Contagion

[CorporalClegg]

This is one of those episodes I haven't seen in a really long time. (Probably close to 15 years.) I'd totally forgotten what a great episode it was--or maybe it's just the last time I saw it I wasn't old enough to really appreciate it.

I was completely surprised. It's an engaging story. It's got action, suspense, exploration, and (unusually) good humor.

Actually, at this point, I'm almost wishing I would have done a running commentary thread for this journey through TNG.

There's a lot more (especially in the later seasons) like this that I haven't seen in as long--some literally since their original airing.

For whatever reason, TNG was the one series of the five that I never watched all the way through when the DVD sets came out. (Probably because it was during my busiest college years.) I just cherry-picked my favorite shows and really haven't touched the sets since then.

Overtime I just sort of lost favor with TNG and kind of gave up on it. But it's episodes like this one that are getting me excited to watch the rest!

 

[ALF]

Oh yeah.
Season two was a weak point of the series... but Contagion was outstanding. They did a lot of things right with this one.

 

[JWD75]

Contagion is excellent. It was one of the first indications of what a great show TNG could be.

 

[Vanyel]

This is one of TNG's better episodes. And it does have some good humor.

Riker: If it should become necessary to fight, could you arrange to find me some rocks to throw at them?

Strange thing is that line that always bring to my mind the chapter in Stephen King's IT where the Losers are all finally brought together as kids.

 

[Pemmer Harge]

Contagion's an excellent episode, one of the best of Season 2. I especially liked the Iconian gateways - a cool sci-fi concept if ever there was one. They revisited this in the DS9 episode To the Death.

 

[DonIago]

To me the episode would have been notable for the first time we see a Galaxy class ship destroyed if nothing else. First time I saw it I briefly thought the saucer had somehow separated intact, but 'twas not to be.

The episode possibly could have been quite good without the Romulans, but including them was a definite boost.

I was glad that the Iconians (or at least their toys) showed up again.

 

[tomalak301]

Everyone loves Measure of a Man when it comes to Season 2. Me, I like Contagion. It was an interesting story, and DS9 wasn't the first series to blow up something that looked like the Enterprise. That was the first hint that this was going to be good. You see something that looks like the Enterprise and then bam, it's gone. I also really liked the whole Idea of the Iconians and was glad they got brought back.

 

[Geck]

I definitely agree. This is one of the best of season 2 and one of the most underrated eps of the whole series. There are a few "uhhhh...." moments in the logic, but the dialogue and character moments are unusually sharp for this point in the series, and the tension is maintained throughout. Plus I always get a kick out of trying to recognise the landmarks in the Iconian gateway.

It was great to see the Iconian thread picked up not only in DS9, but also in the computer game, STTNG: A Final Unity.

 

[Lor'Vela]

It was great to see the Iconian thread picked up not only in DS9, but also in the computer game, STTNG: A Final Unity.

Was there I line I missed? The only mention of Iconian in that game IIRC is the text inside the ship's computer database.

Yes, it's a great season 2 episode. Couple of things irked me though, like why Captain Varley was opposed to evacuating non-essential personnel, and the rather "first thing you would think of with today's computers" solution towards the end, but that would be hindsight.

 

[MikeS]

"first thing you would think of with today's computers" solution towards the end, but that would be hindsight.

Gene was correct! Real-life really does imitate art! What would we do if TNG hadn't have given us the solution to today's computer woes back in 1988.

Excellent episode, I loved it as an 8 year old when it was first broadcast for the exploding Yamato and Geordi's turbolift ride. It really does hold up well though. Excellent story.

Anyone read the series spanning books "Gateway's" about the Iconians? Was looking at these and wanted to know opinions?

 

[LOKAI of CHERON]

Oh yeah.
Season two was a weak point of the series... but Contagion was outstanding. They did a lot of things right with this one.

Yes, Contagion was outstanding, but I have to disagree reference the weakness of the season. For me, Seasons One and Two are easily the best of TNG.

 

[Vanyel]

Yup reformatting, when did that idea become lost?

 

[SPCTRE]

Everyone loves Measure of a Man when it comes to Season 2. Me, I like Contagion.

I just watched Contagion and I noticed how all my favorite S2 episodes are on the same disc (Contagion, Measure of a Man and The Royale).

 

[RAMA]

Oh yeah.
Season two was a weak point of the series... but Contagion was outstanding. They did a lot of things right with this one.

I remember this episode was first shown after the xmas hiatus and the episodes before it hadnt been so great...this was an awesome episode. You could quibble about fixing a virus with a reboot (hey maybe they had an auto system restore) but why?

RAMA

 

[Trevacious]

Excellent episode, I loved it as an 8 year old when it was first broadcast for the exploding Yamato and Geordi's turbolift ride.

What I thought was funny was that, when Worf appears with Data slung over his shoulder, the first suggestion is to get him to engineering, and they head straight for the same turbolift!

 

[CorporalClegg]

^
Well, even Worf would have had a hard time dragging Data's body (corpse?) through hatchs and jeffries tubes.

And I doubt a Klingon is scared of one little turbolift.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

How big is the Neutral Zone that the Iconian planet was never discovered before?

Also, they blow it up to keep Romulans from getting it, then save the Romulans.

Yeah, that was the ethical thing to do. *grumble*

So was the Romulan captain the same as "Face of the Enemy" or just same actress?

 

[CorporalClegg]

^
Memory Alpha suggests Seymour's character in "Face of the Enemy" was created because Taris fate was ambiguous.

 

[Timo]

How big is the Neutral Zone that the Iconian planet was never discovered before?

Every episode after "Balance of Terror" seems to describe the RNZ as thick enough that there can be entire star systems inside. Not in the volume enclosed by RNZ (that'd be the Romulan Star Empire), but within the volume of the Zone eggshell itself. "Contagion" is the first one to explicitly mention a planet in there, though; "The Defector" is the next.

Since nobody should theoretically be allowed to send ships in there, the Zone could plausibly hold plenty of planets of which only the location is known. Since long range sensors don't seem to be capable of the same feats as short range starship sensors, none of the secrets on or below their surface can be revealed except by illegal visits.

As for the "rebooting trick", it strikes me as somewhat implausible. One can do that to tabletop computers, yes. But rebooting the integrated computer system of a warship, or a hospital, or a bank... That would probably cost lives. The starship probably wouldn't be able to survive such a drastic discontinuity of operations.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[DonIago]

But clearly it is, because we saw it happen.