While escorting and tutoring the Cairn, a telepathic species who until recently had no concept of spoken language, the normally boisterous Lwaxana Troi seems tired when the group visits the Enterprise. Despite Lwaxana’s playing matchmaker for her with Maques, a Cairn, Deanna is troubled by her mother’s unusual moodiness and prods her to get a checkup.
Lwaxana is seen to be low on psilosynine, a Betazed neurotransmitter used in telepathy, but defies Crusher’s order to avoid mental contact and collapses. Maques helps them learn that something has triggered a past event that Lwaxana had blocked into her metaconscious mind ­ the Betazoid protection from psychic trauma ­ and caused the comatose shutdown.
After assuring the crew that his presence is not the cause, Maques offers to act as a telepathic “bridge” so Troi can explore her mother’s mind and unblock the damage. There she encounters images trying to drive her away: Picard, a wolf, and even her late father ­ as well as Hedril, a Cairn girl.
Still baffled, Troi reads her mother’s diaries and finds seven years have been deleted by her mother. Using Maques as a telepathic bridge again, she uncovers her mother’s self-guilt over the drowning of a previously unknown older sister, Kestra. After helping her mother say good-bye to her daughter and the guilt, Troi gives her grateful mother an old photo of the whole family that Mr. Homn, their valet, had saved for just such an occasion.
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The season’s next “family reunion” not only featured Lwaxana Troi in another less “Mame”-like turn but finally gave a glimpse of Deanna’s father, previously only hinted at (“Encounter at Fairpoint”, “The Child”, “The Host”) but seen here to be a Starfleet lieutenant played by Byram Amick ­ who previously appeared as Paul Hickman, one of La Forge’s former crewmates (“Identity Crisis”).
Echevarria’s regrets were being told to tone down Maques’ sometimes comical attempts at language into halting and simple pauses, and doing without location lakeside scenes in favor of the less-expensive arboretum set ­ which was larger than usual (“Data’s Day”, “Imaginary Friend”) with its own pond this time. Bader had included the part of valet Mr. Homn but had to make him an unseen long-distance contact when Carel Struyken was not available; the staff was unaware that Deanna originally did not recognize Homn in the first Lwaxana story (“Haven”).
After “Phantasms,” a move toward more fictional neural “tech” led to the uniquely Betazoid telepathic neurotransmitter psilosynine, the metaconscious, and the paracortex lobe of telepathy. Bader’s one homage that stood was originally the “Lake El’Nar eddy,” named for her late friend Eddie Elnar.
Actor Large had already played Romulan proconsul Neral (“Unification I-II”) and a Kobheerian captain on DS9’s first-season “Duet.” Young Kristen Dunst was also seen in 1994’s Interview with the Vampire, while Teddy and backup Buck of Working Wildlife, the rented wolves who chased her and Troi, had played Two Socks in Dances with Wolves and were later in The Jungle Book. As usual the past two seasons, all the animals were arranged by Rob Block’s Critters of the Cinema, who’d provided Data’s most recent Spot as well as Simon, the mixed Pomeranian appearing as Kestra’s dog.
Actually no chase was involved, since actors and most crew weren’t allowed close to the trained but still-wild animals ­ ”Nobody wanted to be there with the wolf except Dan Curry,” Lauritson quipped. Instead, extensive split-screen shots against blue screen were used: for instance, Dunst actually petted not the wolf but the knuckle of a handy C-clamp stand, with the animal matted in later. To inject motion into othewise static lockdown shots, the camera panned with Troi running through a doorway, then locked down to film the wolf running through, apparently only a moment later.
Block revealed the wolf’s growl was achieved safely by the “give-and-go” method: first the leashed wolf gets a lick of a bolted-down meaty bone before it is covered, then the cameras are readied to catch the animal’s reaction when it is revealed again as a trainer moves as if to take it. Staring down the lens at that sight, “the second unit cameraman said he’d never been more scared in his life,” Sims recalled. As with all animal shots, an American Humane Association offical was on hand to help oversee the five pages and fifty-seven guidelines on animal handling in film work.
Without the wolf, Sirtis did complete her own stunt for the “jump into space”: leaping off a huge blue-screened platform onto air mattresses. The shot was matted in with the starfield, corridor walls, and computer-enhanced shadows and interactive light for both on and off the ship ­ a four-hour compositing job involving seven elements.
~1:[3,#b],4:[2,#i]@1“Descent, Part I”@2Next Generation episode #152
Production No.: 252
Aired: Week of April 21, 1993
Stardate: 46982.1
Directed by Alexander Singer
Teleplay by Ronald D. Moore
Story by Jeri Taylor
GUEST CAST
Isaac Newton: John Neville
Albert Einstein: Jim Norton
Vice-Admiral Alynna Nechayev: Natalija Nogulich
Crosis: Brian J. Cousins
Professor Stephen Hawking: Himself
Bosus (1st Borg): Richard Gilbert-Hill
Tayar (2nd Borg): Stephen James Carver
Answering an outpost’s distress call, the Enterprise finds an unknown alien craft in orbit, a litter of dead bodies in the nonstrategic station ­ and, finally, the Borg.
But these Borg are different: the plot strategy, seek vengeance rather than assimilation, have individual names ­ and look for Data, who kills a Borg in rage when he is charged. The other Borg and their ship retreat, leaving the android and his stunned friends to realize they have witnessed Data’s first emotion.
As Data excuses himself from duty in a fruitless try at re-creating the moment, Admiral Nechayev arrives with a task force and gives Picard a dressing-down for his release a year earlier of “Hugh,” and his giving up a chance to eliminate the Borg.
After re-creating the Borgs’ transwarp travel vortex, the starship is boarded by two lone Borg who are easily stopped. The one captured taunts Data, urging him to act on the dark feelings that he is experiencing.
The two escape in a shuttlecraft and are traced to a sensor-shielded planet. Dr. Crusher is left in command when all but a skeleton crew leave the Enterprise to conduct a massive ground search. After tracking for hours, Picard’s team is surprised by a mass of Borg ­ and shocked to see Data and his evil “brother” Lore, who proclaim they will destroy the Federation with their new army of followers.
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Inspired by the film Heart of Darkness, this segment, which won much media attention for British physicist Stephen Hawking’s cameo, takes its name from what Ron Moore called “Data’s descent into darkness.” Following up on the unknown fate of Hugh Borg a year ago (“I, Borg”), the story, which followed several failed cliffhanger ideas ­ including an early take on Data’s dreams (“Birthright, Part I”) turning into nightmares ­ finally came together after the staff decided on a “mad Lore” premise, his first appearance in over two years (“Brothers”). Jeri Taylor, the only free hand at the time, was glad to get back into the story credits and said Moore’s idea to use the Borg as a catalyst made a fine excuse for ending her ban on using the aliens. “I knew we couldn’t simply do a Borg story just to do it and use them as villains, because after Hugh that was impossible,” she said. “This was the exact right story.” Still, at the time it left unrevealed the scope of the Borg change, reflecting Piller’s view that the entire species not change too radically for now.
Hawking, a longtime Trek fan, planted the idea for his scene after visiting Paramount to shoot a promotional piece for the film of his best-seller A Short History of Time. While on a tour of the TNG sets, he asked to be taken from his wheelchair ­ a rare request ­ for a sit in the captain’s chair and, as relayed through Leonard Nimoy, wondered if there was any way he could appear on the show! Writer Naren Shankar recalled that the search was on for a “profound” scene for him when Piller suggested the innocent premise of a poker game; Newton, of course, completely misses the reference to Mercury since he lived well before its discovery.
Actor Neville had starred in the movie Baron Munchausen and Jim Norton had played a holodeck Einstein once before (“Nth Degree”), while Cousins had earlier been seen as a Romulan (“The Next Phase”). Nogulich’s Nechayev (“Chain of Command, Part I”, “Journey’s End”, “Preemptive Strike”) and Data’s cat Spot ­ were both TNG veterans; the unspecified Admiral Brooks Nechayev refers to had also been mentioned by Beverly (“Suspicions”). “Bosus” and “Tayar” are the two speaking Borg during the outpost melee; the “uncredited stunt roles of the dead” include Christine Bauer as Corelki, the guard in Riker’s away team; Kenny Lesko as the Picard team’s security guard handling a phaser rifle, only its second TNG appearance (“The Mind’s Eye”, later in “Lower Decks”); and stunt coordinator Dennis Madalone, who took falls as both Data’s Borg victim and the one beaming in with Crosis. And for true trivia fans: Longtime extra Guy Vardaman, who had been with the series since mid-first season in a variety of tasks on either side of the camera, finally picked up a character name: Lieutenant (j.g.) Wallace ­ a year later to gain a first name (“Eye of the Beholder”) and a place on the “new” bridge plaque (“All Good Things . . .”). This name and co-crewman Towles were named after TNG and DS9’s two script typists, Daryl Towles and Jana Wallace (who’d been an extra in “Chain of Command, Part I”).
Starship naming history is also made here: The Crazy Horse is the first for a Native American, while the Excelsior-class Gorkon paid homage to the slain Klingon chancellor of ST VI, replacing the “Valiant” in early drafts when Rick Berman asked for a first-ever alien namesake. The Agamemnon was named for British Admiral Nelson’s ship, while the venerable shuttlepod El-Baz (from “Time Squared”, last seen in “Transfigurations”) reappears here. Even more trivia: Crosis’ eyepiece is the same as the upper medallion on Worf’s baldric, which has the pattern motion stilled to avoid distractions in close-ups; and again this season (after “Starship Mine”), the Darwin Station matte painting (“Unnatural Selection”) was used, here as the Ohniaka III outpost.
We learn that instant death in Klingons can be caused by shattering the cranial exoskeleton at the “tricipital” lobe; in Bajorans (as in the first uniformed Bajoran aboard since Ensign Ro was last seen), puncturing the heart’s “lower ventricle” will do the same.
Moore praised Singer’s handling of the action scenes as TNG’s best ever, and their finished look was a milestone: After an earlier warm-up (“Birthright, Part I”), a proud FX supervisor David Stipes said the Ohniaka III station’s terse hand-to-hand phaser battle he pieced together with film editor Steve Tucker used no live FX. For that, all the flames and sparks were added by computer in post-production ­ somewhat of a gamble, but a time-saver with no rigging explosives and touch-up of damaged set pieces needed. The “transwarp conduit” ­ a term Moore said had no relation to the once-mentioned technology of ST III ­ was yet another vortex effect, this time created live with lots of smoke and animated frame-by-frame with a sizzling effect by pushing increasing amounts of black confetti across an intensely backlit silhouette ­ a “lot of work,” Stipes said, which characterized the extra time and budget bestowed on the cliff-hanger.
The finale’s “swarm” of renegade Borg actually numbered just eleven ­ limited by the available wardrobe ­ but were multiplied thanks to four different FX split-screen overlays. Their new ship, built by Greg Jein, was designed by Dan Curry to reflect a typical Borg geometric outlook while being radically asymmetrical and includes recessed windows revealing layered girders and other structures. The “Borg Hall” exterior was a computer-retouched version of Brandeis Bardin Institute in Simi Valley, northwest of Los Angeles ­ the same structure used not only for Camp Khitomer’s meeting hall in ST VI but as one destroyed (in miniature) by Stipes when handling effects for the film Lawnmower Man. The location shoot involved a very long day for the “hall” and planetside, all filmed by Jonathan West under a coral/amber filter for the bright atmospheric effect. Curry added another subtle alien touch: twin moons in the sky.
~1:[3,#b],4:[2,#i]@1“Descent, Part II”@2Next Generation episode #153
With Dr. Crusher commanding the Enterprise, Picard and fellow captives Troi and La Forge hear Lore explain how their release of Hugh a year ago left a faction of the cyborg race in a vacuum of purpose that he and now the “emotional” Data can fill.
When Troi realizes that Data is showing only negative feelings, La Forge guesses that Lore must be using that part of Dr. Soong’s emotion chip (actually intended for Data) as his means of control. But before La Forge can build a device to block Lore’s control, he is led away by Data for more of Lore’s attempts to transform organic beings into full androids ­ then wins a reprieve when Data’s conscience kicks in.
In orbit, a Borg attack forces Crusher to leave behind some more of the crew, Riker and Worf are found by Hugh’s Borg-in-hiding, who ditched Lore when his crude tests left many born mutilated. Meanwhile, Beverly uses metaphasic shielding and a daring plan to destroy the Borg ship in a star’s corona.
Hugh, at first bitter about being left adrift by the Enterprise crew, helps the group infiltrate the Borg complex. He leads a revolt just as Lore orders Data to kill Picard. Once bested, Lore is finally deactivated by his brother, who later keeps the emotion chip intact only at La Forge’s insistence.
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Despite producer Jeri Taylor’s best intentions, this last cliffhanger wrap-up was not ironed out until after hiatus, and she and Echevarria both regretted having “too much story” so that not all of the plot lines, especially Hugh’s (“I, Borg”), could be developed as much as desired. However, the shipboard plot with Beverly in command grew as it became more interesting.
“Part I left many balls in the air and I had to catch them,” Echevarria observed. “We had a better idea of what this Part II was going to be like, but nothing turned out quite as simple as it had seemed.” The first draft had Data shoot Lore in self-defense in an extended phaser battle, but Michael Piller wanted to avoid such an overt means and so the dismantling did the job instead. Taitt was Barclay in an early draft, but was dropped due to availability, expense, and the logic ­ as the writer pointed out ­ that “he’s quite senior and would have been down there ­ foolishly ­ with everybody else!”
Director Singer, only the third to helm both segments of a TNG two-parter, easily recalled the one-day location shoot back at the distinctive Brandeis-Bardin Institute in 100 degree Simi Valley. “Those Borg extras were dying,” recalled visual FX producer Dan Curry. “They had to wear black longjohns under those rubber suits.” The Borg Hall interiors ­ actually a narrow three-wall set multiplied optically, as were the extras ­ were left standing over hiatus on Stage 16, but the caverns were built anew.
Here we learn, as Picard must have when he was Locutus (“The Best of Both Worlds”), that a tube carrying a silver liquid can disable a Borg when pulled from their headgear. “Of course, you don’t want to imply that you can pull out any hose and they’re down like an old car,” Echeverria mused. Also, it is clarified that Hugh’s local unit of Borg are the only ones affected by the “individuality” concept, and, via an Okudagram, that they are thought to originate in the Delta Quadrant. Data would later discover the memories on the emotion chip (“Brothers”) that Lore spoke of (“Inheritance”), and it all would become a major point again (ST: Generations); Data’s “evil twin” uses his left index nail for a covert control switch, rather than his left thumbnail seen earlier (“Brothers”).
Crusher’s skills at bridge command would be explained later (“Thine Own Self”). Ironically, tactician Barnaby is played by James Horan, the same actor whose character almost killed her the last time the metaphasic shield came up (“Suspicions”); the solar-flare optical is the latest retouched reuse of an earlier element (“Redemption II”). Actor Burke later appeared on DS9 Cardassian pacifist Hogue in Season 2’s “Profit and Loss,” the unseen Lieutenant Powell speaking to Riker as a comm voice later becomes Ogawa’s fiance (“Lower Decks”) and husband (“All Good Things . . .”).
Once again, reflecting the confusion over O’Brien’s initial pips and what a “chief” is (“Real of Fear”, “Man of the People”, et al.), Crusher refers to Salazar as one though he’s clearly a pipless NCO. And the adhesion strip formerly seen used to attach Starfleet comm badges (“The Naked Now”, “The Survivors”, “The High Ground”) is absent here ­ a likely advance in quartermaster and/or studio techniques.
As Captain Picard is playing host to three young winners of a shipboard science contest, a catastrophe strikes the ship, causing violent power failures, total disruption of communications, and an almost complete shutdown of its systems.
On the bridge, Troi is shocked to find herself in command and facing a momentous decision; the disaster has weakened the magnetic containment field surrounding the ship’s antimatter pods. An explosion could occur at any moment. Ensign Ro argues she must separate the saucer section immediately, while O’Brien points out that they have no way of knowing if anyone is still alive in Engineering.
In Ten-Forward, Riker, Data, Worf, and Keiko O’Brien, who is pregnant, treat the injured while Geordi and Dr. Crusher find themselves trapped in a cargo bay and threatened by a radioactive fire. And Captain Picard, his leg broken, is trapped in a damaged turbolift with three very frightened children.
While Troi struggles to come to a decision regarding saucer separation, Riker and Data decide to leave Ten-Forward for Engineering, where they will attempt to restore power. After being trapped in an access tube by an electrical current, Data is forced to sacrifice his body ­ but not his head ­ to allow them to continue. Meanwhile, Keiko shocks Worf by going into labor.
Picard and the three children attempt to reach safety as Dr. Crusher and La Forge decide their only hope of extinguishing the fire is to blow the airlock.
Riker reaches Engineering and uses Data’s head to tap into the ship’s control circuits, where he notes the failing pod field in the nick of time. Troi, seconds away from jettisoning the drive section, is overjoyed when power is restored. Picard and the children are rescued, La Forge and Crusher escape the cargo bay, and Keiko, with Worf’s assistance, gives birth to a baby girl.
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A pitchman might best describe this plot as “Star Trek Meets The Poseidon Adventure,” but Ronald D. Moore’s teleplay as usual didn’t miss many chances to let all of the regular characters grow by placing them in a fish-out-of-water predicament ­ especially Picard, who’s trapped in a turbolift with three children, and Troi, who is forced to make life-and-death command decisions. Michael Piller remarked that his only hindsight regret was in seeing Ro “lose a rough edge” in her infant character development by apologizing so easily to Troi.
As often is the case in Hollywood, twins portrayed the newborn O’Brien baby during Worf’s hilarious display of Klingon bedside manner; the same pair would later make a repeat appearance as Molly O’Brien in “Power Play”. Beverly’s coaching of Geordi for The Pirates of Penzance harks back to her love of performing, as seen in “Data’s Day” and “Nth Degree” and we learn that O’Brien’s dad with the roving eye, spoken of in “Family” is named Michael, while Keiko’s father is Hiro.
