tlynch@cobalt.cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) (10/04/90)
[Note - quite a week, huh? Sigh. - ed.] WARNING: The following post contains spoiler information regarding this week's episode of TNG, "Family" (to wit, a synopsis). Anyone in a position to be spoiled and not wishing such might want to duck and cover. With the Enterprise still undergoing repairs (from the stardate, this looks to be about ten days after part 2 of "The Best of Both Worlds"), many family reunions take place. Worf is surprised, and a bit distressed, to find that his parents are coming to visit, as Jean-Luc, insisting to Deanna that he's "fine" following his abduction (to wit: his physical injuries have healed, and at least his nightmares are gone) prepares to visit his brother Robert, who still lives in Jean-Luc's home village, and whom he hasn't seen in almost twenty years. Meanwhile, Beverly looks through some old keepsakes--including a message tape that Jack recorded for Wesley not long after Wes was born. While Worf deals with his parents (his mother's just like any mother who hasn't seen a son in a long time, and his father's an old Starfleet man who has all the specs and diagrams to the Enterprise at home, as he tells everyone), Jean-Luc arrives, meeting Robert's wife Marie and son Rene, and we quickly see that Robert and Jean-Luc are not the best of friends. Robert is as oriented towards the past as Jean-Luc is toward the future, and is firmly against any invasion of technology into his life. It seems that Jean-Luc, by leaving the village for Starfleet, was something of an aberration in the family, though a well-loved one. While Sergey and Helena (Worf's parents) discuss some of their concerns about Worf with Guinan (who tells them they've done a wonderful job as parents, and that he really does care for them), Jean-Luc finds from his old friend Louis that the Atlantis project, designed to raise some of the ocean floor, is in need of a director...and is disturbed to find himself interested. Not long after, Beverly gives Wes the tape, and Sergey and Helena tell Worf that despite his discommendation (which he'd told them about in a letter home), he is _not_ alone--they are with him, they are proud of him, and they love him. Relations between Jean-Luc and Robert worsen, particularly as the subject of Jean-Luc's recent problems comes up. They argue, bringing up old jealousies (Robert, the "responsible" older brother, always resented that Jean-Luc broke all the rules and got away with it), and even get into a fight in the vineyard. It quickly leaves both brothers laughing, and the openness allows Jean-Luc to truly show his anger and frustration at what the Borg did to him. Robert reassures him, telling him that he's just human like everyone else. Jean-Luc, much heartened, decides that it's time for him to go back to the Enterprise. After we see Wes watching Jack's message (apologizing for all the mistakes he knows he'll make as a father, and hoping Wes'll understand why Starfleet is so important to him), we see Jean-Luc leave, and all is mostly smiles. He arrives back on board just as Sergey and Helena are leaving, and Robert and Marie watch Rene out on the lawn, looking up at the sky, dreaming of "starships and advenure". Tim Lynch (Cornell's first Astronomy B.A.; one of many Caltech grad students) BITNET: tlynch@citjuliet INTERNET: tlynch@juliet.caltech.edu UUCP: ...!ucbvax!tlynch%juliet.caltech.edu@hamlet.caltech.edu "They took everything I was! They used me to kill--and to destroy--and I COULDN'T STOP THEM!! I tried SO HARD!!" --Jean-Luc Picard Copyright 1990, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but don't be afraid to ask... -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Edited by Jim "The Big Dweeb" Griffith - the official scapegoat for r.a.s.i. Email submissions to trek-info@dweeb.fx.com, and questions to trek-info-request@dweeb.fx.com