Television Review: Shades of Gray (Star Trek: The Next Generation, S2X22, 1989)

Shades of Gray (S02E22)

Airdate: July 17th 1989

Written by: Michael Hurley, Richard Manning & Hans Beimler
Directed by: Rob Bowman

Running Time: 45 minutes

While the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation is rightly heralded as the pivotal moment where the series decisively shed the lingering shadow of The Original Series, forging its own sophisticated path towards what many consider the Golden Age of Star Trek, this undeniable trajectory of improvement cannot be extended to its concluding instalment. Ironic indeed that the season finale, "Shades of Gray," stands not as a triumphant culmination but as a profound nadir, frequently cited not merely as the weakest entry in The Next Generation's seven-year run, but occasionally holding the dubious distinction of being the single worst episode across the entire sprawling Star Trek franchise.

The episode commences with the USS Enterprise-D in orbit of the unexplored planet Surata IV. An away team comprising Commander William Riker and Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge is dispatched to investigate. During their mission, Riker suffers what appears to be a sting from an unknown plant organism. As he requests transport back to the ship, Chief O'Brien’s biofilter raises a critical alert: Riker is compromised by an unknown and potentially hazardous microorganism. Compounding the tension, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Katherine Pulaski – who harbours a pronounced fear of transporter technology – is compelled to beam down to the planet's surface to administer immediate treatment. Recognising the severity of Riker’s condition, Pulaski makes the difficult decision to transport him back to Enterprise sickbay, a move necessitated by the microorganism’s aggressive nature.

Once aboard, the true horror unfolds. The microorganism is revealed to be systematically attacking Riker’s nervous system, its insidious progress towards his brainstem threatening death within mere hours. His condition deteriorates rapidly, culminating in a coma. Dr. Pulaski discovers the microorganism exhibits a peculiar reactivity to endorphins. This leads to the episode’s centra conceit: Counsellor Deanna Troi utilises her empathic abilities to forcibly induce specific emotional states within the comatose Riker by triggering targeted memories. Crucially, attempts to evoke positive recollections prove ineffective; it is only the deliberate excavation of Riker’s most painful and traumatic past experiences that generates the necessary endorphin surge, ultimately enabling his body to combat the infection and awaken.

On a fundamental level, the core plot – a crewmember infected by an alien pathogen requiring unconventional treatment – is undeniably generic science fiction fodder, possessing little originality. Yet, with thoughtful execution, it could have served as a compelling framework for character exploration or ethical dilemmas. Instead, the script by Maurice Hurley, Richard Manning, and Hans Beimler treats this premise with utter contempt, reducing it to nothing more than the flimsiest possible pretext for an excessive reliance on flashback sequences. These clips, shamelessly recycled from previous Season 1 and Season 2 episodes featuring Riker, are the episode’s defining characteristic, cementing its infamous reputation as The Next Generation’s sole clip show and the primary source of its critical derision.

It must be acknowledged that the clip show format itself, while often maligned by modern audiences accustomed to streaming archives, possessed legitimate utility in the pre-VCR, pre-streaming era of network television. For long-running series, such episodes offered viewers a convenient, low-cost recapitulation of past events, serving as narrative touchstones. Even in later decades, well-crafted clip shows could offer fresh perspectives, thematic resonance, or character insights by reframing past events within a new context. The critical failure of Shades of Gray lies in complete absence of any such redeeming narrative or thematic purpose.

The sole, unedifying reason for Shades of Gray’s existence was a stark financial reality. Paramount Pictures, having reportedly overspent on ambitious preceding Season 2 episodes like Elementary, Dear Data and Q Who, allocated a shockingly meagre budget for the finale – reportedly sufficient for only three days of principal photography. Faced with this draconian constraint, even a director of Rob Bowman’s considerable talent was rendered impotent. The decision to construct the episode almost entirely from archive footage was not a creative choice, but a desperate, cost-cutting necessity. This context explains the episode’s genesis but utterly fails to excuse its artistic bankruptcy.

While Dr. Pulaski performs her duties with professional competence, her character’s functionality within the thin plot does little to mask the overwhelming impression of shoddy, expedient workmanship. The selection of flashback sequences is profoundly problematic: they appear utterly random, chosen seemingly based on availability rather than any logical connection to Riker’s current trauma or Pulaski’s endorphin theory. Worse still, every single memory presented originates from Riker’s service aboard the Enterprise-D itself. This glaring omission – the complete absence of formative experiences from his Academy days, his time on the Potemkin, or his relationship with Deanna on Betazed – catastrophically undermines suspension of disbelief. It renders the entire therapeutic premise nonsensical and brutally reminds viewers they are watching a cynical, ultra-generic 1980s television product manufactured under duress, not a considered piece of science fiction drama.

The consensus among those involved speaks volumes. Producer Maurice Hurley himself later described the episode as embarrassing, a sentiment echoed by much of the production team. For the vast majority of discerning Star Trek fans, the desire to excise Shades of Gray from the canon is a rational response to its abject failure on almost every level – narrative, thematic, and technical. It lacks the grace of a functional clip show, the intrigue of a medical mystery, or the character depth expected of The Next Generation at its best. Instead, it stands as a stark, unavoidable blemish on Season 2’s otherwise impressive ascent, a painful reminder that even the most promising voyages can founder on the rocks of studio parsimony and creative surrender.

RATING: 2/10 (-)

Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
InLeo blog https://inleo.io/@drax.leo

LeoDex: https://leodex.io/?ref=drax
InLeo: https://inleo.io/signup?referral=drax.leo
Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax
Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax
1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e

BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
BCH donations: qpvxw0jax79lhmvlgcldkzpqanf03r9cjv8y6gtmk9