episode #14: Angel One

ANGEL ONE - episode #14, first season / Air Date: 1/25/88
written by Patrick Barry; Directed by Michael Rhodes

Here was TNG's presentation of a matriarchal society - on this planet, the females are bigger & stronger than the males; the females were the hunters in the old days; they run things; men are strictly 2nd-class here, functioning as tolerated servants. The couple of actors we see portraying the male natives are very short, in the 5-foot-tall range. As a reference, the TV movie Planet Earth (1974) was Roddenberry's previous depiction of such a society.

I'm not sure how much Roddenberry had to do with this particular episode, but it seems like another of his efforts to feature an adult approach to sexual topics in the TV format. The problem is, due to the constraints and PC limitations of this format - especially back in those days - much of this comes off as cheesy & laughable, especially when Riker dons native garb to 'pretty himself up' for the female leader. Yar and Troi get their giggles here and so does the audience.

The plot takes a grim turn in the final act when some off-worlders from a merchant ship that crashed there years back are slated to be executed for subverting the natural order of things (this now copies the plot of TOS episode Bread and Circuses). Also, in a B storyline, some fast-acting virus has disabled half the crew of the Enterprise; LaForge gets to be in command for a short spell, as Dr. Crusher tries to figure out the cure. I never did figure out where this sickness came from, though Wesley had something to do with it when he threw a snowball at Picard   .
BoG's Score: 5 out of 10