Mark Watches ‘The Next Generation’: S03E10 – The Defector

In the tenth episode of the third season of The Next Generation, this episode becomes increasingly more fucked up when I think about it. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.

Trigger Warning: For suicide.

SERIOUSLY, IT’S SO MESSED UP. This was a fantastic episode, one that echoed many of the themes of Henry V invoked in that stunning cold open, and strangely, a story that strives for cynicism over blank optimism. There’s no happy ending here for literally anyone involved, especially for Jarok. And through it all? This felt like a powerful anti-war story, one that warned of the risks of escalation.

But it’s the ending that haunts me the most. This is a brilliantly executed mystery because the writers are able to hide the endgame in a way that doesn’t insult us along the way and doesn’t feel like a cop-out when it’s finally revealed. The set-up is fascinating, too! When a Romulan begs for asylum because he’s decided to defect, the entire crew has to constantly question whether or not he’s actually telling the truth. By default, they accept Jarok onboard the Enterprise, but that doesn’t mean he’s not treated suspiciously. On the contrary, everyone is short and brusque with him. And who can blame them??? The very idea of a Romulan willingly handing over information to prevent a massive war between the Federation and their species is absurd. And the show knows that! So they play up the paranoia angle by never allowing us to believe Jarok. Initially, we do that on our own, and as each new detail is revealed, we question what’s going on.

It’s a credit to the pacing in “The Defector.” It’s not an easy mystery to unfold over 45 minutes because there’s so much time between Jarok’s arrival and the Enterprise’s arrival at Nelvana III. How do you keep up the suspense? How can you make it so that the viewer doesn’t guess the ending ten minutes in and spends the remainder of the story feeling bored? I mean, look: I AM TRYING TO EXPLAIN WHY I FELL FOR THIS SO BADLY. I don’t think this is something that everyone figured out on the first go, though, and I imagine many of you also didn’t anticipate what the Romulans were really doing. I accepted that there were only two options: Jarok was telling the truth and there really was a secret Romulan base, or Jarok was lying and was a spy. The episode presented those options so plainly that I never questioned it otherwise.

So it didn’t help Jarok’s case when he acted so antagonistically towards everyone. Truthfully, I think that might have been the wisest choice on the show’s part. Jarok had to still be a Romulan, one who despised the Federation but desired a world without a massive war between them and the Romulans. There’s that brilliant scene between Picard and Jarok that presented us with the real version of Jarok, a man who had done unspeakable things in the name of the Romulan empire, but also one who had experienced a change of heart. It helped to understand his behavior by seeing how unwilling he was to view himself as a defector. He still wanted to defend the Romulans and protect them, and yet? As Picard points out, he’s long since abandoned them. For Picard, the two sides are so well-defined that there’s no half-assing this. By defecting, Jarok has chosen a side.

But has he? Jarok just wanted a world where he could raise his daughter without war and destruction. He felt a moral imperative to try and create that world, and he knew that giving the Federation a heads up would at least stop the Romulans’ latest ploy for domination. So I’d argue that he never chose a side other than the one his own daughter was on. He doesn’t give a fuck about the Federation, but he also doesn’t care for the warmongering leaders of the Romulans either. And yet? I still thought he was lying. While all of this was unfolding, there was more and more evidence mounting that the Romulan ships had purposely let Jarok survive. So, clearly, Jarok was a spy! That was totally the answer!

I just… I was so wrong. In hindsight, you can see how desperate Jarok is to prove that he was telling the truth, even when he was conflicted about doing so. The problem is that the version of reality that he believed to be true WAS FED TO HIM AS A TEST OF HIS LOYALTY. There never was a secret base, the Romulans weren’t going to launch a massive invasion, and in the end, everyone loses. The Romulans lose one of their greatest commanders; the Enterprise crew are disturbed by their participation in the ruse and they nearly ignite another war themselves; and Jarok, lost in grief and disappointment, kills himself. It’s an uncharacteristically brutal episode, and IT FUCKED ME UP. Holy shit, what the hell?

But goddamn, it’s effective. It’s haunting, really, a damning indictment of the perils of warmongering. No one was going to win anyway, you know?

The video for “The Defector” can be downloaded here for $0.99.

Mark Links Stuff

I am now on Patreon!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME.
– The Mark Does Stuff Tour 2015 is now live and includes dates across the U.S. this summer and fall Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates / Appearances page.
– My Master Schedule is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often. My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be the remainder of The Legend of Korra, series 8 of Doctor Who, and Kings. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series will replace the Emelan books.
- Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook! I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!

About Mark Oshiro

Perpetually unprepared since '09.
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