The Enterprise is picking up supplies for it's next mission -to go to an industrial planet to help the repair atmospheric conditioners/biospheres. While picking up the supplies they take-on a young woman, Amanda, as an intern. She's a bright and gifted young woman seeking a career in Starfleet in some-sort of science, though she's unsure of which one at this point.
Almost immediately after getting on the ship it seems she's not everything she seems, moments after being shown to her quarters she's able to materialize her litter of pet dogs from Earth and send them back.
As Amanda travels around the ship carrying out her various duties she happens to come across a couple minor problems she quickly is able to dispatch using her -unknown to everyone else- powers, things culminate when she stops and reverses a warp-core breach while in Engineering.
Soon after the Engineering incident Q drops in on the senior staff and announces he's there to take Amanda back to the Continuum as she's the offspring of a Q, though she is unaware of this. Picard and Crusher take to Amanda's defense and insist that Q talk with her first and allow her to make the decision to leave her corporeal life.
Picard's suspicions about Q's interest grows steeper and has Data investigate Amanda's past and the history of her biological parents. Q, meanwhile, seems to be acting under orders from the Continuum's "leader."
Amanda agrees to speak with Q, though makes no promises on the decisions she'll make about her future. Q is insistent that Amanda embrace her omnipotence and tries teaching her how to use it. Crusher, meanwhile, continues with Amanda's more mundane internship.
The investigation by Picard and Data reveals that when Amanda was a toddler her biological parents died in Kansas on Earth when a tornado slipped past the planetary weather controls. When confronted with these findings Q all but admits Amanda's parents were "executed" by the Q since they used their powers during exile. The current fears are that Amanda may be a Q/human hybrid and could pose something of a threat if she's not taught about how to use her powers. If Amanda doesn't agree to return to The Continuum, Q has orders to execute her.
Amanda continues to struggle with balancing her "humanity" with her powers, but soon discovers that her powers cannot truly give her her true desires. She learns this when kidnapping Riker into a romantic fantasy of hers and uses her powers to force Riker to love her.
Ultimately, The Q decide to allow Amanda to live so long as she renounces her powers. She's sure she can do this, but Q cautions that her parents had said the same thing and weren't able to. Hence their execution.
It's at this point the ship is aiding the polluted planet when a severe problems arises on the surface that threatens the away team and the entire planet. Amanda uses her powers to correct the problem with power system and to completely remove the atmospheric pollution around the planet. She then agrees to go with Q back to The Continuum, once she's returned to Earth and spoken with her adoptive parents.
This episode: Meh.
Not a complete snooze but not a lot to really go for here and there's a few just odd things in it. It's more or less indicative of Season 6 as a whole. Largely meh. For me it's also the weakest of the Q episodes.
The young actress who plays Amanda does a good job and love the little flourish she does with her arms/hands when using her powers -as a contrast to Q snapping his fingers. I wonder if the director of the episode came up with it or if the actress did.
I know Q was behind it, but this is the third time I can think of in this series where some is (nearly) injured by something falling in one of the crago bays. (Transfigurations, Ethics,) You'd think there'd be some-kind-of safety system, a tractor-beam that'd detect something falling accidentally, or something in place to prevent accidents like this if they're so "common." I've worked in a grocery store for over 20 years and I think three times is the most I can think of where something has fallen off a high stacked item or tipped off a pallet-lift or something.
I wonder if when Amanda's biological parents died on Earth if there was any real investigation into the apparently very rare -and very strangely behaving- tornado. Seems like it was largely shrugged off by Earth.
And a tornado killing people.... In Kansas? Really, Star Trek? Is that how you want to portray our life here?
The scene/effect of Q turning Crusher into a dog, for me, goes down as one of the more ridiculous moments in the series. It's just very, very odd and out of place.
The scene of Amanda and Q on the outside of the ship, standing on the Engineering deck/engine pylons is, for me, a very beautiful thing.
Corny as it was, I liked Amanda's little "southern belle" romance fantasy with Riker.
All I go. Meh episode. Next week? The meh continues, and we get a dose of pain.
I still don't feel as well as I'd like to, but I'll chime in when I can.
