Lmao at Data. "Occupation homemaker. Must be some type of construction work. "
Picard orders Yellow Alert, and then later in that scene Riker orders the shields up. Yellow Alert implies the shields being raised.
Offenhouse making it to the Bridge presents several problems. One, it should not be possible for an unauthorized person (who is not even wearing a commbadge) to order a turbolift to the Bridge. I would say perhaps that kind of access restriction wasn't yet implemented, but in "11001001" a turbolift panel announces "Bridge Access Denied" when Picard and Riker try to get there. (It did so before they told the computer where they were trying to go, but still.) Then we have to address the security personnel apparently giving up on removing the man, presumably because they're distracted by the Romulan ship decloaking on the viewscreen. Who knew all it took to stop a Starfleet security officer from moving you was planting your feet and shrugging off their hold on your arm?
And finally: Initial scans of the derelict ship should have shown life signs of some kind on board. Data and Worf discovering the cryogenic pods shouldn't have been a surprise.
This episode feels pretty weak for a season finale. Captain Picard's final line ("There's still much to do. Still so much to learn. Mister La Forge, engage.") reads like the end of a series pilot or season premiere. And it wasn't preceded by much substance.
Sure, it's fun to have the present-day humans on board. They're fun, in the same way "The 37's" are fun, because we get to see people out of time come to understand what has changed in the intervening years. But based on the title, they're supposed to be the "B" plot.
Meanwhile, in the actual Neutral Zone plot (which, based on the title, is the "A" story), not much happens. Most of the action is centered on the "B" plot characters, and we actually see surprisingly little of the events leading up to the Romulan encounter.
From my research into "Conspiracy", I can surmise that the destroyed outposts have been captured by the Borg, and this episode is supposed to be a kind of cliffhanger leading into their introduction at the start of season three. Of course, the writers' strike was still ongoing at this time, and the Borg story arc was postponed due to that, so this episode doesn't really have a story to tell any more. (I also found a quote from the director, James Conway, who recalled this script was shot as a first draft—rewrites being impossible due to the ongoing writers' strike. That's probably the main reason it's such a weak episode.)
That is a weak episode by any definition but for a season finale that is low.
I remember everyone on the cast talking about how they never thought they would reach a second season and judging by that episode the producers must have felt the same. Not wanting to end on a real cliffhanger yet provide some kind of incentive for viewers to come back should there be one.
From the comment by user "dgw" I would think that strike was a factor but in any case it is badly written throughout with several logical errors. The survivors from the cryo-pod are painfully clichèd. They are, what was thought at the end of the 80s, how people would be like in the future. Yet they appear much more back in time then the 80s. I also don't like the light hearted music they played over a scene everytime something is supposed to be funny. Switching the storylines and making the destroyed outposts and the Rumalans more prominent could have given this episode more grip.
The only real positive for me is the appearance of Marc Alaimo.
Fish-out-of-water stories can be fun and interesting. This was a somewhat poorly executed one. Not terrible, but not that good, either.
The idea that TV will die out by 2040 is pretty funny, though. It's certainly not impossible that traditional broadcast TV may die out by then, but I don't think the entire format of the television is going to go away anytime soon.
I love how Deanna asks for the names of Clare's family, and she just gives their first names. And then later, she says the day of their birth, but not the year. Bitch, you've been dead for over 300 years, you need to be way more specific than that. Lmao
As a fun diversion, this works for me. I'm fine with calling this a 7/10 'cause I was entertained.
After last episode, I don't get why this mostly light-hearted "comedy episode" is the season finale. Interactions between those fossils and modern tech and 24th century people is quite interesting. Acting is also quite good. I don't like the morale story they tell. I mean it's classic TNG with its simple message of hope: "Look how far we have come! Mankind can evolve and became better despite occasional set-backs." But here that's so much onto the nose and way too preachy. We get it alright! Capitalism and strongmen should be a thing of the past. The people they use as a contest are too much of a stereotype. It's also strange how they are treated. Picard treats them as a nuisance and wanted them to remain floating in space. Riker treats them as a curiosity. They are humans after all! Only a few of the crew seem to be interested in helping them to get accustomed to their new life.
The other aspect of the story is the possibility of successful cryonics. It's not enough to fill the full episode though. It makes you briefly contemplate the pros and cons of this idea, but ultimately I don't care. Voyager did something similar in The 37's That was another one of Voyager's early mediocre episodes. This topic isn't just interesting enough to tell a great story I suppose. TOS Space Seed uses the notion of cryonics to tell a much more exciting story (this TOS episode has other issues though).
I'm not even sure whether that's supposed to be the core of this episode. Perhaps it's really about the events in the Neutral Zone. Encountering the Romulans after decades is a big thing. Almost getting into a fight with them is exciting. Cooperating with them (for the time being) is a big deal. Discovering that someone unknown is destroying entire outposts is a big deal (and a great cliffhanger about what's to come in next seasons). But all this feels like a B-plot since it's totally overshadowed by the story of the "time travellers".
PS: another lowpoint for Deanna. While the grown-ups must navigate the pitfalls of intercultural communication between Humans and Romulans and while they negotiate a temporary alliance, Deanna has far more humble things to do: genealogy.
Remember to drink your ovaltine the episode
Anyone else think Data is a little too human in some of these first season episodes?
A chilling end to the season; has me excited for the next one! It loses some points for the overuse of the h-word, as well as the suggestive content.
Great first season episode. Interesting primary and secondary storyline. Features Marc Alaimo who would later gain Trek fame by portraying Gul Dukat in Star Trek Deep Space Nine.
Personally, I think this is the best episode of Season 1.
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.