6.7 — “Rascals”
Plot: A shuttlecraft containing Picard, Guinan, Ro Laren, and Keiko O’Brien runs into an energy field and breaks apart, forcing the Enterprise to beam the crew back aboard. Strangely during this process they are all reduced in physical age to 12 years old. Each officer retains their memory, intelligence, and adult personality. Can the Enterprise adjust to taking orders from a Captain in the body of a preteen? Later, rogue Ferengi attack the ship.
Thoughts: This episode by all rights should not work. But the kids they cast are good, and so it kind of does.
Earlier episodes dealing with aging effects have a mixed track record. “The Counter-Clock Incident” (TAS 2.6) has a similar plot featuring the original series crew getting younger. When we watched it I used words like “boring” and “implausible.” TNG 1.16, “Too Short a Season,” featured an Admiral who keeps getting younger because, ah, who remembers? I gave it a grade of Fail. Shows with aging crew include mediocre episodes like TOS 2.12, “The Deadly Years,” and TNG 2.7, “Unnatural Selection.”
But there are some good episodes with aging too! TNG 4.8 “Future Imperfect” (Riker awakes to find himself 16 years in the future) and TNG 5.25, “The Inner Light.”
I doubt that the things the characters talk about are the actual things the characters would be talking about in this situation. Surely there is some exhilaration involved in regaining the vitality of youth? At last, a chance for youth not to be wasted on the young. Assuming a “cure” can be found, why take it? I can understand Keiko making the sacrifice for the sake of her daughter and marriage (mostly the marriage–O’Brien is kind of a jerk about it), but why wouldn’t Ro Laren accept it?
Can you imagine what this immortality recipe would be worth on the open market? Yet, in the episode, youth is treated as an embarrassing inconvenience. For a show about exploring what it means to be human, this is wide of target.
Kudos to the kid who played Ro Laren–she is spot on. I wonder if Michelle Forbes recorded the lines for her to imitate?
Worf, meanwhile, misses a phaser shot at close range, and is outfought by a Ferengi. The writers seem intent on embarrassing him.
The whole Ferengi subplot is embarrassing. Seven Ferengi take over the Enterprise with little effort, facing next to no resistance from the 1,000 strong crew. Then the writers pile on the ignominy by emphasizing how stupid the Ferengi are. It’s as if they are trying to protect their egos by signalling that they don’t believe in the material either. The whole invasion subplot comes off as unnecessary filler. Is it so difficult to think of ways to exploit the premise of the episode?
I can’t give this more than 2 out of 5 Klingon ships flown by Ferengi–why? Just so they could save money by reusing stock footage?
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