Final Mission

DVD, TNG S4 (Final Mission)

Having the episodes on DVD, the slip-in-and-out format, where you can watch all the stories in order at your own convenience, has been an affordable way to get in touch with the 'Star Trek' series' like never before. It's given me the chance to reappraise the episodes, stories and characters, particularly ones that I didn't much like on original viewing. One of those who reversed my opinions was Kes on 'Voyager', the other was Wesley Crusher. I never much cared for him, with his experiments and his bland behaviour and his lack of development, but becoming reacquainted with the 'TNG' characters on a regular basis has shown the young man in a new light.

His reputation as the child genius that's always saving the ship is undeserved - such an occurrence rarely happened. The development I thought was missing has woven itself subtly through the first four seasons, from barely being acknowledged by Picard, through to gradual acceptance, earning his position on the ship and eventually following the footsteps of his deceased Father, with Captain Picard becoming almost a mentor. What I took for blandness I see as restraint, uprightness and a hard-working temperament learning to live with his own high expectations, yet being presented with the special brand of the Traveller to mark him out as exceptional. He also represents youth, 'at the beginning of the adventure' as Picard puts it, the Captain's envy of such a time in his life that will never come again is more powerful and affecting even than Wesley's admission that all he ever wanted to do was make Picard proud of him.

He had a strong episode to finish with, and one that showcased his growing up, taking charge, to an extent, from the rumpled Captain Dirgo, a no-good type who deserved his fate through ignorance. Wes' courage is shown strongly in the way he tries to defeat the sentry technology even after seeing the gruesome fate of Dirgo. Nick Tate doesn't do a bad job, but the character wasn't as compelling as his other role, mob member Bilby in 'DS9' episode 'Honour Among Thieves'. He's played as a lowly, scruffy drifter who doesn't take authority well and only looks out for himself. Having recently got into the old Amiga game 'Frontier - Elite II' I can vouch firsthand for the difficulty of landing a shuttle from space manually. The music in this sequence was very 'Star Wars' and it made for a good scene, even if the jiggling motion of the set didn't fit the rotating, floaty inertia of the model's trajectory. The visuals throughout are attractively bathed in golden light and although the shuttle crash is a downer there's a sense of a proper adventure with the three of them tramping off into the barren surround. They should have moved in a straight line from the arrow, I would point out, instead of veering off to the right, but perhaps they made up for the veer later! I also felt the neatly chiselled steps in the cave were a little too convenient, though for the most part the set looked good, and differed well from the familiar cave set.

The Enterprise is coincidentally called away at the crucial moment (like that 'TOS' one which I can't remember the name of right now), and I always thought the Malon in 'Voyager' were quite an original concept. Here we see the Enterprise having to deal with a radioactive waste scow, so maybe it drifted out of a wormhole in the Delta Quadrant? The aliens on the planet (they're always a peaceful, non-violent people without any form of weapon or defence - so not too intelligent either, or did they not consider the need for a contingency plan in case large objects collided with their planet?) actually looked like they'd already been contaminated with extreme radiation poisoning, or is that a racist slur?

The episode could have been stronger or more heartfelt or given Wes a bigger send-off, but for a messy, dirty alternative to the sparkling halls and ambassadorial dinners more familiar to Picard, it worked a treat. It's always sad when a character leaves a series, even though in 'Star Trek' there are always possibilities, as a famous pointy-eared legend once said. The adventures of young Crusher would be occasionally dipped into, but never mapped out properly which is a great shame. The series lost something when Tasha, then Beverly, then Wesley left, but at the same time the series was tightened up and I think Season Four is the next stretch of an upward curve, with a great start. Strangely, watching through the series again, Wesley will indeed be missed.

***