Episode of the Week: 4x06 "Legacy"

Discussion in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' started by Jeyl, Feb 5, 2014.

  1. Jeyl

    Jeyl Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2009
    Location:
    Asheville, NC
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    "Legacy" is an episode that I'd like to think introduced Star Trek to what would become the biggest and most popular staples of the franchise in it's later years. Casting very attractive female actors and putting them in revealing skin-tight one piece outfits!

    [​IMG]

    Good thing Trekcore hasn't caught up yet with it's HD grabs.

    Yep. I'm betting someone in the higher up watched this episode and thought "This kind of stuff should be seen in every freaking episode!" and fortunately or unfortunately depending on your tastes or standards, they got their wish in the end.

    Moving on. Legacy is a unique episode in TNG's run because it's one that deals with Tasha Yar's sister. First thing I thought of when learning this was "My god. Sisters do exist!", second was "She's a one-shot female guest star who's story will not end well" and third, "Why didn't Tasha ever mention her?".

    The episode goes even further into Tasha's backstory by actually going to Turkana IV, the home world of Tasha that was mentioned in "The Naked Now". What's strange with the civilization aspects of this planet is that it's populated by war mongering, deceptive, violent, and *gulp* child raping....humans.

    Ok, stop. Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. Did this have to be that literal? I give credit to the writers for actually remembering continuity details from three seasons ago, but just listen to what's being said. These are people who have been alluded to raping children in packs. I mean, if they didn't, why would Tasha want to avoid them or even call them rape gangs? What makes this whole thing shocking is that the planet's residents are not aliens. They're ordinary humans who are under no influence of any kind. I can understand something like old people feeling the loss of their loved ones getting a slip, but this episode deals with issues that reflect the absolute worst aspects of humanity and the only person who has real issues with it isn't even human! I mean, what the heck Star Trek? You'll have characters sing and preach about how humanity is no longer a dangerous and savage child race, but you're happy to showcase a planet full of dangerous and savage humans.

    The story, as much as it is, deals with the Enterprise attempting to rescue a crew that crashed on this planet and are being held hostage by one of the warring factions. Ishara, Tasha's sister offers to help with the rescue efforts. As the episode progresses, Ishara feigns interest in wanting to follow in her sister's footsteps and the crew pretty much fall right into it. So during the rescue effort, Ishara betrays the crew by taking advantage of their rescue to sabotage the enemy faction's generators. Data stuns Ishara, is sent back to her people and everyone talks about how disappointed they are in how Ishara was not like her sister. The episode tries to lighten this up by having Data look at the crystal she gave him, but it won't matter in the long run.

    CONCLUSION:
    For an episode that actually follows some continuity from earlier episodes, it's a pity it all ended up not going anywhere and ensuring Ishara's character would never be seen or mentioned again. I'm still surprised how nobody in this episode seems interested in discussing how this human inhabited planet came to be such a bad place for everyone and why the Starfleet, or the Federation doesn't do a darn thing about it. After all, the Prime Directive doesn't even apply because they're humans and it's obvious that there's suffering going on. This stuff is just weird.
     
  2. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jul 16, 2001
    Location:
    Trekker4747
    :rolleyes:
     
  3. Jeyl

    Jeyl Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2009
    Location:
    Asheville, NC
    Hey, Troi gets to wear a uniform later on so she doesn't count.
     
  4. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2001
    Location:
    America, Fuck Yeah!!!
    Just a plain bad episode.
     
  5. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    A half-decent episode, noteworthy for Data's description of friendship, which comes up later.

    Not sure what the big problem with the depiction of the colony is. A failed colony where civilization collapses is a valid concept. These people obviously didn't accept Federation authority, and given Tasha's backstory, apparently starships had been there before to assess the situation. The people who ran things on the planet were violent and treacherous. You can't save people from themselves.
     
  6. jimbotron

    jimbotron Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2012
    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    That was a nice touch including those words later on in Time's Arrow. Any little bit of continuity here and there is welcome.
     
  7. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jul 16, 2001
    Location:
    Trekker4747
    For me it's a meh episode. One I can watch but it's nothing fantastic. The oddest thing for me is how quickly and easily the crew seem to latch on to Ishara, accept her and do things for her given what they know about her planet. I mean, I know our crew is supposed to be friendly, open, and accepting but this seems to be a bit much.

    On the front of the state of the planet, Picard tells the planet leader in "First Contact" that the Federation offers as much, or as little, help as is wanted. It's possible this planet has said they want no Federation help and, well, is failing at being independent and the Federation is just good on their word. It's also possible that while in "Federation Space" the planet has denounced it's Federation Citizenship so it's not a "Federation Planet" and not open to aid.

    It's a F'd up situation but it seems like they've made their bed and are content to lie in it and the Federation is good on their "word" to let planets operate independently if they want to, no matter how shitty they're behaving.
     
  8. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    I think his description of friendship was also alluded to in Nemesis...perhaps one of the deleted scenes. I was watching that one recently.
     
  9. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2012
    Location:
    JirinPanthosa
    Yeah, humans are often shown as being permitted to leave the Federation and found colonies of their own. This is one of those cases.

    I think it's a reasonably good episode.
     
  10. Makarov

    Makarov Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2013
    For some reason I always thought the actress was Linda Hamilton for some reason. I like the end of this episode with Data / Rikers comments on trust. I play that in my head everytime I get screwed over by a relationship.
     
  11. jimbotron

    jimbotron Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2012
    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    Between Ishara and the faction leader, oh the 80s hair! (I know it was 1990, but still).
     
  12. MikeS

    MikeS Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2008
    Location:
    Liverpool, UK
    What made you jump to that conclusion? As depicted in Where No One Has Gone Before, I took Tasha to be at least 18. Not that I'm saying that makes it OK - it is still terrible! But it is quite a leap from "rape gangs" to "child rape gangs", and I can't recall that being said anywhere.
     
  13. Jeyl

    Jeyl Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2009
    Location:
    Asheville, NC
    From "The Naked Now".

    TASHA: Do you know how old I was when I was abandoned?
    DATA: Chronological age? No, I am afraid I am not familiar with
    TASHA: Five. Five years old, but I survived. I learned how to stay alive, how to avoid the rape gangs. I was fifteen before I escaped. ​

    I think her flashback to that scene in "Where No One Has Gone Before" was simply putting her current age into that situation, not representing her true age at that moment. So taken to it's logical conclusion, Tasha had to avoid the rape gangs from the ages of five to fifteen, not eighteen.
     
  14. Armored Saint

    Armored Saint Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2012
    Location:
    Quebec City
    I don't think it means she had literally to escape the rape gangs since she was five. At fifteen, yes, but not at five. The rape gangs was one of the dangers she had to deal with it, not the only one.
     
  15. Jeyl

    Jeyl Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2009
    Location:
    Asheville, NC
    I don't think any episode has given us any reason to believe these rape gangs have any kind of standards, especially if 15 years old is still applicable.
     
  16. Jeyl

    Jeyl Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2009
    Location:
    Asheville, NC
    Ok, I think we're beginning to narrow down Gene Roddenberry's optimistic vision of a future where humanity is perfect.

    1. Humanity is perfect only as children.
    Children do not grieve over the loss of loved one even though the adults do ("The Bonding") and their intelligence is so astronomically high that they can do in minutes what an adult chief engineer tells him would take weeks even while drunk ("The Naked Now").

    2. Humanity is perfect as long as they are on Earth.
    Gene Roddenberry: Humanity is perfect and Earth is a Paradise.
    Sisko: "On Earth there is no poverty, no crime, no war. You look out the window of Starfleet Headquarters and you see paradise. "

    3. Humanity is perfect as long as they remain in the Federation.
    Any planet consisting of human colonies that is not within Federation jurisdiction will all eventually turn to complete and utter anarchy, resorting to waring and raping methods of living on Turkana IV to the other colonies (including human ones) that would eventually form the Maquis.

    CONCLUSION: Human children between the ages 5 and 17 who live on Earth and are a part of the Federation represent the absolute perfection that humanity has to offer. After they hit adulthood, they are no longer perfect for they will start caring about the lives of others, feeling grief and wanting to set out and explore the unknown. I guess the children at Little Lamplight were actually on to something and the isolated and suicidal society of Logan's Run is the best course of action to ensure a perfect humanity, so long as the age is reduced from 30 to 18.
     
  17. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2001
    Location:
    America, Fuck Yeah!!!
    I agree with Jeyl on this one. I don't think rape gangs would have an age limit.
     
  18. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2012
    Location:
    JirinPanthosa
    I imagine a vast majority of them wait until puberty. Not for moral reasons, of course, just because it would be the vast majority of rapists' preference. That doesn't make it a whole lot less horrible.

    My idea of the perfection of humanity in the Star Trek universe has to do with the elimination of scarcity and the ubiquity of comfort. You make resources scarce and make people fear for their lives they stop being perfect.

    Quark is the galactic expert on humans. ;)
     
  19. Armored Saint

    Armored Saint Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2012
    Location:
    Quebec City
    Yep, it's not about asking the ID of victims, but more about when the girls begin to have a "feminine body". That doesn't mean the gangs have ethical concerns. If they see a 12-year-old girl with a "mature" body, they will surely take her.

    When Yar left her planet, the rape gangs was a serious threat for her as an orphan teenager. The whole planet is in chaos, so the collective rapes are only one facets of this chaos.
     
  20. Maurice

    Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2005
    Location:
    Real Gone
    Her name should have been Ishara Yawn. This episode is one of the reasons I lost interest in TNG in Season 4.