I am amazed "Pen Pals" isn't considered one of the best Trek episodes of the entire series. I, for one, found it profoundly moving and fascinating at both ends examining the Prime Directive and how far the Enterprise is willing to go to disobey what is their fundamental method of operation in the universe, a guide that keeps the Federation from interfering in the natural order of other lifeforms and their way of life, a protection from getting involved when the risks are too great. Data has communicated with an alien girl named Sarjenka, who lives on a planet that is geologically unstable (later determined by Ensign Crusher's staff (yes, he is given his first "trial command" to determine what is causing planetary bodies to disrupt into little more than asteroid remains within the unmapped, uncharted sector the Enterprise is exploring, the first ship to do so) to be an imbalance in the tectonic plates of the planets). Data appeals to Picard to save her and the people on her planet from destruction. Here is where Picard's dilemma comes in: to interfere with the planet's natural order would be a violation of the Prime Directive. Do you allow a planet to die, including the people on it? Are those on board the Enterprise gods? How far can Picard go? When they listen to a plea of help from a frightened little girl to Data before he is to "sever communication", Picard decides, against his better judgment, to try and help save her planet. Crusher's team might have an answer
While "Pen Pals" focuses on the Prime Directive and its purpose, with all senior officers convening in a secret meeting to determine if the Enterprise should help the planet from going in its natural path, taking a complex look at the difficulties such a decision entails, the episode also dedicates a minor subplot to Wesley Crusher, his training in understanding what it is like to have command and all that such duties require of an officer. It is just a geological survey, but Crusher does get to see what it is like to face opposition from members of his staff, challenging his order to check an ico-spectrogram; and, this is a good decision (obviously, since it is wunderkind making it), which leads to an answer as to how to correct the problem currently unstable in the planet's geological structure. Picard and Riker understand how deep their problem is as Data continues to challenge the Prime Directive in order to save Sarjenka, and the noose around their necks tighten with every step their android takes that opposes their chief method of "law" that keeps them out of moral entanglements. While I guess some find episodes about the Prime Directive exhausting, I love how the complexities for which the Enterprise often face when challenges against it arise (like "Justice" where Wesley unknowingly breaks a law that carries the sentence of death on a planet whose laws are considered ridiculous to many), the show thrusting Picard and company into psychological/emotion crises often provoking intellectual/philosophical debate. I think this is a stellar episode that deserves re-examination. Picard and Troi's scene involving animals (preferably Picard's fondness for horses) is rather illuminating regarding their banter about how creatures and humans interact with each other, curing loneliness/emptiness. Because of Data's incapability to understand emotionally the fundamental wreckage that could result from his actions, the way the situation causes stirs among his crewmates (such as his taking the child to the Bridge, as Chief O'Brien, Riker, and Picard all have issues with such a decision) adds an interesting dynamic to the story. Some great dialogue scenes include the aforementioned "meeting of minds" of the senior staff and Riker's talk with a concerned Wesley over the demands of a command.
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