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Recap / Star Trek: The Next Generation S2E15 "Pen Pals"

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Awww, how can anyone say no to a face like that?

Original air date: May 1, 1989

Picard is getting ready to take a ride on an Arabian horse in the holodeck when Riker summons him to the bridge. A local cluster of planets have all been exploding for some unknown reason. Riker suggests that a team of scientists investigate the cause, with Wesley in charge to give him some command experience in a low-stakes assignment.

The stakes get higher when Data answers a distress call from Sarjenka, a little girl on one of the planets that is about to explode. The problem is that Sarjenka's civilization is a pre-warp society, so the Prime Directive mandates that the Enterprise practice a policy of non-interference. When Data finally admits his actions to Picard, the bridge crew debate whether they should help save the girl.

Meanwhile, Wesley is struggling to take charge of his team of scientists. They are all older and more experienced than him, so when they question his orders, he doubts himself. After a few pep talks from Riker, Wesley takes inspiration from Picard's command style of conferring with his subordinates, making a decision, and living with the consequences. He orders his scientists to make a thorough but potentially wasteful survey of the planet. They eventually come up with a solution to the planet's tectonic problems.

Picard is reluctantly convinced to allow Data to beam down to Sarjenka and bring her back aboard the ship. She watches as the ship enacts Wesley's proposal to save the planet, and it works. Sarjenka thanks Data for her help and wistfully wishes that she could stay with him on his ship, but she knows that's not possible. Before she leaves, Picard orders that all memory of Data and the ship be wiped from her memory to preserve some semblance of the Prime Directive. Data leaves Sarjenka behind with a keepsake that she will no longer understand and must be comforted by the fact that he will remember their time together.


Tropes:

  • Character Development: When Picard insists that the crew mustn't let their emotions get involved when deciding what to do regarding Drema IV, Pulaski replies "My emotions are involved. Data's friend is going to die. That means something." Worf growls that it may mean something to Data, and Pulaski snaps that this doesn't invalidate the emotion. This is a major shift from when she first came on board, when she didn't even consider him a sentient being and would have regarded "Data's friend" as a meaningless phrase.
  • Condescending Compassion: Ensign Davies sympathizes with the pressure that Wesley is feeling during his first command, and offers to take over for him if he ever feels unfit to the task. Wesley clearly senses the condescension and stiffly states that he's unlikely to require that service.
  • Consummate Professional: Wesley is worried to death that his scientific team will not respect him or follow him, but Riker assures him that they are Starfleet officers who will follow the chain of command. When Wesley initially proposes a time-consuming task unlikely to achieve any results, they advise him against it, but when Wesley finally delivers an order to do the task, they cheerfully comply without issue.
  • Creepy Long Fingers: Part of what gives Sarjenka her surprisingly un-cute appearance is her creepily long fingers.
  • Ensign Newbie: Wesley is given command of a small science team, to test whether he has command ability and leadership skills.
  • From Bad to Worse: First, Data talks to a young girl from a non-warp species. Then he beams down to that planet. Later on, he beams the girl up.
    O'Brien: There's going to be hell to pay!
  • Halfway Plot Switch: A downplayed example; most of the episode's first half is taken up by Wesley's struggling to get to grips with commanding his science team, with Data's communications with Sarjenka only playing a small role at first, and not taking over as the main plot until the meeting in Picard's quarters at almost exactly the halfway point. However, Wesley's subplot still ends up proving crucial to solving the disaster facing Drema IV.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: Data, an "adult" android, becomes friends with a young girl.
  • I Was Never Here: When Riker beams Data down to Drema IV:
    Riker: O'Brien, take a nap. You didn't see any of this. You're not involved.
    O'Brien: Right, sir. I'll just be standing over here dozing off.
  • Loophole Abuse: During the discussion between the senior officers after Data's actions come to light, Geordi, Data, and Pulaski are all quite keen to treat Sarjenka's communication as a call for help as a way to get around the Prime Directive. Picard regards this as sophistrynote , suggesting that he doesn't buy the loophole.
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The theme of the episode. Data breaks the Prime Directive to help a little girl, even though this may have negative repercussions further down the road. Much of the episode is dedicated to debating whether to support his decision.
  • What Measure Is a Non-Cute?: Rather than an adorable little girl who will tug at the viewer's heart strings, Sarjenka is a rather creepy-looking alien who is also a sweet little girl.

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