Conspiracy episode.
- Thread starter Markinvirginia
- Start date
Fantastic episode, evidence that TNG Season One took a lot more risks and chances than in later years.
I guess the problem for me was that a conspiracy in Star Fleet doesn't have any meaning for me, if it's evil parasitic millipedes doing it. How 24th century Star Fleet officers could do it and why, that's interesting.
They implied the aliens would be back with the homing beacon comment. I never quite understood that. If the aliens had taken over key positions in Star Fleet and were shifting personnel around to consolidate their power, you'd think they'd know already where Earth and other key planets are located. But it so supposed to be ominous. It promised an illusive scary enemy in the future, but the show did not deliver one.
When the ep first aired, I couldn't decide what was more shocking: that it was so violent, or that the Enterprise returned to (present day) Earth before the 1st season was out. Something that NEVER happened during the entire run of TOS.
The whole TNG premise had been sold as: 20 year mission. Deep, deep space. Bring your fam because we're going SO far away. Then, they warp over to Earth. Guess they haven't gone TOO far away, yet.
The whole TNG premise had been sold as: 20 year mission. Deep, deep space. Bring your fam because we're going SO far away. Then, they warp over to Earth. Guess they haven't gone TOO far away, yet.
Well, it's clear that the Remmick Creature would be sending a message.
It's just equally clear that this message would be a frantic "ABORT! ABORT! WE HAVE FAILED! DO NOT PROCEED! BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD!"...
The aliens had total control of Starfleet Headquarters, and clearly they could not hold that for long. Perhaps two or three days, tops, and then it would be all over. There was a time window there, and Picard and Riker slammed it shut. So somewhere within that ominous cone of approach, a mighty invasion fleet made a 180 degree turn...
Thankfully for bored or unimaginative spinoff writers, it doesn't follow that the bluegills would never attempt an invasion again. If they wanted the Federation, they might well keep on trying. But they sound like one-trick ponies: nobody will fall for the "hiding inside a suspiciously amnesiaic host and giving weird orders" one again. And that trick was built into their very biologies! Any further attack would have to be more generic and thus dramatically a much less interesting use of the species.
Timo Saloniemi
The TOS ship came back to Earth twice. Both times for the purposes of time travel, perhaps, but that necessarily involved space travel as well. For "Assignment: Earth", being right next to Earth was not noteworthy in any way; for "Tomorrow is Yesterday", being flung to Earth within a couple of minutes at most (longer, and the unconscious crew would have to be classified as comatose and in mortal danger) indicated close proximity, again without comment.
Or they went, met Q, took heed and turned back... Disappointing but logical.
The first third of S1 is ambiguous on whether the ship is pushing outwards or getting back home: the civilizations met are not part of the Federation, nor frequented or even visited by other Starfleet assets. But "Haven" ends this pattern already, and "Angel One" has the ship solidly back on familiar turf, with the Romulans and all.
Timo Saloniemi
I know- that's why I specified "present day" as in, the show's present day.
TMP is the first time we see Earth in the show's present.
LOVE Assignment: Earth, btw.
One of my favourite of all TNG episodes. It was tense, gory and one of the least self-conscious of the season one episodes. It's one of the best concepts, and I'd say it was better in its potential than what we got with the villains that supplanted them: the Borg.
