Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 9: Justice [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Justice" is one of my favorite Prime Directive episode from the Next Generation, mainly because it involves a great example of my favorite dilemma for Starfleet Captains: Do we really have to obey the laws of other worlds and new civilizations when they are stupid and/or wrong? The Enterprise stumbles upon the beautiful world of Edo, where the happy citizens run around half-naked. Picard declares shore leave and everyone is having a good time until Wesley accidentally steps on some flowers in a "Punishment Zone." It turns out that any crime committed in these zones is punishable by immediate death and the Edo welcoming committee never bothered to tell anybody from the Enterprise about this quaint local custom. To make matters worse, there is an interdimensional ship of powerful beings, the "gods" of the Edo, who back up their insistence that their laws be followed. Thus, Picard is faced with the rock of obeying the Prime Directive and letting Wesley die and the hard place of rescuing the lad and offending the gods..

You have to admire how seriously Picard and the crew take this absurd situation. You would think that powerful beings would eradicate crime without any need for Punishment Zones. But then you would wonder why the criminal element on Edo would not simply do what they wanted outside of the stupid little zones (Question: If you kill an Edo Mediator outside a punishment zone, can they still punish you?). To top it off, the Edo do not feel they have any responsibility to tell these strange visitors from another planet about their deadly local custom. Now that I think about it, since we have a governing entity that enforces an ineffective and nonsensical policy on people who do not know any better, this is obviously another one of those Star Trek allegories about the world in which we live today.

Ironically, given the propensity of early Next Generation episodes to take as many elements from original Star Trek shows as possible, Picard decides not to use the old "you kill him, we revive him back aboard the Enterprise, everybody wins" gambit. Probably because he used it several episodes earlier in "Code of Honor."

While noble in statement and purpose, the prime directive of Star Fleet is unreasonable in practice. The very act of setting foot on a planet and interacting with the inhabitants changes the native culture. Therefore, establishing contact with new civilizations becomes an exercise is selective judgment concerning what actions to take. That is what makes this episode interesting.
An Eden-like planet inhabited by beautiful, peaceful people, the Edo, is discovered and the Enterprise establishes contact. However, the laws on the planet are arbitrary, draconian and the Enterprise crew members are not informed of the rules. When Wesley Crusher is sentenced to death for damaging a flower bed, the captain is faced with a serious dilemma, whether to accede to the wishes of the Edo for noninterference or to prevent the execution of Wesley for what is clearly not a serious crime.
The problem is further enhanced by the presence of an orbiting structure that is worshipped as God by the Edo and is probably more powerful than the Enterprise. This simplifies the problem for Picard and quite frankly was a plot feature that I could have done without. In my opinion, it would have been a better story if Picard would have had to make the choice in circumstances where he was not faced with the possible wrath of a superior power. For this reason, I only give the episode three stars.

I think this was the episode that I realized how loveable Beverly Crusher is. Beverly's heart is being tugged when the ignorant people of Edos are planning to put her dear son Wesley to death for the "crime" of falling into a garden. The Edos people APPEAR happy and peaceful, but appearances are deceiving since underneath, they are suspicious, ignorant, and superstitious and show no remorse for the pain and suffering they cause Wesley and his mother. I saw the wonderful mother-son bond that Beverly and Wesley share vividly here and it's touching how Beverly weeps softly when she is reunited with her son. I also love how fiesty outspoken Tasha blasted the Edos people for the corrupt sense of justice and stood up for Beverly and Wesley. Beverly is my favorite character of all science fiction.

After depositing human colonists on an unhabited M-class planet, the Enterprise discovers yet another M-Class planet in a nearby system and goes to investigate. They find a race of people called the Edo, who are remarkably human in appearance. They are childlike, but as Geordi says, "they make love at the drop of a hat," and Tasha Yar chimes in, "ANY hat." Supposedly, Yar, the security chief has reviewed all the laws on the planet and they plan to send an away team to make first contact and to see if the planet is safe for them to send the entire crew for a long-awaited shore leave. This has got to be one of the stupidest set-ups on TNG. Pullease! The Federation only makes first contact with a warp-capable species, and only after watching the people for months to study their customs - but in this first season, the writers were still figuring this stuff out - thank goodness they finally pulled their heads out of their butts!

After hearing about how "loving" these people are, Picard sends acting-ensign Crusher with the away team to see if the planet is a suitable location for the compliment of children and families aboard. What is Picard thinking? "From what Geordi and Yar tell me, these people are incredibly horny - hmmm... sounds like a job for Wesley Crusher!" Eek!

When they beam down, scantily clad Edo come running - they apparently don't walk, they have this speedy jog that's just fast enough to make their boobs and genitals bounce around in the sheer costumes they're wearing, but not so fast that their parts pop out. The costumes look so uncomfortable and everyone on the entire planet dresses the same - whether they are gardening, massaging, dancing, making out, or enforcing the law. The Edo hug each of the crew and as a buxom, very affectionate woman embraces Worf in more than just a friendly hug, Worf turns to Riker and says in his dead pan manner, "Nice planet." That line alone is almost worth sitting through this horrendous episode. This is truly one of the worst of the series and gets 2 stars out of an abundance of generosity on my part and for a few interesting concepts early in the season... but I gotta tell ya - on a 10-star scale, it would still only get 2 stars from me.

The female greeter asks if the crew wants to "play" in love - she is either talking about a swinging party or an orgy and Wesley is obviously wanting O'Brien to beam him up as he squirms in yet another ridiculous outfit that looks like he once again raided his mom's closet. What was Gene Roddenberry thinking?! Thank goodness they finally got him in a respectable uniform - heck, they probably promoted him to Ensign just so they wouldn't have to keep dressing him like a girl.

The crew frolics among the oiled-up hardbodies that don't appear to have any industry other than sex... if you can call it an industry. We see no people working or going to school, but they have very modern buildings and they all wear the same outfits, so clearly they have some folks who build buildings and make textiles - and the textile industry must be very poor, indeed.

Wes is sent off with a group of kids who are not yet into "doing the grownup" and they run around, tossing a ball around. Wes acts like he is having the time of his life. This is a kid who has fantasized about being on the crew of a starship and who is now on the bridge of the flagship of the Federation fleet - at any time, he can play any sport on the holodeck, but he seems to be having a ball just running around with these weirdos.

One of them tosses a ball a bit too far and Wesley leaps over a fence to catch it. His Edo friends cry for him to stop, but he is caught up in the momentum and falls onto a flowerbed. The other kids are freaking out, asking if he didn't see the fence. They explain that it is forbidden to disturb new plants and all of a sudden two security officers called mediators (not sure why - they don't seem to mediate) come to administer the only punishment they give for any crime - death. Apparently even falling can get you killed, which makes you wonder why these yahoos feel like they must run everywhere.

Yar has just learned the secret of how the planet remains crime free - it is because no one wants to risk death. Yar and Worf freak out and they run to find Wesley, but it is too late - he has accidentally committed a crime in a random zone that is now active. So, their deterrent really doesn't pan out... because you could rape or murder someone and gamble that that particular zone would be inactive. If the zone is not active, there is no punishment - what a crock!

Aboard the Enterprise, an anomolous reading off the port bow turns out to be some sort of vessel that is multi-dimensional in that it can be in many places at the same time and has the ability to render the crew helpless. Their communications with the away team are cut off as the vessel booms, "why are you here?" It sends a bubble thing to the bridge to talk to them and it lays on Data's head and exchanges information. They have no idea what they're dealing with and are unable to beam Wes aboard the Enterprise. The vessel identifies itself as God - at least the god of the Edo, and refers to the Edo as its children. Because of the information exchange with Data, the "God" entity knows of the Prime Directive and will likely hold the crew to that standard. Picard must figure out a way to extricate Wesley without violating the Prime Directive and without angering "God" and endangering the ship.

While debating with the Edo, they look down on the crew as godless heathen who do not respect law. They suddenly become very pompous and self-righteous for a group of people that just do the horizontal mombo all day long with whomever they please.

Why the Enterprise felt the need to beam down to see a people that don't even have modes of transportation other than their bare feet is so illogical, the Vulcans of old must be spinning in their graves in high rotation. The idea that they would send a crew down without knowing the punishment for crimes is laughable. There are a few funny scenes, and a couple of interesting concepts, but as a whole, this episode is a dog. A bad, bad dog.

A somewhat clunky episode exploring the issue of cultural relativism. What is justice? Should you apply it to all, even the ignorant? Is there a place for flexibility or mercy?
This episode tries more than it succeeds. A conclusion involving decisions by the crew rather than a literal deus ex machina solution would have made it a stronger story. It is interesting, though, to watch the Edo change from cheerful and simple to stern and proud once their customs are under threat and they realise that the crew of the Enterprise are patronising them. My scorecard reads Edo - 1, Starfleet - 1.
But (sigh) Wesley still lives to tell the tale.

Star Trek the Next Generation was and still is one of my favorite TV shows and I'm a fan who actually likes Wesley Crusher though I do admit that they sometimes went a little overboard with the whole boy genius thing but anyway This is not my favorite Wesley Crusher episode, and I agree that this episode is like watching a really bad B movie and I can just see Mystery Science Theater making fun of this episode and the goofy characters from the planet of the bimbos and their cheap flimsy costumes! Out of every episode made of Star Trek: The Next Generation I only disliked a few episodes and this is one of my least favorite ones.

Star Trek: The Next Generation crosses over into camp and B-movie territory with its depiction of the Edo civilization in "Justice." Yet if somehow you are able to look past the scantily-clad surfer boys and beach bunnies, this episode still manages to come across as ridiculous as Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) interprets the Federation's sacred Prime Directive in so liberal a manner as to invite guffaws. How this episode made it past the initial brainstorming stage has to be one of the more puzzling mysteries of modern times.

The Enterprise-D travels to Rubicun Three which is home to the carefree Edo. While playing with the inhabitants, Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) accidentally crashes into a greenhouse and harms its plants. Wesley is immediately sentenced to death for his crime. Picard must decide whether to disregard local law and bring Wesley back to the ship. To make matters even more complicated, a strange vessel that seemingly has some connection with the Edo is also in the vicinity.

For everything one can find wrong with "Justice," the episode does serve some constructive purpose despite all its flaws. When comparing this episode to the more finely-polished ones of the later seasons, it is easy to see just how much progress Star Trek: The Next Generation made over the years. Indeed, "Justice" makes an excellent "control" episode to which future episodes can be measured against.

No Justice

This entry in the Next Generation Saga "Justice" shows a society with one rigid law. The penalty for any crime is death. Wesley learns this very early when he was playing catch me with the colonists. He accidentally falls into a garden area behind some posts. Security guards come out of no where and want to give him a lethal injection. Fortunately for him Riker, Worf and Tasha show up to stop them.

It can be argued that Wesley saved the ship all the time in the first season. He was an obnoxious character. I believe he acted the way he did to attempt to fit in with the "adults." This one shows that laws can get out of control if there is no common sense applied. I love the scenes aboard the observation lounge where their "God" appears out of orbit as computerized starship. This is a planet were all the beautiful people run around and make love all day. However, they're ruled by a machine!

This particular episode is pretty silly as far as NextGen's first-season shows go, but it's made even worse (especially for us Wesley-hating Trekkies) by focusing on sci-fi's most-hated teen annoyance! Here's the basic breakdown: the Enterprise visits a planet of naïve glamour models watched over by some cross-dimensional entity that acts as their God. Wussley-whoops, I mean, Wesley Crusher-- befriends a few of the teenage natives, and accidentally falls into and damages a restricted flower bed. The penalty for this damage is execution! YES! Finally, the show's writers have finally taken the hint and they're gonna off the little annoyance! But wait... what's this? Captain Morehead-- whoops, I mean Picard-- ruins the fun by rescuing the annoying brat, and pushing his philosophy about justice on the natives! Sheesh... and just when I was ready to volunteer to pull the switch (hey, maybe they'll make that an interactive extra feature for the DVD release! One can only hope...)! I guess the powers-that-be behind the show just weren't ready to risk losing that precious Tiger-Beat-reading-teeny-bopper demographic. Well, not `til the end of the fourth season, anyway...

Useless trivia: The space-station-thingy that played the part of God reappears as a floating fortress in the fifth-season eppie `Conundrum'. Big whoop-de-do...

`Late