Home Soil by: Robert Sabaroff, from a story by: Karl Geurs, Ralph Sanchez, and Robert Sabaroff, and directed by: Corey Allen

 

“Home Soil” is written by: Robert Sabaroff, from a story by: Karl Geurs, Ralph Sanchez, and Robert Sabaroff, and is directed by: Corey Allen.  It was produced under production code 117, was the 18^th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and was broadcast on February 22, 1988.

 

When I reviewed “Encounter at Farpoint” I pointed out that Corey Allen as a director didn’t understand how to introduce a protagonist.  Now that I am seventeen episodes later and have come to Allen’s separate directorial effort, an effort in which all of the regulars have had plenty of time to be introduced and well established.  That is expecting Season 1 of Star Trek: The Next Generation to have properly developed its cast which is at best hit or miss, Tasha Yar and Data being the characters given the most development while Picard, Riker, Wesley, Dr. Crusher, and Geordi have at least been established leaving Worf and Troi to be the least well established, though still established enough.   After watching “Home Soil”, I realize that my initial assessment of Allen’s direction was wrong, yes he doesn’t understand how to introduce a protagonist, he also doesn’t seem to know how to direct his actors.  This is an episode that has several sequences where the regulars, even the almost always reliable Brent Spiner, just cannot get their dialogue out with any sort of naturalism or real direction.  Patrick Stewart is the main cast member who comes out of it alright, though Picard’s dialogue is generally shorter and more to the point.  The guest cast fares just as poorly: Elizabeth Lindsey sounds like she’s been dubbed over completely and Gerard Prendergast and Mario Roccuzzo certainly deliver lines.  At least Walter Gotell is giving some sort of emotion in his lines, even if it is over-the-top emotion.  Basically, Corey Allen doesn’t actually do his job, including how he generally sets up shots.  There is a sense that this episode has to be made quickly with however many shots they can, quick cuts when the action clearly wasn’t shot correctly, and any attempts to save the budget without having the script become a ship only episode.

 

The blame for “Home Soil” cannot be squarely placed on Allen alone, however, it’s still an episode with a script and that script has three writers credited.  In terms of production, Allen apparently received script pages on the day of filming which is circumstances even the absolute best directors would be unable to make work.  Robert Sabaroff is credited with actually writing the teleplay (and one of three story credits) and if he was rewriting it basically as the episode was filming it explains how the episode doesn’t actually have a sense of pace.  The first act is almost glacially slow, expanding as much dialogue it can to actually explain what the concept of terraforming is.  Now this could be very nice worldbuilding, and almost becomes so, when it is explored exactly how long it takes and how the Federation regulates the processes.  The sequences are completely overwritten, explaining the concept multiple time.  While repeating the concept is nice, it decides to lay out what would make a planet not a candidate for terraforming only once, something the episode ends up hinging on the aspect of there must be no life on the planet of any kind for terraforming to start.

 

That may be the concept, but the plot is that on Velara III, terraforming is behind schedule.  That is the reason the Enterprise arrives, though it isn’t actually explained in any detail as to what they do and Troi is basically given exposition of everyone is hiding something.  This is trying to create some sort off tension for the first ten minutes before one of the scientists is killed, there is an action sequence where Data as an android destroys a drill that tries to kill him (and early on be a piece of interest for the colonists because he is an android), and somehow there is a crystal life form.  It gives off radiation and Crusher runs test that mean it is alive and it is what caused the drill to malfunction, the episode starting as if it wants to be a mystery with three suspects, all of whom have absolutely no motive.  The rest of the episode then becomes peace negotiations with absolutely no tension because the crystal is intelligent and can communicate, plus Federation is going to respect their autonomy as a life form.  There is a diversion to fill the runtime and attempt some sort of conflict, but that’s really all there is to the episode.

 

Overall, “Home Soil” is essentially par for the course for Star Trek: The Next Generation’s first season, that is to say is bad with a grain of a good idea in the middle.  This time it’s down to a script that should never have made it to air without an actual script editor taking a look for it, not to leave a director shooting on the day.  The director is already not very good at his craft, leading to an episode that is borderline incoherent in terms of shot continuity while having a plot that just strings itself along.  Plus the performances because of an incomplete script and incompetent director have no idea what they’re supposed to be doing.  There's a reason the image I'm using for this review is basically a prop because there is no imagery on display here to tell a story.  2/10.