Angel One begins with an couple of interesting concepts: a female-dominated society, and the evolution of that society toward equality. Ultimately, however, the story suffers from a lack of focus brought about by the addition of two other storylines: a threatening ship-borne virus and a Romulan threat. It is as though none of the three storylines was enough to carry a full episode, so they were all thrown together in the hopes that they could heighten the episode’s drama. The tactic didn’t work.

For starters, the Angel One storyline isn’t given enough screen time to explore what was the best concept of the episode. Riker, pleading against the capital sentence for the survivors, rightly explains that killing the symbols of an idea does not kill the idea. It was the best moment of the episode, but it would have carried a lot more weight if this conflict had been more fully explored. Additionally, there is a rather cringe-worthy “seduction” scene whereby the leader of Angel One beds our intrepid galactic gigolo, Riker. Seriously folks, the writing makes Anakin and Padme look like Romeo and Juliet.

The other two storylines are entirely forgettable. The virus isn’t deadly. And the Romulans are reduced to little more “bogeymen” who are lurking somewhere … out there. While you can see why the writers created the two storylines, as an attempt to add suspense, the result is an episode that is entirely unfocused and, even worse, misses an opportunity to explore a truly worthy topic: revolution vs. evolution.

The episode does have it’s moments of humor (both intentional and unintentional). Also, the the actors are starting to become more comfortable with their characters as is evidenced by LaForge’s reactions when gets to take command of the Enterprise.

Angel One is certainly not one of the worst episodes in the series and there are some memorable moments. However, its lack of focus, as well as some truly unfortunate scenes, make it an episode that can be easily overlooked.

Filed under: TNG Reviews