CONUNDRUM "Conundrum" is in a sense the flip side to "The Masterpiece Society". While the latter "breathed new life into old ideas", "Conundrum" showed us that "the more things change, the more they stay the same". It is a sort of combination of "Clues" and "Future Imperfect". Like "Clues", its title begins with a "C", but like "Future Imperfect", it has more than one syllable. But seriously, the parallels run deeper than that. As with "Clues", the story pivots on the idea of the crew losing part of their memory, in this case, their senses of identity and history. This is a potentially fascinating concept, which is, in some ways, followed through on. Particularly in the Riker-Ro romance, Worf's assumption of command, and Data's stint as a bartender. And the prospect of Starfleet being at war with an alien race all of a sudden is a thrilling one, providing us with a "what's going on?" sense of exhilaration. Unfortunately, that's where the "Future Imperfect" parallels come in. The "punch line" is painfully obvious from the outset. From the instant that the unknown crewman is named as executive officer in place of Riker, we know that all is not well and that this man is probably the culprit. His insistence on attacking the command post makes it instantly clear that he is using the Enterprise to destroy it for his own purposes. The only remaining question is whether or not they'll go through with it, and, this being TNG and not some more adventurous show, it's pretty obvious that they won't. As with "Future Imperfect", this show is a sham, the trickery all done with mirrors, and I felt cheated at the end. What would have been REALLY interesting would have been if the Enterprise had found itself in the middle of a REAL war. If they'd contacted Starfleet Command and found that everything was indeed as it seemed to be. As in "Future Imperfect", I found the "mirrors" tarnished and dull. Moreover, the plot did not really hang together. I found it very interesting that the question was raised at the end as to why, with his abilities and technology to control the ship, the alien hadn't been able to mount a direct attack on his enemies. The response is that his technology was not actually any more advanced than his adversaries, but if this was so then HOW IN THE WORLD COULD HE HAVE SO EFFECTIVELY TAKEN CONTROL OF THE ENTERPRISE? Fer gosh sakes, he was able to run rampant through their computer files in a VERY short span of time AND penetrate their shields. This is primitive technology? Riiiight. Other short criticisms include an observation that TNG's alien ship designs are starting to sink to the level of their alien make-up (the ships this season all seem to look like they were pulled from the Hydran race in Star Fleet Battles). I didn't care for the final scene, either. Troi's verbiage in particular ("You know where my office is") didn't make much sense to me - I was as confused as Riker. And, I find it difficult to believe that no one on a ship of a thousand people keeps a written diary. Given that various paper artifacts do exist (e.g., Riker's book in this very episode), and that computers are not completely secure (as we have been shown time and time again in Star Trek, never mind the present day), it seems highly unlikely to me. And such a diary, presumably without any mention of the war, would have unraveled the whole plot. On the up side, the early scenes involving the memory loss were well done, particularly the direction in the first moments after their memories were erased. Their methodical approach to surveying the ship and trying to solve the problem was believable. And, as I said, the Riker-Ro fling was entertaining and well-done. ("For all we know we could hate each other." "What makes you think you're going to GET any sleep?") One of the few instances where TNG was able to pull off such playful romance believably. Unfortunately, this episode suffered on too many counts, and proved to be just another intriguing idea handled poorly. It had several entertaining sections, but its resolution cripples it. Grade: C- SEASON FIVE AT A GLANCE: Redemption II: B- Darmok: A+ Ensign Ro: C Silicon Avatar: C- Disaster: B- The Game: B- Unification I: C Unification II: D+ A Matter Of Time: B- New Ground: F Hero Worship: C- Violations: A The Masterpiece Society: B+ Conundrum: C- --- Total Points: 32 2/3 Season Average: 2.333 ( C+ ) (Fall of 0.052 from previous episode.) Next Week: "The Galileo Seven" meets "Return To Tomorrow" meets "Space Seed", as Worf meets phaser fire and Picard's throat meets Data's hand. See you then.