In his role as Arbiter of Succession, Picard returns to the Klingon homeworld to oversee Gowron’s installation as emperor. The captain also urges Worf to confront Gowron over his family’s discommendation.
En route, the starship is intercepted by a Klingon vessel bearing Gowron, who informs Picard that a faction of the Empire, led by the family of the dead Duras is mounting a rebellion against his throne. Picard refuses to get involved, though: he won’t risk dragging the Federation into a Klingon civil war.
In turn, Gowron refuses to restore Lieutenant Worf’s family honor, citing the need to shore up his own power. Worf’s younger brother, Kurn, wants to join the rebellion against Gowron, but the lieutenant persuades him not to do so—the family will back Gowron, for now.
Then Duras’s bastard son, Toral, makes a surprise claim to the throne, backed by his powerful family, including Duras’s sisters. But Picard, knowing full well their Romulan ties, rejects their claim to the throne.
As Worf again presses Gowron to restore his family name, Duras’s forces ambush them; only Kurn’s timely appearance saves them from defeat.
Worf gets a moving farewell when he resigns to fight in the Klingon civil war.
Klingon traitors: B’Etor (Gwynyth Walsh), Toral (J. D. Cullum), and Lursa (Barbara March).
Gowron is installed as leader, and restores Worf’s honor. Feeling the tug of his heritage, the lieutenant resigns his Starfleet commission.
Meanwhile, members of the Duras family meet with their Romulan backers, who include a woman who looks amazingly like Tasha Yar….
Opening the final chapter of the Klingon trilogy that began with “Sins of the Father” (165) and “Reunion” (181), Ronald D. Moore’s epic provided this season’s cliffhanger: Worf’s departure from Starfleet to fight alongside his brother and Gowron to preserve the Klingon Empire, The return of Denise Crosby, already hinted at in “The Mind’s Eye,” would not be explained until the conclusion that launched season five.
Also returning were actors Robert O’Reilly (“Reunion”/181) and Tony Todd (“Sins of the Father”/165); with his rise in stature, Gowron has upgraded his Bird-of-Prey Buruk for the Bortas, a Vor’cha-class attack cruiser. Barbara March is the wife of Alan Scarfe (“Data’s Day”/185, “Redemption”/200-201).
Guinan continues to be full of surprises, as she again proves to be no slouch with a weapon, a skill we first saw in “Night Terrors” (191); she actually tops Worf’s score on the phaser range.
We learn that the UFP-Klingon alliance treaty includes a pledge of mutual defense. And we are told that Worf’s son, Alexander, who first appeared in “Reunion” (181), is already having a hard time on Earth, foreshadowing his return next season in “New Ground” (210). Gowron’s father is M’Rel—though once again, Duras’s name is used for his family in place of Ja’rod, as in “Sins of the Father” (165). A script description that was not included in the show’s dialogue reveals that K’tal is the longest-serving member of the Klingon High Council, which here is given eight members besides him.
Bob Blackman’s costume designs include a revealing bustline for the Duras sisters’ standard Klingon outfit that quickly came to be known among fans as “Klingon kleavage”—but those on the show attest that, like Ricardo Montalban in Star Trek II, neither actress used chest padding.
And for the truly trivial: note the use of “kellicams” as the Klingonese unit of distance (established in ST III) is renewed here (see “A Matter of Honor”/134), and Movar’s title, “general”—the first ever non-naval rank used for a Romulan.
Notes
1. Star Trek: The Official Fan Club Magazine, Oct./Nov. 1991, p. 4.
2. Star Trek: The Official Fan Club Magazine, Dec. 1990/ Jan. 1991, p. 3.
PRODUCTION STAFF CREDITS—FOURTH SEASON
* * *
(In usual roll order; numbers in parentheses refer to episode numbers.)
Casting:(*) Junie Lowery-Johnson, C.S.A.; Ron Surma
Main Title Theme: (*) Jerry Goldsmith, (*) Alexander Courage
Music: *** Jay Chattaway (179, 197, 199); (*) Ron Jones (all odd-numbered episodes, 175-195 except 179); (*) Dennis McCarthy (all even-numbered episodes, 176-200)
Director of Photography: ***Marvin Rush (EMMY NOMINEE: cinematography, series: “Family” [178]
Production Designer: **Richard D. James (EMMY NOMINEE with art staff: art direction, series: “The Best of Both Worlds” Pt. 2 [175]
Editor: Tom Benko, ACE (177, 180, 183, 189, 192, 195, 198); **J. P. Farrell (175, 178, 181, 184, 187, 190, 193, 196, 199); William Hoy (186); *Bob Lederman (176 with Stephen Tucker, 179, 182, 185, 188, 191, 197, 200); Stephen Tucker (176 with Bob Lederman, 194)
Unit Production Manager: ***Merri D. Howard (+)
1st Asst. Director: ***Chip Chalmers (176); ***Brad Yacobian (all odd-numbered episodes, 175-199); Doug Dean (all even-numbered episodes, 178-200)
Second Asst. Director: *Adele G. Simmons
Costume Designer: **Robert Blackman (EMMY NOMINEE: costume design, series: “Devil’s Due” [187]
Set Decorator: **Jim Mees
Visual Effects Supervisor: (**) Robert Legato (+) (all odd-numbered episodes, 175-199 except 189) (EMMY CO-NOMINEE with FX crews: special visual FX: “The Best of Both Worlds” Pt. 2 [175]); (**) Dan Curry)(+)(all even-numbered episodes, 176-200 except 192); Gary Hutzel (+) (189); **Ron Moore (+) (192)
Senior Illustrator/Technical Consultant: (*) Rick Sternbach
Scenic Artist Supervisor/Technical Consultant: (*) Michael Okuda
Make-up Designed and Supervised: (*) Michael Westmore (TWO-TIME EMMY NOMINEE (with crew): makeup, series: “Brothers” [177], “Identity Crisis [192]
Visual Effects Coordinator: ***Ron Moore (all even-numbered episodes, 176-200 except 192); ***Gary Hutzel (all odd-numbered episodes, 175-199 except 189)
Set Designer: ***Gary Speckman
Assistant Art Director: Andy Neskoromny
Original Set Design: (*) Herman Zimmerman
Original Starfleet Uniforms: (*) William Ware Theiss
Script Supervisor: (*) Cosmo Genovese
Special Effects: (*) Dick Brownfield
Property Master: (*) Joe Longo (all odd-numbered episodes, 175-199); (*) Alan Sims (all even-numbered episodes, 176-200)
Construction Coordinator: (*) Al Smutko
Assistant Scenic Artist: (***) Cari Thomas (dropped Assistant beginning 190)
Hair Designer: Yolanda Toussieng
Hair Stylist: ***Rita Bordonaro [Bellissimo after 191] (175-196); Bill Howard (175); Kim Santantonio (176-98); NONE on (200)
Makeup Artists: **Gerald Quist, ***June Abston-Haymore
Sound Mixer: *Alan Bernard, C.A.S. (EMMY WINNER: sound mixing, series: “The Best of Both Worlds” Pt. 2 [175]
Chief Lighting Technician: ***Buddy Bowles
First Company Grip: ***Bob Sordal
Costumers: **Mandy Chamberlin (all even-numbered episodes, 176-200); **Kimberly Thompson (all odd-numbered episodes, 175-199); Charles Evan Drayman (all odd-numbered episodes, 175-197); David Roesler (199); ***David Page (174, 178); Carol Kunz (182, 200); Maurice Palanski (even-numbered episodes from 184-198, except 182)
Visual Effects Associate: David Takemura (175-200 except 180, 191)
Music Editor: *Gerry Sackman
Supervising Sound Editor: (*) Bill Wistrom (EMMY CO-WINNER: sound editing, series: “The Best of Both Worlds” Pt. 2 [175]
Sound Editors: James Wolvington; Mace Matiosian; *Wilson Dyer (EMMY CO-WINNERS: sound editing, series: “The Best of Both Worlds” Pt. 2 [175]
Post Production Sound: (*) Modern Sound
Production Associate: (*) Susan Sackett
Production Coordinator: (*) Diane Overdiek
Post Production Associate: ***Terry Martinez, ***Heidi Julian (+), ***Wendy Rosenfeld
Pre-Production Associate: (***) Eric Stillwell (+)
Casting Executive: (*) Helen Mossler
Stunt Coordinator: (***) Dennis Madalone (+) (all except 176, 182, 184-187, 190-191, 195-196, 198)
Research Consultant: (***) Richard Arnold (uncredited first two seasons)
Lenses and Panaflex Cameras: (**) Panavision
Special Visual Effects: () Industrial Light and Māgic (ILM) a division of Lucasfilm Ltd.
Additional Motion Control Facilities: (*) Image “G”
Video Optical Effects: (*) The Post Group
Special Video Compositing: (*) Composite Image Systems
Editing Facilities: (*) Unitel Video
Prosthetic Electronics: Michael Westmore II (177, 180)
Choreographer: Gates McFadden (+) (185)
Lasers Provided by: Laser Media Rentals (193)
* * *
The number of * denotes a returning company or staffer’s initial season of credit in that position; ( ) denotes they are an original credited or co-credited person in that position; a (+) following indicates prior TNG work in another position.
Fifth-season cast portrait; the departed Wil Wheaton would guest-star twice.
FIFTH SEASON
The fifth year of TNG would provide more than its share of high points—and yet prove to be the show’s saddest as well. The series enjoyed its share of the hoopla as Star Trek’s year-long twenty-fifth anniversary celebration climaxed in September, but that joy was overshadowed by the death of the Great Bird of the Galaxy on October 26, 1991, after a series of strokes.
Even though the debate will undoubtedly rage forever as to which Trek generation was better, both in its time and afterward, one thing is certain: buoyed by the two-part Spock episode “Unification” (207-208) and the anniversary celebrations during the November 1991 sweeps period, TNG’s Nielsen ratings hit an all-time Trek high. In the key demographic group of men age eighteen to forty-nine the show received a rating of 14.6 against prime-time competition, with the composite for both sexes not far behind. Astoundingly, that rating left other major TV series in the dust. TNG beat 60 Minutes (10.7), Coach (11.6), Roseanne (12.7), Cheers (12.8), and even Monday Night Football (13.9).
Fifth-season cast portrait (opposite)] the departed Wil Wheaton would guest-star twice.
In other words, as Matt Timothy of Paramount’s research department put it, “If we were a network show we’d be showing up in the Nielsens’ Top Ten every week.”
TNG’s ever-increasing popularity showed up in other ways as well. Echoing what happened on the old Batman TV series, more and more Hollywood stars began to seek guest spots on the show. Following in the footsteps of Corbin Bernsen, Bebe Neuwirth, Jean Simmons, and Mick Fleetwood in past seasons, distinguished guests in year five included Kelsey Grammer of Cheers and Paul Winfield, with Robin Williams, Elliott Gould, John Goodman, Christopher Lloyd, and others waiting in line. The fifth season, though, would be the first in which Q would not appear. “We had a couple of stories in development, but they just didn’t work out,” Rick Berman said.
One of the major reasons for the show’s continuing success was stability in the ranks. For the first time, TNG’s upper echelon stayed relatively unchanged all season long. Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor retained their titles while Ronald Moore and Joe Menosky were promoted to coproducer. For a time they were joined by Herbert J. Wright, a veteran of the very first season who was coaxed back aboard for six episodes (213-218) before leaving again. His replacement was Peter Allan Fields, a veteran of Columbo and, with Piller, the short-lived Helligan’s Law. Fields was invited to join the staff as an executive script consultant after writing the fourth-season Lwaxana Troi episode, “Half a Life” (196). On the production side, Peter Lauritson, David Livingston, and Wendy Neuss all returned, with unit production manager Merri D. Howard filling in on one show, “Power Play” (215), and receiving credit as a line producer.
Such was the closeness of the fifth year’s writing staff that when mid-season burnout set in during the fall and neither staff nor free-lancers seemed to have a new story idea, Piller offered his house in Mexico as the site of a weekend retreat to recharge their creative batteries. That weekend’s brainstorming sessions provided the basis for a string of six episodes that closed out the season, from “The Outcast” (217) through “I, Borg” (223), with only one exception: “Imaginary Friend” (222).
The weekly episodes were being turned out for basically what they
cost in 1987 dollars, according to Berman. “Aside from the salaries going up and the cost of living raises, we’re still doing the show with the same budget—no more for sets or special effects. But,” he added, “after five years we are spending it much more efficiently than we did in 1987.” For Season Five, a new “captain’s jacket” was designed for Patrick Stewart.
For Season Five, a new “captain’s jacket” was designed for Patrick Stewart.
REDEMPTION II
* * *
Production No.: 201 Aired: Week of September 23, 1991
Stardate: 45020.4 Code: r2
Directed by David Carson
Written by Ronald D. Moore
GUEST CAST
Commander Sela: Denise Crosby
Commander Kurn: Tony Todd
Lursa: Barbara March
B’Eton: Gwynyth Walsh
Toral: J. D. Cullum
Gowron: Robert O’Reilly
Captain Larg: Michael G. Hagerty
Admiral Shanthi: Fran Bennett
General Movar: Nicholas Kepros
Lieutenant O’Brien: Colm Meaney
Lieutenant Commander Christopher Hobson: Timothy Carhart
Guinan: Whoopi Goldberg
Kulge: Jordan Lund
Hegh’ta Helmsman: Stephen James Carver
Ensign Craig: Clifton Jones
* * *
Having made good on his decision to leave Starfleet and fight at Gowron’s side in the Klingon civil war, Worf begins to suspect Romulan involvement in the conflict when Duras’s faction remains strong despite the loss of most of its weaponry to raids.
Picard finally decides to cast aside his non-interventionist stance. He advocates exposing Romulan support of the rebellious clan because a Duras victory would pose a threat to the UFP-Klingon alliance.
The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion: Revised Edition Page 29