When I realized this was going to be a Wesley episode my heart sank. And yes, it does have some serious cringe moments, but it is also an episode about Wesley learning he is not actually the perfect person and I am definitely ok with that. It is also benefits from a solid B story about a Starfleet bureaucrat sent to try and find anything that Picard may have done wrong or that may be a threat to Starfleet in the most obnoxious way possible only to learn it was actually an old friend trying to recruit Picard to run the Academy.
The episode begins with Wesley running into one of his buddies on the ship and we learn the Wesley was picked to apply for the Academy, but his friend was not. They have stopped at a planet specifically so Wesley can be tested and he beams to the surface. But at the same time Picard receives a message from an old friend of his that he must beam aboard the Enterprise immediately. When he arrives with an aide he insists on talking to Picard in private and by that he means without Riker but with the aide present. The admiral tells Picard that the ship is being investigated for abnormalities and they are to participate with the investigator in any way possible. The investigator is exactly as annoying as you would imagine and questions each of the crew individually focusing specifically on Picard and his actions as captain.
In the exam area Wesley meets the other candidates, a human girl he immediately gets a crush on, a Vulcan girl, and a Benzite named Mordock who Wesley makes friends with in short order. The test begins with a physics/starship operations test which Wesley completes in no time. Back on the ship the investigator is really pissing Riker off and seems to be interfering with the operations of the ship. One of the better scenes is between Wesley and Worf in the holodeck turned off. Wesley tells Worf he is afraid of the psych test because he doesn't know what his greatest fear is. Worf reassures him that even Klingons are afraid of things and that it would be stupid not to be afraid of some things.
Suddenly there is a crisis on the bridge, the young man Wesley was talking to at the beginning of the episode has stolen a shuttlecraft. And even worse he manages to knock out the engines and for no good reason he is out of both tractor beam and transporter range seconds after leaving the shuttlebay. Picard manages to talk him through a hot engine restart and complex maneuver bouncing the shuttle off the atmosphere of the planet. Even the investigator cheers when the boy is saved. After the investigator turns in his report Picard is summoned to talk with the admiral. It was all a ruse! The admiral actually wants Picard to run Starfleet academy! Back at the test Wesley helps Mordock on one test and then passes his psych test, but Mordock still scored higher and Wesley didn't get in. (Probably the dumbest part of this episode is the idea that Starfleet can only take one of the four highly qualified candidates. I get that it is supposed to be hard to get in, but is this some sort of reality TV show???) Picard meets Wesley and tells him he isn't disappointed Wesley didn't make it his first time and that Picard in fact failed the first time. This cheers Wesley up and Picard tells the admiral he is staying with the Enterprise.
Review: This episode is a real mixed bag. The whole investigation to find out of Picard is good enough/not evil was actually pretty dumb and the parts with Wesley were actually the better parts of the episode. I literally never thought I would type anything like that anywhere in this blog, but there you go. Not a great episode, but not awful either.
5 out of 10
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