"Lower decks" --- the first "dark" TNG episode?

[Trollheart]

I was quite surprised by this episode, mostly of course by the ending. For once, all was not well at the end of the day, the brave crewmember was not rescued at the last moment and it was a dark, muted ending in a series which had, up to then I believe, led us all to believe that everything would work out in the end.

Perhaps foreshadowing some of the better episodes of DS9, this ep made me take a harder, more searching look at Trek, and gave me a new respect for the writers.

Then again, of course, there were clunkers like "A fistful of Datas", "Rascals" and "The Royale", but I think this episode went a long way towards showing that sci-fi could portray real drama on TV, and wasn't just for entertainment.

Anyone else feel like that?

 

[doubleohfive]

Well, it was definitely played to jerk us around emotionally. And anyone who got invested in Sito and was later floored by what happened would seem to suggest the writers pulled it off.

I don't know that i agree it was a foreshadowing of the darker stories told in the spinoffs, or that it was the first 'dark' TNG episode -- I'd peg "Conspiracy" with that title.

But for me, yes, it was one of the better episodes of season seven, and the fact that plans to resurrect Sito never materialized make it all the more dramatic for me.

 

[sbk1234]

One of my faves. I have to admit that I wanted to see Sito return on DS9, be rescued or something. I'm a sucker for happy endings. But it's better that she didn't.
It was nice to see that not everyone worships the command crew. "I bet Riker sleeps in his uniform."

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

"Skin Of Evil" was pretty dark.

 

[Kegg]

^
Quite. And "Chain of Command, Part II" is a heck of a lot darker than any title yet mentioned.

But if you were to consider "Lower Decks" the first dark TNG episode, wouldn't that make it the only dark TNG episode? Not a lot of stuff came after it and even less of that would I consider particuarly edgy.

 

[Mojochi]

I consider The Wounded & The Pegasus on the dark side, at least the dark side of the Federation, with some sordid affairs & high ranking officers gone wrong.

It seems that Will is relieved of duty & awaiting some board of inquiry or court martial proceedings, in which he'll be grilled rather profoundly, by the end of The Pegasus, & of course, living still with the death of his entire crew

 

[Trekker4747]

First dark episode? I dunno, one with a guy's head being phasered away strikes me as being a fairly dark.

 

[RegFan]

In the end of Conspiracy, it wasn't even clear if the parasites had been dealt with permanently. Some of the other episodes mentioned above are also very dark by TNG's standards.

 

[doubleohfive]

Uh it was pretty clear I thought. Data tells Picard Remmick had sent out a homing beacon, implying the parasites were calling for reinforcements.

If you watch the end of the episode, the last exterior shot of the Enterprise flying by even has a pre-lap of the homing beacon sound effect heard earlier when Picard and Riker storm in on Remmick in the communications room.

 

[Nardpuncher]

OP is right.

It worked because the episode was well written from what I remember (haven't seen it in years) but we grow an attachment to Sito easily and then she's dead.
If it happened to a major crew member we'd know about it before even without the internet (like Tasha's death)
It doesn't take years to form an attachment to a character. Commercial's like those ones I remember by the Latter Day Saints were great. Also look at the first ten minutes of Up.

 

[CDP]

Frame of mind was pretty dark too.
The Minds Eye wasn't particularly happy either.
Yesterdays Enterprise i would say qualifies, and i still shivver when I think about Shades of Grey...

 

[startrekwatcher]

No--the first dark episode was The Best of Both Worlds. a very grim two-parter with a very fatalistic tone with the contemplation of the extinction of an entire civilization, Picard's rape both physically and mentally via his forced assimilation, the destruction of an entire fleet and the loss of 10000 lives, Riker willing to kill his friend, Riker ordering a suicide run on the cube as a last ditch effort.

 

[Sorak]

No--the first dark episode was The Best of Both Worlds. a very grim two-parter with a very fatalistic tone with the contemplation of the extinction of an entire civilization, Picard's rape both physically and mentally via his forced assimilation, the destruction of an entire fleet and the loss of 10000 lives, Riker willing to kill his friend, Riker ordering a suicide run on the cube as a last ditch effort.

I agree, the Best of Both Worlds for the reasons you mention, is dark and far from the usual levity of the other episodes.

Its end, with Picard significantly putting the PADD on the table and looking out of its ready-room's window, makes you feel that what happened will have an everlasting effect on the whole Federation.

 

[Captain Martin]

It wasn't all made of just feel-good episodes, it explored every facet of humanity and issues that we faced in the past, present, and most likely the future. I think Skin of Evil was the first episode I would call "dark" because Yar was killed simply as a demonstration of the creature's power - an empty death if you will. Although there were many more yes.

Even episodes that don't seem dark until I thought about it a little harder are present throughout the series, for example, The Shining Light dealt with the destruction of an entire civilization due to the sun going nova and yet again picard once again had to witness a catastrophe that he could do nothing about.

 

[DonIago]

^I do believe you mean "The Inner Light".

 

[DonIago]

No--the first dark episode was The Best of Both Worlds. a very grim two-parter with a very fatalistic tone with the contemplation of the extinction of an entire civilization, Picard's rape both physically and mentally via his forced assimilation, the destruction of an entire fleet and the loss of 10000 lives, Riker willing to kill his friend, Riker ordering a suicide run on the cube as a last ditch effort.

I agree, the Best of Both Worlds for the reasons you mention, is dark and far from the usual levity of the other episodes.

Its end, with Picard significantly putting the PADD on the table and looking out of its ready-room's window, makes you feel that what happened will have an everlasting effect on the whole Federation.

If BoBW is dark, then shouldn't Q Who? be dark as well for foreshadowing the events that would occur?

 

[Captain Martin]

^I do believe you mean "The Inner Light".

Yes I did, sorry lol... That's what happens when I post while on painkiller meds, at 2AM ..

 

[DonIago]

^What did we learn?

 

[Captain Martin]

^What did we learn?

A valuable lesson I'm sure!

 

[Teiwaz]

I don't know that i agree it was a foreshadowing of the darker stories told in the spinoffs, or that it was the first 'dark' TNG episode -- I'd peg "Conspiracy" with that title.

"Conspiracy" Didn't work for me. The story felt like it was rushed. It had great potential which I think was wasted by wrapping it up in one episode. To me it was a storyline that could only really work by having a story arc over an entire series(at least). The initial warnings should have come at the start, with a few warnings and clues coming in subsequent episodes, followed by a danger point, and near disaster where the Enterprise crew are infiltrated then have to fight their way to earth. Then the final showdown at Starfleet HQ.
"Lower Decks" was a darker episode because it worked as a single episode where I felt "Conspiracy" didn't. We were jarred into a different perspective not just by the fact that the characters we were watching were different from the start of the episode, but that their perspective was different, and through their eyes familiar characters took on strangeness. Just as the new characters are starting to meld with the established and come together, the death of Sito is suddenly reported which feels like a slap.