Symbiosis

I kept waiting for someone to say, "just say no." First of all it's obvious from the start that the Brekkians are drug addicts but the supposedly intelligent Enterprise crew with every medical technology at their disposal can't figure this out until 40 minutes into the episode? They act like a bunch of clueless idiots for the sake of the plot device. Then we have the obligatory "don't do drugs" talk with Wesley. I love Star Trek TNG but this episode just annoyed me and smacked of poor and obvious writing.

A distress call come from a freighter as the Enterprise begins to explore an interesting star.. On board, seeking help, are a couple of people who are in a state of reverie. Picard wants to help, but these people can't seem to help themselves. They don't seem to be able to do the most rudimentary things to control a starship. Soon the ship reaches a critical point and is about to explode. When asked to beam on board, instead of people, a pack of strange containers appears. It takes a second effort but only four of the six persons on board are able to be rescued. When the four arrive, they are arguing and sparring over the cargo and seem to have no concern for their dead comrades. What we find out is that the four represent two planets, on that profits from selling "medicine" to the other. The ones receiving the medicine are grateful for being able to pay for this stuff. What follows is a kind of negotiation between two forces that together manage to maintain a kind of balance. What happens is a moral dilemma where the prime directive does not allow PIcard to interfere, even though one force aggressively subverts the other. What ultimately happens makes for some interesting discussion.

This was a great early episode of TNG with Picard facing a difficult choice. Better acting than most of the S1 episodes. Unfortunately it features what is possibly the worst scene in Star Trek history when Tasha gives Wesley the "drug talk". Nancy Reagan should have got a writing credit.

While studying an unusually active star, the Enterprise receives a distress call from a badly damaged freighter. Rescuing the passengers and its cargo, it soon emerges that the ship is transporting medicine from one world to another to combat a deadly plague and ownership of the medicine is being fiercely contested by parties from both planets.

An intriguing storyline quickly falls apart when it becomes apparent that this episode is little more than a clumsily handled PSA on the dangers of drugs and addiction. It has all the subtlety of a photon torpedo to the face, undermining the good work done by the guest stars. Riker's "I'm being electrocuted face" also undermines the episode because it's hilarious.

Even maybe a top 3 Symbiosis is a great story, entertaining and simple. Not the best ever, far from it, but you will have a good hour of tv, a solid 8.5/10 Star trek season 1 have been the weakest by far, but not without some very good one, like the Paris one of skin of evil, to only named them.