3.20 — “Tin Man”
Plot: The Enterprise is diverted by Starfleet to make first contact with an ancient, sentient spaceship discovered orbiting near a collapsing star. The crew is in a race with the Romulans, who seek to preempt this discovery for themselves. In order to communicate with the creature, the ship must take on board Tam Elbrun, a fully telepathic Betazed whose sensitivity to the minds around him since birth has left him vulnerable and emotionally unstable. Troi has met him before; Riker has reason to distrust him.
Thoughts: I love it! This is a sensitive piece of work elevated by the fine acting of Harry Groener as Tam. Groener is an actor who works a lot, but I know him best for playing Mayor Richard Wilkins in season three of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1998-2003). He will return to Star Trek to play two other characters in Voyager and Enterprise.
The idea of a telepath who is distressed by the inability to shut out the minds of others was used in a book I read recently, Dead Until Dark (2001) by Charlaine Harris, the first Sookie Stackhouse novel.
I note that Troi’s disclosures about Tam’s prior treatment show us again that medical privacy laws do not survive into the 24th century. I like that they say Tam has ESP, which is a throwback all the way to the second TOS pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” I was disappointed they didn’t call him an “esper,” though.
I like an episode that makes good use of Troi, rare as they are, because Marina Sirtis does well when she is given good material. Her final scene with Brent Spiner works so well because both actors are really firing. Moments like this elevate “Tin Man” beyond a run-of-the-mill entry for me, although Torie and Eugue at The Viewscreen give it only middle-of-the-road marks: http://www.theviewscreen.com/tin-man/
Props to the sound designer who created the ambient noises on the alien ship. IMDB says that they were recorded by taping microphones to the stomach of a crew member after eating a pizza to record the digestive process: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708831/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv
There’s this reverse crane shot on board Tin Man after Tam sits in the Captain’s chair which I really dig, and which is emblematic of people going the extra mile on this one. I’m tempted to give it full marks–let’s call it 4 out of 5 great pairs of ruffly pants.
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