Descent

DVD, TNG S6 (Descent)

It's not the cracking finish to the season that you'd hope for and maybe even expect. On paper the episode sounds faultless, it had all the ingredients for a strong end to a not-bad season with Data experiencing emotion (even though he'd lost the emotion chip to Lore back in Season 4 - a little clue there), the Borg attacking again and Picard put in the same situation as he was in 'I, Borg' by the uncompromising (or should that be compromised), Admiral Nechayev in one of her sternest moods. Surely it couldn't fail to be an exciting, action-packed conclusion? It has its moments, but it falls down on some major issues: the Borg, losing their teeth by this point in the series, to a point, the issues not really going anywhere, and too much talk, not enough action.

First, the Borg. With 'I, Borg' making the galaxy's most feared race into a cuddly ally, and on viewing that episode on this run-through I must admit to liking it more, despite the sad defanging, the race would have had to do something even greater than trying to destroy the centre of the Federation, Earth, to match up to previous appearances. Instead they're used for a far smaller, if effective, pre-credits cliffhanger. Attempting to destroy Earth. Jumping out from behind a door. See the difference in scale? It's not just that they've been reduced in motive (they do make up for it with Lore and Data telling us they plan to destroy the Federation), but they no longer have the same physical menace. Hiding behind a door fits perfectly with their old image - they were the scary monsters that wanted nothing more than to turn you into one of them, you could imagine in every dark corner. Now they can run, they can jump, they can leap athletically around and fire bursts of energy (like the phasers in 'Star Trek XI') - I don't watch horror films, but I imagine it's akin to zombies suddenly starting to run instead of their inevitable shambling towards their victim. There's no time for anticipation, no building of tension, just an action sequence.

I liked the action sequence, it was well done, there were Borg flying all over the place and bolts of green energy bursting across the screen, Data having a battle of strength with a Borg, then showing an uncharacteristic and worrying sign of pleasure at his conquest, right after losing his cool and showing how dangerous he could be to his enemies if he didn't have the cold restraining heart of an android to keep him reined in. All of that stuff is great, and a real surprise if you don't know it's coming. But almost all the shock value is used up in that short scene leaving the episode dry until the end, with only the worrying potential that Data could become angry and tear someone's head off to keep a measure of unease further into the episode. But it does diminish the Borg further from their unstoppable menace of 'Q Who' and 'The Best of Both Worlds' to have them acting so un-Borg-like, even while it throws up questions as to why they seem to have individuality.

I noticed the oddly shaped Borg ship (definitely not Queen sanctioned I'm sure as she always prefers proper shapes), was only on the viewscreen for a moment as if they didn't want viewers to think 'hey that looks vaguely Borg-like' and be surprised when the Away Team beams down to the station to be ambushed by the enemy. I also noticed a lot of recycling going on. There's often a degree of that in most episodes of 'TNG,' but in a big-budget end of season spectacular you don't expect it so much: the station looked suspiciously like a redress of the lab or room set deep in the belly of the Enterprise that's been seen occasionally, with its grille-like walls and multiple screens. The matte painting for the planet it was located on was also used in an episode this season, I think, and then there was the oft-seen shot of an Excelsior-class ship cruising alongside the Enterprise as the vessel which the Admiral came from, which was first seen back at the beginning of Season 2 or 3 and has definitely had its money's worth!

The second thing that prevents the episode from reaching a potential that can be clearly projected from the ingredients are the issues that are dealt with. The main ones are Data dealing with his mystery attack of emotion, and less obviously in Picard's discomfort over Admiral Nechayev's order that if he captures a Borg as he did with Hugh, he is to carry out the original plan of infecting it, sending it back to the collective and destroying the Borg once and for all. Data's confusion over his outburst is interesting, but not compelling, although it gives Troi something to do in an episode where otherwise you wouldn't expect a counsellor to feature much. In fact she gets more to do that Dr. Crusher, whom, although she's left to captain the Enterprise at the end, or examine the Borg (a scene later recalled in 'Voyager' episode 'Unity'), is almost absent from the episode in general. Troi's assertion that emotions aren't good or bad seemed baseless as jealousy and hatred don't seem to have any good side to them, but it was an interesting discussion. There was a small level of wondering if Data might go crazy and attack someone, as I mentioned before, but it's not enough to sustain the episode between Borg encounters.

Picard's issue with authority over the moral choice he made with Hugh isn't even properly addressed. He's clearly not happy with the Admiral's order, but seems to have come round to the same point of view as her that if the Federation is threatened all bets are off and they'll do anything to survive, even genocide if need be. It's not expressly stated that way, but he certainly doesn't react well to Crosis. Because Crosis uses his special emotion button to get Data onside we never find out how far Picard would have gone and if he really did regret making the moral decision with Hugh. The point is he couldn't have made any other decision, but this would have been a fascinating and deep look into the Federation's values: would they commit genocide to protect themselves? The question is mirrored in Crosis' question to Data: would he kill his best friend Geordi if he could experience emotion again?

Again, the question never has a chance to be addressed because we don't see Data and Geordi alone together. If there had been another scene in the Holodeck where Data was ruthlessly killing Borg and enjoying it thanks to Crosis' influence, and Geordi came in then, that would have sizzled with tension, but instead Data and Crosis escape without us even seeing them leave. They could have done something like in 'Brothers' where Data is circumventing every security measure and they simply can't stop him, but they wanted to keep the surprise of his helping Crosis until the end. But it shouldn't be a surprise to us because we already saw him being emotionally manipulated by Crosis.

So that's where the episode falls down: it tells instead of showing, and doesn't explore the issues fully, preferring instead to make it into a short-lived chase. There's not even the building atmosphere of threat so strongly exhibited in 'The Best of Both Worlds,' the Enterprise just flies around on patrol with the occasional false alarm. The threat level doesn't build to any degree of danger, even when the Borg ship swings around and comes in for an attack - it looses off a volley, leaves a couple of drones aboard and scarpers. It's good to have the transwarp conduits come into it at last, something 'Voyager' built heavily on (while getting caught in the transwarp wake was used excellently in 'Star Trek: First Contact'), and the Delta Quadrant connection is shown on a visual, but sadly there's no dialogue to confirm the Borg are going to or coming from that Quadrant. I'm not even sure we knew about their Delta Quadrant connection at this point, so it could have been spelt out better.

There are a few points of contention for me: why didn't the lights go out around the holding cell when the forcefield was taken down? Why didn't Picard sense the Borg at all? You'd think after being assimilated by them he'd instantly recognise even the hint of a Borg design. There is the line about the ship possibly not being built by them, but it certainly looks similar to their other vessels. The redshirt that goes down to the station in the teaser gets killed, but someone that looks just like her later appears on the bridge guarding the turbolift in the background. And why does Lore want to destroy the Federation anyway? You'd think he'd have some greater goal than revenge. Then again he is Lore, and not that intelligent or sensible, allowing his emotions to rule him. I thought Data's line about the Sons of Soong was a very good moniker however, and the ending was suitably exciting when a swarm of Borg rushes in on Picard and his team. I can't remember if the robotic hand logo had been used before, because if it had then it makes Picard looks awfully stupid. It's clearly a Borg hideout so why hang around to be caught?

There were some nice touches including Nechayev's ship being named as the Gorkon (after the Klingon leader of 'Star Trek VI'), it was pretty cool to see the shuttle on the planet's surface as that's not a common occurrence (though I could have done with a better shot of it sitting there with the Away Team around it like they sometimes did on 'Enterprise'). And long before 'TNG' magically becomes widescreen (surely it will happen one day), Picard gets to watch episodes in that aspect ratio thanks to his desktop monitor. Although technically he's watching it three hundred years in the future so by then every episode will be widescreen, 4D, smell-o-vision. But then the events of the episode only happened a few months ago for him, so the episodes must have gone back through time to get to us. It's all so confusing.

Even though the Borg had lost their teeth, and there's a slightly cheap feel in the way certain elements had been used before, and even though the issues that promised so much weren't properly examined… even with all these things I actually enjoyed it slightly more on this viewing. It may be because I've gotten over the way the Borg lost their power and am able to just take the episode for what it was, accepting the time it was made in, or perhaps I appreciated the nice look of the outdoor scenes, but for whatever reason I did warm to it a little more than I used to. It doesn't conclude the sixth season as well as the season deserved, but it's fine. It's enjoyable enough.

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