Pen Pals
- Episode aired Apr 29, 1989
- TV-PG
- 45m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
3.5K
YOUR RATING
Data befriends an alien girl in distress, breaking the Prime Directive, while Wesley commands his first team.Data befriends an alien girl in distress, breaking the Prime Directive, while Wesley commands his first team.Data befriends an alien girl in distress, breaking the Prime Directive, while Wesley commands his first team.
Ann Gillespie
- Ensign Hildebrant
- (as Ann H. Gillespie)
Majel Barrett
- Enterprise Computer
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
James G. Becker
- Youngblood
- (uncredited)
Jeffrey Deacon
- Command Division Officer
- (uncredited)
Randy James
- Ten Forward Waiter
- (uncredited)
Tim McCormack
- Ensign Bennett
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis is the first episode where Picard actually drinks Earl Grey tea. He had previously ordered a cup of Earl Grey from the replicator in Contagion (1989), but because of a computer malfunction he instead received a small potted plant.
- GoofsThe entire crew act as if they have never seen an alien before, after Data brings his friend on board, and refer to her as "that".
- Quotes
[Data is about to beam down to the planet]
Commander William T. Riker: O'Brien, take a nap. You didn't see any of this, you're not involved.
Chief Miles O'Brien: Right, sir, I'll just be standing over here dozing off.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Mr. Plinkett's Star Trek 2009 Review (2010)
- SoundtracksStar Trek: The Next Generation Main Title
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage
Featured review
Data's first Girlfriend
And I don't mean that little fiasco he had with Michele Scarabelli. I have a lot to say about that, but not here.
This episode is book-ended in the Season 7 episode "Thine Own Self", which is similar in a lot of Ways. Both Wesley in this episode and Troi in the latter are exploring the upper limits of Authority: Both are exploring the Ensigns of Command.
The Enterprise enters the Selcundi-Drama sector, which has Planets like Bruce Willis: they "Live fast and Die Hard" - Riker tells Worf "This is Geology, not Malevolence" and Picard calls for his usual Conference before assigning Wesley Crusher his first Command task in finding out why these planets turn into Asteroid belts for no reason.
But one of these doomed planets has an intelligent humanoid life-form, and Data starts talking to what amounts to a little girl playing with a Shortwave Radio Set.
But the Planet does not have Warp Drive nor does it know about life outside of it's degenerating sphere. As Picard, says, "Oops!"
The next planet due to be destroyed is Drama IV, the planet of Data's little girl friend (Sarjenka - Nikki Cox). Will the Prime Directive be ignored? Picard decides that if the reason why these planets blow up is discovered, and a solution is forthcoming, Drama IV can be spared.
Which lays a lot of responsibility on Wesley's young shoulders. And he had already saved the Enterprise from being destroyed at least twice in Season 1. Can he, and SHOULD he do it again here?
I say YES. This shows Wesley as he should have been in Season 1 - Not just a snotty know-it-all kid, but a gifted kid that when given the proper tools, Instruction from the best Officers in Starfleet and a team of planetary specialists under his command, can SPEARHEAD a group of people whose working together can solve this conundrum and find a working solution. This shows that Wesley CAN believably save the day, when put into the position where he can question his own ideas of how to go about it. And to stand up to older crew-members who have a lot of experience, believing in himself and that his order for a certain difficult test was the right decision.
So because Wesley stood up for himself, the people of Drama IV did not have to become a new asteroid Belt.
There is also a reference to the Anne Mccaffrey "Crystal Singer" books- Sarjenka picks up a singing rock in Sickbay and is told by Dr Polaski that it is an Alanan Singer-Stone, and in the books the Singers basically sing the stones out of the ground.
In reference to Season 7 "Thine Own Self", Data also saves a little girl and her immediate civilization - Only in that case, his memory gets wiped rather than the little girl's memory, as Dr Polaski does to Sarjenka here.
I just watched this again, for maybe the 20th time. This really is one of the best second season next generation episodes, and we know that the show was still having problems with "writers-go-round" (see "chaos on the bridge", A recent film by William Shatner that describes the musical writing department of next generations first two seasons) -But this episode marked the spot where some genuine quality entered the series. Of course the story was written by Hannah Louise Shearer, and the telaplay by Melinda M. Snodgrass, who I believe had some history writing Star Trek novels.
Look for Nick Cascone and Ann Gillespie before they had parts in deep space nine, Ann had become one of Dr. Bashir's assistants, Nick became a Trill Symbiont-Herder.
This episode is book-ended in the Season 7 episode "Thine Own Self", which is similar in a lot of Ways. Both Wesley in this episode and Troi in the latter are exploring the upper limits of Authority: Both are exploring the Ensigns of Command.
The Enterprise enters the Selcundi-Drama sector, which has Planets like Bruce Willis: they "Live fast and Die Hard" - Riker tells Worf "This is Geology, not Malevolence" and Picard calls for his usual Conference before assigning Wesley Crusher his first Command task in finding out why these planets turn into Asteroid belts for no reason.
But one of these doomed planets has an intelligent humanoid life-form, and Data starts talking to what amounts to a little girl playing with a Shortwave Radio Set.
But the Planet does not have Warp Drive nor does it know about life outside of it's degenerating sphere. As Picard, says, "Oops!"
The next planet due to be destroyed is Drama IV, the planet of Data's little girl friend (Sarjenka - Nikki Cox). Will the Prime Directive be ignored? Picard decides that if the reason why these planets blow up is discovered, and a solution is forthcoming, Drama IV can be spared.
Which lays a lot of responsibility on Wesley's young shoulders. And he had already saved the Enterprise from being destroyed at least twice in Season 1. Can he, and SHOULD he do it again here?
I say YES. This shows Wesley as he should have been in Season 1 - Not just a snotty know-it-all kid, but a gifted kid that when given the proper tools, Instruction from the best Officers in Starfleet and a team of planetary specialists under his command, can SPEARHEAD a group of people whose working together can solve this conundrum and find a working solution. This shows that Wesley CAN believably save the day, when put into the position where he can question his own ideas of how to go about it. And to stand up to older crew-members who have a lot of experience, believing in himself and that his order for a certain difficult test was the right decision.
So because Wesley stood up for himself, the people of Drama IV did not have to become a new asteroid Belt.
There is also a reference to the Anne Mccaffrey "Crystal Singer" books- Sarjenka picks up a singing rock in Sickbay and is told by Dr Polaski that it is an Alanan Singer-Stone, and in the books the Singers basically sing the stones out of the ground.
In reference to Season 7 "Thine Own Self", Data also saves a little girl and her immediate civilization - Only in that case, his memory gets wiped rather than the little girl's memory, as Dr Polaski does to Sarjenka here.
I just watched this again, for maybe the 20th time. This really is one of the best second season next generation episodes, and we know that the show was still having problems with "writers-go-round" (see "chaos on the bridge", A recent film by William Shatner that describes the musical writing department of next generations first two seasons) -But this episode marked the spot where some genuine quality entered the series. Of course the story was written by Hannah Louise Shearer, and the telaplay by Melinda M. Snodgrass, who I believe had some history writing Star Trek novels.
Look for Nick Cascone and Ann Gillespie before they had parts in deep space nine, Ann had become one of Dr. Bashir's assistants, Nick became a Trill Symbiont-Herder.
helpful•117
- XweAponX
- Sep 10, 2013
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Filming locations
- Thousand Oaks, California, USA(outdoor ranch in holodeck scene)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime45 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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