After going all of Season 5 with a “Q” episode, Q returns with True Q, an episode that is a sincere improvement over Season 4′s horrendous QPid. On the whole, True Q is a decent episode — funny, thoughtful and entertaining. But the main guest character of Amanda Rogers simply lacks a compelling performance. And there a few directing gaffes.

The premise of the episode finds that 18 year old Amanda Rogers, an intern who has recently arrived on board the Enterprise, has strange powers — in spite of the fact that she is human (the scene establishing Amanda’s humanity, working with Dr. Crusher, is quite cleverly woven into her intern story). At first it seems innocuous enough: after arriving in her quarters, she wishes to have her pets, a clutch of puppies, join her on the ship. She turns around and there they are.

But the next two incidents raise suspicions. At first, Riker (to whom Amanda has already become attracted) is threatened by a falling container in the cargo bay. She quickly redirects its fall and Riker escapes with little more than a close call. But it is in engineering where her powers are on full display. Without warning, the engine core malfunctions and explodes. Miraculously, Amanda manages to halt the explosion and repair the damage.

Curiouser and curiouser …

But the real reason is that she just so happens to be a Q … and Q himself is there to test her abilities. And from the moment of his arrival, the classic irreverent Q humor is on full display. He easily steals the episode with appropriately sarcastic comments on everything from the laws of physics, babies, Dr. Crusher and even Picard’s speeches. And, too, Q even manages to be something of a benefactor — in spite of his poor manners.

As it turns out, Amanda’s parents, who were killed when she was a child, were actually themselves members of the Q — and who were executed for failing to refrain from using their powers after settling down to live, as humans, in Kansas. Incidentally, why would the Q, with the power to live anywhere in the universe, choose to live Kansas of all places? Talk about a selling point for the Kansas State Chamber of Commerce.

At any rate, it is Q’s mission to determine whether or not Amanda is a “true Q” or some hybrid of human and Q. The stakes are high: if Amanda cannot become a full fledged member of the Q, she, like her parents, will be executed. As far as Q is concerned, the episode does a pretty good job of portraying his own sincere hope that she isn’t sentenced to be killed. It’s another welcome touch to Q’s character — in spite of Picard’s speech comparing Q’s morality to human morality.

Along the way, we get themes of personal choice (Amanda must be allowed to choose her path) as well as temptation (Amanda can remain with humanity if she renounces her powers and doesn’t use them). We’re reminded of Riker’s temptation in Hide and Q. And, ironically, Amanda uses her powers in an attempt to seduce Riker.

Ultimately, however, she realizes that she cannot resist. The Enterprise was in orbit of a planet that had severely polluted its atmosphere. Its protection systems were on the verge of breaking down when she used her power to completely rid the atmosphere of contaminants (a nice, but rather blatant, environmental nod added into the episode — just for good measure, I suppose).

At any rate, what undercuts the whole episode is Amanda herself. As a character, she is a rather simplistic cliché — that of the ordinary character suddenly realizing she has special powers. And the performance just wasn’t engaging. She wasn’t especially annoying, but there was little to draw in any real empathy. Plus, the silly little “I Dream of Genie” hand gestures as she’s using her Q powers were downright unnecessary — and even a bit embarrassing.

Also, her scenes with Dr. Crusher, while technically sound, are replete with the obvious “teen needs to find a path in life” theme. As such, they become a bit preachy and redundant. The end result is that the character of Amanda, and her scenes with Dr. Crusher, manage to somewhat deflate the episode.

True Q is a welcome, and enjoyable return for Q. His performance alone very nearly makes this a classic episode. But the issues with Amanda’s character and performance are just a little too difficult to overcome.

Topics: Q
Filed under: TNG Reviews