Samaritan Snare continues season two’s pattern of having a secondary storyline be more compelling than the main one. And thus, the woes of season two continue. That being said, Samaritan Snare is a step in the right direction and it successes foreshadow a what will become a strength of the series: the ability to weave interpersonal stories into an adventure set piece. Unfortunately for us, we will have to wait a bit longer to see that success realized on-screen.

A major issue with this particular story centers around Riker’s gross error of judgment regarding the Pakleds. It is one thing to underestimate an enemy, it is something else to do so by ignoring the warnings of your ship’s Counselor and Security Chief. And yet Riker rashly goes forward, disregarding both Worf and Troi, and LaForge is the one who ends up suffering the consequences — literally.

Had the episode then dealt, in some way, with Riker’s negligence (as, say, a lesson to be learned), then at least it could have served some purpose other than a mere plot device. Sadly, that isn’t the case here. There isn’t even a hint of possible consequences for Riker which makes the episode’s error all the more egregious.

The secondary story revolves around Picard and Wesley as they travel to a Starbase. There is a lot of nothing that happens, but the payoff is worth the wait: a discussion between the two about Picard’s rather immature past. The performances are very well-done and we end up with some very legitimate character development from both Picard and Wesley.

The episode tries to weave the two storylines together through the character of Dr. Pulaski. Perhaps if her character wasn’t such an annoying bore, the episode would have been a little more successful. Be that as it may, the worst aspect of this is that it’s just a little too convenient for Pulaski to just happen to be the only one who can save Picard from certain death. Yes, it heightens the tensions of the Pakled storyline, yes it ties the two stories together — but it is just a tad bit too contrived. And it is as though the writers were trying to find some way, any way, to legitimize Pulaski’s character. If so, they didn’t succeed there, either.

Overall, Samaritan Snare is an actual improvement over The Icarus Factor and Pen Pals. It just isn’t classic TNG.

Filed under: TNG Reviews