episode #19: Coming of Age
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episode #19: Coming of Age
COMING OF AGE - episode #19, first season / Air Date: 3/14/88
written by Sandy Fries; Directed by Mike Vejar
Here is one of those episodes that contains two separate storylines which mirror each other in theme. It appears that the main story will concern Wesley, who is one of 4 exceptional candidates to undergo the strenuous Starfleet Entrance Exam; only one of these candidates will make it - just one slot is available. Wesley seems like a shoo-in (he is, after all, a genius, right?), but he becomes friendly with one of his competitors, Mordock - a Benzite - and ends up helping him in one of the tests.
The 2nd story, however, turns out to be more compelling; Picard and his crew are the ones being tested in this one. Picard's old friend, Admiral Quinn (Ward Costello) comes aboard, but instead of hanging with Picard as the captain expects, Quinn sics commander Remmick (Robert Schenkkan) on Picard and the crew. Remmick's assignment is to find out what is "wrong" with the ship, meaning he is to uncover the problems which pose a danger to the Federation. The crew seem to be guilty before being proven innocent, causing a lot of flared tempers. Remmick is relentless in his questions, all of which are designed to paint Picard & the ship in a bad light.
This episode serves to summarize several of the previous episodes in this season. Remmick, for example, questions Picard's judgment during the events of Where No One Has Gone Before, when the ship leaped out of the galaxy. Though we didn't know it at the time this first aired, Coming of Age also served as a prequel to Conspiracy, the later episode which unveiled the quiet invasion of Starfleet. This one is more involving than most first season episodes, simply for the fact that the normally comfortable crew are rattled (check out Riker's WTF expression just before the titles). BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10
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Base of Galactic Science Fiction :: SCIENCE FICTION in TELEVISION :: The Copper Age of TV Sci-Fi
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