Hey, four episodes done in one month! As busy as my life is, somehow I’m doing it. We are closing in on the last episodes of the series, this time with Genesis and Journey’s End, both of which are fairly enjoyable episodes.
Genesis is caused by Dr. Crusher doing something to Barclay’s defective genes which causes the Enterprise crew to de-evolve. The behavior of the crew gets increasingly erratic and idiosyncratic, but Picard and Data are off the ship at the time, chasing a photon torpedo due to Worf’s defective targeting system. When they get back it’s up to them to save the ship and survive the monsters everyone has turned into, in this horror-themed entry. I find it an entertaining episode.
You may not know this is the first episode Gates McFadden (her first name is actually Cheryl–check out my season one overview to see why she goes by Gates) gets to direct an episode! She had been wanting to ever since the first season, but being a woman made it difficult. Spot the cat indirectly saves everyone by birthing some kittens, but did you know that Spot changed gender? Somehow he became a she, and I share the full story in my full episode review.
Journey’s End is a completely different kind of episode. Featuring the return and final destiny of Wesley Crusher, the backdrop is Picard and the Enterprise having to be the bearers of bad news to a colony of Native Americans: due to a new peace treaty with the Cardassians, you’re going to have to relocate to another planet whether you like it or not. Wesley is moody and unhappy, and resigns from Starfleet, going on a vision quest and realizing what he is meant to become in this episode. Meanwhile Picard has to find a solution to the colonists, who adamantly refuse to leave.
You may not know that for DS9 fans out there, this is the episode that marks the beginning of the demilitarized zone while will feature in that series. It’s also this episode that leads to the formation of the Maquis, which TNG will be returning to in just a few episodes. One of the actors in this episode appeared way back in the TOS episode A Private Little War, and I also detail why we don’t like admiral Nechayev, in my full review.
Alright, two more down, and only a few left to go! Unfortunately the next two aren’t really worth writing home about. Next up to be reviewed are Firstborn and Bloodlines. I know I know, they suck, but we’ll get through them together. See you in September!