‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘Booby Trap’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

If there is one important lesson that all of us should take from the concept of war, it would be that the damage it creates, doesn’t end with ceasefires and treaties. Because once the battle has come to a close, both sides have to go home and face their families and themselves in regard to what they’ve done and that leaves a lasting impact for certain. Since we’ve come to learn that soldiers aren’t quite right when they come home from combat and post-war troubles don’t end there. Because there is rebuilding to be done and bad feelings toward one another that slowly have to be healed and it can take decades before things seemingly go back to normal for both of the nations that once called the other their enemy. 
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But what’s truly amazing about war, is that even when the healing is concluded; there are still echoes of the conflict that stick around for a good long time. Because sometimes weapons that were never used are left sitting around in a vacant place, forgotten by time and the soldiers that abandoned them and they can in turn cause harm to those who stumble upon them years later, an unfortunate fact that we’ve seen pop up in the news time and time again when an old minefield from a forgotten war is discovered by sheer accident. Which leaves one to wonder, when exactly the world will properly heal from our many conflicts and well, we may never know the answer to that question. Because war is something that is engrained in mankind’s soul at this point in time. If anything, this is relevant to today’s discussion, simply because the lasting impact of war and its weapons both served as focal points for a fascinating episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Because ‘Booby Trap’ sees the crew of the Enterprise arrive at the site of an incredible final conflict between two civilizations that are now long gone, as a result of a long-lasting war. And all that remains of these two worlds is a graveyard of debris and ghosts in the stellar wind, some of which the crew were actually able to speak with. For they found a derelict vessel in the midst of this stellar tomb and were able to learn that the long-gone crew of this starship spent their final days in sorrow and agony. Because their vessel was in essence, stuck in galactic quicksand, since this graveyard was designed to be a giant trap. One that used a device known as an Aceton Assimilator to drain energy and feed radiation into ships that it snagged within its snare and unfortunately for Captain Picard and his intrepid and brave crew, they too were now stuck in this quagmire. 

For nothing they did would remove the invisible grip of these devices and at times, their efforts only made matters worse and left the crew facing certain doom. That is until Geordi and a touch of philosophy on his part… stepped in. Because he spent most of his time in this tale, in the holodeck, working with a representation of the woman that helped to design the Galaxy Class, a Dr. Leah Brahms. And after spending hours consulting and to a lesser extent, flirting with her avatar, Commander LaForge came up with quite the idea. In that, perhaps the best course of action, was to do nothing. For if they shut the ship down after making one large push with the engines, they could likely escape with their lives and the ship intact and wouldn’t you know it? Geordi’s idea worked like a charm and the U.S.S. Enterprise gently snuck its way out of a death trap.

As for the aforementioned philosophy, well Geordi’s actions make it plain to see that he’s referring to peace as a means to solve a conflict. But while it was nice to find that message embedded within the framework of the story, clearly this one made it crystal clear that war is hell. And the wrong kind of epic conflict, one waged with horrific weapons, will impact generations upon generations. Which was timely to inject in here since Nuclear War was still a primary concern in America in 1989 and well, in the end, this was nothing more than a quality episode through and through. Because it had something to say, it was compelling and tense since the clock was ticking on the fate of the Enterprise and her crew and it ends in a satisfying fashion and let’s be honest, that’s a great way to handle a TNG tale and now that this self-contained and brilliant story has come to a close, it’s onto the next one. Until next time.

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