TNG - Peak Performance

Plot: One thing that the first couple of years of TNG could get very right is the fun premise. Planet of the super weapons. A planet with a creature made of pure hate and rage. Scorpions taking over Starfleet Academy. That sort of thing. Where they go wrong is in executing these ideas most of the time. Peak Performance scores a double win because it not only excites with its ideas - a war game featuring Picard and Riker going head to head - but it manages to drive a great deal of mileage and entertainment out of it too. I loved the motive behind this simulation too; Picard feeling that the Borg threat is strong enough that it is prudent that his officers undergo tactical exercises to ensure battle readiness. It feels like TNG is pulling itself in a particular direction for once, and all roads are leading to The Best of Both Worlds at the end of season three. 

Character: You can actually feel the gears shifting as the writers figure out how to make this cast of characters work in an ensemble script where everybody has plenty to do, everyone has their own opinion that they own, each of them brings their individual skills and everyone gets something to do. Data is impressed by Kolrami's Stratagema ability, Riker gets to be sly and cunning in the battle simulation, Geordi is salivating at the chance to take on the Enterprise in a battered old ship, Worf has his ego poked about until he gets involved in the game, Picard is wary but a little arrogant to be in charge of the superior ship in the fight, Pulaski wants to bring Kolrami down a peg or two...everyone gets their moment. And somehow you just know that Wesley is going to save the day. I think she's always pretty great but Pulaski is extra fun in this episode where she is determined to see Data best Kolrami at Stratgema and puncture his ego. It's a shame that she wasn't characterised as cheekily as this throughout because the wider audience might have warmed to her far more than they did (and I think I might only the only person who really loves this character and prefers her to Dr Bev). Picard calls Riker the finest officer that he has ever served with, a far cry from his brusque appraisal of him in Encounter at Farpoint. Maybe there is more character development in this series than I thought. It's more likely how Patrick Stewart's performance has softened over the two seasons.  

Ray Brocksmith gives an unforgettable turn as Kolrami, a character that is designed to be annoying and so given the fact that he achieves that in spades means it is an enormous success. He's rude, arrogant, opinionated and self obsessed. Star Trek could use a few more characters with those kind of flaws. It's a shame that Brocksmith is in high demand because I could see this impish irritant making fun re-appearances in the same vein as Lwaxana Troi. The second Kolrami suggests that Riker is wanting as a first officer you just know that he is going to win the battle and prove him wrong. The fun comes with watching how he does that, besting even a strategist of Kolrami's calibre. 

Somehow, and I'm convinced it is only because the other characters (Pulaski and Troi) prescribe him with emotions, they manage to pull off the 'Data has a crisis of confidence' episode. he's mostly in his quarters trying to find a malfunction because he was beaten by a humanoid at something (which rather suggests he arrogantly has been programmed to think that can never be the case) and refusing to take his place on the Bridge unless he gives unsound advice. Doesn't this sound trite? It's not, it's really fun, and it mostly works because Brent Spiner is so good at playing the emotions card whilst maintaining his robotic air and also because it once again allows us to see just how much his crewmates care about him. The scene where Pulaski bulldozes into his quarters and tells him he has had his ego knocked by defeat is pure Bones/Spock material, but it really works with these characters. 

Sparkling Dialogue: 'Because when someone is that smug you have to deflate them, just a little...' 

'We're less than one hour away from a battle simulation and I have to hand hold an android' 'The burdens of Command.' 

The Good: The irony is that whilst Worf is complaining that the bridge of the Hathaway is 'not good', it is far more exciting a space to shoot in than the Enterprise bridge. Cramped, underlit and strewn with wires and cobwebs, it makes for a great alternative to the Enterprise. Wesley teaches Riker the difference between cheating and improvising in what is probably his best written scene to date. Finally they have stopped writing this kid as a precocious child and started writing him as a smart young man with some wit about him. There's a wonderfully witty sequence where Data tries to second and even triple guess what Commander Riker's moves will be. The only conclusion he can draw is that he will be as cunning as a fox. The build up to the battle is so good that when it finally starts in the final fifteen minutes and Picard and Riker are smiling at each other as the flag is waved I was completely behind this premise. I was eager to see how this played out. It's so fun to see Patrick Stewart enjoying himself so much. I don't think he smiled convincingly once in the first season. Too busy calculating how much the flight back to Britain would be. Riker looks fantastic slouched on the bridge of the Hathaway. 

The Bad: Can you think of a more shocking space name than Sirna Kolrami. It has all the hallmarks of desperation; heavy consonants, an 'i' at the end and it is almost impossible to say without sounding like a total twat. And poor Patrick Stewart is tasked with the challenge. This also takes place in the Braslota system. Good grief. 

Result: Can you imagine a more jolly premise than splitting the Enterprise crew in two and having them fight one another in a battle simulation? It means we get to see the best of all the characters (even Wesley) as they try and outfox one another. It's an particularly strong effort for Riker, who gets to be humble (taking on Kolrami at Stratagema despite the fact that he knows he will lose), arrogant (I don't think he ever thinks he is going to lose the simulation) and sly (his final gambit with Wesley is a stroke of genius). Frakes is clearly loving the chance to shine. Apparently the producers were wary of a story that featured a battle because space fights are an expensive affair (then forgive me why would you set your show in space?) but for once I am pleased that they went with the pricey option because this story just gets better and better as we head towards the climax. What I love is that it isn't a phaser or photon torpedo that wins the day but a moment of guile. This ridiculously entertaining and it's TNG emerging out of a sea of mediocrity at the tail end of season two proving that this cast can be a joy to watch when they are written this adroitly. Just when you think things can't get any better, Armin Shimmerman turns up as a really dodgy Ferengi. 

****1/2 out of *****