Jammer's Review
Star Trek: The Next Generation
"The Inner Light"
Air date: 6/1/1992
Teleplay by Morgan Gendel and Peter Allan Fields
Story by Morgan Gendel
Directed by Peter Lauritson
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
There's an elegance and simplicity to "The Inner Light" that is hard to quantify but important to consider, because it's crucial to the effect of this classic TNG episode, which is a shining example of not only Star Trek but of science fiction. The story told here is actually quite straightforward, but the implications are hauntingly significant and affecting, and provide nothing less than a contemplation upon our own mortality — as individuals as well as, someday, inevitably, our entire civilization.
The best science-fiction stories are usually the simple ones that take an idea and consider how it affects us as people. TNG has a tendency to often be about problem-solving, and how to invent fictional tech solutions to solve fictional tech problems; in many cases the problem and solution are arbitrary concoctions of a writer trying to get from A to B. TNG became very good at this particular formula of sci-fi — to so much a degree that if you asked me to sum up what the essence of TNG was in a single phrase, my answer would be "problem solving." But a story like "I, Borg" or "The Inner Light" is more about the bigger questions behind far less arbitrary sci-fi machinations. It's about how the trappings of sci-fi can be used to tell stories about the essence of the human condition. Forget about cliffhangers: This episode could've been a wonderful season finale to this or any season of TNG.
The Enterprise encounters an automated probe that attaches a telepathic beam directly to Picard, who collapses on the bridge and goes into a state of unconsciousness. Picard awakens to find he is an everyman in a small village on a world called Kataan, where everyone knows him as Kamin. He believes he is still Picard, but his wife Eline (Margot Rose) tells him that he has just awoken from a long fever and must be delusional. He has a good friend named Batai (Richard Riehle). Gradually, Kamin resumes the life on Kataan that he doesn't remember. Back aboard the Enterprise, the crew attempts to disconnect Picard from the probe, but they fail.
Every time the narrative returns to Kataan, years have gone by — eventually decades. Kamin builds a life, has children and grandchildren, has long conversations with his wife, grows old and gray with her, and eventually watches her die in his arms. All the while, he can't shake his interest in the heavens, where he remembers, perhaps as a delusion, of having been a starship captain so long, long ago. Also quietly in the background, an ominous subplot slowly but surely develops, with talk about droughts that keep getting progressively worse, and whispers that something terrible may be on the horizon.
The secret of "The Inner Light" is that the world of Kataan has been gone for 1,000 years, destroyed by a supernova that its residents had no hope of escaping. The probe was their interactive time capsule meant to deliver the history of their world to one person, via the very specific experience of becoming one of them and living a life among them. Interestingly, we are given all the information necessary to solve this puzzle well before the story's true moment of epiphany where Kamin/Picard himself realizes the nature of his existence on Kataan after 30 years with them.
Fascinatingly, this has the effect of making Kamin's/Picard's epiphany more poignant rather than less. We realize what's happening to Kamin's world before it occurs, and it's that foreknowledge that makes both the value and the tragedy of Kamin's life all the more profound and heartbreaking. Here's a man — and a society — that knows the world is ending and that everything about their civilization is coming to its imminent and inevitable end, and it's only through the launching of a probe into space — with the hopes that it might, someday, just maybe, find someone else and teach them who they once were — that the world of Kataan is able to survive.
The wonderfully hopeful and heartbreaking, recursively paradoxical moment of epiphany comes at the end of the probe's program, where Kamin realizes that he, who once was Picard 30 years ago in a long-forgotten life, is the very person who will receive this message — because Kamin was Picard, and now Picard is Kamin. (Intriguingly irrelevant question: Was Kamin based on a real person on Kataan, or was his whole existence an invention for the purpose of the interactive program?)
"The Inner Light" isn't simply about that moment of Kamin's final realization, but about how all the moments up to that point have created a fully formed life full of joy, family, wisdom, sorrow, and ultimately the acceptance of one's mortality. It is, in short, a story of the human experience. It's a concept that's beautiful in the depth of its meaning, and yet astounding in the simplicity of its procedure. Of course, none of this would be possible without Patrick Stewart's fine performance. (I found some of the old-age makeup to be less than convincing at times, but never Stewart's ability to inhabit it.)
Key to the effect of all this is that after the program ends and Picard wakes up back on the bridge, the effect of the mere 25 minutes of being connected to the probe is as if Picard had literally lived those 30 years of memories (*), only just now returning to his long-forgotten, distant shadow of a former life. In the episode's coda, Riker visits Picard — still getting acclimated to life aboard the ship — and says the probe's program terminated after disconnecting from Picard. It was a message meant for an audience of one, who now is the sole carrier of the dead civilization's history. While functionally and logically I'd say that putting all of Kataan's eggs in one basket is an awfully risky way of preserving that history, I will also say that it's somehow the perfect emotional note for this story. Also, inside the probe is the flute that was Kamin's lifelong pastime, now a gift for Picard — who holds it dearly (Stewart is perfect in this wordless final scene) and then we see that he knows how to play it. Whoa.
"The Inner Light" is a brilliant and contemplative sci-fi elegy, and one of Trek's finest hours.
* The episodic nature of TNG proves here to be both a blessing and a curse. I would be remiss to point out that if, as is suggested, Picard really returns at the end of this hour exactly as if it's been half a lifetime since he last was himself, then he should be a fundamentally different person forever. Basically, everything before this episode took place more than 30 years ago from his perspective, and there should be psychological consequences to his life as Kamin.
But because TNG is episodic, none of this will matter by the next episode. That feels like a cheat, and I hesitate to suggest that maybe it should've been mentioned here that the effect of these artificial memories might fade more quickly than real ones, or become more dreamlike after the initial experience wears off, because that would rob "The Inner Light" of a lot of its power. I guess at a certain level, these are all fictional characters in a format of TV where most everything is erased by the next episode, we have to accept that, and that's all there is to it.
Previous episode: The Next Phase
Next episode: Time's Arrow, Part I
Season Index
55 comments on this review
And if I write any more about this episode, I'll cry.
Picard doesn't have amnesia when he 'arrives' on Kataan (the first thing he does is call for the ship), but the fact that he tells Eline that he wants kids is a pretty good indication that he's fallen in love with her by that point.
With the exception of O'Brien, Picard became the only Trek character to enjoy married life for more than just a bit, & it just cost 25 minutes of his time.
This episode was such a brilliant way to get around that cliche. I thought that in 1992 & I think that now.
I've always felt that the experience in "Inner Light" would've been the most profound experience in Picard's life and changed him irrevocably. However, that wasn't our intention when we were creating the episode. We were after a good hour of TV, and the larger implications of how this would really screw somebody up didn't hit home with us until later (that's sometimes a danger in TV – you're so focused on just getting the show produced every week that sometimes you suffer from the "can't see the forest for the trees" syndrome). We never intended the show to completely upend his character and force a radical change in the series, so we contented ourselves with a single follow-up in "Lessons".
The same thing happened with O'Brien in "Hard Time". My own personal way of getting around it is that since they weren't "real" memories, it didn't take as long to get back to their old lives.
Regarding the speed at which Picard recovers, I think you'd be surprised at how quickly you'd recover from such an experience. It'd be like waking up from a dream. I think Stewart plays the 'strangeness' of waking up from the experience extremely well.
Amazing show.
Besides, I think Picard's revelation when the probe lauches was meant to be his rehabilitaion.
Those are among the Trek's all time classics. Why wasn't he used more?
Now, at the time, this was deemed nonsensical. How could one of Trek's best writers be deemed below par by the staff? However, it is entirely possible that many of Fields best episodes were re-written by either Piller & Jeri Taylor on TNG or Piller & Behr & Robert Wolfe on DS9. None of this can be readily proven...all we know for sure is that Piller wrote the final draft for "Crossover" and Wolfe provided story beats for the mirror universe.
If I would have to guess, I'd say that the final drafts of "Inner Light", "Duet" and "Evil" are largely his final drafts. Maybe some work by Piller or Ron Moore on "Light", and maybe some help from Wolfe on the DS9 ones. Just a guess.
Also, I am curious who the hell we should blame for "Cost of Living"....
Well, for someone whose writing "isn't up to par", Fields somehow got involved with a whole bunch of classics. I don't really buy that explanation. Perhaps there was some kind of creative falling out?
Hadn't ever considered that before, but now that you mention it... recalling the speculation two years earlier about whether Stewart would return to TNG because of the events of BOBW, imagine how worked-up Trekkers would've gotten if this episode had sent them into the summer of '92 knowing that Picard's mind had been totally rewired.
And imagine their disappointment a few months later when this issue was ignored entirely. Although, if Moore's comment, quoted by Nic, is an indication, if "The Inner Light" had been the season finale, even accidentally, that would've given the writers more time to contemplate the enormity of what they had done to their leading man. They might've revamped Picard's character -- at least have him demonstrate some fondness for kids.
That thing with Ivanova, she really *did* break her leg. They had no choice but to keep showing it in future episodes.
I just saw that several people were discussing the writer, Peter Allan Fields, and I wanted to add my kudos. I first came across Fields when I was watching "The Man From UNCLE" - his name always seemed to be attached to the best and wittiest scripts. I believe he started his career on that series, which aired concurrently with the *original* Star Trek, so he was definitely a seasoned professional by this point. For giving us "The Inner Light," "Duet," and "Necessary Evil," he deserves a permanent place in the Trek pantheon. His IMDB profile lists no projects after he left DS9. Perhaps he simply retired? I hope he's enjoying his well-earned rest! :)
A lovely episode. Thanks again.
Is it Trekkian blasphemy to say that's "Hard Time" is better paced and told told?
And, lest anyone think I have TNG-bias, the same reasoning can be drawn for why "The Naked Time" is better than "The Naked Now" (despite the cute Data-Tasha hookup)
In fact, if you listen to "the inner light suite" I cry almost every time I hear that haunting tune.
One thought, I always felt it might have been a little better if they never cut back to the Enterprise, I felt it was unnessary dramatically, cut down the mystery and tension, and implied Picard was not actually "Living" the memories, just being donwloaded them.. But, still easy 4 star and probably the best episode of Star Trek, maybe even better than "city on the edge of Forever".
I also tend to think "Inner Light" works so well because the episode's structure takes the viewer right along for the ride with Picard: the viewer has the same information he does, which makes the final WHAM! at the end even more poetic and poignant. Sort of like a bittersweet, yet still hopeful version of a Twilight Zone episode.
i think ivanova was in s2 with the drazi.
--
didnt Picard play the flute again in a later episode?
"Far Beyond the Stars," "Muse" or "Cogenitor."
I too hate those 'classic' episodes. I find Far Beyond the Stars offensively bad with their "White = bad, black = good" message, and the sexual discrimination at the beginning just plain ignored while trying to preach tolerance.
But "The Visitor" is a masterpiece, and Threshold is bad (not as bad as people make out). But Spock's Bloody Brain!?!?!? Seriously? McCoy connecting the 'nerve' that controls Spock's left arm etc?
Anyway, The Inner Light.
I loved this episode at the time, haven't seen it in years. I generally prefer the twisty/weird/time travel episodes and I am an action-whore, so this was a gentle change of pace for me.
My belief is that Picard's memories were a simulation, for the simple reason that the Kamin was Picard. Would Worf had settled in like that if he had been standing on that spot on bridge as the probe struck?
No, he would have lead the village in a revolt against the rulers of the planet and seized control. Actually, I'd have liked to have seen that episode.
There must be a fan fiction or one of those awful alternate universe stories about that surely?
Sure the simulation steered Picard down a path (Flute and launching the rockets), but Worf would never have been steered down the same path.
As an aside, there is one of the later books, with Picard fighting the Borg yet again, where he raises his past life to his new wife Beverley, and he finally grieves for his lost son, daughter and grandchild. Best part in an otherwise poor book.
I have several reasons why I think Inner Light is SLIGHTLY overrated but my biggest would be this:
* The episodic nature of TNG proves here to be both a blessing and a curse. I would be remiss to point out that if, as is suggested, Picard really returns at the end of this hour exactly as if it's been half a lifetime since he last was himself, then he should be a fundamentally different person forever. Basically, everything before this episode took place more than 30 years ago from his perspective, and there should be psychological consequences to his life as Kamin.*
I don't know if that paragragh is Jammer's own, or from another critique (I only wonder because of the different font) but if it IS Jammer's, then he states a HUGE reason for me only being insanely in love with this episode rather than super insanely in love with this episode.
I disagree slightly with the notion that episodic series which feature many ''stand alone'' episodes can not show lasting consequences without bogging down into an overall mytharc and sacrificing the stand alone aspect.
The Moffat Reboot of The Doctor (not Davies', but Moffat's the past season and a half) is a master at this. EVERY episode shows or mentions (even if its brief) a consequence to actions in the prior episode even in the ''stand alones.'' Moffat has the most deft touch at this admittedly tricky to balance problem that I have ever seen.
I also have to say that, as I have recently begunmy first TNG re-watch in a LONG time, that there is MUCH more ''continuity'' and arc than I remembered which inspires me to give it big props. It is NOT quite as mostly stand alone as I had seemed to remember from long ago and that makes me happy.
Picard would have felt driven, first, to reconnect with whatever was left of Kataan, and, second, would have felt compelled, like the Ancient Mariner, to tell the story of Kataan in order to remain faithful to Eline's last wish and final testament.
In subsequent TNG episodes, we should have at least seen evidence of Kataanian door decorations appear in Picard's quarters, for example.
Similarly, when Kamin agrees to build the nursery, and Eline hugs him, we see in her face great sorrow as well as joy, as though she knew that the only children Kamin could ever have with her would be virtual ones.
This episode outdoes "The Sixth Sense" in requiring the audience to watch it over and over to get all the clues, and reinterpret the perspectives of the characters. I would love to know whether such was the explicit intention of the director. Margot Rose certainly seems to understand intuitively that her character works on two levels.
The astonishing thing about this dramatic work of art is the economy with which it establishes at least three different and independent levels that all interact and are all going on simultaneously.
The question is: what good does it do the extinct race to be remembered at all? They're all gone. Whatever anyone remembers about them will not matter one bit to them. Their desperate, pitiful plan could only have been dreamed up by a society with no belief in God.
I was almost digging your against the grain comment until the last line, than you lost me.
1st, I don't think it was ever stated the Society was Atheist, I remember one scene that was quite contradicting that very premise.
2nd, I am not sure that what you are saying has any Earth historical relevance, as their have been many societies that have been utterly destroyed by other societies, often times by societies that believe in the same god.
Now, I am certainly not in the "religion is evil - Bill Maher" camp, but I think the idea that the more religious a society is, the more enlightened and long lasting is an extreme stretch.
Really? You don't identify or at least understand the idea of wanting to be remembered when you're gone? To pass on the knowledge of what you once were to someone else -- so that the ideas might live on beyond you? Now imagine that extended to an entire society about to be destroyed.
I don't think belief in God has anything to do with it. It gets to the very nature of our own human need to have a purpose in life, to say that we were here, that we lived, and that we leave something behind when we die. Children. Writings. History. A legacy. Something.
I for one hope that if we learned the entire human race was going to be wiped off the planet a year from now and there was nothing we could do about it, that we would do something to preserve the knowledge of what we were, what we accomplished as a society over thousands of years ... for someone. In the real non-sci-fi world where it's probably impossible there's any way that such a message could end up in the hands of another society, that's pretty depressing, yes. But on Star Trek (and it's not clear that the people of Kataan even knew this) you can pass that along to the stars, and other societies off your planet. It's something. It's solace. Or hope. I for one do not think it's pitiful when the alternative is guaranteed oblivion.
Even if you believe in God and an afterlife that awaits you after death, don't you want someone to remember you in this lifetime? If only for a while?
The answer is indeed nothing. That's not the point. It did PICARD good. An incredible good that will disseminate to others he meets and influences. That's the nature of society, of legacy and is the hope which defines our existence.
Without taking a stance for or against religion, that attitude he seems to be promoting--the abjuration of legacy or interest in a world which outlives oneself--is a prominent feature in the godless creed of Buddhists. The desire for legacy and a kind of immortality through works is a defining feature of Christianised western philosophy.
I... do not believe that was the statement made in "Far Beyond The Stars"... at all.
@pviateur:
What everyone else said.
Perhaps a neighboring species had visited pre-nova and supplied data, including the planet's name, to the Federation.
Or perhaps the probe got the Federation name of the planet from the computer when it got the English language files.
Theoretically speaking it should have never been found, floating alone in space. That's like finding a needle in a galaxy-sized haystack...
A good question I don't really want to ask is, where did they get the technology to create such a vivid simulation? They have electricity, or at least electric lights (no powerlines, but they could be buried, using batteries/generators, or transferred wirelessly) but we don't see the com device the wife describes, which seems to be centralized for each village like old timey telegraphs, or anything resembling TV/computers.
Presumably, because the probe is using Federation Standard to communicate with Picard, it used the name of the planet he would understand, vs one the natives would have. Which begs even more questions, best ignored in light of how good this episode is.
Picard, in seasons one and two, was less gregarious, more formal and generally less interesting. A lot's made in "All Good Things" about Picard finally breaking down the wall between himself and the senior staff, but I think that had slowly been happening for years (the relationship with Crusher, his friendship with Wesley, his role in Klingon stuff with Worf and his de facto mentoring of Data).
I think "The Inner Light" was one of the episodes that changed Picard. Arguably, it should have affected him more, but I think it still kinda works as part of the evolution of the captain of the Enterprise -- which really goes all the way to "Generations."
Picard's reaction to his brother's and nephew's deaths seemed really odd when I first saw it, but I think incidents like "The Inner Light" (and other episodes like "The Perfect Mate" and "Lessons") changed the guy. The loss of his real family probably hit Picard harder in the first movie than it would have in the early days of TNG. He valued family and people more after his years on the Enterprise.
I don't think TNG has aged particularly well in some respects, and I think some of its characters really look one-dimensional in retrospect. Riker, in particular, seemed to regress during the series. Troi was terrible, and Geordi and Crusher were very stagnant.
But Picard and Data (and Worf, until the ridiculous Troi pairing in season 7) evolved a lot over the course of the series. In the end, those two were what TNG was about. Q said it in the finale -- the adventure is to explore the nature of existence. And Picard and Data's exploration still make TNG a very good show.
I view "The Inner Light" like I view "The Offspring." I thought the episodes could have changed Picard and Data more than they did, but I think they were part of both characters' evolutions.
What grips me the most is how very easily it could apply to our own civilization, however, our society has grown so large that if we were to learn the sun was going nova, there would chaos and widespread panic. Some might say the main theme is about survival, but to me, the theme is about endings, how all things must pass, and how, even in the darkest hour, there is a hope for new life. Truly a beautiful episode. I loved it. A well earned four stars, my friend.
That said -- and this is somewhat implied by your saying the show's episodic nature is both a "blessing and a curse" -- the show's light continuity is a bit of a trade-off. As Ron Moore suggests in the quote above, the writers didn't want to upend the series; they just wanted to tell a story. So had they realized that this would have, realistically, upended Picard's life at the early stages of writing the episode, the episode might not have been written; or it might have been written with a reset button even more clearly built into the episode; or it might, incredibly, have been written around a guest character who could be permanently changed by the experience without worrying about Picard. By contrast, as wonderful as this episode is, the story benefit -- to the series -- to have a probe randomly show up and change the character's life for the rest of the series seems somewhat thin to me. It's true that in real life we are sometimes altered by major incidents that we have no control over, but most of the best work of serial television is about incidents that happen upon us gradually, that are the result at least in part of our own choices. The Best of Both Worlds, which was set up by Q Who? and so follows up from not only that episode but the premise of Q's interactions with the humans in Encounter at Farpoint, would obviously have benefited from a follow-up, and I think the task of following up on it would not have deterred the writers from wiring it. But The Inner Light is *such* a self-contained story, which doesn't follow directly from anything the series has set up. It is important for Picard, and the story gains its strength because we *know* Picard and know how much he'd resist submitting to this life, and how much he'd lose in his life that he'd never get back. But...it's hard to imagine this episode existing, as it does, in a series that had a deeper respect for the way experiences like this transform you, without sacrificing some of its poignancy.
Unfortunately, there is something I feel detracts from enjoying it too much. Namely that I don't believe for a second that an entire civilization is doomed (more like a tiny colony), and there is nothing distinctive about its culture that would signify a loss for the intergalactic community.
Of course this goes for most civilizations encountered in Star Trek.
probe -> virtual reality -> holodeck.;)
Submit a comment