ST:TNG Season Four, Episode Sixteen "Galaxy's Child"

ST:TNG Season Four, Episode Sixteen "Galaxy's Child"
Production Order: 16
Air Order: 16
Stardate: 44614.6
Original Air Date: March 11, 1991

Nooooooooooo!
I don't wanna spend my Sunday watching and reviewing the most awkward, cringe-y episode of TNG ever!
Didn't I do enough by watching the first, third and fifth Star Trek films and reviewing those?
Why must you do this to me?
It's not fair!
You can't make me!


FINE.

*******

Picard's Log 44614.6: "We're picking up supplies or something to take someplace else, but that's neither here nor there as far as the story goes, it's just that the ship needs to be doing something in the background while the A plot does its thing. Anyway, we're getting a guest on the ship who will go with us, but that guest isn't going to the supply place, either."

La Forge walks into the ready room to talk to Picard, who tells the head engineer that the guest is coming to see him.

"It's Dr Leah Brahms."

La Forge laughs with delight. "That's awesome!"

"It is?"

Why so surprised, Picard? You just told your chief engineer that the chief designer of the Enterprise's engines wants to see the mods he's made. He's not allowed to be excited?

La Forge admits that he's a bit of a Brahms fanboy, because she designs engines, and he works on them.

"Oh. Cool. You want to greet her when she comes on board?"

"Hell yes!"

Y'all remember Lean Brahms, right? Geordi created a holodeck version of her to help with a real-life engine problem, and they ended up kissing at the end of the episode? And then he later implies to Reg Barclay that he "once fell in love" in the holodeck, but that he probably hasn't used that program since?

Down in Ten Forward, a stoked Geordi sits at the bar, picking non-existent lint off his uniform.

"What's up?" asks Guinan.

"Nervous-excited," says Geordi. "Remember like a year ago when we got stuck in that booby trap? Well, I made a holodeck program to simulate the design room at the place where the Enterprise was built, and it provided me with the designer, too. Dr Leah Brahms."

"K. You met a simulated woman."

"Naw, it was more than that. The computer incorporated her personality and we got on like a starship on fire. We worked great as a team. And today, the real Dr Brahms is coming here to see the engine mods I've made. It's gonna the best."

"Um, that was a chick on the holodeck, not the real thing, Geordi."

"No, no - I'm not expecting romance here, I just think we're gonna be BFFs."

"Uh-huh."

La Forge leaves to go to the transporter room.

I love it when they purposefully add in all of the colors of the different
branches of Starfleet in a shot in a sneaky way.

La Forge is calm, but excited, as he tells the transporter chief (not O'Brien) to beam over Dr Brahms.

He greets Brahms with a warm, friendly "hi," before realizing that he should be a bit more formal.

"I mean, welcome to the Enterprise, Dr Brahms. I'm Lt-Commander Geordi La Forge, Chief Engineer."

"Ugh, you're the one who's been fucking up my engines," she sneers, walking past him.

Uh-oh. Things not going to plan, La Forge? Need to rethink being BFFs?

Dramatic music! Opening credits break!

When we come back, La Forge and Brahms are taking a terse tour of the warp core and engineering section. She points out something that's off from the specs, he defends his actions. He's not loving that she hates all of his mods, and she's not loving that he did it in the first place.

"There's a difference between theory and application," he points out.

She rolls her eyes. "Really? You gonna go with out here in the field, things are different?"

"Hell yes! Because it's true."

A comm call interrupts the argument to say that Dr Brahms has an incoming message. She coldly tells La Forge that she wants to hear the message privately, and he snaps, "In my office. Be my guest," complete with sarcastic waving gesture.

This seems to be going real well for you La Forge. Just like in the holodeck. Picking up where only you left off.

Up on the bridge, Data tells Riker that there's a mostly-uncharted system nearby with a weird energy signal. Riker approaches the Conn and does his Captain Morgan pose thing. They talk about it for a moment, then Riker decides that they're doing really well on time and have plenty of it to make a short detour.
Riker, has that ever gone according to plan? Like, when was the last episode where you guys made a quick detour from your scheduled flight and you then got right back on the road and continued making good time to your original destination? This isn't a pie stand. It's weird radiation.

Down in Engineering, La Forge offers Brahms an olive branch.
"We're on the same side, right? How about I show you what I changed, and tell you why I think it's working?"
She makes a "lead the way" gesture, and they look at the dilithium chamber.

On the bridge, Picard has arrived. They roll up on this unexplored system, and Data describes the thing that's giving off the energy signature, which is orbiting a planet.
"Is it like a ship?" asks Picard.
"Naw, it's like... there's nothing like it on record in the Federation." says Data.
Picard gets this YAAAASSSS look on his face, and tells them to take it in further, but not too close.

La Forge and Brahms peer into the dilithium crystal chamber, and Brahms asks La Forge who changed it up.
"You remember," he replies.
"Whut? Why would I remember why you did something?"
"Oh, yeah..."
Brahms starts to mention that this set up was actually meant to be implemented -
" - in the next class starship?" La Forge finishes.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" she asks in an accusatory tone. Like he's been reading classified documents.
"We're thinking alike," he says defensively. "Sometimes, we're gonna have the same ideas at the same time."
They close the chamber and walk away, and he extends another olive branch.
"Okay, look: I have to do personnel reviews now. I'm getting the feeling that you also need a break. How about we meet up later to go over a game plan, have some food, get to know each other? Then maybe this won't suck so much."
She agrees.
"Cool. My quarters? Like, 1900 hours?"
She hedges. That seems weird.
"I make a great fungilli."
No, you replicate a great fungilli.
"I love fungilli!" she says, surprising herself.
"You don't say," he smiles, before leaving.
And Dr Brahms leans against a work station, because she can't figure out what this guy's deal is.

The E swings in closer to the Thing in Space, and Data gives more info.
"Did somebody build it?" asks Riker.
"Think it's an animal," says Data.
"Cool, let's launch a probe," says Riker.
Picard is fascinated by the idea of exploring space without ships or spacesuits, and waxes rhapsodic for a moment to Troi about it.
The thing probes the E and Worf recommends putting up shields, but Picard says it's cool to just let it scan them.

"Sir, we're being scanned by that space ravioli!"

The animal attacks!

Whoa, shit.
"We're in an energy-damping field," says Data.
They try backing up and go to red alert.
"Hey La Forge, can you get us the hell out of here?" Picard asks over comms.
"Noop," says La Forge. "Radiation is totally preventing us from forming a warp field."
"Hey," announces Majel. "Some serious radiation poisoning happening soon."
"Craaap," says Riker. He calls Crusher to let her know that they're doing radiation protocols, and to watch out for people coming into sick bay.
"I said, RADIATION POISONING," says Majel again. "Like, one minute until you all have cancer."
"Shit," says Picard. "Um, phasers on lowest setting, and shoot it."
Worf shoots the space animal to get it to stop attacking the E, and Data reports that the radiation is going down, but so are the energy levels of the creature, until...

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

Picard is not taking this shit well.
"Fuck," he whispers. "We're supposed to explore and be peaceful, not kill others."
Troi tells him firmly that he acted within established Starfleet protocols, but that's clearly cold comfort, and he doesn't want to hear it.
He starts to go to the ready room.
"Hey, getting energy readings from the center of the thing," announces Data.
"Maybe it's still alive?" asks Picard hopefully.

Geordi is fussing about in his quarters, setting the table for dinner, lowering the lights, putting on music, and arguing with Majel over music and lighting choices.
"I don't want dark, I want cozy."
"What candlepower is cozy?" Majel asks.
"Dude: mood lighting."
"CAN. DLE. POW. ER."
The door chimes, and Geordi tells Brahms to come in.
She's taken aback by the fact that he's wearing civilian clothing.
"Uniforms are so formal," he explains. "I wanted to make you more comfortable."
"Um, I'm okay."
He offers her a seat at the table and a drink, the latter of which she declines.
Then he sits and remarks that her hair is different from her personnel files.
"I used to wear it up," she says, then asks why he would need to see those.
Trapped. Pause. "Um, standard protocol for when guests come on board. To know who we're working with and stuff."
She buys it, then launches into an explanation into caring so much about her work that she sometimes comes off as abrasive or stubborn.
"No, I get that," says Geordi. "I feel the same way about my work as well. It's like the engines are your children. Mine too."
She's amazed that someone else feels this way, and admits that she is more comfortable around engine schematics than people.
"Maybe you haven't met the right people." He gets up. "I'll make dinner."
She immediately jumps to her feet. "I can't stay. I think this is kind of inappropriate. But we can meet again tomorrow morning. I made a list of things in your system that I'm not fond of, and maybe now that we're on the same page, we can talk about it objectively. Cool?"
"...yeah."
She feels good, because maybe Geordi will change things back to the way they were. He's disappointed because he wanted them to be friends, and also for her to be okay with the changes he made. And also for them to eat replicated pasta. But she takes off anyway.

-

At the science station on the bridge, Data shows Picard and Riker a view of the dead creature's underside, which is pulsating.
"I only noticed this movement and energy after the creature was dead," he says.
Picard and Riker make a few guesses about phaser fire, or regeneration, but Data dances around the fact that he thinks that creature was preggo.
And now Picard feels that much shittier. "It attacked the ship because it was about to give birth."

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

In the Obs Lounge, Picard meets with Crusher, Riker, Troi and Worf.
Crusher admits that she knows nothing about the creature or its biology, but if she had to make an educated guess, they probably need to do a c-section.
Riker suggests that they could use a phaser as a scalpel to cut it out, but they have no idea if the little creature could survive outside of the parent.
Worf objects: they saw what the parent did and have no idea if the little one will do the same.
"I appreciate that," Picard nods. "But we're responsible for killing the parent, we kind of owe the little one."
They go with the phaser-as-scalpel plan.

At 0800 hours, Brahms requests to check out something that will require La Forge and herself to crawl around in some Jeffries tubes. They don some coveralls and start inside.
"Ship sounds different," she remarks.
"Yeah, you're probs the only other person in the galaxy who could detect that," he says.
He directs her to the ceiling of the tube, where he's made another mod.
"What is it?" she asks.
"(Science)," he replies modestly. "For (science)ing (science)."
"That's... that's fucking brilliant. I don't think anyone's ever done that before, let alone thought of doing it. You should get credit for that, write a scientific paper."
He laughs. "Hell no. I do not write well. But that's your wheelwell - we could collaborate?"
Time for some Band-Aid ripping.
"Ummm, you seem to know stuff about me that others don't," she says.
"Okay, okay - I've studied your work. I admire you. I thought we could be buds," he admits. "Maybe really good friends."
"Oh." She pauses. "I think I'm hearing something you're not saying, and I figured you would know because you seem to know everything else about me. But I'm married."
La Forge lets out a nervous laugh and a sigh that says, "that figures."

On the bridge, the crew is preparing for the c-section. Crusher and Worf adjust the phaser, then use it to cut open the underside of the creature. Crusher says she can't do more to help, because she risks hitting the kid.
After a few moments, it pushes through.

Picard seems much relieved.

La Forge is in Ten Forward staring at a 3-D chess set, asking how things could have gone so sideways. Guinan sits down at the table with him.
"Not how you thought it would go?" she asks, which is Guinan for "told ya so."
Because it didn't go the way he thought, he tells her the downsides of meeting Dr Brahms, which are that she's unfriendly, only cares about her work, hates what he's done to "her engines," and that she's married.
Interesting that she's now "unfriendly" given that you guys were friendly with one another two scenes ago. I guess that when things don't go our way, we only count the stuff that went against our wishes.
"There was margin for error, yeah, but the computer made her friendlier and never said she was married!"
Sassy Guinan Set-up: "Maybe it was your old VISOR - the one you were wearing when you were with holo-Brahms?"
He frowns. "It's the same VISOR."

"The computer gave her a personality and past, but you filled in the blanks, basically telling the computer what you wanted. It provided what you wanted, and you had a fun little fantasy. But now the real Leah Brahms is here, and she's ruined it. She committed the huge crime of not living up to your expectations. So maybe see her for what she is, and not for who you wish she was."
La Forge continues his pity party.

On the bridge, the crew watches the baby, then Picard decides that they should be getting back to their original route. They need to blow this pie stand. They've interfered enough.
Riker suggests that they put some distance between themselves and the smaller creature before going to warp, and they move out slowly.
The offspring makes a gesture like, "oh, are we heading out?" and goes along behind the ship.

"It's following us," announces Worf.
"Faster," says Riker.
"Still following us."
"It imprinted on us," says Troi. "It thinks the Enterprise is its mother."
Riker is amused.

The ship rocks. The kid has attached itself to the hull, and the power on the bridge flickers.
"It's nursing," says Troi. "Sucking the energy out of the ship like it would from its mother."
They put up a pic of it on the viewscreen, and where the hell is that camera located? The nacelles?

"What should we do?" asks Worf.
"Nothing," says Picard darkly.

Dramatic music! Zoom-in on Picard! Commercial break!

Picard's Log, supplemental: "Frickin' baby thing is still sucking power from the ship, but we're chugging along, and have stabilized the power on the ship temporarily. However, it keeps demanding more at an increased rate."

The senior staff gathers in the Obs Lounge, and they've invited Dr Brahms along for some reason. She and La Forge tell the others that if the baby continues to suck energy at that increasing rate, they only have like six or seven hours before they run out of juice and have to call Space AAA.
"But by then, Junior may be done with us," adds La Forge.
Picard asks Data if he can extrapolate from the information which way the parent was going. Data nods.
"Maybe it was taking the baby to a safe environment, like a nursery," suggests Crusher.
Staaarrr Whaaaales.

"Okay, so if we go there, how do we get Junior off the hull?" asks Riker.
"It's almost completely covering the door to shuttle bay 2," says Brahms. "What if we open the doors and shut off the atmospheric pressure?"
"Could pop Junior off the hull," agrees La Forge.
"Cool. Do it."
"Wait," says Data. "Is Junior the official name of this thing?"

Lol, screw you, Picard. I'm not on your crew.

Brahams and La Forge are walking through the corridors, back to Engineering, talking about engine modifications they've been making to keep Junior from drinking the ship dry. Brahms remarks that La Forge has made more adjustments than she thought previously, but she seems to be more okay with it now.
"Do you have a list of all the stuff you've done?"
"Totes, it's in the computer."
La Forge gets called to the bridge. "Ensign Pavlik can show you those files. Start without me. I'll be right there."

Dr Brahms is down in Engineering looking at La Forge's mod files. She asks Pavlik if there are any files that she can look at with original engine specs.
Pavlik pulls up a file. "There's a holodeck program that shows original engine specs in the drafting room at Utopia Planitia."
"Sweet. That's just what I need. Send it to holodeck 3."

Then we pause the episode, get a soda from the fridge and go to the next episode. Nobody needs to see the rest. Here, I'll summarize:
The holodeck is one of the non-essential things on the ship that was shut down to conserve energy. Brahms comes back to Engineering, and tells La Forge that she tried to access his cool program, but couldn't. He says that it's okay, that the program wasn't as good as he'd hoped anyway, and they find a way to get Junior off the hull. Junior goes to college, everyone cries, and Brahms and La Forge become penpals, sending letters to each other, fangirling over engine specs. La Forge meets Brahms' husband, who La Forge likes and is not jealous of at all. They set up La Forge with a friend of theirs, who is perfect for him and likes science, and is definitely not a hologram.

See how easy that is?
No need to actually watch the last 13 minutes.
It's like watching Titanic on VHS, and never putting the second tape in. The ship makes it to New York, Jack and Rose run away together, Rose's rapey fiance gets what's coming to him, everyone lives, and no one argues how many people can fit on a door.
"Ev'ry night in my dreams, I see you
You're just fine..."

...no?
You seriously want to see the rest of this episode?
You want to cringe your way through it, feeling for both La Forge and Brahms, but just plain ol' feeling squicky in general?
Cuz you know what's going to happen, and you know it's gonna suck for both of them, and you.
Also me.
I don't wanna do it.

Come on, man.

Please?

Ugggghhhhh.

So calling La Forge to the bridge was just a story cheat to get him out of Engineering, so that Dr Brahms could innocently open his holo-diary and read the juicy bits. I have no idea why the writers hate him so much.
In a two-second scene, La Forge goes back into Engineering and demands, "She went WHERE?"
"I thought it was okay," protests Pavlik, who didn't actually do anything wrong.
"You would!" he shouts, running from Engineering.

La Forge runs to holodeck 3, but instead of going in, he should shoot himself out of an airlock. Or hole up in some empty quarters. Learn to live down in the Jeffries tubes like a space-age Phantom of the Opera.

DON'T GO INTO THE HOLODECK, GEORDI!

But does he listen to me? No. No, he barrels right in, hoping to head her off at the pass before she sees anything too incriminating, but what part is Brahms watching?
THE VERY LAST FUCKING PART RIGHT BEFORE THEY KISS, WHERE SIM-LEAH TELLS GEORDI THAT EVERY TIME HE TOUCHES THE ENGINES, HE'S TOUCHING HER.

IRL Brahms FUCKING PISSED. She rages that she was all ready to compliment him again for creating a holo-program of the prototype engine so he would always have the reference for his modifications, but now she sees that this was all some kind of sick fantasy.

Can I stop watching now?

La Forge attempts to convince her that it was a professional collaboration, but she just watched herself telling him that every time he touches the engines, HE'S TOUCHING HER.
"How dare you use me like this? I feel so invaded! Was it good for you?"

Please kill me.

"If you watched the whole thing, you saw it was just a professional collab!"
"I didn't see the end! How do I know how far it went? Maybe you have more programs! One for every day of the week? Every mood?"

ACK! BRAIN SUGGESTING THAT THERE MIGHT BE A HENTAI PROGRAM! STAHP, BRAIN!

"That's not even how it played out!" he yells. "You're not even giving me the chance to explain! And ever since you came on board, you've been hassling me, getting all up in my business for changing something I work with every day, and I've shown you nothing but respect and patience. I'm guilty, but not of what you think. I'm guilty of reaching out to you and offering friendship."
He stalks from the holodeck and she looks... uncertain.

Gaaaawwwwddd, awkward. All the cringe.

On the bridge, the crew has spotted a nearby asteroid field, roughly where Data guessed the parent creature would have taken Junior. He tells them that the asteroid field contains some elements that were found in the shell of the parent creature.
"It's probably food," says Data.
"We could leave it here with this buffet," says Riker.
This is good news, as Worf has reported that Junior is getting larger and heavier.
Picard comms La Forge in shuttle bay 2. "Pop the kid off the hull."
La Forge opens the shuttle bay door and turns off the environmental controls. Junior flaps in the wind, so to speak, but tightens its grip.

Junior has been sending out radio signals, and now some radio signals are coming back. They're down to auxiliary generators, essential power, and life support.
And more creatures are coming out of the asteroid field.

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

La Forge is back in Engineering, being calm and riding out the wave of "oh, shit!" moments.
Dr Brahms exits the lift into Engineering, and tells La Forge in a delicate manner that she has an idea, if he wants to hear it.
"Go ahead," he agrees cautiously.
"If Junior is nursing, what if we spoil the milk? Taint the energy so it doesn't want to suckle anymore."
"Okay, but how do we do that without losing aux generators and life support?"
They think for a moment, then La Forge comes up with a plan: everything in space vibrates at 21 centimeters. If they change the vibrations of the ship enough, Junior won't want the E anymore. It'll get bored and maybe wander off.
"That's brilliant!" says Brahms.
La Forge calls the bridge to report that he and Brahms have a plan.
They practically high-five.

The creatures are two minutes away from intercepting them, and Junior is still calling them, when La Forge and Brahms start decreasing the vibrations of the ship.
They get it down to less than one centimeter, and Junior starts pulling out more energy and increasing the calls to the others. The other creatures are starting to turn that green color that the deceased parent turned right before attacking the E.
"Are you doing the thing or what?" Picard demands of La Forge.
"Just a little more!" La Forge calls back.
The place is shaking, the creatures are advancing, the aux power is going... and Junior breaks it off.

The power comes back on, and Picard calls congrats to La Forge and Brahms.

Later in Ten Forward, Leah and Geordi grab drinks and laugh about the holodeck program.
"Okay," admits Geordi. "I got a little attached to the lady in the holodeck."
"The computer never told you I was married?" she asks.
"I didn't ask," he points out. "Majel does not volunteer information."
"I owe you an apology," she says.
"No, I should have told you," he replies.
"But then I couldn't have seen the look on your face when you walked in on me and me!"
They laugh, because this is hilarious.
"I wouldn't change a thing," she smiles. "Except for the way I behaved. I guess I came here with my own preconceived notions of you."
"I'm just glad I was able to get to know the real you."
"Me too."
And then Worf calls La Forge to let him know that there is a subspace message for Dr Brahms, and she says it is her husband, and they smile at one another, and she leaves.
And after all that, I guess they can now be penpals after all, or some shit. The end.

So I don't like this episode. You're shocked, I know.
Is it the writing? Nope. Acting? No. Is it the fact that several scenes in this episode make me cringe hard-core, and when Pavlik tells Brahms of the holodeck episode and Brahms says she'll have a look at it, I am unable to keep from yelling "NONONONONONONONO!" at the screen?
You bet.
Just to get it out of the way, I really like the B-plot with Junior. That's good, solid Star Trek. So we can set that aside as being quality entertainment. No complaints.
Besides the cringe-o-rama of the A-plot, what other problems do I have with this episode?
The holodeck behaved in completely illogical ways in order to accommodate the story, something I don't recall us ever seeing again. (It's like the whole Magical Vulcan plothole-fixer invented for TAS.) Just.. just don't, thanks.

Firstly, how did Brahms watch that entire program in a matter of minutes? Did she skip to the end once she realized the nature of the program? Maybe. But the argument that follows has Geordi shouting at her, "if you've seen the whole thing..." and she responds in a way that seems to suggest that she had. That program was running for hours during "Booby Trap," even if it skipped the parts where La Forge stepped out of the holodeck and just condensed the whole thing down to the times when he was inside the suite. So Dr Brahms could not have watched/spent hours in that holodeck program unless La Forge was on the bridge for hours, and we know he wasn't. The program seems to have been conveniently loaded just to show the last few minutes, where sim-Leah and La Forge are getting romantic. You know, the cringe-y part no one wanted to watch?
Secondly, did the holodeck record the entire experience to play back for later? It seems like this would be the case with say, Data's Shakespeare programs, where the NPCs are following a set script and not so much ad-libbing their responses. But here, sim-Leah's responses were dependent on La Forge's responses in the moment. It even began anticipating what he'd want, and responding in kind. Why on Earth would it record the entire experience and play it back for IRL Brahms? Did La Forge set it to do that at the end of "Booby Trap"? I seem to recall him shutting the program down and saving it, but shouldn't that mean when he calls up the program next time, sim-Leah would simply reappear and interact with whomever was in the holodeck suite? What's more, who was sim-Leah talking to? Half of the conversation was La Forge's input, and her responses. With no La Forge there, was she just talking to thin air? Only giving her half of the conversation.
This brings me to my next complaint: why did sim-Leah act as though she did not see/hear IRL Brahms? Would she not interact with whoever turned the program on? We've seen this before, where NPCs play out the program with no acknowledgement of the flesh-and-blood people on the holodeck, but again, those were programs like the Shakespeare ones, where a script is being followed. In the episode where Riker is accused of murdering a scientist and assaulting his wife, the holodeck characters do not interact with the real-life people, but they were playing to a script again.
It leads me to believe (again) that the writers have no quite gotten the concepts behind the holodeck squared away. Two episodes ago, I asked why Dixon Hill's secretary Madeline had not reacted when gangsters shot up a guy in the office, and suggested that the writers may have forgotten she was just a few feet away. Reader Naked Bunny With a Whip suggested that the holodeck may have been built on the basis of video games, where a character will leave a room, and the information for that previous room will be dumped to conserve resources. This is entirely plausible. But the holodeck has been seen to interact with real people in such a way as to suggest that it picks up on subtle human cues and adjusts responses accordingly. Sim-Leah acted a bit like Minuet did with Riker (though in a less sophisticated way, as Minuet was influenced by the Binars and their technology). She anticipated where La Forge might want to go, and went there. The programming altered itself and learned as it went along. By contrast, the scripted programs (like Shakespeare), really only had limited responses. Reg Barclay's Three Musketeers fantasy seemed like current games, where the main character approaches an NPC, and the NPC has several scripted responses, based on which conversation the player wishes to have.

I have no problem with the holodeck having multiple kinds of programs, but they are mixed here. Sim-Leah reacted in the first place like a Minuet program, reacting to the person on the holodeck, but later switching over to a scripted program. Pick a format, Star Trek.

My other major complaint with this episode was the way it ended. The odds are not great that Leah Brahms would have been friends with Geordi.
Now, I should like to preface this by saying that I like Geordi La Forge. I think, as characters go, he's a good person, and I'm not thrilled with the idea that he constantly strikes out in creepy ways with females. It's not that he has a date where they find that they are incompatible, it's that the writers keep putting him in situations where he never seems to win. Ever. But in ways that make you wonder what the hell might be wrong with him.
Knowing that Geordi is not inherently a creeper, the question becomes, why do I think Brahms would not be friends with him?
Because even though we know that La Forge is not a creeper and did not do anything more than share one kiss with sim-Leah, the real Leah has no proof. Just the word of a guy she met a few days ago. And she saw the worst of that program, that whole, "every time you touch the ship, you're touching me" cringe moment.
Think about that. You meet this guy, and you're mad at him for screwing with work that you care about very much. He seems willing to work with you, even though it's obvious you are at odds with one another, then he asks you to dinner. Knows your favorite meal. Asks if you will collaborate with him on a scientific paper. You correctly guess that he's flirting and turn him down, and he admits that's he's a big fan of your work. You don't know how big, but things are going well between you, so it's fine. Then you see he set up a program that stars a likeness of you, and you flirt back at him, and kiss him, and now you're livid because this stranger basically made a sex doll of you. He says it didn't go further than that one kiss, but how do you know? This version of you is pretty flirty, and holy shit, does this ever feel like a violation. When you confront him, he yells at you how you're not giving him a chance. Do you reconsider? If you're the Leah Brahms from this script, you sheepishly come to him later with an idea as to how you guys can work together to solve a problem, and all is well.
But if you live in the real world, you lodge a complaint with his commanding officer about using your likeness on the holodeck to do... possibly unspeakable things.
The last scene where Lean and Geordi share a drink in Ten Forward and laugh about that stupid holodeck program seems very unlikely. Even if she was forced to be civil to him to get a job done, no way would she instantly forgive him for whatever he might have done on the holodeck with her light-and-matter doppleganger. The part about them being buddies seems far-fetched. And I thought, "Surely, all of the writers who are so willing to have her give Geordi a second chance were male, right? They would not have seen it from quite this angle, and made everything turn out alright for him in the end." The main writers were male, but the person putting the final polish on the A-plot was Jeri Taylor:

I... just... did she really agree that that kind of violation (no matter how perceived) would end with Leah Brahms not only accepting La Forge's word as truth, but still being okay enough with the situation to forgive him quickly and even laugh about the situation later? Feels like the answer should be no.


- Fun Facts:

- Fungilli is an Italian dish made up by Star Trek. It's a combination of funghi and fusilli, basically mushroom pasta. You can find recipes for it online, created by food-minded Trek fans.
- The title for this episode has a double meaning: junior being born into space made it the galaxy's child; and then Junior selecting the Galaxy-class Enterprise further made it a Galaxy's child.
- Michael Piller really liked the concept of fantasy vs reality for this episode. I guess it wasn't explored enough in the Reginald Barclay episode?
- A deleted scene has Picard and Worf reciting a nursery rhyme.
- Junior was both represented by a fiberglass model and a CGI model.

- The Utopia Planitia drafting room is a redress of the Enterprise bridge set from the first three movies, however, in this episode, the drafting room set has changed slightly from the earlier Leah Brahms episode.
- The actor who played Pavlik will show up as a different crew member in season five.

- The way the Jeffries tubes appear in this episode will set the tone for how they're handled for the rest of the series.

Red deaths: 0
To date: 0
Gold deaths: 0
To date: 0

Blue deaths: 0
To date: 0
Unnamed color crew deaths: 0
To date: 11,000

Obnoxious Wes moments: 0
To date: 1

Legitimate Wes moments when he should have told someone to go fuck themselves: 0
To date: 0

Sassy Geordi moments: 0
To date: 2

Sassy Wes Moments: 0
To date: 1

Sassy Worf Moment: 0
To date: 2

Sassy Riker Moments: 0
To date: 7

Sassy Picard Moments: 0
To date: 7

Sassy NPC Moments: 0
To date: 1
Sassy Data Moments: 0
To date: 2
Sassy O'Brien Moments: 0
To date: 0
Sassy Crusher Moments: 0
To date: 2
Sassy Troi Moments: 0
To date: 4
Sassy Guinan Moments: 1
To date: 2
Sassy Guest Star Moments: 0
To date: 3

Number of times that it is mentioned that Data is an android: 0
To date: 21

Number of times that Troi reacts to someone else's feelings: 1
To date: 14

Number of times that Geordi "looks at something" with his VISOR: 0
To date: 1
Number of times when Data gives too much info and has to be told to shut up: 0
To date: 1
Picard Maneuvers: 0
To date: 16
Tea, Earl Grey: 0
To date: 5

Sedona and Bisbee judge you harshly