Star Trek The Next Generation Ruminations S3E01: Evolution

[@quasimodojdls]

Careful there Lore. That new opening looks suspiciously like a digital recreation of the Enterprise-D. CBS may copy-wrong you out of existence. It is true that this episode is nothing special but, damn, is it a truly welcome breath of fresh air after the depths of Seasons 1 and 2. If anybody is familiar with "The Divine Comedy", I almost feel as refreshed as Dante when he and Virgil emerge from the pit of Hell into the fresh, clean air of Earth at the end of the Inferno. Serviceable story, decent guest character, good routine performances from the main cast. Yeah, nothing special, but nothing bad either. 5/10

[@SchneeflockeMonsoon]

My headcanon was always that these things were assimilated by the Borg after they assimilated Picard. That they did things via hard surgery for a long time until Picard’s memories told them about these, they allied with the nanites, and then they became one unit able to increase their speed of expansion, which is why they suddenly got bored with the Milky Way. They finally conquered everything that had been occupying them for the last two centuries, and wondered if they’d be challenged again.

[@mapleicecream4819]

Wesley messed up and almost destroyed the ship... ... but he managed to create a new form of sentient life. That's our wunderkind! _Classic_ Wesley!

[@peterkottke2570]

Picard: Wesley Crusher. Your failure to follow common sense safety precautions once again put the ship in danger. To make matters worse, you suspected the source of the danger for hours before alerting the rest of the crew. I'm afraid I have no choice to suspend you from duty until you have completed disciplinary action. Wesley: I accept full responsibility for my actions. May I suggest you have me clean the plasma exhaust tubes. Picard: No, I have something else in mind. Wesley Crusher, before you can return to active duty you must have performed 80 hours of social interaction with teenagers your age. Wesley: Wait what? But sir! I could degauss all the transporter pads on the Enterprise! Run a level 1 diagnostic on all replicators! Picard: No, 80 hours of social interaction. Counselor Troi will verify the completion before you can return to duty. Wesley: Please sir! I could run diagnostics on all the ship toilets! I could .... Picard: Acting ensign Wesley Crusher! That is enough! My mind is made up. You have your orders. Now, go have fun! Wesley: ( weakly ) yes sir. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I just can't get behind the episode. It's just hits a lot of my irritation buttons. The idea of nanites interacting with each other shouldn't be discovered by a teenager. It seems to be an obvious concept you'd want to investigate when inventing nanites in the first place. Maybe I read/watch to much science fiction but self-replicating nanites is right up there with robot slave race as ideas that will come back to haunt you. Again, the crew of the Enterprise accidentally creates new sentient life. Maybe Q has a point. Humanity needs to have some brakes applied. Technology has reached the point where a teenager can accidentally create a threat that could destroy a starship. It's not that far from Stargate's replicators. ( which destroyed the civilization that created them before moving on to the rest of the galaxy ) Wesley once again proves to be the wonder child. Once again putting the ship in danger. And once more getting a free pass. He even compounds this by facing no consequences for his failure to immediately report the threat. This is why "First Duty" is by far my favorite Wesley episode. As it both makes him human and has consequences.

[@corssecurity]

Agreed he gets away with too much. Including being annoying and unnecessary. They should have shot Wesley and his pet nanites in to space, sans capsule or environmental suit. "I don't understand it captain. He was scrubbing the airlocks when it somehow cycled." No no Jordi you mustn't blame yourself, it was an accident. Just the same Id stay out of sickbay for a couple of weeks. Thank you captain. Not at all cary on chief. (woosh... fist pump!)

[@athrunzala6919]

Beverly: "When you were seventeen weren't you destroying starships?" Picard: Yes, but not my own!"

[@TheRetrostorian]

Starfleet has teenagers blowing up humanoids that look different than them but...totally not a military.

[@Dr.Claw_M.A.D.]

Oh allow me to introduce Captain M'k'n'zy Calhoun USS Excalibur. At 19 years of age was a warlord who lead a successful rebellion against the alien overlords who had concurred and enslaved his world and beat his father to death in the town center, in front of him. A while afterwards the Stargazer made contact offering humanitarian aid. To wit M'k'n'zy asks did you bring a naked blonde women with you? (in fairness it was his future ex wife. 😅) 🔮

[@Mr._Anderpson]

If we're tossing out titles to vie for "The Picard Episode", why didn't Darmok even rate an honorable mention? "Tapestry", a.k.a. "the Q episode" is a fine episode on its own, but Darmok showcases a side of Picard which makes him invaluable on the flagship, pushing the boundaries of human knowledge & understanding.

[@knavenformed9436]

Okay so I have nostalgia for older TNG so I always remembered Crusher as the medical expert. But now watching the series in chronological order I've actually found Pulaski to be a MUCH better character, synergy with Data, an actual character arc, malleability with foreign beings like Worf and Moriarty, and sometimes her reactions had almost an adorable feeling, like the fish terrorists eating. Also due to writing, better medial expertice. I hope Crusher redeems herself as she is in my memories.

[@chrislane481]

I did find one thing you didn't mention, which was a good moment...when Stubbs says "I'm at your mercy" and the nanites don't understand, Picard steps in and doesn't say what it really means, so backing down from putting Stubbs in more danger is how I perceived it.

[@corssecurity]

No my mechanical friends the fault is w/ Wesley. Take out your anger on him. PLEASE.

[@mb2000]

Thank god for Marvin Rush lighting the sets so they looked good. Shame that by Generations they’ll have turned them all off again... I’m sure I heard somewhere that Diane Muldaur wasn’t “kicked off the show” but she never intended to stay forever, hence the guest star credit instead of being in the titles, and the experience of filming “Unnatural Selection”, with the heavy makeup made her decide to leave as soon as the Season ended. Not sure how accurate that second but is, as I don’t know why she’d expect to have to do heavy makeup every episode...

[@collegeman1988]

Season 3 of TNG was when I really sat up and took notice of the series and I began to watch it regularly every Saturday at 6pm on Denver’s KGWN Channel 2. I never really noticed the difference in lighting between the first two seasons and season 3 onward until now. Yesterday’s Enterprise is a perfect example of stark differences of The Enterprise D in the alternate timeline where the bridge is dark, but ten forward is brightly lit. The one weak plot point in this story was how in the world did the nanites get out of Wesley’s Petri dish and into the Enterpise’s computer core? Did they crawl out across the table, down to the floor and find the nearest computer terminal? This part wasn’t explained in the episode.

[@dornravlin]

Interms of season one and two cinematography witch was down by Edward R. Brown i would say it looked good depending on the director . The best looking ones were by Rob Bowman he had a really cinematic eye. Season one had deep yellow colors. Season 2 had dark green colors . Marvin Rush work although looking good uses more grey tones.

[@fredrikcarlstedt393]

The Space Sorrows of Young Wesley Crusher.

[@thexalon]

One question I'd have about this episode: Why did Wesley not confide in Riker? They've spent a couple of seasons building up Riker as Wes's sorta-proxy-father.

[@Dr.Claw_M.A.D.]

This was a very difficult problem to deal with. Wes who is super annoying just messed up and might get everyone killed. All the more reason to have a malfunction while Wes is scrubbing the carbon scouring off the walls of the airlock. On the other hand it was Picard who made him an Ensign. Further he has feelings for Beverly who will never accept an accident /malfunction was responsible for the loss of her son. Plus he would have to get another CMO (Palaaki?) for his ship. This is firmly between a rock and a hard place. 😂

[@dirtywashedupsparkle]

Saw this recently but already feels like ages ago. Agree with pretty much all your points. Again, I like Pulaski, but making her a sudden swap from Crusher was a bad idea. I liked both doctors and never wanted an either/or with them. They offered very different but good dynamics with Picard to explore. I liked how Wesley acted like a kid here, having made a mistake and trying to put the genie back in the bottle (or nanites in the container) until he had no choice but to tell. Stubbs as a character who puts everything on the line with his work was an interesting character. I liked the actor; he seemed like an unconventional type of scientist, one that might not even come across as your stereotypical one. I liked the scene with him and Wesley and the baseball analogy - it's all shot in shadow like a show closed down, or Citizen Kane's lonely fireplace room. Coming from Australia I don't watch baseball (cricket is apparently our closest national sport to it) but the analogy doesn't need a great knowledge of the game for it to work, thank goodness. I also felt that they really shoud have panicked at the idea of Data offering himself as a conduit for the nanites - along with Worf I would have shot up the red flag immediately. The look and the feel of the sets definitely felt more consistent from here, and offered an assurance of style. That I couldn't easily pinpoint why at first says a lot about the subtlety with which it was done. I don't mind people coming in who don't know about Star Trek at all, so long as they come in with ears open and a willingness to learn what makes the clock tick. That people were given the conditions to do their job and do it well is a big plus. I also think that character and emotional heart are so important no matter what kind of show it is. What I don't like is people coming into a show they haven't previously known about and choosing to run it their way before working out what the show is, and I would lay that charge at the ones responsible for the current ST shows. I liked the Dr Crusher and Guinan scene looking at Wesley - a little overdone perhaps but still good. I think Stubbs is a sad figure, a cautionary tale to those who put their all into one basket at the expense of things like relationships and life. You need all those things, otherwise any problems with that one thing and you're cracked. Are a lot of the ST scientists like this, this obsessive maniacal-like genius trope? A fair start to season 3, really quite middle of the road this one.

[@CRocketSlim]

Berman really doesn't get the credit he should for being a producer. Sure, when he got more into the creative side of things his limitations become more apparent, but just from a "getting things done" perspective TNG wouldn't have lasted anywhere as long as it did without him.

[@maxh_music]

One of my biggest pet peeves of TNG is the guest of the week who is just an obnoxious A-hole as soon as they step onboard the enterprise, whether they be an alien or a scientist with an ego. It happens way too often.

[@harpercole5321]

The last Wesley-centred episode until he left the show, I think? It's not all that memorable, but still solid, sowing some of that S3 polish. I think the idea of using the nanites against the Borg has come up in the Star Trek novels, but they don't feature again on screen.

[@appwraith]

So Wesley has now created and set loose the replicators from Stargate, who may or may not have Data's dumped memory. What could possibly go wrong?

[@RoyalFusilier]

Evolution is a mystery, Arch. Full of chains that no one sees.

[@ChocolatierRob]

Tried rewatching this one, got bored, annoyed and Wesleyed. Gave up.

[@peterjoyfilms]

This was the first episode of Star Trek I ever watched. It was good enough that I kept going. I liked the vibe, the characters. I like that the season builds up and doesn't try to start with an arbitrary bang.

[@CrumCringle]

Wesley literally created Grey Goo, and they decided to let it roam free to slowly consume the galaxy for the next millions of years. Fantastic.

[@Edax_Royeaux]

Kirk wouldn't have let that happened. He'd fire torpedoes at a giant life sucking amoeba if it threatened the galaxy.

[@corssecurity]

Another perfect excuse to jettison Wesley & his nanites out of the airlock was missed.

[@MrRandomcommentguy]

I prefer the Season 1 and 2 uniforms from a visual and design standpoint but I do know there were uncomfortable and impractical so I totally get why they changed them. I just think they made everyone look like they were about to hit the jogging track...

[@ahumanbeingfromtheearth1502]

huh? the old uniforms looked like everyone was wearing pyjamas

[@firepowerg]

FIRST! I like the new opening. Is this a reference to the TNG opening sequence opening in this season?

[@LostMercenary99]

Goodbye tightskin pyjamas! HELLO SEXY UNIFORMS!!!!

[@1300l]

I like Polaski, she was instigating.. Crusher for me was just a plank. Yea, great actress and chemistry with Patric Stewart.. But they never EVER explorer her character. Polaski, people like her or not... was.

[@roystonsbailey]

Voyager did much better with their female characters than any of the other ST shows.

[@nickokona6849]

Very meh episode. I tend to skip it on rewatch. What I do remember is this episode is the first time (in TMG, ad perhaps Trek) where they reference that Baseball is essentially faded into antiquity. I suspect this episode was the influence into the Ben Sisko loves baseball trait.

[@dornravlin]

I think Maurice Hurley gets to much hate

[@eelcodeboer410]

Yes, you can be that bald! (sorry, bad pun :-)

[@tbk2010]

Maybe I have not enough imagination, but I found the "lets talk to the nanites" scene silly and unplausible. The nanites act waaayyy too human for never having interacted with them. Lets assume they are intelligent and sentient in same manner (already hard to believe considering how little time passes in the episode), they should think and feel in a way that is adapted to the environment they evolved in. How do they even have a concepts like "strange looking" and "apology". They are even are kinda arrogant: "We don't need your assistance!" A few seconds later: "We require relocation!".

[@jeffborowiak8992]

Polanski was fine.

[@MrRandomcommentguy]

I like Pulaski but they were trying way too hard to make her a female Bones, from her grumpy demeanor, to the transporter phobia, to her sparring with Data trying to echo McCoy's banter with Spock, it felt forced and obvious. That said she was a hundred times more interesting than Crusher who to my mind, and no disrespect to Gates McFadden, was a character with no interesting qualities whatsoever.