RELICS


Well, I would say that "Relics" is certainly the best episode of the sixth
season so far, and I think I can say that without being accused of saying
it "just because it had Scotty in it", since, after all, I thought
"Unification" was awful. :-)

I think they would have been hard-pressed to have come up with a better
first five minutes of this episode.  Between the Dyson sphere, the pleasant
Trek Classic sound of the transporters on the old vessel, Scotty's
preservation (in typically miraculous fashion) and materialization, and
his reaction to the name Enterprise (along the lines of, "I'll bet Jim Kirk
pulled the old girl out of mothballs himself to come looking for me"), what
more could one really ask for?  I know *I* was grinning all the way through!

The main attraction here, of course, was Captain Montgomery Scott, who,
played expertly by James Doohan, brought the Enterprise-D more to life than
it has been in quite some time.  Scotty's lines such as "I don't know,
how *am* I feeling?" were more colorful than just about anything we *ever*
see on the new series.

It was somewhat surprising to be regaled by tales from the original Star Trek
series to boldly, given that TNG has always shied away from such an approach
at every opportunity, but the contrasts between "then" and "now" were
painted all the more expertly for it.  (Another point where I had a big
grin was when Data introduced the whisky with the description, "It is green",
which I presume everyone recognized as being one of Scotty's own lines from
the Trek Classic episode, "By Any Other Name". :-)

Mr. Scott's crisis of confidence was somewhat overdone (particularly the
scene in engineering with LaForge, which I felt was stretched out until it
became a bit painful), and some of the dialogue just too pat.  However,
on the plus side, I feel that using LaForge and Picard as foils for Scotty
was I think the right decision.  LaForge not just because he is an
engineer, but also because he's young and full of energy, two things which
Scotty always has been and (despite his years) clearly still is.  Picard,
on the other hand, is older, wiser, and has had many of the experiences of
achievement and loss which Mr. Scott has had.

In some ways, this episode was a trivia buff's dream, between being told
how long Scotty's been in Starfleet, how many ships he's served on, and
the tantalizing tidbit about there being a Consitution Class ship in
Starfleet's museum (I wonder which one?).  Plus, of course, we got the
lovingly reconstructed set of the original Enterprise's bridge, and saw
Scotty sit once more at his old console.  We learned why Picard doesn't seem
to have the passion for his ship that Kirk did for his (because it's not
Picard's first command), and that Scotty helped write the specification on
impulse engines.

The thrust of the story, of course, was that given the right tools, even
outdated ones by modern standards, a true craftsman can still work miracles.
Deep down, I think that both we and Scotty know that if he really wanted to,
he could start over again in Starfleet.  He's obviously not ready for
retirement *yet* (as evidenced by his glee at having his own ship to play
with), but isn't going to just plug into an existing community like the
Enterprise 1701-D, either.  He's got to find his own way.

There were a few point about the episode I was unsatisfied with.  On the
technical side, I had a hard time swallowing that the Enterprise could be
carried toward the sun on momentum alone so quickly (must have been one
hell of a tractor beam), or the level of coincidence that the sphere's
star started to act up at that particular hour.

I also found it disappointing that we never got to take a trip down to the
surface of the sphere to perhaps learn something about the makers of this
dead world.  I guess that's the same sort of disappointment that I felt when
we were denied the opportunity to learn much about the USS Bozeman in "Cause
And Effect", except that there it crippled the whole story for me, and I felt
cheated.  Here is was just a thing I would have liked to have seen but
didn't.  Oh, well.

I started writing this review while listening to "Wonderous Stories" by Yes,
appropriately enough.  That is, after all, a lot of what this episode was
about.  It would be nice to think that we'll be able to see a few more of
them (perhaps Spock, McCoy and Scotty getting together one last time, or
finding out whatever happened to Jim Kirk - the man whom, in a sense, Star
Trek is _about_).

But also, it feels like this episode was more successful than any one to date
in making me feel that the day of the original crew is truly over.  I do
find a Star Trek universe without Captain Kirk and the drives, excitement,
adventure, humor and camaraderie which embodied him and his companions to be
much the colder, but perhaps those days are truly past, only to be reminisced
about and seen occasionally in illusion and re-runs.  Time, perhaps, to
realize that things are different now and to accept things the way they are.

On the other hand, McCoy may be old and worn out, Spock in a different line
of work, and Kirk nowhere to be seen.  But if Scotty can recapture a piece
of his youth, a hundred years after his heyday, why can't I hold onto the
same hope...?

Grade: B+


SEASON SIX AT A GLANCE:
Time's Arrow II: B-
Realm Of Fear: C
Man Of The People: C
Relics: B+
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Total Points: 10
Season Average: 2.500 (B-)