This week, one of the greatest Star Trek episodes of all time celebrates its 25th anniversary. On June 1st, 1992, a fifth season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called The Inner Light hit the airwaves, and instantly became one of the most beloved episodes of the series. In fact, as the years have gone on, The Inner Light has become hailed as one of the greatest episodes of any Star Trek series ever, not just TNG, and that’s saying a lot for an episode that features no space battles, no familiar alien bad guys, no time travel, nor any other Trekkie hallmarks.
Gendel elaborated further on the sequel idea, saying
Eric Diazto an extent, this was like an interactive video game, but they had to be played by real people. So at the last minute they discovered that they could send a small amount of their people into space, and that’s when they send a group of scientists in suspended animation. So Picard discovers them, and to him, he sees his wife Eline among them. But to her, she’s likewho the hell are you??
I agree that this was one of the best episodes in Star Trek history – and it became so good precisely because it focused on the human aspect of space exploration and of Captain Picard, putting the usual sci-fi action and vocabulary in the background. And in doing so it showed particular depth and complexity. But I don’t think the sequel idea is any good: the episode works so well because it puts Picard (and the viewer) face-to-face with the life he could have had if he had remained on Earth instead of joining Starfleet. It’s almost a fantasy, a dream, and to confront it so bluntly with reality would spoil its charm and impact.
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