Television Review: When the Bough Breaks (Star Trek: The Next Generation, S1X17, 1988)

When the Bough Breaks (S01E17)

Airdate: February 15th 1988

Written by: Hannah Louise Shearer
Directed by: Kim Manners

Running Time: 45 minutes

Star Trek: The Original Series possessed a potent, almost alchemical quality: when its formula ignited, it produced episodes of enduring brilliance that defined the franchise. Yet, when it faltered, the misfires could inflict deep, lingering wounds upon the collective psyche of its devoted audience – a kind of psychological hangover akin to PTSD for ardent "trekkies." This phenomenon proved particularly corrosive during the notoriously rocky first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Retrospectively, this season has often been unfairly lambasted for allegedly aping TOS too closely, a criticism frequently levied without acknowledging the immense challenge of launching a new series under the shadow of a beloved predecessor. One episode that suffered disproportionately from this association was When the Bough Breaks. Its central premise – the abduction of children by an advanced, desperate civilisation – inevitably invited unfavourable comparisons to the TOS episode And the Children Shall Lead. Had it not been for this toxic linkage to a widely derided TOS instalment, and judged purely on its own narrative merits and execution, When the Bough Breaks would likely have garnered a far less hostile initial reception, perhaps even recognition as a solid, if flawed, early TNG effort exploring pertinent themes.

The episode commences with the USS Enterprise-D traversing the Epsilon Mynos system, an area shrouded in legend as the possible location of Aldea, a mythical, Atlantis-like world rumoured to have cloaked itself millennia ago to evade destruction. This academic curiosity transforms abruptly into stark reality when the planet Aldea materialises, its formidable shield dropping just long enough for Rashella (a compelling debut from Brenda Strong) and the elder Radue Jerry Hardin) to hail the Enterprise. Following a tense but polite initial contact on the bridge, Rashella, accompanied by Radue, beams aboard. After establishing Aldea's astonishing technological sophistication – possessing capabilities surpassing even the Federation in certain domains – their true, chilling motive emerges: they propose a trade. Facing extinction due to millennia of infertility caused by environmental collapse, the Aldeans require the Enterprise's children to perpetuate their race. Captain Picard, naturally, refuses this abhorrent proposition. Yet, this defiance triggers the Aldeans' drastic action: the Enterprise is scanned, and later, Wesley Crusher and six other children are forcibly beamed down to the surface of Aldea.

Stranded and helpless, the Enterprise crew learns the Aldean shield is deemed impenetrable, rendering the children effectively permanent prisoners. However, the narrative quickly establishes that the Aldeans, while morally compromised, are not cruel captors; they genuinely care for the children's well-being, providing comfort and even nurturing nascent talents the youngsters hadn't previously displayed under parental supervision. Wesley, inevitably drawn into the heart of the mystery, becomes fixated on the Custodian – the planet's colossal, ancient computer that manages every facet of Aldean life. His investigation proves crucial: he deduces that Aldean society, having utterly surrendered autonomy to the Custodian over countless generations, has lost the fundamental knowledge required to maintain or even interpret its systems. This technological dependency directly caused the degradation of their ozone layer, the root cause of their infertility. Meanwhile, back on the Enterprise, a parallel effort identifies a microscopic flaw in the Aldean shield. This allows for a rescue, facilitated by Wesley's leadership of a child-led hunger strike and passive resistance. Picard, in the denouement, offers the Federation's aid in restoring Aldea's atmosphere, promising hope for the beleaguered civilisation.

Written by Hannah Louise Shearer, the executive story editor for TNG's first season (who would go on to write five further episodes), the script drew direct inspiration from the pressing environmental anxieties of the mid-1980s, particularly the alarming scientific consensus regarding the depletion of the Earth's ozone layer. This ecological message is seamlessly interwoven with a classic science fiction trope: the peril of civilisational over-reliance on technology leading to societal atrophy and incompetence. The Aldeans serve as a potent cautionary tale – their advanced shield and life-sustaining systems became their prison, blinding them to the slow-motion catastrophe unfolding above them. This thematic core remains one of the episode's strongest and most enduring elements, grounding the fantastical premise in a very real, contemporary fear.

Nevertheless, significant criticism, then and now, stems from the continued elevation of Wesley Crusher into the role of "Boy Wonder." Despite being canonically fifteen – legally a minor and thus fitting the Aldean definition of "child" – his portrayal often strains credulity. His rapid, near-solo decryption of the Custodian's secrets, coupled with his effortless leadership of the children's resistance, feels less like organic character development and more like a convenient plot device to expedite the resolution. This feeds directly into another common critique: the relative passivity of the main TNG crew. Picard, Riker, Data, and Geordi spend much of the episode reacting rather than driving the solution. The resolution hinges almost entirely on Wesley's actions on Aldea and Dr. Crusher's sudden, almost intuitive grasp of the shield flaw's origin – a pairing that functions as a distinctly unearned deus ex machina. It renders the broader crew's efforts feel secondary and diminishes the sense of collective Starfleet problem-solving that would become a TNG hallmark.

Yet, to dismiss When the Bough Breaks solely for its Wesley-centric narrative is to overlook substantial compensating virtues. Chief among these is the uniformly high calibre of the acting. Brenda Strong, as Rashella – later revealed as the last true Aldean – delivers a performance of remarkable depth and vulnerability for a guest star in her first major role. She embodies the tragic desperation of a civilisation facing oblivion with palpable sincerity, making their morally dubious actions strangely comprehensible. Jerry Hardin (who would later reappear in TNG as Mark Twain in two-parter episode Time's Arrow), as the weary but principled Radue, provides essential gravitas and pathos, evoking genuine sympathy for the Aldeans' plight despite their reprehensible methods. Furthermore, the child actors portraying the abductees are significantly more naturalistic and convincing than their often-cringeworthy counterparts in TOS episodes featuring children, lending crucial emotional weight to their predicament.

The episode also benefits immensely from the directorial hand of Kim Manners, who would later achieve significant acclaim on The X-Files and Supernatural. Manners brings a confident visual style and a knack for building tension within the confined sets. The production design for Aldea, particularly the breathtaking chamber housing the Custodian's power source remains visually impressive even by contemporary standards. Achieved through practical effects and clever lighting rather than CGI, this sequence possesses a tangible, awe-inspiring quality that digital effects sometimes lack. Manners ensures the Aldean world feels both wondrous and subtly wrong, a paradise built on the brink of collapse.

At the end, When the Bough Breaks is a fascinating case study in early TNG's struggles and occasional triumphs. While undeniably hampered by the era's problematic reliance on Wesley Crusher as a narrative shortcut and the unfortunate, if understandable, shadow cast by its TOS counterpart, it possesses significant merits that warrant a more charitable reassessment. The strong performances, particularly from Strong and Hardin, elevate the material beyond its script's weaknesses, imbuing the Aldeans with tragic dignity. Coupled with Kim Manners' assured direction and the enduring visual spectacle of the Custodian set, the episode transcends its "first season filler" reputation. Judged not as a poor imitation of TOS, but as an earnest, if imperfect, attempt by a young series to tackle weighty themes with sincerity and visual flair, When the Bough Breaks emerges not as a scar on TNG's legacy, but as a flawed yet fundamentally respectable chapter in its formative journey – a chapter where the ambition, if not always the execution, truly worked.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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