Stardate: 41416.2
Original Air Date: March 14, 1988
Writer: Sandra Fries
Director: Mike Vejar
“Only fools have no fear.”
Aboard the Enterprise, Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher chases down his friend Jake Kurland to apologize for something –Wesley has been selected to test for entry into Starfleet Academy, while Jake lost by 32 points. Wesley is then sent to a facility on Relva VII to take the Starfleet Academy test along with several other finalists: Oliana, T’Shanik of Vulcana Regar, and Mordock (John Putch), or “THE Mordock, the Benzite who constructed the Mordock Strategy.” However, only one candidate will be chosen for the Academy.
Meanwhile, Admiral Gregory Quinn (Ward Costello) comes aboard the Enterprise from Relva VII and has requested to speak with Picard alone. He is joined by a stoic bureaucrat named Lt. Commander Dexter Remmick (Robert Schenkkan) of the Inspector General’s Office. Apparently, they suspect something inappropriate has occurred aboard the Enterprise, such as a discrepancy in the captain’s log, or a revisit to a situation in which Picard lost control of the ship. During the investigation, Jake Kurland suddenly steals a shuttle and heads for Beltane IX where he plans to sign on to a freighter, however he quickly loses power and follows Picard’s instructions which narrowly saves his life and avoids impact on Relva VII. Remmick admits he is impressed with Picard’s quick thinking in this situation.
In the end, Remmick informs Admiral Quinn that he has found no misconduct against Picard. In fact, he claims his tour through the Inspector General’s office is up in six months and would like to join the crew of the Enterprise at that point. As it turns out, Admiral Quinn claims there has been a mysterious threat to Starfleet, and he wants to surround himself with people he can trust. The Admiral wishes to promote Picard and have him take over as commandant of the Starfleet Academy. The whole unannounced inspections has merely been a test of Picard.
As the episode ends, Wesley has faced several tests for entrance into Starfleet Academy, including a “psych test” a crisis simulation, but Mordock is selected to attend Starfleet Academy, the first Benzite in Starfleet. However, Wesley and the others are encouraged re-test again in the future. He speaks with Captain Picard about it, and of course, Picard decides to decline his impending promotion in order to remain captain aboard the Enterprise. The Enterprise sets a course for Algeron IV.
My Thoughts on “Coming of Age”
Despite some choppy acting and awkward dialogue, “Coming of Age” is a decent Trek episode. It features more of Wesley the wonder boy, and also an investigation by out-of-touch Starfleet bureaucrats who are condescending and intrusive, but it opens the door for a few questions: What was the chief reason Wesley was not accepted into the Academy? Was there a mistake he made? Or did Starfleet simply decide his skills would be better put to use on the Enterprise? Also, why would Starfleet only allow one single candidate into the Academy? And lastly, what is the mysterious threat posed to Starfleet Admiral Quinn that mentions? Apparently, this episode will be continued in two future episodes and I look forward to hopefully finding answers to these questions.
Writer/Director
This episode was written by Sandra Fries. Hannah Louise Shearer performed an uncredited re-write.
This is the only episode of the series directed by Mike Vejar. He later went on to direct episodes of Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise.
Star Trek Trivia:
- This episode marked the first appearance of a shuttlecraft in TNG as well as the first speaking role for a Vulcan. Apparently, Gene Roddenberry forbade Vulcans in TNG in the hopes of highlighting other alien species.
- The events in this episode are continued in the Season 1 episode “Conspiracy” and the Season 2 episode “Samaritan Snare”.
- On Relva VII, Wesley Crusher can be seen toying with a “Flux Coordinating Sensor Unit.”
- The Starfleet test is overseen Tac Officer Chang (played by Robert Ito).
- The last question on the hyperspace physics test is: “if the matter and anti-matter tanks on a galaxy class starship are 9/10 depleted, calculate the intermix ratio necessary to reach a star base a hundred light years away at Warp Factor 8. The answer is a trick question, that there is only one ratio of matter to antimatter, which is 1:1.
- A Zaldan appears in this episode. They are a species infuriated by courtesy; they view it as a form of phony social behavior designed to cover true feelings (they have webbed fingers).
- In this episode, Picard privately admits to Wesley Crusher that he also failed the first time of getting into Starfleet Academy.
- As in TOS, many critics have wondered how/why someone like Jake Kurland can easily commandeer a shuttle. Why are there security regulations so lax?
Not having Vulcans, at least as main characters, in TNG took some getting used to. Thankfully the main casts of Voyager and Enterprise, thanks to Tuvok and T’Pol, brought back some good Vulcan Star Fleet chemistry for the audiences. Thank you for your review.