Plot Synopsis: DaiMon Bok threatens the life of a son Picard never knew he had.
Plot A and B Analysis: The teaser is short and to the point. The Enterprise is hanging out in space doing literally nothing when they encounter a probe. It’s an alien probe, but instead of your typical rectal invasion it’s something worse: a reference to season one! Daimon Bok, from waaay back in episode 8, The Battle, projects himself onto the bridge via a hologram to say he still hates Picard and he’s going to kill his son, Jason Vigo! Picard’s son is Lord Vigo from Ghostbusters 2? This dumpster fire barely has a plot A, there is no plot B. Picard tells Riker about nailing the momma 24 years ago during a two-week affair, and it’s possible the 23-yr old guy is his son. They go to the colony where he is and pick him up. Doctor Crusher does a genetic test and yep, they’re father and son. Turns out the momma has been dead for a couple of years. Bok somehow shows up in Picard’s quarters at night to threaten him, and Jason couldn’t really care less about getting to know Picard but he’s on edge because his life is in danger, yadda yadda. Bok keeps showing up, Jason has a seizure, and Picard and Jason go rock climbing together. After a transporter fight (you read that right, a transporter fight!) Bok transports Jason to his ship to kill him. Picard uses the fancy subspace transporter Bok has been using and defeats him in the most boring way possible as this episode limps across the finish line. Oh, and Jason isn’t really his son.
Favorite Scenes: The best scene is the one with Picard and Jason sitting in the holodeck on top of a rock wall talking. It actually has value, as Jason tries to convince Picard he wouldn’t want him as a son, and Picard doesn’t back down.
Picard: I know all about your troubles with the Camor authorities.
Jason: You do?
Picard: It doesn’t make any difference, Jason. You’re still my son. And like it or not, I’m your father. I don’t know what that means. I know it means something. There is some connection. But one thing is clear: you’ll never look at your hairline again in the same way. *rimshot*
Use of Cast/Characters: This is a Picard episode. We do actually get a little character development, learning he and his father were estranged and they never reconciled before he died. Patrick does sell the only good scene in the episode, it’s an excellent actor doing the best he can with the material he’s got. Riker and Worf don’t do much, and Troi tries to talk with Jason but gets nowhere. Data and Geordi work to solve the transporter mystery, and Beverly finally figures out that Bok genetically altered Jason to fool them. Ken Olandt portrays Jason and is mediocre. Lee Arenberg plays Bok, and does a somewhat better job. In case you are wondering, no, it’s not the same actor that played Bok in season one.
Blu Ray Version: The weekly promo for this episode was bad. Then again they didn’t have much to work with. There is a deleted scene, which occurs at the end right before Picard transports onto the Ferengi ship. Jason tries to convince Bok Picard doesn’t care about him so Bok won’t kill him, and it doesn’t work. It’s not worth much.
Nitpicks: It was too easy for the Enterprise to transport Picard light years away at the end, it’s a bit of cheap plot device. If they can do that why not just do it whenever they need to when there’s an emergency?
Overall Impression: This is another “who cares” entry, it just doesn’t work. This is supposed to be a suspenseful episode, with Bok toying with Picard, but the audience feels no suspense. Honestly this feels like a retread, because we’ve already seen an episode where Picard was forced into a father role back in Suddenly Human. Also, does it really provide closure? Bok gets turned in to the authorities, just like in The Battle. Thankfully it’s the last time we see a relative of the crew featured in an episode. This is the seventh time this season, and number six was the previous episode! Other than one scene this episode fails to deliver. Is there anything positive I can say about this one… it’s not as bad as Menage a Troi! I have to rate this episode 1.5 out of 5 stars.
Behind the Scenes/Trivia: This is tied with Emergence and Genesis as the least-watched episode of season seven. Believe it or not this episode indirectly came from Patrick Stewart. Evidently he and Jeri Taylor were talking while they were shooting Masks, and she asked him if there were any aspects of his character he felt were unexplored. Stewart noted the unsatisfied vengeance of DaiMon Bok from The Battle. “It’s always fascinated me that there is this creature running around the universe even now who despises me.” In this case I wish he would’ve kept his mouth shut if this crappy episode was the result. Originally Jason was going to be named Daniel, but Patrick requested the name change since his actual son is named Daniel. Do you recognize the Ferengi probe we see a couple of times? They repainted Roga Danar’s escape pod from The Hunted.
Missable/Unmissable? Missable, and the next one is probably worse.