2.01 – The Child
The Child is a rather shaky beginning for the second season. Though the first season was inconsistent due to new characters having to find themselves and their own niches within the show, one would expect the second season to build on the camaraderie that was developed during the first. Unfortunately, The Child plays much more like an early season one episode, with characters struggling to find a rhythm within themselves and within the crew.
Some of this is understandable, considering the series must face the departure of Dr. Crusher, the arrivals of Dr. Pulaski and Guinan, the promotion of LaForge to Chief Engineer, Wesley’s debate on whether or not to leave the crew, and Worf becoming more acclimated to Chief of Security. That being said, with so many changes, the episode feels much more like individual characters going through the motions, rather than a crew working together.
The story itself is bizarre, creepy, and is simply a poor choice for any episode — let alone the introduction to a new season. The fact that Troi is impregnated, against her will, by an alien entity brings up issues of rape and abortion within the span of minutes. Both are deep, profound issues which are completely ignored. Add to that the unnatural growth and maturation of Troi’s child, and you have events that have a very shaky plausibility — even for a sci-fi series.
By the way, the stories surrounding the supporting characters don’t fare much better. The side story of Wesley is understandable, but instead of an adolescent brooding, Wesley comes across as simply annoying. Pulaski’s introduction is done without any fanfare, and for the rest of the episode she is merely there to give medical commentary on what is painfully obvious to everyone else, that being: Troi has given birth to one strange, spooky child.
On the plus side, we get to see LaForge begin to come into his own as the Chief Engineer. This role gives his character a focus, and will allow him to develop far beyond what we saw in season one. The introductions of Guinan and Ten Forward, while a bit clumsy, are noteworthy — especially considering how both the setting and Guinan’s character will evolve over the course of the series.
We do get to see some interesting changes for the crew of the Enterprise, but unfortunately, The Child is an otherwise entirely forgettable episode that is very difficult to watch.
Filed under: TNG Reviews
As must be obvious, I’m re-watching the series, and I’m finding your reviews to be an excellent companion.
Now this was an odd episode. It’s become an in-joke to refer to how many times Troi’s been “violated,” but I must confess I had forgotten this one entirely. That, and the mention of “rape-gangs” by Tasha all through the first season does strike an strange note. Have standards changed so much, or did it feel strange when originally broadcast? I can’t remember.
The story is a real mess. I recall being curious when Ian mentioned his purpose will be revealed in time, but any interesting resolution was thrown away in favor of making the child radioactive to viruses? I feel the story may have been dreadfully cut short in multiple rewrites– rewrites probably related to the series’ retooling.
In the original story, I’m guessing, Ian grew to adulthood and sacrificed his human form in order to more actively save the Enterprise crew from an accidental virus outbreak. That would certainly be better than what we were given, which could be summarized as “Troi has a baby. It dies.”
I realize it was ultimately a result of the writers’ strike that this script was used, but the fact that the script was kept around from the Star Trek Phase II days says a lot about why that series never happening might have turned out to be a good thing. Incidentally, the original mother of “The Child” would have been Lt. Ilia.