Saturday, December 16, 2017

Weird Star Trek Episodes - Sub Rosa aka "The Ghost and Doctor Crusher"

Uh... I think we need an adult! Also, fetch Father McFluggal at the local shire!

Since another Star Wars movie is out this weekend, I thought it was time to go somewhere else. I barely talked about any Star Trek this year, so this seems like a nice time to do it. Unfortunately, it's this episode. This is from Season 7 of TNG, a nice but kind of mixed season. It's not bad but compared to the other previous seasons, it's a litle subpar. I've been listening to Mission Log, a Star Trek podcast, and they're currently going through it. They touched this episode recently, so I decided to do a rewatch of my own.

"Sub Rosa" begins with Doctor Crusher attending her grandmother's funeral on a Federation colony. While the Enterprise stays and helps the colony with repairs, Beverly looks through her granny's house. While going through her things, Beverly finds out that her grandmother had a secret younger lover and that he was at the funeral. She also finds her grandmother's caretaker going through her things and babbling about a ghost and cursed a candle. That "ghost" is Ronin, her grandmother's lover. He comes to Beverly and tells her that he's been a lover to her ancestors for over 800 years. She doesn't believe him at first, but she then comes under influence.

Ronin's presence also affects the colony and the Enterprise. The groundskeeper also ends up dying through unknown causes. Beverly, under Ronin's sway, resigns from Starfleet. Knowing something's up, Picard goes down the planet and meets 'ole Ronin. He attacks Picard but leaves when he finds out that Geordi and Data are about to exhume granny's coffin, the source of all the weirdness. Beverly comes her senses and realizes that Ronin is a anaphasic lifeform that's been using her ancestors. She destroys the candle that sustained Ronin and that kills him. The episode ends with Beverly back on the Enterprise.
Star Trek: Granny's Back and Lovin' It!

As you can tell by the breakdown, this is a weird episode. I guess they decided to go with a ghost story with this one. It just feels so off and it's funny because Jonathan Frakes directed this episode. Gates McFadden also gets to essentially make out with a ghost/alien who's sporting a samurai title. I guess someone would like that. Heck, this is a universe we've ran into aliens posing as Greek gods, so a ghost macking on a cute redhead is expected. It's even got some weird themes in it. Also, was his named supposed to be "Ronan" instead of "Ronin"?

Some folk hate this one while some folk apparently like it for it's off-kilter feel. I kind of fall in the middle. It's not a good episode but it's watchable. Thankfully, it's not a Season One episode. The acting from McFadden, who was one of the underused ones, was nice. Also, it can be unintentionally funny at times. I'd say to check this one out but I not sure about that. Maybe throw it on while you're working or something. Anyway, I'm outta here. Peace, God Bless, and just call the Ghostbusters. They gotta be around in the 24th century!

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