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The Masterpiece Society (TNG episode)
Encyclopedia
"The Masterpiece Society" is the 113th episode of the science fiction
television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
. The episode has an average rating of 2.8/5 on the official Star Trek
website (as of October 20, 2007).
saves an isolated genetically engineered
society from immediate destruction, the cultural contamination resulting from their interaction may still ultimately doom the colony.
.
The planet
Moab IV, very near to the fragment’s projected path, is inhabited by humans and is now in danger. Picard's communications go unheeded until he explains the danger. Only then does the leader Aaron Conor (John Snyder
) reply. Conor states that he doesn't want the colony evacuated, but that the Enterprise can plead its case.
Conor explains to the away team that his people have been genetically engineered with selective breeding
over seven generations in the pursuit of perfection. The founders of the colony intended to create people without flaws who would live in a "Masterpiece Society". Conor’s people, including Martin Benbeck (Ron Canada
), believe that their colony is so perfectly balanced and tuned that all the accomplishments resulting from following the guiding principles they have lived by for over 200 years would be jeopardized if they evacuated.
Accepting this, the away team decides to investigate alternative solutions to the problem. Enterprise Chief Engineer
Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge
is introduced to Hannah Bates (Dey Young
), a scientist. Deanna Troi
takes a tour with Conor.
Hannah shows Geordi an idea she was working on for a multi-phase tractor beam
. The two theorize that by using her idea along with the Federation’s technology and the immense output of the matter/antimatter reaction warp core which powers the ship's warp drive
propulsion system, it might be possible to modify the ship’s tractor beam, enabling the Enterprise to alter the course of the fragment. Conor reluctantly allows Hannah to go to the ship; this is the first time a colonist has left.
Troi states many colonists are willing to risk staying behind. Picard asks Troi to help Conor see the reality of what could happen to the colonists and their society if they choose to stay.
In doing so, Troi develops a further attraction to Conor and has a romantic encounter. She later considers it a mistake and says they should not meet again.
Aboard the Enterprise, Geordi and Hannah have no luck with their research, as moving a massive object on such a scale has never been attempted before. Geordi finally realizes that a compression routine similar to the technology used in his VISOR
can break the energy pulses down enough so that the emitter elements of the tractor beam will not burn out. He reflects on the irony of the fact that technology from a blind man’s visual prosthetic device – a man seen as disabled who would have been terminated as a fertilized cell in the genetically engineered colony – supplies the answer which saves the society. After several days of work the two are successful in developing the enhanced tractor beam, but unfortunately it won’t be able to change the fragment’s course enough to save the colony. However, Geordi and Hannah report to Picard that also augmenting the biosphere’s structure with portable shield generators supplied by the Enterprise should reinforce it enough to withstand the gravitational effects. When told of the plan, Conor resists the further contamination of his society with 50 engineering teams from the Enterprise to set up and maintain the generators, but ultimately he decides to allow it.
After very nearly losing all life support on the Enterprise the core fragment is deflected 1.21 degrees, barely the amount needed, and the fragment passes without incident.
Soon after, the last of the Federation engineering teams leave for the Enterprise, and Conor congratulates Geordi and Hannah. This proves premature though, when an alarm goes off indicating a breach in the biosphere. After examining her instruments, Hannah reports that the reinforcement wasn’t adequate and the biosphere has cracked, adding that the colony is going to have to be evacuated after all. Geordi’s VISOR fails to pick up what she claims to have detected however, and she is forced to admit she fabricated the whole thing because she has decided she wishes to leave. She tells Geordi she has struggled with the realization that the outside world has progressed very rapidly while her supposedly superior genetically engineered society has lagged behind. She requests asylum aboard the Enterprise and to leave Moab.
While he knows that due to the finely tuned nature of the engineered society it may be destroyed, Picard decides that, although he can warn the dissenters of the consequences of their actions if they choose to leave, he must ultimately extend asylum to those who request it, as to do otherwise would be to suppress the human right of free will. Troi accompanies the captain down to the planet to discuss this with Conor, although she feels obligated to inform Picard of her mistaken liaison.
Ultimately, despite Conor's pleas, Hannah and 22 other colonists decided to leave with the Enterprise.
As the Enterprise breaks orbit, Picard reflects with First Officer
Commander
William Riker
on how this affair is a clear example of the necessity of the Prime Directive
; the intervention of the Federation to save the colonists may have, in the end, proved just as dangerous to the colony as any core fragment could ever have been.
's Fourth Prelude in E Minor.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
. The episode has an average rating of 2.8/5 on the official Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
website (as of October 20, 2007).
Overview
In this episode, while the crew of the USS EnterpriseUSS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
saves an isolated genetically engineered
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
society from immediate destruction, the cultural contamination resulting from their interaction may still ultimately doom the colony.
Plot
The Enterprise has been assigned to the Moab sector to track a stellar core fragment from a disintegrated Neutron starNeutron star
A neutron star is a type of stellar remnant that can result from the gravitational collapse of a massive star during a Type II, Type Ib or Type Ic supernova event. Such stars are composed almost entirely of neutrons, which are subatomic particles without electrical charge and with a slightly larger...
.
The planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
Moab IV, very near to the fragment’s projected path, is inhabited by humans and is now in danger. Picard's communications go unheeded until he explains the danger. Only then does the leader Aaron Conor (John Snyder
John Snyder (actor)
John Snyder is an American voice actor best known for voicing Daisuke Jigen in The Castle of Cagliostro and Kazundo Gouda in Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG...
) reply. Conor states that he doesn't want the colony evacuated, but that the Enterprise can plead its case.
Conor explains to the away team that his people have been genetically engineered with selective breeding
Selective breeding
Selective breeding is the process of breeding plants and animals for particular genetic traits. Typically, strains that are selectively bred are domesticated, and the breeding is sometimes done by a professional breeder. Bred animals are known as breeds, while bred plants are known as varieties,...
over seven generations in the pursuit of perfection. The founders of the colony intended to create people without flaws who would live in a "Masterpiece Society". Conor’s people, including Martin Benbeck (Ron Canada
Ron Canada
Ron Canada is an American actor. He began as a television newscaster during the 1970s in the Baltimore-Washington area mainly on WBAL-TV Channel 11 in Baltimore, until the early 1980s when he became an actor. He was a tour guide at NBC studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza...
), believe that their colony is so perfectly balanced and tuned that all the accomplishments resulting from following the guiding principles they have lived by for over 200 years would be jeopardized if they evacuated.
Accepting this, the away team decides to investigate alternative solutions to the problem. Enterprise Chief Engineer
Chief Engineer
In marine transportation, the chief engineer is a licensed mariner in charge of the engineering department on a merchant vessel. "Chief engineer" is the official title of someone qualified to oversee the entire engine department; the qualification is colloquially called a "chief's...
Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge
Geordi La Forge
Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge is a regular character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and its feature films, played by LeVar Burton...
is introduced to Hannah Bates (Dey Young
Dey Young
Dey Young is an American actress and sculptor.Young was born in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, the daughter of Pauline, a sociologist, and Donald E. Young. Her older sister is actress Leigh Taylor-Young; her brother Lance is a writer/director. She attended Kingswood School...
), a scientist. Deanna Troi
Deanna Troi
Commander Deanna Troi is a main character in the science-fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and related TV series and films, portrayed by actress Marina Sirtis. Troi is half-human, half-Betazoid and has the psionic ability to sense emotions. She serves as the ship's counselor...
takes a tour with Conor.
Hannah shows Geordi an idea she was working on for a multi-phase tractor beam
Tractor beam
A tractor beam is a device with the ability to attract one object to another from a distance. Since the 1990s, technology and research has labored to make it a reality, mostly at microscopic level. Less commonly, a similar beam that repels is called a pressor beam or repulsor beam...
. The two theorize that by using her idea along with the Federation’s technology and the immense output of the matter/antimatter reaction warp core which powers the ship's warp drive
Warp drive (Star Trek)
Warp drive is a faster-than-light propulsion system in the setting of many science fiction works, most notably Star Trek. A spacecraft equipped with a warp drive may travel at velocities greater than that of light by many orders of magnitude, while circumventing the relativistic problem of time...
propulsion system, it might be possible to modify the ship’s tractor beam, enabling the Enterprise to alter the course of the fragment. Conor reluctantly allows Hannah to go to the ship; this is the first time a colonist has left.
Troi states many colonists are willing to risk staying behind. Picard asks Troi to help Conor see the reality of what could happen to the colonists and their society if they choose to stay.
In doing so, Troi develops a further attraction to Conor and has a romantic encounter. She later considers it a mistake and says they should not meet again.
Aboard the Enterprise, Geordi and Hannah have no luck with their research, as moving a massive object on such a scale has never been attempted before. Geordi finally realizes that a compression routine similar to the technology used in his VISOR
Visor
A visor is a surface that protects the eyes, such as shading them from the sun or other bright light or protecting them from objects....
can break the energy pulses down enough so that the emitter elements of the tractor beam will not burn out. He reflects on the irony of the fact that technology from a blind man’s visual prosthetic device – a man seen as disabled who would have been terminated as a fertilized cell in the genetically engineered colony – supplies the answer which saves the society. After several days of work the two are successful in developing the enhanced tractor beam, but unfortunately it won’t be able to change the fragment’s course enough to save the colony. However, Geordi and Hannah report to Picard that also augmenting the biosphere’s structure with portable shield generators supplied by the Enterprise should reinforce it enough to withstand the gravitational effects. When told of the plan, Conor resists the further contamination of his society with 50 engineering teams from the Enterprise to set up and maintain the generators, but ultimately he decides to allow it.
After very nearly losing all life support on the Enterprise the core fragment is deflected 1.21 degrees, barely the amount needed, and the fragment passes without incident.
Soon after, the last of the Federation engineering teams leave for the Enterprise, and Conor congratulates Geordi and Hannah. This proves premature though, when an alarm goes off indicating a breach in the biosphere. After examining her instruments, Hannah reports that the reinforcement wasn’t adequate and the biosphere has cracked, adding that the colony is going to have to be evacuated after all. Geordi’s VISOR fails to pick up what she claims to have detected however, and she is forced to admit she fabricated the whole thing because she has decided she wishes to leave. She tells Geordi she has struggled with the realization that the outside world has progressed very rapidly while her supposedly superior genetically engineered society has lagged behind. She requests asylum aboard the Enterprise and to leave Moab.
While he knows that due to the finely tuned nature of the engineered society it may be destroyed, Picard decides that, although he can warn the dissenters of the consequences of their actions if they choose to leave, he must ultimately extend asylum to those who request it, as to do otherwise would be to suppress the human right of free will. Troi accompanies the captain down to the planet to discuss this with Conor, although she feels obligated to inform Picard of her mistaken liaison.
Ultimately, despite Conor's pleas, Hannah and 22 other colonists decided to leave with the Enterprise.
As the Enterprise breaks orbit, Picard reflects with First Officer
Executive officer
An executive officer is generally a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.-Administrative law:...
Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
William Riker
William Riker
William Thomas Riker, played by Jonathan Frakes, is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe primarily appearing as a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation...
on how this affair is a clear example of the necessity of the Prime Directive
Prime Directive
In the universe of Star Trek, the Prime Directive, Starfleet's General Order #1, is the most prominent guiding principle of the United Federation of Planets...
; the intervention of the Federation to save the colonists may have, in the end, proved just as dangerous to the colony as any core fragment could ever have been.
Music
The piano music being played at the concert when the earthquakes hit is ChopinFrédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
's Fourth Prelude in E Minor.