Conspiracy (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
"Conspiracy" | |
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Star Trek: The Next Generation episode | |
Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 24 |
Directed by | Cliff Bole |
Story by | Robert Sabaroff |
Teleplay by | Tracy Tormé |
Featured music | Dennis McCarthy |
Cinematography by | Edward R. Brown |
Production code | 125 |
Original air date | May 9, 1988 |
Guest appearances | |
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"Conspiracy" is the twenty-fifth and penultimate episode of the first season of the
Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the
Numerous make-up effects were created by make-up supervisor
Plot
Captain Picard receives a highly confidential message from Captain Walker Keel of the USS Horatio. Keel refuses to discuss his concerns and insists on a face-to-face meeting. At the meeting, Keel reports strange orders from Starfleet headquarters and what he implies are suspicious deaths of Starfleet officers and expresses concern of a conspiracy. Picard has Lt. Commander Data review all orders issued by Starfleet Command in the past six months. Data finds several strange orders from the senior levels of Starfleet and Picard orders the Enterprise to Earth. As it approaches Earth, a transmission is received from a trio of Starfleet admirals, Savar, Aaron and Quinn. The admirals are surprised by the Enterprise's presence but invite Captain Picard and Commander Riker to dinner.
After witnessing the admirals' bizarre behavior and discussion of a "superior life form" Dr.
Production
Gene Roddenberry originated the idea for the episode in a single-sentence proposal entitled "The Assassins". Robert Sabaroff expanded this idea to thirty pages but his version was seen as too expensive. Tracy Tormé was then given the job of rewriting it but some producers thought the new version was too dark until Roddenberry saw it and endorsed the new version.[1] In one of the original versions, it was a faction within Starfleet who were conspirators rather than alien parasites but Roddenberry did not like showing Starfleet itself in such a dark manner.[1] Wired suggested that the premise was based on the Iran–Contra affair.[2] The episode's cliffhanger ending was meant to lead to the introduction of The Borg – initially conceptualized as an insectoid species – in the second season, a plot element foreshadowed in the following episode, The Neutral Zone. Once the Borg were reimagined as a cybernetic race, this element was dropped, and the story element of the parasites' signal never resolved.[3]
The director of the episode, Cliff Bole, was a school friend of makeup supervisor Michael Westmore.[4] The scene with Remmick at the end of the episode was added in post-production, as it was originally scripted to have Riker and Picard come face to face with a full-sized mother creature.[1] The part where the parasite enters Remmick's throat reportedly took many takes because the bulging effect was made by Westmore blowing into bladder under a false neck and Bole kept trying to make Westmore hyperventilate from the exertion.[4] The parasites were created by Makeup & Effects Laboratories from a design by Rick Sternbach.[5] A mold of Paul Newman's face was filled with raw meat and then blown up to create the effect used when Picard and Riker fire on Remmick but Rick Berman and Peter Lauritson were concerned that it was too graphic. Dan Curry invited his six-year-old son to watch the episode in order to test how children would react to it; the boy reportedly liked it so much that he suggested the creation of a Remmick action figure whose head would blow up by pressing a button. This resulted in Berman deciding to air the episode uncut with the full sequence included.[4]
Several props and effects seen in the episode were reproduced from the
Cultural references
- The website Women at Warp noted the similarities to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Bad Eggs" – "In both, insect-like creatures invade human hosts in service to a 'mother' parasite. Not only do each show's creatures look alike (six legs, pincers up front, tail in the back), they even attach to their victims in similar fashion, burrowing into their necks."[8]
Reception
"Conspiracy" aired in
Several reviewers re-watched Star Trek: The Next Generation after the end of the series.
"Conspiracy" was included as an honorable mention in a list of the best episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation by Mike Antonucci of the
Wired ranked "Conspiracy" as one of the best of The Next Generation in a 2012 review of the series' "sci-fi optimism", and they noted the creative plot involving a threat to the Federation.[2]
In 2016, Radio Times rated the explosion of Remmick as the 50th greatest scene in Star Trek.[15] In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter rated the episode as the 99th best episode of all Star Trek episodes up to that time.[16] In 2019, Ars Technica noted that the episode made them feel like the Enterprise-D was operating in a larger universe, the stop-motion special effects sequence and the legacy of a secret conspiracy in Starfleet.[17] In 2017, the episode was noted as featuring scary or eerie Star Trek content.[18]
In 2017, Den of Geek ranked "Conspiracy" as one of top 25 "must watch" episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. They also note that this episode's plot is foreshadowed by the prior episode "Coming of Age".[19]
In 2018, TheGamer ranked this one of the top 25 creepiest episodes of all Star Trek series.[20]
In 2019, Ars Technica was favourable to the episode, saying "There are plenty of reasons to love the episode" with a reason being "because it feels like part of a larger story – and a larger universe." They are happy with an ending that leaves the mystery open, and gave viewers a break from story-of-the-week formula.[21]
In 2019, The Hollywood Reporter listed this episode among the twenty five best episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, noting that it was the favorite episode of the series' property master, Alan Sims.[22]
In 2020, GameSpot noted this episode as one of the most bizarre moments of the series, the startlingly graphic explosion and melting of a parasitic alien and host.[23]
Home media release
The episode was released on
Notes
- ^ a b c Nemecek (1995): p. 68
- ^ from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
- ^ Okuda, Denise and Okuda, Michael. Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future. Pocket books, second edition, pub. 1996. P. 290
- ^ a b c d Reeves-Stevens (1998): p. 69
- ^ Block, Erdmann (2012): p. 111
- ^ a b Nemecek (1995): p. 69
- ^ DeCandido, Keith (August 1, 2011). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: "Conspiracy"". Tor.com. Archivedfrom the original on November 16, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- ^ Eley, Candice Renee (March 16, 2020). "10 Times Buffy the Vampire Slayer Mirrored Star Trek: The Next Generation". Women at Warp. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ "Star Trek: The Next Generation Nielsen Ratings – Seasons 1–2". TrekNation. UGO Networks. Archived from the original on October 5, 2000. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
- ^ a b Brown, David (September 28, 2012). "Happy Birthday Star Trek: the Next Generation". Radio Times. Archived from the original on November 28, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
- ^ "Star Trek: The Next Generation". Emmys.com. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
- ^ a b Handlen, Zack (May 28, 2010). ""We'll Always Have Paris"/"Conspiracy"/"The Neutral Zone"". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on October 31, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- ^ "Critic picks five favorite 'The Next Generation' episodes". Knight Ridder/Tribune. May 19, 1994. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
- ^ White, James (June 16, 2009). "9 Possible Plots For Star Trek 2". Total Film. GamesRadar. Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- ^ David Brown (September 8, 2016). "The 50 Greatest Star Trek moments of all time". Radio Times. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
- ^ "'Star Trek': 100 Greatest Episodes". The Hollywood Reporter. September 8, 2016. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
- ^ Gitlin, Jonathan M. (May 9, 2019). "One of our favorite ST: The Next Generation episodes aired 31 years ago". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
- ^ "18 eerie, disturbing and downright scary Star Trek episodes". H&I. Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
- ^ Sven Harvey (October 18, 2017). "Star Trek: The Next Generation's 25 must-watch episodes". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on October 2, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ Guy Desmarais (April 16, 2018). "25 Creepy Star Trek Scenes That Set Phasers To Stun". TheGamer. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
- ^ Gitlin, Jonathan M. (May 9, 2019). "One of our favorite ST: The Next Generation episodes aired 31 years ago". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
- ^ Bloom, Mike (May 23, 2019). "'Star Trek: The Next Generation' – The 25 Best Episodes". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 23, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
- ^ Kevin Wong (April 17, 2020). "The 11 Most Bizarre Moments Throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation". GameSpot. Archived from the original on January 27, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
- ^ "Star Trek: The Next Generation – Episode 25 (VHS)". Tower Video. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
- ^ Periguard, Mark A (March 24, 2002). "'Life as a House' rests on shaky foundation". The Boston Herald. Archived from the original on June 10, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
- ^ Shaffer, RL (April 30, 2012). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Beams to Blu-ray". IGN. Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
References
- Block, Paula; Erdmann, Terry (2012). Star Trek: The Next Generation 365. New York: Abrams. ISBN 978-1-4197-0429-1.
- Nemecek, Larry (2003). Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (3rd ed.). New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-5798-6.
- Reeves-Stevens, Judith; Reeves-Stevens, Garfield (1998). Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Continuing Mission (2nd ed.). New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0-671-02559-5.
External links
- "Conspiracy" at IMDb
- "Conspiracy" at Memory Alpha