Justice (TNG)

Every once in a while, an episode comes along that just makes you wonder how exactly it even got made. In this week’s adventure, for example, Wesley Crusher is sentenced to death for walking on the grass.

Wesley Crusher is sentenced to death for walking on the grass.

Would you buy that pitch? I’m not certain I would buy that pitch.

The thing is, the premise itself is richer than it sounds. “Justice” could have been a solid, if unremarkable hour of television, if the writers had taken the time to figure out exactly where the compelling conflict was and cut out all the fluff. The episode that got made, unfortunately, has too much going on to give any of it the scrutiny it deserves, resulting in an ending that feels incredibly unsatisfying and a little like cheating.

The most obvious conflict is one Kirk dealt with a few times, and Picard will deal with again in much better episodes – what right do we have to dictate the lives of others? How far will Picard go to preserve the Prime Directive? Will he sacrifice the life of a crewman? Of a child? Of the son of one of his closest friends?

The god of the Edo is a jealous god.

That’s a compelling piece of drama. It could easily have consumed most of the hour. The problem is, it’s a question the writers have never had a great answer for. The Prime Directive question was skirted earlier this season in “Code of Honor”, but on that occasion, they didn’t do much more than play lip-service to it. Here Picard, Dr. Crusher, and the Edo leaders all make their speeches, but ultimately there’s no real conflict. Picard was never really going to let them execute Wesley. He’s never really even tempted to.

The Edo are relatively primitive, but they’re protected by a god-like being residing on a ship in orbit that sort of phases in and out of our reality. This is plot point number two which could have been its own episode, with the aliens briefly possessing Data to communicate with the crew. They are upset that the Federation has been colonizing star systems in the sector, a conflict which isn’t really picked up on or resolved.

The whole “God-like being protecting a lesser society” is not a new idea, but the idea that the being is in fact not a single individual, but a ship with a crew is interesting. Unfortunately, we don’t learn much else about them, and it all feels like a wasted opportunity.

Oh right, its the eighties.

Finally there’s an undercurrent of political commentary, that is to say, of the Edo’s bizarre justice system as a satire of our own, but this element, too, is not explored in enough detail to make it interesting.

Those are my thoughts about the episode from a structural perspective. Before we go, I’d like to point out the kind of blasé attitude the crew takes towards the idea of taking advantage of the Edo’s rather free attitudes about sexuality. It kind of makes the whole crew seem like Captain Kirks, including the women (or at least Tasha.) It’s weird because later hookin’ up with alien chicks is definitely at the very least frowned upon, but I guess those regulations aren’t in effect yet?

Random Observations:

Troi gets noticibly jealous when the Edo woman is all up on Riker. She definitely still has aa thing for him.

For someone who comes from a planet with “rape gangs”, Tasha sure seems comfortable being fondled by strangers.

Given the climate and their total lack of shame, it seems odd that the Edo wear clothing at all.

It's against his programming to impersonate a deity.

Worf won’t indulge in the Edo women because they seem too fragile – some interesting foreshadowing to his relationship with Jadzia.

This is the first time an alien calls Captain Picard a god. It will not be the last.

I actually found Wesley’s “I’m with Starfleet. We don’t lie.” to be one of his more endearing moments.

The whole “Garden of Eden” metaphor goes just a little too far.