LogFAQs > #970529252

Episode 5: The Bonding

Yeah, you're not going to be happy with me, Croft. I loved it.

They've subtly retconned Picard's aversion to children to being less because he's a slightly miserable and awkward bastard and more because they're just another group of people he has to worry about. He actually interacts with Jeremy pretty well. Equally as good is his empathy for Troi's somewhat thankless task. The two have a pretty sweet relationship with each other. Also, love Stewart's acting when Wesley admits that he was angry at him for a while. Picard knew it was coming, but it still hurt like hell.

Riker notices the look Wesley gives him and immediately moves in to offer comfort, which is a nice touch. Another great use of empathy from him is when he uses the example of Yar to educate Data about death, knowing that she was someone who mattered a lot to him.

La Forge doesn't get too much, but I do enjoy his shows of initiative.

Maybe its down to the new makeup freeing up his face more, but Dorn's acting is on fire here. Effortlessly shows Worf's grief, trauma and anger with immaculate expressions. His rant in Troi's presence is great, as is his overly formal awkwardness when he first meets Jeremy. Looking to Troi for assurance when he's about to suggest the bonding is a sweet moment.

Crusher's breakdown when Wesley brings up his dad is a wonderful moment from her and their hug is probably the most loving their relationship has ever been.

Troi serves as nice early warning system. In all seriousness, she's great here. Sirtis sells someone who feels the loss just as cleanly as everyone else, but manages to deal with it better than anyone. No one (except Jeremy and, briefly, Worf for obvious reasons) has an outright immature reaction, but she's still head and shoulders above the rest and remains gentle, without even being passive, with everyone.

Data has a fantastic scene with Riker. The obvious irony is that by barely caring about Aster because neither he, nor the audience, has ever seen her before, he betrays how he's probably the most honestly human of the bunch.

Wesley has some good stuff. You can see his own pain come back to him immediately when he hears about Jeremy. His brief hesitation before he moves in close to confide in his mum is a flat out excellent scene for him. Even if he has moved past his anger, actually talking about his dad still fills him with anguish and Wheaton fills his dialogue with some harsh breaths to properly convey that.

O'Brien continues to have some great reactions to the utter insanity of his job.

Not Aster is a nice creepy presence. Gets a nice collection of reaction shots as it gradually starts to dawn on her what healthy grieving is.

Jeremy does alright for a child actor. It's somewhat unavoidable, but he does become a bit of a prop for the other characters and the sudden lapse in intelligence when his "mum" starts casually casting illusions is a bit too much.

This is where the vaunted character focus that season 3 has has become clear to me. Scenes are given an immense amount of time to breathe and music is kept to a minimum, so, we can focus on the acting. The awkward pace around the turbo lift that Picard has is just the most obvious example. The scene of Worf brooding is utterly beautiful. Saturated in blue hues, with the man himself in silhouette, to accentuate his emotions and with the candle initially out of focus so that it initially resembles a background monolith towering over him, before he gets control of himself and pulls it into the foreground so he can snuff it out to demonstrate his bottling up, it's a work of art. The blocking when he's talking with Troi is fantastic, using a vent to demonstrate that his anger is like a caged beast, until Troi gets him to open up. Then, we see them both clearly. Not Aster appropriately glides in from the background like the ghost she is.

I absolutely love Troi for shutting down the whole "be brave" thing. There is nothing to be gained in bottling up emotions and I think its brilliant that TNG takes the time to make a whole episode about that. It is an admittedly understated affair, which might rub some people the wrong way, but if a primary aim for Star Trek is to be a Sci-fi allegory for important issues, then arguing against the toxic attitudes towards grief, especially as it pertains to young boys, is absolutely what this show should be doing. That it focuses all this around a red shirt death, which have been something of a blind spot both in TOS and in here is even better.

I feel no shame in admitting that I was on the verge of tears on a few occasions during this episode. Outstanding work.

Let's hope Booby Trap isn't it's namesake.