"Home Soil" (Star Trek: The Next Generation #18)

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Home Soil
Stardate 41463.9
Star Trek: The Next Generation, episode 18 (1.18)

Last Modified: 28 Jun 2006 13:30:03


Cast:
Patrick Stewart	IMDB	Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes	IMDB	Commander William T. Riker
Levar Burton	IMDB	Lieutenant JG Geordi La Forge
Denise Crosby	IMDB	Lieutenant Tasha Yar
Michael Dorn	IMDB	Lieutenant JG Worf
Gates McFadden	IMDB	Commander Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis	IMDB	Lt. Commander Deanna Troi
Brent Spiner	IMDB	Lt. Commander Data
Wil Wheaton	IMDB	Wesley Crusher
Guest Cast:
Walter Gotell	IMDB	Kurt Mandl
Elizabeth Lindsey	IMDB	Louisa Kim
Gerard Pendergrast	IMDB	Bjorn Bensen
Mario Roccuzzo	IMDB	Arthur Malencon
Carolyne Barry	IMDB	Female Engineer
Music:
Dennis McCarthy	IMDB
Director:
Corey Allen	IMDB
Teleplay:
Robert Sabaroff	IMDB
Story:
Karl Guers	IMDB
Ralph Sanchez	IMDB
Robert Sabaroff	IMDB
Published
Laser Disc	ST:TNG LaserDisc Volume 09
DVD	ST:TNG DVD 1.5
VHS	ST:TNG VHS 1.6
Teaser
The Next Generation Teaser #018: Home Soil

A powerful microscopic life form declares war on humans, takes over the Enterprise's lab and computers and threatens to destroy the ship.

Synopsis

At the Federation's request, a U.S.S. Enterprise away team visits Velara III where a group of terraformers are working to transform the seemingly desolate planet into one capable of supporting life.

Tragically, a terraformer engineer is killed during their visit in a bizarre hydraulic room accident.

While investigating the mishap, Data is inexplicably attacked by the laser drilling system. He escapes injury, but upon further exploration, Data and Geordi find a microscopic inorganic life form that seems to be trying to communicate with them. They take the life form, or "microbrain" as they refer to it, back to the U.S.S. Enterprise where it begins to reproduce and project an energy force that compels Dr. Crusher to activate a quarantine seal around the medical lab.

Soon, the crew learns from the microbrain that some of its members were killed during the terraformer's drilling on the planet's surface, and that its attempts to contact the humans were ignored. As a result, they murdered the engineer in the hydraulic room and have declared war on the "ugly bags of mostly water" - the human race.

To save the U.S.S. Enterprise, Picard attempts to beam the life form back to Velara III. But the microbrain's power is too strong. Just when its energy projections threaten to destroy the ship, the crew discovers that the microbrain feeds off light. By shutting off the lights in the lab, they force the microbrain to surrender and are able to beam it back home.

Reviews

By The LED Museum on 19 Sep 2006 01:06:04
"Ugly...UGLY giant bags of mostly water"...gotta love that.

One of the better episodes of the series. Not EXCELLENT mind you, but VERY good!!! :D

By Dark Materia on 13 Dec 2002 14:09:07
This show reminds me a great deal of the Original Series, can't put my finger on it. Director Mandel is well played and the story isn't half bad. Good, but it won't excatly knock your socks off.

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