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Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 17: Home Soil [VHS]

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This episode has one of the best lines in all of Star Trek, "Ugly bags of mostly water." The Enterprise arrives at a planet where a small team of terraformers is modifying the surface of a supposedly lifeless planet so that it could support an Earth-like ecology. It is supposed to be a routine visit, but the director of the project is curt, leading the Enterprise crew to suspect that something is not right. An away team beams down and in the middle of the enthusiastic briefing, one of the terraforming team is killed by an errant laser drill.
Over the objections of the terraforming team, all are beamed to the Enterprise and Geordi and Data beam back down to the planet to continue the investigation. Data is attacked by the laser drill and while he survives, he concludes that the drill was under the control of a very dynamic program. They then look into the tunnels and discover something that is flashing electromagnetic pulses. At first, they wonder if it is alive, but since it is composed only of inorganic material, they dismiss the thought.
However, it is beamed to the Enterprise and scientifically examined. After further analysis, they determine that it is intelligent life and it tries to communicate with them. Once understandable communications are established, the inorganic creature declares war on the "ugly bags of mostly water." It turns out that the terraforming team was about to destroy their habitat, which would have killed all of the inorganic creatures. After many attempts to isolate the creature, the Enterprise crew discovers how to "defeat" it and a truce is declared. The creature is returned to its planet and a centuries long quarantine of the planet is declared.
This episode is clearly taken from "The Devil in the Dark" episode of the original series. A planet is considered lifeless, although there is life based on silicon and other inorganic compounds. It is only the narrowness of the vision of the humans in their search for life that leads them to believe that the planet has none. Considering that the rocklike Horta would be well known to the Federation by now, it is hard to believe that such a mistake would have been made. Similarly, the terraformers admit to having seen geometric shapes, which are a telltale sign of intelligent life. Clearly, they should be subject to some sort of punishment.
If you get beyond these obvious flaws, this is a good episode, demonstrating some of the problems that humans will have when new lifeforms are encountered. Given that the cultural differences on Earth lead to serious conflicts, it is hard to see how an interstellar war can be avoided as humans explore the galaxy. Humans could end up inadvertently trying to kill off entire civilizations because of basic prejudices concerning what form life can take. The only possible way this can be avoided would be to have much stricter rules concerning the exploitation of planetary resources than are evident in this episode.

One of the few things I retained from Life Science in 7th grade was the difference in organic and non-organic substances. Organic substances (plants & animals) have carbon atoms, inorganic substances do not... ergo, non-organic substances cannot be alive - according to our definition, anyway.

The Enterprise visits Velara III. Now I've gotta stop right there. What is it with the naming conventions of planets on this show? Is there an Earth XVII? Is there a Mars XXX? Why on earth (pun intended) would they be so strapped for names that they had to name at least 3 planets Velara? Odd. Ok, anyhoo, a handful of Federation Scientists are working on a terraforming project after teams of Federation Scientists studied the planet for years, declaring it devoid of life. The small band of resident scientists are drilling through the substrate to create channels of water to irrigate the land when they start planting.

When the Enterprise arrives and Picard announces they would like a tour, the head scientist freaks out. Troi can tell he's hiding something and doesn't want the crew there, which makes Picard all the more determined to visit. One of their scientists was injured in a drilling accident and is out of commission while the other scientists pull double shifts to make up for his inability to work. While the away team takes a brief tour on Velara III, one of the scientists gets killed in a freak laser drill accident.

Geordi and Data are investigating the accident scene when Data gets locked in a room and is unable to exit while the laser drills go bonkers and appears to track his movements in deliberate fashion. Fortunately, Data's android-like strength and agility allows him to out-maneuver and damage the laser drills before they can damage him - inadvertently setting the terraforming schedule behind by months as they must fix the damaged drills and wait for replacement parts.

Data notices some glinting of the sand in the substrate and finds the patterns of light to be deliberate patterns, not random or rhythmic light changes and takes as sample aboard the Enterprise.

It doesn't take long before the glinting piece of inorganic silica replicates itself and manages to interface with the Enterprise computer so it can talk to the crew and declare war. They now know why the chief scientist was so evasive. Years of work down the tubes for what seemed to be simple (albeit living) sand.

The silica "creatures" refer to the humans of "ugly bags of mostly water" - which I guess is a fairly accurate description. The incredibly intelligent glints of sand, without the benefit of thumbs, manage to take over the Enterprise functions and threaten to cut off life support. Picard must find a way to convince the "microbrain" that they find all life to be beautiful and they didn't know they were even there, etc.

The microbrains aren't too impressed, since millions have already perished under the harsh light of the laser drills. Picard has to pull a bunny out of his magic hat in time, or the Enterprise and the over 1,000 souls on board will be lost - because of some smart shards of glass. Reminiscent of some classic episodes, and some cheesy scenes, but some interesting concepts here & there.

Star Trek has always produced its fair share of cautionary tales. "Home Soil" is its attempt to point out the unintended dire consequences terraforming can cause. It also is the episode that forces you to wonder if the crystals in your personal collection regard you as "an ugly bag of mostly water" when you're not around.

The Enterprise-D arrives at Velara III to check up on a terraforming group charged with the mission of turning the inhospitable planet into one that will eventually support life. However, after an engineer is killed and Data (Brent Spiner) is attacked, the crew realizes that something is seriously amiss on the surface. A startling discovery is soon made - there are microscopic life forms that are falling victim to the drilling on the planet. The previous attacks were initiated by them as a means to defend themselves.

This variation on the original series' superior "Devil in the Dark" (1967) is filled with problems that it cannot overcome. Guest star Elizabeth Lindsey is strangely stiff in her supporting role, Walter Gotell is over-the-top in his supporting role, the production values for the microscopic life forms must have set a new record for production money saved on creating an alien race, and the line "ugly bag of mostly water" is so unintentionally goofy that it undermines the seriousness of the episode's message because you can't get it out of your head and can't stop giggling once it's spoken on-screen. Well, at least "Home Soil" did teach us that the only way to defeat evil crystals is to shut the lights off. That valuable piece of information is what prevents the episode from being a total lost cause.

"Ugly Bags of Water"

A terraforming station on Velara III discovers a microscopic life form within the sand of the planet. It kills one of the colonists to save it from destruction. The Enterprise utilizes it's universal translator to communicate. It refers to humans as "ugly bags of water." In this average entry from the first season; actor Walter Gotell, portrays the station supervisor. He's known for his role as General Gogol in the 60's James Bond series.

This episode has a few good highlights. Data disarming the laser cannon in the terraforming chamber. The microscopic entity taking control of the Enterprise. If you've got to purchase all the episodes for your collection; this one's got a few dramatic moments. It's worth a look.

It didn't take Troi's powers to tell us the supervisor was hiding something about the planet.