The Next Generation Revisited: Unveiling 10 Astonishing Truths 29 Years Later
Unveiling the Unforgettable: Rediscovering Star Trek: The Next Generation after 29 Years - A Candid Exploration of its Timeless Themes, Groundbreaking Technology, and Unavoidable Imperfections
Most of Star Trek: The Next Generation still holds up today, but certain early episodes are cringe-worthy. This series, which follows Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the USS Enterprise-D, had a lot of expectations when it premiered in 1987. It took fans a few years to truly embrace the new cast of characters. Given the rocky first season, it's surprising that the show managed to survive those initial years.
Star Trek has always had its highs and lows in terms of quality. When it's good, it's award-winning, but when it's bad, well, let's just say episodes like "Angel One" and "Code of Honor" won't be winning any awards. Although Star Trek: The Next Generation produced some of the best television episodes in the 1990s, it took a couple of seasons to establish itself as a worthy successor to the original series. While most of the show is still worth watching today, there are 10 harsh realities to face when rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation.
10 TNG's Holodeck Dangers Were Problematic
9 Geordi La Forge Had A Creepy Obsession With Dr. Leah Brahms
While many holodeck episodes in TNG had entertaining narratives, there is a perplexing aspect to them. Although it is reasonable for the holodeck to have safety protocols, it is illogical that these protocols can be deactivated by anyone or anything. In the episode "The Big Goodbye" from season 1 of TNG, the safety protocols are inadvertently disabled by a probe scan, risking the life of an Enterprise crew member. Similarly, in "Elementary, Dear Data," the holodeck computer generates a formidable opponent, Professor James Moriarty (Daniel Davis), who nearly seizes control of the Enterprise. The inclusion of holodecks on Starfleet's most crucial vessels becomes nonsensical when the potential for such catastrophic breakdowns exists.
Enterprise Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) has many admirable qualities, but he often struggled with romantic relationships. In the TNG season 3 episode, "Booby Trap," Geordi creates a holodeck program featuring a replica of scientist Dr. Leah Brahms (Susan Gibney). Initially unintentional, Geordi then introduces Dr. Brahms' actual personality into the holodeck simulation and finds himself falling in love with her. The ethical implications of creating a virtual replica of a real person are already evident, and matters become even more complicated when the genuine Leah Brahms visits the Enterprise in TNG season 4's "Galaxy's Child." Upon discovering Geordi's program, she expresses her distress at feeling violated. Unfortunately, Geordi responds by angrily blaming her, positioning himself as the victim. Lt. Commander La Forge's behavior in this situation leaves much to be desired.
8 TNG's "The Naked Now" Is A Bad Sequel To TOS
7 "Angel One" Fails In Its Critique of Gender Roles
The first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation had several shortcomings, and this attempt at a follow-up to the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Naked Time" fell short of expectations. Being only the third episode of the series, the audience had not yet developed a strong familiarity with the characters, making their unusual behavior in this episode feel out of place. The Enterprise-D's crew is portrayed as heavily intoxicated in an exaggerated manner, which seems overly unrealistic. Out of all the TOS episodes that could have been chosen for a sequel, this one was an unusual and ultimately embarrassing choice.
"Angel One" borrows the worst traits from Star Trek: The Original Series as it follows the Enterprise-D crew on a mission to locate missing Starfleet officers. However, the episode's attempt to address gender roles falls flat, ultimately coming across as sexist and outdated. Instead of challenging traditional stereotypes, the episode unwittingly perpetuates them. Surprisingly, Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), dressed in a ludicrous outfit, emerges as the hero in an episode that is supposed to focus on women's empowerment. Furthermore, the subplot revolves around the rest of the Enterprise crew falling ill with a severe cold.
6 Barclay Had An Inappropriate Holodeck Fantasy
Lieutenant Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz) has always been a divisive character, and his debut episode on TNG, "Hollow Pursuits," did not do him any favors. While many can relate to Barclay's insecurity and social awkwardness, his coping mechanisms tend to raise eyebrows. In his first appearance, Riker, La Forge, and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) stumble upon Barclay's elaborate holodeck fantasy, where he has created replicas of the main Enterprise crewmembers. Although the episode attempts to inject humor into the situation, the recreated characters range from mildly offensive to completely inappropriate, leaving a distasteful impression. However, despite this unsettling holodeck storyline, "Hollow Pursuits" is not without its merits, and Barclay's character does undergo positive development in subsequent episodes.
5 Dr. Crusher's Relationship With A Ghost Is Just Weird
Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), unfortunately, only takes the lead in a few episodes of TNG, and it's disappointing that TNG season 7's "Sub Rosa" is one of them. During the funeral of her grandmother, Dr. Crusher makes a shocking discovery that her grandmother had a romantic relationship with a noncorporeal entity named Ronin (Duncan Regehr). Intrigued, Beverly becomes involved with Ronin, even going so far as to leave her post on the Enterprise for him. However, she later uncovers Ronin's true intentions - he relies on possessing the bodies of Beverly's female ancestors throughout the years. As the story comes to an end, she destroys the candle that sustains Ronin's existence. Overall, this episode's storyline is bizarre, and Dr. Crusher deserved a more compelling narrative.
4 TNG's Civilian & Casual Outfits Are Laughable
3 TNG's Female Characters Often Got the Worst Storylines
Star Trek shows in the 1980s and 1990s suffered from a fashion problem. While the standard Starfleet uniforms were mostly acceptable, the civilian outfits for the main characters were hilariously bad. It remains a mystery why the creators believed that low v-necks for men and unflattering or revealing tops for women would be considered fashionable in the 24th century. Unfortunately, even the Captain of the USS Enterprise and other prominent characters were subjected to truly dreadful outfits. From Picard's barely-there vacation clothing in "Captain's Holiday" to whatever Riker wore in "Angel One," the main characters had to wear exceptionally unfashionable attire.
As the two female leads on TNG, Dr. Beverly Crusher and Counselor Deanna Troi should have had equal opportunities as their male counterparts, but unfortunately, that was not always the case. Dr. Crusher, as the ship's Chief Medical Officer, had slightly more prominence than Troi, who was a half-Betazoid counselor. While Troi possessed the unique ability to sense emotions, it was often used to state the obvious feelings. The episodes centered around Crusher or Troi often had weaker storylines compared to those focused on the main male characters. Although TNG gave its female characters more depth than TOS, they were still often relegated to supporting roles or love interests. Thankfully, Star Trek: Picard finally provided Crusher and Troi with stronger narratives.
2 TNG's Episodic Structure Hurt Important Character Arcs
1 "Code of Honor" Is Blatantly Racist
In today's television landscape, most shows have evolved to adopt a more serialized format compared to the 1980s and 1990s. In contrast, TNG followed an episodic structure where each episode presented a distinct story that was mostly independent of the others. As a result, every episode needed to resolve the main conflicts and restore the Enterprise to its original state. The characters were unable to undergo significant story arcs, as they had to start and end each episode in a relatively unchanged position. Traumatic experiences endured by the characters would be swiftly resolved by the following episode, severely limiting the variety of stories that TNG could explore. However, more recent Star Trek installments, like Star Trek: Picard, have revisited some of TNG's storylines, striking a better balance between episodic and serialized storytelling.
"Code of Honor" is another episode that brings back memories of the worst episodes from the original Star Trek series (TOS). Unfortunately, it does not have many positive qualities. The story takes place when the Enterprise visits a planet called Ligon II, where the leader of the planet's people kidnaps Security Chief Tasha Yar (played by Denise Crosby) with the intention of making her his wife. It is baffling that someone involved in Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) thought it was a good idea to not only portray the Ligonian society as a tribal African society but also cast only Black actors for the Ligonians, even though their race did not affect the plot. This episode is filled with offensive racist and sexist stereotypes and has faced criticism from several TNG actors. While TNG had many exceptional episodes, "Code of Honor" is widely considered one of the worst.
