7.08 Attached

Rating: 3

When Crusher and Picard beam down to negotiate entry into the Federation with the Kes people, they are hijacked and captured by the Kes’ xenophobic rivals on the same planet, the Prit.

Comments

Out of nowhere, NextGen pushes Picard and Crusher’s character arc to deal with the simmering feelings they have had for years. Although nothing is resolved, the direction, tension, and dialogue is mature and effective.

This episode was directed by Jonathan Frakes.

Nits

When Picard enters the cave and finds the temperature hot, he removes his jacket and casually tosses it away. This is a huge mistake when on an away mission, especially since later he and Crusher will end up having to sleep overnight in the open air.

Ahhh…it’s so great to see Picard and Crusher join the select ranks of Those Who Can Outrun Fireballs!

Picard says, "The transceivers…Loren said they would align themselves to our psi-wave patterns." How does he know the Prit security minister’s name? He met her, but she never said it.

When Picard and Crusher emerge from the cave, they carry on a jaunty and very loud banter, while walking upright and making lots of eye contact with each other. Wouldn’t it be more prudent to keep low and quiet, and constantly look around? After all, they are fugitives on an alien world!

After measuring that the border is 2 kilometers away, a unknown amount of time passes while Picard and Crusher move toward the border. In the next scene, they have stopped for the night to make a campfire. Exactly how long is it taking them to walk 2 kilometers? Even if the terrain was extremely rough, they should have been able to do it in a couple of hours. Then Beverly says she is going to go to sleep because they have a lot of ground to cover!

Virtually every campire that ever burns anywhere in a movie or television scene will have a few sticks over the top, but is obviously being fed by a concentrated gas or other combustible from underneath…and Picard and Beverly’s campfire is no exception.

When Beverly walks away from Picard to go to sleep by the fire, it appears that she gets far enough away to make them both nauseus…yet they have no side effects this time.

When Beverly lays down to sleep, she puts her head just a few inches from the wood fire. Generally,wood fires throw a steady stream of sparks out and these could easily ignite her hair or clothes (of course, this fire seems to be burning completely spark – and smoke – free). Picard then lies down and puts his head even closer. Based on the size of the fire, his head should be almost burning at this point.

Memorable Moments

•    The beginnings of desire as expressed by Picard to Beverly after he spends some time reading her thoughts

•    The entire Picard/Crusher campfire dialogue scene is a beautiful thing, as is their final scene together

Quotable Quotes

Crusher: Well…think about Earth. What if one of the old nation-states – say Australia – had decided not to join the world government in 2150. (Crusher, sounding an ominous warning about Australia’s future?)

Riker: This is ridiculous. You’re beginning to see conspiracies everywhere. We were invited here by the Kes. Why would we align ourselves with the Prit?
Ambassador Morek: Indeed! Why?
Riker: Ahh. You can believe what you’d like. We’re going to find our people with or without your help!
Ambassador Morek: Then I believe it is time for us to be leaving the Enterprise.
Riker: Fine. Make sure you take all this junk with you.

Crusher (to Picard): Why didn’t you ever tell me you were in love with me?

Picard: So now that we’ve had this unique experience what do we do?
Crusher: What do you mean?
Picard: You know exactly what I mean.
Crusher: No, I don’t. The implants have been removed, remember?
Picard: Now that we know how each of us feels, perhaps we should not be afraid to explore those feelings.
Crusher: Or perhaps we should be afraid.