Sub Rosa

This episode should have just been called, Beverly needs to get laid. Horrible episode from an otherwise great show.

Okay. I admit: after reading most of the very negative reviews, I'd planned on skipping this one (This is my first run through the series). The one element that changed my mind was the fact that Jonathan Frakes directed. As far as I can remember, I've enjoyed every one of his directorial episodes.

Then there were the occasional glowing reviews. So I sighed, and decided to give it a try.

A great episode? I wouldn't say so; and yet......the script, the direction, the performances were all so enjoyable. Perhaps it feels to be such a lightweight episode, that many viewers were turned off to its story; but what a nicely done ghost story (if you will), and yes, told with a light touch.

I sure am glad I overcame my resistance and saw this charming episode for the first time!

Well indeed, ahem. A semi-gothic ghost story in outer space, with Dr Crusher getting all hot and bothered. In my more caustic moments I have been known to describe the less riveting TNG episodes as 'a bit like social work in outer space' but this is something different again.

This episode sits incongruously alongside the usual TNG fare, so naturally some fans will just hate it. On the other hand the few 10/10 reviews each have their reasons. According to one, if you happen not to like it, that would be an attack on female sexuality.

I found it moderately interesting but not especially compelling; since there are plenty of TNG episodes that are like that (if you try enough slightly different things there are bound to be a few that fall flat) then it shouldn't come as a massive disappointment if you happen not to like it.

in point of fact a few things did irritate me, but they were not the ones you might expect; first there is a character that has an accent that I can only describe as belonging to an Irishman who has been told to talk a bit Scottish; a more mangled sound you have never heard. Second when someone is attacked and they fall over, they are immediately declared 'dead' with no attempt whatsoever made to resuscitate them. Very un-TNG, that. It isn't explained how the Howard family line even came to be; the candidates are alien incest or more than one relationship, I suppose. There also isn't much of a sub-plot in this episode; I thought that such things were almost compulsory. Maybe I read it wrong, but the other gravestone (other than the one that says 'McFly') appeared to me like it might read 'Nadir'; I didn't think it was that bad, but for some this would sum up this episode nicely.

I've heard plenty about 'Sub Rosa', most of it negative; but there's still the possibility of something being so-bad-it's-good, right? Sadly, that doesn't really apply here . . .

It all starts off well enough with a solemn eulogy, eventually blossoming into a trashy romance novel. Throw in the brainwashing angle, and it just gets worse. Maybe it played differently pre-"Twilight", but that's out of my hands.

You have to credit Gates McFadden for making the best of it. How often does a Beverly episode come along - and here it is, complete with green vapor sex scene. It has a decent closing scene makes some of this worth while, but will I ever revisit this episode in the future? Probably not.

4/10

There seems to be a lot of dissatisfaction with this episode. I'm not really sure why. The whole series was an examination of characters, only here the plot intersects the usual character driven story format that was Star Trek The Next Generation.

That is to say old school Star Trek was a plot driven "police in space" show, whereas Star Trek The Next Generation looked at character interaction for a variety of reasons. Here the good doctor is again made the subject of examining someone who experiences the world differently, only this time it's a plot device to move the story forward.

The plot is more than just a romance, and adds real jeopardy to ship and characters. Not to keep parroting myself here, but old school Star Trek went after a lot of bad guys who had psychiatric issues that caused problems. We get some of that here with Dr. Crusher interacting with a character that others don't know about, question, or can't otherwise experience like the ship's doctor.

Regrettably the story starts to falls into psychological examination as is the supermajority of this TV series which slows the story. But, it's not simply a Harlequin romance novel in space as a lot of the reviews would suggest. The episode deals with a character who has strong emotions for someone that other people question. Said relationship poses a threat to the ship.

Personally, to me, it's just another character driven episode with some plot elements that stray from the usual background story fodder where the plot usually exists in this show.

I had it on in the background when it first aired, and watching it again after thirty years I shrug my shoulders at it. To me it's on par with all of the other episodes in the series, perhaps a bit better than a lot of other episodes. The subplot essentially becomes that basis for the larger plot, with perhaps a dash of the Emperor from Return of the Jedi with the anaphasic energy thing.

There is a moral dilemma here that the good Doctor has to face, and in this respect she confronts herself and helps save the day. To me, in this regard, it's a slightly better episode, but again falls into the basic character driven format that is this episode. I think what has some people put off by this episode is that it has "mushy stuff"; romance. Personally, given all of the romances Kirk and Spock had with non-starship personnel, I don't see the problem, and this comes from someone who is not a fan of the show. But to each his own.