“I met him once, many years ago, very briefly at his son’s wedding.”
“Sarek” was marked as the first true crossover between Star Trek: The Next Generation and its vaunted predecessor, which (with the exception of lending a few episode plots along the way) had remained largely out of the way of the sequel series throughout its run in the ‘80s. Bones had briefly appeared under a pound and a half of latex in “Encounter at Farpoint,” but that unheralded moment is nothing like what began to happen here, as key, beloved characters from the original Star Trek begin to bridge the 78 years between Kirk’s day and Picard’s.
For that purpose, I can’t think of a better character to start the process than Sarek, who is circumstantial enough to the original series to allow the Next Gen producers to test the waters, but resonant enough – as Spock’s father, and as a character in his own right – to form a strong worldbuilding bond. Giving Sarek the Vulcan equivalent of Alzheimer’s creates a rich emotional experience, and lets the episode deal delicately with the notion of age and aging – a good theme, when we are all also inevitably considering the years that have passed since Sarek first strode onto the original Enterprise.
“I hope I’m that frail when I’m 202 years old,” Picard mentions dryly after Sarek has beamed aboard, and indeed, we’re treated to a fierce, vigorous performance by Mark Lenard, which reaches a dizzying peak in the scene in which Picard confronts the ambassador about his Bendii Syndrome, ending with Sarek going into a full old-man rage, shouting “it is illogical!” over and over until he his hoarse. Patrick Stewart, of course, proves no slouch in the chops department either, in the subsequent scene where Picard plays lightning rod to Sarek’s out-of-control emotions. There is a magnificently choreographed long take between Stewart and Gates McFadden – alone in a darkened room, the camera performing spare movements as the 2-minute scene unfolds – where Stewart lets go with both barrels, and it’s like seeing a stallion being given free rein. And tell me you don’t get chills when Picard begins to address his long-suppressed love for his living wife, Perrin; his late wife, Amanda; and his son, Spock.
There’s a lot fan-wanking fun to be had in the various emotional outbursts across the ship that take place as Sarek begins to lose control of his emotions. We get to hear Wesley and Geordi tear into each other about their (equally negligible) success with women (Wesley even takes a poke at Geordi’s holographic love affair from “Booby Trap,” which suggests that Geordi discussed that whole thing openly?); Riker and Picard freaking out each other on the bridge; Beverly full-on slapping her son; and, of course, the Ten Forward bar fight – which, from the moment we first stepped into Ten Forward in Season Two, we all had to know would be coming eventually.
Four Enterprises out of five.
Blogging The Next Generation runs every Tuesday as I work my way through every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation on blu-ray. Season Four is in stores now.