Television Review: Unification II (Star Trek: The Next Generation, S5X08, 1991)

Unification II (S05E08)

Airdate: 11 November 1991

Written by: Matthew Piller
Directed by: Cliff Bole

Running Time: 46 minutes

In the annals of science fiction, few franchises have managed to sustain their cultural relevance for as long as Star Trek, yet many grand franchises are known to provide dedicated fan service to their loyal audience. One of the more obvious and spectacular examples of this phenomenon occurred in 1991 when Unification, a two-part episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, served as a symbolic bridge between two distinct eras of the franchise. This was achieved by the arrival of Star Trek: The Original Series most iconic and popular character, although his presence, especially in its second part, represented just one of the many examples of fan service deployed to satisfy long-standing expectations. The episode is a testament to the series' ability to balance new storytelling with deep continuity, even if the narrative execution was occasionally uneven.

The plot begins on the planet Romulus, where Picard and Data, disguised to impersonate Romulans as part of a covert intelligence-gathering mission, have finally found Ambassador Spock. Spock is suspected of defecting from the Federation to the Romulan Star Empire, yet he explains that he is on a covert mission of his own. His goal is based on a realisation that the great rift between Vulcans and Romulans – two civilisations that shared common ancestors but took very different paths – might be finally bridged. Spock notes that among Romulan society there is a nascent movement to abandon the violent, expansionist, and oppressive ways of the past and instead embrace the logic of their Vulcan cousins. Spock, who had been a longtime friend of Romulan senator Pardek, has arrived on Romulus specifically to help this movement towards unity.

However, the key to Spock's plan involves Neral (Norman Large), a new, young proconsul who appears open to new ideas, including the reunification of Vulcans and Romulans. Picard, however, remains suspicious, and on the Klingon ship Spock and Data use their formidable intellectual abilities to try breaking Romulan codes and discern their true intentions. Those sinister intentions are revealed when Picard, Spock, and Data are arrested by Commander Sela. Spock is told to read false news about an upcoming reunification and peace initiative, which is merely a cover for a sneak attack on Vulcan. The plan involved 2,000 Romulan soldiers hidden within stolen Vulcan ships, who would take over the planet.

Fortunately, Data manages to create a holographic simulation that would allow the trio to escape, and later Spock to read the true message about Romulan intentions, warning Vulcan. The ruse is also uncovered thanks to Riker's efforts, who investigated the theft of a Vulcan ship and received enough information to block their passage from the Neutral Zone near the Galorndon Core. When the Enterprise tries to pursue the ships, a Romulan warbird destroys them and kills the Romulan soldiers rather than allow them to be captured and create diplomatic embarrassment for the Romulan Empire.

While the main plot focuses on Spock, the episode includes a subplot where adventures of Riker and Worf on Qualor II take place in a Mos Eisley-like bar. Here, two protagonists meet bizarre characters like four-armed Amarie (Harriet Leider), and a fat Ferengi trader Omag (William Bastiani). This segment is semi-humorous filler, but it also adds bit of lore building by revealing Klingons' love of opera, adding depth to the cultural landscape of the franchise beyond the main diplomatic mission.

While Unification I was solid but unremarkable setup, Unification II serves as a solid but disappointing story resolution. The episode, written by Michael Piller, one of Star Trek's more celebrated writers, and directed by experienced Cliff Bole, is very good at technical levels and ultimately delivers what fans would have dreamed for years – pairing of Spock, the most iconic TOS character, with Data, the most iconic character of TNG. Both characters are known for their logic and cold, scientific approach to solving problems, although they have different agendas. Spock is a half-human who wants to approach pure logic of his Vulcan half, while Data is an android who wants to embrace nature of his human creators. Leonard Nimoy and Brent Spiner work wonders in their scenes together, providing a chemistry that fans waited years to witness.

The episode is also good in building Star Trek lore. Unification II makes references to Khitomer Peace Conference, an event that happened 80 years earlier and in which Spock played important part, and which would serve as plot of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, feature film that was released to cinema weeks after the airing of episode. This represents one of the better examples of establishing links between different pieces of franchise.

Another piece of fan service is reappearance of Sela, which is an excuse to bring back Denise Crosby and another reference to character's mother Tasha Yar, whose long absence made her actually popular among fans. Yet, Sela here proves to be less efficient villain than Tasha Yar was protagonist; while her diabolical plan of Vulcan conquest was interesting, she ruined it by acting rather careless for smooth intelligence operative. She nevertheless provides another piece of fan service when she is put out of commission by Vulcan nerve pinch by Data, an act commended by Spock.

In the end Spock is having mind meld with Picard, who had previous mind meld with Sarek, thus making emotional reconnect with his late father. This scene is, in retrospect, one of the more emotional for hardcore trekkies, because it was, not counting upcoming appearance in Undiscovered Country, the last occurrence of Spock on screen before 2009 reboot film. The episode ends on Romulus where Spock bids farewell to Picard and Data, claiming that despite being betrayed and suffering setback, his work on reunification will continue. This bittersweet conclusion allows Spock to remain a mystery while satisfying the desire to see the character one last time before the franchise moved on, cementing the episode's place as a nostalgic cornerstone for the series.

RATING: 6/10 (+++)

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