Mark Watches ‘The Next Generation’: S03E01 – Evolution

In the first episode of the third season of The Next Generation, well, that was a first. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek. 

LET US DISCUSS THIS BECAUSE I HAVE THINGS TO SAY.

The Good

Look, this is no “Shades of Grey,” and there’s a part of me that’s thrilled to be able to have that kind of bar to measure this buy. There’s a lot of cool science here, and THE RETURN OF A FAVORITE. So while I do have some complaints here, I want to acknowledge some of the things that made this a solid episode of the show.

Let’s start with the new opening credit sequence! There’s a sense of grandeur to it, and it’s a fitting look for the show. I think that this episode also looked a lot more crisp than those in seasons one and two, though I don’t know if that’s because I just perceived it different or if there was an actual change in quality. Regardless, this episode looked good. And you know, even if Wesley’s characterization ultimately ruined it for me, I think Dr. Crusher’s return and subsequent story ABSOLUTELY made this a much better episode than it could have been. There’s very little fanfare about Dr. Crusher coming back to the show, and I kind of love it. She belongs here on this show, amidst these characters. (Does that mean that Dr. Pulaski is gone forever??? I do feel weird about that because I thought she played a significant part of season two.)

And her return comes along with a great story about parenthood. Namely: has she been a good parent to her son? How did her year-long absence affect her son? Did she do something wrong along the way? Wesley’s willingness to take on so much work might be a good thing in one light, but Dr. Crusher wonders constantly throughout this episode if it’s actually a bad thing. On top of that, she actually clashes with Wesley at one point specifically about this, and it’s one of the few times the writers care about any sort of serialization. Look how well it works! Dr. Crusher’s return, while not some super dramatic reveal, is still addressed within the narrative in an interesting way. In this case, Wesley lashes out at her, partly because he feels attacked and partly because he’s overcompensating for his mistake.

Which… oh boy. Let’s talk about that next.

I also loved Deanna Troi’s confrontation with Dr. Stubbs. SO FUCKING GREAT Y’ALL. That line about him being “so practiced, so polished” was brutal and utterly correct. I love when she cuts through someone’s bullshit in a manner of seconds, and I really wish this showed utilized her more than they do.

The Bad

How the hell Wesley is forgiven so easily is BEYOND ME. His mistake here – falling asleep and releasing nanites into the computer system on the Enterprise – is MASSIVELY HUGE. And yet, he ends this episode as a forgiven party, one who is more or less rewarded with a girlfriend by the narrative. Like… ??????? Y’ALL. That’s it??? That’s all that happens to him? I get that the show wants us to believe that this group of characters has a lot of affection for one another, that they want to see the best in one another. But… nothing? No official reprimand? No stern talking to? Nothing? I don’t like this because it’s simply bad storytelling. If actions have repercussions, then the risk is eliminated. The plot feels deflated. It is unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

Which brings me to the irony in me complaining about the repercussions of Wesley falling asleep and causing chaos. I think the science here is kind of neat, though it’s certainly not the first time Star Trek canon has dealt with adaptive evolution, nor is it the first time the antagonist is not inherently evil. But this is the first time that an episode was so boring that my attention waned. Well, that’s an understatement, I suppose, because I actually nodded off like ten times. I GOT EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP LAST NIGHT. I was well-rested when I made this video. I require very little sleep to get through the day, so I can’t blame this on external factors. I was just… bored. SO BORED. Bored enough that for the first time I believe I actually fell asleep on camera.

I’m lowkey proud of myself??? Like, I view my videos as a way for y’all to have a pure glimpse of my reaction to these fictional worlds. I can’t hide my dislike or joy or rage or humor. It’s all on display for you to see, and I dig that. It’s a lot of fun to do, and you get to see what it’s like to sit next to me and watch shit. I knew while watching this episode that it was boring the hell out of me, and I was vaguely aware of the first half that I felt tiredness creep up on me. But I still felt like I absorbed information; I didn’t feel like I missed any crucial scenes or that this was confusing. However, I just felt like “Evolution” was going through the motions. There could have been something truly creepy here with the nanites or with Stubbs, but it’s all deflated by the final scenes, and it makes me sad more than anything else. Rapidly evolving nano-lives is SUCH AN AMAZING PREMISE! There’s an actual conversation about the value of nano-life and whether these beings should be treated like pests or not! And yet, it just drifts into mediocrity so quickly, largely because the writers won’t commit to anything meaningful or significant. Y’all, the nanites took over Data, and it could have been so cool, but the moment lasts only a few minutes before the resolution boils down to an apology.

In a sense, that’s a very The Next Generation thing to do. There’s no big fight; Picard just speaks to the nanites with respect and they relent. It’s kind of cool, I guess? Theoretically, that is. However, it’s not very entertaining, and I just wanted more from this episode. Namely, I didn’t want it to lull me into sleep, ahaha. But hey, I can’t exactly lie about how I felt about this, and I appreciate that I can now say an episode of a show bored me to slumber. That’s important, yes????

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

Mark Links Stuff

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