1.19 — “Coming of Age”
Plot: Wesley Crusher takes the entrance exams for Starfleet Academy, just shy of his 16th birthday. Meanwhile, an Admiral friend of Picard’s shows up with an ominous assignment: to find something “wrong” with the Enterprise. Based on the crew interrogations undertaken by his junior officer, Remmick, it seems that the something wrong is Captain Picard! Also, a despondent young man hijacks a shuttlecraft.
Thoughts: I have mixed feelings about this episode. There’s a lot going on–A, B, and C plots. I don’t so much mind mixing up the form of the episodes, as long as they work. In this case, the cluttered plot strands provide effective distraction from the unusually poor acting from the guest performers. Time and again, I found myself thinking, “I would have asked that actor for a different line reading.” The Admiral and Lt. Remmick, in particular, just did not play their parts naturalistically.
In the midst of all the hamminess, a really great line reading can pop out and shine. Viz Picard: “This has been a strain on our friendship.” So understated, and honest. So much more impact than all the sawing of the air going on most of the time.
About Riker’s response to Remmick: petulant much? I was waiting for him to stomp his foot and stick out his tongue. They say that what’s interesting on screen is conflict. That may be true–at least Riker isn’t boring!–but he sure looks out of place, and unprofessional.
I wasn’t too taken with the callbacks made to previous episodes in the season, although this is almost a first for Star Trek. I did find myself reacting strongly, and positively, to the suggestion that they may be building forward continuity into the series. Someday, will we find more about this alleged conspiracy within Starfleet?
The episode has bearing on the long-term arc for Wesley, as well. I just can’t bring myself to be very interested in the character, however. His mother seems strangely standoffish, treating him almost as a stranger as he prepares to go off for his critical testing at the beginning of the episode. Doesn’t she have a point of view about this? Shouldn’t we know what it is?
About the Academy: it barely makes sense that Starfleet would be only willing to accept one student, despite having identified four exemplary candidates. I don’t see how you staff large starships that way (let alone the Academy itself). Were we supposed to understand that they are only taking one student from this sector, or something? That hardly makes sense, since the Enterprise moves around. Doesn’t Picard have any pull? I would think he would want his field-promoted bridge officer fully trained as soon as possible, for safety reasons, if for no other reason.
I don’t remember undergoing psychological testing, or having forced confrontations with my greatest fear, as part of my own college entrance exams. Are we expected to take this seriously? If we are, I would have to question the methodology, and probable disparate impacts of the process on different personality types and cultures. Finally, Wesley should not be telling everyone he “failed,” when the evaluation indicated he performed exceptionally well, just slightly less so than the top candidate. Are second place finishers all considered to be failures in our enlightened 24th century utopia?
I should probably be holding TNG to higher aesthetic standards, but my pass/fail grades for Season One are mostly based on whether the episode succeeded in entertaining me, without excessive aggravation. For me, the cluttered plot lines of “Coming of Age” did succeed in keeping the episode busy and interesting. *Grade:* Pass.
What did you think?
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