253. The ChaseFORMULA: The Paradise Syndrome + Captain's Holiday
WHY WE LIKE IT: We so rarely get to see the major species in the same episode.
WHY WE DON'T: Did we really need an explanation for this?
REVIEW: The Chase explains why most alien species in Star Trek basically look like humans with latex stuck on their foreheads. Sure, people who don't like Trek will frequently tout it as one of the franchise's great flaws (then point to more alien aliens in Star Wars), but it's part of the format and just as much part of suspension of disbelief as transporters or FTL travel. Offering up a justification for what is basically production necessity, as if they were trying to win a No-Prize, smacks of fanwank.
That fanwankery feeling doesn't go away as more and more of the major races show up (together for the first time!), and yet, a lot of the episode is padding. I really enjoy Data's scene with the Klingon "arm-wrestling" - it's funny as hell - but what does it have to do with the story? Meanwhile, though it's kind of hinted that the cloaked Romulans blew up the Yridian ship (or at least sabotaged it since cloaked ships can't fire weapons), that particular mystery is left dangling.
Professor Galen comes off as a jerk when he tries to give Picard a guilt trip and make him leave the ship for a year (and then the research takes only the rest of the episode), but at least, the investigation IS interesting. It's a clever puzzle, and there are plenty of good bits throughout, like Picard calling each of the races out and Data's aforementioned humbling of Nu'Daq. Sadly, but unsurprisingly, there's no real consequence to finding out all the species have a common ancestor, but then I wouldn't have dwelled on it either.
LESSON: We're all the same under the make-up.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: A perfectly watchable "quest" episode, with plenty of flash to keep your mind off the fact that the story is at once thin and unnecessary.
Comments
This is about the origins of galactic life and is central to the Star Trek thesis. Don't these creatures later reemerge as the Dominion? This episode where enemies come together and "Dar'mok" where strangers foreswear enmity are among my favorite from TNG.
While theoretically - if you'd asked me prior to rewatching it, for example - it's a fine episode, going through them in order with a critical eye like this gives another perspective.
Bottom line, while it's got its moments, it DOES suffer from padding, and to me, that "ironic" ending was strictly by the numbers, predictable reset button type of stuff. I love Darmok deeply as well, but the enemies don't really come together here. They just show up. With little consequence (the Klingons destroyed an entire bio-sphere and yet we're enjoying bits of arm-wrestling with their captain. It's just not up to the standards of the episodes surrounding it.
I did give it a Medium, but it's not a High because there's not as much substance there as there should have been IMO.
Personally I think that this type of episode would have made a great movie and I wish the TNG movies (esp the later ones) were more like this, with a "quest" feel and them discovering something that is far reaching in it's consequences (the origins of humanoid species!) and it had all the big powers and lots of twists and turns and stuff :D
Maybe they were afraid of making another Final Frontier, I dunno.