Picking up where the Part I left off, Unification, Part II concludes TNG’s first in-season two-part episode. The results are mixed. Spock is always worth watching. His interactions with Data and Picard are enjoyable. But like Part I, none of these scenes are exceptional. Riker’s story has its moments. But there are a few issues with plausibility that diminish the episode.

We quickly learn that Spock’s mission is in the hopes of reunification between Romulus and Vulcan. Spock admits that the chances are slim, but because the benefits to both planets are so vast, he is compelled to explore the possibilities. In and of itself, this is an interesting premise. And the episode handles the concepts of a vast, underground cultural movement rather well. Indeed, this is the most interesting aspect of the episode.

Spock’s interactions with Data and Picard are noteworthy. But they are written to pertain to the Star Trek audience far more than a general audience. Lines like “In your own way, you are just as stubborn as another captain of the Enterprise I once knew” are designed purely for their nostalgic and emotional connection of Star Trek fans. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But the result is a scene that is, in many ways, emotionally closed to viewers who were not OS fans.

Likewise, the scene between Data and Spock had long been a fan’s fantasy. And, as such, the scene plays out as one would expect – each character sizing up the other. The scene works. It’s entertaining. But like his scenes with Picard, Spock’s scenes with Data carry the impression of being written solely for the enjoyment of Star Trek fans. It certainly is important to pay homage to your past and to, occasionally, do something just for those fans who have been long time supporters of the franchise. But once again, the result is at the expense of other viewers.

Riker’s investigations involve one of the most unique characters in the series: the piano player. She is certainly a wonderfully conceived minor character who adds color to an otherwise bland storyline. But outside of her scenes, the mystery of the missing Vulcan ship, while it provides the backdrop for the episode’s resolution, does little more than provide a minor distraction from the main plot involving Spock.

The episode begins to lose its coherence when we learn that Spock’s separatist supporters have been betrayed by Pardak to: Sela. Yes, Sela is back. And this time, the whole plot, from enticing Spock to Romulus, to the missing Vulcan ship, is part of a Romulan strategy to invade and conquer the planet Vulcan. It seems an awfully contrived plot that resorts to the “Romulans are bad guys” notion that was so skillfully dispelled in The Enemy and The Defector.

Plus, Sela is just simply a very poor character. Her suspect origins aside, her zealous motivations seem disingenuous. And she just isn’t very bright. Leaving a captured Picard, Spock, and Data unattended, unsupervised is just stupid. She claims to respect Data’s ingenuity, and then leaves Data alone to conspire with arguably the two other most resourceful members of the Federation?

And the whole strategy of disguising an invasion force as a peace envoy was very poorly written. For starters, do the Romulans really plan to defend and entire planet with just two thousand troops? Do they really plan to provoke all out war with the Federation? Are they prepared for it? Would Sela really be charged with conducting such a war? The Federation would certainly not surrender a founding member planet to the Romulans. And so the result would be all-out war. And on Romulus, there was no evidence that the planet, that the society, was on a war footing.

In the end, Unification, Part II is notable, and enjoyable, for the chance to see Spock one more time. But it fails to extend the story to anything more profound than simply: here’s Spock. Watch him. And enjoy.

Topics: Romulans, Vulcans
Filed under: TNG Reviews