Overall Rating: 9.0
In this first look at the Borg, Star Trek writers finally manage to boldly go where no one had gone before.
Plot Synopsis:
The grim details of this thrilling jolt of caffeine to a sleepy little franchise can be found at Wikipedia: here.
The Skinny:
Roddenbury's original universe-building endeavor left writers with plenty of opportunities for unique story-telling, but...beyond the mere jumping-off point for interesting stories, the world was lacking in intricate detail and depth. It was only a paper moon hanging over a cardboard sea, in the words of Jimmy Darren. Look past the amples fields of reducto-ad-absurdem character studies (take a piece of humanity and reduce it to something absurd...our warrior instinct becomes the Klingons, our greed becomes the Ferengi, our thirst for power becomes the Romulans, our desire to understand the logic behind the universe becomes the Vulcans, etc), none of the alien races were well developed, and none of them were truly...alien. We've already discussed the bizarrely naive and unrealistic "rules" in the Roddenbury universe, but it also bears repeating that although we can credit Roddenbury for planting the seeds of boundless creative expression, we can't call him a very effective gardener.
But Maurice Hurley (of all people!) managed to come up with a truly alien, truly original idea...something that was ACTUALLY THREATENING to the very core...something that defied the usual paradigm of world-building and forced a truly different response from Starfleet than the dull, diplomatic antics of the first two seasons of TNG. Hurley isn't much of a character writer - when he attempts a story based on whimsey, romance, or characterization, he ALWAYS fails. But he did give Trek something truly wonderful. The Borg...unlike us in every way. Where we are individuals, they have no concept of individuality. Where we acquire wealth to better ourselves and our individual lives, they acquire raw material to build a civilization enjoyed by no one. Where we see acquisition and communal living as distinctly separate, they fuse the two. And where we can be reasoned with...talked to...negotiated with...they cannot.
The Borg are a great litmus test for us as well. Where a liberal looks at the Borg and sees American imperialism (as if!)...I look at the Borg and see Soviet Russia. That's what's great about them...they are politically blank - making only a statement about the great value of individual freedom and diversity that everyone can agree on and letting us draw our own parallels. There are no bombastic, self-righteous Picard speeches here. There are no sermons from radical leftist ideologues. There is only freedom and oppression, privacy and violation, life valued infinitely vs. not valued at all. The perfect bad guy to rescue Trek from a cloud of its own "smug," as South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone would call it.
This drone race touches something in all of us...it's a universal crowd pleaser...and it allows for character exploration just as well as it allows for action and cool explosions. :) In The Best of Both Worlds, we'll see our heroes grappling with who and what they are - those struggles forced by imminent disaster. Here, we see Q used how Q should be used - not a bored God of mischief teasing lesser beings for fun...not as a lowly mortal in immortal clothing as we see on Voyager...and not as a romantic, as we'll see later on DS9 and TNG. Here, Q is a wiser, more evolved creature teaching us a very important lesson - never get complacent. Never assume you've got life and the universe wired. Never enjoy the smell of your own farts (to extend my South Park reference). In essence, Q is putting the bombastic Picard of the first two seasons to bed here...he's forcing him to admit that he doesn't know and understand everything. His methods are characteristically cruel - that's Q - but I believe his motivations to be genuine. This is the Q that makes for brilliant episodes like "Tapestry" and "All Good Things".
Some of the credit goes to John Delancey - who we love. As it turns out, Maurice Hurley is a hack when it comes to dialogue and characterization...but Delancey adlibbed his way through a hideously overzealous script and toned everything way...way down. And it worked so well that future Q episodes were written with this new interpretation in mind. But hey...I won't beat up on Hurley too much...he did give us the Borg...and that's enough for now.
Writing: 8.0
The script was flawed - and rescued by the acting - but the idea was still good enough to win a strong score.
Acting: 9.5
Other than a bit of hammy acting from Patrick Stewart (I! NEED YOU!!)...this episode is very wel performed by all involved (less a couple of mediocre extras).
Message: 9.5
Come down off that High Force, Picard, before you hurt yourself...or...you know...your whole species.
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