Star Trek 129: Symbiosis

129. Symbiosis

FORMULA: Patterns of Force + Let That Be Your Last Battlefield + Mudd's Women + outtakes from The City on the Edge of Forever

WHY WE LIKE IT: The Wrath of Khan alumni.

WHY WE DON'T: That terrible conversation about the evils of drugs. Hit us with a hammer, why don't you!

REVIEW: Drug addiction is a worthy subject to tackle in the science-fiction format, and the ideas behind these two symbiotic planets were well conceived and thought out (though I could have done without the electrical powers). The creators get extra points for turning this into a Prime Directive issue, and Picard is very smart here, despite what Dr. Crusher may think. Not to say she isn't competent in Symbiosis. She is. But she does get a little crazy strident by the end.

Speaking of strident, the creators lose all their points again with that moralizing speech about drugs given by Tasha to young Wesley Crusher. The two underpar actors on the show can't possibly make this scene work, if anyone could. Wesley is too naive for words, and Tasha is spewing politically correct material at quite a clip. (I agree with everything she says, it's just delivered as if I was suddenly watching an educational video about something I knew all about.) Now, this scene is still worth watching because it seems to reveal that Tasha was once a drug addict herself. Denise Crosby's unnuanced performance doesn't really bear it out, but look at Data during this exchange. Brent Spiner is more than equal to the task of showing us the android processing and at least suspecting what's behind Tasha's words. Otherwise horrible, though.

The show also has its share of longueurs, with repetitive dialogue throughout, and exchanges made through static. It feels rather padded at times. Still, I commend the guest stars, in particular Merritt Butrick in one of his last performances. He died not long after this, which is a great loss. We feel a lot of sympathy for him here, especially when he believes Picard has doomed them all.

LESSON: Say no to drugs. Oh yes, and stay in school.

REWATCHABILITY - Medium: The plot and guest performances stand up well, and Picard is smartly written (as opposed to The Arsenal of Freedom), but the anti-drug message is way overplayed, a real flaw of this "relevant" episode.