The Inner Light
First impressions: Snore... What a turkey of an episode!
And then I was surprised to see the tale garner so much support
from vocal fans and rate highly with them. My latest view:
Yep, it's still a turkey.
Mystery's Victim
As one can easily expect, the way into my view of things takes after
the view that our main protagonist Picard presents as the tale gets underway.
We greet a mysterious probe in space with a great degree of curiosity.
Then we get disoriented and find ourselves in a village full of strangers,
hoping to get back to the technological future that we are familiar with.
Like Picard, I greatly feel the need to break out,
discover the bigger picture, confront the forces
that have set the situation up....
and perhaps something more unique to my perspective - find the
futuristic adventure I always hope for when tuning in to Star Trek.
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The "Alternate Realities" box set
features The Inner Light along with:
- "Alternate Lives, Part 1" retrospective production featurette
More info & buying options
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Well, none of that was actually on the itinerary for this episode
in any serious or satisfying way. Here,
Picard seems locked in an episode-long
capture and escape formula, and every time he wishes he were elsewhere,
I wish I was watching another episode... essentially the
"Marco Polo" character motivation mistake.
Even after we learn everything that is going on in the episode,
I still can't get on board with it. There's something very, very wrong
with the concept of this thing grabbing the first suitable man it can find,
and forcing him through a long fake life in a virtual world.
I would say the first big conceptual mistake committed by the episode
was to try to make a mystery out of what was going on, while Picard
was the unwilling, non-consenting victim of it. Perhaps the episode
would have fared better had the crew continued with their curiosity
and investigation of the probe, and realized that there was something
to be discovered if someone volunteered to undergo a virtual experience.
We would only have missed a short period of "mystery" that isn't particularly
riveting while it lasts, and we could have traded that in for a sense
of purpose: exploring and satisfying our curiosity, which would have
held my interest much, much better.
When we first see Picard in the second of the five acts, he's had
five years experience-wise to acclimatise to the simulation, but we the
audience have only had ten minutes. He may have been ready to give in
and live the local life, but on my first viewing, I kept hoping for
a good futuristic adventure to open up all throughout the first half.
By the second half, I'd lost hope, realising what this would turn out to be:
Another episode of a crewmember trapped away from the ship for the whole hour,
a very much over-used cookie-cutter formula for Star Trek.
As such, I knew this episode would disappear amongst a collection of others
with similar main plots, all of which I considered very mediocre and below average.
Another nail in the coffin for this episode's fortunes with me
is that at no point does it allow any of the regular characters
to make any decision or take any action that has an impact on the journey
that the probe is forcing everyone through for the entire 46 minute episode.
I find this incredibly stifling and disengaging;
central characters absolutely NEED to be able to impact events
for me to rate a story highly.
I think we've seen too many lower-tech devices enjoying too strong
an advantage over our Federation characters for the bulk of various stories' screen time,
particularly in this season.
And yes, Picard can make choices
within the limits of the virtual life, such as possibly abstaining from having
any children at all ever, but nothing to avert its determination to make him
experience 45 years in the simulation, or whatever the time frame was.
He discovers and is faced with the destruction of the planet, but has no choices
to affect or alter that fate within the simulation.
Neither does he ever seem to define any achievable goals for himself within that life
that make an interesting struggle for us to want to watch, unlike Christopher Pike's
rejuvenation of spirit in Trek's far superior original pilot
The Cage.
Puddling along with family trivia just doesn't cut it.
All more reason for me to disengage with the story.
Ageing make-up is one more necessary evil the episode couldn't really avoid,
and I think it turns out a bit dodgy. It seems best when hiding in low light,
such as outdoor nighttime scenes. But with the planet's sun slowly going nova
and heating everything up, often extra light is thrown on the make-up,
and honestly, I don't see a great and moving Patrick Stewart performance
emerging from underneath at the end. In that last scene, he looks too much
like Ruafo the villain from Star Trek 9: Insurrection.
I go to other episodes/movies for my favourite Patrick Stewart performances.
Recycled Culture
I will say, I don't think it's a bad concept to find something left over
from a civilization that used to orbit a star that has since gone supernova.
It's actually intriguing to dig in and find out what they might have been like,
what their culture was.
And part of what disappoints me is that it doesn't seem like Picard actually
found another culture. The people he gets to know could be from Utah or New Mexico
without changing anything significant in the script or on the screen. They have music like ours,
instruments like ours, trees and villages and councils like ours. It doesn't even
seem like anything here is sourced from other cultures or places on the Earth;
it's all American. I'm still not quite sure if the name "Kataan" refers to
the village and/or planet and/or supernova. Not very impressive.
I will give Jay Chattaway a nod for the music on this episode though.
The Lullaby #1 cue for penny-flute (or Theme from The Inner Light as it is perhaps better known)
has become a much-loved fan favourite, and is a nice, enjoyable melody. I like it
even better with piano accompaniment or extra embellishments, as in some of the
other versions it has appeared in over the years. But I expect it stands out
in viewers' minds not because it is so great, but because there is such a strong contrast
between its very defined and deliberate presentation here and the usual bland and boring
sound mush that we viewers had to put up with as the rest of Star Trek TNG's musical output
during these later seasons. I would say that there are many more wonderful examples of
better music during TNG's early years, and had this penny-flute solo featured 2 or 3 years
earlier, it may not have been picked up on so easily or latched onto so tightly by fans.
Essentially letting the theme take the place of dialogue during the final scene also
helped it pop out into fan consciousness also. Well, it's a nice piece of music in any case,
and almost a relief that something with some musical creativity behind it could escape
onto the show at this point. But to return to my main point, it doesn't necessarily
say "alien culture" to me. It still seems very American. This is perhaps the second of the
major conceptual mistakes of the episode - if it's all about a chance to explore
something of a lost alien culture, the show's creators need to really put some
thought and work into creating a more sizeable dose of what it is that makes
that culture unique.
Family Values Marketing
So, why is this episode so popular? I have a partial theory some may find unusual....
The episode first aired in late spring 1992. Earlier that year I had attended
a seminar where I learned about a survey-based study that broke down the population
of North America into several demographics that indicated some of their core
values and motivations. There were some smaller finely-tuned groups, like the
Societally-Conscious thinkers, or the Achievers who succeeded in business and other areas.
One large group was the Emulators who tried to get somewhere by copying others,
and often missed the mark, or simply were not very original. But the largest group
of all encompassed about 40% of North Americans, and my suspicion was that if
we looked separately at U.S. and Canadian citizens, the percentage would be even
higher in the U.S. alone. This group was labeled "The Belongers", and they were
characterized as wanting to fit in somewhere more than anything else, to be accepted
and loved and raise a family, to lead a solid, hearty life. Well, the signs
were all over that a lot of top marketers got wind of this report, and anyone who
wanted to appeal to the masses began pandering to this largest group as best they could.
I remember the politics of the day featured candidates who all seemed to be trying
to repeat the phrase "family values" more than their opponents, and they all had
different ideas about what that actually meant, if any ideas at all. The U.S. presidential
debate between Bill Clinton, George Bush Sr., and Ross Perot
was a classic example of a "family values" soundbite festival.
Well, if you take a good look at "The Inner Light", you will see Picard's virtual life
living out the "family values" ideal of the Belonger fairly accurately, almost as if it too
had been assembled by a marketing committee to appeal to America's largest demographic.
And there's certainly a place for all that family good stuff in most happy lives.
I just wasn't happy about it forcing its way onto Picard uninvited and virtual, and then
replacing all the other things I usually preferred in a Star Trek episode. I think
Star Trek did manage here to nail something special for a very large demographic that
may not normally tune in or warm to its usual offerings, but did so in a way that
missed the mark for some of us who respond better to many of the other things that
were more normal Star Trek.
Perhaps, in refraining from giving Picard any kind of Sprechhund related to
his normal life, or any more direct way of letting the audience in on his
innermost thoughts about the simulation or what his goals were to be
about it or within it, he ends up being presented almost like a blank slate
upon which members of the audience might project their own ideas of what he
may want or intend to do at various stages, or what his motivations or
true attitudes are. Perhaps the Belongers in the audience are content
to believe he wanted the family he never had, and be pleased with the episode
and moved by it.
I tend toward the opinion that he feels trapped in the simulation,
and then just makes the best of the situation. In other words,
this family isn't really what he would have wanted, had he been
able to choose... he settles for it and for this life because he doesn't
have much other choice. And that certainly isn't a dynamic that
would lead me to hail the episode as anything in the top 50% of Star Trek,
let alone as its best.
So, I think we have here an episode with a unique gimmick and only enough
successful character motivation and plotting to end up at the low end of mediocre
(where I would gladly leave it), yet it can also often manage
to be a bit of a feel-good episode for North America's Belongers,
those within Trek's usual audience as well as those outside of it.
What I find far more upsetting than the episode itself is the constant
overrating that it has received thus far, especially when those who
swoon and pontificate so much about its supposed greatness, then go on to
assume that opinion as a given amongst almost all Star Trek fans
and cannot actually give any substantial reason why "The Inner Light" should be
elevated above other episodes that take care of the basics so much better.
I wonder if many viewers are able to project something onto this episode
that isn't really there, something related to the core motivations of the Belonger?
And I worry that too many viewers undervalue the discernment required to recognize
that being victimized in this way should never be an acceptable path
to... well any fantasy, whether it is fitting in and having a family,
or learning about "another culture" that is virtually identical to the one
you're already a part of. People can aim better, and Star Trek can rise
much higher than all that.
This one is definitely not universally strong.
I find it neither particularly enjoyable nor particularly interesting.
A couple of important adjustments might be required for it to pass my tests and work for me,
but ultimately I really do prefer a great many other Star Trek story directions and ideas.
This one, as a take-it-or-leave-it, I'd rather just leave.
International Titles:
Deutsch: "Das Zweite Leben" | (The Second Life)
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Français: "Lumiere Interieure"
Español: "La Luz Interior"
Italiano: "Una Vita Per Ricordare"
Season Five Rankings:
The rankings for this season may be the most controversial yet.
Though it wasn't that hard to separate the winners from the losers,
I've been markedly less favourable towards some that others hold in high esteem.
Well, I just don't feel like season five delivered as well as other seasons,
and often dropped the ball even when the initial story ideas were actually good.
The first part of the season had the strongest gimmicks, and quite a few stories here
work well enough to keep their heads above water. The middle of the season was
the most troublesome, as a lot of the gimmicks here were not even a good draw
to begin with, and we often ended up with uninspiring stories as a result.
I found it to be a bit of a slog to get through this section at times,
although there are still some nice highlights.
The final third of the season is much spicier. Chances are much higher that viewers will
either love or hate an episode from this section, but not be on the fence about it.
Again, many of my picks here won't be the ones most fans expect.
So here it is, from favourite to least favourite:
- Ensign Ro
- The Next Phase (This is an interesting, varied, eventful sci-fi adventure
with the perfect twist for exploring philosophies of
the afterlife, having its cake and eating it too.
Well paced, extremely memorable, and finding all new dynamics for scenes
with our regulars being themselves and working things out. Classic.)
- The Game (This one has long been a favourite - one of Wesley's best episodes.
Its conspiratorial and heroic adventure strengths are archetypal,
working like a charm. Ashley Judd plays a compelling, smart, likeable
character that works great with Wesley - the pair doing better than
pretty much any other romances on the show before or since,
including Riker's frequent bouts. Plus it has something to say
about the addictive nature of gaming, a new and hot topic at the time.
I'd say all that was worth letting Wesley
show up the rest of the crew and save the ship just once more,
for old times sake. ;-)
Honestly, I didn't think I would hold this one in quite such high regard this time through,
but it still won me over yet again.)
- A Matter of Time
- Redemption (Parts 1 & 2)
- I, Borg
- Cause and Effect
- Conundrum (The central premise of ship-wide amnesia and
an untrustworthy mission allows a number of
avenues to be explored - the episode sticks to a few
interesting ones, and knows which ones to tie up
quickly and which to stretch out longer.
A bit more polish, partly to pick up the pace,
could have elevated it a bit further.)
- Unification (Parts 1 & 2)
- The Perfect Mate
(Yes, the set-up is corny and full of clichés,
and yes, everyone insists on allowing every clumsiness to produce more trouble
whenever the story wants it,
BUT, it's all in service of asking some very deep and powerful questions
about what any man or woman might ideally want,
how flexible we might want our partners to be and at what cost,
and who we are when we're alone.
Plus we've got great guest stars in Famke Janssen and Tim O'Connor,
and we get some of the best Jean-Luc and Beverly scenes ever.
I like this one better than a lot of the other episodes this season.)
- Cost of Living (This one is like a breath of fresh air and fun
after a slew of stuffy, much-too-serious episodes.
The theme is just as important, or more, than any recent ones,
tackling the balance of fun versus duty, of spontaneity vs. scheduling,
and what it is that makes one feel happy and/or fulfilled.
Thus, Star Trek optimism lives here.
A more sensitive treatment today might tone down any [hopefully inadvertent]
resemblances to the twisted curriculum appearing in schools these days,
but Majel Barrett and Brian Bonsall work very well together,
and they are well-balanced philosophically by the rest of the team.
This episode made me smile and laugh more than most others,
and I shall reward it with a nice healthy rank.)
- The Masterpiece Society
(The set-up of the colony contains the primary mistake;
subsequent correct actions that naturally dismantle that set-up
should not be apologized for.
It's pretty silly for those traditionalists in the colony to expect
others to contort themselves into painful behaviours just to maintain
the very silly core mistake at the heart of their colony.
Making this into a romance for Troi is a bit gratuitous;
it doesn't really fit properly.
But it's nice that we have the example of this episode
over which to clarify our thoughts on these issues:
a pleasant episode that [stay confident guys!] goes the right way in the end.)
- New Ground (This episode's main issue feels a bit "canned",
as though it's done the rounds of many other 1980's TV shows,
yet there is much merit to Alexander's re-introduction (and re-casting) here.
Thus, an extra thread left dangling at the end of last year's
overpacked "Reunion" is picked up and receives much definitive exploration,
and what we did not know at the time was that this rich avenue
was only just beginning...)
- Silicon Avatar (While the audience was easily sold on the outstanding gimmick of
a second confrontation with the Crystalline Entity, which produced a gripping action opening
and a strong backbone for the bulk of the story, my reverence for TNG writers
suffered its first and greatest shattering when I learned
how their primary excitement for this story
was a completely different gimmick: the obsessive emotional fixations of
the guest star Dr. Marr, which take many scenes and the ending below
Roddenberry's utopian standards for humanity and
only manage to lay a rotten egg for the audience;
it's tiresome to watch this woman over-react at EVERY turn!
So we end up with two gimmicks at cross purposes,
pulling the episode's rank in opposite directions.
I'd say the better gimmick gets the bulk of the screentime,
and salvages the episode into a decent standard,
but the ending is too judgmental.
Riker, Worf, many members of the audience,
and for all we know, her son,
may indeed all agree with Dr. Marr's final actions,
even if repulsed by her motive or manner.
Hell, Picard too may well have come to agree with her,
if she'd let his communication experiment continue and it hadn't worked.)
- Time's Arrow (Parts 1 & 2)
- The First Duty (Despite being a very well-made episode, with some great
Picard-Boothby scenes on location, the central concept is a nose-dive
for our long-term interest in the characters. Really, not great.
I give this one some props for boiling down to a question
of truth versus secrecy, and I guess we have Michael Piller
to thank that it wins that battle. Had we got the ending that
Moore and Shankar were pushing for, the story would rank much lower
on this totem pole, for sure. Either way,
I've always MUCH prefered Wesley's other S5 episode "The Game", hands down, no contest.
I mean really, with all the complaining about how the rest of the crew
are supposedly put down if Wesley solves the central problem[s] in
his episode when the focus rotates around to him, why should the audience
[or Moore, Shankar, or Piller] so desire to see Wesley put down?
It does not elevate those writers or the audience much in my view.)
- Disaster (This episode seemed to be employing a gimmick that regularly made the rounds
through every TV series of the 1970's and 1980's, with Keiko and Worf's subplot
being the most cliché part of the routine and the part that had me rolling
my eyes the most in boredom. My favourite thread concerned Troi, O'Brien, and Ro
on the bridge. But there are a lot of scenes throughout that miss the mark;
no one should be singing. Or screaming. On the plus side,
nearly everyone solves some challenge, and all ends in a feel-good tone.)
- Hero Worship (Decent as a weekly visit to our favourite starship with a bit of a mystery,
but this one is pretty dull in its main concept and its execution.
Not much energy, humour, or genuine tension here.
Too easily forgetable. But I do still enjoy mysteries that I don't remember.)
- Darmok (Can you say "artificially contrived challenges"?)
- The Inner Light (Wake me up when Picard does...)
- The Outcast (Riker's androgenous fling)
- Imaginary Friend (This is a pleasant family hour which generates almost
no interest whatsoever, particularly with its slow opening
and its by-the-numbers exposition of a typical imaginary friend situation.
This gimmick doesn't have a naturally strong draw,
and requires new central characters while our regulars are sidelined to a degree.
On the plus side, we really do explore some depth to the truth
of imaginary friend dynamics, and tackle alien contact from
yet another interesting perspective.
There's something worthy to this one in the end.
Too bad its gimmick wasn't exploited more creatively or expertly
or appealingly from the beginning.)
- Ethics (Worf's operation)
- Power Play (A fascinating explorative opening soon devolves into
a very dull hostage situation with moronic dynamics, unhealthy imagery,
and a deflating ending. Not something to rewatch often.)
- Violations (A backward idea pollutes the otherwise interesting arena of telepathy,
and turns into an hour of mostly just bad imagery.
Skipping this one is probably a healthy idea.)
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