There were many depths this story could have plumbed, from the nature of aging to the danger of drug overdoses. But instead, we got only a shallow tale of attempted revenge.
Granted, that very last scene on Mordan in which Karnas seems to realize what an obsessed man he'd become worked really well. Seeing the personal hell Jameson put himself through in an attempt to correct a mistake made four decades earlier, Karnas understands that Mark regretted the course of events more than anyone, and that was enough.
But outside of that beat, the episode feels pretty weak. TNG hasn't hit its stride yet in terms of writing, obviously—what Star Trek series had, this early on?—and a lot of ground is left uncovered. The inspiration this story drew from the Iran–Contra affair appears pretty superficial, and it's not an especially strong "what-if" either because of how dramatically important Karnas' personal vendetta against Jameson is made out to be. I'm honestly not really sure what point this story was trying to make, outside the obvious "you can't ever be young again" and/or "revenge doesn't pay"—which are rather cliché morals, since so many stories illustrate them (and better).
Perhaps, then, some things can be explained by this tidbit: D.C. Fontana's original script for this episode was heavily rewritten by Gene Roddenberry's lawyer, Leonard Maizlish. Why a lawyer, of all people, would be deemed best qualified to rewrite a television script is beyond me… Fontana quit and complained to the Writer's Guild of America, and producer Maurice Hurley eventually gained control of the writing staff from Roddenberry (by pressuring him). Sad as it might seem that the Great Bird himself lost his direct say, letting his lawyer rewrite a script, of all people, tells me that he might not have known what he was doing any more (as Hurley believed)…
Review by dgwVIP 10BlockedParent2018-10-11T06:44:16Z
Star Trek again takes on an idea halfheartedly.
There were many depths this story could have plumbed, from the nature of aging to the danger of drug overdoses. But instead, we got only a shallow tale of attempted revenge.
Granted, that very last scene on Mordan in which Karnas seems to realize what an obsessed man he'd become worked really well. Seeing the personal hell Jameson put himself through in an attempt to correct a mistake made four decades earlier, Karnas understands that Mark regretted the course of events more than anyone, and that was enough.
But outside of that beat, the episode feels pretty weak. TNG hasn't hit its stride yet in terms of writing, obviously—what Star Trek series had, this early on?—and a lot of ground is left uncovered. The inspiration this story drew from the Iran–Contra affair appears pretty superficial, and it's not an especially strong "what-if" either because of how dramatically important Karnas' personal vendetta against Jameson is made out to be. I'm honestly not really sure what point this story was trying to make, outside the obvious "you can't ever be young again" and/or "revenge doesn't pay"—which are rather cliché morals, since so many stories illustrate them (and better).
Perhaps, then, some things can be explained by this tidbit: D.C. Fontana's original script for this episode was heavily rewritten by Gene Roddenberry's lawyer, Leonard Maizlish. Why a lawyer, of all people, would be deemed best qualified to rewrite a television script is beyond me… Fontana quit and complained to the Writer's Guild of America, and producer Maurice Hurley eventually gained control of the writing staff from Roddenberry (by pressuring him). Sad as it might seem that the Great Bird himself lost his direct say, letting his lawyer rewrite a script, of all people, tells me that he might not have known what he was doing any more (as Hurley believed)…