Series: Star Trek The Next Generation
Episode: 1.13 Angel One (01-25-88)
Rating: 4/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1
Notable Guest Stars:
Karen Montgomery – Beata
Sam Hennings – Ramsey
Patricia McPherson – Ariel
Leonard Crofoot – Trent
Review:
This is another episode of Season 1 I disliked. I just now, looking into the production notes on Wiki and Memory Alpha, learned that someone was trying to make commentary on Apartied. It failed, spectacularly, and instead seems to be just sexist instead.
Upon rewatching – yeah, I just see a sexist episode with no social commentary on Apartied. When doing an episode of commentary, one needs to find the spot between being too obvious and being too subtle. This episode lands in the too subtle category.
This episode also has a binary plot. Plot 1: Riker, Yar, Data and Troi all beam down to a matriarchal planet, where several crew members of a missing ship are thought to have escaped to when their ship got wrecked. The bulk of the episode is spent with this plot line. Its largely forgettable, which adds to the fact that the actually commentary meant in the episode fails at being seen.
Riker gets to have his first playboy moment, getting to have a fling with the leader of the planet.
Plot 2: Beverly Crusher has to deal with a random virus plaguing the ship that is very contagious. I’m not even sure how the virus came on board as no one actually went off the ship. But a virus is had and apparently travels by smell. It probably would have been better as a episode all on its own.
Interesting Notes:
- Written by Patrick Berry
- Directed by Michael Ray Rhodes
- First mention of the Romulans in this series.
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Pros:
- A little of character of Riker development. He’s very comfortable with adjusting to other planets fashion ideals.
Cons:
- Sexism. Its not well received by cast and crew alike.
- I’m not sure about the virius being a probable thing. Its suggested that the kids got it going on a field trip on the holodeck. Did it malfunction again?
- If this was commentary about Apartied, which was racism, it missed the ball.
Sokorra Lewis 