Pen Pals by: Melinda M. Snodgrass from a story by: Hanna Louise Shearer and directed by: Winrich Kolbe

 

“Pen Pals” is written by: Melinda M. Snodgrass, from a story by: Hannah Louise Shearer, and is directed by: Winrich Kolbe.  It was produced under production code 141, was the 15^th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, the 41^st episode overall, and was broadcast on May 1, 1989.

 

The Prime Directive is one of those Star Trek ideas that the original series often used to create moral dilemmas about the interference with civilizations that lack the technology for space travel.  It’s Gene Roddenberry’s answer to colonialism and imperialism, something he clearly thought had no place in what humanity should be.  This is a point where Roddenberry is completely correct, colonialism is one of the great evils of humanity and telling stories threading the needle between interference and the human desire to help each other.  “Pen Pals” is one of the more interesting scripts to play around with the Prime Directive.  Star Trek: The Next Generation had attempted Prime Directive plots before, most notably “Justice” which is one of the worst episodes of the show, positing that the Prime Directive means no interference on other planets ever even when directly in contact with them.  “Pen Pals”, on the other hand, initially keeps the Enterprise out of contact with the civilizations in this unexplored galaxy.  The premise is that the Enterprise arrives after an unmanned probe found lush ecosystems, to planets that have been destroyed.  This destruction is natural, geological activity is what is destroying them, the people living on these planets having no part in the activity.  The moral dilemma for the episode is if the Enterprise can reverse these natural processes with their advanced technology, a scene in the second act laying out the question of how far can we justify saving a people.  Sure a natural disaster seems clear cut, but what if it were something like man made climate change, or a dictatorship, or war?

 

This moral dilemma is perhaps where the episode slightly falls flat.  The script is written by Melinda M. Snodgrass who had written “The Measure of a Man”, another episode with a moral dilemma at its center, and she clearly understands how to write characters engaging in a dilemma.  The dilemma is a bit too silly, however, because it does posit that these different scenarios are the same, actually, something that is generally a problem.  This episode writes out a clear cut case of a situation where lives can be saved, and the Enterprise doesn’t actually have to reveal itself to do it.  The only reason it is even considered is that Data has been receiving radio signals from a child, Sarjenka, and forming this friendship.  Brent Spiner plays it incredibly well, the episode also being one where Data is portrayed as more human than the rest of the series, when the episode concludes with Sarjenka’s memory wiped to stay in line with the Prime Directive Data leaves a token for her to remember him by (something she won’t be able to do, so it's clearly sentiment on his part).  Having a child represent the people on these planets is a particularly good conceit to get the crew of the Enterprise and the audience on the side of breaking the Prime Directive, children represent innocence and it’s very difficult to leave a child to die on late 1980s television.  This is also notable for the first time in Star Trek’s history where a child character actually works completely, something this franchise has struggled with to say the least.

 

The B-plot of the episode is also structured interestingly.  The episode itself takes place over the course of six weeks of investigation, done in a single cut, and only made apparent because Wesley Crusher is conducting the geological survey of these planets to discover why they are breaking up.  Wil Wheaton is clearly relishing the material, it’s one all about teaching the kids in the audience responsibility and leadership.  Wesley has to pick a team, decide what tests to run, and present the results to the crew.  It is the reason that the Enterprise can save the day, but where it really shines is allowing Wesley to have a relationship to grow with Riker, Jonathan Frakes providing this fatherly influence.  Particularly odd, however, is that when deciding to give this task to Wesley there is clearly a dissent from Dr. Pulaski which is meant to be from Beverly Crusher, but Gates McFadden was unjustly fired for speaking her mind, so the reassignment of the idea doesn’t quite work as well as it could be.  It feels even slightly out of character for Pulaski to have this moment, perhaps being more suitable for Picard who actually spends a lot of the episode as the general opposite force to Data (and revealing that he likes horseback riding in an early sequence on the holodeck).

 

Overall, “Pen Pals” is a really solid examination of the Prime Directive and its function within Star Trek.  The moral dilemma at its center suffers slightly from being a bit too clear cut, though this is an episode that spends more time getting into the question of why these planets are being destroyed and establishing the relationship between Data and Sarjenka before proposing the dilemma.  The B-plot is equally solid even if it does have similar weaknesses of not having as many characters close to Wesley Crusher as a character.  It’s currently the fourth in a streak of good episodes, the strongest run of Star Trek: The Next Generation thus far, further indicating that the series has found a footing despite everything working against it.  7/10.