The Bonding

Tragedy strikes the Enterprise when the ship's resident archaeologist Lt. Marla Aster is killed during an away mission, leaving behind her twelve-year-old son Jeremy alone on the Enterprise. While the crew attempt to help Jeremy adjust including a guilt-ridden Worf, an alien presence boards the Enterprise and adopts the guise of Marla.

Another episode that's very well written, dealing with themes of grief and loss for people of all ages. However, I never quite bought into Worf's subplot which isn't given enough to time to breathe on its own and the performance of Damon as the bereaved Jeremy feels far too wooden and forced. Other than that, a solid outing for the TNG crew.

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.

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.

An Enterprise crew member dies on an away mission.

This is a strong episode centred around bereavement and grief with a number of great character moments.

The plot starts off quite simple with the surviving family member being informed and helped through the tragedy by various members of the crew. These for me are the best moments. The sci-fi element kicks in later, which for me is okay, but unnecessary.

Given that the Enterprise is portrayed as a ship with families, I like the idea of looking at the fallout from a death suffered on an away mission. I love the depiction of crew members pulling together to help one in a tragic circumstance. After all the redshirts who died without much acknowledgement in the original series it feels badly needed.

Worf, Troi, Wesley and Picard make great contributions to the story and have some fairly memorable scenes that work not just for Jeremy's story but also for the ongoing arcs of both Wesley and Worf. It's a shame that the character of Jeremy is not followed up in other episodes in relation to his bonding with Worf. I also enjoyed the philosophical discussion between Data and Riker.

The sci-fi plot involving the alien species ties into the episode themes, but I think it could have worked just as well as a straight drama without this aspect. Whether or not Gabriel Damon could have pulled it off though as it probably would have required more emotional scenes.

All performances are excellent, particularly Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Patrick Stewart and Will Wheaton. Gabriel Damon was not really challenged with enough emotional scenes to really see what he could do.

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.