Now that this blog is getting back to something that resembles a schedule (one post a week is a schedule, right?) let’s also get back to some of our recurring series. Starting with the Star Trek: The Next Generation retro rewatch. Last time we covered S1E7.
Ugh, we’re still in the first season. There are times in the first couple of seasons when I question how this show survived long enough to become a cultural icon, because many of these early episodes where the writers and actors are finding their voices are hot garbage. This episode is another case in point, with an inconsistent tone, an unsatisfying conclusion, and too much Wesley Crusher. At least it isn’t the Boy Genuis saving the day for a change. Instead, in a pleasant change of pace, Wesley gets to be the instigating problem, rather than the solution, for our story. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Season 1, Episode 8 – “Justice” begins with the crew investigating a newly discovered, paradise-like planet filled with friendly, uninhibited humanoids called the Edo. The planet’s actual name is Rubicon III, but we’re going to call it “Planet Bouncy” for reasons that will be abundantly clear momentarily.
After Riker (of course) enthusiastically determines that Planet Bouncy is safe, he, along with a larger crew contingent including Worf, Troi, and Yar, beam down for the first official visit and to determine if the planet is suitable for a larger shore leave contingent. Oh, and Wesley, because only he can figure out if teenagers should be allowed to visit the planet too, or something.
Within short order, Riker is locking lips with one of the Edo girls, and Wesley runs off (literally. These people run everywhere, support be damned) with another Edo girl to join her friend group. I sure hope that Beverly has had The Talk with him, or things are going to get complicated quickly. Or they would, except that Wesley accidently breaks an Edo law by stepping in a restricted area. Oops, his bad, no big deal, right?
Wrong. Edo law mandates the death penalty for every infraction, which is why everyone is all peace and love all the time. So when the local PD arrives to take Wesley in, Enterprise security pulls phasers, and now we’ve got a mess.
Meanwhile, up on Enterprise, something else is going on. It seems that there’s a cloaked entity protecting Planet Bouncy. Picard would rather like to know what it is, especially now that he’s got a situation on the ground, and it turns out that the Edo not only know about the orbital entity, but worship it as their god.
Here’s where the episode goes completely off the rails. Picard is all about the Prime Directive, except when he isn’t. Beverly is all about saving her only son. The Edo’s god starts messing with when Enterprise’s transporters work, which means they can’t just beam Wesley off planet and scoot anyway.
Or at least, they can’t until there’s a big show trial, the resolution of which subverts any message that was originally intended with this episode. Because before the trial, the Edo’s leader offers Picard the opportunity to take Wesley and go, with Wesley being permanently listed in Bouncy’s records as “an escaped criminal beyond our reach.” Picard angrily turns him down on Prime Directive grounds. But after the trial, and Wesley’s inevitable death sentence, Picard gives an angry speech about proper justice, they beam Wesley and the away team back, and head out.
Thereby leaving the frolicking inhabitants of Planet Bouncy to conclude that The Federation is a bunch of hypocrites, their god was correct in its protection, and whatever, nothing really changes.
Which makes for an interesting comparison with how Kirk and the gang handled these sorts of things in TOS. Because they did, repeatedly, in episodes such as “Who Mourns for Adonais?”, “The Gamesters of Triskelion”, and even Star Trek V. Consistently, when confronted with a so-called god, Kirk and crew would prove that the god was false, and if necessary, leave the planet’s natives to figure out how to rebuild their society. Picard and crew say “Prime Directive, not our problem” and bail for the next planet.