Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Neutral Zone

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Neutral Zone

While Captain Picard is away in a conference on a base, the Enterprise discovers an old satellite in space. Data and Worf unearth cryogenically frozen humans from late 20^th century. Picard returns with some disturbing news about missing Starbases and Outposts near the Romulan Neutral Zone.

Man, this is one crowed episode. There are three main storylines within the episode. There’s the contact with the Romulans, and then the foreshadowing with the Borg and the people from past. And, that’s the biggest problem with the episode. There are too many main stories going on for any of the storylines to be paid off successfully.

Most shows have an A and B storyline structure (Sometimes C and D). The A storyline is always the main story that the episode stays focused on, and the B story usually involves a minor story that sometimes connects to the A storyline. In the Neutral Zone, they’re all stories that should’ve had their individual episodes. There are many factors to consider as to why this episode fails in many regards.

Since this was a first season episode, Gene Roddenberry was still in control, to a certain degree. It was no secrete that Gene was responsible for the revolving group of writers and producers coming in and out of the show. Gene would go behind the writers’ backs and rewrite scripts without notice. Part of Gene’s problem was cramming scripts with as much story was allowed into an hour show. Don’t believe me, go back and watch how disjointed some of those TOS episodes were really.

The other problem with the story involved the Writers’ Strike in the late 80s. Maurice Hurley, co-executive of the show at the time, had bigger story-arcs planned. Interestingly enough, it started with the bug episode Conspiracy. There were plans to introduce the Borg into the show and have them connected to the mind-controlling creatures in Conspiracy. The Borg were supposed to be Insect/Cybernetic beings. The plan was to have them appear in the first episode of the second season. The Writer’s strike caused them to push back the arc and change everything about the new enemy.

So, what we have here in this episode is a bit of a jumbled mess. The 20^th century humans are never a part of the Borg/Romulan storyline. Of course, the story about the first contact with the Romulans in 50 years was the most gripping about the show. Yet, so much of the time is given to the three 20^th-century people that we never fully get the importance of the first re-encounter with the Romulans.

Also, I have to mention that the Special Effects are top-notch and are still good looking today. That first shot of the Romulan ship de-cloaking is just cool. I’m not sure the ship is as big as it is portrayed in this episode. It looms over the Enterprise in this episode, but later it is seen as being about the same size as Picard’s ship.

Ron Jones’s, who is the main composer on Family Guy and America Dad now, score is also excellent. Jones would carry this new Romulan theme song over to The Defector, another Romulan episode. Heck, other composers in the show would also use Jones’s theme.

The Borg foreshadowing in this episode is an added bonus that would reshape the way series was made and written. In the second season, we would find out just how the Borg could scoop up areas and cities. Star Trek Voyager would explain how the Borg could jump ahead in light years.

Overall, all its key part don’t make a cohesive episode, but the plots on their own the episode is enjoyable. It was the end of a so-so first season, but it marked the beginning of a shaky but darker second season.

Grade: C

Things worth point out

~ Marc Alaimo plays the Romulan Commander. He would become one of the best villains on the spin-off show DS9.

~Leon Rippy plays the redneck that wanted to bang some “low mileage pit woofies” with Data. And Rippy did an interview and said that a Pit Woofie is a stock car groupie. I’m guessing the low mileage part means their 18-20 years old. He was also in Stargate and Deadwood.

~ Gracie Harrison the mom in the episode would pretty much disappear from acting altogether in 1995. You have to wonder what happened to her.

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At Cryonically Yours, if you die from a malfunction, we’ll give you your money back.

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Here’s a satellite from Dish Network. I guess the economic slowdown has hit them hard.