‘THE MASTERPIECE SOCIETY’ (TNG)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This is again another one of those ‘TNG’ episodes that’s not one of my favourites from Season 5. But I can appreciate the moral dilemmas and thought-provoking questions that come out from this episode.
The episode has the Enterprise assigned to the Moab sector to track a stellar core fragment from a disintegrated Neutron star. The Enterprise crew soon uncover a human colony on the planet Moab IV.
The Enterprise contacts the colony to arrange for its evacuation when the core fragment is due to threaten them upon approach. John Synder as Aaron Conor, the colony’s leader, refuses this solution.
But he allows an away team down to come down to the planet to discuss the matter. Riker, Geordi and Deanna beam down to Moab IV where they meet Conor as well as Ron Canada as Martin Benbeck.
Conor seems reasonable and negotiable as a leader whereas Benbeck is sceptical and unwilling to allow the Enterprise visitors to their planet. It is revealed this human colony is genetically engineered.
The colony was formed 200 years prior to create a perfect society through selective breeding. Conor and Benbeck believe that the evacuation of the planet will destroy the perfect order they’ve achieved.
Now this is where my problem with this episode comes in. Being a Christian, I’m not one for genetic engineering and selective breeding, as this goes against everything I believe in where God created life.
Not that I deny genetic engineering and selective breeding happening. But when you consider humans play as God in films like ‘Star Trek II’ and ‘Star Trek III’, it’s bound to go horrendously wrong in the process.
Genetic engineering, selective breeding and cloning is pretty fragile and it questions whether we have the right to create life out of matter. God can certainly do it, but does that mean humans have the right too?
Anyway, the Enterprise away team suggest alternatives other than evacuating the planet. Geordi meets Dey Young as Hannah Bates, a young, keen and very enthusiastic scientist working in the colony.
It’s soon suggested that a multi-phase tractor beam powered by the Enterprise’s warp core can push the stellar core fragment from its path. Geordi and Hannah work together to make this solution happen.
Hannah works on the Enterprise with Geordi, but they’re no closer to getting the solution that they want. Thankfully, with inspiration from Geordi’s visor, the two manage to come to the solution in an instant.
I liked that scene between Geordi and Hannah when they talk about his visor in engineering. It was slightly disconcerting especially with Geordi having his visor off for a bit, but I soon became used to it.
Meanwhile with Deanna Troi, she and Conor start to form a romantic attraction to each other. This is within the space of a few days and already they start falling love with each other?! Yeah, it does happen. 😀
Unfortunately, Deanna isn’t happy when she and Conor start kissing each other. She’s afraid what might happen if she introduced Betazoid DNA into their genetic society and refuses to see Conor again.
Eventually, Enterprise crewmembers come down to the planet to provide re-enforced shielding on the colony during the core fragment’s passing. This is when the Enterprise tries to move the fragment.
Thankfully, when Geordi and Hannah Bates implement their solution to push the core fragment far enough away from the colony, everything seems to be safe. So it’s a good job well done here, isn’t it?
Well, unfortunately not. You see, as the Enterprise crew returns to the ship, Hannah Bates reports there are micro-fractures in the colony’s shield. But Geordi sees that truth of Hannah’s lie via his visor.
It seems that Hannah wants to leave the colony after visiting the Enterprise and requests asylum. A moral debate ensues especially as other colonists express a desire to leave against the leaders’ wishes.
I like how Picard handles the situation when he talks with Conor privately to discuss the matter. It eventually ends with the colonists leaving Moab IV to join the Enterprise and it leaves the colony altered.
Like I said, ‘The Masterpiece Society’ isn’t one of my favourites due to the genetic engineering theme. But I like how this story raises thought-provoking questions especially with regard to the Prime Directive.
‘The Masterpiece Society’ (TNG) rating – 7/10
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