After recieving a distress call that Ira Graves, a teacher of Noonian Soong, and one of the greatest minds in the universe, the Enterprise rushes to his aid. His research being invaluable to Starfleet, it is a priority one situation. (Very, very important.) Meanwhile, Data shows off his new beard to Geordi and Deanna Troi. While Troi busts out laughing, Data wonders why she is laughing, leaving Geordi to answer him, humerously uncertain.
As the Enterprise approaches the planet where Ira Graves resides, they get a distress call from a transport ship which suffered an internal explosion. They settle on a near warp transport to the planet surface with Data, Worf, Troi, and a vulcan doctor, while the Enterprise goes to help the transport ship.
"Sensation, what sensation... ....I don't understand." --Troi
(smiles)"You will..." --Riker
Upon transport they find that Kareen Brianon, Ira Graves assistant is the one who sent the message and that she was trying to be covert about it becaues she knew Graves would be angry. (The guy may be the most brilliant mind in the galaxy, but the man is a jerk. I would have clocked him one myself, had he not been dying, after all Kareen was only trying to help Graves.) But after diagnosing the hot tempered, ego driven idiot (hey didn't this guy play a Klingon is Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country) they conclude that he is dying. It also turns out that Graves taught Soong, and therefore is essentially Data's grandfather.
The Enterprise succeds in it's rescue mission of the transport ship and heads back to the planet while Data and Graves talk. Graves insists on Data calling him Grandpa. Data inquires as to what song Graves is humming and as we all know, it's from the Wizard Of Oz, If I Only Had a Heart. Graves recounts the story of the tin man, and how he wanted a heart and finds at the end, he had it all along. Graves then discusses how he won't die believing Data will never contemplate such an event. Data corrects Graves, and informs him of his off switch which in essence, leaves him dead. (Uh-oh, did you hear that music, especially after Graves just mentioned that before he dies he plans to put his mind into that wierd machine thingy next to his desk.) As the away team prepares to head back, Data emerges (and you can tell he's not the same with his tone of voice) and announces that Graves died.
After the Enterprise departs Grave's world, they set out for the nearest starbase to drop of Kareen. Data enters ten forward and tells Kareen (this part wasn't only eerie, but scary as well) how much Graves loved her, almost touching her. He then attends the ceremony where he goes on and on about Graves accomplishments. (Gee, I wonder if Graves took over Data...wonder if it was the ego that gave it away.) Afterwards Picard suggests that Data not try so hard to be human. Data agrees, but after leaving, becomes enamored with the butt of cute female starfleet officer, and then enters the turbolift huming none other than If I only Had a Heart....
"To know him, is to love him, is to know him" -- Wesley Crusher
On the bridge, Wesley asks Data where he came up with the speech, and Data shrugs him off. When Captain Picard and Kareen appear on the bridge, he gets jealous of the closeness between Picard and Kareen, or the illusion of it, and confronts Picard. Picard orders him to his ready room. Troi tells Riker she senses jealousy from Data. Tests reveal that there are two personalities within Data, one Graves, and one the Data we all know and love, and that the old Data is being destroyed by Grave's personality.
While Counselor Troi, Captain Picard, and the vulcan doctor (can't pronounce her name at present) determine that in fact Graves transfered his being into Data, Graves/Data goes to ten forward and proposes that he will put Kareen's conciousness into an android body, and to reveal to her that he is indeed Graves. But Kareen refuses, and ultimately in his anger, he accidentally injures her hand. Having done so, he flees to engineering, where he incapacitates Geordi. Picard arrives and confronts Graves, making him see what happened to Geordi, and revealing the injuries that he accidentally inflicted upon Kareen. In one last rage, he knocks out Picard, before at last going to Data's quarters and transfering himself into the computer there. However, the human component is lost.
Data wakes up with Geordi, Picard, Kareen, and Troi standing over him, and with two questions, Picard is convinced Data is himself again, although he does not remember a thing. Of course, Riker has to have fun with it...
"I hope I did not do anything...unbecoming...of an officer" -- Data.
"You don't remember wrestling with a Klingon Targ?" -- Riker
"....Did I win?" -- Data
Q who review by Dave
"Am I talking too much?" Ens. Gomez
Humor has always played a small, but integral roll in Star Trek, from Spock and McCoy's constant bickering, too the 'what the heck is going on here' antics of Checkov and Sulu, and that continues with the Next Generation.
This episode begins with a fairly light heart for it's darker tone, and even darker foreshadowing. Ensign Gomez, a new graduate from the academy who just transfered over to the Enterprise from Starbase 123 is ordering a cup of hot chocolate. She even says please to the computer, prompting Geordi to begin a conversation in the proper etiquite for addressing the computer, not to mention the whole subject of drinks and computers not mixing. My question is, why have it there in the first place?
So she turns to leave and who does she run SMACK! dab into but the Captain himself. Hot chocolate and all.
"Ohh! Sir, I'm soo sorry....it's ALL over you!" --Gomez
"Yes, Ensign, it is ALLL over me." --Picard
Pretty humorous exchange leading into the main thrust of the story. Captain Picard goes to change his clothes, but what happens we steps out of the turbo lift door. He finds himself in a shuttle craft with the one and only Q, who cleans his uniform, a service, he says, he's only too happy to provide.
Picard's contempt when he utter's Q's name gave me a humerous snort. After Picard reminded Q of his arrangment not to mess with his ship, Q points out that they are nowhere near his ship, and cuts to the show theme......
Q WHO?
With some time having past between Ensign Gomez and Captain Picard's encounter, we open with Geordi and Gomez walking a corridor where the ensign explains the reason she is so tense, and always on the go, "because in order to get the Enteprise, I had to be the best." when Geordi questions her further she responds by saying, "whatever's out here, we're gonna be the first to experience it...I want to be a part of that." --and so rings true Gene Roddenberry's vision, "To boldly go where no man has gone before." And boy, is she bold!
Guniena is managing ten-forward, as she always does, when she pauses, and gets that strange look on her face like something's wrong, or like something is going to go wrong. (You know it's going to be one of the two with that look.) She contacts the bridge, with Commander Riker manning the big chair, and soon it is realized that the Captain isn't aboard..and neither, for that fact is a shuttle. Riker immediately organizes a search for both.
Six hours later Picard, and Q return to the Enterprise at ten-foward, (the shuttle is even put back too) after Picard agreed to hear Q out. As Riker and Worf enter, Q his explains his situation; he was kicked out of the Q Continum. But more suprisingly, Q and Guniena know each other; more than that they hate each other. Apparently they had dealings with each other over two centuries ago, and the hostitlies are still there.
Q's offer is to be their guide to the galaxy, as he puts it, "You're about to enter parts of the galaxy that will provide you with wonders beyond your dreams, and terrors that will freeze your soul." -uh oh. Q's bottom line: humans aren't ready yet for what they'll face.
Picard tells Q that they don't really need his help in exploring the galaxy, and that humans will prevail through determination. Q gives that sly look before snapping his fingers and propelling the ship over 7,000 light years near system J25, leaving Picard to handle what he is about to encounter.
"Captain, we are being probed!" - Worf
"What's the source?" - Riker
"A ship....it's on an intercept course." - Worf
"The ship is strangely generalized, there is no specific bridge, no command center, there is no engineering section." - Data
Enter the Borg, for the first time in the Star Trek universe that we've seen. Although, as Mr. Worf stated about a nearby M class planet where the cities appear to have been carved up, it was exactly as what it had appeared had happened in the Romulan/Federation neutral zone.
Guinena warns Picard to protect himself or face destruction, and they raise their shields. Then as if no consquence, a borg drone materializes in main engineering......
Minutes later, the Captain, accompained by Worf and another security Ensign, enters engineering to view for themselves this strange alien. The Borg has been busy studying the technics of engieering. Q appears infomring Picard that to the drone, Picard is nothing, and warns him of letting the drone take over the ship.
Quite predictably, it does try. And of course, Worf lays the duty to the ensign to try to stop the drone from taking over the ship, who simply tosses him to the deck. Worf then fires a phaser blast, with no effect. When he tries to fire again, a shield goes up around the drone protecting it, their first look at the adaptation proccess. Worf changes the setting to a higher one, and fires again, this time succesfully knocking the borg either unconcious or dead. But it doesn't matter, because a second drone appears, completes the task of the first one, and both dissapear.
Afterwards, a conference is held and Guineana tells the crew about what happened to her world; the Borg destroyed it. Q makes another appearnce in a view screen, questioning Picard's refusal of Q's request to be a member of the crew.
Next, they are hailed by the cube, in which the Borg directly state not to resist or they will punished, then lock a tractor beam on it. The senior crew return to the bridge. The shields are drained, and the Borg use their cutting beam to cut out a piece of the saucer section before the Enetprise is able to fire a phaser blast capable of blasting a huge gap in the cube. Actually about three. Probably the only time the Enterpris ever realy damaged the cube. However, Worf states that the damage was only 20 %.
After one final conference, in which Guniena acknowledges that the Borg are made up of biological and artifical components, it is decided to pay the Borg ship a visit.
Miles O'Brien (I forgot for a second that he played in the TNG) manned the transporter, and Worf insisted that there were no life signs. Of course, upon beaming onto the ship, they discovered there were quite a bit more than 0 life.
They performed a general informative sweep, ending in the Borg nursery, where it was discovered that the Borg ship was regeneraing. Picard immediately orders the away team back, and they depart at warp 8. The Borg ship pursues. This time no weapons will work against the cube, and the cube fires a series of weapons designed to destroy the shileds. The Borg succeed (as they almost always do) and they tractor the ship.
Q appears on the bridge, and taunts Picard and his crew for thinking that they were ready for anything. Picard admits that currently they aren't, and admits that he does need Q's help. Q accepting Picard's admissions, whizes the crew back to where they started and out of harm's way.
Although Q is gone, and the Enterprise is heading for the nearest starbase, the Borg know of the Federation's existance, and that they will be coming.
