[Nate the Great]

April 1st, 1991, "The Nth Degree"

No Fiver

I'm not fond of this one. Far too many works of fiction don't understand what "genius" means. Genius is not intelligence, intelligence is just one piece of the puzzle. Furthermore, genius is not social skills like they'll try to portray in this episode. Genius is knowing how to use different forms of knowledge to create new ideas.

There's a whole other screed to be had here about brilliant vs. clever vs. genius. But let's move on.

The Episode

(A production of a scene from Cyrano de Bergerac, with Reginald Barclay in the title role and Beverly Crusher as Roxanne)

I have conflicting emotions about this casting. I can buy acting as a therapy method, but not as the lead.

DATA: Lieutenant Barclay's performance was adequate, but clearly not rooted in The Method approach.

It's nice that they bring up Data's familiarity with The Method, but this is not the place. It's almost like Data is implying that The Method is the only worthwhile acting philosophy. Of all people, Data should know that there are multiple ways to approach a performance.

BARCLAY: Well, I just feel more more comfortable playing somebody else. Maybe all this is not any better than escaping into a holodeck fantasy.
TROI: I disagree. This isn't fantasy, it's theatre. You used to withdraw onto the holodeck. You isolated yourself inside your own imagination, avoiding contact with real people. Look at yourself now. Look at all the other people you're with. You're not just acting, you're interacting. Give yourself some credit, Mister Barclay.
BARCLAY: Maybe you're right.

Ugh. This was a frequent problem with TNG writing, focusing so much on the simplest interpretation of the plot point that anything deeper is discarded. Even TOS did this better!

Barclay does present a good point. It could be argued that acting is acting and he's still not socializing as himself, but as someone else. Yet another screed that I could write but choose not to.

Captain's log, stardate 44704.2. We have arrived at the Argus Array, a remote subspace telescope at the very edge of Federation space. The unmanned structure mysteriously stopped relaying its data nearly two months ago.

How can you have an unmanned subspace telescope? This isn't the kind of thing that you can operate by remote control? Furthermore, if Starfleet is willing to post two people at a subspace relay you'd think they could spare two people for a subspace telescope.

I suppose now's the time for thinking up a Treknobabble explanation for how a "subspace telescope" is supposed to work, but I'm not in the mood.

DATA: The fusion reactors that power the array are extremely unstable.

I don't think leaving fusion reactors unattended is a good idea. Surely there's a more stable power supply for a subspace telescope.

RIKER: What about the computer systems?
DATA: They do not seem to be functioning at all, sir.

How are the fusion reactors working if the computer is off? Did some sort of automated shutdown happen?

LAFORGE: Reg, why don't we begin with the passive high-res series, all right?
BARCLAY: Electromagnetic band?
LAFORGE: Give it a try.

What is the "electromagnetic band"? Even for badly written Treknobabble, this is the definition of meaningless and incomplete.

BARCLAY: Couldn't you use a global mode in your scanner? It would be a lot faster.
CRUSHER: That's not possible. We're talking about human cells here, not isolinear circuits. I think you'd better stick to engineering, Lieutenant.
BARCLAY: A cell has a an electromagnetic signature just like a circuit element does.

No, it doesn't. At least, not the way that Reg means. Cells emit heat signatures, nothing coherent light EM waves. When we say that our bodies are like machines, that's just in a figurative sense, not in a 1:1 correspondence sense.

LAFORGE: Attempting to now, Commander. Isolate phasers eighty to one twenty.

The Enterprise has twelve phaser arrays (saucer top and bottom, stardrive belly, two on pylons, two at rear ventral, two at rear dorsal, two at stardrive aft head, and the concealed strip near the Battle Bridge on the stardrive). We've seen phaser blasts run along the array easily as though it's one track, so you can't tell me that the strips are made out of hundreds of smaller modules.

LAFORGE: I don't know how he did it, but shield strength has been increased by three hundred percent.

Unless you overhaul the hardware itself, you can't do that. You can't just pump more energy into the shields infinitely. Plus the energy conduits are rated for a specific amount of energy only (I'm pretty sure it was implied that extra conduit capacity had to be added to the deflector back in TBOBW).

BARCLAY: Well, it just occurred to me that I could set up a frequency harmonic between the deflector and the shield grid using the warp field generator as a power flow anti-attenuator, and that of course naturally created an amplification of the inherent energy output.

This here is what we in the trade call baloney. What does the deflector array have to do with the shield grid? An attenuator reduces the power of a signal without modifying its waveform. An anti-attenuator would therefore increase the power of a signal. I think Barclay is suggesting that you can add power to the shield bubble by synching it up with the warp field bubble and thus letting warp power turn into shield strength. Total nonsense.

BARCLAY: No, it's true. I can't explain it. In the last few days I've found confidence I never knew was there.

I hate it when screenwriters try to pull a Flowers for Algernon without actually doing the full implications of such a change. I'm reminded of MovieBob opining about how comic book movie producers keep wanting to jump right to Venom, Dark Phoenix, etc. without actually telling the whole story.

BARCLAY: Wouldn't you like to take a walk with me through the arboretum? The zalnias should be in bloom.
TROI: Reg, as your former counsellor, I don't think it would be appropriate.
BARCLAY: I don't need a counsellor. What I need is the company of a charming, intelligent woman.

Only mention of zalnias. And Reg is laying it on with a trowel. Do women really find such forwardness attractive?

EINSTEIN: G sub I, J of t as t approaches infinity.
BARCLAY: G of t over G naught.
EINSTEIN: So it is, so it is.

Ugh, what nonsense. I bet Einstein wishes he was playing poker with Data instead. It was even the same actor!

LAFORGE: Reg, ever since our run in with that probe, something's different about you.
BARCLAY: What, because I'm beginning to behave like the rest of the crew? With confidence in what I'm doing?

Reg, you aren't acting like the rest of the crew. You're acting like a smug Marty Stu.

BARCLAY: Yes. I've finally become the person I've always wanted to be. Do we have to ask why?

Yes, we do. You're supposed to be a genius, and you should know about Starfleet's desire to investigate everything.