… only a few episodes in and while we haven’t yet had the Space Irish™, we’ve had Data hooking up with Yar and, now, arguably one of the greatest misfires in the series … the Space-Untrustworthy-Primitive-Africans™.
Before I continue let me note two things: [1] this is certainly one of the worst ST (not just TNG) episodes ever, but [2] it’s actually somewhat ‘smart’.
First, let’s summarize: Picard & Co. need to pick up an important vaccine from a planet that is not part of the Federation. Ruler of said planet or culture (non-Earth planets are, of course, mono-cultures …), after a ‘state visit’ in which his people demonstrate the importance of honor in their culture but also their primitive, sexist notions of … well, whatever, kidnaps Lieutenant Yar, and the ‘plot’ of the rest of the episode is about a) getting her back, b) also getting the load of vaccine because the plague it can cure is getting worse, and c) not using undue force in the process. Getting Yar back is complicated when the ruler of the planet decides not to give her back but instead take her as his first wife, and the pre-existing first wife demands and fight to the death. Drama ensues.
Now, the obvious problems: You remember that movie version of Annie (1982) with the 7-Up guy (Geoffrey Holder, from Trinidad and of African descent) playing ‘Punjab,’ an 8-foot-tall Indian who is in the Annie stories but not the 1977 musical? And remember how he and ‘The Asp’ are stereotypical ‘exotic brown people’ characters with 1930s and 40s characterizations (see also: ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ … though I like to think that part of that was intentional in that movie …)? In ‘Code of Honor’ the Ligonians are a race of Geoffrey Holders in Hammer Pants and bling™. And these big, strapping, foreign-sounding (Caribbean / African … while so many other humanoid Aliens sound … American and/or English!) ‘aliens’ are described as rather like humans (but clearly not). After the Ligonian culture is compared to ‘ancient’ earth cultures, Picard & Co. suggest that Earth cultures used to be ‘that way,’ but that they have since ‘evolved’ (in the sense of ‘progressed’, not just ‘changed’). Oh, and when Yar takes Lutan and his second in command to the holodeck to demonstrate it and some self-defense moves, of course her holo-opponent is basically an Asian-in-white-pajamas-ninja.
And then there are the ‘technical details’ … such as Lutan’s planet having typically 1960s-Trek sets and the combat ring? Where to begin? Or Yareena’s (Lutan’s first [wife]) hair?
But let me be ‘generous’, as I did not hate ‘Code of Honor’ this time nearly as much as I did during previous viewings.
There is humor here, such as when Data refers to French as an ‘obscure language’ to Picard’s face. And Stewart seems to go out of his way here (though not necessarily later) to pronounce ‘Picard’ as if the final-d were (at least mostly) silent. The humor/anti-humor of Data’s joke-telling later on (during Geordi’s shaving session) isn’t as successful.
But thinking back to ‘The Naked Now’ and my thoughts on the Roddenberry ‘ethos,’ it seems that as misguided as the execution may have been, this episode is clearly—and heavy-handedly—exploring it. The alien race here is the first in the New Trek to play a real part in the story. In ‘Encounter at Farpoint’ the space-port builders could be anybody; they could, indeed, have been a human outpost, and their ‘culture’ remains undescribed. The Ligonians are both ‘alien’ and in some (many) ways similar to other Earth cultures, but no single such culture, and dealing with them is a matter of navigating similarities and differences. In contrast, in most of the Old Trek whenever an ‘alien’ race (vs. an outpost of humans) was encountered, they tended, it seems, to have been based on a single historical/cultural ‘type.’ That is, TNG is trying to be progressive and sensitive. We see Picard being ‘sneaky’, too, in his later encounters with Lutan, whereas he is stiff and clumsy early on, and we have characters like Lutan having relatively nuanced objectives and means of obtaining them.
And then there is the Prime Directive. Picard is given, obviously, a difficult situation: he needs to get Yar back while at the same time not ‘burning his bridges’ with the Ligonians, because he also must acquire the vaccine (which, conveniently, Crusher & Co. cannot replicate). Picard even notes that without the Prime Directive it would be easier, as they could just beam down, use their superior technology, take what they want, etc. … then, in a self-aware moment in the script, he interrupts his monolog to point out that he’s pointing out what everybody (characters and, one hopes, audience members alike) already knows / takes for granted.
That is to say: the script is full of little self-aware moments, little barbs are launched so that no character can take him/herself too seriously, and there are clear attempts to make the ‘villains’ well-rounded. But the racial/ethnic/colonial matters are handled in a tone-deaf fashion, the gender politics—while progressive for ST and 80s TV (remember, this is 1987, and we still have the joy of Dan Quayle being upset at Murphy Brown being a single mom)—are blunt and didactic, and there are just too many parts that seem better fitted to a serial narrative, while this is still mostly in episodic mode (see: Data’s attempts to become human, Wesley on the bridge, etc.)
Unlike with other really bad ST:TNG episodes, I can see a lot of ‘good ideas’ hidden away here under an insanely incompetent and offensive execution … it’s one of those things that I’d almost like to take the skeleton of and explore in a remake or even pastiche. But given how many more times TNG will go through the motions in a “we can’t violate the Prime Directive in order to ‘solve’ our immediate problem’ episode, there’s really no point.
Links:
- Code of Honor (at Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki)
- Code of Honor (Wikipedia)
- Code of Honor (and others, A.V. Club review)
