The Enterprise has been called to help a species known as the J'naii. One of their shuttle craft has vanished and investigations suggest that it has entered a pocket of null space. If so it will have lost power and it is only a matter of time before life support fails as well. Riker works with Soren, one of the J'naii to come up with a solution. The J'naii are a genderless species and Soren is curious about what it is like to have a specific gender. It gradually emerges that not all J'naii are exactly genderless; some feel more inclined to be one gender than the other and those are considered deviants; Soren inclines to being female and has developed feelings for Riker
and he has feelings for her. Things go smoothly unlit their relationship is discovered and Soren is sentenced to be 'cured'.
This episode is clearly meant as a metaphor for how many in society view homosexuality; and not a particularly subtle one at that. The story is interesting and clearly ahead of its time given how attitudes have changed since the episode was made. Viewing it now though it doesn't appear as daring as it once would have; the J'naii may be genderless but it is obvious that Soren is played by a woman; perhaps having Riker fall for a genderless character played by a somewhat androgynous male would have been going too far in the early '90s; that isn't the biggest problem though; that is saved for the end the fact that Soren was 'cured' didn't fit at all well with the episodes otherwise progressive ideas. Despite those faults I thought it was an interesting episode with some fascinating ideas. This was helped by fine performances from Jonathan Frakes and Melinda Culea as Riker and Soren; they had a good chemistry and I believed in their relationship even though they hadn't known each other long. The plot about the lost shuttle is decent enough but is clearly just a device to bring Riker and Soren together.
This episode is clearly meant as a metaphor for how many in society view homosexuality; and not a particularly subtle one at that. The story is interesting and clearly ahead of its time given how attitudes have changed since the episode was made. Viewing it now though it doesn't appear as daring as it once would have; the J'naii may be genderless but it is obvious that Soren is played by a woman; perhaps having Riker fall for a genderless character played by a somewhat androgynous male would have been going too far in the early '90s; that isn't the biggest problem though; that is saved for the end the fact that Soren was 'cured' didn't fit at all well with the episodes otherwise progressive ideas. Despite those faults I thought it was an interesting episode with some fascinating ideas. This was helped by fine performances from Jonathan Frakes and Melinda Culea as Riker and Soren; they had a good chemistry and I believed in their relationship even though they hadn't known each other long. The plot about the lost shuttle is decent enough but is clearly just a device to bring Riker and Soren together.