Star Trek: The Next Generation/Recap/S1/E25 The Neutral Zone

Series:Star Trek: The Next Generation Episode: Season 1, Episode 25 Title:"The Neutral Zone" Previous: Conspiracy Next: The Child Recapper: Hello999

Well, Picard is away, so Riker gets the Cool Chair, and the Enterprise has encountered an old space capsule from Earth. Worf suggests they grab it with a tractor beam, but Riker would rather it be destroyed. Whoa, who switched their personalities? Data decides to investigate it with Worf and they find some Human Popsicles onboard, three of whom are revivable. At this point, Picard comes back and wants to get underway, so Data and Worf bring the frozen people onto the Enterprise. Back in command, Picard orders Geordi to plot a course for the Romulan Neutral Zone. At a staff meeting, we learn that the Romulans have not had any contact with The Federation for decades. Picard explains that the Federation has lost contact with its outposts along the Neutral Zone and Starfleet is sending the Enterprise to investigate. Their orders are to avoid a military confrontation if possible.

Meanwhile, Dr. Crusher has the people from the capsule asleep in Sickbay. She explains to Picard that those primitive twentieth-century morons were scared of death. Seriously, that's how she says it. Apparently, the twenty-fourth century is just so perfect that no one fears death anymore. Anyway, these people were placed in cryogenic freeze after dying of then terminal illnesses, but now they have been easily saved by Dr. Crusher. The capsule with their bodies was placed in space to avoid the risk of a brown out. Picard berates Data for saving people who were technically dead because now they're alive and have to be treated like living beings. You know, maybe twenty-fourth-century people suck a lot more than they think. Riker is delegated the task of introducing their twentieth-century guests to the Enterprise. They have some other names, but hell, we're just going to call them Gilligan, Mr. Howell, and Mary Ann. That way we don't have to explain their personalities. Just imagine Ginger, the Skipper, the Professor, and Mrs. Howell were the people on the capsule who didn't survive. Much like the real Mr. Howell, our version doesn't seem able to comprehend the fact that all the money he had where he came from is now meaningless. Gilligan wants to watch television, but Data replies that television went out of style in the twenty-first century, no doubt because of YouTube. He asks what people do for fun in the twenty-fourth century and apparently no one thinks to introduce him to the holodeck or the other numerous forms of entertainment on the Enterprise-D.

Picard calls Riker and Data to a meeting. On the way, Riker self-righteously talks about their guests as though they were the scum of the Earth, never mind Mr. Howell has only been mildly annoying and the other two did nothing other than not instantly knowing how the twenty-fourth century works. At the meeting, Riker suggests the Romulans are seeking a confrontation with the Federation to find out how advanced they have become since they broke off contact. Mr. Howell interrupts the meeting on the com-panel, demanding to see Picard and ranting about how much better the service was on the QE2. Picard meets with him and Mr. Howell complains about needing to check his balance and how this is clearly so much more important than whatever Picard is doing. Picard responds by delivering a pious lecture about how awesome the money-less Federation is. At this point, Mary Ann starts crying, so Picard sends Troi to handle it. Troi walks in on her crying and observes that she is sad. It turns out that Mary Ann is upset because her sons and everyone else she knows is long dead. Troi cheers her up by looking up her family tree and discovering the existence of a living descendant who looks exactly like her husband. Meanwhile, Gilligan is sitting alone bored in his quarters, having apparently still not been told about any of the forms of entertainment on the Enterprise. Data stops by and replicates a guitar for him.

Finally, something actually happens with the Romulan plotline. The Enterprise reaches the outposts and finds them destroyed as expected, but not in a way which suggests the Romulans were responsible. Meanwhile, Mr. Howell tells Gilligan and Mary Ann that something is up. Gilligan replies that it's none of their business, but Mr. Howell knows better and decides to wander around the ship until he finds Picard. Eventually, he walks into a turbolift and asks to be taken to the Captain. Mr. Howell steps onto the bridge just as a Romulan ship is decloaking. Picard decides to hail them, but Worf replies by reciting his Backstory and explaining that Romulans suck. Picard still decides to hail them and it turns out one of the Romulans is Gul Dukat with different makeup. It seems the Romulans have the same problem as their Neutral Zone outposts have been destroyed as well. Picard suggests they work together to find out what happened. The first Romulan agrees, but then the other one says "Forget that, we're Romulans and you suck. Goodbye." And then they fly away.

Picard dumps Gilligan, Mr. Howell, and Mary Ann on a ship headed for Earth and the episode ends with the destruction of the outposts still unexplained. Later on in "Q Who", we get a throwaway line implying that the as-yet-unmet Borg were behind the attacks, but that's it. Basically, this episode, which caps off the largely mediocre first season, is appropriately enough one big Anticlimax. Things will get better better, but it will take about another season.


 * Broken Aesop: A large part of the episode is devoted to the Federation characters lecturing the 20th-century people about how superior 24th-century humans are. However, the time-displaced people's complaints have the ring of truth... Picard and Riker display even more smug arrogance and self-superiority than usual, and treat a bunch of confused, emotionally distraught people like garbage. The only member of the Enterprise crew to display anything like empathy is Data. Basically it makes it look like humans haven't changed at all, other than finding new things to be pretentious about.