VIOLATIONS


It's easy to dismiss "Violations" as TNG's "rape episode", since that's
obviously a big part of the metaphor here.  But I actually think that it's
a powerful suspense piece that makes good use of its material, offering much
to both Trek fan and non-fan alike.

Prime among that material are the aliens, who are some of the most interesting
aliens we've seen on TNG in a LONG time.  Finally!  Aliens without those
silly head bumps!  They were visually interesting without looking ludicrous
(yes, it would be nice to have non-humanoids, but, as someone - whose identity
I forget - once said, there aren't many aliens in the Screen Actor's Guild)
and had interesting abilities.  Telepaths with well-defined capabilities
and limitations.  And, for that matter, personalities.

There is little to complain about as far as plot and characterization go.
The "flashbacks" were a Trekkie's dream, with tantalizing glimpses of the
cast's past.  (Picard with hair!  Riker and Troi together!)  (And what
the heck was that doo-dad on the side of flashback-Picard's head, anyway?)
The direction of these sequences was quite well done, with an interesting
mix of points-of-view.  Suspense was nicely built up throughout the episode,
relying - succesfully - on the fact that we KNEW who the rapist was all along
as well as making us wonder who's going to be hit next - and how.

The cast were all in character, though this wasn't so much a "character
episode".  Though the success of Troi - to a far greater extent than I can
offhand recall ever seeing her be used - is a sort of sad commentary on the
weakness of her as a personality.  Troi knows how to fight!  Ye gads!

There are only two nits I have to pick with the episode.  One is Jonathan
Frakes' acting when he confronted the younger alien in Ten Forward. He
seemed uncharacteristically overbearing.  Yes, he was upset about Troi, but
he had no substantial reason to suspect the man he was interrogating, and I
think Riker is too professional to question him with the ferocity we heard
in his voice.  (Aside:  The intensity of emotion Riker expressed towards
Troi makes me seriously wonder what's been going on between the two
characters [not the actors] off-camera.  Are the flames being re-fanned?)

The other nit is the concluding scene wherein we have Picard's "lecture of
the week" about how the seed of evil and hatred still lurks within us all.
Yes, this much is true, I agree, but I don't think we needed it spelled out.
(It's almost as if the lecture is a direct response to some of the criticisms
I've leveled on rec.arts.startrek about TNG.)  I think it would have been
more effective to have left us with the alien's commentary on how they
hadn't dealt with such actions in three centuries.  Going further than that
seemed a bit condescending to me.

Did the actor playing the villain remind anyone else of Admiral Satie's
male aide in "The Drumhead"?

Does it seem to anyone else that research into computer databases and query
systems seems to have come to a halt by the time of the 24th century? :-)

On the whole, I found "Violations" an elatingly successful episode, and one
which reinforces my belief that TNG's strength is in tackling the eerie and
the macabre (witness "Contagion", "Time Squared", "Night Terrors" and
"Identity Crisis", all flawed, and yet all exhilarating in their own ways,
I think, largely due to the success of setting a "mood" in each episode).
Perhaps it's the juxtaposition of the Enterprise's friendly, spacious
corridors and the claustrophobic nature of the menaces in each story which
makes them effective.

Bravo!  Encore!

Grade: A

SEASON FIVE AT A GLANCE:
Redemption II: B-
Darmok: A+
Ensign Ro: C
Silicon Avatar: C-
Disaster: B-
The Game: B-
Unification I: C
Unification II: D+
A Matter Of Time: B-
New Ground:  F
Hero Worship: C-
Violations: A
---
Total Points: 27 2/3
Season Average: 2.306  ( C+ )
(Rise of 0.154 from previous episode.)