‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘The Vengeance Factor’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

If there is one thing that Star Trek fans can agree upon, it would have to be that Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was a revolutionary film, one that changed a great deal for the entire franchise. Because not only did it demonstrate how the rich history of the series could translate well to film, it was also a kick-ass movie. One that dropped our jaws and broke our hearts. But most important of all, it also opened up all kinds of new storytelling possibilities for the Star Trek Universe. For up until that point, vengeance and everything that it stands for, really wasn’t explored all that much within the fabric of the franchise. Because the prevailing belief was that humanity had moved beyond it in the future, so there was no need to explore something that we are better than in the 23rd Century and beyond.

But the idea of revenge being committed in an age where technology and science could in fact, aid such an act, makes for the prospect of a fascinating story. Because those elements could make revenge the perfect crime, since no one would be able to detect any evidence of malice and it just so happens… that the next episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, took the time to explore this notion in great detail and that made ‘The Vengeance Factor’ one bleak and powerful tale when all is said and done. One that appeared to be pretty standard fare early on. For the first half of this story, revolves around a peaceful mission designed to bring reunification to a species that split ages ago and once the crew set a course for their final negotiation destination, is when this exploration into futuristic revenge got underway and what it revealed about how this would work in the future, was pretty darn creative.

For it turns out that such an act would indeed be easy to pull off with the right technology. Since the vengeful character in this tale, a woman named Yuta, used a nearly undetectable designer virus to send her victims into massive cardiac arrest, all in the hopes of settling an age-old score. One that was so bloody and so violent, that she also underwent genetic therapy to remain young, so that she had all the time she needed to properly hunt down those responsible for a heinous act from the past. Which quite frankly, makes for some compelling television, because it is just fascinating to learn how consumed she is by notions of revenge and how far she’s willing to go to bring about some sense of justice to her family’s bloodline and if it wasn’t for that pesky Doctor Crusher and Will Riker’s dynamic mind, she likely would have gotten away with it all. 

But while that alone makes for some fascinating storytelling, the storyline involving a budding relationship between Yuta and Commander Riker, is where this particular episode truly shines. Because it forces Will to choose between duty and honor and quite frankly, his morals and that leads to some powerful sequences for certain. For Will is eventually forced to end Yuta's life to keep the peace and to save other lives. And while it is a duty of a Starfleet officer to protect the greater good, the fact that Riker was never able to reach her, despite his best efforts to show her that she was worthy of a better life when she continually expressed her beliefs otherwise, is tragic to say the least and downright heartbreaking. Plus, it is equally as powerful to see Will struggle with this decision long-term since he seemingly knew that with a little more time, he could have likely persuaded her to abandon her hollow pursuits. 

If anything, this episode really did do a fine job of exploring how revenge could thrive in the 24th Century and how much work would have to go into hiding the truth in regard to deplorable acts, and it really did offer up some powerful moments for Will Riker to deal with. Because clearly, vaporizing Yuta was no easy decision and it really was quite brilliant to have Will deal with the emotional consequences of his actions, since it speaks to volumes to how the high road isn’t always easy and really in the end, this is another episode that demonstrates just how far this series has come in season three. Because this was a thoughtful and well-written episode, one that handled a tough exploration in the smoothest manner possible and injected some incredible humanity into a subject that is devoid of it, and that once again leaves one eager to continue to the journey, to see what other powerful concepts are going to be explored as season three continues along. Until next time.

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