Emergence has the singular distinction of being the last bad episode of TNG.  But did it have to be this bad?  More than anything, I think Emergence is the prime example why the series had run its course.  It’s an episode filled with endless TNG cliché from finding new life to malfunctioning Holodecks to a commentary on humanity in general, and the crew in particular.  But what really sinks the episode is its almost complete lack of character development.  I guess you could argue that such development came from the ship itself, but that’s a bit of a stretch.

The premise of Emergence is that the Enterprise is developing its own sentient intelligence and is, therefore, attempting to fulfill a primary function of life: procreation.  The mystery begins on the Holodeck, where Data is performing as Prospero in a scene from Shakespeare’s Tempest.  Picard’s description of Prospero, as a man on the edge of a new era in humanity, symbolically frames the ship on the verge of a new intelligence.  But the connection is so tenuous that it’s impact is greatly diminished.

The discussion between Data and Picard is interrupted by the sudden appearance of the Orient Express.  And we get the first in a long progression of seemingly random additions to the Holodeck – additions which include a knight in shining armor, a train conductor, and a gangster.  As the begins functioning erratically, and with unknown “nodes” of intelligence cropping up all over the place, the crew makes several trips into the Holodeck in an attempt to decipher what is going on.

Once they are back in the Holodeck, we learn (to our not-so-great surprise) that the safety features are no longer functioning.  And so when they are threatened by guns or swords, the crew backs away.  The problem for the audience, however, is that we have seen this before – many times before – and so a malfunctioning Holodeck with no safety features is almost entirely meaningless.

Not that it matters very much that the Holodeck characters are going to “Vertiform City” (aka Technobabble City), or that their actions are metaphors for constructing or building something.  But the episode does spend a good deal of time following the crew as they reach those conclusions.  And even when the crew figures out what is going on, and works to help the Holodeck characters, there’s a detachment from any semblance of drama or suspense.

Ultimately, the Enterprise needs “verteron particles” (hence Vertiform City).  With the proper raw materials, the Enterprise creates a life form that is a poor CGI model of multicolored spaghetti strings.  The life form promptly leaves the Enterprise and the ship is returned to normal, with all of the nodes now gone.

And we’re left with a nagging question: What was the point?  The Enterprise develops intelligence, creates an offspring, and then suddenly becomes unintelligent again?  It’s entirely inexplicable.  And with no explanation given as to the hows and whys, the whole premise falls flat.

The only positive that can said about the episode is the brief discussion Picard and Data in the last scene.  Data asks Picard about the danger of letting the ship’s intelligence develop and procreate – it could have been a malevolent entity.  Picard responds by pointing out that the ship’s intelligence was derived, in part, from the accumulated experience of its crew (record, logs, etc.) over the past seven years.  If they could not trust the goodness of their own actions, what can they trust?

It’s a fine commentary for the close of the series.  But it certainly doesn’t justify the prior 42 minutes of time wasted.

Because Emergence does touch on classic TNG themes, and because it does provide a competent commentary, it isn’t a complete failure.  But it is a very poor episode that denotes, quite clearly, a series on its last legs.

Topics: Holodeck, New Life
Filed under: TNG Reviews