First, a quick bit of housekeeping. You might have noticed I didn't get all fancy and creative with the title this week. From here on out, I'm just going to stick with the title of the episode so that the posts will be easier to find. I know, you'll have to try to get by with a little less of my wit. I'm sorry.

So, I jump ahead to The Next Generation, season 3, every other week for a little while now, and I’m greeted by the season’s first episode, “Evolution.” In “Evolution,” the Enterprise crew, with a premier scientist, Dr. Stubbs, on board, approaches a star that is about to emit some explosion. This explosion occurs once every 196 years, and Stubbs is sending a probe into its midst so as to gather data. This has been his life-long mission. Unfortunately, Wesley Crusher was messing around with some nanomachines, and they got loose, became sentient, and began essentially feeding off the metal in the ship’s computer system, causing it to go dangerously haywire. Dr. Stubbs remains determined to proceed with his research-gathering at all costs, including the cost of the well-being of those aboard the ship, while Picard and crew are focused on safely restoring the computer. When Stubbs takes matters into his own hands and attacks the nanomachines, they retaliate. It’s now the Enterprise versus millions of microscopic machines.

By far the best thing about this episode is the treatment of the nanomachines as sentient beings. They began as simple nanomachines, but Wesley enhanced them by programming them to learn from one another. Their learning ability skyrocketed when they realized that they could essentially procreate by building new versions of themselves with metal, which they strip from the computer system. Since they learn from each other, this propagation leads to exponentially increasing intelligence. Because of this, Picard refuses Stubbs’ suggestion of killing the machines off, interestingly basing his decision on his unwillingness to kill intelligent life of any sort -- not out of fear of a retaliation. I think the question of whether such machines would constitute life is one of the bigger questions humanity will face at some point in the future, and normally I prefer a little more philosophical pondering when TV shows, movies, and books tackle this idea. However, this episode's treatment of the matter is refreshing: the characters (except for Stubbs) automatically deem sentient machines worthy of the same consideration given any intelligent life form. To them it's a no-brainer. I've never seen that.

With that hair, how could he not have found a girlfriend?

I have one problem with this aspect of the episode, though: the fact that Wesley created them inadvertently and with little effort. ... Yes, he accidentally created a race of intelligent beings. If that’s not far-fetched, I don’t know what is. I know he’s a kid prodigy and all, but the writers are expecting us to believe that, in the year 2366 (according to Memory Alpha), Wesley is the first person to ever consider trying to improve nanomachines by giving them the ability to learn from each other and is the first to succeed? Also, none of the characters seem to think much about how amazing this is. Wesley gets no recognition of any sort from what should be a monumental achievement in science. It’s like the writers came up with an interesting idea but forgot to treat the characters with any degree of realism.

The crew’s reaction to Stubbs throughout the entire episode is flawed, too. He is, of course, an eminent member of the Federation, so Picard has to allow him a good bit of leeway, but this guy gets away with everything. He’s walks around like a jackass, talking about how important his research is and how he doesn’t care if the whole ship goes down in its wake, blah, blah, blah. Then he blatantly defies Captain Picard’s orders and attacks the nanomachines, killing a slew of them and causing them to wreak havoc on the ship. How does Picard respond? He orders the guy to be “confined to his quarters.” ... “Confined to his quarters”?! Howbout you throw him in the damn brig! Picard does not act like the Picard that I have seen so far; he acts like a Federation lackey. Then, at the end of the episode, when the disaster is averted and Stubbs gets to witness this once-in-196-years event, Picard and Riker look at him burying himself in the incoming information, and they give each other an “Aw, I’m so happy for him” smile, apparently forgetting that this is the guy that nearly caused all of their deaths through direct disobedience.

My final problem with "Evolution" is that it has the smallest climax imaginable. The machines gradually damage more and more of the ship, but things never get to the point where death seems close. Eventually, Data decides to allow the nanomachines to invade his body so that he can act as an interface between his human counterparts and the machines. There is the chance that the machines will refuse to relinquish control of Data, so that builds a little bit of tension (if we can forget that the show is highly unlikely to kill off one of its main characters), but then nothing worrisome happens. Picard admits to the machines that both sides made mistakes, and he proposes that they agree to live peacefully. The tension builds during a three-second pause until the nanomachines say, simply, “We agree.” After Data is done acting as translator, they just leave his body.

There’s also a subplot involving the maturation of Wesley and the fact that he has no interest in socializing. His mom is worried. Then, at the end of the episode, she sees him walking around with a girl. Yay.

That’s pretty much it for this one. “Evolution” is based on a concept that continues to interest me -- the sentience of machines -- but the writers were really having an off day here. Everything is geared purely to allow sentient nanomachines to enter the episode, with no regard for plausibility or character continuity. This is now the fifth TNG episode I have watched, and while there have been elements of episodes that I like, I would have to say that every one of them has been significantly flawed. I’m really hoping that will change soon. Do other people feel this way? Or are most Next Generation fans won over by the sheer concepts of these episodes?

Next up: The Original Series, season 1, episode 6: "Mudd's Women"