TNG S07E20

In this installment:
(viewed Tuesday, May 13th)

Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S07E20 - "Journey's End"

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"Journey's End"

• Before I even get started with this episode, I'll admit right out of the gate:  I don't hate this episode the way a lot of fans seem to hate it.  Maybe it's because I never disliked Wesley Crusher as much as other fans (although I acknowledge that he could be irritating from time to time), or because--in the grand scheme of "scraping the bottom of the barrel for story lines" they were doing for parts of S7--this one ain't that bad.
  
  But it's been a couple of years since I've watched it, and it's been more than a decade since I've watched it in the broader context of also viewing the rest of the season (and the series, and the TNG films to follow).  So my opinion of it may change on this viewing.
• I know I've said it before:  But Admiral Nechayev is never, ever, ever good news.  Episodes that start with "...so we stopped by here and/or rendezvoused with this ship to talk to an admiral" usually end in trouble, but Nechayev is a friggin' harbinger of doom.
• "There comes a time in every young man's life when he doesn't want to stay with his poor, senile mother."
  
  Yeah.  Plus, it's super creepy.  Wesley's like...18 at this point.  And those quarters, while spacious and luxurious by the standards of any other starship, don't have a lot of separate bedrooms and bathrooms and doors that you can close and stuff.
  
  Kid needs his own quarters, Dr. Mom.
• The negotiations described to Captain Picard by Admiral Nechayev are the legal basis for the Demilitarized Zone between the United Federation of Planets and the Cardassian Union.  The fact that it results in some former Federation colonies ending up on the Cardassian side of the border (and vice versa) fuels the growth of the Maquis--as we will find out in a few episodes, and in much more detail on DS9.
• Although I do generally like this episode, I agree with the criticism that making the group of colonists to be relocated literally Native Americas was...a bit too club-you-over-the-head obvious.
• "You've only got one microfusion inter-relay in there?  Your converter interface will never hold up."
  
  "Hey, I ran these diagnostics myself.  This little baby will withstand over 500 Cochranes of warp field stress."
  
  "I don't think so.  You'd better put a second phase inverter in there.  Look at your subprocessor matrix!  It needs an overhaul!"
  
  "Well that may be your opinion, cadet.  But I stand by my work."
  
  "Read the latest paper by Doctor Vassbinder.  He has brilliant new theories on warp propulsion inter-relays.  He'd say all this stuff is obsolete."
  
  "I don't know what's gotten into you, Wes."
  
  "Look, do you want my help or not?"
  
  "With this kind of an attitude?  Absolutely not.  You're dismissed."
  
  So, okay.  I guess Wes did turn into kind of a d*ck at Starfleet Academy.  I know that we find out later that his bad attitude is just a manifestation of his doubts about his future...but come on, man.  Don't be mean to Geordi.  Nobody likes it when people are mean to Geordi.
• The leader of the Native American village on Dorvan V, Anthwara, is played by Ned Romero.  He appears two other times in Trek--once as the Klingon leader Krell in the TOS episode "A Private Little War", and again as Chakotay's grandfather in the VOY episode "The Fight".
  
  In real life, Romero is a member of the Chitimacha tribe of present-day Louisiana.
• Lakanta, at least before we learn his true identity, is admittedly a pretty cheesy implementation of an old Hollywood stereotype--the mystical Indian who guides the white man to his destiny.
• "Are you familiar with the Pueblo revolt of 1680?"
  
  "I am."
  
  Wait, Troi knows a history thing that Picard doesn't?  O_o
• "The name of one of the soldiers was Javier Maribona...Picard."
  Okay, hang on.  Are the Picards from France, or are they from Spain?  And the writers couldn't find a incident of some French guy slaughtering Native Americans?  I'm pretty sure all of the Europeans got in on that one.
• Leave it to the Cardassians to show up early.  What a bunch of a**holes.
  
  And we'll see Gul Evek again.  He's sort of the king of the early Cardassian a**holes on Star Trek.
• "This is the habak; the focal point of our lives.  Strangers are not welcome here."
  
  Yeah, well...it's kind of a dump.
• The vision of Wesley's father wears the "interim" Starfleet uniform seen before in flashbacks of Picard's early career and--most notably--worn by the members of the crew of the Enterprise-C.  We've seen Lt. Cmdr. Jack Crusher wear this same variant of the uniform in his holodeck message to Wesley, seen in the S4 episode "Family".
  
  
  
  
  It features the maroon tunic of the uniforms worn for most of the films with the TOS crew (ST2-ST6), minus the underlying turtleneck and the black belt around the waist.  At some point, the elongated Starfleet insignia on the chest was replaced with a TNG-style comm badge as well.
  
  It appears to have been the standard Starfleet uniform just prior to the adoption of the early collar-less "Type A" jumpsuits worn during the first season of TNG.
• "Do you know what they're trying to do?  They're preparing to beam you away and take you to their ship.  You're not going to let them do that, are you?"
  
  Wow.  Not helping, Wes.
• FAKE INDIAN, BRO.
• So, this episode is the last appearance of Wesley Crusher--aside from an brief cameo in Nemesis (most of which was left on the cutting room floor).  It's obvious that, by the time of that film, Wesley has finished Starfleet Academy and in the production notes for the movie he's listed as a lieutenant, junior grade.
  
  But he was supposed to travel the galaxy (and beyond) with the Traveler, learn about other planes of existence, study ways of combining mater and energy and thought, etc.  Did any of that happen?  Did he go "find himself" for a year or two an then give up?
  
  Is Wesley Crusher the human version of the Great Experiment--appearing in later iterations of Trek but the fate of his "special nature" never explained?