Episode #51: The Survivors
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Episode #51: The Survivors
THE SURVIVORS - episode #3 of 3rd season / Air Date: 10/9/89
Directed by Les Landau; writer: Michael Wagner
This episode begins as a puzzle, a mystery and concludes on a troubling, haunting note, with a staggering revelation. It doesn't make too many favorites lists, especially since the regulars were still at the tail end of the awkward stage informing the first 2 seasons, but I admire it for presenting a cosmic problem which simply has no viable solution. Sometimes, deep space can throw a real far out dilemma at you and you may feel very small indeed.
In the plot, the Enterprise responds to a distress call from 3 days ago originating at a planet-side colony. The crew finds a devastated planet and all 11,000 colonists obliterated. Check that: they suddenly spot a couple of acres of untouched land and an undamaged home. Beaming down, the landing party encounters Kevin and Rishon Uxbridge, an elderly couple who have been unaccountably spared by the attacking force (soon revealed as the Husnock race).
Kevin (John Anderson) behaves like a grumpy hostile old man, annoyed at the intrusion, but Rishon (Anne Haney) is gracious, inviting the party inside. They have no explanation for why they were spared but do briefly describe the attack on the colony by a huge ship. Troi, meanwhile, finds the couple to be 'elusive' and begins to hear music in her head; it's non-stop, gets worse and slowly drives her mad. The Enterprise's instruments do not detect any sign of an enemy ship in the region but soon a huge ship (Riker says it's 5 times the mass of the Enterprise) appears out of nowhere. Its weaponry seems weak, however, and the Enterprise chases it off.
At this early stage, Picard already senses that some kind of game is afoot. He returns to the planet to visit with the Uxbridges once more. The story has this repetitive quality to it (the ship returns later, now more powerful) and this may be another reason it's not a favorite to some. But, there's a method here; I find I enjoyed it more seeing it a 2nd & 3rd time, knowing the ending, because I could enjoy the 'game' being played.
Eventually, it is determined that
- Spoiler:
- this entire scenario has been developed by Kevin Uxbridge (which is just a name he has been using for about the past 50 years). The colony had been attacked and destroyed - this is true - but the casualties included Rishon. She, the re-appearing ship, the undamaged house - these have all been recreated by Kevin, who reveals himself to be a Douwd, an immortal being of nearly limitless power who has lived in our galaxy for thousands of years.
It seems, every once in a while, he takes a false identity; his last one was as a human, because he fell in love with Rishon and decided to live with her over 50 years ago. With all his power, the Douwd has a strict moral code and refuses to kill; that's why the colony ended up destroyed. However, when he saw Rishon's body, he momentarily went insane; this is his deep, dark secret - in an instant, he killed all the Husnock; not just the ones on the ship but all of them, everywhere, 50 billion worth. An entire race has been wiped out instantly
- Spoiler:
- The Douwd here is a profoundly tragic figure; I suppose such terms as a 'fallen angel' or even a fallen god can be applied. With all his power, he has sets limits on himself and these have backfired on him tremendously. Though he/it probably has vast knowledge to complement his raw power, the Douwd obviously is unprepared to deal with certain confrontational situations, perhaps because he has usually been 'apart' from everything, an observer only. He unsuccessfully tried to deceive the Husnock (instead of simply transporting them away) and now fails to trick Picard with his ploys about a Husnock ship (first attempting to draw Picard away and then a pretense of getting destroyed by the ship).
This could be a weakness to the script - why didn't the Douwd simply use his power correctly, without resorting to killing - but the story told me that self-made purgatories could be the province of even godlike beings. One can draw some parallels to mythical tales, even biblical, but the most startling aspect for me was the emphasis on the being's morality - and how that in essence was his undoing. His fate is now an eternal self-made hell, with a fabricated wife.
- Spoiler:
- The Douwd also compares favorably to the character of Q; the latter is the lighthearted, carefree version of a godling, whereas the Douwd is the tragic, morose version. The Douwd has the more admirable traits, such as compassion - he regrets the pain he caused Troi, who was sensing what he really was and he makes sure to help her at the end. Or, had Q decided long ago, correctly, to avoid such strong emotion and remain flippant, thereby circumventing tragic consequences?
Finally, this episode again sharply demonstrates the differences in approach between TOS and TNG. On TOS,
- Spoiler:
- Kirk was known as the destroyer of gods; no matter the power level of some of his adversaries, the stories always wrapped things up neatly with Kirk the victor. It was very gratifying and satisfying. Here, Picard decides he cannot judge the Douwd and simply leaves him alone, hoping the Douwd will not cause problems later;
TNG Trivia: there were also 11,000 killed at Wolf 359 (The Best of Both Worlds)
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