‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘Legacy’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Something that all of us can agree upon, is that we would do anything to have just one more day with the people that we have loved, and lost. Because we know that if we could have that special and powerful second chance, that we would do things right and say all the right things and find closure before our final moments together came to a close. And we harbor that wish, simply because death is a sudden and jarring experience, one that rarely gives us proper closure and peace and sometimes we want that so badly, that we do unhealthy things to grasp it in our hands and it just so happens that these unhealthy behaviors were explored in the next episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

For ‘Legacy’ saw the crew of the Enterprise arrive at Turkana IV, which is a planet that should sound familiar. Because this place was Lieutenant Tasha Yar’s home world, the one that she left behind when given the chance and well… returning to a world as war weary as this one put the crew on edge. Mainly because they didn’t have a clue what to expect when a rescue team beamed down to the surface to retrieve a pair of freighter pilots. But as it turns out, there wasn’t as much danger as they anticipated, simply a forthcoming ransom demand from an organization known as the Coalition. Which meant that Picard would need the help of a rival faction known as the Alliance, in order to save those pilots and that’s when the exploration in question came into play.

Because the Alliance figured the best way to communicate with a starship that didn’t quite trust them, was to put forth a familiar name to serve as a liaison. And that brought Ishara Yar aboard the ship and well, having Tasha’s sister aboard not only opened some old wounds, but it brought forth some unhealthy behaviors from the crew as well. For they desperately wanted Ishara to stand in for Tasha and that meant she was quickly given special treatment and extra protection and trust from the crew, all so that they could finally find peace and closure in regard to Tasha’s death and sadly, that led to all kinds of trouble. Because Ishara was working to earn their trust in order to execute quite the dastardly plan, one that involved an outright double cross.

For shortly after the away team rescued the pilots in question, Ishara was prepared to destroy the Coalition’s defenses to pave the way for a grand takeover from the Alliance. An act that Data was quick to rectify before things got out of hand, but the lasting impact from her actions here is what made this episode so powerful and so poignant. For it really did do a phenomenal job of pointing out the fact that we will never have that do-over with the ones we’ve lost and that we have to make peace with what’s happened and this episode also took the time to teach us to never project our pain onto others. Because not only can that create conflict and awkwardness, but there are also people out there who are eager to manipulate our pain and vulnerability, and that will only make things worse in the long run and those lessons really do make this episode quite brilliant when all is said and done.

Simply because these are harsh lessons that we rarely talk about in real life, much less in fiction. So, to find that examination here is refreshing and uncomfortable, since that’s the best way to make life lessons, this poignant, stick. But all commentary and lessons aside, this episode also deserves some serious credit for even following up on the events of ‘Skin of Evil’, and revealing the fact that the crew is still suffering from a touch of PTSD from the dark day featured in that tale, really does add depth and gravity to this tale. One that quite frankly, is another fine example of how this series loves to run with concepts over the course of several episodes, since just like ‘Remember Me’, it focuses heavily on how we handle death in our lives. And it should be interesting to see if the writers’ room is ready to move onto new topics, or if they have a little more to say, on matters involving the end. Until next time.   

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