episode #25: Conspiracy

CONSPIRACY - episode #25, first season / Air Date: 5/9/88
written by Tracy Torme; Directed by Cliff Bole

As has been written elsewhere, this episode ended up as an homage to all those alien invasion pictures, usually from the fifties. When I first watched this (when it first aired), it did me strike me as a pretty cheesy sci-fi adventure, hearkening back to a more simple thriller staple of science fiction. As originally conceived, the story involved actual treachery from Starfleet officers to subvert the organization, a more standard political thriller (like the film Seven Days in May, but in the far future); Roddenberry would not stand for this approach, believing that Starfleet of the 24th century was too morally ideal to succumb to such a threat.

So, the story changed to incorporate alien invaders. I did like this even 20 years ago but sort of dismissed it as trivial & a bit silly. But, I like this episode even more nowadays. Like some of those sci-fi thrillers from the golden age, it's compulsively watchable - re-watchable even, building a sense of suspense and ominous doings in the very first few minutes.
In the story, Picard is summoned by a fellow captain, Keel, an old friend, to an uninhabited planet where Picard meets with him and 2 other captains. The 3 other captains have become aware of a strange conspiracy developing from within Starfleet but have no proof, only noticing odd orders and changes in behavior from several officers that they know. Picard is skeptical, but his ship has been in the outer reaches of the Federation lately and he is unfamiliar with the latest internal movements of Starfleet hierarchy. Picard returns to his ship and proceeds with business-as-usual, but, very soon, something happens that convinces him something is indeed amiss. More, he did assign Data to study Starfleet orders of the past half-year and Data does note a definite pattern which points to a possible planned, secret takeover of key regions of the Federation.
The plot and strategy at this point is fairly simple: Picard (with Riker & Data agreeing) decides to go straight to the source, to the very center of the perceived threat, which is Starfleet HQ on Earth (San Francisco, to be precise). This was a bit unusual in itself - at this early stage (first season of TNG), journeying to Earth was rare. At this point, the episode transpires to also be a kind of sequel to a previous 1st season episode, Coming of Age; in that episode, Admiral Quinn and Commander Remmick were conducting strange tests of loyalty on the crew.

Quinn & Remmick return here and we quickly realize that they have been 'compromised' - this becomes very apparent when the elderly Quinn begins to toss Riker around a room like a wet blanket. Then Geordi & Worf enter the scene and Quinn wipes them out, as well. Only the fortuitous appearance of Dr. Crusher with a phaser set on kill manages to halt Quinn's rampage. I get a kick out of this scene every time.
Great Dialog - Quinn: "Now, Klingon, it's between you and me."
The whole story becomes more wild and foreboding as it moves along towards a grisly conclusion. It turns out that key officers, including several admirals at Starfleet, have been taken over by parasitic organisms which resemble scorpions (scorpions from space!). These creatures enter a humanoid through the mouth and attach themselves to the spinal column, at the neck area; you can tell that a person is controlled due to a gill which sticks out from the back of the neck. The person gains tremendous strength, as a result. This has its antecedent in Heinlein's The Puppet Masters, which was made into a 1994 film and seemed to copy this episode's premise.

What's chilling, as is common to such sci-fi thrillers, is that the person becomes merely a shell; all the talking & action is actually done by the little creeper inside the person. The mind is now that of the little creepy-crawler, which is why the person doesn't have the memories of its old self - another way to catch on to the galactic deception. Oh, and, these little creeps like to enjoy their new bodies - eating live grub worms is a much-relished past-time. Eeuch!
Yes, this has its gross moments but let's admit that some of our favorite science fiction thrillers do not lack for shocking, grotesque imagery. This was intended to shock, provoke and excite... and it did succeed for the most part, as a straight-up invasion thriller (see the TOS episode Operation--Annihilate!). This was also an early (and different) version of invasion later perfected in the Borg episodes (The Best of Both Worlds). Also, though Admiral Quinn recovers, I suspect many of the controlled characters die at the end, even though it's not spelled out.

They even tagged on an ominous epilogue, something about a beacon. I've been waiting for a sequel to this invasion - a new incursion - for the past 20 years or so; I guess I'll have to content myself with re-watching this episode over & over.    BoG's Score: 8 out of 10

Extra Trek TNG Trivia: Capt. Keel introduced Dr. Crusher to her future husband, Jack Crusher. Capt. Tryla Scott became captain faster than any other officer. Code 47 is Starfleet emergency for captain's eyes only. This was the rare episode either banned (by the BBC) or edited down in other areas, due to the intense scenes of sci-fi destruction and death.