‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘Angel One’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

The further we get into season one of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the more it becomes apparent that everyone involved in this series, really wanted to accomplish wonders storytelling wise in year one. Which ended up being quite the double-edged sword when all is said and done. Because while some episodes have turned out to be quite brilliant and make the franchise proud, with their concepts and commentary, a great many other tales have simply tried to do too much. A decision that quite frankly ruins some stories, since attention is diverted away from plot points that need as much attention as possible, and unfortunately, that ‘pack it in’ mentality is one of the contributing factors that spoils the great idea featured in the next episode of this storied saga. 

For ‘Angel One’ sees the crew of the Enterprise arrive at a planet that shares the namesake of the episode, simply because this out of the way world might be harboring survivors of a doomed freighter known as the Odin. But in order to find out for sure if that’s the case, some unique protocol will have to come into play. For this planet is ruled by women, which means Counselor Troi will need to take point on this mission and navigate this unique matriarchy carefully, since the Federation and Angel One are on peaceful but not friendly terms and well, this is where the genius comes into play. Because the concept of a female leader, running an entire planet was quite the progressive idea in 1988, as was having her subordinates be men, and the potential for this to explore notions of equality seemed limitless, early on in this tale.

But it doesn’t take long for explorations of equality to be quickly sidelined by a silly subplot involving a virus aboard the ship. One that doesn’t kill but puts the patient down the for the count. Which means we spend a lot of time aboard the 1701-D to see how Dr. Crusher is handling this mess and uh, this simply isn’t interesting or pertinent. But it’s a huge focus for this episode, and to complicate matters further, there’s also a situation brewing with the Romulans at the Neutral Zone. Which forces the Doctor to work overtime to find a cure, and it also motivates the away team to work harder and this sense of urgency and well, the amount of screen time that’s dedicated to these problems, is what robs us of a great exploration of what our world would look like if women were in charge for a change. 

Yet while one can perhaps use the old ‘first year jitters’ line of reasoning to explain why this episode decided to jam in plot thread after plot thread, what truly makes this episode so disappointing, is the sheer fact that it outright bungles its brief attempts to examine the importance of equality. For Mistress Beata exhibits every female cliché and trope that you can think of, to the point where you can almost predict what she’s going to say or do next and that’s just a shame. Because they really did have a grand opportunity here to dive into how the sexes are equal and how that kind of understanding would do wonders for our modern world. But instead, Beata and her peers are reduced to unfortunate stereotypes that bore the audience as much as the goofy subplots.

If anything, it is another fine example of how sometimes the franchise would get cold feet when attempting to do something bold. Because it’s obvious that someone really wanted to bring forth a powerful episode that featured something worth the audience’s while. But somewhere along the line, someone poured cold water on it, and excessive rewrites and idea injections brought about a chaotic mess that is quite frankly quite sexist and confusing and silly. Which means that once again, the series has to clean up an embarrassing mess and hopefully this is the last time we settle in to discuss a story that misses the mark on societal issues because TNG and the franchise as a whole, are better than this. Until next time.

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