Star Trek: The Next Generation: TV Movies (1987-94)

Star Trek: TNG: The Complete TV Movies

Dirs. Various / 10 feature-length TV Movies / 835 mins (approx total)

I've covered the individual seasons of The Next Generation elsewhere on The 7th and Last blog, but in order to keep those posts at an acceptable length I didn't dwell too much on the two-parters; aka the TV 'movies'. This post indulges my desire to give them a little more attention.

There are ten in all, and because there's some TNG moments in Deep Space 9's pilot episode I'll add it, too. Naturally, given the number, it'll be longer than my usual post length.

Dir. Corey Allen / Season 01 Pilot (Eps 01 + 02)
★ Stardate: 41153.7 ★

Because TNG was the first Trek series in eighteen years, in order to be a success its pilot episode had to fulfil many different criteria. Besides introducing a new crew and ship, it had to define a new era, too, with technology and (human and alien) societies that felt like an organic extension of where TOS left off. Furthermore, it had to break through prejudices and alleviate the fears of many TOS fans who were passionate about continuity, etc. In short, not only did it have to deliver a memorable crew and engaging story, it had to preserve the sanctity of TOS.

The familiar captain's voice-over that was heard during the opening credits of TOS is restated by TNG's captain, but with one notable difference: the line, "where no man has gone before," was changed to "where no one has gone before", suggesting that TNG would try to be less male-driven than its predecessor was. It's an important change because like TOS, even though it's set in the far future Star Trek is both reflective of, and a commentary upon, the era in which it was produced, which in TNG's case is the latter half of the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s.

The first thing we see after the opening credits is the newly designed starship Enterprise exterior (with a 'D' suffix). The camera then moves inside, presenting its captain, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), who steps forth from the shadows. He walks to the ship's bridge, which reveals itself to be a brighter and more airy setting than was initially hinted at, with sleek interiors and curved lines that look considerably more modern than TOS's classic futuristic aesthetic.

The remainder of the crew get their introductions thereafter, and as was hinted at in the PC opening both human genders are more openly represented. The crotchety old male doctor of TOS is replaced with a younger, more sympathetic lady, Dr Crusher (Gates McFadden). There's a female security officer, Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby), and a female ship's councillor - although in the early episodes Councillor Troi (Marina Sirtis) looks like she's just stepped out from a TOS cosplay event, with her Roddenberry-approved boots and 'cosmic cheerleader' dress.

The series first major villain is perhaps its best overall. The mysterious Q (John de Lancie), who scrutinises, judges and ridicules the Federation's role in the vastly populated Trek universe.

The structure of the pilot is typical of the series episodes as a whole, with two stories/mysteries running concurrency and overlapping in various places, one informing the other at crucial times, etc. It's a process that sometimes feels forced, but Encounter at Farpoint uses it admirably, and even when the less interesting one is to the fore the other remains relevant.

I feel that I've waffled enough, it's starting to feel like an info-dump, so I'll end by saying that the pilot did okay, in all respects. And while it's cheesy at times, it has genuine promise, too.

Dir. Cliff Bole / S3: Ep 26 + S4: Ep 01
★ Stardate: 43989.1 ★

For important backstory you really ought to see Q-Who (S2: Ep 16) before watching The Best of Both Worlds. But because this post is for the TV 'movies' only, I'm going to proceed as if I'm a viewer that's moved directly from one to the next, without knowledge of what happened in-between. In that regard, it needs to be stated that Q's continued interest in humanity (and in Captain Picard, in particular) saw him return to the Enterprise D and, for reasons I won't go into, introduced its crew to a previously unknown race known as the Borg. The Federation deemed the Borg to be an extremely dangerous threat and promptly set to work strategising and exploring new ways to defend against the aggressors. TBoBW continues on from that event.

Responding to a distress signal on a populated planet the Enterprise crew suspect the Borg have been present, so they confer with Starfleet who send aid in the form of their Borg specialist, Lt. Commander Shelby (Elizabeth Hannah Dennehy), an officer who's never actually met a Borg.

Shelby promptly makes herself a pain-in-the-ass of everyone, especially Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes), who now sports a manly beard.* Shelby's overly-pushy, driven attitude is a way to create tension before the shit hits the fan for real. Personally, even while knowing that she's supposed to be annoying, to a degree, I find the character insufferable.

Elsewhere, the drama builds nicely, leading into TNG's first ever end of season cliffhanger; it's such a good one that the two parts arguably work better when split. (It's perhaps worth noting that the TV 'movie' version re-edit removes a brief joining scene, but nothing major.)

Essentially, the story is a war on three fronts: on a very large scale (ship to ship); on a smaller scale (inside the Enterprise the senior staff fight against time to save both their vessel and the life of an important friend and colleague); and on a deeply personal level (the friend in question must fight against his own mind in order to retain his sense of self). You could add the fight for control that occurs between Riker and Shelby, but that's more of a skirmish than a war.

The design of the Borg ship is iconic. It's a simple cube shape, but it's imposing in its lack of aesthetic concerns, opting instead for pure efficiency and functionally; and with a cube being a shape that's alien in the natural world, it seems to scream defiance in every way.

TBoBW is considered by many fans to be one of TNG's best episodes, deservedly so; it has plenty of dramatic tension and creates ripples that echo down the entire Trek timeline thereafter.

*Other changes since Encounter at Farpoint include Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), Worf (Michael Dorn), and Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney), who was previously credited merely as 'Battle Bridge Conn', each now wearing gold and black uniforms, not the red and black of before. Also, Wesley 'Can I see the bridge, mom?' Crusher (Wil Wheaton) is in red. More than just a 24th Century fashion choice, the colour denotes the branch that each officer belongs to: Red = command and helm; Gold = engineering, security, and operations; Blue = science and medical.

Dirs. Cliff Bole (Part I) + David Carson (Part II) / S4: Ep 26 + S5: Ep 01
★ Stardate: 44995.3 ★

Love them or loathe them, the Klingons are an integral part of TNG's established universe. And by extension the same applies to Klingon politics, a complex system of government that's central to Redemption's story. It's an important two-parter for Worf and his brother Kurn, who's played by Tony Todd of Candyman fame. But once again you'll be lacking crucial backstory if you've not seen a few other episodes, namely Reunion (S4: Ep 07) and Yesterday's Enterprise (S4: Ep 15).

Marking the show's 100th episode, Redemption: Part I sees Captain Picard travel to Qo'noS (Kronos) to oversee the installation of Gowron (Robert O'Reilly) as High Council leader, but the ceremony doesn't go unchallenged. You'll hear numerous speeches about honour and treachery, often from people who have little of the former and practice the latter. But Worf is pretty dependable, and by that I mean also that he can be depended upon to be headstrong in his unintentional narrow-mindedness, before stepping outside himself just in time to see the bigger picture, usually after having a candid chat with someone whom he either respects or hates.

While fans of the warrior race's politics will have the best time with what unfolds over the course of the story, my favourite scene involves the android Data (Brent Spiner), who faces yet more narrow-mindedness, in the form of a prejudiced challenge to his abilities. Data rocks!

Dirs. Les Landau (Part I) + Cliff Bole (Part II) / S5: Ep 07 + 08
★ Stardate: 45233.1 ★

NOTE: there will be mild SPOILERS ahead. If you've not yet watched the episodes in question, you may want to skip to the Time's Arrow section below.

It begins with a simple but respectful dedication to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry (1921-91), who died less than two weeks before Unification: Part I aired on TV for the first time.

The story is another political one, with the big draw being that Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy) makes his first appearance in TNG, while another important character makes their last.

Spock's scenes are some of the best parts of the work, especially the ones he shares with Picard and Data (separately). His time with Picard is dominated by the fact that the Enterprise captain met with Spock's father on a previous occasion (S3: Ep 23). The ambassador's time with Data is of a different nature. As the two converse while working side by side to achieve the same goal we're treated to an interesting 'compare and contrast' situation: the android Data has spent much of his life wanting to be more human, while Spock has spent most of his trying not to be.

The story references the events of Redemption, commenting on what direction Klingon society took after Gowran took power. It precedes a great moment in which Captain Picard shows a thorny lackey how skilled he is at reading his opponent and the art of diplomatic persuasion.

It also references a meeting that Spock set up with Kirk and the Klingons in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), which was released on cinema screens that same year.

And lastly, it provides some insight into Spock and Sarek's relationship in the post TOS years.

Dir. Les Landau / S5: Ep 26 + S6: Ep 01
★ Stardate: 45959.1 ★

When evidence of alien visitations on earth five centuries previous is found, the Enterprise is called in to help. What follows is a mystery in the present that must be solved in the past.

Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) has featured a couple of times thus far in the TV 'movies', offering advice and/or intuition that steers the course of the plot in the correct direction, but in Time's Arrow she gets a more sizeable role. I like the character, so am happy to see more of her.

Data is once again key in an exploration of emotional concerns, which boils down to the fact that while he has no emotions of his own, he stirs strong ones in people that consider him a friend.

The primary threat is creepy and disturbing in essence, but isn't as eerie in practice as it could've been. That (purposeful?) underplay, coupled with the annoyingly egocentric nineteenth Century character, whose motivations make him a nuisance at almost every available opportunity, lessens my enjoyment of Time's Arrow, which is a shame because there's a few intriguing ideas present, and seeing data be a (positronic) fish out of water is itself a device that I always enjoy.

Dirs. Robert Scheerer (Part I) + Les Landau (Part II) / S6: Eps 10 + 11
★ Stardate: 46357.4 ★

I sometimes wonder if the criteria for becoming an admiral in Starfleet includes 'arrogant' and 'asshole' as essential skills, because most of the admirals that we see in TNG are proficient in such. Chain of Command has an asshole Captain, too, by the name of Edward Jellico (Ronny Cox). When Picard is sent on a covert mission, Jellico assumes command of the Enterprise and quickly pisses off everyone, from the next-highest ranking officer to the most lowly engineer.

But unlike the poorly written Shelby in The Best of Both Worlds, Jellico is given additional characterisation, making him more than just another one-note tool in a writer's arsenal. My hatred for him was due in part to actor Ronny Cox's understanding of the conflicting responses that Jellico was created to personify, and his willingness to accentuate them at the expense of any kind of likeability. Captain Jellico is a presence that's felt as much as seen, and that feeling develops over the course of the running time into something useful and multifaceted.

The story has a second, more traditional villain operating in a setting that was heavily inspired by George Orwell's seminal Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) novel - so heavily that the credits really ought to have acknowledged the borrowing. It's a Cardassian named Gul Madred, played by David Warner (because British actors make the best villains!). Warner had been in Star Trek twice before, as different characters, in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), but his role in TNG is arguably his most memorable.

I won't go into any further detail, but will say that his scenes with an equally mesmerising Patrick Stewart are essential viewing for any fan of the series and are the primary reason that Chain of Command is a permanent fixture on many people's 'Best of TNG' lists.

Dirs. Winrich Kolbe (Part I) + Dan Curry (Part II) / S6: Eps 16 + 17
★ Stardate: 46578.4 ★

Portions of Birthright are set on board the Deep Space Nine space station, which was in its first season when the Birthright two-parter originally aired on US television, and we actually get some crossover with characters from both series interacting. It's not extensive, but is still fun.

Both the episode's A and B storylines are concerned with fatherhood, but unlike Encounter at Farpoint the balance isn't maintained; while the two investigations share a focus, and each one briefly inspires the other, they still feel entirely separate. Furthermore, the less developed one, which is the one that I liked the most, is practically forgotten about in the second half. The events in that second thread do get picked up later in the series in a really great episode, but that's not any kind of excuse for it feeling neglected and unresolved when the end credits roll.

The stroyline that gets most attention is another Klingon one, involving Worf, unsurprisingly. A heavily disguised James Cromwell, who would go on to play an important Star Trek character in the First Contact (1996) movie years later, has information that gets the Klingon security officer in an emotional tizzy, so he takes some unscheduled shore leave and goes in search of the truth.

His presence thereafter is disruptive and he comes across somewhat dickish when attempting to impress his beliefs upon an isolated culture who were getting along just fine before he arrived.

From the opposite perspective he's righting a wrong, but it's arguably a wrong that's subjective, not some kind of universal truth. I usually enjoy a 'nature vs nurture' story, but the entire thing felt underdeveloped, rushed and deeply unsatisfying to me. Although, I liked the contrast between Worf's exterior (geographical) exploration and protagonist B's inward journey.

Dir. Alexander Singer / S6: Ep 26 + S7: Ep 01
★ Stardate: 46982.1 ★

It's another Borg episode, but seeing The Best of Both Worlds isn't enough, you'll also need to have seen I, Borg (S5: Ep 23) in order to understand how things got to where they are with the Collective, and that's only half the story. The other half is definitely spoiler, so I'll just say that Descent is recommended for viewers that have a good knowledge of the Enterprise crew's non-Starfleet relations, or for viewers that don't care about whether or not they see the full picture.

It kicks off with a distress call from a Starfleet outpost, which isn't anything new and is arguably a pretty boring event, but when the ship's crew investigate further they observe something unusual, leading to a number of WHY? situations that must be resolved. Data features heavily in at least one of them; the story wraps itself around a question that perturbs him, which is the best way I can think to describe it, whilst being aware that perturbed is an emotional state.

Picard gets chided by Admiral Nechayev (Natalija Nogulich), giving us another example of the Starfleet admiralty being domineering assholes that want everything their way; the underlying tenet of Nechayev's argument is that the moral thing to do is not always the Starfleet thing to do. It would be wrong to jump directly to the conclusion that Starfleet must then be amoral, but that single exchange highlights at least one of the reasons why the Federation is disliked by some of the other races, and Nechayev is too damn arrogant to see the justification.

The second half of the story creates danger for the ship in a standard 'B Plot' manner (i.e. boring, uninspired), while key members of the away team wrestle with semi-dramatic moral dilemmas.

It was the final appearance of the Borg in the weekly TNG TV series (but don't take that as any kind of indication as to what happens to them). They featured in just six episodes in its seven year run — two single episodes and two two-parters — but they made a big impression. It's good that they were used sparingly, because too much of a good thing can dilute its impact.

Dirs. Peter Lauritson (Part I) + Alexander Singer (Part II) / S7: Eps 04 + 05
★ Stardate: 47135.2 ★

The first part of Gambit revolves around Captain Picard, even though he's not actually onscreen for much of it. His absence is a defining part of the story, so I can't go into more detail than that.

When it comes to the remainder of the crew, Riker is on a crusade of justice (partly fuelled by vengeance), while Data fills in as acting Captain of the Enterprise. Troi fishing for info in a seedy bar is kind of fun (she hadn't discovered tequila at this stage), but overall I'm not a fan of the story, in general. What stands out is Data, who's damn impressive in the ship's big-chair; he has a few scenes with Worf that are for me the best the mediocre two-parter has to offer.

It uses the crew's familiarity with each other to solve a dangerous problem and maintain a beneficial masquerade, but it's clumsy at times. It's the kind of thing that might've worked well on a page, but seems all too scripted when acted out on screen. Part of that relates to a group of mercenaries whose attire may have been designed to bring genetically enhanced superhuman Khan to mind, but mostly I saw a bunch of Final Fantasy NPCs, the traders and villagers type who live in towns and have two or three lines of dialogue that they repeat over and over again.

But notably, there's a character on the featured mercenary ship played by an actress that was in both ST III: The Search for Spock (1984) and ST IV: The Voyage Home (1986).

The ongoing string of deceits and plays and counter-plays fails to hold my attention, and I find the episodes a struggle, to be frank. It's not as good as it thinks it is. It's of Voyager quality.

Dir. Winrich Kolbe / S7: Eps 25 + 26
★ Stardate: 47988.0 and ?????.? ★

The finale of Season 7 was TNG's TV farewell and it connects directly to events in the show's pilot episode (Encounter at Farpoint), making everything that happened in the intervening seven years relevant to both stories! In order to fully appreciate the work you absolutely must watch the pilot. The series notched up 178 episodes in total. It had some duff ones, plenty of average ones, and some really outstanding ones, but for me All Good Things... is as good as it gets. It's my favourite of the lot and even knowing the outcome doesn't lessen it during re-watches.

It begins with a quiet but significant (to them) discourse between two of the Enterprise's regular bridge crew, before being interrupted by a disorientated Captain Picard, whose consciousness is hopping between a number of fixed time periods like some kind of 24th century Billy Pilgrim.

It isn't as daedal or as literary as Vonnegut's masterpiece is, but the time-hop device itself is as crucial and instructive to TNG's story as it was to Pilgrim's own philosophical journey, and the guiding narrative exists as an equally unbroken line through the differing time periods.

Events unfold mostly from Picard's perspective, and as such he's in almost every scene, but Patrick Stewart is thoroughly up to the task; in fact, his acting, whether it be as a man full of confidence, full of doubts, or seemingly bordering on senility, is simply superb.

Knowledge of the full seven years of TNG will allow a viewer to catch all the little nods to stories past, but I can't figure out why they made future Riker look like Orson Welles.

A further benefit in connecting itself to the pilot is its ability to comment on TNG as a whole, in a way that's both reflective and contemplative, playful and earnest. It's always sad to see a beloved show come to an end, but TNG's ending is perfect, drawing a knowing line under what's gone before whilst simultaneously looking ahead to the future. That duality is why I love it.

Dir. David Carson / Season 01 Pilot (Eps 01 + 02)
★ Stardate: 46379.1 ★

The only member of the Enterprise bridge crew that we see onscreen in DS9's pilot episode is Captain Picard, and it's not for very long, if edited together it'd be little more than a few minutes, but TNG's influence on the events of not just the pilot but the entire seven year run of DS9 is pretty monumental, if you choose to look at it that way. In reality, it's as minor or as major as you wish to perceive it, which is itself a sterling achievement. The crux of it is that the Starfleet commander of DS9, Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), is the man he is because of an event that occurred in TNG's continuity (Season 4); I can't say much more than that for fear of spoilers.

Benjamin Sisko's own words may explain it better than I can: the event is, "a day that shaped every day that followed". In short, his being on DS9 might not have happened if not for the incident in question; therefore, the discovery of the wormhole and everything that followed because of that — the wonders, the horrors, the war, etc. —  also might not have happened.

I'm not suggesting that DS9's duly earned success was in part due to TNG, just that a deep connection of consequence was carried through from TNG to DS9's creation. One character's motivation grew from the foundation that was laid down, in a similar but more consequential way to how TNG emerged out of the shadow of TOS. But really, it's all just a matter of perspective.

At time of writing the series isn't available in HD on any format. The picture quality of the current DVDs is awful. I understand why it may never get the same kind of extensive (and expensive) restoration treatment that TNG received, but I'd love it if they would at least do the pilot.

To date, five of the 'TV Movies' have received a standalone Blu-ray release.