Note: This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.
Sometimes, it’s hard to tell what kind of influence a particular episode
will have. If the Ferengi hadn’t flopped as an adversary, the writers
for Star Trek: The Next Generation might not have felt compelled to come
up with a better enemy. However, the Ferengi didn’t do so well and here
we are, at the 42nd episode of The Next Generation. The omnipotent Q
finds himself in exile from the Continuum for not leaving humanity
alone. Since he can’t think of any place else to go, he decides to pay
the Enterprise a visit. Q wants to be a guide for the Enterprise,
showing them the galaxy and helping out as needed.
Picard flat
out refuses his offer. That’s not a wise thing to do with an omnipotent
being. Insulted, Q flings them many thousands of light years away,
right into Borg territory. Guinan knows both the Q and the Borg. She
warns that the Enterprise had better start heading back as soon as
possible. However, Captain Picard decides to stay, not aware of the
threat that’s about to find them.
The Enterprise finds a
planet that has craters on the surface similar to those found in the
first-season finale, “Neutral Zone”. It turns out that the Borg were the
ones that made those craters. They don’t just destroy, though. They
assimilate. They assimilate entire cultures, as they did with Guinan’s
race. What few of her people are left are scattered throughout the
galaxy. She’s in no mood to wait around for them.
However, a
Borg cube does show up on long-range sensors. When it meets up with the
Enterprise, it locks on with its tractor beam and starts pulling it in.
The Enterprise is able to destroy 20% of the Borg ship before taking out the
tractor beam, but doesn’t run. Instead, Commander Riker takes an away
team over to look at the ship. He finds babies and assumes that the Borg
reproduce. (It’s an assumption that’s later proven incorrect, but I
won’t get into that here.)
When it’s discovered that the Borg
ship is regenerating, the Enterprise turns and runs, but the Borg ship
is faster. Captain Picard finally swallows his pride and admits that
there are things out there that he isn’t ready for. Satisfied, Q takes
the Enterprise back to friendly territory. In the final scene, Guinan
and Picard are talking; she tells Picard that since the Borg know of the
Federation, they’ll be coming.
While this episode formally
introduces us to the Borg, I have to take exception with the final
scene. In the episode, it’s acknowledged that the Borg destroyed the
outposts along the Neutral Zone. I’d assume that a certain amount of
information was collected, either by assimilating people or by going
through the computers. That means that Q wasn’t the one to introduce us
to the Borg. All he did was to make us aware of the threat that they
pose.
Guinan says that they’ve been developing for thousands
of centuries, assimilating race after race. This truly is the ultimate
threat. Not only is the Federation going against a single mind, but it’s
also going against the technology of however many countless races
they’ve encountered. I could never figure out why the Borg usually sent
such a small contingent to destroy the Federation in later episodes.
Perhaps it was arrogance. I don’t want to get into that here, though.
This is one of the few four-star episodes in the second season. Whoopi
Goldberg does a great job as Guinan. It’s a shame that she usually has
small roles in the episodes she’s in. This is one of the few cases where
we get to see her for any decent length of time. I’d recommend buying
it on VHS if you’re looking to buy a few episodes.
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