Jammer's Review
Star Trek: The Next Generation
"Ensign Ro"
Air date: 10/7/1991
Teleplay by Michael Piller
Story by Rick Berman & Michael Piller
Directed by Les Landau
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
When Rick Berman takes a story credit in the TNG era, you might assume something major is afoot (see the forthcoming "Unification"). And yet "Ensign Ro" wasn't originally conceived as the backstory it ultimately would provide for Deep Space Nine. A cornerstone of DS9's development would ultimately grow from the pieces put in place in this episode — and the new series would be in full-scale production less than a year later — but there apparently was no master plan at the time "Ensign Ro" was written.
A terrorist attack on a Federation colony is said to have been committed by a group of Bajorans (frequently and inconsistently referred to as "Bajora" in this episode). Admiral Kennelly (Cliff Potts) orders Picard to track down the perpetrators amid a politically sensitive situation, and forces Picard to take with him as a special adviser the confrontational Ensign Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes in a memorably abrasive and yet still sympathetic performance), released from prison specifically to help Picard navigate these tricky waters. (She was sent to prison after being court-martialed for disobeying orders that resulted in the deaths of several fellow Starfleet officers.)
Aboard the Enterprise, Ro has a rare electrifying presence. Most of the crew wants nothing to do with her based on her tarnished reputation alone, and Ro projects the very public position of wanting nothing to do with any of them. She's blunt and tells it like it is. TNG is famous for its general lack of interpersonal conflict — a rule that "Ensign Ro" is willing to suspend. Watching this, you can see the dramatic benefits of conflict (and why the no-conflict rule would be dropped for DS9).
One person who sees through Ro's leave-me-alone persona is the seen-it-all Guinan, who opts for a kill-her-with-kindness approach, and ultimately declares Ro her friend. This will ultimately be Ro's salvation, as being friends with Guinan means Picard will be more apt to listen to you, which proves important when it's revealed that Ro has a very unique problem: She was put on this assignment to deliver the Bajoran terrorists to the Cardassians on behalf of Admiral Kennelly and is caught as a pawn in the middle of a web of political intrigue.
The plot execution is nothing to write home about. The Enterprise tracks down the Bajoran cell leader and it turns out he didn't attack the Federation colony at all; the Cardassians attacked the colony and framed the Bajorans in the hopes of provoking the Federation to do their dirty work in finding the Bajorans for them. Kennelly is the patsy who buys into the plot and conspires with the Cardassians to deliver the Bajorans. These plot details play out with fairly low wattage (in stark contrast to the energy that Ro herself brings to the Enterprise).
Of more value is the character of Ro herself, who ultimately joins the Enterprise crew and promises to be an interesting addition. And it's always nice to add a little more complexity in near orbit of the paradise that is the Federation. The creation of the Bajorans as galactic ethnic nomads that have been destroyed and scattered as the result of a brutal Cardassian occupation — well, I wonder what might come of that?
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Next episode: Silicon Avatar
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31 comments on this review
I will freely admit I cannot stand Michele Forbes. Add to that the role of Laren, who although everyone seems to think having a baddass chick is cool, we have one now on everything, and we did way back in 1991 also. The problem I have with these terminator type chicks is that they are so unrealistic. I have never met a female human who in any way acted like this outside of maury povich. Maybe Doctor Crusher doesn't do it for feminists, but the vast majority of women I know do act like that.
Anyways, enough comlaining. I will finish with some food for thought. Everytime I read about this episode, everyone loves the new "conflict" this character brings, and how it is a "breath of fresh air for the paradise that is the federation", but the other thing I know about this period of star trek is that this is when the episode rating start dropping a little bit. I won't say that Laren caused the decline of Star Trek, but maybe Roddenberry knew something we didn't?
But that's just my opinion--you are certainly welcome to yours. I can totally see how if you didn't like Ro, all her storylines would be tedious.
What I REALLY love about this episode is how Ro makes Beverly look like such an idiot. I hated that they brought Gates McFadden's simpering idiocy back after getting rid of the practical and abrasive Pulaski. Any episode that focuses on Dr. Beverly is some of the worst of TNG.
I also think the fact that Nick doesn't know any "human females" who have an attitude says far more about his interactions with "human females" than it does about "human females" themselves.
And like I said, find me someone who doesn't like this dumb character, I can't. I am in a small minority here.
I also don't think not choosing to be around "women with attitude" makes me a caveman as your implying, I prefer women who are caring, maternal, thoughtful, and don't want to phaser every Cardassian that walks by. I actually find Kira quite enjoyable, and I think part of it is the recognizance that all though she has been throguh tough spots, she is still a women. I don't like the Laren characters because they are essentially male Zorro characters who happen to played be females. Maybe that does make me sexist, whatever that is how I feel.
Pardon me, Nick, if what I said is not what you meant.
And to clarify, Kara, I was not condemning all muslims, however, Grumpy, while not all muslims are terrorists, I will freely admit that if I had a choice of 2 planes, and one had only muslims and jews, and the other had only christians and jews. I am going with the jesus drinkers all the way!!!
However, strong female characters who are depicted as being special/different *because* they are strong, have the opposite effect. The message delivered by such characters is basically "I am strong/bold/badass/whatever; I am also a woman. This is relevant because women are generally not strong/bold/badass/whatever." I don't think that that message is one that should be delivered to an audience.
So you're saying Ro Laren is a badass, "Terminator-type chick"?! Based on what? Getting snippy about her name? Sitting nursing a drink alone? Sitting in her quarters thinking? Being on the verge of tears as she describes seeing her father tortured to death? Considering that her character is a deeply screwed-up refugee from an enslaved society, who has spent a long time in prison because she messed up and people died as a result, what exactly is so unrealistic about her?
Seriously, man...I have no idea what you're basing that comment on at all.
Bonus terror points for this scary non-woman maintaining her abrasiveness towards her male human superiors.
But there is not one thing in the way the character is written that is gender specific, so therefore saying the character is somehow bad just BECAUSE she's a woman and thus a cliche strikes me as silly. What's wrong with a badass chick who gets in people's faces? Unless you have something against a badass chick from the get-go?
And to Lenore's point, whether or not she did "bad-ass" things, she absolutely was "meant" to portray that kick-ass chick stereotype, and we know that because Berman and Co. have said this, repeatedly, in multiple interviews, then and now. Worf was also supposed to be "kick-ass Klingon", yet in 90% of episodes he is getting beaten up by alien of the week, or changing alexanders diapers. But we all still remember him as "kick-ass Klingon"!!!!
"Watching this, you can see the dramatic benefits of conflict (and why the no-conflict rule would be dropped for DS9)."
Um, no. Conflict is great if there's a believable reason for it. The senior staff appear lobotomised in this episode just so they don't get along with Ro. Starfleet officers value loyalty to PRINCIPLES not THE UNIFORM. Of course they can't approve of Ro's past, but it's totally against Federation values for them to ostracise her the way they do. It gives Guinan a chance to show they really should have given her Troi's job, sure, but the whole enterprise seems really phoned in.
Interesting to see that the seeds of self-righteous annoyance which would ultimately characterise Bajor and Kira especially are clearly present here.
2.5 stars maybe? I dunno.
Perhaps the fact that Ro isn't human is what makes her character believable. Not every race encountered in Star Trek has to act exactly like 21st Century humans.
And I couldn't agree more about the refreshing addition of conflict. The reason I always liked DS9 so much more than TNG was the three dimensional characters on DS9 as compared to the all-too-often 2 dimensional cardboard cutout characters on TNG.
Nick thinks 'badass chicks' are not believable because he doesn't see them in real life. Well, I don't believe the crew of the Enterprise never have interpersonal conflict being trapped on a starship together 24/7.
I do agree that Michelle Forbes is not my favorite. So glad she passed on DS9 and allowed Nana Visitor to breathe life into Kira. What a gift.
Did we watch the same show? :)
Whatever your opinion of DS9 may be, I find it very hard to see its characters as 2-D. That's just strange.
It's no more strange than seeing TNG's characters as 2-D
Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, of course; it was just odd for me to see that someone would think of Niners as cardboard cutouts. You can hate them, be annoyed at the acting etc, but 2D? Kira, Odo, O'Brien, Bashir? Not to mention the largest supporting cast Trek has ever seen. In my opinion, if there's one thing DS9 stands supreme in Trek pantheon, it's the cast&characters.
Err, Paul, you are basically involving yourself in someone else's spat here. Laurelgirl has just taken offence at someone else describing the Star Trek TNG characters as 2-d, and has copied their sentence switching the words "DS9" and "TNG"
She doesn't REALLY think that DS9 has 2-d characters. She's just reacting as if personally offended to someone who could dare say that TNG's characters are "all-too-often" 2-d.
I think the DS9 cast was farily 2D, Sisko was fairly cardboard cutout, Kira, Odo, Quark, all of them except Bashir, O'brien, and some supporting cast were fairly cardboard.
To back up Laurelgirls point, I think Picard had more depth, complexity, and interest as a character by himself, that probably trumps DS9's entire cast. Not to mention Worf, Data, Guinan. Just because the show wasn't as serialized doesn't mean the characters are less 3-d. I am one of the few that think serialization aside, TNG was a far better and deeper show.
You're absolutely right. Serialisation is fine, but it doesn't automatically deepen a character or better a TV show. It is perhaps a means to an end, but DS9's supporters seem to think because the plots become so complex from the layers of serialised recurrences, the characters and mythos can somehow be saturated with meaning from that complexity. It is simply a charade. DS9's characters were for the most part predictable and 2D--what throws a cloak over that fact is that their 2-dimensionality does not make them necessarily GOOD people all the time, which is somehow shocking for a Trek cast; but that shock value wares itself thin very quickly.
She doesn't REALLY think that DS9 has 2-d characters. She's just reacting as if personally offended to someone who could dare say that TNG's characters are "all-too-often" 2-d.
This is just like DS9 fans who go apeshit if you dare point out any flaws about their show. They basically say, "The other Treks suck in comparison, but don't you dare say anything's wrong with DS9, or we'll get The Sisko on your ass!"
Which is one problem with the show: the fact that, over the seasons, it took pains to make Sisko (the show's main character) a freaking god. This silly mentality led to an unsatisfying end for the character (which apologists excuse by saying people should read the subsequent books). This(coincidentally) was also a big problem for the Star Wars prequels, in that George said that Darth Vader was basically Jesus. That did even more damage to Star Wars than Jar Jar, IMO.
I don't see DS9 fans going apeshit, I see TNG fans being overly defensive. I also notice than DS9 comes up and dominates the topics here, which just smacks of insecurity.
For the record, having known various young women in the military, Ensign Ro's character is wholly believable. Some do it just to fit in, or give off that tough persona (which is not that different from what some men do) so they don't get messed with, others, that's just their personality and why they're in the armed forces to begin with. I imagine you'd see something similar among female cops.
Oh, let's see, how about when he disappears into obilivion & returns in some bullshit spiritual form to tell his pregnant wife that he'll be back maybe tomorrow, maybe yesterday, maybe in two weeks, or some such bullshit like that, while she just has to raise their child by herself & (doubtlessly) tell that kid that Daddy just disappeared one day & who knows when he'll be back.
If any of the other series had done this, people like you would be saying how much it lacked creativity, but, if DS9 pulls shit like this, then the show must have its reasons.
Trek admirals have always been just terrible. It took until Ross to get one that seemed worthy of the job.
Haven't seen this one for years.
Does it explain how a girl/lady from an occupied planet was able to escape and sign up for Starfleet and move up the ranks?
How long before DS9 did the Cardasians leave Bajor?
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