“Home Soil”

I would rate this episode a 2 at best. I agree they try to make a somewhat scientific analysis of the phenomenon but the story lacks dramatic tension and terror-interest.The feeble threat of the magic, glowing crystals leaves Romulan bad guys or even Ferenghi to be desired. At least those enemies have a culture and don't talk like some infantile mix of Tonto/Tarzan:(paraphrasing) "Me noble savage. You bad guy. Hurt feelings. Make sad." This level of communication from members of a supposedly morally and intellectually superior "culture"? Then comes the highly anticipated (from 40 minutes back)abject apology from Captain P. C. Picard and, as you note, this to a species that seems as confused and arrogant as the humanoids they condemn. As a humanist, I say dig 'em up and make 'em into jewelry.

The plot was kinda ok, but looking at a bunch of actors trying to interact with a speaking cube it's a bit ridiculous.

And how many times they are going to introduce an "energy life-form" that's able to do whatever they want to do with it? At least Q is charismatic, but when you get stuff like this crystal and the skin of evil (gosh) I just want to roll my eyes and move on to another episode.

Wooden acting aside, this is one of TNG S1's finer entries. The science feels plausible, the silicon-based life form, despite not being the first such life form ever discovered in Trek-land (Horta, anyone?), was a nice touch, and if only the actors came across jubilant instead of imitating pine trees in a drought...

The threat of the crystal critter isn't there, but the scientific intrigue (to me) makes up for it.

3 of 4 stars

This one was a bête noire of another great reviewer, Tim Lynch, who described it as having 'no redeeming features' - For once I'd disagree, and after the last two dreadful instalments, this is a welcome lurch back in the right direction.

The Enterprise is called to a Terrforming project whose Leader (according to Troi) is hiding something and that discovery may threaten the survival of the Enterprise!

This is a strange amalgamation of the good and bad. The concept is an intriguing one - a genuinely alien life form and although later CGI development make the effects of the 'Microbrain' Silicon based life form look quite quaint now, it's a genuinely interesting concept. The early scenes on the Terraforming colony are also quite interesting and well played as Data gets trapped and has to out think the mining laser which has already killed one of the Terraformers. The late Walter Gotell (General Gogol from the James Bond series) is a first rate guest star, and the other male Terraformer with a classic 80's mullet is also fairly competent.

However, the episode as a whole never really executes the concept as well as it could. The pacing, especially in the middle, sags, and the wooden performance of the Third Terraformer, who delivers every line with exactly the same intonation (although she is easy on the eye) hampers any sense of emotion. The end result seems a little too pat as well. However, it's an eminently watchable entry and one of the stronger episodes in the season. Most definitely much more than an 'Ugly bag of mostly water' - surely a highlight of dialogue from Season 1 - not without serious flaws but a big improvement on the last two instalments. 2.5 stars from me..

I do wonder why Tim Lynch hated this episode so.

I just rewatched this episode -- and in fact, in some senses, it may be the first time I ever really watched it, since I don't think the episode registered to me when I was a child. Somehow, I found it enthralling. I appreciate why people find the Trekkian humanism (or rather, all-life-forms-ism) overstated and silly, but what I appreciate about this episode is the genuine commitment to the idea that life, especially intelligent life, and especially unusual and heretofore undiscovered intelligent life, is worth treating with not only respect but with awe. I like DPC's point above that this is not new material in terms of having a silicon-bsaed life form -- and indeed, the episode here seems to owe a lot to "The Devil in the Dark," not just borrowing the basis for the life form but the dedication to understanding even the strangest and most seemingly alien of life forms. More so than in "Where No One Has Gone Before" (the other most awe-inspiring episode), I feel very much like this crew is in Starfleet, on this ship because they really genuinely are explorers in the best sense, excited and fascinated by the possibility of learning something new. I love that every character (possibly excepting Worf) -- both terraformers and Starfleet personnel -- recognizes immediately the gravity of destroying a life form, even a bizarre one.

As the episode's effect wears off, I do see significant flaws. Not only is the jeopardy premise routine, I think that it undermines the things that I had admired about the episode so much earlier. "The Devil in the Dark" didn't require the Horta to threaten to blow up the Enterprise to push the crew into brokering a peace agreement. And indeed, the idea that these guys are not only intelligent life but also ostensibly superior to human life (by more than three centuries) is a bit much.

It ain’t no “Devil in the Dark”, but nevertheless, it’s a very good episode. For the most part, solid plot, good characterization, improved acting. Not perfect (for instance, the female technician was flat and Riker’s scene with her seemed unnecessary), but definitely a step in the right direction. I do think the Enterprise-in-jeopardy premise could have been dispensed with though. Overall, one of TNG’s better efforts to emulate TOS.

3/4

A pretty good concept but ropey direction of the actors and editing choices, plus in one scene Data gets emotional. 2.5 for me.

Not a bad episode, but hardly a great one. It just seemed to be a bit too slow and had too many cliches thrown in. The initial antagonism of the terraforming chief, the mystery of the random dude's death, the discovery of life, and then a little war. The episode just seems to jump from topic to topic without putting enough thought into it.

It didn't help that in this instance, Picard et al really were as stupid and arrogant as the microbrain suggests. As soon as it was discovered that the microbrain was sentient, why wasn't it immediately a suspect in random guy's murder? (Answer: because the plot completely ignored said murder 5 minutes after it happened) Also, more importantly, why did Picard continue to keep it a prisoner in order to study it? That doesn't sound like the diplomat that Picard is. Pretty stupid of him, and hard to blame the microbrain for going to war under those circumstances either.

At least there wasn't annoying preachy speechifying about how evil 20th century Earth was in this episode.

On the positive side, "ugly bags of mostly water" was a pretty clever line, the methodological study of the microbrain was interesting albeit kinda simplistic, and the concept of the silicon based life form itself was interesting enough to make this a decent episode.

Reading between the lines-- fascinating to see Enterprise crew respect the alien life form so much they shut down the entire Terraforming operation--once they realize it is life--just a different from themselves-- ugly "bags of mostly water"

What about the "alien" life on earth? Different than us? Would we treat it differently if we arrived from another planet to terraform ancient Earth? hmmmm

Lately because of the influence of my buddhist wife I have myself had a chance to study another form of life (ants) that crawl all over our house. In the past with a brush of my hand I could wipe out a few of them with ease. Yet now I find it very hard since when you look closely they are intelligent life beings (small, they don't make much noise) yet they are alive. So a few days before this episode I made a vow no more conscious killing of these lifeforms. I still squash mosquitos as they are attacking me.

When I saw this episode it reminded me even though life often cannot communicate with us...imagine what it would tell us if it could? For me this is the beauty of Star Trek--the human culture must make way for other life forms to live along us especially the smaller less fragile ones. If someday we encounter giant evolved ants on other planets...we will be forgiven.. will we?

PS. Reminds me of Spock's mind meld of Horta and the miners eventually ending up living side by side with the Horta and benefiting from the partnership.

Again, another episode with an interesting premise, but the execution of the script was quite poor. Season 1 was bogged down by bad acting, bad directing, and bad production. Ugh.

An episode that at least takes the story forward in unexpected directions - from looking like a straightforward murder mystery it spins off into a new path with the discovery of the life form. And while the jeopardy element indeed fails to develop much dramatic tension, there is nevertheless a satisfactory resolution.

And "ugly bags of mostly water" has to be the line of the series so far. A definite move back in the right direction - 2.5 stars.

Worf's response to the computer of "I wasn't asking you." Classic.

It is amazing that a pig-headed murderous being ignored peaceful negotiations and accuses the crew of being arrogant and Picard just lowers his head and smile
Iike "Yeah you're right." in actuality that creature is dangerous and arrogant and untrustworthy and they are the ones who need three centuries to clean up their act and mature not the Enterprise crew.

I agree that as far as silicon based lifeforms the Horta from Devil in the Dark has this beaten by a long shot. Mind you the Horta was economic with its words too ('No Kill I').
Much of the praise for this episode is related to its apparent hard sf feel and certainly in terms of the tenets of hard sf-ie one dimensional characters it succeeds .
I think Tasha may have had a few more lines than average.
I would give this 2 stars and was mostly bored.

"It is amazing that a pig-headed murderous being ignored peaceful negotiations"

But it states that it did try to communicate peacefully several times, with the messages in the sand etc. while the humans thought nothing of it because they couldn't understand, the being took this as a rejection of peace as the humans continued to kill it/them. I could understand why it felt desperate and distrusing. It does seem a little TOO dismissive of the explanation that the humans simply couldn't understand the messages though

Hello Everyone!

@Trek

I have seen this three or four times over the decades, and I always thought it wasn't that they didn't understand the messages, it's they they didn't want to understand them. Because if they looked deeper, it might threaten their terraforming project. Perhaps not all of them, but some of them, turned a blind eye to the possibility. If they found something, all the work they'd done up to that point would be for naught.

Just a thought... RT

If the lifeforms need saline water to be interconnected, how were they able to work collectively to disable the Enterprise? The shipboard sample didn't have it.

The opening sequence where the Director REALLY REALLY REALLY doesn't want visitors, and Troi tells Picard that he's hiding something and is panicky about having visitors...

Um...

That the Director was having a big ol' orgy with the female technician (or even the entire staff) would also explain the situation.

Especially considering the reason for his panic wasn't really ever firmly established.

That would also explain why the female technician is EXTREMELY gracious upon the Enterprise crew arrival... it smacks of over compensation.



Anyway, it did look kind of goofy when Captain and company were in sickbay bent over staring at the life-form, but it nevertheless seemed like the way real people would act.

Okay, the woman's acting job was HORRIBLE and the Director's panic at the thought of the away team coming down was never adequately explained. Otherwise, i enjoyed this one a lot. 3 1/2 stars from me.

Within the many episodes of "life forms we don't understand," this was a fair entry.

I'm OK with the actress who played the female terraformer. They wouldn't strike me as a particular lively, extroverted, animated bunch.

I'm on this kick of being driven crazy by what the crew knows and what it doesn't. They can know very specific things sometimes, and other times seem almost clueless about things they should know.

While they may not know the details of terraforming, Data and the landing team treated it like some kind of mysterious alchemy. For Pete's sake, terraforming in that century ought to be a pretty common branch of science.

But if nothing else, the episode gives us the classic line: "Ugly bags of mostly water." Clever touch to throw the "ugly" in there. By Season 1 standards, a pretty decent show.

One final thought. Someone also mentioned the emphatic way Riker was pronouning the name "Aldea". Looking and listening closely, you can tell "Aldea" was being looped in post-production and Frakes was actually saying "Aldair", which was the planet's original name and changed after the first day of shooting. Dubbing always makes things sound more pronounced than normal.

But yes, the expositing between Riker and Yar was a little overwrought.

The beginning of this episode flat-out sucked. All the false dramatic tension and misdirection caused by General Gogol's manstrating was a waste of time. Poor Troi. Like all she had to do was report on all those red herrings.

The actual discovery and investigation of the life form was well done and more the mission of the Enterprise. (Though I spent my first viewing about this heretofore undiscovered idea of a silicon based life form screaming "REMEMBER THE HORTA???" lol)

There's a good story here but wooden guest acting, bad directing and writing undermine the final product. The 1st half made it clear there was a mystery -- what are the terraformers concealing? But it was needlessly slow to develop. The second part when the ship is dealing with a serious threat from a new life form is better.

Cool concept of this kind of inorganic life and I liked how the Enterprise crew methodically went about establishing this conclusion. And damn, that universal translator is good! I don't see the Horta as a suitable comparison to this life form (as it is organic) but I actually think the Companion ("Metamorphosis") is perhaps more similar. "Ugly bags of water" -- appropriate description for humankind in this case!

Thought the dialog between the microbrain and the Enterprise crew seemed reasonable (after getting past the formidable capabilities of the UT). The microbrain thinks humans are arrogant and it is defending itself -- can't ascribe human qualities to it -- though it tells them to get back in touch in a 200-300 years or something -- maybe a touch of arrogance there!

Some of the plot machinations are arbitrary -- as they have to be in this type of story -- like Riker short-circuiting the lights from a nearby panel. Shouldn't the microbrain be able to deal with this type of action if it can basically control the ship?

2.5 stars for "Home Soil" -- some points for creativity here but really hard to tolerate the weak acting of the terraformers. The old head scientist wasn't too bad, but his misdirection at the start of the episode seemed misplaced -- he didn't know what he had on his hands, but he could hardly think it was something of tremendous value that he'd keep it secret. What would he do with it? Fairly typical TNG S1 here -- a decent idea but poorly executed.

Mediocre episode but data shouting "CAPTAIN! OUR SENSORS..", leaning over the desk and getting very excited was incredibly out of character.

"We're just about to start pumping.


And filtering the water."


Watching the crew entranced by this woman's comatose acting while the opening credits were rolling wasn't a flying start to this episode, and frankly that monotone monolog turned out to be eblematic of the whole story: a decent sci fi idea executed with all the tension or excitement of a documentary on gargling.

And why can Data read a database in ten seconds, but can't dodge a laser and talk at the same time?

There was nothing howlingly wrong with this episode; it was simply plodding.

I've always had a soft spot for this one. The premise of terraforming a planet so that it can sustain life is plausible enough. The team overlooking a potential life form in order to get the job done quickly is something we can identify with as well. The early scene where a man is murdered by a laser drill was fairly intense, and again when it attacked Data.

One plothole I saw was that the lifeform evolved pretty quickly in a short period of time. It was a little silly when it began speaking to the crew but I thought this was a decent mystery episode.

"Ugly bags of mostly water". I've remembered that line for 25 years.
Worf getting mad at the computer, classic Worf.

Murder mystery solved. The new species did it. Don't worry, you'll never see them again.

This is a great season 1 episode. First off, no Wesley! Second, this is the first we have of Data being a badass. Yes , there is some scenes that I would characterise as "Shakespeare in the park", see Kurt Mandi's entrance. (8:31). Overall compelling.

(15:10) Patrick Stewart shows this dude how to act!

Great Picard stuff throughout this episode!

This was one of my favorites of the first season. By virtue alone of showing the awe, curiosity, and respect upon discovering a threatening new life form.

Best episode of the season so far and maybe the best overall. Watching Data in the room with the lasers is epic. The sci fi in this episode is pretty solid as far as Star Trek goes. The crew interacts well and the acting from the main cast is good. Biggest drawback is it’s a little on the slow side. 3 stars.

8/10 "ugly bags of mostly water" I remember those iconic words to this day.

A great episode. I feel TNG has fully met its stride. I missed a bit in terms of how the terraformers knew and didn't know about the lifeform. I confused this episode with another where multiple people die. ???

I just read over the other reviews I didn't find the woman Terraformer to be wooden at all. I thought she played the impromptu tour guide role the plot gave her scientist character well. As usual Star Trek made her teary and emotional over the potential genocide on the planet but, hell, for once that reaction was healthy. The main Terraformer continued to bluster and pontificate.

The lifeform on the planet was more advanced than the Federation. It found a way to communicate after all. The federation didn't. And it was able to infiltrate the computer.

It's interesting how TNG's first season takes TOS tropes but then puts its own spin on them. For example, TOS' "The Deadly Years", where Kirk and the gang suffer rapid aging, becomes "To Short a Season", where a character suffers "rapid onset youthfulness".

And with "Homesoil" we have TNG's spin on TOS' "Devil in the Dark", only instead of a mining operation destroying a biological life-form, we have a terraforming operation destroying an inorganic life-form. In both episodes, "first contact" is made with the species, the species launches a counterattack, the "miners" are schooled for being selfish, thoughtless brutes, and an ecological/environmental argument is subtly rolled out.

"Homesoil" isn't as good as "Devil", of course, but it does some things well. The terraforming operation feels like one of those "Wrath of Khan" era scientific facilities, alone and doing research out in the outback. There's also a nice "globe" special effect (a big 3d model of the planet), Data gets a neat action sequence, Crusher gets some good "investigate the nature of this thing" scenes, and the "alien life-form" is used to generate a genuine sense of wonder, beauty and discovery.

Yes, this alien's "hijacking of the ship's computers" is hokey, as is most of its speech, but with the first season of TNG, like TOS, we at least see an attempt to create interesting, non bipedal, non anthropomorphized aliens. In this regard we've had space jellyfish in "Farpoint", weird energy aliens, mongoose and cobra aliens in "Lonely Among Us" and "Where No One Has Gone Before", Q, the Crystaline Entity, the networked Binars, the methane (?) breathing blue guys in "Coming of Age", the black oil creature in "Skin of Evil" and the insects in "Conspiracy". I don't think any other season of TNG did more to veer away from "forehead of the week" aliens.

Don't have much to say, here.

Am struggling a bit to get through Season 1. I'd forgotten how less than wonderful it was.

The episode mostly held my interest. My favorite part was when Data had to dodge the laser and ended up destroying it.

I also liked how the crew was interested and excited about the life form, and worked together. Everyone played a part in the resolution. We also get some teamwork vibes from the crew on the planet. Perhaps it's meant to deliberately parallel the way the life forms work together in the saline solution.

Got a bit preachy in the typical ST way, but not overdone. A good, solid offering.

Oh boy! Where do I begin? Shades of the Horta and a prefiguration of the nanites. At least the nanites and the tech crisis they generated were interesting. To say that this was a soporific would be an understatement.

But more than that, it's technically deficient. Firstly, it's filmed practically without stage light. In one scene Picard's red uniform is so dark that I couldn't tell his rank insignia from the stars outside the window. Is that Orion's belt I see? Oops one too many stars.

Secondly, it definitely has the look and scripting of a really early episode. The characters regularly seem to be stepping on each other's feet. And who was responsible for that early bit (before the opening credits run) where Deanna's cleavage is sent hurtling directly toward Camera 1? She is then followed in that respect by all the male characters and their less impactful cleavages.

I really think that someone switched on the holodeck and programmed it to produce a simulacrum of an episode before Code of Honor or The Last Outpost. The only problem with that theory is that Wesley is wearing his rainbow striped velour pullover rather than the baggy pink sweater knitted by the director's grandmother.

I agree with Jammer's rating. This is a rare 1st season gem of an episode. It's just basic, essential idealism and star trek at its core: protect the innocent---protect life. It also manages to instill a sense of wonder and awe in the subtle magic of the universe and life in all its forms, which again is star trek at its most basic and most compelling. Sometimes the simple stuff is some of the best.

But what makes this work so well for me are the performances, especially from the guest stars and especially from the female scientist Kim. She is played by the actress Elizabeth Lindsey, and she just does a fantastic job injecting this episode with the required charm and emotion.

This is maybe a good episode to highlight the difference between what Star Trek was and what it is now.
There are no bad guys. The people who caused the problem did it by accident and hurt when they find out what they did. The problem is slowly worked on by scientists and diplomats working together and in the end it's leads to understanding with a new lifeform. That is the episode. It is quite beautiful.

So far I'd say this was the best S1 had to offer. Which isn't saying much, I wasn't riveted or blown away but it was...watchable.

Wesley's jumper - still the blue-grey thing with the red/gold/blue striping.

It's hilarious and surreal how excessively the lady colonist cries. It's way beyond being bummed by what actually occurs in the episode.

She's pretty much having a nervous breakdown.

"It's hilarious and surreal how excessively the lady colonist cries. It's way beyond being bummed by what actually occurs in the episode.

She's pretty much having a nervous breakdown."

Why wouldn't she? Her life's work was just canceled with no warning, and she found out that they were unknowingly committing genocide. I'd be pretty messed up after learning all that too.

If ever an episode needed a B story, this was it. That’s not to say it wasn’t interesting - it was, in a wholly scientific way. It just lacked the kind of tense or humorous subplot that would have made it more memorable.

Pluses: humans being described as “ugly bags of water”! The gradual realisation of intelligent life. The genuine regret of the terraformers at what they had done wrong. Good science.

Minuses: the declaration of war by an incomprehensible inorganic life form. The use of regular crew members in little bits without giving any of them a chance to shine in this story. The lack of tension or an engaging subplot.

2.5 stars. Next episode please...

Added note: two English actors with “gravitas” in this. One can act really well (our own Jean-Luc), the other overacts in a ponderous way. I think someone like Dinsdale Landen would have played Mandel just beautifully.

It's like the Genesis device, but takes years instead of seconds.

I thought is was not bad. The third terraformer is a bad actress. She was excited about terraforming when we first meet her, and from then on her lines were delivered in a monotone wooden fashion. Also in these earlier episodes, Data's make up was so chalky. And his eyes were extra creepy. When he fell down, at one point, I really noticed his normal human colored hands vs. his white face.

I think people are being too hard on actress Elizabeth Lindsey. Her lines were obviously all re-dubbed, possibly not even by her. Her body language was fine and in character. Dubbed voices never sound natural.

I really don't get why the Federation invests resources in terraforming. Aren't there enough Class M planets suitable for colonization?

"I really don't get why the Federation invests resources in terraforming. Aren't there enough Class M planets suitable for colonization?"

Maybe the Prime Directive is in issue where a planet already has indigenous life? I am reminded of their scrupulousness in selecting the Genesis test world for fear of eradicating even microbial life. Perhaps full scale colonization of naturally evolved class M worlds is verboten? Would make sense.

Though that doesn't explain what they did with the Skreeans in DS9 so damned if I know.

I should add though that assuming I am right about the Prime Directive it would make sense for the Federation to go out and terraform worlds and then deliver settlements on those worlds to individuals on a waiting list who have signed up for colonization. It would be sort of like how modern developers work. It would make sense as a means to relieve population pressure amd also address land use issues in a supposed "post scarcity" utopia. Maybe the Skreeans were headed for one of those new build Class M worlds right off the highway.

There may be issues in play other than whether a world is class M. For instance maybe there is a fairly wide range of planets under the umbrella of class M, which are technically breathable but not ideal. So they might be doing tweaks to the environment to change gas levels. I also imagine an important element in terraforming would be introducing plant and animal life so that they're safely and fully integrated into the ecosystem. The fact that a planet has breathable atmosphere and reasonable temperatures doesn't also mean that it contains an ecosystem fully capable of supporting a new human (or alien) population. Which brings me to the next issue: for budget reasons the colonies we visit always contain humans, but I imagine the Federation is laboring to find worlds for all sorts of member races, and perhaps some of them have rather stringent requirements for habitation.

But then it wouldn't be called terraforming, but eg betazediforming. :)

William, you want to know something? Everybody's human.

@Peter G.

Except Spot (Data's cat). Spot is a superior being.

There's a joke in there somewhere about Spot being superior enough to anticipate switching genders as the series goes on, but in making it I'd probably be poking the bear.

A joke about switching genders? Isn't that kind of in bad taste considering the last mass shooting of lgbtq people happened less than 48 hours ago?

This ep could have been much better. The “actress” (and I use this word in the loosest possible sense) who portrayed the female terraformer was so godawful that “painful to watch” is an apt description. She apparently was Miss Hawaii a couple years previous, and TV newsreader on a small Idaho affiliate station perhaps a career path more in keeping with her “skills”. The concept of a life form so different from us that we can’t recognize it as alive is wonderfully full of possibilities… oh, Season 1. What will we do with you???

I thought this was a little slow, and the Enterprise crew should certainly not have needed to be taught the "baby level" basics of terraforming. I was also confused by how the life form needs light “where it comes through the sand,” but in the schematic we saw earlier, the water looked way too deep for that.
Nevertheless, the positives outweighed the negatives: the terraforming team were treated with respect, not as stupid or uncaring jerks - even the director, once he was convinced, became contrite. When the life form went into its final shape, it was absolutely gorgeous. And finally, I'd have to give this a plus just for "ugly bags of mostly water," a line which will live forever.

I liked this one. I appreciated the sense of scientific discovery and wonder throughout the episode, from the excitement over terraforming to the analysis of the alien life form (even though that consisted mostly of just asking the computer). How often do you get to see a show in which two characters geek out over a screen of information about underground hydrology? It’s all pretty clunky but endearingly earnest.

I’m a bit puzzled by the various commentators siding strongly against the alien life form. From its point of view, its planet has been invaded by hostile aliens who ignore its attempts to communicate and are busy demolishing the environment it needs to live. I’d say it’s entirely justified in trying to fight back, and Picard’s entirely right to adopt an apologetic stance towards it!

The TNG cast is just too big at this point. They really go out of their way to give the actors at least a few lines, but it's to the show's detriment. Too many people crowded into scenes whose lines could have easily been given to another actor.

Nitpicking time. The famous line has been mentioned around a dozen times in these comments but nobody yet correctly quoted it - "ugly giant bags of mostly water".

Just got weigh in on the 3 terraformer actors: the female terraformer was fine, clearly doing a good job playing a character on barbiturates. Comparatively, the head terraformer seemed to take inspiration from Karnas in the previous episode and just went about snarling and doing hammy shouting. Mullet guy did a the best job all round I’d say.

Just rewatched this episode after many many years... It's not quite as bad as I had originally thought, especially when compared to some of the downright awful episodes that plagued Season 1. A bit melodramatic at times, but overall watchable.

Poor whatsisname who died in the beginning. I thought the lady scientist's tears were for him, but no, not by a long shot. And Mullet Skywalker was far more bothered about Data destroying his laser drill: "a year's work!".

Aside from that, these characters felt real. Maybe because this episode had some room to breathe, so the supporting cast could be given a few lines here and there to give the sense that this was a real team doing a real job. For example, the director subtly needling whatsisname and the subtle response. What's going on there? We don't know and never will. What does it have it do with the plot? Nothing. Love it.

Although, the terraforming walkthrough was a little bizarre. Just the spontaneity and extent of it. "Welcome, Starfleet officers. Now please watch this five minute holographic promo from our marketing department." I did enjoy it, though, and that planet prop was great.

Gotta say, those Starfleet uniforms look much better in dim lighting. I wish that they were always dark red and dark gold like that. I'm a little embarrassed that we're sending our spacefarers out to meet new species wearing those toy-like colours.

Man, TNG’s first season has a really uneven keel. Just when you think you’ve got a good handle on where an episode is going it zips off in some other direction. Episodes like, say, Justice, seem like they’re going to be about freaked out, sexed up, 80s style jazzersizers out to get Wes in all his pubescent glory, but then BAM! along comes a trans-dimensional god-like being and some trampled flowers and off we go into “wait, wha?” city. Or The Last Outpost where we think we’re about to get treated to the first showdown between the dreaded Ferengi and our dashing, if dorky, heroes, only to have some dusty old AI bot pop out of nowhere and start inexplicably swinging halberds around in the cringe induced mincing wreckage of Ferengi embarrassment. Or take Lonely Among Us in which murderous, cannibalistic diplomats running wild in the corridors of the Enterprise are somehow NOT the episode’s main challenge.
Here, once again we have a very odd season one script that begins to feed us a pretty telegraphed plot about hubristic mad scientist types, only to leave that dangling thread unpulled, leaving the story feeling like it was underdeveloped before going into production. Dr Mandl acting sketchy and hostile was never fully fleshed out, as though the original concept for the episode involved the science team deliberately killing or at least ignoring the destruction of the crystal creatures, but the later interactions with Mandl and his team leave us with a pretty reasonable impression that they were unaware of any harm they were doing, as though at some point the plot was adjusted away from that idea, leaving the doctor’s hostility to the arrival of the Enterprise as a kind of residue of the script’s first draft. It doesn’t help matters that the rest of the terraforming team seem genuinely shocked at both the presence of life and the notion that they were possibly killing it. Ultimately the allusions to some undetermined conspiracy are narratively unnecessary, bearing very little on the story. It’s all pretty weird.
That being said, this is a pretty solid season one entry. The attempt to reframe the audience’s perspective by suggesting that life as fundamentally alien as grains of sand could have equal value to more familiar organic forms is the sort of trekkian story that asks the audience to consider more than what’s narratively there. I can dig it(see what I did there?).

Some stray observations:
-ugly giant bags of mostly water is a pretty sick burn. But these crystal creatures sure are pompous jerks, YOU come back in three hundred years you low rent Horta knockoff!
-Data sometimes emotes a bit still, I guess his whole deal was still in development.
-the ship in peril stuff was meh, way less engaging than the other issues at play.
-Benson is rocking one hell of a mullet, he looks like half the kids I went to elementary school with, ah the 80s, what an age for hair…

TOS inspiration: a whole heaping pile of Devil in the Dark.

2.75/4 expositional terraforming tutorials.

There’s a scene in “Home Soil” right in the middle of the investigation, where Picard, Beverly, Data, La Forge and Wesley are examining the bell jar. The things in the jar are getting brighter, the hum is getting louder, we see LaForge and Picard staring down at the jar in close-up, there’s a huge flash of light which *deactivates the magnifier* and then—then—the Computer announces that it’s processing a translation request. Yikes! Goosebumps! The glowing microbrain starts spewing a garbled, technologically disjointed vocal gibberish, and everyone hauls ass out of there. Picard, safe in the corridor, orders a reinforced quarantine on that damn lab. He announces to the Bridge that their discovery is not only life, but intelligent life as it's now trying to communicate. The scene is astounding. It’s brilliantly directed, it’s tense, it’s urgent, and I was enthralled.

For only the second time watching TNG’s first season (the first being “Where No One Has Gone Before”), I was utterly absorbed in the story. I wasn’t just amused; I was genuinely interested. And for the *first* time during my TNG watch, I was on the edge of my seat. (I even loved getting my little vicarious tour of the terraform station. “Home Soil” actually brought me close to being a science nut for once.)

This episode is filled with scenes that crackle and dialogue that’s vital, moving things along quickly with spectacular acting. Sir Patrick Stewart is the best one of all. Just watch him work. See how he approaches every scene and is *there* as Picard in the moment, like Leonard Nimoy played Spock.

Picard is on fire in this episode, on point with Mandl’s mealymouthed bullshit and sharp as a tack while guiding his crew in the investigation. He’s a real-life Dixon Hill here! I guess those detective programs he loves so much came in handy, because he’s a crackerjack throughout the discovery phase.

Walter Gotell as Mandl, by the way, was entertaining as hell as the put-upon, gruff Frankenstein in over his head with stubborn denial. Gotell matches Stewart scene for scene and is just as dynamic.

I particularly love the *Criminal Minds*-like profiling scene where Picard sternly takes reports from the others. In this sequence, Yar finally kicks ass as a security officer, ready with her findings about victimology, and Troi is just as on point, not missing a beat with her analyses of haughty scientist-engineers and starry-eyed designers. What boobs? I was too focused on the plot for once! To give Corey Allen a shoutout, this was a wonderful little bit of intense direction as well. Allen reads the script—and the room—quite well. TNG hasn’t had too many other scenes that literally command your attention. Bravo.

The Murder in the Hydraulics Room (now that’s an Agatha Christie title, but I kid) leads to a great little scene where the sexbot and La Forge pick up the pieces. There’s an eerie moment where La Forge, in close-up, is looking down into a tube where we first see the microbrain doing its lighting-up thing. Allen’s framework here is inspired. Look at the use of lighting, the camera angles, and LeVar Burton’s subdued but still awestruck line delivery. I never thought an episode of TNG would see me geeking out over film techniques, but there you go!

Another nice touch was the matte painting / setting of the station on that purple planet. It was simultaneously drab and beautiful. “Beautifully drab,” there you go. You can even see the purple exteriors *though the windows* of that interior set. That was well done.

Primarily, “Home Soil” is another Star Trek check on humanity’s hubris. Mandl (named after Gregor, perhaps?) is your typical egomaniacal mad scientist, basically using a “tamed” version of our favorite Genesis Torpedo. His ego gets the best of him, of course, and he lives in utter denial about the harm he’s causing the microbrain creatures. The thing is, * he is a scientist* and not just a bureaucrat. He knew damn well what was going on, I’d argue, but chose to ignore it. He probably started to make a lot of the same scientific discoveries that Picard and the others did during their murder investigation, but immediately covered it up so that his project could get all the glory and he would reap the rewards of success. This is the “arrogance” that the microbrain is talking about, but I think something got lost in translation. What it really meant is something more like “hubris” rather than arrogance. (More on the microbrain dialogue in a bit.)

Counter the "Gardeners of Eden" (great term, that) with the Enterprise crew. Crusher, La Forge and Data apply the scientific method pretty perfectly. They don’t jump to any conclusions. They use the computer to back up what they’re finding and to get a second opinion. Their most valuable declaration is “Unknown,” which Data says several times. Their detection methods determine the existence of “inorganic life” without any clue that this is what they’re ultimately going to find. They essentially start by investigating a murder and end by stumbling onto something pretty damn incredible and challenging. They have no preconceived notions, only their experience about what has happened in the past. It’s the opposite of ego and hubris here. We need more scientists like *this*.

“Home Soil” is not perfect. Its last act starts to get pretty damn hokey in fact. There is a litany of problems with the execution of the microbrain story's resolution. I think the biggest mistake the creators made is having it speak. The voice is terrible, for one thing. You know what would have *really* been fucking scary? Having the Enterprise Computer’s female voice speak the microbrain dialogue, but in its usual cold, matter-of-fact manner. That would have been delightfully eerie. Instead, we get cheesy.

The actual words that the microbrain speaks actually aren’t too bad at all. In fact, the thing gets a great line: “Bag who drilled in sands of home had to die!” I mean, it’s not quite on the same level as, “He tasks me, and I shall have him,” but it’s still a fantastic little supervillain line. Still, I think the actual communication harms things here. It seems to be only necessary because the microbrain’s “motives” needed to be explained.

BUT really, they didn’t.

Here’s where the jeopardy angle sinks the episode, as Jammer points out. It seems like Picard only returns the creatures to the planet because he has a gun pointed to his head. How much better it would have been for the crew to achieve the same result (returning the microbrain) but through their *own* deductions without any communication at all. Okay, you can only realize the things are intelligent if they communicate, but the “language” could have been a lot more symbolic (like those symbols in the sand that the Norse guy was talking about) and a lot less damn preachy. TNG falls into the old trap of lecturing us again, when really, the show was doing a *fine* job, up to that point, of actually showing our foibles and the perils of cutting corners instead of getting up on another soapbox and *telling* us things we already discovered not ten minutes ago. The ship-in-jeopardy plot, and the choppy microbrain’s speech, only served to drive home an extra dose of smugness.

It’s not the best episode of the season, but it’s currently in second place. I got to get a space-station tour from a bright-eyed cutie, play detective along with the crew, and seek out new life and a new civilization. I believe that’s why we watch Star Trek.


Speak Candidly:
LaForge -- “Data, what’s going on?”
Data -- “Too much to explain.”


My Grade: B+



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

Some idiot guest star is piloting a “runaway shuttlecraft.” Quick, we have to save that shuttle! Those are expensive!