Bloodlines

DVD, TNG S7 (Bloodlines)

A direct sequel from a Season 1 episode! My, they must have been feeling nostalgic at this stage of their final season. I'm not sure a sequel to 'The Battle' was top of every viewer's list of things to see before the end, I should think 'Conspiracy' and its nasty alien infiltrators would have been given a greater welcome, but this episode does fit into the theme of the season. Almost, as it turns out Jason Vigo isn't real family after all, but it gives Picard the experience of having a grown-up son and all the ramifications that came with it. Not a bad way to begin, announcing from an old-school villain that he's going to kill the son of a main character we assume has no children. It sparks all kinds of comparisons between the final and the first seasons, and how far everything had come since then. Look at the Ferengi for instance. Back then they were dancing, gesticulating orange monkeys dressed in fur, but now they barely emote at all, only the vengeful Bok losing his cool. I don't think I've ever seen a less demonstrative Ferengi than Bok's second in command. He barely even blinks as the famous Captain of the Federation flagship beams onto their bridge.

If only 'Star Trek XI' (yep, still banging on about that film. Just wait until 'XII' comes out!), had used this established piece of Treknological lore instead of a fantasy magic wand of future Scotty's calculation, in beaming Young Kirk and Scotty from a planet to a starship far, far away. It would at least have had the advantage of being tried! I found Bok's use of this subspace transporter almost as unbelievable as the films bending of the laws of physics, but it's couched in recognisable terminology so after initial reservations, you don't question it, beyond a Ferengi having such advanced technology that actually worked. The Federation are said to have abandoned it (no doubt Section 31 took it down to their private labs under Starfleet HQ to continue the experimentation), which doesn't sound like a very Federation thing to do, even if it was found to be wasteful and unreliable.

Back to Season 1 and 7 comparisons, and the biggest change (beyond the Ferengi), is in Picard. He's done the opposite of the large-lobed race, and gone from a starchy, unapproachable old man who hates children, to one who has allowed himself to open up, have a sense of humour, and even talk to young people. Why, we even learn in 'Generations' that he'd like his own set of the little darlings! He's also become much more like Kirk over the years (he even does some rock climbing here!), from accepting Riker's recommendations that he stay safely aboard ship, to the First Officer not even bothering to waste breath on suggesting Picard would be wise not to beam alone onto an enemy vessel using technology liable to fail at any moment. No, he just stands there looking slightly miffed, as if he's imagining the conversation he'll be having with Admiral Nechayev if his Captain doesn't return safely…

I noticed, and I don't know if this was because a virus was going round, but some of the cast looked decidedly peaky, pale and pasty in some of this episode. It's Riker, Picard and Beverly that seemed especially pale (clearly not Geordi or Worf - Mr. Data did, but that's his natural colour!). Deanna didn't, but then she was almost fighting embarrassment when Jason is so rude to her after she's offered her professional help to him. I thought she did very well not to lose her dignity, but it didn't help Jason in the viewer's eyes. To be fair to him, he was played well, believably dealing with this instant change in circumstances, forced to dredge up the past, and eventually finding some common ground with a Father figure so that the ending really means something when Picard gives him the rare prayer stick from his archeological collection. The beautifully orchestrated score lifted the episode beyond mere soap storyline, and it was really the lack of the imminent danger to truly frighten that let the side down. The ending was even nabbed from its prequel, with the Ferengi crew disgusted with their boss' lack of profit motive.

Though the Ferengi are boring and slow, and very, very grey, by now at least some of the goodness of 'DS9' had rubbed off on this series, so that we hear about Rules of Acquisition and other little references that make them more rounded. Shame they couldn't have got the Grand Nagus to show up on the viewscreen instead of an unknown Ferengi official, but they'd just had Quark in the previous episode so I'm sure they didn't want to push it. It was a good decision to tie in directly to an old story, but I wish it had used the history of the series a bit more, or learnt from the series' success to craft a more biting tale, because if you're going to, essentially, remake an episode, you need the new one to improve on the first, and for me, 'The Battle' is superior. And out of Season 1, it was actually one of the better stories of that crop.

I can't say this is a highlight of the season, but even within a less compellingly put together episode there are scenes to love. Picard's chats about parenthood with Beverly stood out, as did his talks with Jason, reminding us why 'Enterprise' never worked as well as the other series' - it needed scenes where characters were allowed to explore verbally and in thought, not relying on phaser blasts and photons to keep us interested. But at least the latter series had the advantage of quality CGI for its space objects of the week - as soon as I saw the probe I was expecting someone to say 'we've seen that before on stardate diddlysplot!' I'm sure it was a reused model from other stories ('The Nth Degree'?), but it can be argued it was similar technology. If you're generous.

I have to call out the most unsubtle security guards ever to grace Starfleet: they follow Jason around as if they're attached by a string. In Ten Forward the least they could have done would be to stand by the door, but no, they choose to stand looking important, right in the middle of the room! Silly people. My final thought, of one of the final episodes of the final season, is of the final film the cast made. 'Star Trek Nemesis' was the closest experience Picard came to having a son after meeting Jason, in his dealings with Shinzon, and I like to think that his cautiousness in that later encounter was in large part due to what happened in this episode.

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