TNG: Final Dragging out of Wesley leaving for the Academy. After this episode he damn well better have left for the academy or I am going to be genuinely annoyed. This episode lacks the dramatic highs of last episode, but it also doesn't sink nearly as low in the abyss of dumb plot choices. Wesley and Picard are even better together than in the shuttlecraft for six hours in Samaritan Snare. Also the shuttle captain in this episode is about the worst person you could imagine being stuck with on a desert planet which helps the episode a bit as well. The subplot about the waste ship contaminating a peaceful planet works ok, they still don't understand momentum very well, but at least this time they put an unreasonably dense asteroid field in the way to make it a little tense.
The episode opens with Wesley being called to the bridge and being reprimanded for being late. This is all to reveal that after teasing it for the preceding 3 seasons he is finally going to Starfleet academy and leaves in two weeks. Before he leaves Picard decides to take him on a trip to settle a mining dispute that again puts them on a long shuttle ride together. This time they are taking a mining shuttle for no clear reason, but they are. The shuttle is captained by an irritable man named Dirgo. Just after the Enterprise warps out of the system to handle a distress call the shuttles thrusters explode and they have to ditch onto a barely habitable desert moon. Dirgo of course didn't pack any emergency supplies so they are forced to set off across the desert without any supplies.
Back on the ship Riker finds a ship full of toxic garbage has taken orbit around a peaceful planet. And since they don't understand how radiation works it is the radiation itself rather than the radioactive material that is threatening the planet. Geordi has a plan to put thrusters on the barge and send it into the star, but when they try the ship almost breaks apart. Instead they will have to tow her in through an asteroid field. This means they have to bring the ship dangerously close to the radioactive barge. They make it through with only ten seconds remaining until they receive a fatal dose of radiation, so that means they all get cancer next week right??? Oh wait, the writers don't understand science at all.
Down on the planet they find a cave and it even has water! But the water is protected by a forcefield. Dirgo tries shooting it but is attacked by some sort of unexplained energy being for his trouble. Wesley is almost killed in a cave in but Picard knocks him aside and takes the majority of the damage. Picard is badly hurt and possibly dying. Water would really help by Wesley is unable to think his way though the problem. So Dirgo tries shooting through again but is killed this time by the energy thing. Wesley tries punching buttons on his tricorder after shooting the field again and for some reason it works this time and he saves the day. The Enterprise gets there just in time to keep both Wesley and Picard alive.
Review: This is a solidly average episode, but I swear, if in the next episode Wesley isn't either at the Academy or actually leaving from it I am coming back and subtracting a point.
5 out of 10
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