Lonely Among Us (S01E07)
Airdate: November 2nd 1987
Written by: D. C. Fontana Directed by: Cliff Bole
Running Time: 46 minutes
The inaugural season of Star Trek: The Next Generation has long been criticised for its uneven quality, often accused of being an uninspired and sometimes clumsy rehash of its revered predecessor, The Original Series. These accusations were even levelled at episodes written by veteran Star Trek scribes, including the esteemed D. C. Fontana, a foundational architect of the franchise’s lore. Her script for the series' seventh episode, Lonely Among Us, was frequently dismissed by contemporary critics and fans alike for bearing too strong a resemblance to the narrative beats and tropes of TOS, echoing even Fontana’s own superior work within that earlier series. This perception has cemented the episode’s reputation as a product of the show’s difficult creative infancy.
The plot, retroactively dated to 2364, unfolds aboard the USS Enterprise-D during a delicate diplomatic mission. Two profoundly dissimilar alien races from the Beta Renner system – the reptilian Selay and the furry, carnivorous Anticans – seek admission to the United Federation of Planets. However, before their application can be considered, they must first resolve their ancient and bloody feud through a conference hosted on the suitably named planet, Parliament. Transporting both delegations proves to be a monumental challenge for Captain Picard and his crew. The Selay, led by the serpentine Ssestar (John Durbin), and the Anticans, under Badar N'D'D (Marc Alaimo), require constant supervision to prevent them from killing, and in the Anticans' case, allegedly eating, each other.
These diplomatic headaches, however, soon appear trivial when the Enterprise encounters a mysterious, non-corporeal energy cloud in space. Following this incident, the ship and its crew begin to experience a series of bizarre and escalating malfunctions. The disturbance first manifests in Security Chief Worf, who is possessed by an energy-based entity, causing him to act with uncharacteristic aggression. The phenomenon then jumps to Dr. Beverly Crusher who attended him, her normally compassionate demeanour replaced by a cold, analytical menace. After the entity abandons Crusher, it begins to directly interfere with the ship's systems before finally settling on its primary target: Captain Picard. As the crew, utilising Counsellor Troi’s hypnotic techniques, pieces together the crisis, the Picard-entity hybrid openly announces its intentions. It identifies itself as a lonely explorer merely seeking to return to its home cloud and is prepared to eject Picard's bodily form into the vacuum of space to accomplish this goal.
The most glaring criticism directed at Lonely Among Us is its palpable lack of originality. The central motif of two bickering, hostile diplomatic delegations straining the Enterprise's resources was utilised by Fontana herself to far greater effect in the classic TOS episode, Journey to Babel. Similarly, the concept of the ship's captain and crew being possessed by a malevolent external force was a well-worn trope by 1987, dating back to seminal episodes like The Enemy Within. This recycling of premises made the episode feel less like a bold new step for the franchise and more like a comfortable, albeit less inspired, retread of past glories.
A more valid criticism, however, lies in the script's pronounced lack of narrative focus. The subplot involving the Selay and Anticans is almost entirely divorced from the main narrative concerning the energy entity. It functions primarily as a source of slightly forced, dark humour, culminating in a scene where Commander Riker is mistaken for an Antican and lassoed by a Selay—a moment that veers dangerously close to self-parody. Likewise, Data’s sudden and extensive fascination with Sherlock Holmes, while an endearing character beat that would later be refined and pay dividends, feels like an incongruous and distracting insertion here, further fragmenting the episode's tonal consistency.
To her credit, Fontana does attempt to innovate within the familiar framework. The alien entity is not a malevolent godlike being wishing to torment or dominate the crew, but a lost lifeform acting on a desperate, amoral instinct to return home. This creates a more nuanced conflict than a simple battle of good versus evil. Paradoxically, the Enterprise crew proves just as helpless against this existential threat as they were against the godlike Q earlier in the season. The resolution, which sees Picard saved by a deus ex machina involving the manipulation of his transporter pattern buffer, feels contrived and undermines the tension, suggesting the writer struggled to find a satisfying conclusion to the intriguing premise.
What ultimately elevates the material is confident direction by Cliff Bole, who would go on to become a prolific and reliable helmsman for the Star Trek franchise, directing over twenty-four more episodes of TNG in addition to numerous installments of Deep Space Nine and Voyager. Bole's steady hand ensures the episode maintains a brisk pace and a coherent visual style despite the script's meandering nature. An even stronger impression is left by the regular cast, who seize the opportunity to play against type. Patrick Stewart and Gates McFadden are clearly relishing the chance to portray their characters under a sinister influence, delivering performances filled with chilling detachment and malevolent glee that transcend the occasionally shaky material.
Even the actors buried under heavy prosthetic makeup excel. Both John Durbin and Marc Alaimo infuse their respective Selay and Antican leaders with distinct personality and gravitas, no mean feat given the physical constraints of their roles. Incidentally, both actors would later return to the franchise to play memorable Cardassian characters: Durbin as Gul Lemec in the superb Chain of Command two-parter, and Alaimo, of course, cementing his place in Star Trek history as the iconic, complex villain Gul Dukat in Deep Space Nine.
Finally, Lonely Among Us is notable for featuring the first significant death of an Enterprise crew member in the new series. Engineering officer Singh (played by Kavi Raz) is killed during the entity's initial assault on the ship's systems. Crucially, Singh does not wear the infamous red shirt of a security officer, signalling that The Next Generation was willing to subvert some of its predecessor's traditions and establish that no character was necessarily safe, a small but important step in defining its own identity. In the end, while Lonely Among Us is undeniably flawed and derivative, it nonetheless contains glimpses of the character dynamics and production polish that would eventually propel the series to greatness.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/ InLeo blog https://inleo.io/@drax.leo
LeoDex: https://leodex.io/?ref=drax InLeo: https://inleo.io/signup?referral=drax.leo Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax 1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7 BCH donations: qpvxw0jax79lhmvlgcldkzpqanf03r9cjv8y6gtmk9