The Ensigns of Command

DVD, TNG S3 (The Ensigns of Command)

The reputation 'TNG' received for being ponderous would seem to be deserved if the first two episodes of this season are perceived as the norm. It's not that there's much wrong with this story, aside from the usual difficulty of attempting to portray things on a larger scale than the budget could afford - 15,000 colonists reduced to about fifteen on screen and only one small area of this huge colony shown. No, it's probably that so many later episodes of any of the spinoffs did this simplistic tale of forced evacuation/alien pedantry much better, particularly the film 'Star Trek: Insurrection' and so this comes across as a trundling, basic version.

The characters are reasonably well used, and it features the return of Chief O'Brien (in a superb piece of continuity he's playing the cello, and in 'DS9' he explained that his Father wanted him to be a cello player), plus an attempt to put Data into hot water and see how he reacts. His solution to the impossible problem of convincing the colonists to evacuate and leave everything they know after grumpy Commander Riker gives him no other option is mildly entertaining (on the contrary, the other impossible problem, that faced by LaForge and O'Brien to make the transporters work, is clearly padding or an excuse to use the characters), but the colonists, represented by four speaking parts are pretty two-dimensional people - the girl that has a thing for computers; the surly leader; the moderate who thinks differently and his friend who's on the fence aren't very believable as people that have hacked out a living on this world.

The backstory of this colony ship that launched around Kirk's time would have been a more interesting plot to be developed. Had the woman gone back to the Enterprise and been wowed by the differences in technology like the 20th Century people that wake up there in Season One's 'The Neutral Zone', it might have been better. In fact now I think about it, this 23rd Century knowledge angle would have made for a better story. I thought I recognised the tone of the Sheliak voice, and yes, it was Mart McChesney who voiced evil Yar-murdering Armus. The costume was a little similar too, though I must praise both the exterior and interior of the alien vessel. It was suitably Trek-ish, yet different, and after all, non-humanoid, non-space dwelling beings are not a common occurrence. Mark L. Taylor who played Haritath, one of the colonists was later in 'Voyager' episode 'Displaced' as a different character.

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