It's another edition of Star Trekking, my blog post for all things Star Trek.
This week we continue our look back at Star Trek: the Next Generation as we come to Season 2.
The season got off to a late start due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike with only* 22 episodes produced.
*It's weird to use the world "only" for a 22 episode season in today's current era of TV production where seasons can be as short as only 8 to 10 episodes.
Season 2 brought some changes.
Jonathan Frakes grew a beard. It was an affectation that somehow parallels Will Riker becoming a more well rounded character.
After a season of not having a regular person in the role of Chief Engineer, Geordi La Forge got the gig starting with season 2. It was a role that gave Levar Burton more to work with to make Geordi more relevant and impactful.
Gates McFadden was gone and she took Dr. Beverly Crusher with her. Apparently there was friction between her and writer/producer Maurice Hurley and Hurley got her fired. (Hurley did not make it past season 2 and McFadden was brought back as of season 3.)
Joining the cast as the new Chief Medical Officer was Dr. Ktherine Pulaski, played by Diana Muldaur. She was a veteran of two seperate roles on the original Star Trek. Pulaski was intended to bring some snap into the otherwise congenial cast, bringing a sort of the irrascible, cranky spirit of Dr. "Bones" McCoy on the original series. It was a character dynamic that did not wear well on TNG. She always seemed detached from the rest of the cast and most fans at best tolerated her presence on the Enterprise.
(Muldaur was not in the opening credits but listed in the secondary credits as a "special guest star". I think that added to fans not feeling she was truly part of the Enterprise team.)
Also joining the show was Whoopi Goldberg as the bartender Guinan in Ten Forward. Guinan was a warm and positive addition to the cast, Whoopi was only a recurring part of the show but her presence was always welcomed.
Season 2 was a bit more steady on it's feet in compared to rather lackluster Season 1 and there were a lot more episodes for me to choose from for today's spotlight.
I could've gone for "Elementary, Dear Data" which gave us the fantastic Daniel Davis as Prof. Moriarty and introduced the concept of sentient holodeck programs that would go on to be used in the character of the Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager and Starfleet Academy.
Or "Q Who" which brought back John DeLancie as Q and introduced the Borg.
Or "The Measure of a Man" which detailed the legal challenge to consider Data an autonomous sentiment life form.
But for my spotlight episode of season 2, I'm opting to look at "Peak Performance", directed by Robert Scheerer and written by David Kemper.
It is by no means better than those other episodes I mentioned above but I do enjoy watching this installment for some good ol' dumb fun and some pretty cool character development.
Starfleet Command orders the Enterprise to engage in simulated combat exercises with a derelict starship, the Hathaway. A renowned Zakdorn strategist named Sirna Kolrami is on hand in the roles of observer and mediator for the battle simulation.
Kolrami is blunt and brusque in his interactions with Picard and the crew, showing particular disdain for Riker who Picard has selected to command the Hathaway.
Riker approaches the assignment with fatalistic dark humor but also with the conviction that he will make sure Picard has a fight on his hands.
"Remember: Captain Riker has never lost!"
Well, technically he's never won either, you smart ass!
Riker has to assemble a crew of 40 to make the Hathaway functional in 48 hours before the games begin. (Picard has already staked out Data to be on his team.)
Here's a sequence where Riker recruits Worf.
Worf kind of doesn't wanna do it.
WORF: Waste of time.
RIKER: It's just designed to be an exercise.
WORF: Useless. If there is nothing to lose, no sacrifice, then there is nothing to gain.
RIKER: You mean besides pride. Well, in this case it doesn't matter. I probably haven't got a chance.
WORF: There is always a chance.
RIKER: Slim. The Hathaway's most sophisticated weapon system, even in a computer mock-up, can't hope to defeat the Enterprise. .... You're out-manned, you're out-gunned, you're out-equipped. What else have you got?
WORF: Guile.
RIKER: Join me.
WORF: The honour is to serve.
I like that Riker gets Worf on his side by telling him how awful this eperience is going to be and Worf taking that as a challenge. A great character moment for them both.
Riker also recruits Wesley Crusher (yeah, he got to stay even though Mom left the ship) because damned RIker will not let an educational moment pass for the young acting ensign.
Meanwhile Kolrami is puttering about the ship being a complete asshole to everybody and Dr. Pulaski thinks this bastard needs to be taken down a peg.
It seems Kolrami is a grand master of some kind of sci-fi gobbledegook game called Strategema and Pulaski thinks that's her way to show this snotty strategist what's what.
KOLRAMI: Lieutenant Commander Data, I am intrigued by your challenge. Doctor Pulaski informed me of your desire to play a game of Strategema.
DATA: But I expressed no such interest.
PULASKI (interjecting herself between Data and Kolrfami): What Commander Data means is that he would never have asked you himself, but I know he's very interested in pitting his skill against yours.
KOLRAMI: Play against a machine. Why should I wish to?
PULASKI: I don't blame you. It's no fun going into a game when you know you're going to lose.
KOLRAMI: But I wouldn't lose. Now you're no doubt going to tell me that I have to prove it to you.
PULASKI: Come on, Data, you can't let that pass.
DATA: Indeed, I. (pause as Pulaski makes faces at him) Cannot?
KOLRAMI: Then you will play for the honour of your ship.
PULASKI: The honour of the ship? It's your reputation that's on the line.
Yeah, I did not care for Dr. Pulaski but this was a rare moment where I enjoyed her character stirring the pot to create some drama and make things interesting and show up Kolrami.
And Data forced to translate Pulaski's non-verbal facial cues is a clever bit.
She really wants Data to, in her words, "bust him up".
Alas her plan to have the android destroy the prickly Zackdorn at his own game does not play out as expected. Data loses the Strategema match.
Which creates for our emotionless android a crisis of confidence as he sulks in his quarters trying to figure out what's wrong.
Over on the Hathaway, there is a LOT that is wrong.
Geordi is lucky to get the lights on and Riker's asking for warp drive? Yeah, the Hathaway has a couple of chunks of dilithium but without anti-matter, their not worth a Jaloopian binflekrink.
What is a Jaloopian binflekrink? It's not worth much is what it is.
Then Wesley asks for permission to return to the Enterprise. He left a science project about plasma energy (or something) running and he needs to shut it down. Kolrami reluctantly grants Wesley permission to return but under close guard and Wes can only interact with the experiment.
Oh no! The experiment is degrading and will need to be disposed of. Wesley will beam the experiment off the ship to be disintegrated in space.
A few minutes later....
Wesley's experiment materializes in the Hathaway's engineering section.
Later, Riker enters engineering to find Geordi LaForge and Wesley Crusher hard at work.
(Wesley's experiment is being put into a wall panel.)
LAFORGE: Easy now. Is that it?
WESLEY: Yeah.
LAFORGE: Good. Good work. All right, Hand me the connector on that kit.
RIKER: What is that?
WESLEY: My experiment from the Enterprise.
RIKER: Wes?
WESLEY: It deals with high energy plasma reactions with anti-matter.
RIKER: You went back to the Enterprise for that? Wes, you cheated.
WESLEY: No, sir. You told me to improvise.
LAFORGE: The hard part's going to be calibrating the thermal curve necessary to start a controlled reaction.
RIKER: Assuming you can, can you regulate the reaction?
WESLEY: There's just enough crystal to do it. We plan to channel the reaction through the chips.
LAFORGE: Are we good?
RIKER: You're better than good. Great. Brilliant. It's going to be fun. Carry on.
So that's how warp drive works? Hey kids, go out and build your own!
I know Wesley Crusher was not well liked in his time on the Enterprise but this sequence was a good use of his intellect, skills and his youth.
"You told me to improvise."
I was actually proud of Wes in that moment.
Meanwhile, Dr, Pulaski and Deanna Troi present Capt. Picard with a problem.
PICARD: Let me try to understand. You're saying that Commander Data is suffering from a profound loss of confidence, and that you believe only I can restore the balance?
TROI: Yes, sir.
PULASKI: Both Deanna and I have tried, but we're not getting through to him.
PICARD: Don't you think you both might be overreacting? Data is not capable of the emotions which you are assigning to him.
PULASKI: The effects are the same, whether they're caused by human emotions or android algorithms. Data's not on the Bridge, and I don't think Data's going to be on the Bridge until we find some way to address his problem.
PICARD: I am less than an hour away from a battle simulation, and I have to hand-hold an android.
PULASKI: The burdens of command.
Again, Pulaski was not a favorite character but that dryly delivered snark ("The burdens of command.") was a good moment for her.
I will take a moment to acknowledge Deanna Troi continued to be underserved by the writers who clearly had no idea what to do with her. With the curmudgeonly Pulaski and the wise, droll Guinan pulling focus, Troi seemed more sidelined than ever.
As the show improved in seasons to come, Troi would get some better treatment but it is slow in coming.
So Picard goes down to Data's quarters to tell him to get the hell over his self doubt, get his ass on the bridge and help plot a strategy to defeat Riker and the Hathway.
Picard's parting shot to Data offers some good advice: "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose". Well, true that.
The war games get underway and thanks to some sneaky shenanigans by Worf, the Hathaway gets in the first shots and the Enterprise sustains "damages". First blood to "Captain" Riker and the Hathaway.
But the battle simulation takes a real turn into real danger when a Ferengi vessel really attacks.
For real? Yeah, really!
With the Enterprise engaged in fake battle, they are unprepared for real battle and damned if the Ferengi don't get in a lucky shot and momentarily disable the Enterprise.
Oh the damn Ferengi. They were introduced in season 1 as an alien replacement for the Klingons. While the Klingons were all about war for the glory of it, the Ferengi were in it for the money. Profit was their honor, loss was their shame.
Capitalism was their religion. Kindness and compassion were antiethical to their way of life.
But the Ferengi devolved fairly quickly into parody and became jokes in the Star Trek universe, reduced to bit players sufficient only to provide a plot contrivance in someone else's story.
Like this one.
So the Ferengi are puzzled by the Enterprise's interest in the derelict Hathaway and suspect it must have value. The Ferengi will take it or destroy it. And right now, the Enterprise can't stop them.
Yes, Bractor the Ferengi captain is Armin Shimerman making his 2nd appearance on TNG as a Ferengi. Shimerman will go on to play Quark, a much better and more nuanced Ferengi in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
The other Ferengi on the right is David L. Lander who was Squiggy on Laverne & Shirley.
Kolrami tells Picard to cut his losses and let the Ferengi have the Hathaway. But Picard says no, he has people on that ship and he's gonna get 'em.
But he needs a plan.
PICARD: Number One, have you been monitoring communications?
RIKER [on viewscreen]: And Kolrami's right. You've got to save the Enterprise.
PICARD: That would leave you defenseless.
RIKER: When Bractor closes in, we'll hit our warp drive and take our chances.
KOLRAMI: Your what? Impossible! That ship was rendered warp inactive.
The reactions from Picard and Kolrami are priceless. How the hell does RIker have warp drive on that old junk heap of a starship?
But it presents an option to stop the Ferengi.
DATA: Premise. The Ferengi wish to capture the Hathaway believing it to be value. Therefore we must remove the ship from their field of interest.
KOLRAMI: And they will soon relocate it after a two second warp.
PICARD: There is a way. Number One, can you hear this?
RIKER : Yes, sir. We're all here. Waiting for you to pull another rabbit out of your hat.
PICARD: Mister Data
DATA: On the Captain's signal, we will fire four photon torpedoes directly at the Hathaway. One millisecond after its detonation, the computer will trigger your warp jump.
LAFORGE: I think I hate this plan. Data, we're not even sure our warp jump will work.
DATA: If the warp engines fail to function, the result could be unfortunate.
WORF: Very unfortunate. We will be dead.
RIKER: What the hell. Nobody said life was safe.
There's a lot going on here in this scene that I like. Geori's very human "I think I hate this plan" reaction and Worf's low key statement of the obvious "We will be dead."
And Riker rolls the dice with "Nobody said life was safe." It's a bit reckless of him but I like to believe it's a reaction based on confidence in his team to deliver in the crunch.
Not really a spoiler to say the scheme works and the Ferengi hightail it out of there.
And Kolrami reluctantly concedes that Riker and his Hathaway crew did a really good job.
And it's not the only then Kolrami will have to concede.
The strategema rematch is on!
(The Strategema game between Data and Kolrami is in full flow. The crowd are very excited. The scores are in the 32000! and climbing. Kolrami is sweating, Data is unblinking and has a slight smile.)
KOLRAMI: Bah! (throws off the controls)
DATA: Why have you suspended the game?
KOLRAMI: Because this is not a rematch. You have made a mockery of me.
(Kolrami exits in high dudgeon)
RIKER: Data, you beat him!
DATA: No, sir. It is a stalemate.
WORF: No game of Strategema has ever gone this high.
LAFORGE: What did you do?
DATA: I simply altered my premise for playing the game.
RIKER: Explain.
DATA: Working under the assumption that Kolrami was attempting to win, it is reasonable to assume that he expected me to play for the same goal.
WESLEY: You didn't.
DATA: No. I was playing only for a standoff, a draw. While Kolrami was dedicated to winning, I was able to pass up obvious avenues of advancement and settle for a balance. Theoretically, I should be able to challenge him indefinitely.
PULASKI: Then you have beaten him.
DATA: It is a matter of perspective, Doctor. In the strictest sense, I did not win.
TROI + PULASKI: Data!
DATA: I busted him up.
ALL: Yes!
OK, that was sappy and corny as hell but c'mon! Kolrami had it coming and Data needed the win.
"Peak Performance" is not a great episode. The contrivance of having the Ferengi show up as a threat was, well, contrived.
But the show's willingness to expend most of the episode's time and energy not towards the alien problem of the week but rather to getting to spend time with our characters and watch them grow and interact is why I personally enjoy this episode.
And it demonstrates the evolution of TNG's improvement over season 1.
SIDE NOTE: Thanks to Chrissie's Transcripts Site which provides scripts for all things Star Trek and Doctor Who.
Next week on Star Trekking.
We're up to season 3 of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Things get way better for the series and it's harder to pick one episode for the spotlight. But I do!
Data has to improvise and Picard faces an alien threat who is as bureaucratic as they are deadly.
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