In "11001001" the Enterprise heads to a nearby starbase for repairs and computer improvements. Most of the crew heads off for some R&R: Yar and Worf head to the base to play some new age sports activity, Data tries his hand at painting with the assistance of Geordi, and Dr. Crusher heads to the starbase to meet a doctor whose allegedly one of the Federation's best in a certain field.
Picard and Riker stay aboard the Enterprise while the repairs are happening. The computers are updated by a pair of Binars, an alien race who are almost practically computers themselves. They constantly work in pairs and can communicate and store and transfer data at record speeds.
Riker heads into a holodeck where he meets the woman of his dreams at an old New Orleans jazz bar. Even by holodeck standards, she seems too real to be true. Riker thinks it has something to do with the Binar's improvements.
At some point it becomes apparent that something is wrong. The Binars trick everyone into fleeing the Enterprise when they think it's destined to overload and explode. Everyone leaves but Riker and Picard who are unaware inside the holodeck. The two try to overtake the ship and, once entering the bridge, discover 4 Binars on death's doorstep.
Riker asks his holodeck dream girl what's going on and him and Picard learn that the Binars have loaded the sum of their races knowledge and data into the spare space of the Enterprise. An EMP caused by a star near their home planet going nova would have caused the computers to crash there, effectively killing the Binar race. The captain and Riker work together like Binars to re-download the information into the dormant Binars and back to the race's home planet, saving the race of computer-like aliens. The Binars apologize for all of this but didn't ask the Federation for help for fear of them saying no. Picard and Riker take back control of the ship and take it back to the star base to finish repairs.
This episode is extremely hard for me to try to describe succinctly but I thought it was really well done in practice. I enjoy the presence of the little Binars and their black and white way of thinking. For them, only two options exist in life which is why they chose the actions they went with.
This is a very Picard-Riker focused episode. Most of the other crew is basically written out of the plot with just a few scenes that don't really lead anywhere. That allows us to focus solely on the main storyline. Typically I like when TNG employs a B plot but here I think having just the one works out better. You could argue that the holodeck scenes are the B plot here but it all tied together rather smoothly so I'm counting it as one plot.
This is my favorite TNG episode of the series thus far. It's got a neat little script, introduces a cool new alien series, and has some great character development for Number One.
Picard and Riker stay aboard the Enterprise while the repairs are happening. The computers are updated by a pair of Binars, an alien race who are almost practically computers themselves. They constantly work in pairs and can communicate and store and transfer data at record speeds.
Riker heads into a holodeck where he meets the woman of his dreams at an old New Orleans jazz bar. Even by holodeck standards, she seems too real to be true. Riker thinks it has something to do with the Binar's improvements.
At some point it becomes apparent that something is wrong. The Binars trick everyone into fleeing the Enterprise when they think it's destined to overload and explode. Everyone leaves but Riker and Picard who are unaware inside the holodeck. The two try to overtake the ship and, once entering the bridge, discover 4 Binars on death's doorstep.
Riker asks his holodeck dream girl what's going on and him and Picard learn that the Binars have loaded the sum of their races knowledge and data into the spare space of the Enterprise. An EMP caused by a star near their home planet going nova would have caused the computers to crash there, effectively killing the Binar race. The captain and Riker work together like Binars to re-download the information into the dormant Binars and back to the race's home planet, saving the race of computer-like aliens. The Binars apologize for all of this but didn't ask the Federation for help for fear of them saying no. Picard and Riker take back control of the ship and take it back to the star base to finish repairs.
This episode is extremely hard for me to try to describe succinctly but I thought it was really well done in practice. I enjoy the presence of the little Binars and their black and white way of thinking. For them, only two options exist in life which is why they chose the actions they went with.
This is a very Picard-Riker focused episode. Most of the other crew is basically written out of the plot with just a few scenes that don't really lead anywhere. That allows us to focus solely on the main storyline. Typically I like when TNG employs a B plot but here I think having just the one works out better. You could argue that the holodeck scenes are the B plot here but it all tied together rather smoothly so I'm counting it as one plot.
This is my favorite TNG episode of the series thus far. It's got a neat little script, introduces a cool new alien series, and has some great character development for Number One.