AQUIEL


Hmm... TNG *is* looking up!

"Aquiel" showed that, as with Classic Star Trek, TNG does best when it sets
its sights lower.  Trying to squeeze an overly-ambitious story into 45 minutes
just doesn't work.  A brief murder mystery with a simple science fictional
twist, can be handled pretty adroitly.

The weak link in this episode was the romance between LaForge and Uhnari.  Not
too surprising, since previous "Geordi romance" episodes haven't been too
successful.  ("Galaxy's Child" was an unmitigated disaster.)  While Levar
Burton is a very personable guy, he seems out of place in the sorts of
romances that get written for him.  Something about his delivery just doesn't
ring true.

On the other hand, the romance angle was saved in that it tied into the main
plot perfectly.  LaForge's "I'm not the one making judgments" comment to Riker
was quite satisfying, and the telepathic interlude of course created tension
once the identity of the alien was determined.

The mystery itself was quite well-constructed.  The early scenes involving
investigation of what had happened before everyone disappeared were eerie
given the vacancy of the space station.  And once she turned up, things looked
bleak for Uhnari until the alien's existence was revealed.  The scene where
the glob in sickbay creates a duplicate of Dr. Crusher's hand was chilling.

The loose ends of the mystery were tied up well, with Morag revealing that he
did indeed beam over to the station (though it was never explained why he
tinkered with the computers; maybe he was just doing a little impromptu
espionage, I guess), and the disappearance of the senior officer made perfect
sense without leaving us feeling let down by the answer.  I'm not sure I
entirely bought the proposal for Uhnari's memory loss, since Dr. Crusher
didn't seem at all affected by her brush with the thing (I wonder what she's
going to do with that hand? :-) , but it's better than not trying to explain
it at all!

Given that the romantic angle didn't work for me, the show ended up being weak
on characterization, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Grade: B+

TNG SEASON SIX AT A GLANCE:
Time's Arrow II: B-
Realm Of Fear: C
Man Of The People: C
Relics: B+
Schisms: B-
True Q: D-
Rascals: D+
A Fistful Of Datas: B
The Quality Of Life: C+
Chain Of Command: B+
Chain Of Command Part II: B
Ship In A Bottle: A
Aquiel: B+
---
Total Points: 33 2/3
Season Average: 2.589 (B-)
(Rise of 0.061 from previous episode)

Next week:

Uh-oh, it's a Troi episode.  Hang onto your hats.

(Final comment:  Doesn't it seem like there's something wrong when the music
in the *preview* for next week is more exciting than anything that appeared in
the episode?)