126. Coming of AgeFORMULA: The Wrath of Khan + Court-Martial
WHY WE LIKE IT: Some nice direction in the interrogation scenes.
WHY WE DON'T: That whole entrance exam plot is both absurd and pointless.
REVIEW: Two episodes so close together focusing on Wesley? Not a good idea, especially when Coming of Age's Wesley plot is so pointless. I just don't understand how the Academy entrance exams work. After all, if Mordock is so qualified, and Wesley had almost the same score, wouldn't Starfleet come out a winner accepting both? Why is there a competition between these 4? They have nothing in common, so we can't say they're only taking one person from each member planet, etc. It's unfair to Wesley, and it's unfair to the audience. Maybe if the collection of set-pieces had been more interesting, but half of them just blab on while people are looking at screens, and the two female applicants are as dull as wood (and act about as well).
The B-plot is more interesting even if it is left dangling. This sets up Conspiracy, though I do wish they'd done more with this story arc, developped it over a greater number of shows, or later had it pay off more. Ah well. We're left with some good interrogation scenes, wonderfully edited together. The sense of family and loyalty comes out, and Picard proves himself a fine patriarch in both his epilogues, with Jake and then with Wesley. I think Remmick's "this is where I want to serve" is a bit over the top, however (and self-serving on the writers' parts). Now, I'm not sure how this episode really connects with Conspiracy (is the parasite queen already in Remmick?), but if there's a reason to watch this episode, it's to be found in this half of it. Unfortunately, this half also contains the fabricated dilemma of Jake's escape by shuttle, which makes no sense (the planet's in transporter range, but the shuttle between the ship and the planet isn't?), and adds little to the story. So let's call it a watchable third... or quarter.
LESSON: Hiring practices for government jobs won't change much in 400 years.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: The scenes aboard ship are worth the price of admission, but anything on the planet (or close to the atmosphere) is largely padding that doesn't amount to anything that matters.
Comments
He originally wanted to have a bathroom scene where Wesley and Jake change the instruction signs for the toilets designated for various races but it was nixed in the very first draft.
Mordock was supposed to wear a system of tubes containing his planet's life-giving nutrients and Sandy was a bit dismayed to see this idea reduced to a box with a chip of dry ice.