The Child (TNG episode)
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"The Child" is the first episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It first aired on December 4, 1988.
Plot
ST-TNG_The_Child.jpg
The plot of the episode deals with two distinct stories. First, the Enterprise is charged with responding to a plague in the densely populated Rachelis System. To do so, the ship must transport samples of this extremely dangerous plasma plague from a Federation research station at Odett 9 to a site in the Rachelis System where an antidote can be developed. Lieutenant Commander Hester Dealt, a Federation scientist, works with Geordi La Forge to ensure that the containment devices for the plague samples are safe. After a thorough inspection, the ship embarks. However, soon after, growth is detected in one of the specimens, and the lives of everyone on board the ship are threatened. Captain Picard orders the crew to prepare for emergency saucer separation.
Meanwhile, a non-corporeal lifeform impregnates Deanna Troi. Strangely, her pregnancy develops at an accelerated rate. The crew debate whether to terminate the pregnancy for security reasons, but Troi insists that she will have the child and does so just days after conception. After birth, the lifeform continues to grow extremely quickly, soon reaching age eight. However, the crew soon determines that radiation emitted by the lifeform is causing the growth of the disease strains. Upon realizing this, the lifeform informs the crew that it wanted to learn about them by experiencing life as a human and it departs to ensure their safety.
Significance
"The Child" is not highly regarded by fans of the series. Its quality may have suffered because it was filmed during a writer's strike and the producers were forced to recycle an episode from the aborted Star Trek: Phase II project and adapt it to the series.
Nevertheless, the episode includes many significant developments for the characters in the series. The episode features the first appearance of Guinan, the ship's El Aurian bartender and Picard's confidant. She offers advice to Wesley Crusher about doing what he wants instead of submitting to the desires of others. He takes her advice and requests to remain aboard the Enterprise after the departure of his mother, and the crew obliges. Also during this episode, La Forge is promoted to Chief Engineer, Worf is seen in a yellow uniform for the first time, and Riker is shown sporting a beard.
Most notably, "The Child" features the first appearance of a new Chief Medical Officer aboard the Enterprise, Doctor Katherine Pulaski, who would serve in the position for the entire second season. The episode commences with a shuttlecraft leaving the Enterprise's shuttlebay carrying Beverly Crusher, who decided to leave the ship to become head of Starfleet Medical. Doctor Crusher would return in her original role at the start of season three.
Pulaski's appearance may have contributed to fans' negative reaction to the episode. More businesslike and less friendly than Doctor Crusher, Pulaski was one of the series' least-liked characters among fans. However, her personality creates an interesting conflict with Lieutenant Commander Data, as she is wary of technology and he must prove his worth to her. This theme becomes evident when Troi requests that Data be present for the birth of her child and Pulaski is skeptical. The conflict between the two characters would be explored throughout the second season.
Resources
- Startrek.com Episode Summary (http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TNG/episode/68360.html)
- Star Trek: TNG Episode Summary (http://stng.36el.com/st-tng/episodes/127.html)
- TV Home Next Generation Episode Guide (http://www.tvtome.com/StarTrekTheNextGeneration/season2.html#ep27)