260. Descent, Part IIFORMULA: Brothers + I, Borg + Suspicions + Starship Mine + Redemption Part II
WHY WE LIKE IT: Crusher has a good turn at the wheel.
WHY WE DON'T: Bla bla bla. Exposition galore.
REVIEW: The problem with Part I is that it didn't ask the simple question "how do they get out of this one?" It asked many more questions than that. And over summer hiatus, we tend to forget them all. The air is let out of the balloon before the season premiere. But that's not much of a problem in syndication or on DVD. No, now the problem is that all those questions are answered is expositionary scenes that seem to go on forever, and even repeat information. What happened to Hugh after he rejoined the Collective. How Lore became a psychotic cult leader. What he's been doing to Data. What his plans are. A real babble-a-thon.
And while "evil Data" fails to pique my interest these days, the heart of the episode IS the ethical dilemma he's been placed into. There's no question that they'll get through to him, but his experimenting on Geordi could go too far at any time. I can't fault the tension there, though elsewhere it's a lot of Picard talking at Data. Lore's plan scarcely makes sense, but he's psychotic, and there is a touch of pathos to his final end, which I found effective. Data about to destroy the emotion chip is pure hogwash though. If he's emotionless, why would he even be tempted? They're just forcing the drama there.
The other half of the show is about Beverly commanding the ship against a Borg ship. Again, the plot dictates some unbelievable things. That she's stuck with a skeleton crew still isn't explained to my satisfaction (are there really hundreds of people looking for Data, and none come upon the Borg structure?), and why Riker would leave her in a combat situation against the Borg with no experience (rather than beam up himself) seems to indicate that he wants to spend the rest of his life stranded on that planet.
Beverly does very well for herself however, and her command style is more democratic than most. She's very likable and inspires a rookie to make good, as well as finds a use for Suspicions being in the canon. It's the kind of underdog moment that invariably works, but again, the writers go a little too far to ramp up the drama, with the face-making Barnaby taking pokes at young Taitt. it's all remarkably manufactured.
In the end, all the resolutions feel like Starfleet Solutions Greatest Hits, with metaphasic shields (Suspicions), turning a gadget into a transmitter while in a jail cell (Starship Mine), and destroying a ship with a solar flare (Redemption Part II). Good use of past continuity, but nothing too original.
LESSON: Waste not, want not. Even the stupidest episode can yield a solution for your cliffhanger.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: The elements are there, and it's a better season premiere than Time's Arrow, but the Borg are essentially wasted as opponents and there's a strong feeling of déjà vu. Still important for the emotion chip and Lore's fate.
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