Trek Thursdays: Trekking Towards Sixty #13 — ‘Q Who’ And ‘Tapestry’

On September 8th, 1966, an intrepid crew of explorers boldly went where no one had ever gone before on television. At that moment, Star Trek was born. A series that launched a franchise that has kept a firm grip on audiences for decades.

As the sixtieth anniversary approaches, we here at Comicon are ready to celebrate one of the greatest science fiction franchises. While Star Trek has graced the silver screen, most of its life has been on our television screens. So, that’s where our focus shall remain.

Every week through September 8th, we’ll be spotlighting two Star Trek episodes, from any and every iteration, that we feel are some of the greatest. At this point there are over 950 episodes of Trek, so it goes without saying some favorites won’t make the cut for this list of 60.

Like a mischievous imp, the being known as Q (John de Lancie), has bedeviled multiple crews across a variety of Star Trek iterations. From television series to comics to novels to video games, the all-powerful god like trickster has left his mark.

While often those marks have been more on a playful side, there are times when the frivolity has been deadlier and sharper in scope. One of those moments includes the birth of one of the Federation’s truly greatest enemies. Another turns back the clock to better explore just what makes a beloved captain into the man we know and love.

-RED ALERT: SPOILERS FOLLOW-

“Q Who”
Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 2, Episode 16 (05/08/1989)

Synopsis: When a request to join the crew is denied, Q throws the crew of the Enterprise across the universe into uncharted space. The crew is pitted against a dangerous alien species who overwhelms them easily, to prove that the Federation is not as ready as they thought they were.

I’ve gone one word for you: Borg.

Yes, this is the famous episode, where everything changes. With the Klingons as allies and the Ferengi not being the foes that the writers hoped, there was a gap for a new imposing threat in Trek. Enter, the Borg.

An unstoppable force who wants for nothing other than the complete assimilation of all species, technologies, and worlds into their hive-mind collective. While the original idea was for a more insectoid species, which wasn’t budget friendly, the resulting pale zombie-like cybernetic beings are just as terrifying.

For as omnipresent as the Borg feels as a threat, it’s wild to realize how little they were utilized in the television realm outside of the latter years of Star Trek: Voyager. They only appeared five more times in TNG, before they returned for the incredible Star Trek: First Contact film. There are notes about the reasons for their minimal appearance being writers having difficulties in finding ways to defeat them as well as the cost. Whatever the reasons it worked out perfectly, because unlike other threats in Trek and genre spaces in general, the Borg never really wore out their welcome.

The tone of this episode starts lighter but quickly becomes something dire as the crew faces the Borg. Eighteen crew members are lost, and Q refuses to return them even when he finally saves the ship and sends them home. Speaking to the idea that there must be stakes in this lesson, especially if Starfleet and the Federation are adamant about exploring the unknown. Sometimes the unknown is going to strike back because it’s not peaceful or caring.

We get some good beats here to flesh out more about Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), though we never do really find out about her previous encounters with Q. Star Trek: Picard tries to add a bit to that but it’s a bit too little too late, especially since that second season was a bit of a mess.

It’s well stated that the first two seasons of TNG are pretty rough and it’s in the third season where things begin to really come together. One of the moments that happens is in the third season cliffhanger episode “The Best of Both Worlds.”  It’s an episode that directly owes everything to this one since it introduces the Borg and puts them on the trail to Earth, a tease that’s delivered upon in that third season finale.

Tip of the cap though to De Lancie who can rapidly switch from the more jovial impish Q persona to one that is imposing and sharp. When he turns on the crew, snapping them away, there is a malevolence to the acting. You feel the anger and slight that Q is feeling in the moment as these “lowly” beings refuse his help.

There’s a lot of reasons that this episode is a fan-favorite and deserves to be on lists like this always.

“Tapestry”
Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 6, Episode 15 (02/15/1993)

Synopsis: After a fatal attack on an away mission, Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) finds himself in the afterlife greeted by the indominable Q. With his life hanging in the balance, Picard is given the chance to change a crucial moment in his life, preventing youthful mistakes and irrevocably altering the future itself.

Four seasons later almost exactly on the dot (episode 15 to episode 16), Q returns for another very memorable life-changing sort of episode. This time, he’s not shattering the world of the whole Enterprise crew or the Federation. Just the life of one Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).

A great many stories revolve around a character facing death or questioning their place in life only to have some powerful being show them their mistake. With Q, things are not as simple as just showing Picard why his life has meaning. Picard already knows that his life has meaning and wasn’t looking to end his life or be accepting of death.

A reckless moment in his youth led to the replacement of his heart with an artificial one, which is what led to his death in the present. Q simply offers the captain the chance to change that moment, taking him back in time, allowing him to create a different version of events.

Showing up in the afterlife and finding Q sure would be a shock, but boy it is funny that this is the way that Q goes about coming to Picard in the moment. For the heaviness of the episode, doesn’t get much heavier than opening with Picard dying, there is a lot of levity and humor in this one. Especially compared to the previous entry episode above.

In a way Q actually does Picard a favor in this episode. Showing him what many of us feel in the real world that changing who we are currently by altering the past would not be worth it. Because there is no telling what your “new” life would be like. It could be worse in many respects or, as Picard finds out, boring and unfulfilling. Seeing the captain wearing a blue uniform and being a lieutenant still at his age really was a shocking and rocking moment upon first viewing.

This is a version of the character who never tried, just lived a simple life without ambition and without zest or any risk. Picard isn’t a Captain Kirk (William Shatner) type with risk being the name of the game sort of style. Yet, he does take risks and is willing to stand up against major threats from warrior Klingons to the Borg to entities with godly style powers.

Here we get the moment that birthed the version of Picard that had graced our screens for years. In these final two seasons the writers did a tremendous job at really giving a lot of episodes that were character rich rather than just sci-fi threat or techno babble of the week. It gave us more reasons to love the intrepid crew and want to know even more about them.

Also, we get to see the return of the “Monster Maroon” uniforms, as they have become known by fandom. Those uniforms were heavily used in the Star Trek: The Original Series era of films. Some fans don’t like them but with those films being part of my first Trek experiences alongside TNG, I sure have a soft spot in my heart for them.

Come back next week as we dive into two more of Star Trek’s greatest episodes.