Stardate: 42695.3
Original Air Date: May 1, 1989
Writers: Hannah Louise Shearer (story), David Assael and Melinda M. Snodgrass (teleplay)
Director: Winrich Kolbe
“There is a loneliness inherent in that whisper from the darkness.”
The Enterprise becomes the first manned vessel to enter the Selcundi Drema sector where unmanned probes have recently recorded unusual geological activity on the five planets in the system. Data mentions that at some point in the last 150 years the fifth planet shattered to form an asteroid belt. Then it is revealed that all the planets are experiencing massive tectonic shifts causing volcanic eruptions which lead to complete planetary destruction.
While investigating this phenomenon, Data discovers a non-naturally occurring pattern emanating from the surface of one of the planets, Drema IV –when deciphered it says, “Is anybody out there?” Data responds and quickly becomes “pen pals” with a young girl named Sarjenka who is broadcasting the messages. Data communicates with her secretly for some eight weeks. When Data finally confesses this whole situation to Picard, the senior staff is forced to debate whether or not to violate the Prime Directive in order to save Sarjenka and her civilization on Drema IV. At first Picard rejects violating the Prime Directive, but after hearing her voice, Picard decides the Enterprise must help her.
Meanwhile in the episode’s B-plot, Riker explains that he has been given oversight of Wesley Crusher’s education, so he plans to put Wesley in charge of the planetary mineral surveys in this system. Since this is such a big job, Wesley will require a team. Is he ready for the task? There are lots of life lessons for Wesley as he builds his team (of Davies, Prixus, Alans, and Hildebrand) and they ultimately help save the planet from destruction. At the same time, Wesley struggles to give orders to people who are older and more experienced. For example, Davies finds UV absorptions are indicative of traker deposits. In response, Wesley believes his team should run an ico-spectrogram analysis but they argue that it will be a waste of time, until Wesley is instructed by Riker to follow his gut and believe in himself as a leader.
In a somewhat strange and unrelated C-Plot in this episode, Picard goes on an equestrian adventure in the holodeck and he praises the virtues of equestrianism to Counselor Troi.
At any rate, the Enterprise crew eventually discovers that Dilithium is causing the increased tectonic activity on the planets in this system. Armed with this knowledge, they develop a complex process intended to ease the volcanic eruptions on the planet using resonator vibrations, meanwhile Data beams down to the surface in search of Sarjenka. When they are reunited, and amid the planet’s impending destruction, Data makes the incredibly risky decision to bring Sarjenka back aboard the Enterprise while the crew corrects the volcanic disruption below. However, the Enterprise crew amazingly reverses the planet’s march toward destruction. Then at Picard’s request, Sarjenka is taken to Dr. Pulaski who then mysteriously erases her recent memories (how is this possible?) and Data returns her sedated body to her home planet, leaving her clutching the “singing stone” shell she spotted in Dr. Pulaski’s sickbay which sings a different song to each listener.
My Thoughts on “Pen Pals”
This was a strange episode in my opinion. The dialogue is just so painfully wooden and hollow for the first half of the story, it felt like a Season One episode. Essentially it boils down to a Prime Directive violation. But there are lots of other questions here –like why is Data so insistent upon communicating with Sarjenka? And why does he keep it a secret? Why does Picard allow for a violation of the Prime Directive in this particular case? And why does Data solely rescue Sarjenka and not her whole family (who have apparently fled elsewhere on the planet)? At the end of the episode, the violation of the Prime Directive is rendered moot anyway because the crew easily concocts a solution to the planet’s impending destruction. So why would Data need to bring Sarjenka onboard the Enterprise anyway? This could have been an interesting character exploration into Data’s human-esque emotions, but instead it is just fairly sterile.
And another thing: did the volcanic eruptions occurring on the planets in this system only just begin when the Enterprise arrived? Wouldn’t this be a naturally occurring phenomenon for many years? Why does it seem so urgent right at the convenient moment the Enterprise arrives?
Lastly, the memory erasure performed by Dr. Pulaski seems to open all kinds of ethical quandaries for Starfleet. How would she know she can erase certain memories? Has she performed a procedure like this in the past? Why wouldn’t the Enterprise simply rescue all future species and then erase their memory, thus avoiding the whole Prime Directive question (assuming all the creatures have the same brain chemistry as humans)? Has she documented her findings in this procedure? Wouldn’t this be a groundbreaking experiment that could shake-up the future of medicine? At any rate, there is a good deal of technobabble in this episode, and a few redeeming moments like an intelligent debate over the Prime Directive, but overall I do not hold this episode in particularly high regard.
Star Trek Trivia:
- The ship’s computer suggests a couple unusual creatures for Picard to mount in the holodeck: Andorian Zabathu, Klingon sark… but Picard cuts off the computer and asks for an Arabian horse.
- It is established in this episode that Picard enjoys equestrianism (he longs for a companion rather than merely the comfort of owning a pet).
- This episode features another early instance of Picard ordering “Tea, Earl Grey, Hot” from the replicator.
- Sarjenka was played by Nikki Cox as a child actress in this episode. Her character’s hands have unusually long fingers and she is colored orange.
- Apparently, the character Sarjenka introduced in this episode is featured in the Starfleet Corps of Engineers Star Trek book series, including the novels Progress, Remembrance of Things Past, and What’s Past.
One of the particularly good episodes for me, certainly one to show how well Data gets along with children, on why we can’t always expect the Prime Directive to be a morally good solution. At least we can all appreciate Picard in his wisdom being the more delicate intervention that Kirk often wasn’t.
Picard said that they couldn’t turn their backs on the plea of a frightened child. Therefore it’s a most morally important episode despite its flaws. And perhaps meeting alien children in reality when it becomes possible will enlighten us in a way that would make us appreciate Pen Pals a lot more.
Thank you for your review.