262. InterfaceFORMULA: The Bonding + Pen Pals
WHY WE LIKE IT: An intriguing SF premise.
WHY WE DON'T: Another alien ghost story.
REVIEW: Though it is never seen again (and if you're gonna introduce an important technological development, it seems like it should be), the Geordi-probe interface is a really interesting concept. Not only does it give Levar Burton a chance to act without the VISOR (I bet he was happy about that!), but it also creates some eerie, almost surreal, images (Geordi walking through fire or shooting phaser blasts from his hands), though also the need for dull narration to relate information to the rest of the crew. And then they throw it all away on a ghost story.
Ghost stories in Star Trek are invariably the same: There's an apparently supernatural entity "haunting" the characters who turns out to be an alien lifeform of a type we can't understand (energy being, subspace lifeform, what have you). So when Geordi's mother is missing in action and presumed dead, and later appears on the derelict ship where only the probe can survive... you can see it coming. (Or can you? I think it shows in the "mother's" performance, but maybe it's in rewatching it that it falls apart.)
Because Geordi is pretty good at justifying his mom's presence through technobabble (that even Data finds improbable). It's a fair subversion of Trek's usual tropes, and it does build Geordi's character a heck of a lot more than any episode in recent memory. We knew he was a Starfleet brat, but seeing his relationship with both parents (ooh, Ben Vereen!), we can understand that he's really family-oriented, which makes his lack of romantic success perhaps more poignant, as he's unlikely to ever have a family of his own. I do find it disturbing however that while people's lives are on the line, Geordi's superiors are still willing to give Geordi time off because his mom's gone missing. That's too soft a hand, in my opinion.
I should also mention Data, because he's excellent in this. The scene where he's experiencing a 47-minute blank in a poem is quite fun, especially when he calls Geordi out on his reason for passing by. The best thing about Geordi (perhaps sadly) is his friendship with Data.
LESSON: Geordi misses the point about the alien poetry. I just figured out why he's not a character I empathize with.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium-Low: I was all set to give this one a Low, but the characterization is well done, and the premise relatively fresh. It's just that we've seen this kind of twist too many times before.
Comments