1.21 Symbiosis

Rating: 2

After rescuing most of the crew of a freighter, the Enterprise ends up in the middle of a dispute between the Onarans, who are suffering from a plague, and the Brekkians, who possess the medicine to cure it. In reality, the ‘medicine’ is a narcotic, and the Onarans are drug addicts.

Comments

Once again, this is a preachy retro episode that has the look and feel of one of any mediocre episodes from TOS. I dislike any script where every inhabitant of a planet is the same.

I think this entire story could have been filmed in 3 minutes with proper writing.

Merritt Butrick, who played Kirk’s son in the movies Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock, has a large role here. A smaller role goes to Judson Scott, who played Kahn’s second in command in Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan.

Nits

Why isn’t Troi invited to come to the first meeting with Picard, the Onarans, and the Brekkians? Wouldn’t her skills have been helpful in figuring out this mystery a lot earlier? Is that why she wasn’t invited?

After T’jon ‘shocks’ Riker, Riker declares, "My insides are still shaking…but I’m alright." Granted, I’m sure he feels alright, but he has just been affected by an unknown alien energy force – shouldn’t he have to go to sick bay for a full examination?

The Prime Directive is a very stern mistress. It looks good on paper as ‘No Interference with Pre-warp Civilizations’ but doesn’t seem as noble when that converts to ‘No Humanitarian or Medical Aid for Suffering Pre-warp Civilizations’, as it does in this episode.

Memorable Moments

•    The hokey bridge discussion between Wesley and Tasha: he can’t understand how anyone could get addicted to drugs, and she explains it (a real After School Special moment). Tasha says (out of context) "Drugs can make you feel good." It would be a great snippet of video to grab.

•    This episode was the last Trek episode filmed by Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar) – although she appears and dies in the next aired episode. To say goodbye to the fans, she gives a big wave in the background just as the turbolift doors are closing, right after the Brekkians and Onarans are beamed out.

Quotable Quotes

T’jon: It’s all – you know – dead I guess. It’s all…shut down?
Picard: That is a little vague.
(Picard giving tech support to a newbie)