In the fifteenth episode of the first season of\u00c2\u00a0The Next Generation<\/i>, Riker and Picard get swept up by a simulation in a Holodeck, only to discover that something has happened to the rest of the ship in the meantime. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>.<\/p>\n
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One thing that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve enjoyed about\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>The Next Generation\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u201c and which is represented here in \u00e2\u20ac\u015311001001\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is the willingness to take some of these stories to really bizarre, unexpected places. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a riskiness to the plot in this episode. Halfway through it, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even really have a major conflict; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more of an exploration of the Holodeck and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s capabilities. Well, and a bit of a story about love and computers and whether or not Riker is gonna fuck said computer, BUT WE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122LL GET THERE.<\/span><\/p>\n So, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s start things off with an acknowledgement of how hilarious it is that I made some big pronouncement about the rigid gender roles in space (which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still sticking to), and then this episode introduces the Bynars, a species that pairs themselves with another (for life?) and HAS NO GENDER AT ALL. Of course, that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re perfect representation for\u00c2\u00a0actual<\/i> nonbinary or agender folks, and often, what little representation there is, comes in the form of alien races. So I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to be disingenuous about what this species means to other people, but I did appreciate that we finally got\u00c2\u00a0something<\/i> from the show that didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stick to such a rigid binary.<\/p>\n On top of that, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot I liked about the Bynars. I loved the way they spoke; I loved that their native language was not subtitled; I loved the idea of a culture that had evolved to\u00c2\u00a0depend<\/i> on integration with computer technology. All of these little details contributed to some of the tension in \u00e2\u20ac\u015311001001,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of course. I found it easy to read a specific narrative into that, since the crew was quick to distrust the Bynars or suspect that they were doing something wrong. (Well, they were, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a separate issue.) They were \u00e2\u20ac\u0153alien\u00e2\u20ac\u009d characters in a figurative sense, too!<\/p>\n At the same time, I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite figure out what they were doing to the Holodeck or the ship\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s computer, and even my own suspicion was piqued when they were watching Riker enter the Holodeck for the first time. Were they just observing him so that they could adjust the programming, eager to please the Enterprise<\/i> crew? Or was there an ulterior motive here? The thing is, I honestly didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t suspect anything was wrong until the whole anti-matter disaster, and part of that was because this episode spent so much time in the Holodeck. Like Riker (and then Picard), I was distracted by the spectacle.<\/p>\n Now, I want to preface this part by stating that I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00c2\u00a0hate<\/i> Riker or anything, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m getting a little tired of him being Captain Kirk 2.0. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m referring to the fact largely, his presence in this show is to be \u00e2\u20ac\u201c more or less \u00e2\u20ac\u201c aggressively straight. Perhaps it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m coming off \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Angel One,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly sympathetic to Riker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confusion over falling for Minuet. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not interesting to me. I think I was also a tad confused about the placement of this episode in season one, given that we just had a Holodeck episode that demonstrated a lot of the capabilities that Picard marvels at here. (I suspect that can easily be explained by the production order.) Still, what drew me into \u00e2\u20ac\u015311001001\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was the sense of\u00c2\u00a0wonder<\/i>. If you take out the sexualization, you get Picard and Riker being absolutely amazed by the technology that surrounds them. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a billion times more satisfying to see, you know?<\/p>\n There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a manipulative edge to what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re watching, though, and I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t figure it out until the LITERAL LAST MINUTE. Minuet wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just a demonstration of the Holodeck\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s capabilities. Certainly that was an aspect of her characterization. But the Bynars programmed her to\u00c2\u00a0specifically<\/i> distract Riker and Picard, all so that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have a backup in place in case they died. That twist came together a little sloppily, but I enjoyed the outcome of it. Picard and Riker had to work together as a pair \u00e2\u20ac\u201c like the Bynars work \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in order to help save their entire race. While the show doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t shy away from portraying the kidnapping and manipulation as a negative thing, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a sympathetic tone to how this all unfolds. At the end of the day, Picard and Riker knew that the Bynars meant no harm and were only doing what they saw as necessary to save their entire race. Plus, the Bynars submit themselves for the required punishment at the end of \u00e2\u20ac\u015311001001,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d fully aware that they broke the law to do what they thought was right. I admire that! It reminded me of Riker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s willingness to do the same thing in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Angel One.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n This was an intriguing episode, one that I think is indicative of the kind of leaps and risks that\u00c2\u00a0The Next Generation\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>can take. And I want the show to do that! I like weird, I like strange, and I am happy that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m getting a sense for how this show truly is different than\u00c2\u00a0The Original Series.\u00c2\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u015311001001\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – The Mark Does Stuff Tour 2015 is now live and includes dates across the U.S., Canada, Europe, the U.K., and Ireland. Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a> In the fifteenth episode of the first season of\u00c2\u00a0The Next Generation, Riker and Picard get swept up by a simulation in a Holodeck, only to discover that something has happened to the rest of the ship in the meantime. Intrigued? … Continue reading
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