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Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 27: The Child [VHS]

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Marina is a wonderful actress, no doubt about it. It all revolves around Counselor Troi, an Empath from the planet Betazed, gets impregnated by a sphere of light and energy, that comes through the hull of the ship. It seems to search for a perfect host, and finds Troi. When confronted with the problem, Counselor Troi demands to have the child, against the wishes of the rest of the crew. And strangely, the baby is born within days. She names the child Ian, and before you know it, he has grown even more. And another strange fact, Ian is a full telepath, not half, like he should be. (Like his mom!) During the duration of the episode, Marina acts amazingly as she shows atatchment and protection of the child which she gave birth to, even through ackward means. Anyone who is a Star Trek Fan, or simply wishes for somthing a little different, should get this Episode on tape. It's amazing.

The Enterprise is enroute to a Federation medical station to retrieve thousands of biological specimens to be studied on another planet, in the hope of developing cures for dangerous illnesses. Newly promoted Chief Engineer Geordi LaForge designs a containment field and containers to hold the deadly specimens and to keep them from growing during transport. Veteran of many independent films, Seymour Cassel guest stars as the Federation scientist escorting the specimens.

Riker has gained a few pounds and a new beard, and Wesley's mother has been promoted to Chief of Starfleet Medical (the actress, Gates McFadden, was on maternity leave in real life) and veteran of the original Star Trek series, Diana Muldaur, is her replacement, Dr. Pulaski. Pulaski is a fiesty, older, in-your-face, no-nonsense doctor - not just a replica of Dr. Crusher. Wesley (the "child" officer on the ship) is pensive about leaving Enterprise and going to the Academy and struggles with his wants and desires, versus his need to fit in, follow orders and do what is expected of him. Whoopi Goldberg makes her debut as Guinan, the host of Ten Forward, and as is revealed in later episodes, a member of a race dispersed around the galaxy due to the Borg - and Guinan herself is at least 400 years old.

A small pixie-like spark wanders through space and penetrates the hull of the ship, wandering from room to room - it enters Counsellor Deanna Troi's quarters while she is sleeping and in a not-so-subtle maneuver, gets under the covers and climbs up to her nether regions. Troi bolts up in bed, startled. The next thing we find out is that she is pregnant, in her first tri-mester - the problem is that that the child was conceived only 11 hours prior to the the first trimester. Pulaski briefs the senior staff and estimates that at its rapid rate of growth, the baby will make his appearance in 36 hours, considerably shorter than a normal 10-month Betazoid pregnancy.

As the senior staff have an abortion vs. pro-life debate, Troi looks at the fetus on the viewer - the fetus inside her. The male child is genetically like her - half Betazoid, half human. She sees the heart beating through his transparent skin and sees his tiny limbs move and announces that she intends to keep the baby.

In a few days the baby arrives, looking very much like he is her child. She names him after her father, Ian Andrew. Picard hears the news and only a few hours after the birth, he goes with the doctor to Troi's quarters to pay respects to her and the baby. Much to his shock, the "baby" is now in appearance as a 4 year old child. He is bright and can talk. The expressions on Pulaski's and Picard's faces are priceless...a very well acted scene that can give you goose bumps.

In just another day he appears to be a child of 8 and his cognitive abilities are in step with this age. Suddenly, alarms start going off in Cargo Bay 3 - one of the specimens is growing and at the rate of growth, will push out of its containment area in less than a day, putting the Enterprise and even nearby planets in grave peril. Due to the nature of the "plasma plague" that is growing, jettisoning the cargo will do no good, since it can develop into a spore in open space and attach itself to a ship's hull or end up on a nearby planet as the solar winds drive it along its merry way. The most innoccous of the specimens would kill all life on the Enterprise in a matter of hours.

An unusual type of Eichman radiation is stimulating the growth of this specimen, and the source of radiation appears to be coming from young Ian Troi. The end result will put a lump in anyone's throat. This is a bittersweet episode with some light-hearted moments. There is an episode that later reflects on Troi's pregnancy and son Ian, so it's a pivotal episode. Trivia buffs will notice that the Computer's voice is still some unidentified male, not Majel Barrett-Roddenberry.

The Child" is one of those second season premiere episodes prior to a writers strike in Hollywood. This script was actually for the proposed Star Trek Phase Two series in the seventies. Troi gets pregnant (via immaculate conception) with Eon. Remember the Deltan alien in Star Trek The Motion Picture? She was the mother of the unwelcome alien visitor in the seventies version. Now in the eighties one it's Troi.

It's one of those episodes that moves kind of slow but has a point. Put up those shields in unknown territory! It's amazing that with all the equipment on the Enterprise that this one couldn't be detected. Highlights in this episode are a bearded Jonathan Frakes as commander Riker. That's how exciting this one was.

Star Trek: The Next Generation kicks off its second season with a clunker of an episode. "The Child" - a jumbled variation on "Rosemary's Baby" (1968) - is nothing short of cheesy from start to finish.

The Enterprise-D is tasked with transporting samples of a deadly plasma plague in the hopes of finding an antidote. To the crew's surprise, they discover that Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) is pregnant. However, this is no ordinary pregnancy as the fetus grows at a remarkable rate. Once born, the child continues to age rapidly but it soon becomes apparent he is a threat to the ship as his presence has accelerated the growth of a plague specimen.

"The Child" is not without its good points. The introductions of Doctor Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) and Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) respectively added a fiery passion and a sense of serenity to the series. Both characters would contribute greatly to the success of several episodes throughout the second season. In addition, Troi got a turn in the spotlight after being relegated to mostly supporting duty in the first season. Yet, the silliness of the story just proves too great a hurdle to overcome. It is difficult to take seriously the threat to the ship when you are busy snickering at the episode's premise and much of its dialogue. And you cannot help but wonder whether that ball of light is still stalking would-be mothers out there in other parts of the galaxy following its exit at the end of this episode.

This is a tale of gain, loss and then a final gain. The Enterprise is ordered to transport samples of deadly biological agents to another planet where they hopefully will help in stopping a deadly plague. While the Enterprise is in transit to pick up the samples, they encounter a light. That light enters the Enterprise, moves through several decks and then enters the body of Counselor Troi.
Shortly after this happens, there is a senior staff meeting on the Enterprise and Captain Picard announces that Troi is pregnant. Not only is she pregnant, but the child will be born in less than two days. Since the child is clearly alien, there is a debate as to whether the child should be taken to term. After reflection, Troi announces that she will give birth, immediately settling the matter. The birth is extremely uncomplicated, shortly after the young boy is born, Troi shows no residual effects. It is as if she had never been pregnant.
The boy grows rapidly, he is the biological equivalent of an eight-year-old after only one day. His mind is developing just as rapidly, his intellect and speech capability match his biological age. He is also overwhelmingly curious, he deliberately allows himself to be burned so that he can experience the pain. As he continues to mature, he tells Captain Picard that he will soon be able to explain why he is there. However, everyone's attention is diverted to a crisis in the bacterial agents. Despite all the precautions, one of them begins to grow and if unchecked, will break out of the container and exterminate everyone on the Enterprise. A mysterious source of radiation is causing the growth, and the young boy is the source. He understands this, so he dies. After his death, his body disappears and the light reappears. It makes contact with Troi and explains what its' goals were in becoming human. Despite her sadness in losing the child, she is pleased with the knowledge that it did not die.
The creature is a life force that became curious about humans when it encountered them and felt that the only way to learn about them was to become one. It is the ultimate manner in which you "walk a mile in their shoes." Unfortunately, I believe the inclusion of the deadly biological agents was a mistake in the plot. The biofilters on the Enterprise transporters routinely remove biological agents, since it would always be possible for them to encounter one that would be very deadly, this would have to be a very effective fail-safe technique. Therefore, the problems with the biological agents simply should not occur. Also, it would have been more interesting if the child would have developed to adulthood so that we could learn more about it.

Episode 27: The Child. One of the best episodes of season 2, this episode revolved around the pregnancy of counsellor Deanna Troi. After having been impregnated by a mysterious alien lifeform, Deanna soon discovers her child's amazing talent: aging several years in a matter of hours. Several changes were made to the cast and settings of Star Trek: The Next Generation for the beginning of season 2, most importantly the replacement of Doctor Crusher who was portrayed by Gates McFadden with Diana Maulder's Doctor Pulaski. Geordi LaForge was finally given an important role:chief engineer. Commander Riker sported a beard and moustache.Whoopi Goldberg was added to the cast as Guinan, the mysterious bartender in ten-forward.Lieutenant Worf got a gold uniform to support his position as security chief. All in all ,episode 27 "The Child" was a solid season primere

It seems to me that this Episode has some Bibilical meaning in similarity within it. Think about it, Counsellor Troi acts like a Virgin Mary, and her son, Ian, is the Child Jesus, who sacrifices himself to save the rest of the crew of the Enterprise. Makes sense, No? I'd say this is one of the best episode I've ever seen. It's very touchy.

Thanks, bye!

I wouldn't call this the best episode ever...but a good one if Troi is your favorite actor. It starts off rather abrubt, but I liked it overall.

Marina Sirtis did some very nice acting in this movie! Finally a geat episode for Deanna Troi! All you Troi followers should see it.