“NCC-1701. No bloody A, B, C, or D.”
Ironically, the (arguably) least consequential of the Original Series / Next Gen crossover episodes, “Relics,” is probably the best of the lot. As befits its guest star, it’s a wild and sloppy affair, but wonderfully entertaining and warmhearted. Scotty has, since about the third Star Trek movie, been a largely laughable caricature more than a character; and even as part of Star Trek’s core cadre back in the ‘60s, his role was, for the most part, purely functional. How unexpected, then, that in “Relics” we don’t just get to have a bit more fun with the original chief engineer, but we get some added emotional “oomph” for our money, too. And if you’re not tickled by the fact that Scotty beamed himself into the future, well, you’re reading the wrong rewatch column.
It’s quite sweet that “Relics” puts Geordi and Scotty together. It’s the obvious choice, pairing up the two chief engineers, but given the significance of the crossover, the writers could have been forgiven for handing off the adventure to Data or Picard. It’s nonetheless a bit of a missed opportunity, in that the script could have played with the conceptual differences between the two men, as a means to draw out some of Geordi’s character. In fact, “Relics” sort of serves as final proof that Geordi doesn’t have much of a character. It’s fun watching Scotty scold Geordi for not padding his repair estimates, but otherwise LaForge’s role in the show is fairly one-dimensional: he gets to be annoyed at the old man for the first half, and supportively reverential for the second half. The latter fits Burton’s natural style better, but neither communicate anything about Geordi himself.
The episode is built around one of Next Gen’s last truly interesting science fiction ideas, the Dyson Sphere, a mega-sized shell built around a living sun – and it’s an engineering problem, to boot, which gives Geordi and Scotty something legitimate to do together. The sphere doesn’t turn out to be much more than an apparatus to hang the story on, but it’s speculatively worthwhile, and buys us that shot of the Enterprise playing Millennium Falcon as its speeds out of danger – plus a lot of pleasant chatter between Doohan and Burton about obsolescence, in technology and people.
James Doohan’s performance is fascinating. It’s probably the most screen time he’s ever had in a single installment of Star Trek, and certainly the most complex emotional arc he’s ever performed in the franchise. He gets long dialogue scenes and a substantial portion of technobabble. There are moments when the edges of his range (and, let’s face it, his age) really begin to show. It’s hard to watch him fight his way through the walk-and-talk long take at the head of the first act, and a deleted scene on the Next Gen blu-ray sees him fumble a lengthy conversation sequence with Counselor Troi.
But Doohan’s just such a dear, genial part of Star Trek history that it’s hard to fault him in any way. The episode works best when it really goes for the gut with the nostalgic value of both the actor and his character. The bar scene (“Synthetic scotch, synthetic commanders!”) is lovely, and the holodeck sequence on the bridge of the old NCC-1701 is one hell of a well-written, beautifully delivered piece.
It’s always fun when the new series is forced to acknowledge the design aesthetic of the old. The slice of the original Enterprise bridge built and carefully photographed for Scotty’s trip down memory lane is one of Next Gen’s kindest nods to its predecessor, and the emotional resonance of seeing Scotty wax philosophical about age and history, while sitting in Jim Kirk’s chair, is enormous. I could watch Picard and Scotty sit on that bridge, slinging back Aldebaran whiskey and musing on old girlfriends and lost starships till I was green in the face – and they nearly convince me that an Enterprise with no bloody A, B, C or D is, indeed, the preferred article.
Blogging The Next Generation runs every Tuesday as I work my way through the episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation on blu-ray. Season Six is finally in stores.