In the twenty-fifth and penultimate episode of the first season of The Next Generation, I AM SO FUCKED UP. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.
Trigger Warning: For body horror, consent, gore.
Jesus christ. WHAT HAS THIS SHOW DONE TO ME?
Look, I’ll be the first to state that the sci-fi and horror genres have long toyed with the trope of the invasive parasite, particularly one that changes the behavior of people. So I don’t want to go into this and claim that it’s all that original. I don’t believe it is at all. But I’m also not of the mind that tropes or archetypes can’t be used ever. There are plenty of them that I enjoy, and the whole body snatcher scenario is one that TERRIFIES ME.
And really, that’s why I enjoyed “Conspiracy†so much. Well, it’s one of the reasons! The show consistently escalates the threat of this parasite and does so through a slow-burn of dread. From Walter Keel’s uncanny message to the visit to Starfleet Command, the writers exploit every opportunity in order to make the audience feel UTTERLY FUCKING TERRIBLE. We know that Keel and the others would not have warned Picard unless their was some truth to what they were saying. We also knew something was strange in “Coming of Age,†which was left open-ended. Quinn tested Picard in that episode in order to determine his loyalty to Starfleet. So, with these things in mind, we begin to question everything we see onscreen.
That starts with Data’s report on Starfleet directives. Why have there been so many changes in command? Is Data’s hypothesis – that someone is reshuffling officers in advance of an invasion – something we need to take seriously? It’s not like Data gets shit wrong, you know? He’s trustworthy, and we’re always meant to believe his analysis. BUT REALLY, LET’S ALL BE HONEST WITH OURSELVES. It’s that first communication with the admirals from Command that made me want to crawl under my desk and never come out. It’s amazing to me how the power of suggestion can craft my perception of these characters. I knew something was terribly wrong! I knew it was off! And then Remmick appeared and YOU JUST MADE IT WORSE. WORSE.
Now, I mentioned earlier that what “Conspiracy†does well is a consistent escalation, and this part of the episode is a perfect example of that. After revealing Remmick and the admirals, Picard is relieved that Quinn appears to have just revealed that he is not part of whatever has gripped Starfleet. We are relieved as well. Picard has an ally. We can rest easy.
SO THE SHOW DECIDES TO LEAP A BILLION STEPS FORWARD AND REVEAL THAT NOT ONLY IS THIS NOT TRUE, BUT QUINN IS CARRYING AROUND A FUCKING PARASITE IN A SUITCASE. In that second, we can no longer trust anyone on the screen. We worry about Quinn and the other admirals every time they are near anyone. When will they try to infect someone else? How? What does the parasite do? And by gods, the writers deliver. (If you’re fascinated by this phenomenon, I cannot recommend the movie It Follows enough. This movie so horribly exploits your expectations and the way you watch movies that it left me jittery for DAYS. That’s all I’m gonna say about it.) I am not ashamed of how utterly ridiculous I am in the video for this episode, and I hope my terror and disgust entertains you. Seriously, coming off of “We’ll Still Have Paris,†this episode is like a breath of air. Which is weird to say because it’s not like it deviates too far from this trope, you know? But it’s such an exciting and thrilling execution of this type of story. Plus, what I like about “Conspiracy†is what the last episode didn’t do.
This one takes risks.
We’ve got the “gill†poking out of the back of the infected’s neck. We’ve got a creature that requires you to kill the host, which adds a moral quandary on top of this nightmare. And then we have that scene where Picard is invited to dinner, and we (still including all of y’all in this) are certain that Picard is going to be the dinner himself, and NOPE. BOWLS OF MEALWORMS. FOR NO FUCKING DISCERNIBLE REASON EXCEPT THAT THE SHOW JUST WANTS TO BE WEIRD AS HELL AND RUIN MY LIFE. Spoiler alert: it worked. It’s so deliberately bizarre and upsetting, and you know what? It makes the episode better. It makes this seems so otherworldly and fucked up, and I’m totally for this.
But I think I’d be remiss in not stating that the final confrontation with Remmick is evidence of just how risky “Conspiracy†is. That kind of gore and body horror hasn’t had a place within the show before, which I understand. But it fits here. What’s a better visual metaphor for the horror that’s infiltrated Starfleet than a chest-burster exploding out of a disintegrating body? This episode is so effective because it’s uncanny and disgusting. I’M SO PLEASED WITH IT. And hell, this might not even be the end of the story!!! What if the finale addresses the beacon??? What were the parasites trying to signal??? OH, I NEED MORE. RIGHT NOW.
The video for “Conspiracy†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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