[3.7/10] We get it. Humans suck. Or they did, but won’t in the future, if only we can follow the example of our brave fictional spacemen from centuries in the future. Showrunner Maurice Hurley penned this episode, and is on record for rubbing other writers the wrong way for his devotion to preserving franchise creator Gene Roddenberry’s “wacky doodle” vision of humanity’s future.
And as much as Star Trek fans yearn for a little more optimism from the franchise amid a raft of grimdark modern sci-fi storytelling, perhaps the other extreme -- constantly yammering how far 24th century humans have come and how far 20th century humans have to go, is no better.
The vehicle (if you’ll pardon the expression) for this moralizing is the Enterprise’s discovery of a derelict old ship that just happens to contain a pack of humans frozen through “cryonics” from the late twentieth century. Only three survived, and Dr. Crusher defrosts them just in time for them to be a distraction during the first stand-off with the Romulans in fifty years.
Pretty much every Star Trek series has involved space-faring folks from the future interacting with people from Earth’s past. (Just give the Kurtzman shows time; they’ll get there.) There’s nothing wrong with playing the “compare and contrast” game and measuring the differences and peculiarities of folks from different eras interacting with one another.
But “The Neutral Zone” is just so hamfisted about it. One of the defrostees is a “financier” named Ralph Offenhouse, who is a caricature of an entitled businessman. He demands to see Picard like the unfrozen Karen that he is, insists on being able to contact his bank and his lawyer, and rambles on about money as a proxy for power -- the only thing worth going after in life apparently.
He’s also terrible, and not in a fun way. Look, there’s plenty of things to criticize about the America of 1988, but this dollar store Gordon Gecko is too over-the-top and cartoonish to be anything more than a lame straw man. Picard gives him the usual speeches about the Federation eliminating material want and how humanity now aspires to personal growth and exploration now, but the contrast between them is meaningless since Offenhouse is such a overblown and shallow cliché of a cash-obsessed rich jerk.
The second defrostee is L.Q. “Sonny” Clemmons, a country western singer, implied to have drunk and smoked and freebased himself to death. He is basically a vehicle for two things: 1. letting our more evolved and civilized Starfleet officers remark on how much better humanity is now and 2. unfunny comic relief. Clemmons spits out more southern-fried aphorisms than a Kentucky Colonel at a revival meeting. His matter-of-fact reactions to the wonders of the future and endless ream of hayseed clichés (along with twangy musical stings) just play like unassuming filler material, for what’s supposed to be the most lively and entertaining part of the episode.
The only story in this one that really works belongs to the third defrostee, Clare Raymond, a housewife who died of a sudden embolism and was frozen by her husband. Unlike the other two, she had no plans for this, and is aghast to wake up centuries in the future knowing everyone she ever knew is dead. Hers is the only situation the show takes seriously and treats in anything close to a down-to-earth fashion.
While saddled with Counselor Troi as a scene partner (and no great thespian herself), Clare is at least relatable in her emotional difficulties in adjusting to the situation and wanting to know what happened to her family. She gets a measure of comfort and closure from looking up her descendents (along with some consideration from Troi and even the captain), and it’s about the only solid thing in this episode.
That’s what’s extra frustrating about this one though. There’s a good meat and potatoes Star Trek story relegated to the background here. Picard gets word that various Federation outposts have been decimated within the Neutral Zone, with Starfleet having reason to believe it might be the first sign of renewed Romulan aggression after five decades of near-radio silence. That’s an intriguing lure for Star Trek fans, and yet, until the final act, it’s shoved out of the spotlight so we can watch the frostbite trio offend or amuse our heroes with their provincial quaintness. The balance is so off in this episode that it’s remarkable the Enterprise itself didn’t just tip over.
The only purpose the twentieth century interlopers serve is to cut a contrast between Picard and Offenhouse. In contrast to the insistent, demanding, and harsh Offenhouse, Picard keeps a cool head when heading into the Neutral Zone and even when facing down a pair of testy and, shall we say, impolite Romulans. Even when Riker and Worf are urging the captain to be more belligerent, he takes a more inquisitive, thoughtful, and considered tone that helps avert armed conflict, especially when it turns out that Romulans aren’t responsible and a mysterious third party force is taking out both Federation and Romulan installations.
(SPOILER ALERT for later in the series: If I remember correctly, that force is eventually revealed to be the Borg, but that may have been a retcon.)
These closing scenes are filled with very TV writerly monologues that wink too much at the audience. The Romulan commander literally says “We’re back”, as the show practically announces to viewers that these familiar antagonists will be The Next Generations foes in the seasons to come. (I guess they realized the Ferengi didn’t work at this point.) Picard talks about all the adventures left to have in a fashion that could only be less subtle if he looked directly at the camera and said “See you in season 2!” Revisiting older TV shows means accepting a bit of cheese and corniness, but Hurley and company lay it on too thick in the final act of this one.
It also delivers a (possibly inadvertent) mixed message about Mr. Offenhouse. “The Neutral Zone” seems to be shooting for a goofus and gallant routine with him and Picard, with Offenhouse’s officiousness and demanding nature showing his lack of civilization, as opposed to Picard’s steady statesmanship that defuses a tense situation. There’s even an implication that Offenhouse is more like the jerky Romulans than 24th century humans. Except that means....he understands the Romulans, and even reads their fishing for information from Jean-Luc in a way that proves useful. So I guess 20th century humans are still helpful, if only to help ferret out Romulan intentions? It’s odd, to say the least.
So much of this episode is. Cards on the table, I grew up admiring Captain Picard, and even looking up to him. I’ve jokingly referred to him as my “space uncle”, because he exhibits such a strong but compassionate brand of masculinity, that gave young men in front of the television screens something to aspire to. As prickly as he is in this first season, you can still see the roots of the character so many would see with such affection.
But in an episode like “The Neutral Zone”, it goes way too far, with him made into this impossible paragon of virtue, in stark contrast to a cartoonishly overdone parody of an entitled businessman. Rather than creating something for fans to aspire to, it makes The Next Generation seem like it’s stacking the deck in favor of its heroes and their unimpeachable character, or worse yet, unduly condescending to the present.
It’s characteristic of TNG’s first season, a year of television with its gems and promising signs of what the show has in store, but that is also chock-a-block with over-the-top characters and stories that go too far while delivering too little in the way of substance. It’s too soon to say whether this is truly the worst season of the show, but it’s certainly the one that feels the least like Star Trek: The Next Generation to me, and feels like proof that the twentieth century men and women who made the show in 1988 were at least as flawed and misguided in their efforts as the caricatures they prop up to knock down in an episode like this one.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-02-03T03:36:38Z
[3.7/10] We get it. Humans suck. Or they did, but won’t in the future, if only we can follow the example of our brave fictional spacemen from centuries in the future. Showrunner Maurice Hurley penned this episode, and is on record for rubbing other writers the wrong way for his devotion to preserving franchise creator Gene Roddenberry’s “wacky doodle” vision of humanity’s future.
And as much as Star Trek fans yearn for a little more optimism from the franchise amid a raft of grimdark modern sci-fi storytelling, perhaps the other extreme -- constantly yammering how far 24th century humans have come and how far 20th century humans have to go, is no better.
The vehicle (if you’ll pardon the expression) for this moralizing is the Enterprise’s discovery of a derelict old ship that just happens to contain a pack of humans frozen through “cryonics” from the late twentieth century. Only three survived, and Dr. Crusher defrosts them just in time for them to be a distraction during the first stand-off with the Romulans in fifty years.
Pretty much every Star Trek series has involved space-faring folks from the future interacting with people from Earth’s past. (Just give the Kurtzman shows time; they’ll get there.) There’s nothing wrong with playing the “compare and contrast” game and measuring the differences and peculiarities of folks from different eras interacting with one another.
But “The Neutral Zone” is just so hamfisted about it. One of the defrostees is a “financier” named Ralph Offenhouse, who is a caricature of an entitled businessman. He demands to see Picard like the unfrozen Karen that he is, insists on being able to contact his bank and his lawyer, and rambles on about money as a proxy for power -- the only thing worth going after in life apparently.
He’s also terrible, and not in a fun way. Look, there’s plenty of things to criticize about the America of 1988, but this dollar store Gordon Gecko is too over-the-top and cartoonish to be anything more than a lame straw man. Picard gives him the usual speeches about the Federation eliminating material want and how humanity now aspires to personal growth and exploration now, but the contrast between them is meaningless since Offenhouse is such a overblown and shallow cliché of a cash-obsessed rich jerk.
The second defrostee is L.Q. “Sonny” Clemmons, a country western singer, implied to have drunk and smoked and freebased himself to death. He is basically a vehicle for two things: 1. letting our more evolved and civilized Starfleet officers remark on how much better humanity is now and 2. unfunny comic relief. Clemmons spits out more southern-fried aphorisms than a Kentucky Colonel at a revival meeting. His matter-of-fact reactions to the wonders of the future and endless ream of hayseed clichés (along with twangy musical stings) just play like unassuming filler material, for what’s supposed to be the most lively and entertaining part of the episode.
The only story in this one that really works belongs to the third defrostee, Clare Raymond, a housewife who died of a sudden embolism and was frozen by her husband. Unlike the other two, she had no plans for this, and is aghast to wake up centuries in the future knowing everyone she ever knew is dead. Hers is the only situation the show takes seriously and treats in anything close to a down-to-earth fashion.
While saddled with Counselor Troi as a scene partner (and no great thespian herself), Clare is at least relatable in her emotional difficulties in adjusting to the situation and wanting to know what happened to her family. She gets a measure of comfort and closure from looking up her descendents (along with some consideration from Troi and even the captain), and it’s about the only solid thing in this episode.
That’s what’s extra frustrating about this one though. There’s a good meat and potatoes Star Trek story relegated to the background here. Picard gets word that various Federation outposts have been decimated within the Neutral Zone, with Starfleet having reason to believe it might be the first sign of renewed Romulan aggression after five decades of near-radio silence. That’s an intriguing lure for Star Trek fans, and yet, until the final act, it’s shoved out of the spotlight so we can watch the frostbite trio offend or amuse our heroes with their provincial quaintness. The balance is so off in this episode that it’s remarkable the Enterprise itself didn’t just tip over.
The only purpose the twentieth century interlopers serve is to cut a contrast between Picard and Offenhouse. In contrast to the insistent, demanding, and harsh Offenhouse, Picard keeps a cool head when heading into the Neutral Zone and even when facing down a pair of testy and, shall we say, impolite Romulans. Even when Riker and Worf are urging the captain to be more belligerent, he takes a more inquisitive, thoughtful, and considered tone that helps avert armed conflict, especially when it turns out that Romulans aren’t responsible and a mysterious third party force is taking out both Federation and Romulan installations.
(SPOILER ALERT for later in the series: If I remember correctly, that force is eventually revealed to be the Borg, but that may have been a retcon.)
These closing scenes are filled with very TV writerly monologues that wink too much at the audience. The Romulan commander literally says “We’re back”, as the show practically announces to viewers that these familiar antagonists will be The Next Generations foes in the seasons to come. (I guess they realized the Ferengi didn’t work at this point.) Picard talks about all the adventures left to have in a fashion that could only be less subtle if he looked directly at the camera and said “See you in season 2!” Revisiting older TV shows means accepting a bit of cheese and corniness, but Hurley and company lay it on too thick in the final act of this one.
It also delivers a (possibly inadvertent) mixed message about Mr. Offenhouse. “The Neutral Zone” seems to be shooting for a goofus and gallant routine with him and Picard, with Offenhouse’s officiousness and demanding nature showing his lack of civilization, as opposed to Picard’s steady statesmanship that defuses a tense situation. There’s even an implication that Offenhouse is more like the jerky Romulans than 24th century humans. Except that means....he understands the Romulans, and even reads their fishing for information from Jean-Luc in a way that proves useful. So I guess 20th century humans are still helpful, if only to help ferret out Romulan intentions? It’s odd, to say the least.
So much of this episode is. Cards on the table, I grew up admiring Captain Picard, and even looking up to him. I’ve jokingly referred to him as my “space uncle”, because he exhibits such a strong but compassionate brand of masculinity, that gave young men in front of the television screens something to aspire to. As prickly as he is in this first season, you can still see the roots of the character so many would see with such affection.
But in an episode like “The Neutral Zone”, it goes way too far, with him made into this impossible paragon of virtue, in stark contrast to a cartoonishly overdone parody of an entitled businessman. Rather than creating something for fans to aspire to, it makes The Next Generation seem like it’s stacking the deck in favor of its heroes and their unimpeachable character, or worse yet, unduly condescending to the present.
It’s characteristic of TNG’s first season, a year of television with its gems and promising signs of what the show has in store, but that is also chock-a-block with over-the-top characters and stories that go too far while delivering too little in the way of substance. It’s too soon to say whether this is truly the worst season of the show, but it’s certainly the one that feels the least like Star Trek: The Next Generation to me, and feels like proof that the twentieth century men and women who made the show in 1988 were at least as flawed and misguided in their efforts as the caricatures they prop up to knock down in an episode like this one.