“Final Mission”
Briefly before Wesley is leaving for Starfleet Academy, he accompanies Picard and Dirgo to negotiations on Pentarus III. Their shuttle, however, crashes on the desert moon Lambda Paz. A remote mountain range is the only protection against the burning sun. They find a water fountain which is protected by a forcefield. Dirgo is killed when he tries to destroy the forcefield with his phaser, Picard is severely hurt. Analyzing the forcefield, Wesley finally manages to get the water and save the captain. In the meantime, the Enterprise has saved the population of Gamelan V from an old freighter with a radiation leak in their orbit. summary by Ex-Astris-Scientia
Uhm… nice. Yeah, I know, Wesley again… but, if you concentrate on Captain Dirgo versus Picard, it makes it just a little bit easier to swallow. I also liked Dr Beverly in this episode. She is trying to be oh so preofessional, which is not easy for a mother in her situation. All in all, glorious and honorable episode, although not Klingon at all.
November 15th, 2006 at 9:34 pm
Well, yes, it is a fine episode, and the interaction between Picard and Dirgo is great, but…
When I watched this episode again a few weeks ago (after fondly half-remembering it for years) I noticed two things I can only describe as false dilemmas:
1 - Why does the Enterprise have to drag the old freighter *through* the asteroid field? Why can’t they plot a course “above” or “below” the asteroid belt? After all, there is a reason why it’s called a belt, not a shell or a globe.
2 - Why is Wesley soooo concerned to get Picard some water? It’s as if water was a miracle cure for possible internal bleeding, broken bones, and head trauma. Sure, getting some water to Picard was awfully nice, but after the beating he took, I find it hard to believe that would (or should) have been Wesley’s main concern.
I am not saying that I didn’t enjoy this episode - far from it - but with just a tiny little bit more attention to some basic things it might have been even better, or rather more believeable.
Still, nice to watch and quite entertaining, despite some difficulties I had supsending my disbelieve.