The Bonding

This episode had a lot of potential. The first half was very strong, involving the death of a woman who had a newly orphaned son on board the Enterprise.

There are a lot of great character moments here. Some great character moments from Picard, Troi, Worf, and Data. In particular, I loved how the episode involves a meditation on the ethics of bringing children on board the Enterprise, and putting them in danger.

The big problem I had with this episode is the way the plot twists towards the end. Rather than exploring the character of the boy, or the ramifications the death has on the crew, it devolves into an alien of the week story.

I found myself wishing that the original story for this episode was used. Instead of the alien of the week, we could have had one involving the holodeck.

It is by no means the worst episode, but I was let down by the plot, because I saw the potential for something a lot more interesting.

This strange episode begins when an away-team, lead by Worf, encounter a problem which leads to the death of one of the members, Lt. Marla Aster. She is killed leaving a young son, Jeremy Aster, to face the her death head-on. But while Jeremy is grieving his mother's death, she all of the sudden appears in his room stating her death was a big mistake and she want Jeremy to come live with her on the planet.

Jeremy is now torn between his mother alive and the crew of the Enterprise telling him that it's an alien presents that is acting like his mother. When the Enterprise takes action to remove the alien from the ship, it returns with a vengeance.

A very nice story that involves death and remembrance. We will learn that the alien's motive is respectable but misunderstood in human's perception. Some good emotional scenes with Wesley and another with Worf. Entertaining story that was enjoyable to watch and learn.

I understand the reviewers who state that in some regards this episode is outlandish because a child wouldn't be nearly as calm and reserved in such a situation, but I think that Gabriel Damon did a good job as a child actor. He was working within the limits of the writing. Susan Powell also put in a solid performance as his mom. I'm rather surprised that those two actors don't even work anymore.

Near the end of this episode Picard makes an argument that is very reminiscent of the things that he says in the "Generations" movie (my personal favorite from the Trek cannon). Wesley Crusher also lets some inside secrets slip. It's a good episode.

During a seemingly routine away team mission to a planet long wiped out by some war, an away team member is accidentally killed by some ancient war device left behind. Lt. Marla Aster's death and its consequences are the subject of this episode. As for her son, Jeremy, he is very stoic and needs to react emotionally to her death. Because of this, Wesley is asked to talk to the boy about his own father's death. But it's not only him--Worf is also affected strongly. Because of his own issues as an orphan, Worf's planning on asking Jeremy to join him in the Ruus'tai ceremony--by which Klingons become blood brothers or sisters. However, what happens next...well THAT certainly wasn't expected!! To see what this is, try watching "The Bonding".

While this episode is all about death and is a serious downer, it is interesting and worth exploring this aspect of space exploration. Very emotional and it might just bring a tear to your eye as the characters discuss their own losses. Also, what happens to the boy is really strange...but in a very good way, as the planet feels bad about what has happened and tries, in a way, to make things better.

So far from my chronological viewing of the series, this is the most moving episode yet for me. For anyone who has lost a parent, they can relate.

But this episode deals with death on different levels. It deals with the concept of the temptation of living in the past and ignoring the reality of loss, and mentions the strength of humanity in overcoming the acceptance of our mortality.

There is a great conversation between Data and Riker, where Data questions why we do not equally mourn the loss of those we are close to and those we are not. Riker makes a compelling comment while explaining this to an android, and it ends with Riker saying that if we mourned all loss of life equally, humans would have a much less bloodier past.

This episode brought laughs and tears. The ending with Worf and the boy was great, it made Worf out to have a decent and likable character inside of him.