‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘The Masterpiece Society’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Something that is truly fascinating about human beings… is our collective desire to avoid change. Because despite the fact that we know it exists and know that it will alter our lives and careers at any given moment, we do everything we can to reject it and keep it at arm’s length. A strange behavior that is undoubtedly related to the fact that we are creatures that actually enjoy habit and routine over anything else. As evidenced by how so many of us work hard to find careers and activities outside of the day job that provide us with a happy little world where nothing ever changes, until it does, and well… all of this is relevant to our discussion today, simply because the next episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation has a lot of say about the change and why it is in fact, important to embrace it.

Which is a feat that ‘The Masterpiece Society’ achieves, by dropping quite the surprise in front of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. For while they are tracking a core fragment from a decimated star, they come to discover that there is a hidden human colony nearby. One that is going to be devastated by the gravitational pull of this fragment. Which of course prompts Captain Picard to reach out to this unexpected find in the stars and that’s when the show’s grand exploration on change gets underway. For it turns out that this colony was designed to be a grand experiment on perfection and routine. Because everyone that lives on this world, has been genetically engineered for a specific role in life and for generations now, these people have indeed found harmony. 

But with their lives being threatened, that harmony has to be interrupted if only for a moment and well, that’s precisely when things get interesting. For the crew has to mingle with these ‘natives’ and they have to spend time aboard the 1701-D in order to prepare their world for salvation and well, while they have enjoyed a perfect life free from strife in a beautifully controlled environment where change is nothing more than a word in the dictionary… they quickly come to realize that routine isn’t all it is cracked up to be. For instance, Counselor Troi’s brief and passionate fling with the administrator of this place, a man named Aaron Conor, quickly teaches him that a pre-ordained path for love offers none of the thrill that love and dating can offer, especially that euphoric sense of endless possibilities that it sends our way, and his journey was a mere tip of the iceberg in this tale.

For a scientist named Hannah Bates comes to realize that change could do wonders for her life. For she has a brilliant mind, one that she is able to use to its fullest potential to bring the colony outright salvation, with an assist from Geordi, and seeing her potential on display and feeling the rush of the possibilities that could come about from being able to work on projects and experiments that have yet to be solved… elicits a sense of rebellion in her. One that eventually allows for her to successfully negotiate the transfer of several members of her society to the Enterprise. So they too, can experience the wonder and the chaos of change and all the challenges it has to offer and well, it is inherently clear by the end of this episode, that it has nothing but good things to say about this concept and why we need to embrace it.

Because without change we are in essence, stagnant beings. Ones that become masters of our routine and our domain, sure… but we aren’t challenged in the slightest. Nor do we really understand our potential and what we can truly contribute to the world and well… that’s a wonderfully uplifting message to find within an episode that at first glance appears to be a world of the week tale. But it is there, and it is glorious, and it once again reminds us that TNG was always eager to explore the best parts of the human condition when the story allowed and that’s precisely what this episode does. Since it shows us at our best and shows us our potential when we let the fear of change go and now that this light-hearted adventure has come to a close, it’s time to explore a darker one. Since the next episode dives deep into the dangers that can come about when we don’t know exactly who we are and what we stand for. Until next time.

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