Sigh, another episode dealing with family-related drama. Well, in a sense.
Again, sorry for the long delay between episodes but personal-life matters getting in the way and we’re in the thick, brown, soup of this season so it’s hard. But, we’ve only a few episodes left, so let’s get to it.
The Enterprise cruises through space at impulse with its left turn-signal on and dramatic music flares as Picard steps out of the Ready Room and asks for a report from Riker. They’ve intercepted a probe of unknown origin traveling through space, Worf reports that the small unmanned probe is hailing Picard by name. Since these types of situations always go so well and Picard has personally never had any traumatic encounters with unknown probes trying to communicate with him he allows his curiosity to indulge itself.
The probe responds by increasing power and beginning to fire a beam at the ship which is blocked by the shields, Worf and Data determine the beam is trying to project holographic information so they allow it to pass through the shields and deliver the message.
A translucent and flickering, Star Wars-ian, image of Damon Bok appears and he delivers a pre-recorded message about how he’s spent years trying to come up with a way to get back at Picard but was never successful and could never think of anything that’d hurt Picard as much as how Bok has been hurt, until now.
For those of you as lost as I was when I first saw this episode way back in 1994, this is a continuation of a story that was started way back in Season, Friggin’, 1. Kirk’s First Season character re-encounter was the 20th Century genetically enhanced warlord Khan angry at Kirk for leaving him behind on a desolate world and never following up on him. (Resulting the planet becoming barely habitable shortly after being left there, and the death of Khan’s wife.) For Picard? Some asshole who’s beef with him stretches back to before the series started and over a relatively petty thing considering the circumstances and how Ferengi are often depicted, especially from Season 1 where they were supposed to be more terrifying.
Anyway, during the Stargazer Incident nearly 25 years earlier Picard returned fire on an attacking Ferengi ship, destroying it and killing Bok’s son who was either a commander or crewman on the Ferengi ship. Picard and some of his crew survived but, alas, the Stargazer did not; or so Picard thought. In Season 1, Bok brought the ship back to Picard, offering it as a gift. Unknown to Picard, Bok had put a device on the ship that was able to “hack” into Picard’s mind and cause him to relive the battle in hopes that he would fire on the Enterprise and destroy it and Picard’s current crew. Didn’t go as planned.
Anway, Bok tells Picard that he now can do what Picard had done to him and announces his intentions to kill Picard’s own son. Wha, whaaaat??!?!?
Picard asks that the probe be brought on board so that it can be examined, he wants the crew to begin an investigation on how and why Bok has regained his rank of a Ferengi equivalent of a ship’s captain after the events of the earlier episode (where Bok was stripped of his title for taking his crew out on an “unprofitable” venture that involved giving away salvage.) He asks that the crew also begin trying to verify Bok’s story, starting with the guy’s name (Jason Vigo) and on that starting with a woman named Miranda Vigo. Which, I dunno, seems like a good, and obvious, place to start. I don’t think the crew needed to be told “to find out more about this dude with this name, how about you look into this dude with this name and any familial connections he may have in our 24th century world of likely near-perfect record keeping.
Picard also seems to easily accept the notion he has a son and obviously recognizes the name of and linked to a woman he had a strong relationship with so…. Do they not use protection in the 25th century? If not condoms, sponges, diaphragms or whatever you’d think they’d have medicinal means to prevent women from mothering a child (hell, we have that today!) and even to prevent a man from fathering a child (something Riker likely is on constantly.) You’d think these people would be a lot smarter and careful about bedding aliens and women all over the galaxy and making sure it wouldn’t result in a pregnancy especially when they’re going to be light years away by the time the birth occurs.
Later, Picard is in the Ready Room looking out his window when Riker enters with an update on the research, they’ve located the woman Picard named as well as her son Jason, they’re on a remote planet that’s described as being somewhat hostile and not good at record-keeping as the most recent picture they could find of the 25-year-old Jason is of him as a middle-schooler. Picard has them set course for the planet, as no matter what the reality is the guy is in danger.
Riker conducts himself professionally during this which Picard says he appreciates but he lets his hair down (so to speak) in order to open up to Will about the past, and admits there’s a possibility that Jason could be his son. Picard was on leave on Earth 24-some years ago where he met and had a passionate love affair with Miranda but they both knew he’d be shipping out soon and just lived in the moment -It’s unclear if this would have happened before or after Picard’s encounter with the Naussicans that cost him is biological heart- and haven’t spoken to each other since. Miranda was a strong-willed woman and Picard thinks it’d be in character for her to have the child and never ask anything from Picard or to tell him about it.
It’s actually a nice, real, moment between Picard and Riker and just more of a testament to Stewart’s talent as an actor.
The ship arrives at the planet and are having communication difficulties so Picard and Data perform an impromptu census on the planet first looking for human life signs, none of the females are in Miranda’s age range, and none of the males are in the age range of Vigo except for maybe a life sign they’re having trouble getting a fix on because of his location in a cavern, a more intense scan shows that he likely would be in the right age range. They’re unsure why he’s in the dangerous caverns unless he was hiding or running from someone and as there’s seismic activity beginning, Picard opts to have the man beamed to the ship.
He appears on the transporter pad in rock-climbing position and turns to face the opening of the transporter in surprise, wondering what’s going on and if he’s not in any trouble could they simply beam him back to the cave, he was just in there spelunking.
Picard confirms that he is Jason Vigo and tells him about the threat made on his life and the reasons why; Jason is a bit stunned himself as his mother never told him about his father beyond him being in Starfleet; he also informs him Miranda passed away some years ago. Jason agrees to submit to a genetic test (though, as I’m always wondering, you’d think the transporter logs could tell them literally everything about this guy down to the literal smallest detail) and, as no offense to Picard since his life is on the line, he hopes they’re not related.
Crusher draws a blood sample from Jason’s neck -who presses on the injection site and seems to react to not only the lack of pain but also the lack of blood- and goes over the computer wall to analyze it. Picard uses the gap in activity to try and find out more about Jason. Jason seems to have a brash, roguish quality about him as he dodges some of Picard’s questions with non-committal answers (which Picard seems to see through) in some ways he sort-of reminds me of, I dunno, Matt Damon in The Martian? He opens and looks at a tricorder curiously.
The Sickbay computer, apparently having a laggy day, is finally done with the blood analysis and Crusher calls the men over to view the results which confirm that Jason is Picard’s and Miranda’s child.
Jason looks over the artifacts and such in Picard’s quarters, taking in his father, as the two talk the differences between the two men becomes more and more apparent as Picard has lived a comfortable life with comparative luxuries and comfort, while Jason has lived a life in a fight for survival. He says Picard was “taken” by trading a bottle of brandy for a rare and precious alien artifact that’s ultimately worthless to anyone not into archaeology. Jason’s demeanor takes on a very aggressive stance and demeanor and his suggests there may be a good reason why his mother never told him about Picard or vice-versa.
The whole set-up is very much akin to a contemporary tale of a rich man who finds out he has a son he never knew about until recent events conspired to reveal the adult child now living without the mother around, having grown bitter about living life in comparative poverty. The look and interaction between Jason and Picard here is very much in that tone of the estranged child walking around his father’s mansion and being disgusted at the things he wastes his life and time with when the son’s entire life is built around getting to the next day. It’s the type of thing Trek did very well, taking a present-day situation or circumstance and altering it to fit into the futuristic setting of Star Trek. And though there’s a measure of conflict here between Picard and Jason it’s a dramatic conflict born out of the plot and not manufactured one for the sake of making an interesting story.
One of Gene Roddenberry’s “guidelines” early in TNG was that the conflict would come from outside the ship as humans in the 24th century have learned to live and work together in peace and conflict just didn’t happen. He had objection to a second-season human character so ambitious in his scientific quest he’s argumentative and destructive to the crew and ship. He felt humans would all work together for the best solution (in that case seeing a new form of life and trying to protect it and learn about it) and not put their own goals over a greater good. Conflict came from alien characters who didn’t have the same ideals as our human ones.
Here we’re very much in that type of situation even though Jason is human. He’s lived on a non-human planet in a fairly non-human way (compared to how most humans in the Federation work and live) so there’s conflict here not because someone on the ship or in Starfleet needs to be pissed for little reason or have self-ambition because they’re a stock Evil Admiral but because of a deeper story.
Anyway, back to the show.
Jason asks to be returned to the planet, but Picard advises him that that’s not wise and fills him in on the history with Bok; Jason seems to resign himself to staying on the Enterprise for an indefinite length of time until the Bok think is cleared up and asks for quarters. Picard tells him that he wants this situation resolved just as much as Jason but hopes that their time together will give them a chance to make-up for lost time. Jason seems to roll his eyes at this notion.
Geordi has been looking over the probe from the beginning of the episode but it’s been rigged and program to make its journey hard to determine him and Data spout off some treknobabble on how various “environmental” signatures on the probe’s hull could help them determine the course it took, but it will take some time to do; a Ferengi “captain” hails the ship to help Picard with the situation with Bok.
The Ferengi is typically… “Ferengi” during the encounter but otherwise seems comparatively forthcoming with information. He confirms that Bok was stripped of his rank and sent to prison but he was able to buy his way out and escape, his last known whereabouts where in a star cluster that Picard says contains more than 20 systems. The Ferengi says that Picard “doesn’t have to thank him” and ends the call. Even though they think they have a large search to look forward to, the scant information ended up being more useful that it seems as Geordi is able to find a nebula and star in the system that matches the signature on the probe’s hull. They may have a location fix on Bok, or at least at start.
Picard meets with Beverly where she warmly greets him and takes a casual “position” on her office chair by pulling her leg up and resting her foot on the seat and cradling her leg as her and Picard talk. Again, it’s a small, nice, little moment showing the friendship between these two for Beverly to make such a casual and slightly playful stance in her chair. Or, I dunno, maybe this is how she always sits? A patient comes in and she has to inform them they have a terminal case of Vogarian Cancer Plague and as she does so she’s sitting there cradling her leg while resting her chin on her knee.
Picard seeks advice from the only other parent he knows on how to handle things with Jason, he’s felt Jason’s pushing Picard out and unwillingness to open up/ Picard, more trying to convince himself, thinks maybe he should just stay out of the way and let Jason come to him when he wants to. Beverly seems considers this a good route to go but then counters her agreement by asking Picard if he’s doing what’s easiest for Jason or what’s easiest for Picard?
Jason’s in his quarters which are the windowless, secondary/junior officer, quarters (like what Worf and Geordi have) which seems like kind of an insult. You’d think Picard would have him put-up in one of the larger, multi-room suite style quarters like Picard has. Jason’s out of his climbing suit and in more casual clothes, and a vest, and seems to be “unpacking” his things, including climbing gear. The door-chime rings he lets out a “Yeah?!” which seems to be enough for the door to open and let Troi, in uniform, walk in.
Jason smiles at our lovely counselor and acts openly and warmly towards her, sitting comfortably on the sofa as she begins to talk with him about how he’s feeling given the events the last day or so. Jason brushes them off saying people have wanted to kill him before and he laughs off Troi’s concerns, she probes further about Jason not meeting his father every day. Jason capitulates it was a shock but he continues to try a more Kirk-like charm on Troi, who doesn’t need to be empathic to see right through Jason’s act, saying he feels more comfortable just talking to her. Troi tries to push the conversation back in the direction she wants it to go but Jason can’t help himself, acting more and more like Reboot Kirk, and cranks up the charm he’s trying to put on Troi.
Troi says she’s there professionally and if Jason isn’t willing to talk she’ll leave, he allows it; she says Jason can always come to her office if he feels like talking, Jason says he might just do that still smiling and trying for a charm-thing. It’s not working.
The ship slows to impulse.
Picard’s asleep in his quarters and his awakened by Bok standing at the foot of his bed making threats against Jason, Picard reacts and calls for security (which he can’t just call for, he has to reach to the nightstand area, look, and press a button to activate the com-system) when he turns back to the foot of his bed Bok is gone.
Geordi looks over some reports and says he’s unsure of how Bok got through the shields, there’s no trace of transporter activity, nor anything that could have generated or projected a hologram. Picard wonders if he might be using the mind-control device he used during their last encounter; Geordi doesn’t believe so but capitulates to the idea that the device may have been altered to work undetected and broadens their scans to look for sources. Picrard orders Worf to assign a security detail to Jason for his protection, adding that he doesn’t feel he needs any for himself as Jason is the target, not Picard. Data arrives to report to Picard that information he’s gotten on Jason’s records back on the planet, mostly concerning Jason’s criminal record which consists mostly of petty crimes like thieving, fights and trespassing.
Jason is in Ten-Forward getting a drink being watched over, closely, by two security officers. He calls to the cute female officer who eagerly comes over, seemingly giving in to Jason’s charms a lot more than Troi did, showing flattery when Jason asks for her first name. Jason, transition-lessly turns off his charm and asks the female security guard if her and male companion can’t do their job from the other side of the room. She seems hurt but re-stoned at the rebuff and her and the other officer move further away.
