The Nth Degree (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
"The Nth Degree" | |
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Star Trek: The Next Generation episode | |
Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 19 |
Directed by | Robert Legato |
Written by | Joe Menosky |
Featured music | Ron Jones |
Production code | 193 |
Original air date | April 1, 1991 |
Guest appearances | |
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"The Nth Degree" is the 93rd episode of the American
Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D.
Plot
The Enterprise is sent to investigate the shutdown of the Argus Array, a deep-space
The Array starts to undergo a series of catastrophic failures. Barclay, with his newfound intelligence, casually explains how they can use the Enterprise computers to prevent the failures in only two days, much to his colleagues' disbelief. Barclay's solution works temporarily, but the failure rate increases, and Barclay finds the Enterprise computer too slow to keep up with it. He goes to the holodeck and creates a device that allows him to interact directly with the Enterprise and array computer systems, putting an end to the Array's failures. The crew finds that Barclay has become too integrated with the computer, and when they try to shut down the computer, Barclay sends the ship into a "subspace inversion," sending the ship across a great distance at a velocity significantly faster than conventional warp drive.
They arrive at the center of the
The Enterprise stays with the Cytherians for ten days, exchanging knowledge that will take decades to fully understand. The Cytherians then return the Enterprise to the Argus Array. Barclay finds himself back to normal, although he keeps vivid memories of his temporary transformation.
Cultural references
The website Women at Warp compares the "sidekick-turned-supervillain" situation with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Grave." "While Barclay's run as a supergenius in "The Nth Degree" is short lived and Willow's progression into a black magic wielding ultra-witch spans multiple episodes, their arcs are strikingly similar. Both Barclay and Willow (particularly in the first 4 seasons) are depicted as meek and shy, cast in their own minds as the 'sidekick' to their more powerful peers. When each is suddenly imbued with a terrifying amount of power, their friends fear how far they will go. Ultimately both must cope with returning to their former, less powerful states, but with the knowledge of the terror they inflicted on the people they cared about."[1]
Reception
James Hunt, reviewing for the site
Perhaps my favourite thing is that it didn't just go full
Flowers For Algernon, which would've been the easy way out of the plot. Nope, the Enterprise crew completely loses control of the situation and basically they would've died if the circumstances had been less benevolent. In narrative terms it's probably not particularly satisfying for the lead characters to be passive observers to the story's climax, but as a sci-fi nerd I enjoyed the exploration of an idea through to its natural conclusion.[2]
Jamahl Epsicokhan, also citing Daniel Keyes's classic science fiction novel in a review of 4 out of 4 stars, writes, "The character outline is Flowers for Algernon, except instead of taking a mentally challenged man and turning him into a genius, it takes a man of average intelligence (for this crew) and turns him into an ultra-confident, cosmic super-genius. In the opening scene, regular-Barclay is playing Cyrano de Bergerac in a performance that, let's face it, is pathetic despite his best efforts. Later, watch how genius-Barclay's acting is so mesmerizing that it practically makes Crusher weep." He goes on,
The way the crew reacts to all this is absolutely honest human nature; they fear what they cannot predict or understand... especially when Barclay puts an energy field off the starboard side of the ship and prepares to send the crew 30,000 light-years through it... The suspense of what waits at the other side is one of the true moments of unpredictable awe in the Trek canon. What actually waits there, alas, cannot live up to that awe, but I did still enjoy the episode's sense of whimsical curiosity, in which it turns out that advanced aliens used Barclay as an implement to bring the Enterprise here in carrying out their own exploration of the galaxy. Barclay is of course returned to normal... "The Nth Degree" is a splendidly unique amalgam of tones and themes, plot and characterization, imagination and bemusement, and it ends up being one of the most fascinating hours in TNG's run.[4]
In 2020, ScreenRant ranked the Cytherians the 8th smartest aliens of the Star Trek franchise, highlighting their knowledge of subspace distortions.[5]
Home video
This episode was released in the United States on September 3, 2002, as part of the Star Trek: The Next Generation season four DVD box set.[6]
CBS announced on September 28, 2011, in celebration of the series' twenty-fifth anniversary, that Star Trek: The Next Generation would be completely re-mastered in
References
- ^ Eley, Candice Renee (March 16, 2020). "10 Times Buffy the Vampire Slayer Mirrored Star Trek: The Next Generation". Women at Warp. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
- ^ Hunt, James (November 13, 2015). "Revisiting Star Trek TNG: The Nth Degree". Den of Geek. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^ DeCandido, Keith R. A. (April 24, 2012). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: The Nth Degree". Tor.com. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^ Epsicokhan, Jamahl (2012). "Star Trek: The Next Generation: "The Nth Degree"". Jammer's Reviews. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^ "Star Trek: 10 Smartest Alien Races, Ranked". ScreenRant. February 15, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
- ^ Ordway, Holly E. (September 9, 2002). "Star Trek the Next Generation – Season 4". DVD Talk. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
- ^ "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Blu-Ray Release". July 10, 2012. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
- ^ "Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 4 Blu-ray Review | High Def Digest". bluray.highdefdigest.com. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
- ^ Miller III, Randy (July 28, 2013). "Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season Four (Blu-ray)". DVD Talk. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
- ^ Simpson, Michael (July 29, 2013). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 Blu-Ray Review". SciFiNow. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
- Star Trek The Next Generation DVDset, volume 4, disk 5, selection 3.
External links
- "The Nth Degree" at IMDb
- "The Nth Degree" rewatch by Keith R. A. DeCandido
- "The Nth Degree" at Memory Alpha