Picard confronts Wesley with the truth and says he will reveal it if Wesley doesn’t. Despite a last-minute entreaty by Locarno to stand by his team, an anguished Wesley agrees that his first duty is to the truth. Locarno is expelled, while Wesley and his mates must repeat the past year and face the difficult time ahead.
For over twenty-five years, Starfleet Academy had been talked about but never seen—until this story, developed during the writers’ Mexican retreat by Ron Moore, who wound up in a philosophical argument with Michael Piller over Wesley’s ultimate decision. “I thought he should choose the truth, and Ron thought he couldn’t go back on his friends,” Piller recalled. “Ultimately I gave the order to go with the truth—that’s what I’d want my kids to do—but I think it shows how much we can get into these characters when we find ourselves debating the points they’re arguing.”
Boothby, of course, had twice before been mentioned by the captain—in “Final Mission” (183) and in “The Game” (206)—but was seen here for the first time. Ray Walston, immortalized forever in TV reruns as the title alien in the 1960s sitcom My Favorite Martian, commented that throughout his days of shooting, the cast and crew approached him with the old character’s schtick of head antenna and finger-wiggling “levitation.”
Satelk is the first Vulcan captain seen in TNG, while the presence of Cadet Sito proves that Ensign Ro is not the only Bajoran in Starfleet. While the exact date of Betazed’s first participation in Federation affairs has yet to be pinned down, we do know that a Betazoid headed the Academy at least as early as Riker’s years, set at 2353-2357 in the Okudagram bio files that Michael Okuda prepared for “Conundrum” (214); Picard’s graduation with the “class of ’27” is also included there. Earlier, the head of the academy was called “commandant” when the position was offered to Picard in “Coming of Age” (119).
The exterior views of Starfleet Academy, matted into the twenty-fourth-century Starfleet environs, were location scenes filmed one day at the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, the same site that provided the exteriors for Rubicun III in “Justice” (109). Notice the Academy flag flying half mast. Dan Curry added that to the exterior matte painting.
That little touch and the Academy seal on the flag itself were just two of many the staff threw in. The seal’s equilateral triangle form, adapted by Michael Okuda from a design by Joe Sena, features the sun behind the Golden Gate Bridge in the logo’s center; an animated version with the sun rising into place was considered but ultimately not used. The name “Starfleet Academy” adorns the left leg of the triangle while the bottom reads “San Francisco/MMCLXI,” the Roman numerals for its founding date of 2161, the same as that of the Federation, as established in “The Outcast” (217). The right leg of the triangle bears the Academy’s Latin motto, “Ex astra, scientia,” or “From the stars, knowledge”—quite a pacifist notion for what some might mistakenly regard as a military school. Okuda reports the motto is taken from that of the ill-fated Apollo 13, “Ex luna, scientia.”
The various sensor log tapes used in the inquiry were all computer-generated by Curry’s team, including the brief tape of the cadets’ ships in flight. Wesley’s dorm room contains models of both an Apollo command-service module on display in the background and Kirk’s original Constitution-class Enterprise.
The cadets’ collar pips, descending among Nova Squadron from Locarno’s four to Wesley’s two, appear to be the same as the longer pins adorning the movie-era uniforms’ white sleeve cuff. The inquiry’s hearing bell was also used in the original series’ official proceedings as seen in “Space Seed” and “Courtmartial.” And the “Yeager Loop” maneuver pays tribute to an even earlier ancestor of TNG—Chuck Yeager, the pilot who first broke the sound barrier in 1947.
COST OF LIVING
* * *
Production No.: 220 Aired: Week of April 20, 1992
Stardate: 45733.6 Code: cs
Directed by Winrich Kolbe
Written by Peter Allan Fields
GUEST CAST
Lwaxana Troi: Majel Barrett
Alexander: Brian Bonsall
Campio: Tony Jay
Mr. Homn: Carel Struyken
Young Man: David Oliver
Juggler: Albie Selznick
Erko: Patrick Cronin
Young Woman: Tracey D’Arcy
Poet: George Edie
First Learner: Christopher Halsted
* * *
After the Enterprise helps destroy a rogue asteroid, Troi’s mother Lwaxana beams aboard and makes a surprise announcement: she is getting married—to a man she has never met!
As if worrying about her mother wasn’t enough, Troi must also help Worf deal with his increasingly rebellious young son, Alexander. Matters worsen when Lwaxana persuades the young Klingon to join her in a holodeck mud bath amid a colony of artists and freethinkers, frustrating both Worf and Deanna.
Lwaxana reveals she will forgo the traditional nude Betazoid wedding at the request of her fiancé, Campio—whom she is shocked to find is stuffy and old.
Meanwhile, an increasing number of ship’s systems are beginning to fail. The problem is eventually traced to metallic parasites the ship picked up after destroying the asteroid they were feeding on. In a race against time, Data barely gets the ship back to the creatures’ home field and beams them away before life support breaks down, leaving him the only crew member conscious.
Disaster is soon averted, and Lwaxana is free to proceed with her wedding plans. But to her fiancé’s surprise, and her daughter’s delight, Lwaxana turns up at the ceremony wearing basic Betazoid—that is, in the buff—sending Campio running for home. Deanna then coaxes Worf to join her mother and Alexander for one last visit to the mud bath.
After coming on staff to fill the slot that Herb Wright’s departure opened up, Peter Allan Fields created his second Lwaxana Troi tale in two years-one that truly revealed the character’s “Auntie Mame” roots by pairing her up with a “corruptible” Alexander, confounding Worf and Troi alike. In fact, Michael Piller revealed that for a time the staff had toyed with the idea of a Troi-Worf relationship and had been building little moments into scripts to support that if it happened: their mutual concern with Alexander, for one, and Worf making Deanna the boy’s guardian if he died during surgery in “Ethics” (216). The idea would be borne out during Season 7.
Tony Jay’s role here as the elderly and distant Campio was not nearly as powerful as Paracelsus, the tunnel-dwelling villian he played in Beauty and the Beast. And only in a show like TNG could Majel Barrett as Lwaxana Troi talk to Majel Barrett as the voice of the Enterprise computer; that moment happens outside the holodeck before her first visit with the “little warrior.”
The Wind Dancer balloon effect was simple to create, Legato explained. After filming a bowling ball without holes as if it were bouncing around, the face of a made-up clown was shot on a camera following in sync with the ball’s white highlight spot, and the two images were mated.
Campio (Tony Jay) and Erko (Patrick Cronin) are shocked at Lwaxana Troi’s decision to appear “au naturel,” as per Betazoid wedding custom.
THE PERFECT MATE
* * *
Production No.: 221 Aired: Week of April 27, 1992
Stardate: 45761.3 Code: pm
Directed by Cliff Bole
Teleplay by Gary Percante and Michael Piller
Story by Rene Echevarria and Gary Percante
GUEST CAST
Kamala: Famke Janssen
Briam: Tim O’Connor
Par Lenor: Max Grodenchik
Alrik: Mickey Cottrell
Qol: Michael Snyder
Miner No. 1: David Paul Needles
Miner No. 2: Roger Rignack
Transporter Chief Hubbell: April Grace
Miner No. 3: Charles Gunning
Computer Voice: Majel Barrett
* * *
Kriosian Ambassador Briam arrives aboard the Enterprise with a peace offering from his people fo
r the ruler of Valt Minor. The gift, Briam declares, is priceless, and is intended to end years of war between Krios and Valt Minor. Picard immediately orders the object, being delivered in a stasis field, off-limits to his crew.
En route to Valt Minor the Enterprise rescues two Ferengi from a shuttle in distress—an act of mercy that soon backfires when the Ferengi are caught attempting to steal the Kriosian gift. In the process, the stasis field protecting the item is shattered, revealing a beautiful and exotic woman, Kamala.
She is an empathic metamorph, a genetic rarity among her people—such creatures are born only once every seven generations. Kamala can be what any man wants her to be. Educated to fulfill her role as peacemaker, she has been prepared from birth to bond with Valt’s ruler, Alric. The Ferengi’s interference has caused her to be released prematurely, and the ambassador insists she be confined to her room until Alrik arrives.
Knowing she’s bonded to him for life, Picard must escort empathic mesomorph “peace bride” Kamala (Famke Janssen) “down the aisle” to marry another.
That move sets off Dr. Crusher, who complains to Picard that the entire affair smacks of prostitution. The captain gamely cites the Prime Directive, but understands the ambassador’s request after seeing the effect Kamala has on his crew. When Briam is accidentally injured by the Ferengi, Picard is forced to turn to Kamala for help in performing his ambassadorial duties—and soon finds even his legendary resistance weakening. Kamala is drawn to him as well; she tells Picard he is the first man who has suggested she has value in and of herself.
Alric finally arrives and confides to Picard he cares more about treaties and trade than he does for his “peace bride.” Just before the reconciliation ceremony, a sad Kamala tells Picard she has chosen to bond with him, rather than become the woman Alric expects her to be. She assures a visibly shaken Picard she’ll carry out her duties nonetheless—as he will carry out his.
What could have been just another romance became a much more significant story, as this episode again used a science fiction premise to turn conventional wisdom on its ear.
“We have Beverly argue the point that Kamala’s mission amounts to prostitution,” Michael Piller noted. “And we have Picard taking the other tack: that whether or not we approve, we can’t change or interfere with the way these people are. And if you accept Roddenberry’s vision, which we are built on, you have to respect that.”
The only writing pseudonym requested during Piller’s tenure turned up here: “Percante” was actually his friend Reuben Leder, who disliked the rewrite done on his draft. The script included an unused optional fantasy scene in which Picard, just before the actual ceremony, daydreamed that he spoke out at the wedding to claim Kamala as his own.
For once we actually got to see the Picard-Crusher morning tea ritual referred to in “Qpid” (194), which, in its own way, shows how the two officers’ relationship has matured over the years. We also learn that the young Jean-Luc spoken of in “Family” (178) hated piano lessons but briefly took them to please his mother.
The best line in the script almost went to Qol, upon his discovery in the cargo bay: “I must have lost my way—I was looking for the barbershop.” But ultimately that honor belongs to a painfully aroused Riker, who wipes the sweat off his mustache after barely escaping Kamala and says, “If you need me, I’ll be in holodeck four!”
IMAGINARY FRIEND
* * *
Production No.: 222 Aired: Week of May 4, 1992
Stardate: 45832.1 Code: im
Directed by Gabrielle Beaumont
Teleplay by Edithe Swenson and Brannon Braga
Story by Ronald Wilkerson & Jean Matthias, and Richard Fliegel
GUEST CAST
Clara Sutter: Noley Thornton
Isabella: Shay Astar
Ensign Daniel Sutter: Jeff Allin
Alexander: Brian Bonsall
Nurse Alyssa Ogawa: Patti Yasutake
Ensign Felton: Sheila Franklin
Guinan: Whoopi Goldberg
* * *
Troi tries to assure an officer that the “imaginary friend” created by his little daughter, Clara, is a normal reaction to a childhood of constant change. But as the Enterprise prepares to explore the FGC-47 nebula, Clara’s friend Isabella materializes. Soon she is getting Clara into all sorts of trouble, leading her into areas of the ship that are off limits to children, like Main Engineering and Ten-Forward.
Meanwhile, the Enterprise has become surrounded by strands of an inexplicable nature that are draining the ship’s power. At the same time, Clara and Worf’s son Alexander are becoming fast friends—until Isabella sabotages their relationship. Clara’s playmate now turns even more frightening, telling the little girl that she and all of the others aboard are about to die.
Summoned by Clara’s father to help, Troi tries to prove to Clara that her imaginary playmate can’t hurt her—and is promptly stunned by Isabella. Picard realizes there is a connection between the energy drain his ship is experiencing and Clara’s playmate, a fact soon confirmed by Isabella. She says her kind will feed off the ship’s energy, rejecting Picard’s offer of alternative sources. She says the ship deserves to be destroyed because of the way her friend Clara is treated. But ultimately she relents in the face of Clara’s pleas.
Picard finally learns why “imaginary” Isabella (Shay Astar) has disturbed Clara (Noley Thornton) and his ship.
As reflected in the credits, this was another script turned out after several tries by free-lancers. Braga chose to develop it in place of one of the year’s abortive Q stories, and by the time it was finished, his original “negative attitude” toward the tale had turned around as much as the concept of the alien. Curious and benign in earlier drafts, Isabella took on more menacing Bad Seed-style traits in the finished script.
Guinan was not intended to be part of this show, but Whoopi Goldberg became available and was written in just days before filming. Originally her cloud-watching scene with Data was written for Beverly and Deanna and, later, for Guinan and Deanna. The Samarian coral fish she spies is likely from the same planet as the Samarian Sunset drink that Data prepared for Troi in “Conundrum” (214) after losing a bet. Guinan also talks of her own imaginary friend, a Tarcassian razor beast.
For the first time we hear about Geordi’s parents. Both were Starfleet officers; his father was an exobiologist, and his mother a command officer, apparently once assigned to a Neutral Zone outpost.
I, BORG
* * *
Production No: 223 Aired: Week of May 11, 1992
Stardate: 45854.2 Code: ib
Directed by Robert Lederman
Written by Rene Echevarria
GUEST CAST
“Hugh” Borg: Jonathan Del Arco
Guinan: Whoopi Goldberg
* * *
While surveying a cluster of systems for colonization, the Enterprise traces a distress signal to a small world, where they find crash debris and one survivor—a young Borg.
Fighting his impulse to let it die, Picard accedes to Dr. Crusher’s humanitarian desire to care for the Borg. The rest of the crew are skeptical, especially Guinan, who points out that others of his kind will follow and learn of their presence if they take the young Borg aboard.
But cut off from his race’s collective consciousness and influenced by the crew who help him survive and heal, the Borg known as “Third of Five” becomes more and more of an individual. He eventually acquires a name—Hugh—and starts to refer to himself as “I” instead of “we.”
La Forge fears for “Hugh” Borg’s (Jonathan Del Arco) future.
His evolution affects the others, who had always viewed the Borg as an intractable, unrelenting foe. When even Guinan is thrown into doubt, Picard decides to visit Hugh himself. Assuming the role of Locutus, the captain is shocked to hear Hugh plead with him not to assimilate his “friends,” like Geordi.
The captain calls off a plan to plant a virus in Hugh to disable his race, figuring that
the concept of the individual could be just as effective. Hugh himself opts to return to the crash site, and his newfound friend La Forge goes with him. Will Hugh’s new memory and sense of self remain intact? Hugh returns to his stoic Borg demeanor when others of his race arrive, but the glance he shoots Geordi at beam-up is telling: he’ll remember.
The clamor for “another Borg show” had swelled ever since the third-season cliff-hanger “The Best of Both Worlds” (175-176), but the dilemma facing the production and writing team was obvious: when your all-out foe is so dangerous that you barely escape him once, what can you do for an encore? And how can you afford to film it?
Rene Echeverria’s tale—Michael Piller’s favorite of the season and the one he called “everything I want Star Trek to be,”—found answers to both questions by serving up a young Borg story that still packed a lot of emotional wallop. Robert Lederman, one of TNG’s three rotating film editors since the second season, became the only new director to get a shot this year after last season’s flood of rookies behind the camera.
Jeri Taylor, who provided uncredited help in polishing the script, commented that the story meant “we can never treat the Borg the same way again.” Guinan may never be the same again, either; aside from Q, the Borg were about the only thing that could shatter her aloofness and calm detachment. But one by one we saw her and all the regulars, including Picard, examine their own prejudices. “Just when you think it’s safe to hate the Borg,” Piller says, “we make you look him in the eye and ask if you could still kill him.”
The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion: Revised Edition Page 34