Descent
Data rushes from a game of poker with Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawkings on the Holodeck to the bridge after he receives a summons. Commander Riker leads an away team that includes Data and Worf down to Ohniaka III. Everyone there seems to be dead One of the killers, a Borg, is found behind a locked door.
A fight breaks out between Riker’s team and the Borg. A few more Borg quickly join the one that Data found. Most of the Borg are killed thanks in large part to Data who gets angry in the midst of the fight. The last remaining Borg transports all the neutralized Borg and himself off the planet and back to their ship. The Borg ship evades the Enterprise and quickly departs the star system.
The senior bridge officers meet to discuss what they saw during the recent encounter with the Borg. Data is not present because he asked to be relieved of duty so that he could try to make sense of what happened to him during the fight with the Borg.
Captain Picard meets with Admiral Nachayev to discuss how to respond to the Borg attack. She also wants to know more about his dealings with the Borg known as Hugh a year before.
Data meets with Counselor Troi to discuss feeling angry. He also admits to feeling what he describes as pleasure after killing the Borg.
Data tries to recreate the experience of fighting the Borg back on Ohniaka III but due to the Holodek safety protocols he doesn’t feel threatened and doesn’t get angry. He is discussing turning off the safety protocols with Geordi when the ship is called to red alert.
The Enterprise locates the Borg ship that they encountered recently. The Enterprise follows the Borg ship and gets close enough that the Borg turn to fight. Three Borg beam aboard the Enterprise. One crew member and two Borg are killed. The remaining Borg is interrogated by Data but the Borg turns the questioning around on Data and gets him to admit that he enjoyed killing.
Crosis, the Borg, and Data depart the Enterprise in a shuttlecraft. They evade the Enterprise and open a conduit and disappear before the Enterprise can get close enough to enter the conduit. Geordi figures out how to open such a conduit and the Enterprise jumps through one. They have traveled more than 65 light years in less than a minute.
The Enterprise locates the shuttle but it has been abandoned. Captain Picard sets up search teams to look for Data and Crosis. Picard, Geordi, and Troi are on the same search team. They investigate a structure that they find. Moments later they are surrounded by Borg and then greeted by Lore who explains that he and Data, collectively known as the Sons of Soong, plan to destroy the Federation.
Thoughts
Stephen Hawking played the holographic version of himself in the opening scene.
I have not seen this episode before but I knew what was coming at the end. I didn't know exactly how it would happen but I knew that Lore would show up eventually.
There is a bit of bait and switch n this episode. The talk of Hugh (see 5.23 I, Borg) could certainly lead one to believe that the new leader of the Borg would be Hugh.
There are parts of this that moved much faster than I think they should have. The crew goes from being completely puzzled by how the Borg are traveling vast distances in the blink of an eye to do doing it themselves.
The Borg spaceship in this episode is not a cube. The Borg have also changed in other ways. They each have names now and seem to think independently. Crosis explains that it is the One who gave him his name. The One has to be Lore. There is no mention of the sleep command that Data gave the Borg in 4.01 The Best of Both Worlds - Part 2.
This is a decent episode. I can see how it might really excite some Trek fans. I'm curious to see what other short cuts they take in the next episode.
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