From: tlynch@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch)
Subject: Lynch's Spoiler Review: "Schisms"
Date: 25 Oct 1992 03:34:39 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Lines: 209
Message-ID: <1cd4kfINN6kr@gap.caltech.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: sandman.caltech.edu
Summary: Not up here.  Never up here.
Keywords: TNG, eeriness, abductions

WARNING:  This post contains spoiler information regarding this week's TNG
offering, "Schisms".  Those not wishing to be torn asunder by opinions
regarding this show are advised to skip this message.

Well, I'd really *like* to like this show better than I did...

...unfortunately, I can't.  Some of my disappointment is related to the
preview from the previous week, however; it's not all hooked into the show as
an isolated piece.  We shall see, after this synopsis:

As the Enterprise enters  a very dense globular cluster to begin a charting
mission, Riker struggles with chronic oversleeping, causing him to arrive late
at a meeting with Geordi and Data in which they decide to start an experiment
with the warp engines to try to increase their charting speed.  Later that
day, (after falling asleep at a poetry reading by Data), Riker checks with Dr.
Crusher about his sleep problems, but with no physical signs of problems, all
she can do is suggest some warm milk.

Some time later, Geordi and Data begin their experiment, only to have sensors
read an explosion in the cargo bay containing the junction channeling the
sensor energy.  They rush to the bay, only to find no signs of any problems
at all.  Perplexed, Geordi tells Riker that evening; they conclude it must
have been a sensor glitch and decide to continue in the morning.  However,
Riker is then quite surprised to see Geordi come to wake Riker up only
moments after (as far as Riker's concerned) Riker went to bed!

Shortly thereafter, odd occurrences begin to spread throughout the crew;
Geordi's VISOR momentarily lapses, Data "loses" ninety minutes' worth of
memory, and Riker and Worf both have strong emotional reactions to
commonplace objects (Riker to the helm controls, Worf to a pair of barbers'
scissors).  Then, Geordi and Data find traces of subspace particle emission
in the cargo bay _itself_, and trace it to the junction, now glowing and
swirling brightly.  The particles are found to be tetryons, subspace
particles that shouldn't be able to exist in normal space.  However, since
the effect is small, all remains reasonably calm.

Riker, meanwhile, talks to Troi about his odd reaction to the helm, only to
find that he's the third person to talk to her that day about strange
reactions to specific objects.  She finds that a total of four people have had
these responses (Riker, Worf, Geordi, and an unidentified crewmember), and
brings them all together to discuss their experiences.  They quickly find
that they are somehow *sharing* a memory, and Troi takes them to the holodeck
to help solidify the traces of memory they have about the event.  What they
deduce is a chilling scene:  all four remember being restrained on a metal
examining table, with a bright light shining directly in their faces and some
rather sinister-looking tools hanging near them.  When the tableau is
completed with the addition of some fast clicking noises coming from the
darkness, Geordi shudders.  "I've been in this room before..."

Beverly examines them all, and finds that all four appear to have been given
a neural sedative.  In addition, she finds traces of tetryonic emission in all
four bodies, and Data adds that an examination of his records shows him to
have been absent from the Enterprise for the ninety-minute period he lacks a
memory of.  When Picard finds that two members of the crew (including Ensign
Rager) are missing as they speak, he orders a security alert and puts Geordi
to work finding the source of the emissions.  (Beverly also finds that Riker's
right arm shows signs of having been surgically severed and reattached, a
thought that Riker does not find at all pleasant.)

Geordi and Data find that the tetryonic emission in the cargo bay has
increased dramatically, and is now focusing on a subspace "rupture" slowly
forming in the middle of the bay.  It appears to be both controlled and
threatening, and Geordi reasons that his subspace experiments got somebody's
attention.  After one of the two missing crewmembers returns near to death, a
conference is hastily called.  Geordi says that the rift can be stopped,
but only by stopping the tetryonic emissions *at their source*, and that their
source is currently untraceable.  However, Worf suggests that a homing device
be taken to their domain, and Riker offers himself as carrier, reasoning that
since he's been abducted several times already, he likely will be again.
Beverly rigs up a neurostimulant to counter the effects of the sedative, and
he feigns unconsciousness as he's taken into the abductors' domain.

While he spies on his abductors (who, although humanoid in shape, appear
somewhat insectlike in appearance and demeanor), Geordi hurriedly scans all
subspace domains as quickly as possible to locate the homing beacon.  With
the rift locating critical size (threatening a hull breach), Geordi finds the
domain just in time, and the Enterprise uses a graviton pulse (several, in
fact, since the first few are countered) to close the tetryonic rift, with
Riker carrying himself and Rager through just in time.  However, as the rift
closes, a small glowing object emerges and flees the ship; it's thought to be
a probe, but Riker warns that the intentions of these experimenters are
clearly far from friendly...

There we are.  Now for the commentary.

First of all, I have to deal with the part of my disappointment that doesn't
reflect poorly on the show *itself*, but on the preview for it.  While most
previews for TNG manage to avoid spelling out the whole plot, this one
didn't; anyone who saw the preview knew much of the sequence of events,
including the "revelation" that crewmembers were being abducted.  I can't
help wondering how I would have felt had I avoided the preview this time;
surely, there would have been at least a few more surprises.  Bad move.

As for the rest...well, let's start with an explanation.  I've gone on record
many, many times as saying that I consider character problems more important
than plot problems, unless the show is completely plot-driven or the plot
problems are so vast as to overshadow everything else.  Unfortunately, both
of those disclaimers apply here.

Before I go into that, though, I should mention that the characters for the
most part made sense.  While it's certainly nice to say nothing was *wrong*
with them, though, I'd like to be able to say that lots of things were
*right*; and given that for nine-tenths of the show the characters were
merely plot-driven vehicles, I can't really say that, except for the parts
regarding Data's poetry reading.  (More about that later.)

Actually, I should make one other change to that; Troi was put to very good
use here; while the purpose of her conversations with Riker and other
abductees was still to advance the plot, they seemed so perfectly in keeping
with Troi's job description that it's well worth mentioning.

While I'm at it, I have to commend all involved for the holodeck sequence.
It was by far the single most effective scene of the show for me, and despite
a couple of silly points (such as the telepathic power of the computer; a
change from a wooden to a metal table results in a *lot* more than a change
of substance :-) ), it had me riveted.  Good work on the part of the writers,
directors *and* actors.

As for the plot, however, I saw several problems.  The first is a rather
hefty dose of faulty reasoning on both the characters' and writers' part.
Recall that we're told several times that the Abductors [for want of a better
name] took an interest in the Enterprise because of Geordi's experiments.
However, this is patently absurd unless they're time travelers, because
Riker's sleep problems (*including* a bad reaction to Beverly's bright light
in his face) started well before Geordi's experiment.  That's flat-out poor
thinking, and somebody should have caught it.  (It would have been pretty
easy to change, too; just have the initial meeting let Geordi tell Riker
"here's what I've been doing" rather than "here's what we're going to do" and
you're set.)

The second is a complaint I've made a few times before, and unfortunately
think I'm going to continue making for a while.  The technobabble level of
this season has been too high by a couple of orders of magnitude, *especially*
here.  Technological points or cute "let's get into the science of this
fictional universe" ideas are fine, but they have to (1) remain as a backdrop
to the stories rather than the cause of them, and similarly, (2) not become a
crutch for those who think "well, I can't think of a real reason for a plot,
so let's just throw in enough large and meaningless words to hope people
don't notice."  I hate to say it, but this show felt to me like it failed
both criteria.

I don't want to say that, particularly because some parts here and there
*were* so suitably creepy, from the holodeck sequence to Geordi's wake-up
call on Riker.  (I also liked the point that early on, everyone who was
"losing" time had recently seen Geordi; it almost could make one wonder if
he were carrying some strange effect himself.)  But fundamentally, when the
points on which the plots hinge start hanging on *that* much technobabble at
once, it makes the show that much more remote to me.  I'm not watching to
learn about subspace, I'm watching to see the characters I care about; and
here I felt like I was being told "sorry, subspace manifolds are more
important than the characters."  Not a happy feeling.

I have somewhat mixed emotions about the open ending this time.  On the one
hand, any sign that events will carry over into other shows is usually a
pleasant one.  On the other hand, however, there are already so *many* things
that are waiting to be dealt with that I don't, quite honestly, have much of
a sense of whether this is one that will actually be dealt with; and when
such wonderful ideas as the "Conspiracy" parasites, Geordi's abuse at the
hands of the Romulans in "The Mind's Eye", and Picard's life-changing
experiences in "The Inner Light" [*especially* this one] have all been
apparently left out by the dustbin, I can't work up much enthusiasm for a
plotline where the villains are such ciphers.

Enough negativity; on to another bright spot.  Data's poetry reading had to
be one of the funniest things I'd seen in a long time on TNG, and one of the
flat-out weirdest ways to end a teaser ever.  (And okay, so Riker's sudden
applause didn't quite have the same verve as Radar O'Reilly's classic "...AH,
Bach!" line in a particularly memorable "MASH", but it did the job.  :-) )
I'll have to go back and transcribe the Ode to Spot sometime for some
cat-loving friends.  ["A tail is quite essential/ For your acrobatic talents.
You would not be so agile/ If you lacked its counterbalance."  :-) ]  I have
a great respect for whoever took the time to write those poems; I also have
to wonder how soon they're going to be carted off for treatment.  ;-)

(I was interested to see Geordi talk so much to Data about form vs. substance
and being "clever" without any meat, though, since the latter is almost
exactly how I phrased many of my points about "Time's Arrow II" a few weeks
back, and that I thought "Schisms" was very much a case of "all form, no
substance" itself.  It seemed almost incongruous.)

There's not really much I have left to say here.  A few bits here and there
were as creepy as they were evidently designed to be, but on the whole I was
left pretty cold by the whole thing.  There was no center to this show that
could hold it together aside from the technobabble; and that rang very hollow
after a couple of minutes.  Ah, well.

So, the numbers:

Plot:  4.  The basic idea is a 5, probably, but the holes bring it down.
        (The poetry, however, brought it back up a bit.)
Plot Handling:  7.  Good creepiness in some places, but distinctly plodding
        in others.
Characterization:  4.  Good Troi, but the others were but ciphers.

TOTAL:  5.  That feels about right.

NEXT WEEK:

A woman "breaks out" into Qness, and Q seems to take an interest.  Now *this*
looks decidedly interesting...

Tim Lynch (Harvard-Westlake School, Science Dept.)
BITNET:  tlynch@citjulie
INTERNET:  tlynch@juliet.caltech.edu
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"It's been a lovely recession -- er, *reception*."
                -- George Bush, campaigning this week in New Jersey
--
Copyright 1992, Timothy W. Lynch.  All rights reserved, but feel free to
ask...
 