Attached

Watching this particular TNG story I was put in mind of the island of Hispaniola, the island in the Carribean Sea that has two countries, Haiti and the Domican Republic. Over the centuries two nations evolved on that island and on this planet the Enterprise is visiting there are two civilizations. One has applied for Federation admission the other hasn't. And they don't like each other much.

A dilemma for Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher when they beam down and land in the wrong country. A big dilemma for Commander Riker as he tries all kinds of ways to get his captain and doctor back.

For Jonathan Frakes he feels like a UN mediator negotiating between Robin Gemmell of one group and Lenore Kasdorf of the other. He has to take some drastic action to get the two in the same room.

As for Patrick Stewart and Gates McFadden some intimate thoughts are exchanged that were never meant to be voiced. Watch the episode to see what an why.

The Prytt are so technologically advanced that they can detect and intercept an alien transport beam, implant devices to read thoughts, and erect a shield around their territory... but they can't track two prisoners who left a jacket on their path and made a bonfire in the open at night. Implausible.

The Kes claim to have had no diplomatic contact with the Prytt for a century yet they quickly reveal that they have a secret operative in the Prytt prison and later that they control an entire town. Yet they have grand tales of wildly inaccurate conspiracy. This is incongruent. If they had those spies in place, they would know the truth without need of conspiracy theories.

So, why did the writers decide to have spies at all? Picard & Beverly are resourceful enough to escape on their own and find their own way to the border. Then everything would flow much better and make more sense.

The tricorder added nothing to their journey. It could have been done without but takes a little more creativity because they needed to find something to guide them, or, in the opening scene of breakfast with Beverly, they could have Picard say "Look at this map/globe. The Prytt occupy this small area, divided from the Kes by this mountain range. Then Picard could see the mountains and know which direction they must head. They would find various plausible obstacles instead of gas recorded on a tricorder. They could also act like fugitives.

As a Sci-Fi viewer, I readily accept brain implants but not non-sensical self-contradictory plots.

How about this ending? Picard and Beverly find a gap in the field where two trees had grown or fallen into the forcefield in such a way that there was a small gap between the trunks. Beverly squeezes though but the security forces hit the tree with a phaser, knocking it down and thus removing the gap, stranding Picard. The Enterprise, who has been scanning the border, detects Beverly and immediately beams her up, having her arrive on the transporter platform, immediately collapse, writhing in pain, Warf says that he will beam her to sick bay when she screams "No, send me back!" (Or, Enterprise beams down an away party and one of them moves beside Beverly and immediately orders beam up, when Beverly and Picard shout "No!" They either cancel the beam up or beam her up and then back down again.)

Then they can have their state mate meeting with the two leaders to release Picard and remove the implants from both. This should include an offer of negotiations to get the two sides talking, because that is the high road that the Federation should take.

The writers attempted to inject humor with the ever-increasing security equipment that the Kes leader brought onboard but fell flat because it made no sense and was based on an easily recognizable toy. They could have constructed a Faraday cage to prevent any communication or they could have created a forcefield around the room that they turn on for any conversation. Something plausible but could still be made ridiculous. How about a nod to Get Smart with a "cone of silence". I bet that more of the audience would get a laugh out of that, at least the ones who are old enough to know Get Smart. :)

It took seven years, but 'Attached' is the writers finally addressing that lingering question: Beverly and Jean-Luc. And it's all expressed in a prisoner story as the two are psychically linked. It's a novel way of tackling the issue. A solid episode, too; it moves, offers the cast opportunities to shine (even Frakes, stuck on the ship while the action happens planet-side), and there's depth involved. The only thing holding it back is the ending; a cop-out that offers no real resolution.

7/10

The final season of Star Trek, the Next Generation gave us some splendid episodes and also a fair share of stinkers. Everyone knew by this stage that they would not be renewed and attempts were made to wrap up various story lines before they said their final goodbyes. There is still a great deal to be enjoyed.

Now here's one that richly deserves it's share of lower scores. Personally, I gave up caring about the Picard/Crusher romance about four seasons back. Actually, it may be even longer, the last time the two exhibited any real chemistry was in Season 1 episode, The Big Goodbye. Whoever though that having them able to listen to each other's intimate thoughts was a good idea was clearly looking down the back of the sofa for ideas by this stage.

The rest of the episode is pretty standard Trek fare with:

(a) two races of interesting looking aliens in conflict with one-another

(b) some welcome outdoor scenes (even if the landscape does look rather Californian)

(c) good use of the fibreglass rock formations in sound stage B

If the silver haired alien with the line down his forehead looks familiar it is because Canadian born actor Robin Gammell had already played parts in just about every long-running TV show of the day. Alas, he only made the one appearance in Star Trek but, on the other hand, Lenore Kasdorf, who played his opposite number, may be recognisable to viewers of Babylon 5.

Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5.

A couple of cultures are at each other's throats. They inhabit the same planet and are filled with distrust and paranoia. One of them is seeking an alliance with the Federation, but they are so suspicious that they trust no one. Picard and Crusher go to the surface to begin negotiations with one of the factions, only to be misdirected to the other group which arrests them as spies. They are able to escape their captors due to inter-mediators, but the escape isn't easy. On the Enterprise, things aren't going well and Worf and Riker have about had it with their "guestss." Meanwhile, Jean-Luc and Beverly, who when imprisoned had some devices planted on them, begin to read each other's thoughts. This makes them uncomfortably realize the affection and love they have for each other. As they move to escape, there are tender scenes between them where they act like teenagers at a school dance. This connection has been obvious for so many episodes and is bound to come to a head. It was delightful to see these venerable characters deal with the truth.