I haven't watched Pen Pals for easily 15 years, as I did not remember it as a particularly engaging or interesting episode, but I decided to watch it today with my 9-year old son. I have to say, I think it is a really solid episode that I don't think gets much discussion.
The A and B stories are both really quite compelling. The A story has Data revealing that he may or may not have broken the prime directive by answering a hail from a lesser-developed world. The debate around what to do with this, and the role of the Prime Directive in this situation is actually all quite good. There is an ensemble scene in Picard's quarters (it actually looks like he had a spread of food put out in the background, which I had never noticed before) that contains some really good dialogue and has some heat to it.
The B story about Wesley taking on the geological survey team and looking to solve the mystery as to why all the planets in this sector are experiencing geological upheaval is also really quite good. There are some excellent lessons in early leadership on display here, and I like how the crew all treat Wes like an adult. It's actually one of the more realistic and believable (and entertaining) "Wes saves the day" stories.
It's also noteworthy that the A and B stories both weave together rather expertly, which isn't always the case.
Most of all, the dialogue and characterizations all seem spot-on, which was much more rare for TNG S1 and S2 (even though I really like these early seasons).
Add to all this some really brilliant location shooting for the holodeck horseback scenes, and I found myself pleasantly engaged in this episode...certainly FAR more than I ever remembered being.
The A and B stories are both really quite compelling. The A story has Data revealing that he may or may not have broken the prime directive by answering a hail from a lesser-developed world. The debate around what to do with this, and the role of the Prime Directive in this situation is actually all quite good. There is an ensemble scene in Picard's quarters (it actually looks like he had a spread of food put out in the background, which I had never noticed before) that contains some really good dialogue and has some heat to it.
The B story about Wesley taking on the geological survey team and looking to solve the mystery as to why all the planets in this sector are experiencing geological upheaval is also really quite good. There are some excellent lessons in early leadership on display here, and I like how the crew all treat Wes like an adult. It's actually one of the more realistic and believable (and entertaining) "Wes saves the day" stories.
It's also noteworthy that the A and B stories both weave together rather expertly, which isn't always the case.
Most of all, the dialogue and characterizations all seem spot-on, which was much more rare for TNG S1 and S2 (even though I really like these early seasons).
Add to all this some really brilliant location shooting for the holodeck horseback scenes, and I found myself pleasantly engaged in this episode...certainly FAR more than I ever remembered being.
