Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 6, Episode 6
October 26, 1992
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| via Memory Alpha |
Amanda Rogers (Olivia d'Abo), an accomplished intern, has come aboard the Enterprise. The sweet young woman appears to have superpowers. She makes puppies appear and disappear at will. She saves Riker from a heavy, falling object. Most impressively, she reverses a warp core breach. Clearly there is more to Amanda than initially imagined. An old friend turns up with an explanation: Amanda is Q.
This is my favorite Q episode and not merely because of my potent boyhood crush on d'Abo. I like it for its expansion of the Q character and the entire Q concept. We go beyond the usual cat toying with his mouse model to explore genuinely interesting moral questions. What do you choose to do with the power of a God? That's a good one obviously but we've explored it before with Riker. And, of course, over and over again in Star Wars. The broader query here: what, if anything, is the moral responsibility of the omnipotent? Q (John de Lancie) claims his kind are morally superior to humans. Picard counters, of course. But is the question of morality even relevant in regards to an entity which can do as it pleases without fear of consequence or judgment? In the Abrahamic religions, God is beyond reproach. To question "His" will is blasphemy. Trek never goes quite so far as to classify Q as a god but the implications are there.
Plenty to fuel a Philosophy 101 lecture in "True Q."
Acting Notes
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| via West Wing Wiki |
John P. Connolly played the role of Orn Lote, a Targan engineer. Connolly was born in Philadelphia. He has an MFA in Theater and Acting from Temple University. Films include Hard Choices, Nine 1/2 Weeks and Prayer of the Rollerboys. Television credits include Alien Nation, Sessions and The Golden Girls. In addition to the acting, he's been a big time union activist. Go labor! He served as both vice-president and president of the New York local of American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and executive director of the Actor's Equity Association.
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