Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 3, Episode 3
Original Air Date: October 9, 1989
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| via Memory Alpha |
"The Survivors" is a good episode, one of the best of the entire run, in fact. I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone who hasn't watched it but it is deeply satisfying. One's reaction is equal parts sympathy and horror - the sort of delicate balance only people like Jean-Luc Picard are able to navigate with delicacy. It's a Deanna Troi story as much as it's anyone's and a strong one at that. She is tortured by Kevin's chosen mechanism of shielding the truth from her empathic capacities.
I'm happy to discuss the ending in the comments with anyone who cares to do so.
Food Notes
This is a pretty serious story but there are moments of levity, like this little gem from Worf:
Acting Notes
John Anderson (Kevin) was born October 20, 1922 in Clayton, Illinois. He served in the Coast Guard during World War II. He went to the University of Iowa for graduate school, earning a degree in drama.
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| via Wikipedia |
Anderson was a well-regarded character actor for four decades, meaning he scored numerous guest appearances on television but not many principal roles. He bore a resemblance to Abraham Lincoln, a part he played three different times. Among many others, he made multiple appearances on Perry Mason, The Twilight Zone and MacGyver. His most notable big screen role was as California Charlie, a used car salesman, in Psycho.
Anderson died of a heart attack, August 7, 1992.
He is one of my favourite character actors and this episode is one of my favourites. It took me by surprise and Patrick Stewart showed so much in his face-understanding, empathy and contempt all at once. It makes one wonder if he was not part of the Q.
ReplyDeleteOh, my! Wouldn't that be an interesting twist? I don't think so, though. For me, much of the appeal of Picard, from the very first episode, is his vulnerability - un-Kirk-like and also un-Q-like.
DeleteOh so interesting story
ReplyDeletexx
Definitely.
DeleteAnd, hello!
Well, I have -seen- it, but I'm not remembering this episode right off hand.
ReplyDeleteOkay.
DeleteI wouldn’t rate it as one of the best episodes of the series, but it was probably the first standout episode of the season, helping showcase its increased quality. The ending is certainly interesting. Is there a point where morality is chucked out the door once the scale is big enough? Picard certainly has bigger problems with Q or the Borg engineering massive effects, but it’s probably easier to empathize with a guy who shows humility. Although one might still suggest it’s a cop-out. In Voyager there was a much different conclusion to similar crimes in “Year of Hell,” which is an infinitely more interesting story for it.
ReplyDeleteI know there are better episodes coming - and soon. But I was surprised by how much I enjoyed "The Survivors" this time. While the one-of-them-is-not-who-they-seem aspect may be obvious, the denouement is not.
DeleteAnd is morality even the point when any attempt to "punish" so obviously superior a being would be futile? His own remorse is more torturous than anything the Federation could exact upon him.
The thing about letting a figure of considerable power, regardless of how that’s construed, off the hook is that morally it’s a bad message. You can view Trump however you like, but I think it’s healthy to have him vocally questioned. That’s democracy in action. We have that privilege. Other countries can do that, too, and we have no idea what a blessing that is. In some countries it’s an automatic death sentence. I don’t think Kevin Uxbridge would make Picard vanish for admonishing him. I think he would actually welcome it. If anything that’s exactly what he’s been waiting for, someone to come along and tell him what he did was absolutely wrong. Feeling bad about it isn’t bad enough. He set himself up and wallowed in self-pity and self-indulgence. If anything, he owes amends of some kind. That’s the better ending to the episode. Who watches the survivors? Survivors are witnesses. But if we don’t listen, they aren’t really survivors at all. They’re victims. Kevin Uxbridge remains a victim of his own actions. And Picard condones them when he says he isn’t fit to judge such a being and such actions. It seems a wise decision by a wise captain. But in this instance he was wrong.
DeleteYou make excellent points. Letting him off is a narrative convenience - no loose ends, we can forget the whole thing. But you're absolutely right that it's dangerous thinking in the real world.
DeleteExcellent episode, definitely high on the scale of ethical dilemmas.
ReplyDeleteOne of things I wonder about is something Picard said to Rishon on the Enterprise. Picard had figured everything out and told Rishon that she may even believe she was real or alive. Given Kevin's apparent god-like abilities, couldn't she in fact be just as alive as Data?
Interesting question. Does she, in fact, have independent will? Unfortunately, the story doesn't run long enough for us to find out.
DeleteGracias!
ReplyDelete