Suddenly Human is a significant step backward for the series. We’re given a sit-com cliché story, a mistake in character focus, and inconsistencies of character. The result is a story that, while directed fairly well, is a complete mess.

The premise of Suddenly Human is this: a human child has been raised by a militant race of aliens called the Talarians. Following a Talarian training accident, the Enterprise responds to a distress signal and discovers this child, Jono, who is now fourteen years old. The conflict of the episode revolves around whether Jono should remain with his adoptive Talarian father or should instead return to his human heritage.

One major mistake is to have Jono interact primarily with Picard. It’s clear that this decision was made to have Picard face one of his greatest shortcomings: children. But why wouldn’t Worf figure prominently in this episode? After watching Family, we know that Worf’s experiences are similar to Jono’s. It would makes perfect sense to put the two together, to let Worf talk about how he managed to maintain links to his Klingon heritage and culture while being raised by humans. This would have been a fascinating insight into Worf’s character, as well as an opportunity to explore the benefits of cross-cultural households.

Instead, Picard is given the task of trying to persuade Jono to give up his past and stay with humanity. The result is a series of cliché teen-angst vs. father figure scenes, including the predictable teen-plays-too-loud-music moment, that make the Suddenly Human feel more like an episode of Growing Pains than TNG. It’s an unfortunate choice because it reduces TNG to little more than a weak parody of the most mundane of 80s American pop culture, rather than the timelessness for which it usually strives to achieve.

The other issue with this juxtaposition is an inconsistency with respect to Picard. Following yet another emo outburst from Jono, Picard introduces the boy to the 24th century version of racquetball as a means of how to manage stress. Based on everything we know about Picard, this seems an uninspired choice for a physical activity. We’ve seen Picard fence and ride horses — both refined pastimes that suit his character — and now we’re given to believe he also embraces a yuppie activity? Clearly the activity was chosen simply so it could approximate phaser fire to trigger a memory from Jono. This only adds to the contrivance of the episode.

The only success of this installment comes in its final sequences when it, quite abruptly, breaks with the sit-com cliché. Jono, clearly suffering a crisis of confidence and identity due to Picard’s attempts at persuasion, takes a Klingon dagger and stabs Picard. The wrenching act is enough to give this episode a sense of urgency and purpose. Picard survives and finally realizes that Jono’s wishes are more important than those of Starfleet. And so Jono is return to his Talarian father and the episode is concluded.

Suddenly Human took the absolute wrong approach to an otherwise intriguing premise. But for an inspired twist near the end, its mistakes would have been fatal. Considering this is the fourth season, such character incongruities ought not to be occurring.

Filed under: TNG Reviews