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

Written by John Edward Betancourt

What’s truly fascinating about modern America, is how much emphasis we put upon making sure that everyone in our country knows who our enemies are, and what they are all about. Because somehow, we believe that being knowledgeable in that manner, makes us a stronger and more unified country when in reality, it doesn’t do a whole lot. If anything, it makes for fine storytelling since creative minds can come up with tales where we are challenged by the might of those we hate. But the fact of the matter is, we simply go about our lives and leave the big worries about our enemies to those in charge and that is equally as problematic, for several reasons. Because as we’ve seen in the past twenty years, when the wrong people grab hold of that message, they fear-monger and rally for unnecessary war and their cries are sometimes echoed by the wrong people as well.
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Which leads to an endless cycle of hate and prejudice and the next thing you know, sour views of other cultures become a generational tradition. And truly the problem with this line of thinking, is the sheer fact that it is silly and unnecessary. For our enemies are not monsters, just human beings that think differently than us, and neither side has taken the time to properly learn about one another and realize that both sides, want a lot of the same things out of life and live in a similar manner. Which means that perhaps the true answer to peace is coming to that particular understanding and whether or not we will get there in our lifetimes in anyone’s guess. In fact, our views of our enemies are so engrained in our hearts and minds that we believe this kind of problem will extend into our future, since we see this kind of conflict in stories about tomorrow as well and oddly enough, this problem and its potential solutions are engrained in the fabric of the next episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

For ‘The Enemy’ sees the crew of the Enterprise arrive at a hostile world known as Galorndon Core to answer a distress call and what the away team discovers while on surface of this inhospitable world, is quite shocking and it’s also what kicks off this grand exploration. For it turns out that a Romulan scout ship crash landed on this world and two of its officers are in dire straits for certain and well, what comes after that discovery is what makes this episode so worth our while. Since it wastes no time in putting our current world views of our enemies on display, by way of quite the twist involving Lieutenant Worf. For the injured Romulan officer that is beamed aboard is in dire need of care and a transfusion of ribosomes to heal the damage this planet causes to one’s nervous system and Worf is the only viable donor. But Worf refuses to offer up what his cells are carrying, even when Captain Picard begs him to help, out of the kindness of his heart. Simply because he cannot bring himself to help a man that represents everything that he hates, and that same disdain is sent his way since the officer in question, more or less refuses that kind of help before he dies and well, their actions really do a fine job of reminding us that when certain people fully buy into the hate, not even kindness or karma can get them to veer away from the vitriol in their veins.  

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Which seems counterintuitive to what we spoke to earlier. Since there was mention of the solution to this kind of prejudice by way of taking the time to understand and recognize our similarities instead of our differences and that thankfully was handled by Geordi’s journey in this tale. For he spent most of his time on the planet, with the other lost officer, as his prisoner and well… it doesn’t take long for Geordi to realize that pointing weapons at one another and offering bluster about whose side is better is pretty counterproductive when you’re trapped on a desolate world that is slowly degrading your mental state. And after some heart to heart moments with this officer, Geordi finally gets him to realize that they both want one thing out of life that doesn’t involve the politics of the United Federation of Planets or the Romulan Star Empire, in that; they both want to live. And that unity and teamwork is the best way to make that happen and that leads to quite the incredible moment. Where a Romulan and a human put aside their differences to work toward a common cause, and the subtlety and simplicity of this is powerful for certain and the wonder of this moment and its message doesn’t end there.
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Because as Geordi is dealing with this, Picard is dealing with some serious brinksmanship aboard the Enterprise. For a wily and bold Commander named Tomalak has violated the Neutral Zone to get his men back and well, news of the death of one of his officers will likely bring about war between the Federation and the Romulan Empire once again. But thankfully, Geordi’s actions on the planet and Picard's push to show Tomalak that no harm was intended, along with word from the surviving officer that he was treated well, keeps things from ending badly and that is another wonderful way to get the message/commentary across here. Because it serves as the anthesis to Worf’s storyline, by pointing out to the audience that it takes people like Picard and Geordi, and their understanding of the bigger picture, to bring about change between two bitter enemies. For they are the ones who know that kindness and goodwill can and will put an end to hostilities and that we need more people who share in that line of thinking in positions of power all around the world, so that more open minds can finally see and understand that we are all in this together and that perhaps pooling our resources will accomplish the wonders we all dream of.

If anything, this really is one incredible tale. Simply because it has so much to say about our modern world. For everything that we see here; excessive disdain and distrust of other cultures, and brinksmanship and posturing by military commanders, are things that are still happening in 2020. Which is not an indictment or an insult upon our current world by any means. Instead putting this relevant bit here, serves as a call to arms. One that really does ask us to look within and ponder upon whether or not this is who we are and who we want to be and that’s really what the Star Trek Universe is all about, celebrating what we could be if we applied ourselves. But while the social commentary is effective in its own right, another reason this episode is so compelling is that its production values are simply top notch. The writing, the editing, the acting and the action, all of it is just magnificent here and that allows for this story to grab hold of you and never once let go and well, thus far, this is the finest that season three has offered up to date in regard to this re-watch and that’s quite stunning, when one considers that even better stories await us down the line. Until next time.     

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