TNG often goes to the same well multiple times … and so it was when this time the Enterprise was getting a ‘check up’ and people were going on shore leave, I expected a different hijacking of this Galaxy Class starship. But this is not the one where Picard takes up a gun … this is the one where Riker falls in love with a computer simulation.
Which Geordi will do later.
In short: the Enterprise needs its computers tuned up, a peculiar but obviously-named race, the Bynars, are in charge of said upgrades, Riker takes a break to check out the revised holodeck, he meets a very lifelike simulation named Minuet, the Enterprise seems to be going into meltdown so is evacuated, Riker and Picard are left/trapped on board, and the Bynars steal said ship, taking it to their planet.
Why? Because a local-ish star went supernova and fried the computer core on their planet that regulates how they live and communicate … without it they would all die. And so they core-dump into the Enterprise and use it to reboot their planet, thus saving the day. Why didn’t they just ask for help? Because the Federation might have said no, and that was too risky. Why did they kidnap Riker? Because they knew they might not make it in time and be able to effect the reboot, so they needed someone left on the ship who could do it.
And are they prepared to face the consequences of their theft? Yes. And they pre-calculated that, and found that acceptable. And in that regard, even though the consequences will be but a slap on the wrist, I approve of their being a real ‘conclusion’ of sorts.
It’s a pretty self-contained little piece, it provides a pretty good Riker story, and Minuet—and her actress—provide a very nice touch, especially when contrasted with the not-so-human-life Minuet who remains at the end of the episode.
It has been said of ‘Datalore’ and the story about Data’s ‘daughter’ Lal that it’s only when we see other actors (or doubles) trying to play a robot or android that we see how good Brent Spiner really is as data. I would perhaps add Minuet as one of the few other rather good ‘computer’/’robot’ characters … she’s human enough but also just artificial enough, and she plays it with various subtleties, reminding us every so often that she is not a ‘person.’
We do, however, have more supreme silliness. Both Wesley and to an extent Data have ‘questions’ about the Bynars, and nobody questions the timing of the core meltdown. It’s plot-by-stupidity going on here, as in ‘Datalore.’ Our little pairs of ‘binary’ aliens? An interesting conceit, but far too literal, turning this not into a performance but a lesson. And while it’s always been ernest and a bit philosophical (a bit?), ST and TNG in particular is always at its worst when it’s overly teachy, when it’s overly blunt and allegorical. Again we have one-culture aliens, though in a sense, thematically, that makes a kind of sense. Riker playing the trombone? Really, J. Frakes, really? At least his computerized accompaniest told him not to quit his day job …
