Stardate: 41509.1
Original Air Date: February 14, 1988
Writer: Hannah Louise Shearer
Director: Kim Manners
“I must warn you that human parents are quite willing to die for their children…”
This episode uniquely begins without a captain’s log as Commander Riker is summoned to the bridge when a young boy named Harry runs into him. Harry was apparently running away from his calculus teacher. The Enterprise is situated near the Epsilon Mynos System where they have been trailing strange energy readings like “bread crumbs.” Episolon Mynos is unique for having the mythic world of Aldea, a highly advanced culture focused on peace, art, and culture (in some ways Aldea is reminiscent of reminiscent of the TOS episode “The Cloud Minders”). As the legend goes, the Aldeans were able to cloak their planet in total darkness. Many on the crew laugh off this “fairy tale,” but within seconds the Enterprise suddenly stumbles upon Aldea as the planet de-cloaks itself.
A woman appears onscreen named Rashella and claims the Aldeans have remained hidden for a millennia –why have they chosen this moment to reveal themselves? Next, we meet Radue the “First Appointee” of Aldae and his wife Duana who beam Riker, Troi, and Dr. Crusher down to their planet without warning in order to negotiate a proposed trade. The Aldeans are infertile due to a “genetic dysfunction” and they require children to perpetuate their civilization. In return, they offer advanced technology to the Enterprise. But when Riker denies their request, the Aldeans lament his “intransigence” and promptly steal all the children aboard the Enterprise –including Wesley Crusher who quickly becomes the leader of the children on Aldea.
Panic breaks out among the parents aboard the Enterprise while the Aldeans begin to grow possessive of the children. Riker discovers a weakness in the magnetic shield surrounding Aldea but the Aldeans fire upon the Enterprise sending it hurtling into space, informing the crew that by the time they find Aldea again, the children will be grandparents –even though the ship is a mere three days away. Meanwhile, as three days pass, the children are all instructed to harness their talents on Aldea. We learn about the Aldeans’ central computer known as “The Custodian” which guides and regulates their civilization. It was built by the progenitors many centuries ago, but the Aldaens do not ever question The Custodian or look for the source of its power. Naturally, Wesley is freely given an introduction to the computer which he immediately masters.
Dr. Crusher discovers that the Aldeans are all dying of radiation poisoning caused by the magnetic field around their planet (which has led to conditions like their pale skin and sensitivity to light), and Wesley encourages the other kids to act with non-violent resistance against the Aldeans, even though they have grown to like their new life for some reason. Riker and Data then have a chance to tamper with The Custodian while Picard and Dr. Crusher rescue the children. In the end, the children are returned to the Enterprise and Dr. Crusher offers medical treatment to the Aldeans, whom Troi believes will now be “good parents.” The episode ends with a quirky, light-hearted interaction between Picard and one of the children in which he appears to have a tribble attached to his back.
My Thoughts on “When The Bough Breaks”
A blatantly ridiculous episode in defiance of all common sense, the dialogue and acting in “When The Bough Breaks” is distractingly inauthentic and awkward. Would the Enterprise really discover a planet that has been hidden centuries mere moments after just talking about it? Wouldn’t the Aldeans be able to diagnose their radiation poison? Why would they remain on Aldea? Do they really expect to repopulate their entire planet by kidnapping a handful of young children? Why wouldn’t they simply directly communicate with the Enterprise in the first place rather than leading them on a trail of “bread crumbs?” Why wouldn’t they lure another transport filled with larger numbers of children? Once on the planet, why would the Aldeans introduce Wesley to the Custodian? Why wouldn’t they know about its power source? Why don’t they seem to know anything about The Custodian? Why do they trust it with their whole civilization? If the Aldeans were capable of monitoring the Enterprise’s internal communications, wouldn’t they be aware of the crew’s attempt to infiltrate their planet? Why would the officers aboard the Enterprise continue to instruct parents not to be upset that their children have been kidnapped? And why aren’t the children more distraught at being separated from their parents? Wouldn’t the child Harry be frustrated at the end when his father informs him that he still needs to study calculus? In the end, upon receiving treatment from Dr. Crusher, why would Deanna Troi loudly proclaim she knows the Aldeans will be good parents?
Despite attempting to be a charming and endearing story, this is a barely watchable episode in my view –once again, Wesley shows himself to be an obnoxious boy-genius who spends a couple minutes with The Custodian and manages to figure out its whole system, and Picard comes across as a stoic, easily enraged character –especially around children. On the whole, this deep dive through Season 1 of TNG has been a painful struggle at times.
Writer/Director
This episode was written by Hannah Louise Shearer –she pitched an idea to D.C. Fontana regarding the families aboard the Enterprise. This was the first of five episodes credited to Shearer.
Director Kim Manners was apparently critical of this episode. This was her only episode directed for TNG (she later directed episodes of The X-Files among other shows).
Star Trek Trivia:
- The title of this episode is taken from the children’s nursery rhyme “Rock-a-bye Baby.”
- According to Riker, the mythic world of Aldea is akin to Atlantis or “Neinman of Xerxes VII.”
- The young boy Harry claims that his father is an oceanographer, and they are from Zadar IV.
- Jerry Hardin, who played Radue, later appears in a fifth season two-part TNG episode “Time’s Arrow” as Mark Twain. He also appeared as “Deep Throat” in The X-Files.
- Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) appears alongside his two younger siblings in this episode.
- Other actors in this episode include: Brenda Strong of Desperate Housewives fame and Mackenzie Westmore, daughter of make-up supervisor Michael Westmore.
- The Aldean power system at the end of this episode was constructed by Michael Okuda using various children’s toys and pieces left over from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.