6.04 Relics

Rating: 3

The Enterprise discovers what may be a Dyson Sphere – a star totally enclosed and surrounded by an energy-harnassing, man-made structure. And another discovery is made – a 75 year-old transport ship, holding a former Starfleet officer (Montgomery Scott) within its transporter’s pattern buffer.

Comments

Although this is a decent episode, and it’s great to see Scotty again, and to get a glimpse at the bridge of the original Enterprise, for the most part this feels like an episode contrived to accommodate Scott. "Hey, let’s get James Doohan back for an episode! Now…any ideas for a script?"

Nits

Scotty has been able to preserve his body and mind within the transporter buffer for 75 years by jury-rigging a self-running diagnostic and some other technobabble. Presumably, this technique could be perfected and used to store anyone who was terminally ill, so they could be restored when a cure was available. However, the technique is never again mentioned. Which also brings up another question: why isn’t cryogenics ever used for this purpose on Trek?

When LaForge beams over to the Jenolen, he has a sachel slung over his shoulder, and a toolkit in his hand. Over the course of the episode, a series of events transpire, and the Enterprise has no choice but to quickly beam Scotty and LaForge off the Jenolen and then blow it up. Just prior to beaming Geordi off the Jenolen, we see him sitting in a command chair, holding onto the chair with both hands as the Jenolen is about to blow apart. Yet when he steps off the transporter pad after being beamed out, he once again has his sachel slung over his shoulder, and his toolkit in his hand! He must be very fastidious to have taken the time to grab these items before beam out! (Of course, this kind of thing happens because the beam-over and beam-out scenes are filmed sequentially, and someone didn’t think clearly about how LaForge should look after an emergency beam-out).

Memorable Moments

•    Scotty beaming in

•    The bridge of the original Enterprise, and the scene with Scotty and Picard

Quotable Quotes

"It is…it is…it is green!"
- Data, describing a bottle of whiskey to Scotty (this is a homage to the TOS episode By Any Other Name, where Scotty uses the phrase, "It is green" to describe a bottle of alcohol to his Kelvin drinking partner

"NCC-1701. No bloody A, B, C or D."
- Scotty, telling the computer which Enterprise’s bridge to recreate