Was anything said in the episode about sensor scans or something regarding what the thing was made of? I remember thinking once that maybe the entity might actually be a machine of some sort?
I know I thought in Datalore Tasha made a single comment about it as a potential mechanism. This being early in its appearance when the are scanning it and trying to figure out what it is. However I didn't see that. As near as I can tell they are satisfied quickly that it is alive and not a machine. If it were a robot that would change the moral implications of killing it wouldn't it?
The planet killer was an actual weapon designed to do exactly that. I think the better question would be if the Crystalline Entity was an artificial construct and was sentient like Data, would the morality of kiling it be the same?
Thanks for that great repsonse, Garth, your viewpoint does indeed make sense, I can see how a performance shift cold have made the "cure" that much more evident and powerful.
^^this, to both. "Royale" is unusual but each viewing has it growing on me. "Measure" is great but it gets a little over the top. Other underrated episodes would include "When the Bough Breaks". The ozone hole was the big concern in 1987 (with measures already going on to improve the problem, which proved successful) but it's covering so many other topics and it's all the more brilliant in doing so subtly for the most part.
Picard was mind-raped and the episode, from recollection, has the probe seeking out just one person and then *zap* it ceases to operate instead of finding as many people it can interface with, share the memories, and hand out free flute pez dispensers with afterward. Good choices for the underrated list too, IMHO. Transfigurations is not the best episode ever made but it makes for an interesting allegory, albeit superficially... Trek is known for trying to tackle big issues and come up with softball answers, sometimes none at all. Sometimes the issues ostensibly being talked about come across far differently. It was a very wimpy correlation to try to justify the forced plot points, and the plot became decidedly one-note (including ignoring the fact he states the engrams are an amalgam and not complete, Data speaking on the behalf of a dead person and the number of times he stated the word "believe" (and melodramatically!), merely confirms how rotten the episode became) that Dr Marr was completely and solely wrong. Typical season 5 forced one-sided preachiness... The sad part is that I'm more likely believing of it as a bona fide life form that can exist in space (just don't ask how it travels at warp speeds) and the crystal morse code tapping was very clever, but compared to other season 5 stories this one is remarkably tame despite its crafted preachfest... But when Lore stated the CE was grateful... oh dear, do I ask if the Entity was being duped the same way I'm grateful to the stranger who told me where the nearest McDonalds was? Or like in the story where the pizza delivery person arrives but I don't have the money but am grateful I can pay another way, which rarely happens...? Either which way, sometimes it is nothing more than instinct and there is zero ability TO reason because not all species are sentient and conscious as such. Or incompatible; the Vervoids from "Doctor Who" exemplify this completely.