TNG Flashback: Unification II

With "Unification II," Star Trek: The Next Generation actually delivered on what it had only teased in the prior episode, the return of Spock.

Having located Ambassador Spock on Romulus, Captain Picard learns his purpose in coming: he seeks a reunification of the Vulcan and Romulan people. But when Spock secures a meeting with a supposedly sympathetic Senate proconsul, he suspects a trap. The ambitious young upstart has teamed with Commander Sela to send an invasion force to Vulcan, in a small convoy of ships whose theft the Enterprise has been tracking.

To accommodate Leonard Nimoy's schedule, this second half of "Unification" was actually filmed before the first part. Another accommodation the actor had sought was to have his own son Adam direct the episode, though the younger Nimoy's scheduling ultimately could not be coordinated. (Adam Nimoy would eventually direct two episodes during the next season.) In any case, the elder Nimoy likely needed no guidance to once again inhabit the familiar skin of Spock.

Show runner Michael Piller praised Nimoy's appearance, though he acknowledged his own script was a bit weak. I do agree somewhat with the conclusion, though not with the particulars. Piller felt, for instance, that the scenes with Picard had come off as "flat, talky, and dull." Instead, I think Picard's restraint, which Spock notes is Vulcan-like, contrasts nicely with the fiery attitudes of Captain Kirk. And it's quite brilliant to use Picard as Spock's last chance to reconcile, via mind meld, with his dead father.

There's also the marvelous scene (and here, Piller did feel he'd succeeded) between Data and Spock. After so many classic Trek fans had early on derided the character of Data as a Spock clone, this scene deftly points out that they are in fact polar opposites: Data wants nothing more than to experience the emotions Spock has sought to shed, while Spock notes that he and other Vulcans aspire to the uncorrupted logic that Data takes for granted.

There are a host of other fun character moments too. Spock regrets the way he forced Kirk into peace talks with the Klingons (another allusion to the plot of Star Trek VI). Data co-opts Spock's trademark nerve pinch, with the Vulcan's approval. And over in the B-plot, the somewhat interesting one-off character, bar performer Amarie, gets bluesy with Riker and plays some Klingon opera that Worf hilariously joins in on.

No, I think Piller's script is actually quite strong in these character moments. Where it's weak is in the plotting itself. It's hard to understand why the Romulans would want to commandeer the planet Vulcan, so deep in Federation space and so easily cut off from any reinforcements. It's even harder to understand how they think they'd be successful in controlling an entire planet with just 2,000 troops. (Piller maintained that only a Trojan Horse approach could have been successful. I don't buy it.)

Drilling down to more specifics, it's bizarre that Data and Picard return to the surface of Romulus without their disguises, and wearing brightly colored Starfleet uniforms. It's unfortunate that no explanation is given for Senator Pardek's betrayal of his friend of nearly a century. It's absolutely inexplicable that Sela leaves Picard, Data, and Spock alone and unguarded in her office. And (though this flaw can't be solely attributed to Piller) we're shown once again how meaningless it is that the villain Sela happens to look like Tasha Yar. It's not even mentioned in this episode, in fact. And I think it's not surprising that Sela never appeared again on the series.

Other observations:

• This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Art Direction for a Series. Presumably, this nod was earned by the depiction of the planet Romulus. The city set was the largest built on the show since the elaborate London set of "Elementary, Dear Data," and was only possible because they were able to combine the budgets of two episodes. (They also saved money by reusing the Klingon ship sets from Star Trek VI.)

• Soup must be the official meal of Romulan conspiracy. In both halves of "Unification," Picard shares soup (with Data, and with Spock). He leaves it conspicuously unfinished both times, surely explaining how he gets caught.

• This episode has more "source music" (music actually played by characters, as opposed to background score) than any other episode of The Next Generation, thanks to the multiple tunes played in the Qualor II bar.

• I like the more serious import given to the Vulcan mind meld in both this episode and "Sarek." On the original series, they sometimes seemed too cavalier about what was tantamount to mental rape.

• The Romulan proconsul Neral, introduced here, would rise to become Praetor when he reappeared in Deep Space Nine (albeit played by another actor).

If you can overlook the major plot holes, I think there are enough solid character moments here to earn a B for this episode. But then again, it's quite possible that as a Star Trek fan, I'm letting my judgment be clouded by my enthusiasm for seeing Spock. I do wonder what a viewer might think who had only watched The Next Generation and had never seen an episode or movie featuring Spock and the original cast. If you could find such a rare creature, I secretly wonder if this might in fact be a low mark of the season.