11001001

This marvelous episode had me hooked from the appearance of Starbase 74, the docking of the Enterprise and the appearance of the Bynars. The character of Minuet is played to perfection by the exquisitely beautiful & sultry Caroline McCormack. All in all this episode left me wanting to know more about the Bynars and their homework of Binus.

The Enterprise has arrived at a starbase for some R&R as well as to have upgrades made to the systems. However, instead of human techs, the freaky little Binar race scurries about the ship--chirping their strange language and acting a bit cagey as the work. Still, no one seems to really notice and most everyone has left the ship. As for Riker, he decides to stay on the new and enhanced holodeck where he meets a super-hot babe (Carolyn McCormick--who later played the psychologist on "Law & Order"). When Jean-Luc arrives at the simulation, this perfect woman seems to do her darnedest to keep the men there and entertains them wonderfully. Why? Because the freaky Binars are going to steal the ship---and they don't want to have anyone around who can stop them. Will the two command officers stop lusting after this holowoman long enough to realize what's happened to their beloved Enterprise?

Despite this being a holodreck episode (yes, I know how to spell holodeck), this is a very good one. Well written and intelligent-- something you can RARELY say about any holo episode!! But it unfortunately would lead to MORE holodeck episodes---too many.

All Star Trek (up through ENT) has great episodes and terrible ones. 11001001 is good example of an interesting concept (which is why we love Star Trek) which is poorly written (which is why some people dislike Star Trek). Overly simplified, ignorant of science, shallow in character, it's so caught up in the gosh-wow of its own concepts that it disregards much of the show's own premise. If this were the only/first Star Trek you ever saw, you would conclude that: 1. The Enterprise pretty much drives itself 2. Supernovas are akin to earthquakes, and happen only for short periods of time -- days, or even minutes -- and then life goes on as before 3. Combadges are powerful enough to talk from one star system to another instantly 4. A pretty face is all it takes to sidetrack a (male) officer from duty.

You might also reasonably wonder how crew members are tracked by their combadges in other episodes when they don't here, and what kind of vetting Star Fleet does for aliens working on their top-of-the-line starships.

Abounding also are the usual TNG weaknesses: the first guess anyone comes up with in a crisis proves to be exactly the right answer; the overweening social psychobabble (even when they're correct, it's superficially so); the characters explaining to each other what they should already know.

The good news is Carolyn McCormick's portrayal of Minuet is nuanced, if necessarily flawed by the script she was given. The Bynar actors are occasionally pretty good -- again, within the script they were given.

There was a lot of idea/concept shoveled in here, mostly haphazardly and incompletely -- and honestly, that is something to be excited about. The actual episode, though, suffers from ham-fisted assertions and flat-out ignorant science. Which is sometimes necessary for the structure of TV drama, but even that is mushy here.

So: is it good? No. Should you still watch it? Why yes, of course. Just know you're going to have a lot of "What the --?" moments.

The Enterprise puts in for repair and a race of aliens called Binaries are enlisted to help in the repair. They are a highly unusual species who always travel in 2s like Mormon Elders and co-dependent totally on the other. Their written and spoken language is in binary code like a computer.

These binaries have an agenda all their own. They steal the Enterprise to take to their home planet for reasons you have to see the show to know. The whole crew is on shore leave and later additional personnel abandon ship when it looks like a warp core breach.

All that's left on the Enterprise are Picard and Riker. For Riker the binaries have rigged the holodeck with a most fetching and sultry personality. Carolyn McCormick later the proper and professional psychiatric consultant on Law And Order Dr. Elizabeth Olivet is the alluring Minuet in Riker's program. She really distracts Jonathan Frakes until it's too late almost.

A highly entertaining story that's grounded in a certain reality. The Binaries are a lot like the Logopolitans from the Tom Baker original Dr. Who.

ST:TNG:16 - "11001001" (Stardate: 41365.9) - this is the 16th episode produced but the 15th one aired on TV. "11001001" is one of my more favorite episodes of season 1 (and of the whole series) - it really gets to the heart of Star Trek and introduces a species that is quite different from humans - that of the Bynars who always travel in pairs since they need two to decipher their binary code (when interacting with each other and other beings). I really liked the beginning when the Enterprise docked at a Starbase, entering it (and exiting later on in the episode) just like the original Enterprise entering Spacedock in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock - though it's obvious they took the matte paintings from that movie, it is a welcome homage to The Next Generation's past. See this episode, you won't be disappointed.

Trivia: Carolyn McCormick who plays Minuet will be back in the fourth season episode "Future Imperfect".