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Remmick's just hiding.

Episode 25: The Neutral Zone

The return of the Romulans. Except they're not really the focus.

I truly admire Picard's belief in diplomacy. Even as his own crew are advocating violence, he's resolute in trying for a better solution. Love the barely restrained contempt when dealing with Offenhouse and how he immediately softens when Raymond starts crying. Found his speeche to quite good, too.

Don't quite get Riker lacking any curiosity over the derelict. Has quite a bemused reaction to the defrostees. Actually argues with Picard over the violent option. Its done well enough to not seem out of character, but it's still a weird turn for him.

La Forge has another episode of not doing much, but Burton is still investing his lines with energy. Absolute delight to watch.

Worf has some justified trauma in dealing with Romulans. Actually seemed hurt when Raymond fainted at the sight of him.

Hearing about the problems she had on the set, I'm not convinced McFadden was just acting here. Really uncomfortable to watch.

Troi gets to actually be a counsellor and help Raymond deal with the future. It's nice to see mental health work be treated so positively.

Data demonstrates he's more human than most humans through almost instinctively moving to save the frozen folk. Gets on surprisingly well with Clemonds.

The Romulans aren't really that important, except as a tease to future plot developments. Sort of just there and they certainly don't have any of the thematic weight as mirrors to the Federation that the TOS versions have. Still, they're back and said return is suitably ominous.

The three defrostees are clearly meant to embody the worst traits of modern humanity. Offenhouse is an arrogant, entitled shitstain, Clemonds is an irresponsible hedonist and Raymond is a passive waste of matter. Its hard to feel any sympathy for their struggle to acclimatise to 24th century (is this the first explicit year we've had?) life due to not just seeming unpleasant, but outright stupid as well. Offenhouse has the worst of it, genuinely believing that the world will have barely changed in nearly 400 years and trying to ignorantly dominate a system he's too closed minded to understand. Raymond is a trophy wife who was treated as a possession to preserve by her husband and isn't much stronger in the new world. Clemonds is mostly unfazed, which does give him the easiest adjustment out of the bunch, but it also makes him vulnerable to falling into the same nihilism that killed him in the first place. Given a second chance at life, his first thought is to hassle (in more ways than one) Crusher for a new fix. His particular brand of stereotype is also bloody irritating to listen to.

Yet there is a sense of hope about them. Offenhouse offers a genuine moment of insight about Romulan behaviour and seems willing to give Picard's words some genuine thought. Raymond might be dominated by thoughts of the family she left (and fairs fair, this is the only reasonable objection to the future anyone provides), but she accepts care and begins looking towards meeting new people. Clemonds immediately begins integrating new technologies into his art through replicating the guitar and has no trouble accepting Data as a friend. In other words, while the people are not blameless, it's the society that is really being attacked.

Still can't praise ship designs enough. The derelict is a nicely realised modern looking satellite and the Bird of Prey is a fantastically immense design. We had a nice pan over the cryo tubes. Liked seeing the warp effect through the observation windows. The writer's strike has clearly plagued this episode, too. While Riker gets the worst of it, a lot of characters have a moment of seeming a bit off, like Picard being less than concerned that a trio of humans could've died without their help. There's also the matter of the Romulans being a bit tacked on. I think it's a better episode than circumstances would imply, but it is a bit rough.

I had already heard of this episode by reputation as another example of the enlightened crew preaching at people and as a poor season finale in general. First of all, while there have been some insufferable moments in a few of the worst episodes, I think the season has overall been quite graceful in stating its points. Second of all, I fundamentally agree with the point they're making here, about how much of modern society's values are toxic and juvenile. Third of all, now that we're are in the 80s, an era where season finales are treated far more importantly than they were in the 60s, there's an expectation for the final episode to be something of a conclusion of the season's overall point. Since Encounter at Farpoint began with Q demanding that Picard and crew defend their journey (and, metaphorically, the show's right to exist), having Picard state the problems of modern society and how their world provides a better life, seems less like preachy moralising and more like a succinct summary of why the show should go on.

It's notable that Offenhouse's main criticism of the future (and its one of the most frequent argument shared by defenders of capitalism) is that, in a land of plenty, there's no challenge. Aside from the fact that simply surviving should not be a struggle, Picard gives a genuinely great rebuttal: The drive to better oneself should be motivation enough. I've mentioned it in at least one review already, but I'm presently studying physics part time. Whenever I tell this to someone at my work, two of the first questions I'm inevitably asked is "what job can you get with that?" and "how much can you make?" While I do have an occupation in mind for when I complete my degree, the point behind doing it isn't just to be materially richer. The act of understanding and of being at the place where my reach exceeds my grasp, in the hopes that one day i may be able to stretch further, is the point. There is no guarantee I will succeed in my ambitions, but even if I fail, so long as I comprehend more at the end than I did at the beginning, it would be very difficult to call the overall affair a waste, even with the monetary cost for my education seemingly going nowhere. The drive to be more and to experience and understand more, not to have more, is the motivation.

The point behind this ramble is that if you commodify everything, you find yourself in a valueless world where everything, including human experience, is irrelevant in the face of abstract numbers going up or down. Every drive, every ambition, every want can only be significant if there's some money attached to it. I think this is what the show is criticising about capitalistic society. Raymond is the most obvious example, since she isn't even allowed agency over her life or death. Someone could just pay to revive her at an arbitrary date. As for smugness, Offenhouse is the biggest culprit. A successful man, who's desperate to resist change and growth, desiring to prevent even death from intruding on his power. Centuries pass and he honestly expects to neatly slot into his old life, even believing he can bully Picard because of his connections. Clemonds, being an artist, is slightly removed from this problem, but his drug abuse is clearly an innoculant against a society ill suited to him. The hastily written script muddies the issue, but the cryogenics fad is distinguished from better future healthcare because only one is available to all. Frankly, it is brave for such a mainstream show to take such a radical stance. (Character limits really do force me to truncate my thoughts sometimes).

A far more solid finale than I expected.

Rankings, next.