As much as I am into the convention of all Q related episodes having Q in their names (other than Encounter at Farpoint which is of course the pilot so whatever) in this case having Q in the title kinda gives away the twist. Probably the most annoying part to me is how Crusher especially, but most of the human crew seem to think she should be able to just go back to being a human. First of all, she is clearly a Q so she isn't human. Also, is it really reasonable to expect her to give up the opportunity to experience the universe in ways none of us can even imagine reasonable? At least the writers figured this out by the end and she does decide to remain what she is.
The episode opens with Picard and Riker greeting Amanda Rogers who has been awarded an internship on the Enterprise. The ship is on a mission to help a beleaguered planet and she is there to participate in the mission. Riker takes her to her quarters and as soon as he is gone puppies appear and she manages to get them to disappear. Amanda works with Dr. Crusher on some tricorders and they take them to the cargo bay. Riker is almost crushed by a falling container but Amanda saves him without anyone seeing her do it. (Side note, didn't Worf almost die from a similar accident last season? Why are their cargo bays such death traps?) When she goes to engineering the warp core suddenly starts going out of control and just as everyone is about to be killed she holds up her hands and stops it.
The senior staff meet to discuss the strange occurrence when Q appears. He explains he was testing her as her parents were in fact Q and he needs to determine if she is too. If she is he will take her back to the continuum which upsets Crusher a lot. Crusher then gets the job of telling Amanda this and she agrees to meet with Q so of course he appears immediately. He tries to drag her to the continuum but she resists and Picard convinces Q to give her some time. On his way through the corridors Q is asked by a disembodied voice how it is going and he says he may not have to kill her after all. Amanda has a hard time adjusting to the news but decides to keep working with Beverley on her experiments. She also starts meeting with Q to learn about her new found powers.
While she learns about her powers by among other things transporting Riker to their own private playground and making him fall in love with her, Picard is working to investigate what killed her parents. It turns out there was a mysterious tornado that appeared out of nowhere, killed them and then disappeared. Picard confronts Q who pretty much admits they were executed by the continuum. Picard tells Amanda the news and Q explains she has a choice, she can either agree to never use her powers again under penalty of death, or she can come with him and join the continuum. She says she wants to not use her powers but just then the bridge gets a call from Riker on the surface of the planet. He and Geordi are working on a reactor and it is out of control. They are about to be killed when Amanda saves the day. She tells them all she has decided to be a Q and go learn what that means.
Review: Having a consistent race of gods rather than a pantheon of the week scheme like it TOS really lets the writers explore what it means to be an immortal omnipotent being. Not the greatest episode, but it has its moments.
5 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment