Star Trek:TNG "The Bonding" (S3E05)

1117 Views 10 Replies 9 Participants Last post by JYoung, Jan 29, 2012

doom1701

Discussion Starter · Jan 16, 2012

I might be able to watch these two episodes tomorrow, but I'll get the threads started today.

I do remember this episode pretty well, though--I remember it moving me to tears back 20+ years ago. But knowing the overall concept of the episode, I fear it will be really corny today.

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gchance

· #2 · Jan 16, 2012

doom1701 said:
I do remember this episode pretty well, though--I remember it moving me to tears back 20+ years ago. But knowing the overall concept of the episode, I fear it will be really corny today.

Nope. No corn at all, it almost moved me to tears NOW. Then again, my father died a month before it aired, but I don't remember watching this episode at the time. There could be good reason for that, I dunno. Given my reaction to it, my thought is I probably DID watch it then, which is why it moved me now. Maybe.

This is also the first I've seen Ronald D. Moore's name, and Google confirms... this was the episode he wrote on spec and got him onto the show.

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Bonding

You can tell.

Greg

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ThePennyDropped

· #3 · Jan 17, 2012

I remember this one as being a real stinker. Not a very insightful comment, but then again, not a very insightful episode.

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JYoung

· #4 · Jan 17, 2012

ThePennyDropped said:
I remember this one as being a real stinker. Not a very insightful comment, but then again, not a very insightful episode.

You must be thinking of a different episode.
This one is in my personal Top Ten Episodes list because it was so well done.

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Fish Man

· #5 · Jan 17, 2012

ThePennyDropped said:
I remember this one as being a real stinker. Not a very insightful comment, but then again, not a very insightful episode.

That's my memory too.

It's possible I'm blending it in my mind with "Suddenly Human", which was definitely a stinker, or perhaps with some of the sappier Alexander-centric episodes.

I'm gonna re-watch, and then come back to this thread with legitimate comments...

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kaszeta

· #6 · Jan 17, 2012

I watched this, and I'm going to write it off as a "meh" episode. I saw where they were going with it, but this just didn't go it for me.

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DougF

· #7 · Jan 17, 2012

Like a couple of the others, I recalled this one not being so good. It's been years since I've seen it, though.

Upon rewatch, I'll say it's more-than-watchable, almost pretty good. About the only thing that bothered me was the creepy Mommie Dearest look the actress playing Marla had going on.

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Bryanmc

· #8 · Jan 17, 2012

When I rewatched this one, I thought it was excellent. As a 14 or 15 year old I think I found it pretty "meh". But watching it through the eyes of a parent this time, with a son about that age, it really hit me pretty hard.

It was painful to watch how the alien was trying to help and knowing how horrible it was going to turn out for the boy to give him hope then lose his mother all over again. I really felt this episode was well done.

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LoadStar

· #9 · Jan 28, 2012

Way behind on my TNG rewatch...

I'm on the "meh" side. Didn't really get all that moved by it, to be honest. I know it's hard for a young actor, but I never got the sense that the kid playing Jeremy Aster ever really connected with the role. It all felt a little too detached, too much like acting. Because I never really connected with him, I never really clicked with the rest of the episode either.

I kind of thought that the blunt force method the aliens were taking of taking responsibility for the death was a little unrealistic. They're clearly intelligent beings, and they seem to have a grasp on the chain of command and all that. After an attempt or two at taking Jeremy, you'd think that they'd just try and talk it out, convince Picard and others that they were right to take Jeremy. Of course, that would end up with a lot of talking, and not a very good episode.

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doom1701

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jan 29, 2012

I'm not going to do a running commentary, but I'm about 15 minutes into the episode, and my response suddenly makes sense. Even when they first beamed the away team back, I was already crying, for seemingly no reason--until they went to tell Jeremy. He was in class. Not too long before this episode--maybe a year or two--when I was just about Jeremy's age, I was brought out of class and my parents were there. My grandma had just died. It was the first death of someone close to me, and it was really, really hard. It seems like such a silly connection, but that's the way our brains work. I can't help but get emotional at this episode--no matter how good or how poor it winds up being, the simple fact that they had to come tell him about his mother's death when he was in class gives me a really deep connection to the character.

Now that I understand that, I can look at it a little more critically--and my first thought is that there is some pretty serious (and hopefully unintentional) man-boy love stuff going on with Worf. He wants to "make Rushti" with the boy. Then he goes and visits Jeremy and says that they need to provide meaning to his mom's death, and how perhaps they could make that meaning together. It's kinda cringe worthy.

Part 2: It's a good episode, but not a great one. In a way it's weird how much it moves me, but it starts to make a little more sense now. I'd probably make a good paper for a shrink.

I kinda wish the B plot thing that they kinda touched on would have been explored more--Data talking to Riker in Ten Forward about how death affects us differently when it's someone close. It could have been interesting to see Data explore that a little more.

But for the plot they did focus on, once I get past the creepiness of some of it, I just wind up wondering "These aliens that seem to be so advanced, and can see the pain in the boy, can't understand why what they are doing is not good for him?" I swear, some of the most advanced aliens in the universe are also the dumbest.

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JYoung

· #11 · Jan 29, 2012

doom1701 said:
I just wind up wondering "These aliens that seem to be so advanced, and can see the pain in the boy, can't understand why what they are doing is not good for him?" I swear, some of the most advanced aliens in the universe are also the dumbest.

Why is this a stretch?

Most of us here have seen some very smart people do some very dumb things.

Why are you and Loadstar assuming that every alien thinks exactly like humans?

Maybe their entire race suffers from Aspergers.

BTW, I agree the kid playing Jeremy is the weak link here.
However, the performances of Dorn, Sirtis, Stewart, McFadden, and Wheaton more than make up for it.

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