The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion: Revised Edition

by Larry Nemecek

  To ensure their future, the Enterprise crew must come to Cochrane’s aid.

  Deep Space 5 gets a mention (“Parallels”/263), and we learn that the Typhon Expanse and its sector (“Cause and Effect”/218) are near the Romulan Neutral Zone. Picard offers our first hard facts on the Federation’s size and scope—some 150 members across 8,000 light-years. The Phoenix, from the mythical bird reborn from its own ashes, was the natural choice for Cochrane’s ship.

  And why April 7, 2063, for first contact? Braga had originally picked the dates as March 6 and 7, the birthdays of Rick Berman’s wife and his sister. Delays in the shooting schedule pushed it back a month, so it now honors the birthday of the Moores’ first child.

  November 22, 1996, became a momentous day on its own as First Contact opened to both rave reviews and fan acclaim, winning its opening weekend box-office and surpassing ticket sales for the prior Trek feature, Generations. Not only would a ninth feature be assured, but the widespread respect garnered by cast and crew alike seemed to reinvigorate the Star Trek universe.

  STAR TREK: INSURRECTION

  The studio had a general request for the next feature: they wanted a “change of pace” film, one that was lighter in tone than First Contact. Rick Berman, with the studio’s blessing, asked Michael Piller to write the feature. Unlike four years earlier, when he had passed on writing the first TNG feature, Piller was pleased to accept Berman’s offer. “I wanted to get the Enterprise back into the business of exploring, to go straight to the heart of Star Trek,” Piller recalls. He also wanted to show the family feel of the crew and give the captain a hero’s journey, in which Picard would have to sacrifice all for the sake of his principles. Berman mused about a story told in the mold of the classic film Prisoner of Zenda, giving Picard a romantic rescue mission. Piller could see a story with overtones of Heart of Darkness, with Picard going “upriver.” The jumping-on point finally came to Piller. “Everybody’s consumed with images of youth. There’s commercials, plastic surgery—our culture seems obsessed with youth. Why not do a ‘fountain of youth’ story?”

  Piller turned in a story treatment entitled Star Trek: Stardust, using the title of a Hoagy Carmichael song reflecting on lost love as a metaphor for his theme. Picard turns in his pips when he feels betrayed by a renegade colleague. The captain has been sent to retrieve a remote people and their youth-inducing resource, and deliver them to an alien power—with Federation approval.

  There would be many versions of the story. Whole chunks of story elements would be explored, tossed out, and resurrected as the months progressed. Aside from Picard’s mission, only the Briar Patch—of Br’er Rabbit folktale fame—would remain. Berman suggested another take on the story: What if Data was the renegade Picard had to recapture?

  A second draft saw Data killed by Picard while being subdued—only to be revived later in the movie in time to help. Eventually Data’s storyline would be resolved earlier in the picture. However, after two drafts the Romulans as the alien power were dropped and new protagonists were created. Dubbed the Son’i—later revealed to be the children of the young-looking natives, the Ba’ku—they wanted to harvest the anti-aging element. The crew’s subplots began to take shape. The youth effect causes Geordi’s regenerated eyes, Worf’s retro-puberty, and a rekindling of the Riker-Troi romance. As for the captain, “Patrick wished not to have an emotional arc in this story because he had gone through such emotional trials in the last movies,” Piller explained. Stewart was also concerned about not retreating from the cinematic scope achieved in First Contact. Through the early drafts, the climax finds Picard exposing the misguided plot, ignoring threats of a court-martial, and healing the estranged families.

  Still one more detail to plague the captain.

  Piller produced his first-draft script and asked longtime friend Ira Behr, then DS9’s executive producer, to give him a candid assessment before sending it to Berman and the studio. “Ira came in the office and sorta looked at me across the desk, took off his sunglasses, and said, ‘Mikeeeeeeeey’—and I said, ‘Oh geez,’ because Ira never takes off his sunglasses,” he recalled. Behr pointed out that the Son’i were “paper tigers,” and that Picard’s motivation to go AWOL was flimsy. “I knew he was right. There’s no question that first draft was trying to tell two stories, and that’s one story too many for a movie.”

  To enmesh the plots, Piller realized he could personalize Picard’s link to the natives’ plight by adding an attraction to Anij, a Ba’ku woman. A captain’s romance had been considered throughout, but now it strengthened the story. The natives had to become adult in appearance. The elder children—now called the Son’a—were now portrayed as the gruesome, age-cheating aliens. The Son’a got the gravitas to bolster their stock as adversaries. A second-draft script delivered a much bigger ending. The youth agent was dubbed “metaphasic particles” and was found in the planet’s rings. Ru’afo—the leader of the Son’a—commanded a massive collector ship. The Starfleet turncoat, Admiral Dougherty, met his death, as did Ru’afo. The tension was heightened in another change: Picard confronted Ru’afo aboard the collector ship.

  Jonathan Frakes returned as the director. The visual effects for this film again would be split. Blue Sky/VIFX would handle all the planet-based composites and effects: standard transporters and phasers, the time-slowing sequences, Son’a flying drones, and the holoeffects. Santa Barbara Studios would provide all space-based ships and scenes. In a first for a Star Trek feature, there would be no physical models. Peter Lauritson would again be on board as Berman’s coproducer for post-production.

  Production designer Herman Zimmerman had to create and build fifty-five sets. However, he had only three months to do so. The most complex set was the full-size Ba’ku village, and it would be built on location. “It’s very important that it be a believable Shangri-la or Garden of Eden that people, when they see it, say, ‘Yeah I’d love to live there,’” he observed. The Ba’ku architecture became an amalgam of Thailand art and Balinese/Polynesian styles meant to be familiar but unusual. The sets reflected the temperate climate and the use of native over man-made materials. “The Son’a are a wealthy, avaricious, and technologically advanced culture; the sets had to reflect that,” Zimmerman noted.

  Ru’afo (F. Murray Abraham) will not allow anyone or anything to stop him.

  Makeup designer Michael Westmore knew that much of the Son’a threat would have to be conveyed visually. “Everything I found in research was for either comedy or horror, but grossly exaggerated to the point where it was not in a state of reality,” Westmore explained. He decided to ask the top ten sculptors in the business for concepts to achieve the horrific Son’a. DS9 staffer Dean Jones created the look that the producers were looking for.

  Most of the Son’a had “simple makeup.” However, Ru’afo would get a more detailed makeup with several overlapping appliances across his entire face and a bald head. “It stretched like a rubber band,” Westmore noted. “F. Murray Abraham [Ru’afo] could turn his head and the skin would look translucent. It was so thin, and the layers were pulling on each other.”

  The Tarlac makeup featured a painted multi-colored skin like a python’s that showed differently on each individual, and a dinosaur-type piece was worked into the hair. The lionlike Ellora were much simpler, with only a forehead piece and a nose, omitted on the women to preserve their daintier features.

  Star Trek series veteran Bob Blackman would be doing the Starfleet costume design. Blackman got to address an old sore spot. “The dress uniforms have always been troublesome,” Blackman said. “There was constant tinkering throughout the series. I would just keep doing different takes on the original design: shorten it, add pants….” The feature would see a new design. “I thought of doing short jackets in blue and red and gold. That was not a good idea. We wanted something that really popped.” Blackman opted to break with the division-colored tunics. “No matter what, white over black has a formal look to it.”

  Sanja Milk
ovic Hayes would take on the rest of the costuming. Hayes found trying to express the simplicity and natural mood of the Ba’ku elusive. “The good guys are always the most difficult! It’s so tricky not to go overboard, not to be too sweet, too cutesy.” She used a fabric created just for the movie from cellulose fiber. “It’s really just cooked and glued together. It’s very organic.” The Son’a costumes reflect their love of material goods. A uniform was created using layers of crushed velvet, adorned by metallic rank strips. A latex plastic was used for the bodysuits of the “sculpture lab” women to get a “sexy but not vulgar” look. “It’s actually very conservative with long sleeves and pants, closed up to the neck,” Hayes noted.

  Three acclaimed actors were cast in the lead roles. Frakes recalled that some eighty actresses auditioned for Anij. Donna Murphy, a two-time Tony winner, brought layers to the character, finding a sexy yet smart balance. F. Murray Abraham, an Oscar winner, was cast as Ru’afo. And Anthony Zerbe, an Emmy winner, had read for Ru’afo but seemed best suited for the role of the misguided Admiral Dougherty.

  Anij (Donna Murphy) shows Picard how to slow down time.

  As with other Hollywood pictures—including Trek’s own Generations—after a test screening, some seven minutes were cut for tighter pacing and new scenes were shot to increase the tension. In an ever-interconnected world, reports from the test screening and the entire script appeared on the Internet. An Entertainment Weekly story on the movie dubbed it a “kinder, gentler Trek” long before the new ending had been shot.

  STAR TREK: INSURRECTION

  * * *

  Stardate: Unknown Code: ST:I Opened December 11, 1998

  Directed by Jonathan Frakes

  Story by Rick Berman & Michael Piller

  Screenplay by Michael Piller

  CAST

  Capt. Jean-Luc Picard: Patrick Stewart

  Cmdr. William “Will” Thomas Riker: Jonathan Frakes Lt. Cmdr. Data: Brent Spiner

  Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge: LeVar Burton

  Lt. Cmdr. Worf: Michael Dorn

  Cmdr. Beverly Crusher, M.D.: Gates McFadden

  Cmdr. Deanna Troi: Marina Sirtis

  Ahdar Ru’afo: F. Murray Abraham

  Anij. Donna Murphy

  Admiral Matthew Dougherty: Anthony Zerbe

  Subahdar Gallatin: Gregg Henry

  Sojef: Daniel Hugh Kelly

  Artim: Michael Welch

  Tournel. Mark Deakins

  Ens. Kell Perim: Stephanie Niznik

  Lt. Daniels: Michael Horton

  Son’a Officer No. 1: Bruce French

  Lt. Curtis: Breon Gorman

  Bolian Officer (Hars Adislo): John Hostetter

  Elloran Officer No. 1: Rick Worthy

  Tarlac Officer: Larry Anderson

  Starfleet Officer: D. Elliot Woods

  Female Ensign: Jennifer Tung

  Son’a Doctor: Raye Birk

  Regent Cuzar: Peggy Miley

  Librarian: Lee Arnone-Briggs

  Son’a Officer No. 2: Claudette Nevins

  Alien [Trill Science] Ensign: Max Grodenchik

  Elloran Officer No. 2: Greg Poland

  Ensign: Kenneth Lane Edwards

  Son’a Officer No. 3: Joseph Ruskin

  Ba’ku Child: Zachary Williams

  Ba’ku Woman: McKenzie Westmore

  Young Ru’afo: Philip Glasser

  * * *

  An agrarian village goes about its day, children are taught, crops are irrigated, livestock is fed. Idyllic. Simple. Suddenly, the day is shattered by phaser fire. The people are terrified as unseen forces sweep through their village. High overhead, hidden by a holographic field, is a Federation duck blind from which Starfleet officers and Son’a observe the village. Through the windows they can see that cloaked figures are making their way through the village. Suddenly, one figure removes his helmet. The entire Ba’ku village can see that it is Lieutenant Commander Data. He is ordered to stop. He fires on the duck blind, exposing the structure to the population below.

  With the Federation deep into the Dominion War, the Enterprise is needed on almost every front. First a diplomatic mission, then a territorial dispute. It seems to Picard that there is not enough time. The captain warmly greets his former security officer, Lieutenant Commander Worf, before he goes into a diplomatic reception. Picard receives an urgent message from Admiral Dougherty. The admiral, who is aboard the lead Son’a ship, informs Picard that Data is now holding the Starfleet and Son’a officers hostage. He wants Data’s deactivation code.

  Ru’afo, the leader of the Son’a forces, is complaining to Dougherty that he hated the entire idea of the duck blind. The admiral listens to the complaints of the Federation’s newest ally as Ru’afo is treated to a grotesque cosmetic treatment that stretches his skin taut over his face. Suddenly they are under attack—a Starfleet shuttle is firing on the ship.

  The Enterprise is about to enter the sector of space that harbors the Ba’ku planet, called the Briar Patch. Doing so will cut the ship off from communications with Starfleet. The admiral agrees to have Picard deal with Data’s malfunction. Worf has come up with a way to shut down Data’s power, but they will need to be in close range. Riker and Troi set off to learn all they can about the Son’a and the Briar Patch. They find the new Federation alliance upsetting: not only do the Son’a use two conquered species as a labor class,” but they also have manufactured ketracel-white, the substance that the Dominion uses to control their forces, the Jem’Hadar.

  Data, driven by his ethical and moral subroutines, fires on the duck blind.

  Commander Riker feels he needs some “counseling.”

  The captain and Worf pilot a shuttle after Data. They realize the rings around the Ba’ku’s planet are filled with metaphasic radiation. Putting aside their concerns, they manage to catch up with Data. With a clever distraction, the Enterprise shuttle docks with Data’s shuttle and Worf manages to shut down Data’s power.

  A landing party beams down from Enterprise hoping to now salvage the breach of the Prime Directive. They find that the Ba’ku have treated Data’s “hostages” well. A village leader, Sojef, tells Picard that Data told them that they should not let anyone leave. As the captain is explaining about the Prime Directive, he is interrupted by Sojef, who tells him that the planet could have caused a phase variance in Data. The Ba’ku explain that they are warp-capable but have shunned technology. Anij, a Ba’ku woman, asks why they should use warp capability when it would only “take us away from here.” Picard, taking in their idyllic setting, understands. Relieved that the damage was minimal, after beaming up the surveillance teams Picard returns to the Enterprise and reports to the admiral. Dougherty orders the ship out of the area. La Forge reports that Data’s malfunction was brought on by fire from a Son’a weapon. When Data is released from stasis, the captain asks him what the last thing he remembers is.

  In a dammed lake high over the village, a Ba’ku boy Artim tells his father that here is where he heard the phaser fire. Data walks into the lake and then under the surface. He gets a reading of elevated neutrinos. Opening one of the floodgates to lower the lake level, Data, Picard, and Anij paddle out to the source of the readings. Picard realizes that it is a cloaked vessel. Opening the doors of the ship, the trio find that they are now standing in a holographic version of the Ba’ku village. The captain, realizing what is planned for the Ba’ku, goes back to his ship. The captain wants all of Data’s former hostages debriefed. The Son’a are refusing to talk, and Dr. Crusher reports that they are also refusing any medical attention. She reports that the Starfleet personnel are very healthy. Picard returns to the surface having surmised that the Ba’ku are older then they appear. Anij explains that the planet’s metaphasic radiation stops and reverses the aging process: she is over three hundred years old.

  Admiral Dougherty and Ru’afo beam aboard the Enterprise. Dougherty demands to know why Enterprise has not left. Ru’afo says he has had enough of endless Federation talk and demands that they lea
ve or he will destroy the Enterprise. Picard is dismayed that Dougherty would take it upon himself to uproot an entire people. The admiral explains that he is doing so on Federation Council orders. Harvesting the metaphasic radiation will help save millions across the galaxy. Only the Son’a have the technology. The captain asks what has happened to the Federation’s principles. Dougherty counters that it is only three hundred people. Picard says, “How many does it take to make it wrong?” The admiral again orders the Enterprise out of the system. Stoically, Picard goes to his quarters. He thoughtfully pulls off his rank pips. Now in civilian clothing, the captain is checking a weapons container. It is filled with phaser rifles. His command crew knows what he is up to. Crusher, Data, Worf, and Troi will go with the captain to the planet and try to prevent the Ba’ku from being relocated. Riker and La Forge will take the Enterprise out of the Briar Patch and make the Federation Council see the mistake they are about to make.

  Night has fallen over the village, but the Ba’ku, under the landing party’s supervision, are heading up into the mountains. The crew believes that the kelbonite deposits in the range will shield the Ba’ku from transporters. But before they can even leave they come under attack from Son’a shuttles. With transporter inhibitors, they manage to get moving; however, once the Son’a destroy the inhibitors many Ba’ku are transported away.

  Too late, Admiral Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe) realizes that the Son’a have deceived him.

  Ru’afo is furious. He has had enough. He orders his ships to overtake the Enterprise and “escort” her back. Dougherty only now realizes that he’s made a deal with the devil. The Enterprise has still not cleared the Briar Patch when they are fired on by two Son’a ships. Severely outgunned, the Enterprise is damaged. The Son’a have used an isolytic subspace weapon; not only is the ship damaged but so is the very fabric of space. To save the section of space and the ship, Riker orders the warp core ejected. With barely functioning impulse engines, the ship is a sitting duck. Commander Riker decides on a highly risky tactic. He uses the ship’s Bussard collectors to harvest metreon gas. He then expels the gas at the Son’a. When they fire on the Enterprise, their ships are engulfed in an explosion.