I'm of two very different minds about this episode. As a whole, I very much enjoyed it. Reminded me a lot of a (good) TOS episode. However... if this was supposed to be the long-awaited "Ortegas episode", it was VERY disappointing.
We start with Pike and Batel trying to enjoy some time together, but when Pike tries to dial back the relationship, Batel gets angry and leaves.
After the credits, we start with Ortegas being very happy about finally getting to go on an away team. However, due to an asteroid field near the planet emitting some unknown radiation, Ortegas will have to stay on the ship to make course corrections, which she is NOT happy about.
So what's going on? Pike and co. visited this planet some time ago and things went south very quickly. They had to leave in a hurry, and left a lot of stuff behind. Observation of the planet has revealed the natives are using the Starfleet delta, so Pike, La'an, and M'Benga are heading down to find out the extent of the contamination and retrieve any technology left behind.
As soon as the trio land on the planet, they start hearing ringing, getting headaches, and having memory gaps. They are captured by natives using Starfleet phasers, who take them to their leader... A former Starfleet yeoman from the original mission who was presumed dead but was actually left behind. He's not happy, to say the least, so he forces them to spend the night outside.
Meanwhile, the symptoms have started to occur on the Enterprise as well.
On the planet, Pike, La'an, and M'Benga wake up to find they've completely forgotten who they are. One of the natives tries to help them out, explaining about the "Forgetting". However, the process doesn't change emotions or who someone is deep down, and Pike stages a small uprising when the guards start abusing the man. La'an is injured during the fight, and M'Benga doesn't remember enough to treat her properly.
According to folklore, the lost memories are kept inside the fortress, so they head back there. Turns out that the fortress and helmets of the guards are made from an ore that shields against the radiation from the asteroids (one of which struck the planet long ago), which is why the yeoman remembers. The trio eventually get their memories back, and the yeoman is taken prisoner.
On the Enterprise, everyone has also lost their memories. Ortegas manages to get back to her quarters with the help of the ship's computer, but is startled when the ship starts hitting some of the asteroids. The computer identifies her as the ship's pilot, so Ortegas heads back to the bridge and manages to remember enough to get the ship out of the asteroid field, which restores their memories.
The episode ends with the Enterprise tractoring the fallen asteroid off the planet and tuning the ship's shields to screen out the radiation. Batel and Pike reconcile as Pike realizes it is his love for Batel (symbolized by a gift she gave him earlier) that got him through the ordeal.
So, on a whole, yes, this was a good episode. Good plot, good acting, etc. But this episode wasn't really ABOUT Ortegas. She was simply the POV character for what was happening on the ship. We didn't really learn anything about her that we didn't already know: She flies the ship. Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Also, she doesn't like rocks.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
Carol Kane is being criminally unused this season.
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
So "The Paradise Syndrome"(TOS) and "Singularity"(ENT) had a baby? Did any rocks get phasered?
Are there any other "crew minds messed with amidst dangerous phasered rock problem" episodes I am missing?
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shik: Also, she doesn't like rocks.
Who does? Nasty lumpy things, phasering’s too good for ‘em.
A fun episode, taken in parts. Which it conspicuously fails to be more than the sum of.
First off, Rigel VII. As we all know, it was the aftermath of this mission that was giving Pike such angst back at the start of “The Cage.” Seven injured, three dead including, yes, Yeoman Zack. In fact they were en route to the Vega colony to drop off their wounded when they received the bogus distress call from Talos IV. And you’ll note that then-Spock showed no signs of serious injury. So him being the one who Pike had to save and get medical attention is a curious and unnecessary retcon right there. It makes Pike look more careless in fact - “Sorry, Zack, I was too busy saving someone I cared about more than you.” It would have been better if it had been just another member of the crew he was saving. Mind you, in “The Cage” Spock was just another member of the crew…
(Some things are best retconned out of existence though, like Pike’s lack of enthusiasm for his new female Yeoman because it feels wrong to have women on the bridge. Not Number One though, she’s “different”… 😬)
And then there’s all the angst he has about what happened on Rigel VII. Which was largely dealt with by the end of “The Cage” as he found renewed purpose. So it’s a curious failure of dramatic motivation to have him go back there now… and immediately forget it all.
And all that before we get to the weird decision to turn R7 from Cimmeria on steroids to Alzheimer’s Planet! As I understand it the asteroid landed hundreds of years previously. How does any sort of society function under those circumstances for all that time?! I don’t buy the sociology. Did the Kelans who attacked them so viciously in 2254 do so because they thought they were invaders coming to displace them from their nice protective castle? It’s the only explanation I can come up with for the disparity between R7 then and now.
And as for the failure of the long-promised #Moartegas, that’s a shame. I like Melissa Navia, she’s a lot of fun and has been through a lot personally and deserves a few breaks. But this wasn’t what was needed and it didn’t give her a chance to shine.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
quote:Originally posted by Malnurtured Snay: Carol Kane is being criminally unused this season.
FUCKING AGREED.
quote:Originally posted by Guardian 2000: So "The Paradise Syndrome"(TOS) and "Singularity"(ENT) had a baby? Did any rocks get phasered?
Right on through in a circle!
quote:Originally posted by Lee: And as for the failure of the long-promised #Moartegas, that’s a shame. I like Melissa Navia, she’s a lot of fun and has been through a lot personally and deserves a few breaks. But this wasn’t what was needed and it didn’t give her a chance to shine.
Also fucking agreed. The emotion she showed & her lines made me wonder how much of that was acting & how much was unadressed grief from Navia's partner dying suddenly some time back.
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)