Star Trek – The Inner Light

Since Star Trek is so popular again I thought I would write about my all time favorite Star Trek episode. I had mentioned in another article that I am a trekkie. I have seen all of the episodes of the original Star Trek, Star Trek TNG, Deep Space Nine, and most of Voyager. I missed a lot of Enterprise because I was busy during that time but I intend to buy the DVDs and watch them. I actually started watching every episode in order for the entire seven years of TNG. I started a while ago and I am now about a third of the way through the sixth year.

It wasn’t too long ago that I saw my favorite episode again. It was the last episode before the fifth season’s finally. It was called “The Inner Light”. I have enjoyed the big battles and the alien threats and all of the action and suspense but this episode had none of that. This was a story of love and family. According to Wikipedia

the episode was one of the highest rated episodes in the series so I guess I am not alone in my praise.  In addition “The Inner Light” won a 1993 Hugo award for best dramatic presentation.

The story was written by Morgan Gendel and Peter Allen Fields and it first aired on June 1, 1992. In the story Jean-Luc Picard is mentally linked to an unknown probe. The probe feeds images into his mind about another life. He wakes with Eline (Margot Rose) watching over him. She tells him that his name is Kamin and that she was his wife. After some attempts to escape what he believes is a trap and attempts to contact the Enterprise Captain Picard slowly settles to the fact that he is Kamin and the illusion of Picard was part an illness. From there the story follows Kamin and Eline in a marriage full of love and children on a dying planet. At the end you find out that the planet that Kamin lived on was destroyed when there sun went nova a thousand years earlier. The probe had been searching for someone that would experience life on their planet. The people just wanted to be remembered. As Kamin; Picard learned to play a tin flute. The flute was found inside probe. Picard would play that flute again in later episodes.

Margot Rose was absolutely wonderful as Eline. I would go far as to say hers was one of the best performances that I have ever seen on TV. That is saying something since I have been watching TV since 1955. The love she expresses and the tenderness in her voice brought the emotion right through the screen. I will never understand why I haven’t seen her in more shows.

Science fiction isn’t all shootem up and alien monsters. There is some quality stuff that comes out of the whimsical imaginings of the future. If you ever consider watching an episode of Star Trek; find this one. This is some fine viewing.