“Pen Pals” (2×15)
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While exploring the Selcundi Drema sector, a region of space with unique geology that has resulted in cataclysmic destruction in system after system, Data develops a friendship with a young girl on a doomed world. Elsewhere, Wesley Crusher is tasked with coordinating the scientific research while the Enterprise passes through the unusual region.
There was a lot to like about this one; it’s a great showcase of Data’s empathy and nascent humanity. And it interrogates the consequences of an absolutist stance when it comes to the Prime Directive.
As far as Wesley stories go, this one wasn’t completely terrible. Learning how to manage people is an important experience as one moves through life. I think it would have worked better if we weren’t at the height of Roddenberry’s “no conflict, no human flaws” edict. Everybody contributing to the project is really helpful and well-intentioned; the only drama comes from Wesley’s own lack of self-confidence in his decision making. And in the end, because Wesley is a Mary Sue, he of course saves the day when he finally stands his ground.
As a general rule, I greatly prefer Crusher to Pulaski as the ship’s chief medical officer. But I really appreciated Pulaski’s fierce denunciation of allowing an entire civilization to meet a horrific end in deference to an academic philosophy. Avoiding cultural contamination makes sense in most cases. But in a case of imminent extinction, it’s hard to see how any consequences of intervention could outweigh the consequences of non-intervention.
The episode develops Picard as a character in some really important ways. He begins the episode dogmatic about following the Prime Directive to the letter. But when he hears the plea for help of a frightened child in imminent danger, his personal morality requires him to help. That in turn requires him to navigate the demands of the Prime Directive with more nuance and imagination.
When Data tries to apologize at the end for intervening when he was forbidden to, Picard tells him no apology is necessary: “You reminded us that there are obligations that go beyond duty.” When Data asserts that Picard could have stuck to the letter of the law, Picard demurs: “One of my officers, one of my friends, was troubled. I had to help.” The Picard of this episode is the Picard who would later sacrifice his entire career in order to come to the aid of one of his oldest enemies, the Romulans. This Picard believes that it is not enough to do what is proper; one must do what is right.
Even the solution at the end, wiping the little girl’s memory to keep all knowledge of extraterrestrial life — of Data, the Enterprise, and Starfleet — from the Dremans didn’t feel like a cheat, because it came at a personal cost to Data; his new friend wouldn’t remember him, wouldn’t remember how their correspondence saved her entire world. And Pulaski wasn’t wrong; knowing what’s out there, when your civilization is hundreds or even thousands of years away from faster than light space travel, would be more of a cruelty than a kindness. How could she be content with what she has if she knew what she was missing out on?
On a more superficial note: Both the alien makeup and the production design of the alien home felt more alien than most Trek does. Little things, like the doors that appear and disappear using some combination of holographic projection, force fields, and replicated matter. And the Dreman girl had a different skull shape, different skin color, and extra digits in her fingers.
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