Suddenly Human

This TNG episode is has a plot taken from many westerns most notably Two Rode Together and Trooper Hook where captives of the Indians are returned to the white families they came from. Here it is young Chad Allen who was rescued from a planet where he was part of a Talerian crew stranded there.

Not only is Allen really human, but he's the grandson of a Starfleet Admiral and she's looking forward to reuniting. But the Talerian captain Sherman Howard who raised Allen as his own isn't ready to give him.

Some good performances from Allen and Howard and no matter what you think you will be surprised at the ending.

This episode makes several pointed (albeit unrelated and undiscussed) references to Irish history. This is surprising as none of the episode's listed writers, editors, and actors appear to be or have been Irish or even of Irish descent.

The forename of "Adm. Connaught Rossa" (played by Barbara Townsend) is a clear reference to Connaught (now called Connacht), one of the four provinces that comprise the island of Ireland.

More importantly, the character called "Jono" was born Jeremiah Rossa to human parents, although raised as a Talerian. In real life, a man called Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa was a 19th-century Fenian. (The Fenians were the Irish rebel group which was the immediate precursor of the Irish Republican Army.) He fled the British authorities to New York City, where he lived until his death, and from whence he delegated violent attacks in London and elsewhere, often involving dynamite. He died in New York in June 1915 but his body was interred in Ireland on August 1, 1915 in a "heroes ceremony" coordinated by the Irish Republican Brotherhood for propaganda value. (The following year, the fateful Easter Rising of 1916, which would eventually lead to the severing of most of Ireland from the United Kingdom, occurred.)

Flaws:

* Didn't even mention a strong parallel between the kid and Worf, let alone explore it

* Picard, in Kirk mode, gives the kid back. I think just maybe some experts in trauma and psychological abuse should have looked at the situation instead of Picard coming to an epiphany based on the kid immediately before trying to murder him?

* The possibility that Jono just might be experiencing Stockholm Syndrome, or some other psychological damage, is only barely discussed.

* Jono's living relative is his grandmother, an ADMIRAL in Starfleet. Just maybe she would like to have been consulted before Picard gives her grandson back?

* Chad Allen as Jono is given extremely clunky lines to say.

* Jono playing his obnoxious music really loud. Yes, a teen acting as a teen. But several other annoying bits, like Jono acting like a caged animal when they try to remove his gloves, all the kids squealing for some reason.

* Dreadfully contrived dilemma. Why in the world can't the kid have contact with his human relatives?

Watched this episode a couple weeks ago on H&I. I saw a mannequin in the left hand seat on the bridge, where Wesley usually sits, as it zoomed in to Riker on the bridge. I was trying to show this to my sister, even signed up for Paramount plus, and this scene has been cut or edited and is not available on any version I can fine. Did anyone else watch this and see this mannequin? I find it very hard to believe that I am the only person in 30 years to catch this mannequin on screen.

When the episode begins, the Enterprise comes upon a disabled Talerian ship. All the soldiers on board are a mess and close to death, so they're brought to sick bay. However, this is a very odd lot--as they're all children--teens pushed into the tough job of being soldiers. But something is REALLY odd about one of the teens--he's NOT a Talerian but a human. How he got to be with the Talerians is initially a mystery, but soon they learn through DNA tests that his family was wiped out by Talerians and the young boy was raised thinking he was a Talerian. The task is now to bring him back to his extended human family, but clearly he's too militant and too damaged to possibly be returned at this time. But, oddly, he will listen to no one but Captain Picard. So, the Captain is given a task he surely hates--to be the surrogate father to a very annoying and difficult young man. And, given that the Captain has almost no paternal instincts at all, this is indeed a HUGE problem! An even bigger problem develops when the Talariens arrive and demand to get the boy back...or else.

This episode touches on many contemporary issues, such as child soldiers (a serious problem in some African conflicts), post-traumatic stress disorder and adoption difficulties. And, it touches on the BIG issue...that Picard hates dealing with children--though he really wasn't that bad with this initial effort. All in all, despite being rather 'touchy-feely', it's a pretty good episode--mostly because it was well written and acted.