Episode #172: Journey's End
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Episode #172: Journey's End
JOURNEY'S END - episode #20 of 7th season / Air Date: 3/28/94
written by Ronald D. Moore; Directed by Corey Allen
This episode's goal was to place a cap on the story arc of Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), who first appeared in the pilot episode almost 7 years earlier, was a regular for several seasons, left in the middle of the 4th season, returned in a couple of more episodes and now appears for the final time on the series, visiting the Enterprise-D while on vacation. Only, this is a slightly different Wesley than we (or the crew) are used to; he has a very poor attitude early on - moody, disdainful, rude - and it soon comes to light that his progress at Starfleet Academy (he's in his 4th year) is iffy.
There is an oddly interesting scene with Picard & Admiral Nechayev (Natalia Nogulich), the admiral who admonished Picard about being all but a traitor in regards to the Borg in DESCENT,part one; Picard tries to kiss her ass in this scene, mellows her, but ends up with this thankless assignment.
The two plots converge when Wesley has himself a vision during an Indian ritual and sees his dead father, Jack Crusher. This prompts him to quit Starfleet and take the side of the Indians, dismaying Picard. But, his new trajectory doesn't really go anywhere - he simply walks off with the returned Traveler (Eric Menyuk, from Where No One has Gone Before) and then determines that his immediate future is with the Indians. He reveals a power within to stop time but doesn't use this power for anything. He's gone to a higher dimension, evolved to a higher plane, but for now will be content to learn mysticism from the Indians. Is this what Mozart would be like if living in the 24th century?
The whole thing comes across as terribly contrived and hokey, with not too much thought put into what to actually do with Wesley. It's like no one involved in the show really knew what to do. Why would Wesley, for instance, suddenly possess such power? Is he a mutant, as hinted by mention of his evolving higher? His astounding power is not mentioned to his mother, Dr. Crusher or Picard - just as well? (they would freak). It's one thing to be a genius, but quite another to become a Charlie X-type superhuman. In the end, though, this was another of several episodes acknowledging that this was the final season, attempting to close a chapter on a recurring character. BoG's Score: 5 out of 10
TNG Trivia: despite the new direction that Wesley's life proceeds in here, his cameo in Star Trek Nemesis (2002) suggested that he was back in Starfleet, as a Lieutenant.
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