“Coming of Age”

You know, when I was a kid I thought Wesley Crusher was awesome. I was always considered bright. I went to a magnet public school for gifted children, and had a college reading level by second grade. So, I think I sympathized with Wesley and his struggle to be taken seriously because I frequently struggled to be taken seriously myself.

When I was in grade school, I read a lot of the great classics of literature and I thought that my comprehending the language of what I was studying meant that I understood what the author was trying to say. In jr high, I took the SATs early and thought that I understood what it meant to cram for an exam. By high school, I was taking college classes and I thought that I understood what it meant to be a college student.

Well, the truth is I didn't really understand anything; and neither does Wesley Crusher. Being smart enough to learn answers quickly does not make up for a lack of emotional depth or substitute for real life experience. Being intelligent without boundaries leads to over confidence and, eventually, mistakes. It is important to question yourself and to learn to work with others. I know that now.

Someone should have told all of that to Wesley Crusher! Where as I used to love watching Wesley outsmart the adults, I now just feel annoyed at his arrogance and lack of supervision. Sure, Wesley saved the ship plenty of times. But, he nearly destroyed the ship on more than one occasion as well. Who in their right mind lets a teenager pilot a galaxy class starship? Not even the most genius of adolescents deserves that kind of power.

It's funny. Wes was my favorite character when I was a little girl. But, now I literally just cringe whenever he opens his mouth. How annoying is he in the naked now? Ugh, awful.

@impronen Haha, I love your description of season one as being "one facepalm after another"! Too true.

In this first season episode, we follow the familiar A/B storyline. In the A plot the Enterprise is being investigated by one Lt. Remmick who along with Admiral Quinn has come aboard to determine 'what is wrong' with the ship. In the B plot, oddly for which it is titled Wesley takes his academy entrance exam on the planet Relva.
Lt. Remmick proceeds to observe the bridge crew a bit, then question First Officer Riker about the captain. Riker’s offended and storms into a lift, telling him he will answer questions later. Way to cooperate there Number One. Yes, Remmick is written as an ass, and the actor portrays him as such during his subsequent questioning of the crew.
Meanwhile, Wesley makes friends with fellow Academy hopefuls on the planet, and befriends a Benzitte named Mendon. Here he helps him with words of encouragement. Wes passes many of the early tests without issue, including a (supposedly) hotheaded officer who tries to pick a fight with him. The Lieutenant who runs the testing facility, Chang (no not the Kingon commander from Star Trek VI, just a token Asian in command) sees this altercation and commends Wesley on standing up to the bully. Wesley explains that he noticed that he had webbed hands. He told Lieutenant Chang that he knows his race thinks being police is phony, so stood up to him. Mendon tells Wesley he’s so smart, and he'd wouldn't have known that. So the only reason Wesley didn't get his ass kicked, is because he happened to know about this rare one off alien race we've never seen, and will never see again. This whole altercation is weird and really comes off awkward. It makes little sense from an viewpoint, and succeeds only in making Mendon feel inferior.
Back on the flagship of the Federation, Picard and Remmick are on the bridge when on the civilians, a teen boy, steals one of the shuttles, and gets caught in the gravity well of a planet. Remmick, in true ass mode interrupts Picard during the boys call for help in which we learn he has 30 seconds to alter course before he crashes. Remmick things this is a good time to tell Picard that if he dies the boys blood is on Picard’s hands. Well I can see that, but I mean he sure picked a awful time to state the obvious. Picard is clearly, and understandably annoyed at the guest lieutenant. He then instructs the boy to safety, showing that when he gives an order people trust him, and they listen. He even goes so far as to say "This is Picard...giving you an order..." I know its the first season, but the arrogance of the characters is so high to think that this boy frightened out his mind, clearly already unstable is going to follow instructions from the captain which I may point out instinctive would seem wrong, would snap into obey mode on a dime. I mean the kids not even a cadet! Alas, the boy is saved and even Remmick gives a "yes!" and a fist pump before reverting to full dick mode, and continuing his investigation of the crotchety and snobby old English accented French captain.
Wesley is back on the ship during his break, and is walked in on by Worf while in the holodeck. No not caught with a holographic version of Lt. Yar topless or anything- just standing there. Worf asks what’s up and Wesley tells him he’s worried about the phsyc test. In a nice moment Worf tells him not to worry about things he can't control, and says "only fools have no fear." I want you to remember that as later this human side of Worf disappears and is replaced by the cardboard cutout Klingon warrior Worf. In fact I am almost positive at one point in the series later on he says "I fear nothing!", but that is neither here nor there, and on with "CoA"....
The question continues until it reaches the point where Remmick finally get to Picard himself. Well see Picard's had enough of this without knowing what this is all about, so he goes to his friend, and Remmick's boss, Admiral Quinn. Quinn brings Remmick and he delivers his report: he can find nothing wrong on board the USS Enterprise. It seems his whole heel persona was just a tool for his investigation. In fact he even tells Picard he'd like to serve there in six months when he’s free from Quinn, and Picard gives him the no fing way look. Picard then says to Remmik what’s this all about? Quinn hints the infiltration by something, or someone (which sets up the seasons later episode "Conspiracy") and he had to be sure Picard was who he said he was. Picard is angry at this whole ordeal. That’s when Quinn thinks it would be a good idea to offer him a promotion to Admiral and a post as commandant of Starfleet Academy. Picard is still annoyed, and now befuddled. Why? Quinn says he needs him close, and he needs and answer soon. Picard angered that this was all about him tells him he will have on tonight. (Does the Admiral really expect him to accept? We are told they are friends, but Quinn cannot talk to Picard like a man and tell him what’s going on?)
The payoff to the Wes story is that he first passes his physc test in which he saves 2 crew members of the testing center?/ school/ star base on the ground. However during the final academic test he stops to help Mendon with a question which causes him to finish the test second, and no get accepted to the academy as a result! Wes may be book smart, but it seems the kid has no common sense. That is all I can figure from this. Not only is it stupid, but it seems like it would surely be a breech of testing regulations, but whatever.
Back on the ship Picard in his dress uniform, chats with Wesley who is hanging around in the observation lounge. This scene works well as Picard takes the roll of father figure telling Wes to measure his successes from within. Not to worry what anyone else thinks, and that he will get in next time. The interaction between Steward, and Wheaton feels real, and the two will have many more father/son moments to come.
We never see Picard decline Quinn's offer, but we don't need to. We also are not told why it is so imperative that Quinn get Picard home, or what the threat is. Does he want him home because he is concerned for his friends well being? I don’t see how him being the head of the academy makes him any more valuable to defend against this unspecified threat...so we don’t really know why Quinn went through all the motions. So in the end what do have, a nice story about Wesley, and a teaser for the week after next's show...all in all it feels unfinished, some clunky moments, but all in all its enjoyable to watch and well paced. Wesley confronts something that many young people must receives some good advice along the way. The typical early TNG snobiness is there, but its not out of control as on some other episodes. But the lack of resolution on what I called the A story, since it deals with the "larger" aspect of entire Enterprise is unfinished. This is why this episode gets six and points out of ten. Its only half done, even thought its engaging, its incomplete.

The above comments are for "Coming of Age"

This was my favorite episode at the time, mostly due to the lack of competition than by the ep's own merit.

I still like it even with all those small mistakes (finely detailed by Jake Taylor 07). The fact that doesn't feel like a complete story actually plays in its favor, making this one the first non-single-ep contained story of all TNG.

It's also cool to see a story about Wesley Crusher that doesn't suck. While the tests were kinda awkward and Wes friend has the face of a fish, it's still fun to see and actually has a point (unlike 80% of the first season).

And I thought they wanted to get rid of Picard, so Admiral Quinn would take his place. I was surprised when it was actually revealed to be a test of trustworthiness.

Season 1 seems really dated, but the series does have its highlights, and I think this episode is one of them.

Wesley remains too smart for me - the scene where the alien lieutenant (looked far too human to me!) shouted at Wesley, and WC calmly explained to Chang that he knew that their race hated politeness, seemed a stretch too far. Wesley may have been on the Enterprise, but to pick out one species from the many the crew must have encountered, seems too easy to just 'know'. I accept Wes is supposed to be super smart...but even Chang says he doesn't get through the test not only because of losing time, but other things too. Are Benzites supposed to be that smart?

The other story, with Remmick and Quinn determined to find something wrong with the ship, is far more engaging, although Quinn comes off like all the Admirals (maybe with the exception of Ross in DS9) - stuffy and full of themselves. No wonder Picard turns the 'offer' down.

Good episode, though who thought up Wesley and Deanna's uniforms in season 1?

Although I dislike Wes, I loved his smile at the last scene.

Not a top episode, but a good one, of these that make me love watching Star Trek.

More wooden acting from a redwood tree that tries to look like a human earthling female, and an overly-pompous Vulcan, but despite one plot point I liked this one.

The plot twists and turns are good, as is Wes, but - let's face it - one training center to take just one person to add to the Fleet's ranks is highly inefficient and dubious in concept.

Chang is too polite (even for the pre-PC era) as well. Worse, Wesley should have won - he's helping others in a crucial moment is surely a bigger qualifier for being able to work in TEAMS, which is crucial in high stress situations??

But the trials Wesley goes through are great, as is the subplot with the Admiral and his staff.

3 of 4

It may be that I am too generous to this because it is in the midst of TNG season 1, and any bright spot seems brighter than it otherwise would be. Still, I think this is a good show. The Wesley material, if occasionally a bit silly -- the Zaldan thing doesn't quite work -- is the best use of the character in this season ("Where No One Has Gone Before" gets an honourable mention) and actually creates a story that makes him human and compelling. Remmick's investigation of the crew is a little repetitive, but helps demonstrate a real bond of loyalty between these characters. I like Picard's saving Corey (was it?) and the genuine sense of excitement that sequence creates, while operating in a very low key (as compared to the number of episodes where a superbeing threatens the ship).

I would like to see a bit more explicit character work on why Picard turned down the appointment to Starfleet Academy -- the episode parallels Picard and Wesley, as the two of them are both considering going to the Academy, and both end up not going, Wesley because he did not succeed enough and Picard because he feels that he's better-suited to the Enterprise. I do think that it's mostly that Picard sees himself losing his zeal in a political situation away from the exploration which he loves so much, as well as the obvious fact that he really does *like* his ship and crew and feels an attachment to them. Still, it is funny that the episode doesn't let us know much of Picard's own reasoning besides that he'll be most useful on the Enterprise.

I suppose 2.5 stars is an appropriate grade, but I can't help bumping it up to a low 3.

Is it just me or did they use the same orange thing "planet" prop thing for this and the previous two episodes?

With 'Home Soil' TNG turned round a shaky run of episodes since 11001100 and this episode continues that positive stretch. Again the episode has a dual plot. Whilst Wesley sits his entrance exam for Starfleet Academy, the Enterprise is visited by an Officer from the Inspector General's Office with a brief ' Find whatever is wrong on the ship'

With this kind of setup, much hinges on the Guest Actor coming in - fortunately Robert Schenkkan is sufficiently hostile to pose a genuine threat whilst not crossing the line into being ludicrous and the scenes where he interrogates the crew (especially the one with Data) are excellent.

As for Wesley, it might not be an exaggeration to say that he has been rather poorly served by many of season's one scripts - so it is a surprise to find one that uses him quite well. As Jammer says, this is probably the first episode (maybe Datalore?) where he isn't absurd because it emphasises his inexperience and callow nature. I enjoyed the scenes involving him and Mordock (John Putch)and the interaction between him and Worf show the growth in the latter character and might be the first time where he isn't merely 'the boy', at least from Worf's point of view.

A pretty good script by Sandy Fries, and (certainly in comparison with most of season one) Strong Direction by Mike Vejar add up to a strong episode overall - Agree with William B that this one merits 3 stars for me. An unexpected highlight and one that stands up quite well to repeat viewing.

I do love the line when Wesley explains that "Zaldans are infuriated by courtesy." That cracks me up every time!

In this episode, Wesley says "Because [Captain Picard]. . . because someone made a decision, and my father died because of it. . ."

Can anyone tell me if there was ever any followup to the story of what happened to Wesley's father: Jack Crusher?

The hints dropped up to this point in Season 1 suggested that this was going to be a significant backstory milestone impacting, and tying together, Picard, Beverly, and Wesley. IE: the latent romantic feelings between Beverly and Picard, (some level of mutual attraction, but also Picard feeling some sort of "duty" to care for Jack's widow since it seems Jack died under circumstances where Picard was somehow responsible.) Also, Picard started the series telling Riker that he does not know how to interact with children (dialog from Encounter at Farpoint), but when it comes to Wesley he makes special exceptions. Not just because Wesley is exceptionally talented, but because Picard sees Jack in him, and he again feels a subconscious obligation to support the family that Jack left behind when he died.

I'm re-watching the entire series, but in my memory I have no recollection of the show ever revisiting the topic of Jack Crusher after Season 1. Was this just a piece of character development that was abandoned by the writers? If so, I think that's a shame. I remain intrigued. And think the later seasons of TNG are worse off for supporting the pseudo-romantic relationship between Picard and Beverly, where the topic could have fit.

More encouraging signs. Although it ends with nothing changed - Wesley doesn't go to Starfleet, Picard doesn't head up the Academy - there is at least some back story introduced in both plots that move some of the characters forward. Worf in particularly gets a couple of lines to suggest he's more than just a blank space for the first time.

Is the idea that something is not right in the Federation the beginning of a plot arc in this so far resolutely self-contained season? I guess we will see, but at least it hints at something of a bigger universe out there.

I enjoyed the direction of the interrogation scenes, and again this nicely confounds our expectations by making the investigation about something other than what it first appears. 2.5 stars.

i found 'coming of age' really tedious, it's a story that goes absolutely nowhere, has no point and is terribly acted

The premise of an entrance exam like this is such a huge plot hole. As someone pointed out earlier the inefficiencies of such a system, I as well, can't get over it. Once a year they take one "winner" of a small group from a large demographic and not test them the merit of how these exceptional candidates score universally. I look at some of the members of the enterprise and wonder how they ever passed that thing.

When I was a kid I thought they were all vying for early entrance into the academy or some kind of special track. As an adult I can only watch it if I find somewhere to air my grievance, however I realize now the similarity of the two story lines, that both the ship's crew and wesley were subject to a series of official tests and assessments with hidden meanings. Eases the pain.

"The premise of an entrance exam like this is such a huge plot hole. As someone pointed out earlier the inefficiencies of such a system, I as well, can't get over it. Once a year they take one "winner" of a small group from a large demographic and not test them the merit of how these exceptional candidates score universally. I look at some of the members of the enterprise and wonder how they ever passed that thing."

It gets even whackier when you think back to this episode during DS9 episodes like Sacrifice of Angels and What you Leave Behind. Never mind where are they getting all those ships that are getting blown up left and right. Where in holy blazes do they get all those officers to man the ships if even boy prodigy Wesley "Mozart" Crusher fails the entrance exam? How did Barclay ever get in?

Agreed. As much as I liked this ep (well, compared to other eps in TNG S1 anyway), it struck me as very impractical. It would be one thing if it were an entrance exam for a special select program within Starfleet with only 1 space left. But an entrance exam to the academy in general? Come on. That's just ridiculous. Imagine the present day military operating like this; our army would be like five people.

I think it's reasonable to assume that Starfleet changed their policies later on after Wolf 359, but definitely after first contact with the Dominion. I remember someone saying that it would have been the worst kind of continuity to carry over the concept of "losing 40 ships is a major blow" from BOBW to the DS9 Dominion War storyline where ships were being lost by the hundreds. We can reasonably extrapolate that after Wolf 359 Starfleet stepped up recruiting and improved its shipbuilding tech. The same principle applies here.

Writers shouldn't be afraid to break continuity in these sorts of cases for the sake of realism/drama and hand wave it with "there have been some advancements in tech/social changes/etc since the last time". Of course there are times when this doesn't apply but you all get my point.

An example to illustrate a "good" continuity break: In TNG the Benzites have a special breathing apparatus in S1 and S2. In the DS9 episode "The Ship" we saw the runabout pilot was a female Benzite without an apparatus. One can reasonably assume there were advancements in Benzite tech since TNG days without it being specifically stated.

I noticed he said he wanted to serve on the Enterprise after his 6 months were up at Starfleet Command. Obviously that never happened because his head was blown off!

This was fairly watcheable but mainly because we all know Merrick is just a fleshy sack full of alien mind control parasitic worm thingies and he is gonna get his head phasered off in a few episodes.
Having something undefined going ominously wrong in the Federation is a good sub plot ,if a bit pulpy.
Like many I take issue with Wesley's academy entrance test .
Given Wesley is a super genius and fails the test we can only assume that Starfleet cadets must be representative of an infinitesimally tiny segment of the galactic population.
It is a bit of a waste to put redshirts on those guys.
Once the Borg let alone the Dominion start knocking at the door I bet they lower the standards a bit-either that or they should just use non commissioned officers and other ranks to do the donkey work on the spaceships.
I wonder if Merrick is a descendant of the merchant captain from Bread and Circuses.

The episode did say the test would admit only one from this facility. It is possible that there are hundreds of Starfleet Academy entrance exams held throughout the Federation and some of them might admit larger numbers, e.g. an Earth based exam might take the top hundred applicants, whereas Wesley just happened to be at a smaller outpost (since the Enterprise was away from home) that only had one slot.

The Federation has a population of hundreds of billions and Starfleet might only have a million people in it. So could be as little as 1 in 10,000 citizens in Starfleet... it is plausible that they can afford to reject 75% of applicants and still be fully staffed.

@dgalvan
Additional Bits and pieces of the Crusher Family/Picard history are touched on in the TNG episodes
Encounter at Farpoint;The Bonding,; Family; Violations ;Attached all contain details that flesh out this story arc, no specific episode focuses on it though

I've always liked this one. It's OK-to-good, but more importantly, it's important.

It marked a first step, so to speak, in a much more sophisticated storytelling than we had on the Original Series. In "Coming of Age," we learn that what has happened will have a bearing on the present, and what's happening currently will have a bearing on the future. There was almost none of that on the OS.

Also, it's a good "Federation" episode as they slowly start to paint us a picture of this planetary union. We get to meet a Benzite. And look -- a Vulcan girl! And finally Starfleet Academy is just more than one sentence of conversational chatter.

The intensive questioning by Remick has the important function of binding the crew. And it's another step in making Wesley slightly more tolerable.

Finally, I think they did a nice job of setting up the "Conspiracy" episode with just the right amount of foreshadowing.

The numbers here just don't add up. Starfleet has hundreds of ships, personnel on planets and space stations, yet it's incredibly difficult to get into the academy, even to the point where they have to choose the best of 4 excellent candidates who have one chance per year. Who knows how many other candidates never even got this chance. Even if we consider this is just the best 4 candidates from a single base/system, it still gives an incredibly low number of students at the academy.

How can they possibly get enough staff for their starbases, ships and planets with such low recruitment? At this rate they'd struggle to replace the redshirts they lost each week on the Enterprise alone!

And, continuity error, if the entry requirements are so high, how the hell did we get some crewmembers with questionable competence in Voyager's Good Shepherd?

All I can say is that this episode was pleasant enough to watch. Home Soil was fine, a few of the previous ones rather dull.

Nothing ground breaking here.

More TNG S1 mediocrity here with lot of stuff that doesn't make much sense. Wesley has to compete against 3 other brilliant kids to get admission to Star Fleet -- did every other person currently in SF have to go through the same BS or was Wes in line for some special training in the academy?

Next, Admiral Quinn's reason for his investigation of Picard is ridiculous and Remmick is super-annoying. So Quinn sees conspiracies everywhere - how is this idiot a SF admiral?

There's almost more for me to upset at with this episode but I did like Wesley in this one -- he's more like a normal 17-yr-old. And I did like how the crew didn't put up with Remmick's nonsense -- good to see a rise out of them. The character of each crew member (Worf, Data, Riker, Crusher) comes through in the different ways they "express" their levels of irritation.

The whole part about that Jake kid stealing the shuttlecraft was pretty dumb. So it purports to show Picard with an ingenious rescue -- but this was unnecessary as Remmick's investigation found nothing wrong. And what was wrong with Jake? He steals the shuttle - something about not being able to face his father? This whole "C-plot" should have been omitted from the episode.

Another gripe is the overacting in this episode -- does Remmick really need to come across as such an ass? Riker is always up for a pissing contest. Even Quinn and Picard get testy with each other -- I blame it more on Quinn and some poor writing.

2 stars for "Coming of Age" -- lots going on with the 2 main plots but both are ill-conceived and don't seem practical. Why can SF only admit 1 of the 4 brilliant entrants? The whole Quinn conspiracy thing as a means of determining if Picard is suitable to lead the academy - kind of ridiculous.

3 stars. Another solid episode

I enjoyed both stories. The Wes one did a remarkably good job of being actually interesting and rekeateabke rather than coming across as fluff or filler. I enjoyed the group of students. I thought they were well cast and had good sense of camaraderie. It was fun seeing that even in the 24th century kids still are subjected to grueling testing measuring their aptitude’s. The introduction of the Benzite race was cool. Really interesting design

I enjoyed the twist on wes’ psyche test and his scene with Worf in the holodeck. The instructor proctoring the test was also nicely done. Wes also had a nice scene with Picard over failing and Picard sharing his story of failing the exam his first time too. In fact, Picard has another nice scene where he ran in with the young man who stole the shuttle. Instead of ignoring him or berating him he offered him his time, kindness and words of advice. Nicely done

The other story also was intriguing. The questioning of the crew. Wondering what was going on. Ultimately revealing something bigger at play with Quinn’s ominous warnings of strange going-ins at Starfleet settongup for the conspiracy episode later in the season. Remmick was the. Perfectly unlikeable investigator. Worf’s quip about not realizing liking remmick was a requirement lol then remmick ultimately from his interactions realizing he wanted to serve on the enterorise one day. Quinn was also perfectly cast as well.

The visual of the starbase was nicely done and Picard guiding the young man on the shuttle was tense and exciting

It’s a good thing you’re cute, Wesley, or you could really be obnoxious.

Another solid episode. Not much to add to the previous comments. I appreciate the continuity to Conspiracy, coming a few episodes later. 3 stars.

8/10

Enjoyed this one. I like to see the children part of the enterprise and in this case their lives in relation to Starfleet. That part of the story overrode the second story which I didn't like as much.

The evil inspecting officer is such a caricature and yet he resembles those 20 something MBAs that eagerly serve the sociopaths in management. While that isn't a precise analogy ,as the Admiral's motives aren't completely clear, we all know that type who can use their training in superficial analysis to argue a short term solution that appears to meet organizational goals while ignoring the true and usually more difficult true optimal solution.

what was the Admiral on about anyways?

Revisiting this, I found it to be an excellent episode, and one of the best to focus on Wesley.

The plot's cleverly divided into two: Picard's being "monitored" to determine if he's a "suitable candidate for overseeing Starfleet Academy" and Wesley undergoes a similar "entrance exam" to see if he's suitable to enter Starfleet Academy.

Both subplots give us a string of memorable world-building scenes, such that you really get the feeling that the Federation and Starfleet are big, galaxy sprawling organizations. We also get to meet Vulcans, a cool-looking methane (?) breathing fish alien, and the Starfleet tests we witness are reasonably interesting, as they're sneakily applied outside of the classroom, and even take into consideration a range of interpersonal actions "outside" of the tests. This is education, bureaucracy and categorization, 24th century style.

Meanwhile, Picard turns down a job offer to oversee Starfleet Academy. His reasoning, which the episode makes clear, is that he's already a father figure, professor, mentor and overseer, on board the Enterprise. As one tense subplot with a renegade kid and a shuttle make explicit, Picard's molding the lives of the young, every day. Stewart knocks all these scenes out of the park, and his interactions with Riker, an Admiral and the Admiral's aide are masterclasses in acting; the gap between his abilities (his sheer presence, diction and gravity), and the rest of the cast, is staggering.

Other neat scenes abound: Wesley gets a good scene with Worf in the holodeck, the Admiral's aide (who we're conditioned to think of a villain) makes a plea to join the Enterprise (future episodes suggest he may be villainously seeking to infiltrate it?), and Wesley and Picard share a nice scene in the observation lounge. Some of the cutting/camera-work during the episode's many "interrogation scenes" is also clever.

The idea that a "Starfleet Academy entrance exam" would take place at a remote outpost and only test 4 people, as seen in this episode, is much criticized. I had no problem with this; I assumed it was a remote location used to test people who were assigned to ships in the middle of nowhere. It's much less disruptive for the Enterprise to drop Wesley off at a little depot on a planet near one of its stops/missions, than to return to Earth every time an applicant needs to take an exam. Algorithms probably monitor which applicants are in similar areas of space, when their ship locations best coincide, and when best to schedule tests. Such a nodular, flexible approach seems much more advanced than the expectations raised by commentators above (the idea that the Feds would still be using Victorian era, massive classrooms).

I also like how season 1's background characters - those crewmen you see walking aimlessly down corridors - often deliberately have white/grey hair (no ageism in the future?), and how many leggy, short skirted women we see (does this stop in future seasons?), as well as, occasionally (two instances?) men in dresses (Picard himself, wears a kind of dress in this episode).

My favorite thing, though, is this glossy faux-wood table which the admiral uses: http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/observations/comingofage/17-comingofage-r.jpg

There are so many aesthetic touches, and little clever production design work, in this show, which make the rooms and furniture just a bit more special.

I liked it.

I liked a lot of little things about it, the details of the portrayals of the cadets and of Star Fleet. Gave us a real sense of how much bigger Star Fleet and the Federation is, than just the Enterprise.

Wes and Jean Luc are both put through the ringer, partly by fakery. Jean Luc passes his test and, in a nice scene, provides some fatherly encouragement and advise to the less fortunate Wesley.

I liked the Remmick portrayal, though that whole business gets wasted when next we see him.

A good, solid ep - the cast is starting to gel.

I recently rewatched this one and was surprised at one thing from the ending: Wesley feels like he failed to get into the Academy, and I guess I had always thought so too.

SPOILERS

Much discussion sprang from the fact that an average Nog could get in but the mighty Wesley Crusher failed, meaning they had retconned the difficulty level; or perhaps the war lowered the bar. But in hindsight I'm not 100% sure the reasons in this episode are so clear. The admissions officer outright tells Wesley that he lost a bit of time helping Mordock, but that it was other reasons too that he didn't get in. And we're not given those. But I can think of a few that have nothing to do with getting in being impossible:

-Wesley was just about to turn 16! He might have been deemed too young just as that moment, no matter how smart he was.
-Since he had such a fortunate situation to serve on the Enterprise already, they may have thought it was in his interest to continue with that for as long as possible, since after graduating from the academy he might be stationed anywhere.
-Meta-reason obviously being the showrunners didn't want to write him off. In a sense, 'he's too important to be at the academy, rather than not good enough.'
-The Traveller had hinted that Wesley was destined for something better, so maybe they feared the academy wasn't for him and that he needed more time to figure it out?
-Mordock was the first Benzite ever admitted to starfleet, so it also seems more than likely that this poliical consideration would be of far more importance *for the Federation* than having one more genius in Starfleet.

I definitely didn't take away this time that Wesley wasn't good enough to get in or anything like that. However, one of the weaknesses of the episode is that we get too much from the boy wonder POV and almost nothing from Starfleet's side. If they have some specific reason we're not treated to even a hint of it. And worse than that, we're supposed to have this wonder about the great wisdom of the admittance process, like they have the key to every person's mind. But if so, I never saw them administer any test or ask Wesley any questions that even hinted at the fact that it might be best if he waits a year. He seemed to just pass everything, so we're left with this false notion that he 'deserved' to get in and that he just arbitrarily had it held from him. But that doesn't make sense, so the script is missing something.

@Peter G.

I always understood Wesley failing as a case of "even geniuses can have trouble when it comes to performing routine tasks". Maybe the test was *too easy* for Wesley and he just didn't put his heart into it like Nog would've had to.

I think Wesley failing works in the scheme of Wesley's arc, as it's a hint of things to come. Wesley typically engages in behaviors that break the mold of a Starfleet Officer, like performing a Kolvoord Starburst which cadets "shouldn't" do. Later during peace negotiations with the Cardassians, Wesley pretty much disrupts that whole endeavor as he sees the treaty as wrongly oppressing the truly powerful - spirituality - which perhaps only a being like Wesley can comprehend. At any rate, Wesley just isn't good at Starfleet and following its rules, even if he's much more advanced in other ways.

@ Chrome,

I guess that's the friendly way to look at it. For my part I have a tough time seeing any arc for Wesley that was actually intended and moved forwards. I *could* choose to look at this one as "Starfleet is challenging for him because it's not just about intellect", except we didn't see him failing at anything at all in this one. And we likewise don't get to see "Starfleet may not be for him", because he seems to thrive on the environment and sincerely admires the process and the instructors. The 'moral' at the end with Picard seems to be that even gifted people can fail, and they just need to try again. So on the surface the only point of having Wes fail seems to be to poke a hole in the "he's a Mary Sue who succeeds at everything" thing he had going. Basically he failed because of the Bugs Bunney phenomenon, where the write is making the character fail because the writer wants the character to fail (as Bugs does to Daffy), rather than because of any organic story reason why this makes sense.

I could see reasons why it *could* make sense, such as you suggest, or others that I suggested, but I'm sort of clear in my head now that these weren't intended here and that they were actually jerking us around with having Wes be absolutely perfect at everything and failing anyhow. But it's not even a Peak Performance lesson of 'it's possible to make no mistakes and lose', but rather us seeing Wes get whiplash just because he was due for a comeuppance from previous episodes. I'm not crazy about that, and it feels fake anyone because the script is sort of winking at Wes at the same time, basically acknowledging that he was the best candidate and that 'he'll get his due next time'.

@Peter G.

"And we likewise don't get to see "Starfleet may not be for him", because he seems to thrive on the environment and sincerely admires the process and the instructors. The 'moral' at the end with Picard seems to be that even gifted people can fail, and they just need to try again."

I think we do see a glimpse of this isn't for him as Wesley was more interesting in helping a struggling alien companion (Mordock) and the other girl than winning the competition. I imagine the academy is very competitive and Wesley is already showing signs that he doesn't want to cut someone off to get ahead. I see this as a softness that might be *fatal* in a military officer who makes difficult decisions which hurt others all the time. I agree with you about Picard's lesson, but it could be that the lesson was correct for someone like Picard but *not* Wesley (We see this pattern again when Picard messed up at the academy and had to repeat a year, which again was something Picard could do but Wesley couldn't).

Of course this is a charitable reading of a messy season one episode with full hindsight in mind, but I do think later seasons try to take full advantage of the good material in these early messy episodes.

@ Chrome,

I think you're on to something zeroing in on the angle of Wesley helping others in preference of winning. In fact I think that's almost the core of the entire episode. It's almost like they're trying to say that Wesley helping Mordock get in isn't fundamentally a loss for Wesley, but a win for everyone, including Wesley, so long as Wes doesn't look at Mordock as being a competitor. It's almost like it, but not quite, since this is really not the focus. Too bad, because that would have been a neat message.

In terms of being soft as a negative trait for a competitive academy, this brings to bear a tension in the series that persists into future seasons. How much is Starfleet an elite heirarchy trying to be the best, with the Enterprise especially being the ultra-elite, versus a representation of humanity pulling each other up and winning as a team rather than a group of individual over-achievers flying around cool ships? I don't think it's supposed to be just one or the other, but A Matter of Honor in S2 does a pretty explicity job - including direct references to Mordock and Wes' experiences here - of telling us that Starfleet *is not* about outshining everyone else on your own and rising to the top. Or at least, it's not supposed to be; maybe in practice it really is. People like Shelby (and young Riker) do make us wonder whether the "we're all a team" idea is more of an idea than a reality.

My issue here is: are we supposed to see Wes helping others as making him *more* Starfleet material, or *less* Starfleet material? We get zero on this front, which reflects my frustration earlier about the fact that we are totally left out of Starfleet's side of the admission process here. It really does seem to be a giant gag to have Wes fail just to see him finally fail at something.

Wow, turning down good students because they didn't score as high as others.

This is min/maxing to the extreme. Instead of having 4 good students they want 1 perfect one.

This whole test scenario always bugged me. Wesley is constantly presented as this super genius. I try to imagine Worf doing these tests and probably succeeding by "Worf go smash". It makes no sense. No wonder the Federation was running out of officers during the dominion war...

I honestly can't recall a Wesley episode I liked more. His interaction with the webbed finger angry alien man is one that has stuck with me from the first time I saw the episode on TV to now, several mostly Trek-less decades later.

I also really enjoyed the whole antagonistic investigator premise.

I could have done with a better Psych test for Wesley. Have the 'test' start as one premise and then have one of the teachers run in and say all students have to evacuate, tests are postponed, etc. It was too obvious that the emergency was the test because nothing else had happened after he entered the room.

Bonus amusement at the idea of Starfleet bringing in failed actors for low paying gigs for corporate training (something I've personally done) instead of just using holodeck tech...

"Bonus amusement at the idea of Starfleet bringing in failed actors for low paying gigs for corporate training (something I've personally done) instead of just using holodeck tech..."

I would hope that the "lab" was at least in a holodeck even if the actors were real. Otherwise that's an awful lot of construction for a two minute test of one cadet candidate.

Commander Remmick is the most intriguing character in the story. Were he and Quinn corrupted before or after this point? If it’s later, and he was sincere about wanting to serve on the Enterprise, would he have made a good fit? He’s definitely detail-oriented and efficient. Too bad we didn’t get to know him better, like Admiral Nechayev.

One of the best Wesley episode, as he actually has to look inside himself and deal with how he got here.

I think Remmick and Quinn were compromised after this, by the very organisms they were working to expose. We see later in Conspiracy that those aliens are very good at identifying potential threats, and either assimilating or disappearing them. Remmick and Quinn were prime targets. While they were never specific about what they were looking for, the whole bridge crew knew they were looking for something, and there's no way that knowledge wouldn't make it up the chain. Ironic that Remmick gets the "queen" alien or whatever you want to call it in the end.

I also think Remmick's portrayal in this episode is about 50/50 genuine and putting on an act. He has no problem being so brusque, but at the same time it's just a means to an end. He's investigating something very serious, and not only is there no room for pussyfooting around, his antagonism could also be a tactic to trip up potential conspirators. The admission that he'd like to join the crew would seem to be his more genuine self, it's just unfortunate that he had to burn so many bridges in the investigation, and also the head exploding thing.

"Were he and Quinn corrupted before or after this point?"


That's a very interesting question, Buckbart. I don't think Quinn was infected at this point because, as shown in Conspiracy, he did not recall his conversation with Picard from this episode.


But Remmick is a possibility. What if his professed desire to join the Enterprise was just laying the groundwork for infecting Picard? We know he was a target. Maybe Remmick/Space Critter were already setting up a plan B.

Probably not true, but fun to speculate about.

Wesley's jumper - still with the fakey uniform thing....

Good lord I think I need an insulin shot, the Wesley plot is so unbelievably cloying. It's like a Leave it to Beaver episode dipped in honey, covered with sprinkles and dusted with powdered glucose. It even (seemingly) infected the other plot when Remmick says he sure would gosh love to join the Enterprise.

Good episode, though I'm a little skeptical that it's this hard to get into Starfleet. I can't help but flash forward to the Dominion War when their entrance requirement probably looks more like, "You have basic piloting skills and aren't afraid to die? Great, you're hired!"

In rewatching this, I noticed a lot of minor holes in the plot. I won't got into the whole list, but the biggest to me was that Wesley supposedly fears making life-or-death choices, but in the test he never shows indecision at all and isn’t influenced by the man who’s not hurt, just scared. My other major negative is that for the first time, Riker comes across as a loud bully, a trait that became worse over the rest of the series. The major positive for me was the improved writing for Worf, finally getting to reveal his character. And I maintain that Wesley isn't nearly as "obnoxious" as the script calls him; in the one instance here, I think in real life he would have been considered friendly and nice.

All told, I wasn't as impressed by the eppy as most people seem to be. I had no memory of it at all from just the title.

As a first time S1 watcher after skipping the first two seasons for more than thirty years (!), I'm shocked every time I find a decent episode. The binary one was the first; this is the second. There's almost something domestically attractive about this episode, the non Wesley plotline.

Am I mistaken or is this the first episode where we see the Riker Maneuver (sitting down by hurdling over a chair's back to show off his manly gait)?

Seems daft for an organisation like Starfleet to have one space for someone. I get it is for the drama but with an organisation like them in a society like that. Letting potentially good candidates go is mad.

This strikes me as being the first real TNG episode. Pretty much every other season one ep was clearly derivative of some amalgamation of TOS episodes/tropes, but here we finally get some new ground broken. For that alone, I can appreciate this one.

I too was always bothered by the evidently bonkers Starfleet entrance procedure, seems like a massive waste of potential. However, consider this: perhaps Starfleet academy had already been infiltrated by insectoid impersonators who were going out of their way to undercut the quality of starfleet personnel by a) selecting lesser candidates, and b) vastly reducing the volume of candidates accepted. After all, Picard is offered the headmaster position at the academy *after* he’s cleared of buggy influence, implying that the academy needs safeguarding and perhaps there had already been some shenanigans raising some red flags. In this(super hypothetical) scenario, Wesley wasn’t rejected because he failed, but rather he was rejected precisely because he was unequivocally the best candidate. I mean, if you were a parasitic body snatcher planning a massive invasion would you want Wesley “wunderkind” Crusher running around the science labs of the federation?

It's laughable how we keep hearing about the difficulty of Starfleet Academy and the brilliance of its cadets, while episode after episode we also keep seeing the most boneheaded/ignorant/stubborn/immature/careless/etc. actions and behaviors from Starfleet crew members and officials.

After the environmental lab test, Wesley called Chang "Officer Chang".

A great episode by Season 1 standards, perhaps even better than the previous standout episode with the Binars.

Admittedly the competitive nature of the testing was silly (just let them all in, except maybe the girl who thought Wes was cute as she kept running out of time). However it was great to have call backs to so many previous episodes’ plots without it being a clip show - that’s not the focus of the episode but having that in the background makes the show universe start to feel a lot more real and fleshed out. Events have consequences (somewhat).

Special shout out to Rennik’s fist pump when Picard saved the day with the lad in the shuttle - best moment of Season 1 so far.

admiral quinn is almost definitely wearing a corset…

also,another episode where yarn has literally one single line, no wonder she left ugh…

it was interesting they tried to start that conspiracy story here but it just fizzles out in a single episode later (and not even as an exciting season finale)…

season 1 is so terrible

Ugh... Where to start on this mess. 1. Remmick was way over the top with the melodrama! I don't know if it's just bad acting, bad directing, or a combo of both, but I don't really care. 2. Are you telling me that Starfleet, with it's thousands of starships that need manned, is SOOOOO picky that it would reject three highly qualified applicants? Really? 3. I know Denise Crosby was on her way out the door, but Remmy interviews everyone EXCEPT the person responsible for security on the ship? There's more, but I'm tired. Oh those old TOS writers couldn't get their heads out of the 60s.

"It’s a good thing you’re cute, Wesley, or you could really be obnoxious."
"Did you hear that? She think's I'm obnoxious."
He actually said "cute" but not in my head he didn't.

Merrick needs a sustained double phaser burst to the face. Poor guy, just doing the job he's been assigned. I'm guessing that's a no from Picard re his wish to apply for a position on the Enterprise. Picard didn't even answer, just looked away. Cold, Picard. Cold. Did you not see Merrick's little fist pump earlier? He's a team player, man!

Typical upper management. Take a guy who excels in and loves his current position (captain, explorer, in space!) and move him up into the management ranks.

I remember this episode distinctly from when I was a kid. It’s one of the season one episodes I recall most actually, particularly Wes’s run in with politeness-averse Rondon and his webby hands. Perhaps this familiarity is feeding me some bias, but I think this episode represents a real turning point for TNG. Here we have a story that has a real air of originality, as opposed to many season one shows that seem like clear TOS retreads. The episode is also engaging in some novel efforts to tie together the show’s overall continuity, both in terms of past episodes and, more substantially, laying the foundation for a foray into future story arcs. Very cool stuff. Additionally, this episode is the first to really use Wesley Crusher effectively. Rather than the usual irritation Wes brings, here he adds to the story in genuine and relatable ways. Now, I want to be clear: I don’t hate Wesley. The idea of his character is fine, and Will Wheaton does a good job performing the part, playing Wes with a youthful earnestness that I actually find likable. What I dislike is how obvious and ungraceful the storytelling around Wesley Crusher is in most, if not all, previous episodes. I find it distracting and unsatisfying when other characters are required to huff deeply from the glue filled bag of idiocy in order to pave the way for Wes’s unlikely heroism. This episode, however, gives us a Wesley we can actually believe and connect with. Here, rather than what normally feels to me to be the proverbiale “Mary sue” writer’s insert character, we have a Wesley who is far from perfect, such as when he, in an attempt to make her feel better, completely dunks on poor Oliana, unintentionally making her feel worse about her academic struggles. “You don’t know how lucky you are” she says in the midst of a classic backhanded compliment, “I can’t imagine what it would be like having everything come so easily” backhand complete. “Oh no, I have to study all the time” says Wes. Hear that Oliana? You just need to study harder you passive-aggressive weirdo. This penchant for social obliviousness is perhaps why Wes wasn’t ultimately chosen for the academy spot. When it comes to the rigors of science-y stuff he’s smart as a monkey, but when it comes to people stuff he’s dumb as an ape.

There’s also the strange but intriguing plot aboard the Enterprise, in which we get some insight into why every admiral, diplomat, or functionary we’ve ever met in Trek is a total jackass: this is how Starfleet field tests its people. Remember that crazy negotiator in A Tase of Armageddon who just *couldn’t wait* to stuff himself into a disintegration chamber? Yeah, all part of a ploy to see how James T and friends would handle the situation. The Federation is built on a mountain of mind games it seems. Maybe. In any event, in that grand tradition we are given Remmick and his quest to find “problems”. Remmick really sells the smarm in this one, so much so that in the end after he soft pitches his resume to Picard’s emotionless “what the shit are you talking about” face, I actually felt for the guy. But more importantly is the “why” of Remmick’s presence: there’s something afoot at Starfleet! Something we don’t learn the nature of, meaning a continuous story extending into future episodes, which means broader storytelling and, one would hope, writing, hence the turning point I mentioned before.
Then there’s the cool parallel between Wes’s fake trials of youth and Picard’s not-so-fake trials of the “real world”. Nice episodic symmetry. We get some really solid character work out of their respective anxieties, I particularly liked the conversation between Worf and Wes. And Picard is at his stately best. It feels like TNG is starting to fit its own uniform with all this stuff.
As to the execution of these newer ideas, it’s adequate. Which in season one terms translates into a pretty solid grade. There are flaws, like the Enterprise crew being a bit *too* hostile to little Remmick, especially Riker(jeez!), or the nature of starfleet’s academy entrance process, which is just flipping crazy if you ask me. But overall, I think this episode deserves some positive praise.

Some random thoughts:
-Seriously, Riker has so much attitude! Cool it bro! On the other hand, Remick is a total dink so it’d be tough not to treat him with hostility. But still, Riker launches right out of the gate in a full-on petulant gallop.
-Jake was so ashamed of not getting into Starfleet academy that he stole a shuttle craft despite not knowing how to drive the thing, and almost got himself killed trying to run off to the circus or whatever rather than face his dad and the crushing shame of failure. Yet Starfleet’s acceptance standard is a combination of baffling and criminally wasteful, rejecting vast arrays of seemingly fantastic candidates for cryptic, unspecified reasons. This all feels like a toxic situation.
-I wonder if Rondon is one of those boomerang hurling people from Friday’s Child? He’s tall, has a crap attitude, and he’s a straight talker. Sorta fits. Not sure about the webbed hands tho.

TOS inspiration: not much of anything.

3/4 rogue shuttles bouncing off the atmosphere.

In a way, two characters come of age in this episode. The first, most obvious one is Wesley Crusher, who faces literal tests and some lessons in coping—both traits of any typical story of a youth growing into an adult. The second is Picard, who grows into himself as a Captain, a mentor, a seasoned commander and man.

It’s no accident that both face different inquiries and exams. Wesley’s are standard and conducted to evaluate his worthiness and promise, and Picard’s are accusatory and conducted to evaluate his competence and possible coercion. Both, of course, learn some important things about themselves. “Coming of Age” is fairly pleasant with quiet stakes, but I’d also say it turns out to be pretty important and not to be missed.

As a father, it’s impossible for me to hate Wesley Crusher, and Wil Wheaton always does his best work when he allows himself to be humble and vulnerable. There’s real angst here, as I saw in *Stand by Me.* Not only is Wesley “allowed” to fail, but we truly see how uncertain and worried he is about pleasing his mentors and facing his deepest horrors. I genuinely think Wesley is so scared about the psych test because he honestly doesn’t know what his fears are—and that’s a very adult bit of feeling. Look how he draws a blank in that scene on the Holodeck. He can’t figure out what to conjure because he seems to know his true fear is not only elusive, but intangible. (For the *Harry Potter* fans out there, wouldn’t it be interesting to see what Wesley's Boggart would look like?) He has a great bonding scene with Worf, and it turns out that Worf’s true fear is *also* abstract and intangible. He knows the perfect question to ask Wesley while prodding him as a mentor: “Do those things frighten you?” I think Worf can sense that Wesley has some depth to him.

Plus, Wesley’s nervousness about facing his *inner* demon makes sense. I don’t think Wesley has a fear of failure at all—if anything, he has succeeded enough, and studied enough, that he believes in his abilities and in fact we see him approach the practical tests with ease and aplomb. It’s the psych test that is driving him mad, because he has no idea what it will look like. It’s a little convenient that Starfleet is able to hit the nail on the head so well in terms of dreaming up an effective ruse that gets to the heart of Wesley’s hang-ups (almost like they had the help of a Hollywood writer, but I kid), but it’s a good enough preoccupation for him and I’m honestly curious to know some more exact details about how his father met such an end with Picard's involvement. He “comes of age” with this important insight into himself, and I sort of like how Starfleet makes this a requirement of its young cadets. Indeed, it’s important to be able to articulate what your difficulties and fears are in order to shine as an effective officer in certain life-and-death Star Trek situations.

Picard, meanwhile, is tested in such a way that makes him appreciate his captaincy and its numerous roles more than he has, confirming to himself that he’s exactly where he needs to be. Notice how the closest he came to his own “psych test” was the runaway shuttle situation. It’s just another day in the office for him. This particular situation may have filled Wesley with dread because it also involved a life-and-death situation, but for Picard, it’s ancillary and a minor inconvenience (or perhaps a major one with that asshole Remmick breathing down his neck). In fact, he appears plenty annoyed by his own grilling and evaluations as well. His psych test, instead, comes in the form of trying, as he said in “Encounter at Farpoint,” to “not make an ass himself in front of children.” But when this moment comes, in that last scene between Picard and Wesley, he passes the test admirably and even brings a little tear to this pig’s eye.

Wesley comes of age in the traditional sense, while Picard comes into the more abstract age where he’s finally learned to fully embrace his role as a mentor and guide, particularly of children. Notice how he’s still the consummate explorer and captain at heart (he turns down the offer of an explicit mentoring role), but now he’s more at ease with himself. It took getting grilled by a middle-managing bureaucrat and a cryptic, equally grumpy old friend to really make him appreciate the uniqueness of his current position.

In the last act, we see this “new” Picard. We’ve always seen him as a stern taskmaster but now we can also see him with the fatherhood gene firmly intact. First, he runs into Jake into the hallway and instead of dressing him down further, he makes sure Jake is feeling better, that he’s learned from his mistake, and he even compliments Jake on keeping his cool during the shuttle disaster. This is the act of a good father. I have a feeling that Jake’s dad is more of the hardass unforgiving type that we see in stereotypical boarding school dramas, considering that Jake’s whole motive for stealing the shuttle and splitting was so he wouldn’t have to face his father. Picard strikes me as a father that will still rip you a new one but won't be the one you’re ever afraid to face after making a mistake. It just wouldn’t be Picard, of course, without that whole stern bit about, “That’s my job, young man!”

Immediately after this (which is crucial editing and scripting), we of course get the scene between Picard and Wesley. We’ve seen Picard treat Wesley as a student and mentee, but this is the first time he’s treated Wesley like a son. Sharing his own failures is absolutely something a father does, as is advising the kid that sometimes you can still lose even after doing your best. What I like best about the scene is that like most father-son moments, it’s meant to be kept between the two of them. “You may not tell anyone” is Picard’s emphatic, amusing warning. Somehow, we know he didn’t need to say this. Wesley wouldn’t have ratted him out in this way.

Sir Patrick Stewart and Wil Wheaton, as always, nailed this episode like the two pros they are. My favorite Stewart moment was when Picard rises from his seat to set Remmick straight about how teenagers obviously fuck up once in a while. His line delivery was pitch perfect and got me to crack up. I think Wheaton had two “best moments”—staring down that courtesy-hating alien twice his size and sulking quietly in the corner after being denied admission.

Robert Schenkkan was intentionally grating as Remmick and I think played the dreaded auditor competently (if not stereotypically), but other than that epic fist-pump when Jake successfully steers his shuttle away from danger, it’s just a rather drab performance (pure 80’s schlock was Remmick’s “Nothing and no one will stand in my way!” Not even a prickish auditor needs to actually say that).

It was a nice touch how Remmick’s investigation calls back certain security lapses that we actually saw in past episodes. But really, Remmick, I had a *lot* more pointed questions for you to ask this crew. Such as, "Explain how you allowed a sentient AI to attack your officers and run rampant through the ship,” and, “How did you allow yourself to be sucked in so easily by a Ferengi crew with a mind-control device that compromised your Captain?” or perhaps, “Why was it so easy for a bunch of delegates to break out of their rooms and start murdering each other?” Hmmm, on second that, these must have been the questions we didn’t get to see Remmick ask Yar on-screen, since she was peculiarly omitted completely from his investigation. You’d think he *hopefully* would have asked the security chief at least one question about the effectiveness of security on the ship, considering that was the point of his inquiries in the first place!

Ward Costello was off as Admiral Quinn. This could have been intentional, but he has no sense of conviction at all in this role. As a viewer, I never believed a word that Quinn ever said, even when he finally offers an explanation for the investigation. Maybe it’s the writing and direction, but I fear it was Costello’s acting just as much.

Rounding out the rest of the guest stars, Estee Chandler was dreadful as Oleana with some truly atrocious line delivery (“It’s a good thing you’re cute, Wesley, or you could really be obnoxious.” Funny, that’s just what I was about to say to her.)

Robert Ito delivered a thankless performance in a thankless role (as Officer Chang), and Jean Stapleton’s son (!) John Putch was simply wooden and unmemorable as Mordock.

I have no idea what to even think about Quinn’s and Remmick’s ramblings about a “conspiracy” within Starfleet, other than how they may be onto something if they mean it’s a Conspiracy of Dunces (but I kid). Quinn’s final line of humility doesn’t resolve anything; I think there’s still more to this whole thing, but of course it ends with one big question mark.

As for the difficulty of getting into Starfleet Academy, I’m guessing the Academy is like West Point or the Naval Academy, with some pretty stringent entrance requirements for officer candidacy, but also that the Federation probably also has boot camps and enlistment facilities where the prospects are trained to be yeomen and crewmen but not officers. Those places probably admit anyone who breathes, judging by the intellectual capacity of Starfleet as a whole (but I kid).


Speak Frankly:
Wesley -- “I failed you, and I failed the Enterprise.”
Picard -- “Ridiculous.”


My Grade: B



NEXT TIME!!!! ON STAR TREK!!!! THE NEXT GENERATION!!!

Klingons go on a rampage after being rescued! No good deed goes unpunished.

*soft spoiler* (PCP I think you can read this)

One thing Coming of Age did was set some standards about how we see Starfleet Academy which are so bizarre and impossible that it would forever wreck our notion of how anyone like regular people could possible get in. If the Mozart of warp fields can't even made the grade...well nothing makes sense after that. Taking only one candidate per location makes no sense, the need to master physics to get in makes no sense (what, every candidate needs to know how the warp drive works, even if they're going into security or medicine??), basically it's harsh to the point where it's more like Ender's Game than Star Trek.

But I see what the episode could have been, or should have been had it had more of a clue of exactly what it was trying to say. We can see that 'something about how Wesley needs growing up' is supposed to happen, but it doesn't materialize. The psych test is supposed to be the big boogeyman of the episode, but actually Wesley does well in it and it turns out to be a nothingburger. In the end he fails the entrance because someone else beat him out in straight grade points, lol! That was really the wrong way to go, it's a plain deux ex machina saying "nah, he stays on the Enterprise cause we say so." But it could have been about what really makes a Starfleet officer special. It's not just about physics, math problems, and memorizing diplomatic nuances about different species. What it should be about is what the show has been telling us all along, teamwork, being part of a unit, contributing to the success of others. The episode hints a bit at this last part, but doesn't go far enough because his self-sacrificial helping of others apparently actually cost him points and that's it.

11001001 could have been a good jumping-off point for the complicated nature of group rhythm, and Coming of Age could have even started with a scene of Wesley leaving an athletic match where his team lost, and him complaining that it was the other players' fault and that he's better than them and they held him back. This is the kind of complaint we'd expect from a boy genius: the others are too slow, not as quick as me, things like this. It could have been a group math competition even. But I like the idea that he lacks rhythm, not just teamwork attitude, since it's a skill rather than just a disposition. His failure in the entrance exam should have had more to do with his actual character - being a know-it-all genius - and how this can actually create chaos when working with others who don't share his thinking speed or work methods. And Starfleet is about how to combine your gifts with those of others to form a cohesive unit, so I could completely see Wesley not yet being mature enough or perhaps old enough to be able to do this. He needs to grow out of his own accomplishments and learn to just be part of the team. But we didn't really get any of that.

Speaking of his age, an older version of the script apparently involved Wesley celebrating his 16th birthday party, but as of the airdate of the episode Wheaton himself was only still 15 (and looks 14), so it's plainly ridiculous to pretend the character is *older* than the actor when usually the reverse is necessary to be believable on TV. To portray a 16 year old you'd typically be hiring a 17-19 year old, and that's if want verisimilitude. It could just as soon be a young looking 21 year old. But for someone who looks as young as Wheaton to go to officer's school, and soon be called Sir and command others, maybe at the age of 18 or 19, I feel like that's too young. So the episode could have even avoided all the nonsense of trying to contrive some reason why he doesn't get in by just starting off with the premise that he's already been told he's too young to be accepted, but is being allowed to do the application tests because Picard requested it to further his exposure to the admittance process. Due to his outrageously high test scores they allow it, just to see what happens. And then the drama could emerge when he's doing so bloody well that even the instructors start to hesitate and wonder if they should break the rules and let him in anyhow. Then we start hoping he makes it. But in the end a truly excellent candidate (who would have to be present) would lose a spot, and the officers realize this really can't happen and Wesley has to wait until he's a year or two older, and the outstanding other candidate is accepted, as they should be. So space-Mozart could have his chance to make enough of a splash that everyone collectively stammers for a moment, but then comes to their senses, and meanwhile Wesley's had a taste of Starfleet and leaves the event happy it went well but disappointed that he didn't make history. That kind of disappointment would also be fitting for space-Mozart; not sad about failing, but sad about not breaking every record in the book and the entrance rules to boot.

Anyhow what we got was a bit more anemic, if still relevant to Wesley's character, since his psych test was essentially about losing his dad. That being said, I also don't care for this test all that much since let's say for instance Wesley wasn't fit for Starfleet. But worse, let's say it was exactly because he's still traumatized by the loss of his dad and freaks out when he needs to leave someone behind. Is that really a humane thing to do, to make him live through his trauma again? Seems pretty stupid to me. It's like, the worst event in someone's life was being cheated on by their spouse, and the Starfleet psych test is going to be their spouse in the room cheating on them again? The whole thing is dumb to me, and far too out of bounds IMO for a simple officer's application exam.

As for the events on the Enterprise, I have far less to say about that. It's extraordinarily similar to an episode of Babylon 5 in it's S1, where basically some of the events from prior in the season get the third degree by some bureaucrat trying to portray it as treason and bad choices. It's practically a clip show from that standpoint, and I could have lived without rehashing prior episodes without adding anything substantive to our understanding of them. It's just a bunch of jerky scenes that make us irritated, or me at least.

I don't view this episode too favorably, personally.

Perhaps concocting the perfect nightmare scenario for young impressionable Starfleet hopefuls is the best way to channel the energies of Federation people that are a bit “off”? Like if Lore could get over his whole “kill everybody” thing, prepping Starfleet psych evaluations might be perfect. It could all be part of the Federation’s efforts to include the full range of its citizens’s potential.

@Idh2023, your comment cracked me up. That would indeed be a great gig for sociopathic Academy professors or simulation programmers.

@Peter G.

I guess I'll stick up slightly for "Coming of Age" in certain aspects. Maybe "greatest fear" is a bit of a misnomer. The purpose of the psych test seemed to be assessing the cadets' "occupational hang-ups" or personal issues that could lead to a hindrance of action in the field. I like your example about the cheating spouse, but I don't think Starfleet would give a damn about something like that. (If your ex-spouse was about to be assigned as your first officer, maybe they might use it--but I kid). It seems that the "psych test" is Starfleet being more concerned about issues that could make a difference while on duty. For example, they'd be curious to see how Wesley handles a situation where he might have to choose one life over another because that's a realistic situation he just might face in Starfleet. If he's paralyzed in such a situation because of an intense personal demon, that's ultimately useful information, sad to say. Worf's issue is similar--a stubbornness to "go it alone" and not rely on your team could also adversely affect someone while on duty. We see that Worf must have passed his test--as Wesley did his--but that Worf is still aware of this particular hang-up, and that can actually be helpful in a strange way. Knowing your issues allows you to better face similar situations in the future. I actually do believe Starfleet's position that the psych test is "no more or less important" than any other assessment. More than seeking out a cadet's fear, they're analyzing if that cadet could stumble in a crucial situation because of something in their psychological profile.

I definitely think we deserved an explanation as to *why* Wesley "failed" (or, at least, wasn't admitted). Your idea about his being ultimately too young is a good one, as is your theory about Picard seeing that he was admitted into the process as a learning experience or "trial run" for his mentee. (This could be how Picard got onto Quinn's radar as a possible Academy Commandant, even). Maybe there is something to your "team player" idea as well. It's a crucial skill that he still needs to master in order to be admitted. Indeed, we haven't really seen how Wesley works within a team yet. We know he can sit on the Bridge and take orders, but he's always conducted tests and solved problems by himself. Of course, we all know that the out-of-the-box reason is that Wil Wheaton was still under contract.

I didn't mind the Enterprise scenes. It was mostly just filler but at least it was more of the tense variety. I definitely think Remmick had better questions he could have asked them regarding their lapses! It's somewhat good to know that the Enterprise crew could be held accountable for their errors, in any case.

Thanks for your comment! I was curious to know what you thought about this one.

Spoilers, clearly marked, at the END.

NO SPOILERS:

I like this one. I agree with Peter that it sets an unreasonably high standard for the Academy, and that the test does not seem very fair to Wesley. And yet there are some interesting details, in addition to the points PCP mentions.

A few things:

WESLEY: Excuse me.
RONDON: You blocked my path. you Bulgallian sludge rat!
WESLEY: I'm sorry, it was an honest mistake. I apologise.
CHANG: Is there a problem here, gentlemen?
WESLEY: No, sir, I
RONDON: How dare you! I am Rondon, you despicable Melanoid slimeworm! Liar!
WESLEY: Who do you think you're bullying? You bumped into me. It was your mistake. You were at fault. Do you want this to become violent?
RONDON: Friend. I like you.
MORDOCK: A very strange reaction.
WESLEY: Not really. When he raised his hand, I saw that it was webbed. The sign of a Zaldan.
CHANG: But you became hostile.
WESLEY: Zaldans are infuriated by courtesy. They view it as a form of phony social behaviour, designed to cover true feelings.

Rondon is basically Remmick, here. Wesley realizes that apologizing rather than laying into the hostile guy is making the situation worse and worse, and so he changes tactics, shuts him down. And also notice: "it was your mistake. You were at fault." Hm.... Whose fault is it, who gets the blame....

I had forgotten this:

REMMICK: How would you characterise your relationship with Captain Picard?
CRUSHER: We're Starfleet officers who've known each other for many years.
REMMICK: Everything said here is confidential, Doctor. You can be completely open with me.
CRUSHER: About what?
REMMICK: About how you feel serving with a man who is responsible for the death of your husband.
CRUSHER: My personal feelings about Captain Picard are irrelevant to this investigation, and none of your business.
REMMICK: Then you confirm the accuracy of the log report. You violated the Prime Directive with the Edo. You deliberately interfered with their laws.
PICARD: Yes. It's exactly as I explained it in the log records.
REMMICK: All to save Doctor Crusher's son?
PICARD: A member of my crew was being held unjustly. I stand by my decision. Mister Remmick, you have talked to every member of this ship. I think you've had enough time to find out whatever it is you're looking for.
REMMICK: Are you afraid if I keep looking that I'll find you're guilty?
PICARD: The only thing I'm guilty of is allowing this charade to go on so long.

1. The episode slips in, explicitly, for those who didn't recall the backstory, that Picard was the commanding officer "responsible" for Wesley's father's death, setting us up for later in the episode.

2. The episode tells us that Picard violated the Federation's highest rule in order to save Wesley Crusher's life.

3. The episode has Picard *end the investigation* once Remmick touches this particular nerve/issue. Of course Picard was going to end it eventually anyway, but it seems it was Remmick *going there* about "Doctor Crusher's son" that was the last straw.

Then, Picard stops Jake from destroying himself, out there.

JAKE: Tell my father I'm sorry.

Doing it because of father issues, eh Jake? It must be tough, having a father whose approval you can't access.

REMMICK: Captain, you are completely responsible for that boy's life.

Yes, I think Picard knows that. Remmick was talking about Jake, right?

We later have,

CHANG: Theoretically, yes. You had to make a choice. And you did. There's no right or wrong about it. Your greatest fear has been that you couldn't make that decision.
WESLEY: Because of my father? Because Cap. Because someone made that choice, and my father died.

And then:

PICARD: Wesley, you have to measure your successes and your failures within, not by anything I or anyone else might think. But, if it helps you to know this, I failed the first time. And you may not tell anyone!
WESLEY: You? You failed?
PICARD: Yes. But not the second time.

Picard is obviously literally talking about his entrance exam, when he says he failed the first time. But since Picard being the one to give the order leading to Wesley's father's death hangs over the episode, there is a double meaning. Picard did, in fact, fail to save Crusher, the first time. But he has a second chance at it.

What we are seeing, maybe, is Picard and Wesley both responding to the death of Wesley's father, and trying to make sense of it. Picard made a decision which he regrets, and since he has been trying to find ways to keep from killing his son. Wesley has been holding onto the fact that Picard made the decision that led to his father's death, and whether he'll have to make that decision himself.

SPOILERS

In The Bonding, Wesley will tell Picard that he was angry at him, for his father's death. And it makes me think, really, of the scene with the Zaldan: "It was your mistake. You were at fault." Maybe it's not fair to hold Jack's death against Picard. Maybe it is. We weren't there, were we? We know Picard didn't mean Jack to die. Wesley knows that, intellectually. But....

I don't know why Wesley didn't pass his entrance exam, but I think on a meta level the reason he didn't pass is because there's something he still needs to work out, and he did not complete it. So far he's only learned that he's able to make the call that Picard made. But maybe that's just a classic displacement: Wesley learned that he's able to sacrifice someone to save someone else. Good. A Starfleet officer should do that. Got it. I'm not being facetious -- that's part of the job. If you want the job, you have to take that on. I'm running out of stamina for writing this, and think if I take it away and edit it I won't come back to it, so let me be clear that I'm not criticizing Picard, or Wesley for letting the guy "die" in the simulation. There's nothing wrong with entering into a dangerous profession where you have to make tough calls. The problem is if Wesley believes that the only way he can honour his father is by making the tough calls, and going into a situation where he'll have to make the tough calls. And maybe, in fact, he doesn't want it.

ALSO NOT SPOILERS

Picard and Wesley are both tempted by the Academy here: Picard offered a chance to teach, and Wesley denied a chance to learn there. But they are really both here, together, on the Enterprise, and they are there for each other. It's Out There, on the Enterprise, where the real teaching and learning happens.

@ William B:

PLUS, it's not as if Wesley is sitting around at his parent's house doing nothing because he didn't get accepted to the Academy. He's an acting Bridge officer! If anything, you'd think most of that experience would be MORE valuable than sitting in the proverbial classroom.

I still understand Academy admission remaining a worthy goal of his though. The Academy is his *foundation*, whereas real life is the construction being built on top of it. I'm sure you get the metaphor.

@ William B,

That's an interesting theory, that Remmick touched on something sensitive, and that by hitting a nerve Picard told him to F off, just like Wesley told the Zaldan to F off. But while I agree that the script is linking these two events, if subtly, I think I disagree about the significance of the events. The Zaldan's confrontation of Wesley is, first of all, a put-on, part of his testing. So the Zaldan isn't in fact even angry at Wesley in the first place. But more importantly, the social blustering that might in theory happen should a human encounter a Zaldan is also a sort of put-on, a behavior that exists in a social context but doesn't exactly contain real content about anything Wesley's done wrong. The Zaldan is supposed to act tough, the other person is supposed to act tough, and they move along. It's a 'charade' of sorts, which is exactly what Picard calls Remmick's investigation. And that's why I don't really think the question about Crusher and her son hit a nerve. Or rather, it did irritate Picard insofar as it was a personal question and a sensitive topic, but I think what drove Picard to kick him out and end the charade was the fact that it was indeed a charade. The improper and off-topic question of Picard's personal history with Beverly was the official way he could prove the questions were irrelevant and just fishing for something, since he had to overreach to try to get anything at all. And Picard, despite being aggravated by the question, reacted as he did because he was at this point fully within his rights *within the Starfleet system* to say that the questioning had gotten out of line and would be halted. And so the parallel with Wesley is that Wesley's standing up to the Zaldan wasn't just some personal act of courage but rather playing along with a game that had rules and a sort of etiquette, and likewise with Picard and Remmick, but when Remmick violated the rules and the etiquette the game was over. He was exceeded merely 'testing' Picard as Wesley was being tested, but went further into trying to make him fail. And this is why at the end of the episode we're so galled when Remmick informally applies to serve on the Enterprise, because he's basically already made himself a villain to both Picard and to us. He wasn't "just doing his job", just like the Zaldan wouldn't have been if he had just beaten up Wesley for fun. Remmick, like a prosecutor, was looking for a conviction, and took the Admiral's instructions too far. This opinion is based on my visceral reaction to Remmick, but also based on my knowledge of Picard, as well as the plain common sense telling me that the question was out of line and was impertinent, personally and to the investigation.

@ William B:

"Picard did, in fact, fail to save Crusher, the first time. But he has a second chance at it."

That's a great analysis. It adds yet another layer to how/why Picard cares so much about Wesley.

@Peter G.: "And this is why at the end of the episode we're so galled when Remmick informally applies to serve on the Enterprise, because he's basically already made himself a villain to both Picard and to us. He wasn't "just doing his job", just like the Zaldan wouldn't have been if he had just beaten up Wesley for fun. Remmick, like a prosecutor, was looking for a conviction, and took the Admiral's instructions too far."

Remmick made the game personal, unlike the Zaldan. Wesley may even have seen through the Zaldan charade and dutifully played along because he realized it was yet another test. He doesn't say this outright (just that he realized he should approach this Zaldan "correctly" instead of politely), but I suspect that when the Zaldan showed him his hand (pun intended!), Wesley not only realized he was a Zaldan, but also realized this was part of the evaluation. Like Picard, he saw through the charade.

Remmick essentially made it easier for Picard to find an excuse to end the game. He showed enough of his hand (as the Zaldan showed Wesley) for Picard to call his bluff.

Forgot to add... the look that Picard gives Remmick when Remmick softly requests an Enterprise posting is just about the best expression I've seen yet on Sir Patrick Stewart's face.

@Peter G

SPOILERS to follow!

I’m not sure I agree that Remmick took his instructions too far given the nature of what he was looking for. I think his pointed and personal questions were meant to deliberately evoke personal disdain, even offense, from the enterprise crew in order to gauge whether or not they were still human(or Klingon/android/betazoid, you get the idea). Delving into the Picard/Crusher family saga would be the very type of thing one might want to needle at if one were hunting for mind control bugs. Now, of course, the audience isn’t clued into the full details of the conspiracy as of yet, so feeling revolted by Remmick’s demeanor is the natural and probably intended impression we’re supposed to come away with, but I felt kind of bad for Remmick, he got a tough assignment and went to town on it in full blown jerk-mode, even at the expense of his own reputation. That’s sacrifice for duty if you ask me.

@ Idh2023,

SPOILER

I thought of that, actually, but my base assumption is that they had nothing in particular planned out yet. Maybe that's not right, but I won't give credit in a very early episodic story based on things other writers put into later stories. If anything I'd be willing to give the subsequent writing credit for redeeming something half-baked in a prior episode, which we do see on occasion. That said, yes I supposed having a kneejerk emotional reaction could prove someone's humanity. But then again if that was intended the writing and directing gives no indication of it, nor does Remmick show the slightest sign that Picard putting his foot down is exactly what he was looking for, and is now satisfied. Sometimes I'm willing to believe the episode had an idea that fails in execution, but here I don't even see it on paper.

I realize I’m going out on a bit of a limb here in defense of first season TNG episode, which is not a strong branch to stand on at all, but personally I got the impression that part of Remmick’s purview was to get under the crew’s skin, to make it personal in order to see what shakes out, particularly from the standpoint of the crew pushing back in ways one might expect from professionals confronted with a pushy bureaucrate. The final scene in which Remmick offers up his services as Picard stares daggers into his soul was meant, I thought, as a bit of a character reveal, hinted at earlier by his fist pumping celebration at Jake avoiding death by shuttle incineration.

I do agree that the script failed to really explain why he was acting like such a dick, which left the whole thing feeling overly vague, but I suspect that they were trying not to tip their episodic hand.

@PCP, thanks! There's a lot of meat to the backstory between Picard and the Crushers. (It also is a big factor in "Justice," but I did not want to go on about that one....)

Well -- I guess I should clarify that I wasn't pushing that hard on the parallel with the Zaldan and Remmick as being the key to what Remmick's doing. I think the parallel is there, where Chang is Quinn, the Zaldan is Remmick, and Wesley is Picard, but the main way I saw it as playing out is that Wesley and Picard both realized that they had to put their foot down or this would just keep going forever. What may be more enriching rather than looking at Zaldan and Remmick is to look at Chang and Quinn.

Quinn was vetting Picard as part of a job search, but as far as I can tell, he told Remmick that Picard and the Enterprise were seriously compromised and sent him to find out why. Remmick is an attack dog, and while Quinn believes he's a good officer, I don't think that Remmick is in on Quinn's thinking or knew why he was there. I think Quinn deliberately misled Remmick into thinking that Remmick *had to find what the problem is, and Quinn knew that a problem was there*.

Put that way, Quinn is actually evaluating two different, though related, things:

1) Is Picard trustworthy?
2) Is Picard Academy Commandant material?

Remmick didn't even know about point 2, and wouldn't know enough about Picard to really be able to tell Picard putting his foot down and kicking him to the curb would be evidence of Picard's trustworthiness. But Quinn may know that -- he may recognize that Picard's unwillingness to tolerate personal investigations, or Remmick's excessive digging, would be a sign that he would be able to cut through the red tape, the problems with cadets, and even the undefined existential threat to the Federation he lays out to Picard, once he's at the Academy. Remmick is the one asking the questions but I could imagine Quinn prompting him -- "You know, Commander Remmick, have you asked about..." -- giving him the proper ammo to get a rise out of Picard.

Now, if it seems like I'm swinging too hard to defend this episode, which I think is good-for-season-one (but not at the top or anything), the main point of comparison here is that in both the Wesley and Picard plots, they are being tested all the time, but that the tests may not be what they think they are, and the person at the top of the test uses a hostile person partway through. Given this comparison I think it may be that Quinn had something similar on his mind to Chang. Though, then again, maybe not.

SPOILER

As for Idh's point, I think that there is evidence within this episode, but it's vague enough that I'll spoiler-tag it anyway. Quinn lays out to Picard that the Federation is under threat by something from either inside or outside which is going to undermine the fabric of what they've been building for 200 years, and he needs to know if he can trust Picard or whether he's been "co-opted." So that's hanging there. What kind of "co-opted" are we talking about? One of the things Remmick asks about is the time Picard was mind controlled by the Ferengi, and he says to Data, "Your Captain is not what he appears to be." It may be that "co-opted" means Picard has been corrupted, that he's taking bribes from the Ferengi, or maybe that he's become some sort of hardliner, some Admiral Leyton type who is planning a coup. Pushing personal buttons mayn't help there. It could mean that he's literally being mind controlled, and then maybe it would help to see if he's reacting like a (non mind-controlled) human.

By the way, what are they actually talking about here in the following exchange?

REMMICK: Just how did this contaminant get aboard the ship?
WORF: By accident, sir.
REMMICK: Meaning Captain Picard has no standing procedure for this type of situation?
WORF: No. Meaning by accident, sir.

"The Naked Now" maybe? For some reason I thought they were talking about "Lonely Among Us," and was going to use that to make the case that there are more hints about alien mind control here, but now I realize it doesn't exactly sound like it.

Going to sleep shortly; perhaps I was unclear in my third (full) paragraph. I mean, Quinn may have directed Remmick to get personal, so that Quinn could observe when Picard would finally put a stop to it. Picard could pass the test partly by putting his foot down and halting the investigation, in that case, both by proving to Quinn that he's the same Picard Quinn once knew, and by demonstrating strength of character that would serve him well heading up the Academy. Remmick would not be looking for the same things as Quinn. And while Quinn would not be physically in the room, he would be in the room once Picard finally went to him to tell him to stop, and would know Remmick enough to know what to look for in Remmick's report, which I presume would be pretty thorough.

I like the idea that Picard shutting down Remmick is part of what met Quinn's criteria for "passing the test," but I should clarify that my read on the episode doesn't live or die on this point (and nor am I trying to claim that I definitely believe it's intentional, or that the episode executed it well if it was, etc.).

OK, right:

Of course, the obvious objection here: "If Quinn was looking for how Picard reacted to too-personal questioning, and was going to read all about it in Remmick's report, why is it that he offers Picard the Academy job after Remmick giving a seven-sentence verbal summary which mentions none of this?"

I don't know, man, look, it *is* season one we're talking about. But OK: I think there is some dramatic shorthand here; I assumed that Quinn was keeping some tabs on Remmick, or getting some interim reports from him, and maybe whispering in his ear, puppetmastering Remmick a little more than we see. Quinn probably is getting some information that shows that Remmick has come up with nothing, and what it is that Remmick's been doing in the crew. And Quinn is responding to Picard, in the room with him, and he can tell that this is the Picard he knew. A more detailed breakdown may not be possible; there are some odd turns in the dialogue in the scenes in Quinn's quarters:

PICARD: Admiral, if it is me you're investigating, ask me directly what it is you want to know. And please tell me exactly what is going on.
QUINN: I need a little more time, Jean-Luc.
PICARD: How much time? I won't tolerate my crew being harassed any longer.
QUINN: Remmick's full report is almost ready.
PICARD: I want to be here when he presents it.
QUINN: That has always been my intention. Commander Remmick, report to Admiral Quinn.
REMMICK [OC]: On my way, sir.
PICARD: This has been a strain on our friendship.
QUINN: I know. Believe me, Jean Luc, I regret that, but it has been necessary.

The report is almost ready, and then it is ready a few seconds later? Maybe Picard came in at 0959 hours and the hard deadline was 1000. But it may also be that Quinn is responding to Picard in front of him, knowing that he's already made his decision about Picard and trying to figure out if there's anything to be gained by spinning it out a little longer. I don't know.

Last thing:

I do think it's interesting that it's over a question about Wesley that Picard calls off Remmick's investigation, because...it's an episode about Wesley, and Picard, and ends on their relationship. When I say that I think it hit a nerve, I don't mean that Picard reacted in an overtly emotional manner, and certainly not inappropriately, to end Remmick's investigation.

"Or rather, it did irritate Picard insofar as it was a personal question and a sensitive topic, but I think what drove Picard to kick him out and end the charade was the fact that it was indeed a charade. The improper and off-topic question of Picard's personal history with Beverly was the official way he could prove the questions were irrelevant and just fishing for something, since he had to overreach to try to get anything at all. And Picard, despite being aggravated by the question, reacted as he did because he was at this point fully within his rights *within the Starfleet system* to say that the questioning had gotten out of line and would be halted."

This makes me think of

SPOILER "The Drumhead." Picard first is not sure about Satie's methods, then opposes her directly, and then she is actively investigating her, but things do change when she brings up the Borg encounter. But while the topic is very painful for Picard, what seems to happen there is that I think Picard realizes *there is simply no way out with this person except to hit her with everything he's got*. Picard responds to her personal, probing line of attack about the Borg by using a personal topic with her too, by bringing up her father. And I think he does it to have basically the intended effect -- to have her melt down publicly, causing her to be publicly destroyed. But it's not *retaliation* in a revenge sort of way, nor is it that Picard "lost his temper"; I think that Picard realized that this is it, this is the moment when the Romulan ship starts firing all disruptors and they need to fire photon torpedoes. /END SPOILER

How this applies to this episode: I do think it's important that it's a question *about Picard saving Wesley's life* that is the thing that makes him end Remmick's charade, because it's an episode about Picard and Wesley and ends on their relationship. But as you say it's because it's a personal and sensitive topic that makes him call off the charade, not necessarily that Wesley is so strong a personal button for Picard that he couldn't continue. So is there a way to make it fit in with the episode's subtle focus on Picard and Wesley's relationship?

Maybe: the bottom line is Remmick is fishing, and he decides to imply that Picard saved Wesley because he's Doctor Crusher's son. And the reason Picard saved Wesley is -- well, he says here that it's because Wesley's an officer, but we also see Picard save Jake earlier in this one, and I doubt that if Jake had somehow ended up on the Edo planet Picard would have wanted to leave him behind. Picard sees Wesley as a *person*, and someone who has intrinsic worth. Remmick, whether because he's just a jerk or because Quinn's got his head filled with notions that the fate of the Federation rides on him squeezing information out of somebody, doesn't treat the crew as people, except insofar as they have personal weaknesses to exploit. Picard values humans, and Remmick, at least in this capacity as investigator, doesn't. Picard finds it hard to relate to children, but he opens up and tells Wesley an embarrassing secret, that he failed his entrance exam the first time through, because he knows it will help him.

SPOILER "The Drumhead" I meant, "she is actively investigating him." And to be clear (I REALLY need to go to bed) when I am laying out Picard's shifting relationship to Satie, he was very strongly opposed to the hearings well before she started investigating him, and gave his speech strongly opposing the hearings right before she started laying into him. But he does still try to answer Satie's questions, to at least play along before the Admiral. It's not that Satie bringing up the Borg suddenly made a lightbulb go off that this admiral was bad news, because he already knew that, but I think the directness and personal nature of the attack is so shocking that it does change how Picard sees the situation he is in, of exactly how far she'll go, and also of how little Satie actually had to go on. I also want to be clear that Picard "getting personal" with Satie in bringing up her father is not an equivalently bad thing to say, obviously. What I meant was that I think that while I'm sure Aaron Satie's words were on Picard's mind for quite some time, I think he knew that bringing up Aaron Satie's words to undermine Admiral Satie would hurt her in a personal way and, if she did respond emotionally enough show the audience and Admiral Henry how far gone she was, lead to a very public, irreversible humiliation. I think that her laying into him in a very deeply personal way that left Picard with no hope that there was any other way to stop her. I think there are some similarities between the investigations of Satie and Remmick, but the dramatic contexts are, of course, very different. /SPOILER

I'm happy to entertain the notion that Remmick wasn't in on Quinn's full agenda, that Quinn misled him, and so forth; these are fine as head canon, but I don't see any of it onscreen, so *as analysis* I couldn't count any of it. It's basically scripting in stuff that's missing from the teleplay. That being said TNG often has hidden levels, including in the A-B structure, that seems to surpass what the episode's text actually gives us. This gives TNG a huge leg up in quality so that even mediocre episodes somehow come off as better than they have any right to. It's basically like being given 3/4 of a script: a full dose of sub-layer, and half a scene structure, so that the story is excellent while the teleplay is weak but passable. This makes even the worst episodes pretty alright for the most part, and that's great. But it's also a shame, if you see what I mean. Ah well, what can you do.

@ William B,

I was actually thinking of the episode you mentioned when I wrote my comment above.

@ William B & @Peter G.:

"I assumed that Quinn was keeping some tabs on Remmick, or getting some interim reports from him, and maybe whispering in his ear, puppetmastering Remmick a little more than we see."

Here's an out-there theory or "hot take" -- What if Quinn was *testing* Remmick, under the guise of finding something "wrong" with Enterprise, as well as testing Picard's fitness? Maybe he was worried that Remmick was part of the "conspiracy" he thinks is going on.

Wow there could be some layers to this!

"Here's an out-there theory or "hot take" -- What if Quinn was *testing* Remmick, under the guise of finding something "wrong" with Enterprise, as well as testing Picard's fitness? Maybe he was worried that Remmick was part of the "conspiracy" he thinks is going on."

I guess I have to just say my position on this is that it's pretty important (to me) to separate head canon from what's presented onscreen. Don't forget that these aren't real people, so they don't actually possess hidden motives and thoughts that we're not privy to. They possess only what's shown oncreen, whether through behavior, dialogue, or the directing. Any thought or attitude not portrayed in what aired doesn't exist. And this includes things the writer actually did intend to portray, but which hit the cutting room floor, or was mis-written, or the director and actors dropped the ball, or anything else of this nature. It ends up not being part of the story or characters if it doesn't appear for all to see.

I find it fun to fill in the blanks in my imagination, to create explanations for things for which we're given only questions, and to consider why people might do certain things. But unlike long-form character arcs, which aren't explicitly present in a single episode but definitely do appear onscreen over multiple episodes, individual motivations behind a particular action can't really be justified by off-screen material or head canon.

Maybe I'd have to watch this one again, but as far as I remember Remmick's investigation was what it was supposed to be, and my gut feeling is that he crossed a line with the Crusher/Wesley question, but this isn't explicitly made clear. I don't recall any evidence that he was instructed to cross this line or that Quinn had any motives or tactics in place beyond what he says.

@PCP

It’s so hard not to throw spoilers at you right now! But I’ll resist.

@Peter G

I agree that it’s important not to commit too much to head canon, although it’s fun and a totally legit avenue for discussion. I try to go with what was actually presented in the episode as much as possible, and keep perspective on the “what if” questions. But in this case, being TNG’s first effort at long format storytelling, I think contemplating the writer’s intent is fair game, or at least it’s a flexible gray area. With that in mind, I think PCP has an interesting “hot take” to consider with Remmick. I don’t want to go into any detail for fear of of spoilers tho…

@Peter,

Part of the reason I kept adding and adding above is that I thought I was getting a little bit out to sea and was struggling to find my way back. I guess what I want to get back to is, I think it's important to the episode's structure that it's a question about Wesley that is the last straw for Picard, but I'm not absolutely positive why that is or how it works.

Anyway, what I really originally was thinking about the Zaldan comparison in the first place is that I think the episode is saying that Picard is correct to stop putting up with Remmick, in a way comparable to that Wesley is correct to stop trying to be nice to the Zaldan. However, I hadn't initially thought about whether there is a similarity in terms of Chang/Zaldan vs. Quinn/Remmick, and then got a little carried away by the fanciful notion.

SPOILER

Maybe I somehow picked up on you thinking of that other episode, because it did sound a bit like it, the way you put it.

@Peter (continued)

"That being said TNG often has hidden levels, including in the A-B structure, that seems to surpass what the episode's text actually gives us. This gives TNG a huge leg up in quality so that even mediocre episodes somehow come off as better than they have any right to. It's basically like being given 3/4 of a script: a full dose of sub-layer, and half a scene structure, so that the story is excellent while the teleplay is weak but passable. This makes even the worst episodes pretty alright for the most part, and that's great. But it's also a shame, if you see what I mean. Ah well, what can you do."

Yeah, what can you do. I think that's part of why I keep coming back to TNG -- well, that and childhood nostalgia. It really is an amazing show in and of itself, and also has these hidden depths; and it's also frustrating that it's not that extra that much better that it could have been. If it were a worse series it wouldn't be disappointing in the way that it (sometimes) is.

S1 in particular is such a strange mess, where it's clear that there are a lot of interesting ideas, but in addition to basic incompetence it also feels like we are not being told everything -- that something from an original draft, or maybe the series bible, simply did not survive, at least not intact, to the finished teleplays.

@ William B,

"S1 in particular is such a strange mess, where it's clear that there are a lot of interesting ideas, but in addition to basic incompetence it also feels like we are not being told everything -- that something from an original draft, or maybe the series bible, simply did not survive, at least not intact, to the finished teleplays."

Oh totally. You can absolutely see this in Will and Deanna almost right away. I mean look at Decker and Ilia from TMP, who were meant to be part of the cast of ST: Phase II, and already we get all of Ilia's backstory from the series bible conspicuously missing from the screenplay, with hanging inexplicable dialogue still present about her vow of celibacy, and her relationship with Decker really not developed or clear (even though they, like, totally merge at the end). Yes, (sex!). And Will and Deanna are basically them, rebooted, and still we get little to nothing about them or Deanna's background early on in S1. And let's face it, by this episode when the Beverly/Jean-Luc/Wesley triangle is made into a big deal, they would very likely have been better off in the episodes allotted so far focusing on either one would-be couple or the other. Instead it's a mush. Picard/Riker ends up being a more important pairing than Riker/Troi! Actually I prefer it that way, but I'm just saying.

Somewhat relatedly, I must say, I have tried a *couple* times to give a pitch for similar to your "Hide and Q" post about...one of the episodes this season, but abandoned it several times because

1) the badness is so unavoidable,
2) the goodness is so dependent on future stories,
3) the goodness is so dependent on a highly personal, perhaps idiosyncratic read, that I don't know how much I can justify it *actually* being in the episode,

as well as a few other reasons that cannot really be discussed without actually finishing the pitch. (And, for the record, it's an episode I've already written about on here, so...it's fine, it's not like I'm taking some brave insights to the grave.)

And yeah, it's funny about Riker/Troi. Not only that but except for "Haven" and a brief scene in "Encounter at Farpoint," is there actually anything about them so far? With Picard/Crusher, I think there's something, in bits and pieces, though still not much.

(And The Naked Now, for both Riker/Troi and Picard/Beverly.)

@Peter G.: "I guess I have to just say my position on this is that it's pretty important (to me) to separate head canon from what's presented onscreen. Don't forget that these aren't real people, so they don't actually possess hidden motives and thoughts that we're not privy to. They possess only what's shown oncreen, whether through behavior, dialogue, or the directing. Any thought or attitude not portrayed in what aired doesn't exist. And this includes things the writer actually did intend to portray, but which hit the cutting room floor, or was mis-written, or the director and actors dropped the ball, or anything else of this nature. It ends up not being part of the story or characters if it doesn't appear for all to see."

That's fair. Head canon is a lot like fan fiction--it has no bearing whatsoever on the real, filmed presentation. Still, I didn't know what I was missing before I found out that Saavik was supposed to be a Vulcan-Romulan hybrid! Sometimes it's fun to speculate, and also to consider things the writers intended to convey but never made it onto the screen. It's pure supposition, of course!

@ William B:

"And yeah, it's funny about Riker/Troi. Not only that but except for "Haven" and a brief scene in "Encounter at Farpoint," is there actually anything about them so far? With Picard/Crusher, I think there's something, in bits and pieces, though still not much."

"(And The Naked Now, for both Riker/Troi and Picard/Beverly.)"


I'm loath to remind anyone of this episode, but the only moment I enjoyed in "Angel One" was when Troi and Tasha were giggling like two catty gossips at Riker's expense. It shows particularly that Troi can be at ease around Riker, and that Riker isn't afraid to be embarrassed in front of her. They may have put each other in the friendzone, but friendship is a better foundation than resentment.

Without giving away spoilers, the reason that Riker and Troi are fresh in my mind now is that I just finished "Skin of Evil" last night.

@ PCP,

"Still, I didn't know what I was missing before I found out that Saavik was supposed to be a Vulcan-Romulan hybrid!"

Yes, but I think in that case the reason I pursued the point was because there's material onscreen left over from when that fact was part of the story, and without these details it would make some of the scenes a bit inexplicable. So for instance in ST:II we see Saavik quite shocked at how the Kobayashi Maru ends, which without any explanation looks like a Vulcan being emotional. We shouldn't she just nod and say the test was logically impossible to win and therefore the outcome inevitable, and just walk away? And why in ST:III does she so quickly volunteer to mate with Spock, and why is this never brought up again? If they were both full Vulcans, would this not amount to an informal marriage ceremony? And then we have the scene in ST:IV where Saavik is supposed to be shown as pregnant with Spock's child, which they cut for various reasons. But if you take the cut backstory, the cut explanations, and the cut scene, you end up with stuff that seems to have no purpose. So to me the films do contain that material, even if they cut out the actual explanation. And something similar is the case for TMP, where the cut Ilia's backstory but where the dialogue still implies you know it, which is a scripting error. The finale of that film also follows up from her race's habits, which instead just ends up as weird sci-fi that doesn't connect to the characters.

But here in Coming of Age, I don't see remnants of some prior treatment where Admiral Quinn had these scheme planned out, or where Remmick knows more than he's letting on, or where Quinn is keeping Remmick out of that stuff. To my eyes, everything onscreen makes sense and nothing seems to be weird or indicating the cutting room floor. So at that point additional motivations that would *deepen* the story but aren't necesssary become pure head canon, rather than script archaeology.

"I'm loath to remind anyone of this episode, but the only moment I enjoyed in "Angel One" was when Troi and Tasha were giggling like two catty gossips at Riker's expense. It shows particularly that Troi can be at ease around Riker, and that Riker isn't afraid to be embarrassed in front of her. They may have put each other in the friendzone, but friendship is a better foundation than resentment. "

It's too bad that PCP made this comment and my response is SPOILERS for him, but here we go:

SPOILERS

Puts me in mind of the end of "Conundrum," come to think of it.

Does Wesley not have any other shirts?