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TNG episode #25: Conspiracy

 
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Bogmeister
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 24, 2019 10:15 am    Post subject: TNG episode #25: Conspiracy Reply with quote

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_______ Star Trek STNG Moments 25 Conspiracy


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As has been written elsewhere, this episode ended up as an homage to all those alien invasion pictures, usually from the fifties.

When I first watched this (when it originally aired), it did strike me as a pretty cheesy sci-fi adventure, hearkening back to a more simple thriller staple of science fiction. As originally conceived, the story involved actual treachery from Starfleet officers to subvert the organization, a more standard political thriller (like the film Seven Days in May, but in the far future).

Roddenberry would not stand for this approach, believing that Starfleet of the 24th century was too morally ideal to succumb to such a threat.

So, the story changed to incorporate alien invaders. I did like this even 20 years ago but sort of dismissed it as trivial and a bit silly. But I like this episode even more nowadays. Like some of those sci-fi thrillers from the golden age, it's compulsively watchable — re-watchable even, building a sense of suspense and ominous doings in the very first few minutes.



In the story, Picard is summoned by an old friend, Captain Keel, to an uninhabited planet where Picard meets with him and 2 other captains. The 3 other captains have become aware of a strange conspiracy developing from within Starfleet but have no proof, only noticing odd orders and changes in behavior from several officers that they know.

Picard is skeptical, but his ship has been in the outer reaches of the Federation lately and he is unfamiliar with the latest internal movements of Starfleet hierarchy.

Picard returns to his ship and proceeds with business-as-usual, but very soon something happens that convinces him something is indeed amiss. He assigns Data to study Starfleet orders of the past half-year, and Data does note a definite pattern which points to a possible planned, secret takeover of key regions of the Federation.



The plot and strategy at this point is fairly simple: Picard (with Riker & Data agreeing) decides to go straight to the source, to the very center of the perceived threat, which is Starfleet HQ on Earth (San Francisco, to be precise).

This was a bit unusual in itself — at this early stage (first season of TNG), journeying to Earth was rare. At this point, the episode transpires to also be a kind of sequel to a previous 1st season episode, Coming of Age. In that episode, Admiral Quinn and Commander Remmick were conducting strange tests of loyalty on the crew.

Quinn & Remmick return here and we quickly realize that they have been 'compromised' — this becomes very apparent when the elderly Quinn begins to toss Riker around a room like a wet blanket. Then Geordi & Worf enter the scene and Quinn wipes them out, as well. Only the fortuitous appearance of Dr. Crusher with a phaser set on kill manages to halt Quinn's rampage. I get a kick out of this scene every time.

Great Dialog - Quinn: "Now, Klingon, it's between you and me."



The whole story becomes more wild and foreboding as it moves along towards a grisly conclusion.

It turns out that key officers, including several admirals at Starfleet, have been taken over by parasitic organisms which resemble scorpions. (Scorpions from space!) These creatures enter a humanoid through the mouth and attach themselves to the spinal column, at the neck area. You can tell that a person is controlled due to a gill which sticks out from the back of the neck. The person gains tremendous strength, as a result. This has its antecedent in Heinlein's The Puppet Masters, which was made into a 1994 film and seemed to copy this episode's premise.

What's chilling, as is common to such sci-fi thrillers, is that the person becomes merely a shell. All the talking and action is actually done by the little creeper inside the person. The mind is now that of the little creepy-crawler, which is why the person doesn't have the memories of its old self — another way to catch on to the galactic deception.

Oh, and these little creeps like to enjoy their new bodies — eating live grub worms is a much-relished past-time. Eeuch!

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Yes, this has its gross moments, but let's admit that some of our favorite science fiction thrillers do not lack for shocking, grotesque imagery. This was intended to shock, provoke and excite . . . and it did succeed for the most part, as a straight-up invasion thriller (see the TOS episode Operation — Annihilate!).

This was also an early (and different) version of invasion later perfected in the Borg episodes (The Best of Both Worlds). Also, though Admiral Quinn recovers, I suspect many of the controlled characters die at the end, even though it's not spelled out.

They even tagged on an ominous epilogue, something about a beacon. I've been waiting for a sequel to this invasion — a new incursion — for the past 20 years or so. I guess I'll have to content myself with re-watching this episode over and over.

BoG's Score: 8 out of 10



Extra Trek TNG Trivia:

~ Capt. Keel introduced Dr. Crusher to her future husband, Jack Crusher.

~ Capt. Tryla Scott became captain faster than any other officer.

~ Code 47 is Starfleet emergency for captain's eyes only.

~ This was the rare episode either banned (by the BBC) or edited down in other areas, due to the intense scenes of sci-fi destruction and death.


_____ Star Trek TNG Episode Reviews: Conspiracy


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BoG
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 29, 2020 6:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Conspiracy" May 9, 1988.

Story by Robert Sabaroff & Teleplay by Tracy Torme.

Director: Cliff Bole.

Early title: "Assassins."

Tracy Torme (Mel Torme's son; co~creator of the wonderful Sliders sf TV series).

TT hoped to make a commentary on the Iran/Contra Affair with this script but that idea was nixed by the higher-ups.

The original concept was to have a military coup within Starfleet without any alien parasites being involved whatsoever.

Gene Roddenberry detested that approach. It did not fit in at all with his vision of perfection for Starfleet.

The episode's violence and grim ending caused quite a stir within the production.

In TT's script the parasites were eradicated once and for all.

Producer Robert Justman felt this to be anti-climatic and pushed for the unresolved ending where the aliens were able to transmit a signal at the conclusion of the show.

In spite of that, there never was any sequel to this story about who those aliens were; where they hailed from; or what their master plan was exactly?

This was the first episode of ST: TNG to show Earth and Luna.

The episode won the Emmy Award in 1988 for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup for a series.

Due to the graphic violence in the episode, the BBC edited several minutes of footage; especially the death of Remmick.

Space, Canada's SF Network, put a viewer discretion warning for this episode. It was the only ST: TNG episode that Canada ever did this for. I've read that some European countries can be much more on guard and censure violence in films and television. On the other hand they are more open and relaxed on sexual scenes.

America is the opposite, or was for years prior to all the cable and streaming services now available. America's reputation was that violence was generally acceptable, but sexual content in films & TV rarely acceptable.

Wonder what that says, or said, about our respective nations? Is this in any way related to the fact that the U.S. is the most violent of all the industrial nations today?

Maurice "Maury" Edward Hurley was a producer and head writer for ST:TNG.

In rather bizarre circumstances he was brought on board ST: TNG by Leonard Maizlish who was creator Gene Roddenberry's lawyer. Maizlish had no authority whatsoever to make this move, but the network let it slide.

Exiting quickly were head writers D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold, who were at odds with Hurley — one issue being that Hurley had no prior experience writing or producing science fiction at all.

Gene Roddenberry completely trusted Hurley to retain Gene's vision of the Star Trek Universe, which was one of positive & optimistic developments. GR also wanted the people of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets to be virtuous, with little or no flaws. Such conditions posed enormous challenges for the writers on both ST: TOS as well as ST: TNG.

Interestingly, Hurley did not buy into GR's vision of the future at all. Hurley felt that GR's vision of the future was Pollyanish and unrealistic. It was ''wacky doodle',' in the words of Maurice Hurley.

Still, Hurley was a zealot in following GR's ST vision and would often clash with writers over scripts that Hurley deemed too dark in content, or having regular cast members display character flaws.

Hurley was responsible for the exit of Gates McFadden (Dr.Beverly Crusher) after the first season because he did not care for her acting. I'm sorry to see anyone lose a job but I was never taken with her performance either. She was just okay and nothing more for me in her role as chief medical doctor of the Enterprise.

Maurice Hurley later created the Borg.

I've always liked this episode. Scary; an X-Files-type paranoia; horrific alien parasites infiltrating the stalwart Starfleet; and an ending that begs for a continuation of this story line.

What's not to like when you have icky aliens?

Some novels and an online ST site did pick up the aftermath for the parasitical aliens. In them they established the alien parasites were related to the Trill symbiots. with both engaged in a secret war against one another.

Several species and numerous other worlds were taken over by the parasites and Trill during this ongoing war. For some undisclosed motive it is established that the parasites need to have the planet Bajor join the Federation of Planets in order to achieve their plan.

In the Pocket Books Deep Space Nine novels, another back story for the parasites is offered.

In Trill : Unjoined by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin, it is revealed that the parasites are an experiment gone wrong. On the remote world, Kurl, a Trill colony is having their symbiots decimated by a plague. Scientists created genetically modified symbiots in pursuit of a cure. Instead, the parasitical beings are born, and they are both violent and xenophobic.

The furious parasites seek vengeance against the Trills.

Yet another version dealing with the mysterious parasites was from a story from Star Trek Online. The dead alien civilization known as the Iconians (that were featured on ST: TNG episode "Contagion") bio-engineered the parasites in order to control the alien race the Vaawaur.

I always thought that the parasites might have somehow been connected to the parasitical creatures seen on the ST: TOS episode "Operation:Annihilate."

I really enjoyed seeing guest star Henry Darrow on this episode. He's a fine actor and was one of the stars of "The High Chaparral" (1967~1971) NBC western series. I'm a big devotee of the western genre in film and television. THC was one of the best TV westerns ever produced.

Aside from an excellent cast and strong stories, THC was greatly aided by its location shooting in Arizona. The majority of TV westerns were filmed in California even if the show's premise was actually set in another state.

So you see the same outdoor locations used time and time again.

THC was both set in and filmed in AZ. So it gave the show a very fresh scenic contrast compared to all the other westerns which had to utilize the same California scenery over and over again.
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 30, 2020 11:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had two thoughts after seeing this episode. The first was, oh it's the Puppet Masters (maybe this is why there was no followup?). The second was that the station was going to get calls and letters after that grisly demise. Laughing

David.
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2020 4:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Mike, I really enjoyed your fact-filled post above! While reading it I was again impressed by the fine research you did and the skilled way you presented your findings. Very Happy

As for the story, my thoughts about this episode are these.

Disgusting little parasites which inhabit Starfleet personnel just isn't a very appealing concept — and those FX scenes of wiggling creatures which scurry across the floor like roaches look silly. Rolling Eyes

My third thought is that the allegedly "grisly" scenes are laughable by today's standards, so in retrospect the whole controversy is as dated as the curdled milk in our refrigerators. Sad

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Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sat Sep 05, 2020 11:51 am; edited 1 time in total
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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 05, 2020 7:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

When I recorded this episode off of BBC2 in 1993/4 I do remember that the Remmick scenes were excised! I only found out much later that the show had been tampered with by those who know us so better than we know ourselves or so they say! Robert Schenkkan who played Dexter Remmick here is related to Ben McKenzie(Schenkkan) from Gotham!
JB
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Pow
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 12:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nitpicks

As the Enterprise heads for Dytallix B, Captain Picard orders his bridge crew that no communications should be sent without his say so.

Once the Enterprise nears the abandoned mining planet, Worf reports that all attempts to contact the other star ships in orbit are being ignored. Isn't that exactly what Picard told his crew not to do?

After realizing that Admiral Quinn isn't Quinn, Picard wants to have a private conversation with Riker regarding the bizarre affair. They have their "private discussion" in the transporter room in front of the transporter operator who can hear it all.

Quinn hurls Riker onto a clear coffee table that then shatters beneath him. Why are there breakables on board the Enterprise in the first place?

When Riker calls for Security, La Forge & Worf run down from the bridge.

La Forge isn't part of Security. It should be Worf leading his Security team.

When La Forge & Riker arrive, why aren't they carrying phasers? Riker did call for Security.

Quinn is able to perform his superhuman feats because the alien at the base of his brain is stimulating his adrenaline glands.

Wouldn't overadrenalizing an elderly man like Quinn lead to a heart attack? We are not told that the aliens are simultaneously strengthening the heart in some manner in order to compensate the adrenaline rush.

Admiral Savar (Henry Darrow) doesn't seem to have his Vulcan neck pinch down very well.

Savar grabs Riker and applies the famous pinch but Riker stares at the ceiling and growls in pain before Picard shoots Savar with a phaser.

On ST:TOS all Mr. Spock had to do was apply the pinch to someone and they immediately dropped unconscious like a sack of cement. And Spock was only half~Vulcan.

How was the three-inch alien attached to the back of Quinn's neck able to escape detection by the transporter biofilter? Shouldn't the admiral have made some excuse for coming aboard the Enterprise via a shuttlecraft instead?

Yes, the transporter makes more sense for the given situation, but an admiral can call the shots if he wishes to use a shuttle instead. Arriving via a shuttlecraft could evade any alien detection once on board the Enterprise.

Upon examining Quinn, Dr. Crusher states that anyone infected by these aliens will have a prong sticking out of their neck. Yet, earlier, just prior to Quinn giving Riker a pasting--there's no such prong protruding from the admiral's neck.

My 2 cents: I always found it haunting at the episode's finale as we hear the communication sound sent out into outer space by the alien parasite. It was ominous and suggested encountering these parasitical aliens again. Unfortunately it never happened.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 2:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

POW wrote:
Quinn hurls Riker onto a clear coffee table that then shatters beneath him. Why are there breakables on board the Enterprise in the first place?

Directors absolutely LOVE to have people thrown down onto glass tables during fights. If I made a drinking game for Smallvile and took a shot of whiskey every time that happen in Lex Luthor's living room, I'd be shitfaced drunk by the third episode! Shocked
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 12:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

johnnybear wrote:
When I recorded this episode off of BBC2 in 1993/4 I do remember that the Remmick scenes were excised!

The fact that this quick (and not overly convincing) scene was considered unsuitable for some audience members implies that the powers-that-be assumed the audience had a lot of kids in it.

We know that kids and adults love Star Trek, but for Pete's sake, the kids weren't so young and delicate they need to sheltered to this degree!
Rolling Eyes
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 23, 2021 10:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, Bud, the BBC think they do have that right, as they have continually (throughout their history) deleted scenes from many tv series — especially Star Trek, whether for time reasons or those of an horrific or scary nature!

The Empath, Whom Gods Destroy, and Plato's Stepchildren were the three not shown for nearly thirty years, whilst Miri had a 1970 showing and was afterwards removed from their schedules!

But when I saw this episode for the first time back in the early nineties, I thought the scenes would be particularly gruesome.

As it turned out, they weren't really. It was just a splash of lasers and red and purple mush, and an embryonic Scorpion-like beastie which also was destroyed in the confusion!

I did expect a sequel to this episode — but alas, the writers and producers were not that invested in that idea!

I don't like the Trill connection one bit, to be honest, as they seemed totally uncaring for their host bodies . . . cruel and vicious to boot. Unlike the Trill who seemed much more humane as a strange alien society!
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