Jammer's Review

Star Trek: The Next Generation

"Lessons"

Air date: 4/5/1993
Written by Ronald Wilkerson & Jean Louise Matthias
Directed by Robert Wiemer

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

Picard meets the ship's new head of stellar science, Lt. Commander Nella Daren (Wendy Hughes), a smart, strong-willed woman and talented piano player, and he slowly learns that he enjoys spending time with her. They have deep conversations. They enjoy playing music together. Picard realizes he might want to have a real relationship with this woman — a member of the crew — which is not something he takes lightly. He tiptoes around it for a while before realizing that it might be something he wants to seriously pursue.

"Lessons" succeeds where so many TNG would-be romances have failed because it considers the romance as a serious and realistic piece of business and not as a hopelessly arbitrary and unconvincing afterthought of the plot ("Aquiel," "Birthright, Part II"). Here is the Starfleet equivalent of an office romance; Picard and Daren must proceed cautiously, because he's the captain, she is a member of his crew, appearances matter, and there are plenty of people who could potentially be made uncomfortable with the situation, even if no one does anything wrong. (Riker has such a moment where he questions whether his objectivity is being affected with regard to Daren in light of her relationship with Picard.)

Also important is how the story spends the necessary time setting up the relationship to give it legitimacy. Daren and Picard share an interest in music, which leads to a number of nice scenes featuring classical music, including one in the ship's most acoustically perfect location. The music lessons take on even more meaning when Picard explains to Daren the story behind the flute he plays, which serves as a welcome callback to "The Inner Light" and lends a lot of credence to the story's emotional center.

Ultimately, this story's lesson covers familiar territory similarly mined in "The Perfect Mate" — Picard cannot avoid a life of solitude because he will always have to choose duty over companionship. This theme reveals itself in the closing acts, where a crisis arises and Daren must be sent on a dangerous mission where she nearly perishes, forcing them both to confront the reality they both probably knew was already there. Naturally, Picard is not about to stop being the captain of the Enterprise, and TNG is not about to take on a permanent girlfriend for him. But "Lessons" presents a one-off romance with solid execution, believable situations, good performances from Wendy Hughes and (naturally) Patrick Stewart, and a genuine emotional core.

Previous episode: Starship Mine
Next episode: The Chase

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10 comments on this review

Paul - Thu, Jul 12, 2012 - 10:31am (USA Central)

I liked this episode, but I think it's another example of where TNG started to run out of steam. So many of the episodes in the sixth and seventh seasons revolve around Picard -- and not just Picard making decisions, but Picard in action. That was something that rarely happened in the first five seasons. Patrick Stewart is the best actor in the cast, so he can usually carry episodes. But TNG becomes more Picard/Data focused to its detriment in the later seasons (and movies).

Peter H - Thu, Jul 12, 2012 - 12:53pm (USA Central)

I've always liked this one, but unfortunately it's hamstrung from the very start by the need for a "reset". This is where Star Trek in all its forms falls short by not really having week-to-week consequences. That said, it's still a solid package of an episode and well told. I do love the reference to the Inner Light for the very reason that it goes against what I've come to expect from series continuity; the events of that episode would have had such an impact on Picard's life that to ignore completely it would be a betrayal of what had come before (I'm looking at you DS9 Hard Time and VOY Latent Image!)

Tim - Thu, Jul 12, 2012 - 2:37pm (USA Central)

Picard's flute playing hands amused me, and had me reaching for rewind and google.

Grumpy - Sat, Jul 14, 2012 - 1:56pm (USA Central)

This episode is one of the few times on TNG that a (non-medical) blueshirt actually does some science. For a ship of exploration, the scientists seen passing in the corridors hardly ever have work to do. "Pen Pals" is the only other time they're used.

Come to think of it, who was the chief science officer on 1701-D? Not Data; he was the operations manager. If the producers hadn't been worried about direct comparison with Spock, Data would've worn a blue uniform from the beginning, representing the scientific mission of the ship (and the show).

Ironically, Deep Space Nine had a blue-shirted science officer even though the original mission (quietly orbiting Bajor before the wormhole was discovered) would not have required one.

grumpy_otter - Mon, Jul 16, 2012 - 4:13pm (USA Central)

I'm a romantic at heart, so I love this one. Not only is Nella a "perfect mate" for Picard, but I thought their chemistry was great and both actors really committed to the roles.

I loved her standoff with Riker, too.

I also thought it was great because I really thought they were going to kill her off--so was on the edge of my seat during the action parts. The look on Picard's face when she returns is priceless.

Wish they had revisited her in the finale--she'd have been such a better wife for Picard than that doctor.

Paul - Mon, Jul 16, 2012 - 4:42pm (USA Central)

@Grumpy: Data was the science officer, though it's never explained why he wears a gold uniform.

Elliott - Fri, Jul 20, 2012 - 1:24pm (USA Central)

@ grumpy_otter: "that doctor"? You mean Dr Beverly Crusher, the show's CMO and long- long-term friend and confidant of Picard? okay...

Actually, I really enjoy Wendy Hughes' performance as Nella. I can't help liking this episode simply because most of the time we're in the presence of Hughes and Stewart. It's almost enough to look past the episode's flaws, but not quite enough.

Picard's relationship with Daren is what it is; we won't see her again, we know how they feel, it's fine. More crucial to Picard is his relationship with Crusher--her feelings about him are on display and there's a reasonable parallel between them and Troi/Riker as an unrequited pair. Crusher is all but tossed aside though and this theme is never revisited.

The music is a mixed blessing: while its general presence is refreshing (if for no other reason than to hear *good* music in Season 6) and carries the episode through thematically (although not as well as VOY's "Counterpoint"). The ridiculousness of what they do and say (changing a harmony in a Chopin piano trio huh? Picard's flute is so obviously a penny whistle...it worked okay in "Inner Light" because Picard's experience of the alien culture was filtered through his human perspective [hence why the aliens appeared human]) undermines the genuineness of the scenes.

There are a number of good pieces here, but I think Jammer's comment from "Birthright: Part I" applies: it "contains interesting issues worth exploring but is a failure at turning those issues into compelling drama."

2.5 stars from me.

Interesting sidenote: Nella's roll-out piano became the inspiration to a real-life practice tool that keyboardists use when they travel and don't have access to a piano. It's like cell-phones all over again!

Grumpy - Mon, Jul 23, 2012 - 10:30am (USA Central)

Data may have been referred to as 1701-D's science officer once or twice, but I never had the impression that he led the department. LaForge, Worf, and Crusher were definitely in charge of other personnel. But can you imagine Data as Darren's boss? Did he butt in the way Worf did when Data (Worf's superior officer, mind you) dated a woman in the security department?

TNG didn't portray the starship as a workplace very often, but on those few ocassions, the detail made the setting more realistic, which heightened the drama. I wish they had done it more.

Eduardo - Tue, Jul 24, 2012 - 12:32pm (USA Central)

This episode marks the point where Patrick Stewart got to kiss two women named Wendy.

One was Wendy Hughes, actress, and the other would be Star Trek producer Wendy Neuss, whom he'd eventually marry, and then divorce.

Nick P. - Mon, Sep 10, 2012 - 3:53pm (USA Central)

Nice episode. One of the few episodes from the last few seasons that I thought was solidly acted, and in character. Picard actually stayed on the Bridge, and Riker went to the planet.

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