Stardate: 41463.9
Original Air Date: February 22, 1988
Writer: Karl Geurs, Ralph Sanchez, and Robert Sabaroff
Director: Corey Allen
“Terraforming makes you feel a little god-like.”
While mapping the Pleiades Cluster, the Enterprise has been asked by the Federation to visit a terraforming group on Velara III. Communications with the planet have been erratic, and there is some concern about their welfare. The terraformers live in near total isolation, they are “visionaries who don’t see the planet as it is, but as it will be.” After some delay in contact, Director Kurt Mandl appears onscreen –and he seems agitated and alarmed. He tries to dismiss the Enterprise without meeting, but Picard insists on sending a landing party down to the planet.
The landing party consists of Riker, Lt. Yar, Geordi, Counselor Troi, and Data. They meet a woman named Luisa, gardener of Edens, who happily explains the details of the complex science behind the work of terraforming. Terraforming gradually allows a planet to become Class-M using various biological processes like hydraulic landscaping to grow a livable biosphere –the team has orchestrated a strict calendar listed out month by month. As the crew learn about all the intricacies of terraforming, suddenly one of the terraforming workers, Arthur Malencon, becomes entrapped in a chamber and is killed by a malfunctioning laser drill.
Data claims the malfunctioning laser drill appeared to function with a mind of its own, and when Data runs a test, the drill once again malfunctions and the laser begins firing on Data. It soon becomes clear that one of the three remaining terraformers reprogrammed the laser to attack anything that moved. Who could have caused this?
Geordi and Data once again beam down to investigate the situation and they find a strange colorful inorganic light that seems to be flash in an almost musical way. Back aboard the Enterprise, Dr. Crusher runs some tests and the strange flashing light (or “random energy pattern”) is confirmed to be inorganic, but it soon projects an energy field and starts to reproduce while commandeering the ship’s translator to communicate with the crew.
“Only life can replicate itself, doctor. Inorganic or not, it is alive.” -Data
The crew quickly flees Dr. Crusher’s lab and seals the inorganic being inside 9why don’t they wait to communicate with it?). Picard then confronts Director Mandl who admits that they discovered some flashing crystals and unusual signs randomly appearing in the wet-sands on Velara III, however, initially they were strongly reassured by Federation scientists that there was no life on the planet.
The crew begins referring to the flashing light inorganic organism as a “microbrain” and the universal translator delivers its message: “ugly.. ugly… giant bags of mostly water.” The being accuses the “bags of mostly water” of not listening to peaceful communication attempts on Velara III, and thus the microbrain begins rapidly reproducing and attacking the Enterprise after declaring war. The crew determines the microbrain is akin to a single-cell organism that, when combined with other replicated single-celled beings, becomes highly intelligent like a computer. It successfully interfaces with the ship’s life support systems. Soon, it grows into a larger crystalline shape while still flashing light. How can the crew stop the microbrain? Data suggests it is a photo-sensitive creature so they dim the lights and when the creature starts to die, Picard makes a deal –to send the creature home to where it might thrive in the sands on Valera III. The microbrain suggests it will only trust humans after they have become a less arrogant species in some three centuries from now. As the Enterprise speeds away, Picard places a Federation quarantine over Velara III in order to prevent future tragedy.
My Thoughts on “Home Soil”
Perhaps my favorite episode of TNG thus far, “Home Soil” sets up a nice detective/murder mystery that turns into a first contact tale. At first, we ask: what are the terraformers hiding? They seem suspicious and nefarious –but how were they unable to discover the existence of this inorganic microbrain creature? It took the Enterprise crew merely a few days to solve the mystery.
Nevertheless, I loved the concept of terraforming in this episode –it helps to explain why there are so many Class-M planets in Star Trek. And I’m always delighted to see an unusual non-humanoid alien species a la the Horta in the classic TOS episode “Devil in the Dark.” Of course, that brings to mind another question: why wouldn’t the Federation be able to register this microbrain life form especially after its encounter with the Horta? At any rate, in spite of a stilted performance by Elizabeth Lindsey as Luisa Kim and a few lingering questions (like why did the crew evacuate Dr. Crusher’s medical lab when the microbrain was attempting to communicate?) I thought “Home Soil” was a great episode filled with hard science fiction and classic Trek themes.
Writer/Director
This episode was written by Karl Geurs, Ralph Sanchez, and Robert Sabaroff –and the teleplay was written by Robert Sabaroff.
Director Corey Allen, who played the character Buzz Gunderson in Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause (1955).
Star Trek Trivia:
- In this episode terraforming helps to explain how Class-M planets are created.
- The phrase used by the microbrain to describe humans –“ugly bags of mostly water”—was also used as the title of a documentary about Star Trek fans.
- Walter Gotell, who played Director Mandl in this episode, is widely known for having appeared in seven James Bond films as General Gogol.
- Elizabeth Kapuʻuwailani Lindsey, who played Luisa Kim, is a celebrated anthropologist of Pacific Island culture. She was the first female National geographic fellow.
- Apparently, the production team in this episode encountered a variety of problems with the sets, casting, and scheduling. Due to issues with writing the script, it was delivered to director Corey Allen just one day before shooting