Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series) Angel One (1988) User Reviews

Riker dressed as a juggler pirate.

[thevacinstaller · 5/10 · 2 March 2021]

This is like a reader's digest version of a potentially good episode of star trek. This is one of the big problems when you have an A plot and and B plot and neither ends up working to lack of development or tie-in with other plot.

It would be helped my immersion to see how how the introduction of Ramsay and his men had transformed this society or perhaps see how the men were being mistreated by the Amazon women so I could have something to keep me engage in how this would resolve.

Gender inequality has been/was a real thing. But even by the late 1980's women had taken control of what they wanted to do in life. I think it would be biting criticism to have the men wear mini skirts and bring the women leaders coffee and notepads while swooning over the feminine powers of the leaders.

Riker is in fine form here. He has no choice but to sleep with Beata for the good of diplomacy and ultimately Riker's masculinity helps to influence Beata to not kill the fanatic men.

The take away of this episode is that it is better to exile your societal problems and put your hands over your ears and hope it goes away?

There's very little to mention about the B plot of the enterprise crew dealing with the virus. Doctor Crusher gets some empathy moments and puts up with Picard being a big baby.

Could have worked but not with this script.

Amazon society

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 9 April 2019]

This TNG story has the crew of the Enterprise on a world called Angel One in search of some survivors of an earth freighter lost in the region years back. Some escape pods may have made their way.

It's a real thorny problem for the away team consisting of Jonathan Frakes, Denise Crosby, Marina Sirtis, and Brent Spiner. There's an Amazon like society that's developed on the planet with the women in leadership. Being women they bear the children which begs the question what do the men do? Like drone bees I suppose.

The women consider the survivors subversive and want to kill them. Riker has a real tricky diplomatic issue to deal with.

In the meantime there's a nasty virus which has a lot of the crew ailing as Gates McFadden looks for an antidote. One of those nick of time situations.

The amazon part is a much stronger story than the virus.

Riker's Chest Hair

[anarchistica · 6/10 · 17 March 2020]

The top 5 officers on the Enterprise are male and two of the three high-ranking women are a doctor and a psychologist, but still they claim to be much more civilised than the people on Angel One...

This is an enjoyable episode however, especially due to the hilarious costumes and the cheesiness of the whole affair. You can also make a deadly drinking game just using "Holodeck illogically endangers the ship", "Riker sleeps with an alien" and "Picard needs medical attention". Oh TNG...

Matriarchy

[russem31 · 10 April 2006]

ST:TNG:15 - "Angel One" (Stardate: 41636.9) - this is the 15th episode produced but was the 14th episode to air on TV. The theme of this episode is that change is inevitable - this is pointed out in the matriarchal society of Angel One (a non-Federation world) that the Enterprise crew travel to. While Riker leads an away team to negotiate the return of Federation survivors (all male), Picard and crew on the Enterprise mysteriously contract a virus that plagues the ship. It's up to Dr. Crusher to figure out what's going on and when Picard falls prey to the virus, Geordi LaForge is put in command of the Enterprise! An unremarkable episode but has its highlights and humor.

"But will you respect me in the morning?"

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 5 September 2023]

There were quite a few anomalies with this episode. With the Prime Directive having been mentioned a couple of times, Data (Brent Spiner) steps forward at one point to state that because the marooned Ramsey (Sam Hennings) on Angel One was not on a Federation vessel when their freighter crashed, that he and his group were not bound by the Prime Directive. I don't see how that would have made any difference. Respecting Ramsey's decision to stay behind and not be 'rescued' would have been a personal choice, notwithstanding the death sentence pronounced by Elected One Beata (Karen Montgomery).

And wasn't it just three episodes prior in "Haven" that Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) expressed feelings for each other when she was expected to follow the tradition of her home planet to a prearranged marriage? What happened? Troi didn't express any feelings of jealousy or become protective of Riker in the presence of Mistress Beata. Lapses in continuity like that tend to be bothersome.

In any event, Commander Riker smoothes things over with both Beata and Ramsey in a way that manages to assuage both sides, while back on board the Enterprise-D, Picard and one third of the entire crew suffer their way through an unknown virus before Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) comes up with an inoculant. In record time one might say, considering everything we went through when Covid-19 first hit. With a patchy plot and Riker going drag, this was not one of the better episodes of the first season, ending as it did with time to spare as the Enterprise made its way to the Neutral Zone to deal with the Romulans.

Hippie values in Reagan's world

[snarky-trek-reviews · 6/10 · 1 March 2021]

When reviewing a 30 year old television program you've really only got two options: judge it by the standards of your time or treat it as a window into the standards of theirs. I suppose you can also just watch for the characters, the stories, and the overall quality of the writing, but TNG season 1 seems to be going out of its way to make that difficult.

All I see in Angel One is Hippie values expressing themselves post Reagan revolution. All those kids that tuned in and dropped out eventually made their way into advertising agencies, corporate offices, and writer's rooms. And when they did they brought their new found values with them for better and for worse.

Did you know that sex exists and that its okay? It would seem that this message was incredibly important to broadcast episode after episode because here it is again in Angel One. Did you know the natural and inevitable progression of society is away from single gender dominance and towards egalitarianism? Well Riker is going to explain that to you in this episode.

And it is Riker that carries this one. His performance here is much better than in "Q Who" and he is written much more believably. In fact, this is the first episode where it gets obvious that Riker is basically just Kirk 2.0. That's a good thing as without him this episode would be a skip.

Verdict: Watchable

Not the best story with ropey dialogue and uninteresting guest characters

[snoozejonc · 4/10 · 19 May 2021]

Enterprise visits a planet with a matriarchal society.

This is a pretty bland and uninspired episode with a decent concept done quite poorly.

The plot contains attempted satire of gender politics, but it is presented by characters delivering badly written dialogue and scenes that resemble the plot of a dodgy porn film. The fact that a resolution comes from a male character talking round a supposedly strong female leader he previously bedded is not even unintentionally funny. It's just bad.

As with many episodes of this series of TNG, the dialogue is quite comical such as Tasha Yar explaining what she's doing with her tricorder and lines such as "Make your point so we can proceed with this unpleasant business".

The virus sub-plot is not particularly good either with even Patrick Stewart overdoing the symptoms and the entire situation being conveniently resolved in time for it to merge with the main plot. Dr Crusher has some decent moments but aside from that it feels like it's to stretch out the overall narrative.

Most performances are average, particularly the guest characters. Karen Montgomery has a striking screen presence but brings little charisma to the role and the other are practically lifeless. Jonathan Frakes carries it well, but it's nothing memorable for his character. Gates McFadden though convinces me she is a doctor in a tough situation.

Wow...such hate for this one...

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 10 November 2014]

I did a bit of research on the internet about bad episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and found that just about every list included "Angel I". The reviews for it on IMDb are NOT very positive either. Apparently, it was truly cringe-worthy and Gates McFadden (the doctor) was truly offended by the sexist nature of the show and her fighting with the production staff got her suspended. What do I think? First, a little about the plot:

Years ago, a freighter had an accident in space. No known survivors exist but an escape pod might have made it to a nearby planet, Angel I. Although it would have taken months to arrive, it could have and so the Enterprise is on hand to look for the men (though why so late, I have no idea). However, they are surprised that the matriarchal leaders of the society are less than cordial. It seems that the survivors DID arrive and they were a complete disruption to the old ways. The survivors balked at the sexist way the women treated the men...and wanted equality. So, the away team is told to find these renegade men and get rid of them immediately...or else! Plus, when they find the men, they find that these the men and their wives would rather die than leave!

So did I find it that bad? Well, you do get to see Riker in drag--and that could be a plus or a minus depending on your desire to see him in a negligee-type thingie. And, the show has some things to say about gender equality---but in a ham-fisted manner (plus, the highest ranking folks on the ship are all men). In balance, it is weak but I don't understand all the hate--the series made LOTS of bad episodes (most of which centered around the holodreck...I mean holodeck). I wouldn't put it among the very worst...just one that is well below average and a tad cringe-inducing at times. And the biggest reason isn't the sexism but the ending--where everything is inexplicably wrapped up in a way that makes you think 'Hy...this makes no sense. Why did they do THAT?!'.

bad show, bad acting

[rgarfiel · 4/10 · 28 February 2010]

Even for Star Trek, this is a preachy and obvious episode. O.K., we get it, any "---archy," matri- or patri- is bad. No need to belabor the point. But the show undermines its own premise by having the problem almost solved when Riker gets it on with the ruling female, Mistress Beata. In other words, as long as the guy is great in bed, nothing else matters. Shades of Captain Kirk. And, just to be clear, the actress playing Beata, Karen Montgomery, seems to have the acting skills and emotional range of a fourth-grader. Its no wonder then that, according to the IMDb, she's made only two other shows since this one. All in all, not one of ST:NG's better efforts.

One of the reasons this show was so great, a great episode about trust and tolerance

[alex-64902 · 10/10 · 8 February 2016]

First off, though I won't rant about it, I am really surprised at the poor rating and bad comments about Angel 1. For me it is a 10 out 10. The story is interesting here though secondary. What makes this episode so great is the interaction between the Star Trek officers. For the first time since the beginning of the show you feel the sense of companionship, trust and affection between the main characters.

This episode is very well written and acted. It carries a lot of emotion, some of the scenes, though minimal, are amongst my favorite in the entire show. I was pleased to see Tasha and Troi seemingly jealous of Riker's interest for the female leader of the planet Angel 1; I laughed with them when they saw him dressed in half naked indigenous fashion, I was touched at Riker's final pitch and Mistress Beata reaction. Most of all I adored that little interaction between Geordie and Worf when the Klingon gave an advice to Geordie about how an acting captain should behave. And what about Data! The perfume scene is hilarious and Riker's trust in him in the final moments is touching.

This episode has successively Geordie, Riker, Crusher and Data acting as acting captain. It characterizes what made this show so great: a vision of a team, a society whose members have absolute faith and trust in each other. Never the members of the Entreprise have an ill feeling about another, they do not get offended when one is temporally promoted above another, rather they support each other. They trust everyone's skills and have faith in each other.

A few episodes before, upon meeting Q, Picard talked about the fact they the members of the Enterprise and their current society were superior humans to the ones that lives in the XXth Century. This episode, and others, is the perfect example of the superiority Picard is referring to. There is no animosity, ill rivalry, selfishness or ill feelings within the member of the Enterprise. They respect, tolerate and trust each other. As a manager of a team of 16 it will be my dream to have them respect and trust each other as the officers of the Enterprise do.

Angel One

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 2 June 2012]

"Martyrs cannot be silenced."

Angel One is a matriarchal planet where the women dominate over the men, and are in control of every facet of life. They rule in government…and in the bed room. The planet's leader, Mistress Beata (Karen Montgomery), is strongly attracted to Commander Riker who, along with Yar, Troi, and Data, is attempting to locate survivors of a group on board a freighter, Odin, which suffered an asteroid collision, whose pods might have landed on Angel One. The episode also features a virus quickly infecting the Enterprise which actually might have started from Wesley and a friend, letting off a sickly sweet odor that produces flu-like symptoms when deeply inhaled. When Picard gets sick beyond the point of ably commanding the Enterprise, Geordi is left in charge (echoing the more awesome "Arsenal of Freedom"). When Riker becomes sexually involved with Beata, Troi, Yar, and Data are unsuccessful in convincing the Odin party's leader, Ramsey (Sam Hennings), and his men, to leave with them so they can find a new home to live…but Ramsey and his men (who have developed families on Angel One) do not wish to leave. Beata sees no alternative but to execute the Odin group before their ways/philosophies becomes a hindrance to how Angel One has functioned as a society, their very way of life. Riker points out to Beata, in an effort to rescue Ramsey and his people from condemnation, that evolution eventually happens and executing them will not stop the inevitable. Meanwhile, Dr. Crusher works on finding an inoculation for the virus coursing at an exorbitant rate throughout the ship, not allowing Riker and the away team to beam back until she does. Also established is that The Romulans appear to be possibly on the verge of attacking Federation outposts along the Neutral Zone, needing the Enterprise to get there in the hopes that their presence will halt such possible violence. Interesting development has Beata's trusted "number one" married to Ramsey!

I won't lie, this episode does nothing for me as a Next Gen fan, although it was cool seeing Data standing on the bridge all by himself as normal crew members are either in sick bay or their quarters, ill from the virus. The Angel One plot makes a statement about how any type of hierarchy, whether its male or female, as the dominate figurehead in ruling positions over the other, change is bound to happen as the oppressed/repressed are certain to revolt/rebel against such a way of life/political power. Riker, in more ways than one, uses his "tactical skills" to halt a potential disaster, that of unnecessary executions when a solution could be reached to not take human life. Captain's throat being affected by the virus at the end as he tries to tell the bridge to set a course for the Neutral Zone is, to me, the funniest scene in the episode. I consider this one of the worst of the first season; but the season has so many good ones, Angel One is probably quite an eyesore, unless the "archy" storyline is meaningful to you.

Does Civilization 'Evolve' to a Necessary End?

[Rizar · 15 September 2009]

The Enterprise crew investigates the wreckage of a ship called the Odin and finds three missing escape pods. This brings them to the nearest class M planet, Angel One, in search of survivors. Angel One has scattered humanoid civilizations, which are currently at the level of advancement we were at in the 20th Century.

The people of Angel One are a pure matriarchy, with women naturally taller and stronger than men and with social customs that only allow women to take positions of power. But while an 'away team' makes contact with the reticent oligarch (Mistress Beata), Wesley and a friend get sick after enjoying a ski-program on the Holodeck and their virus spreads uncontrolled through the ship. The Enterprise command must also hurry to respond to Romulan battle cruisers sited near the Neutral Zone.

So "Angel One" (Episode 13, Season 1, Air Date 01/25/88, Star-date 41636.9) tries to keep our pulses pounding with many threads of emergencies and provocative events. The main controversy arises when the Angel One oligarchs (a six member council led by the Elected One named Mistress Beata) sentence Odin's survivors to death for inciting revolution. Geordi finds himself as acting commander after Picard catches the virus and is ruled unfit.

Other minor plot points include: (1) The Angel One civilization is similar to Betazed in having female leaders; Worf comments that Klingons also like strong women. (2) Yar uses a tricorder to search for listening devices in an Angel One room (so the 'away team' can freely discuss their strategy). (3) Data doesn't understand how perfume acts as an aphrodisiac. (4) Riker expresses disregard for the prime directive and suggests he'd rather take the consequences than allow the Odin survivors to be executed. (5) Angel One seems a bit more advanced than we were in the 20th Century since they use a transporter like weapon to conduct executions.

I'm not quite sure how the virus gets started, but apparently it had something to do with a sweet scent, commonly known to Klingons, which entices people to inhale and take in the virus.

At the same time, Riker makes another attempt to convince Mistress Beata that she is wrong about executing the Odin survivors (after Dr. Crusher quarantines the ship and bans anyone from beaming up). Riker argues that she cannot stop the spread of revolution because it's spreading naturally. He compares the ideas of the rebels to 'evolution' and considers it unstoppable. I find Riker's argument one sided. It would benefit from the consideration of alternative possibilities, but, of course, Riker may be extra convincing to Mistress Beata since he just slept with her.

Perhaps this extremely unconvincing argument is a version of Karl Marx's view that history has a direction and evolves to a more perfect condition (his view -- towards communism). But in this case the natural evolution would take Mistress Beata's people towards the values of Star Trek. I won't call this a conceited idea, but it seems based on zero evidence.

But Riker is certainly correct that a martyr and that political issues can't be as easily killed as people. Though to reduce his whole argument to absurdity we could just point to the Borg, who could simply erase an issue they don't like and therefore easily advance to any new direction they want. So some civilizations in the Star Trek world obviously don't advance necessarily toward one end.

The episode is a bit cute at times and it's obvious that a matriarchy is very possible for two gender lifeforms; we see it common throughout native history and the animal world here on earth. But otherwise the episode lacks anything of intense interest for me.

This is Supposed to Be About Apartheid?

[Samuel-Shovel · 4/10 · 17 June 2019]

In "Angel One" the Enterprise discovers the wreckage of an old Federation freighter That disappeared 7 years ago. Three of the escape pods are missing so the Enterprise heads to the nearest planet Angel One to see if there are any survivors. Angel One hasn't been visited by the Federation in 75 years and Data informs us it has a matriarchal society where women dominate and are larger than the men.

Riker leads an away team down to meet the planet's leader. Everyone seems a bit cagey and put off by the crew's presence. There seems to be some sort of internal rift. We learn that the survivors of the Odin are here but are wanted fugitives, revolutionaries who tried to usurp the planet's law and order.

The Enterprise's scanners are able to locate the Odin's crew and Troi, Yar, and Data meet the revolutionaries' leader. He tells them that they are happy on Angel One. They have families now and have no desire to leave. Because the Odin wasn't a Star Fleet vessel it isn't bound to the Prime Directive so the Enterprise can't force them to leave with them.

Meanwhile Riker starts a love affair with the planet's leader and Crusher has her hands full with some kind of epidemic up on the Enterprise. Most of the crew is now infected and there are barely enough left healthy to operate the ship. To make matters worse, the Romulans are currently hovering near a Federation outpost nearby and the Enterprise has been called to show up and flex its muscles to make the Romulans leave.

The Odin's crew and their families are discovered by Angel One's government and sentenced to death. Riker offers to take them with him but they prefer to go down as martyrs. Riker convinces the government to stay the execution by talking about the evolution of cultures and how to properly embrace this (or some BS like that). The government banishes the Odin families to a distant island where they can live peacefully but away from the current system.

This episode's oversimplistic metaphor for society's norms screams of a TOS script that never got made. Replace Riker with Kirk and it feels like something you'd see in Season 3.

Everything about this episode is sloppy. The set design is boring, the "alien race" they create here is extremely lazy, and the script seems like it was written by a high school freshman. The illness on the ship is created solely because the writers had no idea what to do with Picard and the rest of the remaining crew while the away team is in the surface. The final parlor scene is terrible and preachy as hell.

I just can't find much that I enjoy here beyond the concept of a marooned escape pod crew having to adapt to a new society. It's so poorly done though that it wastes this premise. I did like Riker's native getup though. That outfit is iconic.

Too Much Like the Old Star Trek

[Hitchcoc · 4/10 · 28 July 2014]

This overly simplistic effort could have easily brought back James T. Kirk and the original gang. It is an insult to both male and female viewers. The story involves a planetary culture where women have become the dominant sex. The premise is fine. They are tall and powerful. The men are portrayed as glittery puppies who yield to the women. At its basest, it is just plain silly. Just because a single entity gains power doesn't mean they lose all their complexity. Also, they act and look just like earth creatures. They dominate men by using their feminine wiles, even though they reject these. I'm not sure if the men are victims or have evolved into idiots. The point is that there is nothing of any depth in this episode. Riker succumbs to the advances of the supreme leader. Apparently, he has qualities that the indigenous males don't have. The plot centers around a group of earth dwellers who have been marooned on this planet. Because they threaten the status quo they have gone underground (literally) to save their lives. In the process, they have created a subculture. The Enterprise crew is there to save them. But while they negotiate with the women, a virus begins to affect the rest of the crew, complicating everything. What could have been an imaginative episode is dull as the planetary males.

One of the dumbest episodes in all of Star Trek

[a-gordon-2374 · 1/10 · 29 January 2022]

This episode started out okay. The premise itself wasn't bad. But the whole thing gets so incredibly stupid in the last 20 minutes that it makes me want to shut it off out of second hand embarrassment. Even the acting is worse than most other episodes.

It's not just that the episode is a little sexist, it's also just extremely cringey and poorly written, from "Data, go command this entire ship by yourself pl0x!" to "but sir, we have 48 minutes exactly to make it to save the day, I mean, 47 minutes!" to "you must not kill, you can't stop evolution!" to "BINGO, I found teh cure for VIRUS!!!11", the whole thing just gets dumber and dumber.

Probably best just to skip this episode, and certainly don't watch it again on re-watches.

Totally Underated épisode

[nicofreezer · 8/10 · 27 October 2021]

A very Solid entrance for the first Season 1 of star trek. Suspence was there, a virus on the enterprise, riker catch a beauty, La forge and Data on commande of the enterprise. I have had a really good Time.

Also it has a strong féminist message, im not a feminist but it was entertaining to watch the roles beeing reverse.

First time I have been compelled to write a review of TNG episode

[bloopville · 1/10 · 11 February 2016]

My wife and I have been trying all the post TOS version. Unlike most people, we have found Deep Space Nine the most compelling. We find the most serious acting and writing defects in TNG. She has given up on it, but I am soldiering on. However, Angel One stands out as a nadir in television programming. I wont rehash what most people have already written about it.

One of the conceits in the general "Star Trek Universe" is that planets aren't subdivided into countries. Angel One is supposed to be the equivalent to mid-20th century earth (the 50s), however the technology seemed even equivalent to the early 21st century. Politically, there seemed to be a single world leader, Beata, and everybody had easy access to her. This reminded me of TOS, and 50s science fiction movies, where limited budgets required world leaders to consist of councils of 3 men, sitting at a folding table with a ham radio and a table cloth draped over it.

And, of course, this sophisticated world leader, ruler of millions, is dissuaded from long standing jurisprudence, codified through, I am sure, some sort of constitutional legal means, on the just punishment for treasonable acts, by a trite speech on evolution vs. revolution.

At least the cracked cadence of Kirk would have been more entertaining.

A Senior Trekker writes.....................

[celineduchain · 5/10 · 26 December 2021]

Writing in 2021, it is great to see that I am not the only person taking a retrospective look at Star Trek, the Next Generation. When this series was first released in 1987, a little less than twenty years after the end of the Original Series, many people thought that, without Captain Kirk and his crew, it couldn't really be Star Trek. However, original creator Gene Roddenberry, was fully invested in the casting, writing and overall look of the new series, so let's see how it shaped up:

NO!. Just, NO.

This gender role swap episode is absolutely awful.

I can remember failing even to notice the ship-in-peril B story because of the jaw-dropping absurdity of Angel One's race of towering Glamazons and their subjugated little males. I suppose it was an attempt to do social commentary and it was of its time. That it failed to work is not really anyone's fault, at least they tried.

Totally unforgivable, however, was the "Riker engages in casual sex with strangers" trope which runs through many of the earlier episodes of TNG. This was presumably to compensate for the lack of Kirk-type "action" being experienced by an older Captain but, during the height of the AIDS epidemic, it was unforgivable. Even James Bond (Timothy Dalton in the Living Daylights, 1987) wasn't getting his kit off in those dark, dreadful days

Not every episode can stand the test of time, we should be grateful that so many do.

(Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5)

One of the Worst Next Generation Episodes

[M_Exchange · 2/10 · 6 December 2016]

Karen Montgomery, who died just last year (2015), was super-sexy in this episode, but as other people have noted, she didn't have the acting range to play the role of leader of a planet.

There are many interactions between her and Jonathon Frakes, who is a below average actor to be certain. It makes for the clunkiest moments in Next Generation's history.

Also, the audience anticipates this show's central message before we are even beaten over the head by it repeatedly. It's just an awkwardly bad episode.

As another person noted, Montgomery appeared in only a few TV shows during her brief career. In this episode, I wish that she had a better actor to play off so her performance wouldn't look nearly as horrible. RIP to her.

Some of the worst writing, acting, and directing on the show

[rcyoung-02426 · 3/10 · 24 April 2023]

This episode was supposed to be a commentary on Apartheid in South Africa, with men on the planet representing black people. Instead, it serves as a commentary for how not to depict relationships between men and women.

The Enterprise encounters a society ruled by women, and all it takes is for Riker to beam down, give a speech, and then the men save the day, by giving the female leaders a sexual awakening.

It's no small wonder why most of the cast did not like the episode. While the first half of the episode is interesting, it devolves into a male savior type fantasy, that was cringy as hell, even in the 80's.

Michael Ray Rhodes directed the episode, and from I have read, he didn't get along well with the cast. Apparently Patrick Stewart himself, sought to have the episode changed to become less sexist. Even executive producer Maurice Hurley hated it, described it as "terrible. Just terrible. One of the ones you'd just as soon erase".

I have only watched this episode once, and as much as I hate to say it, I'd rather not watch it again.

And so the legend of Riker begins.

[amusinghandle · 5/10 · 26 December 2023]

There's a clumsy attempt to mirror the historical treatment of women on earth except the roles are reversed.

For the briefest of moments I considered that Riker or Beata were attempting to use sexual power to influence one another but they just had some sex and the plot continued on.

How about some finesse in the writing of this story? Maybe these men had held power but came close to destroying the entire planet (Impossible, right!) and the women had to take control to save the planet but they over corrected? I dunno. Give me something to work with to justify Beata willing to kill the male dissenters.

What is there to say about Riker's sex slave outfit beyond, "wow!". I was expecting some kind of Troi reaction but I forgot that jealously has been exiled from the human condition in gene's star trek season 1 vision.

The B-Plot was chosen based on a writer throwing a dart at the B-Plot idea board. A magical virus is created and Dr. Crusher has to.... ..... zzz...zzz...zzzz... caused by inhaling deeply..... cure found... Georgi currently best performed male actor on show.

We end the episode with the old 'ship the problem away' solution. No potential for problems there. Was this a commentary on feminists being unrelenting? Was it Gene's meddling that ruined potentially great idea's in S1? At times you almost feel like S1 could be used as a cadaver for future show runners to examine to learn what not to do when making a tv show.

First Lady!

[gritfrombray-1 · 5/10 · 16 July 2007]

The Enterprise is sent to investigate the missing freighter Odin and discovers it's crew has ended up on a planet known as Angel One. The planet is ran by a female head of state and she curtly accepts an Enterprise delegate to search for survivors. This planet shows us a strong female head of state and a somewhat wimpy male population. Unbeknown to the Leader of the planet, Beatta, one of her workers has married one of the Odin's survivors! Riker intrigues Beatta and she somewhat seduces him, an echo of Kirk's days I'm sure! The survivors are now known to be renegades who have eluded the planet's authorities for some time. Eventually technology locates the survivors who refuse to leave and Beatta sentences them to death. A compromise is eventually reached and the survivors are relocated away from the populace

Oh the irony

[du_puy1 · 2/10 · 23 February 2023]

I really love how they come into contact with this "Amazonian" type matriarchy and then proceed to have Riker continue to lead the conversation. This really should have been a Troi episode; she didn't even get chided for letting her man talk out of turn. And then the Lead female of this group still seems to care what Riker thinks about her and whether she is attractive. They get to the conflict of the episode only to have Riker "mansplain" how they are facing an evolution of the sexes on their planet. So now suddenly they have all this respect for the brilliance that is a white guy. Really one of the worst episodes.

And the winner is ...

[skinnybert · 4/10 · 28 May 2023]

In the category of Worst Realization of a Promising Premise in a Star Trek episode, we hardly have to leave Season One of TNG. Plenty of terrible episodes abound, but then comes "Angel One" which magnificently is incapable of understanding its own premise. -- or rather, it assumes a premise that is so shallow as to be useless.

But surely it's OK, we tell ourselves; this is science fiction, so aren't the rules different? The short answer is no, and so is the long answer, because -- sci-fi or no -- these stories are supposed to be moral lessons, which they can't be if they don't reflect any real situation.

Yes, there's a decent idea here: having men be subordinate to women rather than vice-versa. The shortcoming is that this grievously misunderstands what patriarchy or matriarchy is, how either functions, or why anyone would choose such structures. Instead it simply presumes have-vs-have-not privilege, cries 'foul' and presumes to know better.

The result is the worst kind of moralizing: having to invent a straw-man situation to support a simplistic argument, whose premise wasn't really understood in the first place. A useful example of how good intentions don't necessarily excuse poor results.