Attached

Enterprise visits a planet looking for entry to the Federation.

This is an enjoyable episode with some memorable character moments.

The long running saga of Picard and Crusher's feelings for each other is addressed in a rather contrived piece of sci-fi plotting, but to be fair to Patrick Stewart and Gates McFadden, they both do excellent work with the material they have, and it includes some quite clunky exposition that they make sound good.

There is a pretty humorous sub-plot that involves the childlike leaders of Kesprytt dealing with Riker. If these scenes were intended to be played for laughs they are done well. Jonathan Frakes is great in these scenes and you can't help be amused by his exasperation.

I think your enjoyment of this will depend very much on what you want out of the Picard/Crusher character stories. You also need to find the telepathy jokes funny.

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 Enterprise is invited to visit some planet that wants to join the Federation. Soon, however, the Captain and Dr. Crusher are kidnapped by their rivals, the Prytt. These rivals are described by the Kes as unreasonable and paranoid--something that you later see is true of both sides. I would also add childish! Through some help from the Kes (who soon come to suspect and hate the Enterprise crew), Picard and Crusher are able to escape their prison and go on a cross-country trek. However, during this time together they realize that the brain implants their captors put on them allow them to read each other's thoughts! At first it's quite embarrassing though eventually the two learn about each other's deepest yearnings and it brings them closer.

This is a very good episode for two reasons. First, it was nice to FINALLY see some sort of discussion of the attraction between Picard and Crusher--something almost every fan wanted. Second, the show had a nice sense of humor when Riker negotiated with the two sides-- and his solution was exactly what the situation needed. All in all, a very satisfying episode.

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.

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. :)