History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E1Evolution

* FutureLoser: Stubbs is essentially what Wesley could grow up to be. Not a brilliant academic with the respect of his pears and a litany of work behind him, but an isolated hermit, obsessed with one experiment to give his life meaning.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Why yes, it is a younger [[Series/{{Scrubs}} Doctor Kelso]] trying to kill all the nanites.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Why yes, it is a younger [[LiveAction/{{Scrubs}} Doctor Kelso]] trying to kill all the nanites.

The ''Enterprise'' has come to witness a particular explosion at a binary star system that only occurs once every 196 years, having brought a Federation scientist named Dr. Stubbs. When the ship starts to malfunction, Wesley discovers that it's the nanites that escaped that are causing the problems. Dr. Stubbs takes matters into his own hands, flooding the computer core with gamma radiation. This kills many of the nanites, but not all of them, and the remainder react by sabotaging the life support. This is quickly overridden, but after Dr. Stubbs is confined to quarters, the nanites find a way to attack him there with an electric shock.

* KarmaHoudini: Wesley doesn't receive any form of punishment for endangering the entire crew. On the other hand, he doesn't receive any accolades for creating a new sapient life form, either, so it balances out.

** Picard tells Beverly that he was known to get into quite a bit of trouble when he was Wesley's age--echoing what he told the boy in "[[StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E17SamaritanSnare Samaritan Snare]]".

Wesley Crusher is fast asleep with his head on the counter where he's been working. He's been experimenting with some nanites, which are tiny robots that can do very delicate work due to their microscopic size. Unwittingly, he's left the container open and some of them have escaped. They proceed to infest the ship like pests, reproducing and eating away at the circuitry in the computer.

* PublicDomainCharacter: Guinan seems to be reminiscing to Wesley about another scientist friend that she knew who has a similar dilemma as Wesley. "His name was Frankenstein". Later seasons would establish that Guinan has been on Earth rubbing shoulders with the likes of Samuel Clemens. But whether or not this is meant to imply that in the ''Star Trek'' universe, ''Film/{{Frankenstein|1931}}'' is based on a true story is anyone's guess. Not impossible since the Greek Gods and Myth/{{Merlin}} (one of Flint's identities as mentioned in ''Requiem For Methuselah'') are said to have existed in Earth's past.

[floatboxright:
Series: ''Series/{{Star Trek The Next Generation}}''\\
Episode: Season 3, Episode 1\\
Title: "Evolution"\\
Previous: "Shades of Grey"\\
Next: "The Ensigns of Command"\\
Recapper: Koby_Fish]

* GoneHorriblyRight: Wesley's school project involves putting two nanites together to see what would happen. Result: He creates a new species that starts to consume the ''Enterprise'' and jeopardizes a science mission.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The nanites are initially the result of Wesley's science project.

* [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim Why Don't You Just Shoot It?]]: When the crew try to fix the problem while preserving the nanites, Stubbs' "solution" is to fire a high-energy gamma pulse at the computer core, killing them.

* CallBack: Although it's said that baseball is no longer played in the 24th century (something that is picked up on later in ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' as well), the writers clearly remembered that Wesley had already talked about the game way back in the first season episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E7Justice Justice]]", so they weave it into his backstory that he used to play it with his dad. Clearly, Jack Crusher was, along with Stubbs and Ben Sisko, one of the few devotees left of the game.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Stubbs sees the nanites as nothing more than rogue machines that need to be destroyed.

Series:Series/{{Star Trek The Next Generation}}\\

Title: Evolution\\
Previous: Shades of Grey\\
Next: The Ensigns Of Command\\

Wesley Crusher is fast asleep with his head on the counter where he's been working. He's been experimenting with some nanites, which are tiny robots that can do very delicate work due to their microscopic size. Unwittingly he'd left the container open and some of them had escaped. They proceed to infest the ship like pests, reproducing and eating away at the circuitry in the computer.

The Enterprise has come to witness a particular explosion at a binary star system that only occurs once every 196 years, having brought a Federation scientist named Dr. Stubbs. When the ship starts to malfunction, Wesley discovers that it's the nanites that escaped that are causing the problems. Dr. Stubbs takes matters into his own hands, flooding the computer core with gamma radiation. This kills many of the Nanites, but not all of them, and the remainder react by sabotaging the life support. This is quickly overridden, but after Dr. Stubbs is confined to quarters, the nanites find a way to attack him there with an electric shock.

Data offers himself for the nanites to use to communicate with Picard and the crew, and Picard reasons with them, explaining their dire situation if their computer is not repaired. The nanites agree to repair the computer, in time for Dr. Stubbs to gather data when the explosion occurrs. Picard offers any assistance he can for the Nanites, but they say they don't really need any. Other than transportation to a new home world, of course.

!Tropes:

* CallBack: Although it's said that baseball is no longer played in the 24th century (something that is picked up on later in ''Deep Space Nine'' as well), the writers clearly remembered that Wesley had already talked about the game way back in the first season episode "Justice", so they weave it into his backstory that he used to play it with his dad. Clearly, Jack Crusher was, along with Stubbs and Ben Sisko, one of the few devotees left of the game.

* GoneHorriblyRight: Wesley's school project involved putting two nannites together to see what would happen. Result: He created a new species that started to consume the Enterprise and jeopardizing a science mission.
* InstantAIJustAddWater: Wow, is it really that easy to create sentient mechanical life?

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The nanites were initially the result of Wesley's science project.
* ShoutOut: The game Dr. Stubbs is reliving in his sleep when the nanites attack him is Bobby Thompson's 1951 "Shot Heard 'Round The World".

* YouAreNotAlone:
-->'''Beverly:''' I'm here now, Wesley. Come on, I'll help you.

* GameOfNerds: Stubbs uses baseball to relax, but not by playing it on the holodeck like [[StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Sisko]]. He instead relives the games in his mind using statistics.

* TheBusCameBack: Dr. Crusher

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Wesley

* PutOnABus: Dr. Pulaski.

* PutOnABus: Dr Pulaski

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman

* TheBusCameBack: Dr Crusher