The Enemy
Time for LaForge to go solo - trapped on Sound Stage 16 with a Romulan!
After finding wreckage of a Romulan ship and a badly injured survivor on Galorndon Core, LaForge falls into a hole and is left behind on the inhospitable surface of the planet. Storms prevent a rescue attempt, and our plucky Engineer has to use his wits and ingenuity to survive. But... he’s not alone. There’s another Romulan down there. Can they co-operate and save both their lives, or will their distrust lead to their mutual destruction? Meanwhile, Picard has his own problems. Not only is there a Warbird with a aggressive Commander who seems to be angling for war, but the Romulan they rescued will die if he doesn't get a blood transfusion from Worf... who is less than keen. Is war between the Federation and the Klingons unavoidable?
Words
You’re going to get tired of me saying how much I love the Romulan episodes (at least until we reach season 5), but this non-sequential two-parter is my favourite. Except, it’s not officially a two-parter, and there are two episodes between the first part and the second... but that’s just a technicality, right? It helps that I love Romulans, and it also helps that there is an awesome guest star in both episodes - but we’ll get to him.
All I can think about when I see this episode is 1985’s Enemy Mine, a sci-fi B movie I have always loved despite it being widely panned. But the makers of this episode deny that this was the inspiration, and instead cite the Oscar-winning 1958 film The Defiant Ones, starring Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis. I tend to believe them, but it still feels like a shame.
This is one of those episodes that plays that scripting trick of mentioning something we know (Pearl Harbour) and contrasting it to some made up sci-fi equivalent (Station Salem-One). What happened at Station Salem-One? Who knows! But a deleted scene in season four’s “Family” claims that one of Jack Crusher’s ancestors died there. As it stands, it’s just here to remind us that this is science fiction.
In the original draft script, it was going to be Marina Sirtis’ Troi who would have been stuck on the planet with LaForge, and she would have incapacitated the Romulan…
Sirtis’ character remains woefully underdeveloped at this point in TNG’s run, and she was enormously disappointed about being denied this opportunity:
I felt very excited about this. I finally got to do something interesting and different and, of course, when the final script came not only was I not on the planet, but I had one line at the end of the show – and that was actually cut. That’s the kind of thing that happens and I wish it wouldn't.
But the real behind-the-scenes drama this week was Worf refusing to give a blood transfusion to the Romulan. The idea came from the new head writer, Michael Piller, but it didn’t go down well with the writing team, nor indeed with Michael Dorn:
I called the producers and said I didn’t agree. I thought it was the honourable thing to do. I thought people would look at me as a murderer. The producers felt that Worf was getting to be too human… just a guy with a big head. When the opportunity came for them to show that Worf was not human, that he is not bound by the same morals as we are, they felt it was a wonderful opportunity.
However, Piller was able to win the day:
Rick Berman knew instantly it was the right thing to do. Once he was behind me, it was a race to the finish line. And it was absolutely the right thing to do. You knew the audience was waiting for Worf to come around, because they always do that in television. But the character wouldn’t do that and I think we made a really good decision. At first though, it was quite a shock and a controversial decision. But you end up talking about survival and survival among enemies. I think it was just a natural character development.
After seeing the final episode, Dorn - and as far as I can tell, everyone else - knew that Piller and Berman had made the right choice. The episode is a gem, and in part because all three plots are brilliantly interconnected, and give their performers great material to deliver.
Acting Roles
Although this is a solo mission for LeVar Burton’s Geordi LaForge, this episode is a game of pairs. Firstly, there's the A-plot on Sound Stage 16.
Burton has good rapport with John Snyder’s Centurian Bochra, and we’ll see Snyder again in season five's “The Masterpiece Society”, although it has to be said that he gives a far more compelling performance here.
Steve Rankin’s Patahk has less to do since he spends most of the episode dying, but he sets up a brilliant B-plot which sees Michael Dorn’s Worf set against Gates McFadden’s Dr Crusher. Actually, Worf’s plot is an ensemble storyline, but its Dorn and McFadden at its core. Dorn is brilliant here, it’s great to see his harder side come through as they’ve spent so much time making him into a Klingon teddy bear.
There’s a Colm Meaney scene in Act One, but O’Brien is really only here to confirm that LaForge is going to be stuck on the planet for the episode. They still aren’t willing to give Meaney a load-bearing role in a story, but don't worry, it’s coming.
But the ultimate pairing this week is in the C-plot (which might be the greatest C-plot ever!). Patrick Stewart’s Captain Picard faces off with Andreas Katsulas’ Commander Tomalak. Katsulas is absolutely fantastic, and a brilliant foil for Stewart, the two of them creating a genuine sense of tension around the brink-of-disaster story unfolding via all three plots in working in tandem.
After his time with TNG, Katsulas landed the key role of Ambassador G’Kar on Babylon 5 - arguably the absolutely greatest aspect of that particular show - and he’s wonderful as Tomalak here and in the second part in a few weeks time. They get him back twice more, but it’s these two episodes that are his story, the rest are just cameos. This was arguably a breakthrough role for him, since although the 1993 film adaptation of The Fugitive was certainly a big movie, his role as the one-armed man was hardly a career-building moment. Katsulas is, however, undeniably brilliant in this role, and indeed any time anyone gave him a chance to shine.
Models, Make-up, and Mattes
No new matte painting (the planet appeared before in “The Child”), but we get a new Romulan ship! Okay, we get to see a very small part of one, at least.
And we get a new probe!
But this episode isn't really about the studio miniatures - although of course it has the beautiful Romulan warbird model in it…
…and it is finally called a Warbird too. About time too.
It’s the brilliant use of Sound Stage 16 that is the star of the show here. We’ve seen the components of this set many times, but the use of sound, rain, and wind, really earns this space its long-lasting nickname - Planet Hell. Well done, sets team - you nailed it!
Planet Hell really shines here - one of my faves!
What is it about the D'deridex? It does look so good.