‘TIN MAN‘ (TNG)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
Now when I think of a ‘Tin Man’, I think of the one from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ with Judy Garland. I don’t think of a Tin Man as a spaceship/alien life-form that appears like a pinecone in space. Really, I don’t.
This ‘Star Trek: TNG’ episode had a varying reception on transmission. It achieved Nielsen ratings of 10.2 per cent in the USA and it is listed as one of the top 70 best episodes in the ‘Star Trek’ franchise.
But to be honest with you, I found this one rather average and not that something to get excited about. I’m sure I’m not alone on this, especially since the critical reception of the episode was mixed.
The Enterprise comes into contact with the Hood and they bring aboard a passenger. This is Harry Groener as Tam Elbrun, a Betazoid Federation emissary, who has this special mission for Enterprise.
Deanna Troi happens to know Tam Elbrun when he was a mental patient at her school of psychology years ago. Tam is an extraordinary telepath, since he’s a Betazoid obviously, with incredible abilities.
Tam has this history of mental instability due to his telepathic abilities being overpowering for him. He can be quite rude and dismissive in reading people’s minds and knows what they’re going to say.
Beforehand, it seems that Riker knew of Tam Elbrun being involved in a disaster of a peace negotiation that killed many lives. Tam has his version of what occurred which Riker doesn’t believe.
Anyway, Tam’s unique skills are essential for this mission, as the Enterprise needs to coax a giant sentient alien spaceship which they’ve called ‘Tin Man’. Quite why they have called it that isn’t clear.
Tin Man happens to be close to a star that’s about to go supernova. It also seems that the star is in the territory of the Romulans. It’s now a race for the Enterprise and the Romulans to reach Tin Man.
It’s interesting how Tam Elbrun is depicted as a character in this episode, as he finds it difficult to cope with the thoughts of other Enterprise crew members. It’s why he gets so stressed out at times.
The only person that Tam feels comfortable around is Data. Tam discovers he can’t read Data’s mind, due to him being a machine. There are some nice scenes between Tam and Data in the story.
It also transpires that Tam happens to be in mental contact with Tin Man. This is when Deanna visits Tam in his quarters to check up on him and she discovers that Tin Man might be reaching out to him.
Pretty soon, the Enterprise gets attacked by a Romulan Warbird that attempts to reach Tin Man first. Tam gains telepathic contact from the Romulans and discovers that they intend to destroy Tin Man.
In a desperate effort, Tam sends a telepathic warning to Tin Man. This results in Tin Man coming to life and emitting an energy that destroys the Warbird completely as well as damaging the Enterprise.
Picard is displeased about what Tam has done and gets some answers from him about his telepathic contact with Tin Man. Tam reveals what he knows and requests to be beamed aboard the creature.
This is something Deanna is not happy with and Picard is cautious about this action that Tam is determined to take. Soon, Picard permits Tam’s request but has Data accompanying him to the ship.
Tam and Data beam inside the Tin Man and I have to admit the interior for the alien ship/creature is eerily impressive. Even those moments where Tam places his hand through Tin Man are astonishing.
Very soon, Tam bonds himself with Tin Man, since he believes it’s where he truly belongs. Soon, Tin Man emits another energy wave to send the Enterprise and another Romulan Warbird further away.
And somehow Data manages to be back on the Enterprise. Not sure how that happened. There is a nice scene between Data and Deanna where he tells her what occurred to Tam to finish off the tale.
Colm Meaney makes an appearance as Chief O’Brien in the episode in a few functionary scenes as transporter chief. I know O’Brien will go on to do better things in the series. He seems limited here.
‘Tin Man’ is not what I call a great ‘Star Trek’ episode. I’m glad people were impressed by it, but me personally I can’t see why people are excited by it. I still prefer the Tin Man from ‘The Wizard of Oz’.
‘Tin Man’ rating – 6/10
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