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

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Thus far our journey through season four of Star Trek: The Next Generation has been quite satisfying to say the least. Because day after day, we’ve reflected upon episodes that feature some powerful storytelling. The kind that has examined a great deal when it comes to the human condition, to the point where we have been able to ponder upon the importance of family, the nature of our current world and so on. But what matters more, is that each and every one of these episodes have been dynamic and compelling, to the point where there hasn’t been a boring or bad episode in the bunch. But alas, while that made it seem as though season four was going to be perfect through and through, the next episode in this storied franchise… finally broke the combo, by offering up a messy and embarrassing tale.

For ‘The Host’ is a story that saw Dr. Beverly Crusher fall madly in love with a Trill Ambassador named Odan and well, things get complicated when Odan's body is injured en route to peace negotiations. Because in order to keep Odan alive and to ensure that peace is made between two warring moons… the Odan symbiont is implanted into Commander Riker and eventually into a female Trill host once Riker/Odan saves the day and that’s really all we are going to talk about when it comes to the plot. Because we really need to just dive in and discuss what made this episode so messy, and how the show could have improved upon its mistakes, so this isn’t an endless bitch session and really… the first issue we need to discuss, is the decision to have the symbiont implanted into Commander William T. Riker.

Because that made for a lot of awkward moments, the kind that quite frankly, make one cringe over the fact that Riker is lusting after Beverly and begging for her physical company. Largely because they’ve been shipmates and colleagues for three years aboard the Enterprise. To the point where they are basically brother and sister. So, seeing Riker try and kiss her is just gross and weird, as is having the two of them cross the line and get physically intimate. Granted, it totally makes sense what the episode was trying to accomplish, in that, love is love and knows no boundaries. But there are definitely better ways to handle such matters and really the best way to have done that here, was to have Beverly interact with a female Odan, far sooner in the story.

For that really would have hammered home the point in a far more digestible manner since it would have forced Beverly to look beyond societal norms and embrace the feelings that she feels for Odan, allowing for a powerful story to take place. One that could have been wonderfully bookended by an external force having issues with their love, making this story timely and relevant as well. But alas, the solution to the episode’s woes ends up being its Achilles heel. For in reality, Beverly’s actual meeting with a female Odan, is super homophobic in nature. Something that is of course hidden under the guise of Beverly not being able to reconcile the fact that the Trill jump from host to host, but the homophobia is there none the less and it is glaringly painful to watch play out and downright embarrassing.

Simply because this is Star Trek, a progressive franchise that rarely shied away from challenging stories in this vein, and it really is a shame this particular story wasn’t handled in a braver manner. But it wasn’t a total loss, thankfully. For the acting in this one is indeed top notch. Since Gates McFadden shines by properly expressing Beverly’s confusion and angst over this whole mess. Plus, Jonathan Frakes does a wonderful job of becoming Odan and playing this hybrid being physically different in order to express the change and well, in the end this episode simply is what it is and there is sadly no going back and changing its mistakes. But thankfully, future Trek recognized the mistakes made here and corrected them, since Deep Space Nine and Discovery have handled gender fluidity and LGBTQ+ relationships in a far more noble and bolder manner. Until next time.

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