The Inner Light (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

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Star Trek: TNG episode
"The Inner Light"

Episode no.	125
Prod. code	225
Airdate	June 1, 1992
Writer(s)	Morgan Gendel Peter Allan Fields
Director	Peter Lauritson
Guest star(s)	Patti Yasutake Margot Rose Richard Riehle Scott Jaeck Jennifer Nash Daniel Stewart
Year	2368
Stardate	45944.1
Episode chronology
Previous	"The Next Phase"
Next	"Time's Arrow, Part I"

"The Inner Light" is the twenty fifth episode of the fifth season of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the penultimate episode of the season. The episode has an average rating of 4.7/5 on the official Star Trek website (as of November 12th, 2007).[1]

1 Plot
2 Critical reaction
3 Similar stories
4 The Flute
5 Christie's auction
6 Translations
7 Notes
8 External links

[edit] Plot

The Enterprise-D encounters a space probe. When the probe scans the ship it focuses on Picard who is rendered unconscious.

He wakes to find himself being tended to by a woman, who tells him he has just come out of a fever. She refers to him as Kamin, and claims to be his wife. He establishes that he is on a non-Federation planet called Kataan, and sets about finding a way to send a message. Outside he meets a man by the name of Batai, who is troubled by his strange questions and apparent lack of memory. Picard visits a lookout offering a view of the town, which is named Ressik. Later his "wife" tells him that he works as an ironweaver and he enjoys practicing the flute. He notices she is wearing a necklace with a decoration in the shape of the probe.

On the bridge of the Enterprise, Dr. Crusher finds that the probe is transmitting a signal to Picard, and that he is experiencing dramatically increased neural activity. They are unable to block the probe but decide that firing on it may put the captain's health at risk.

For Picard, five years have passed. He charts the stars while his wife remarks that none of his stories of his supposed former life mention a loving partner. At a town meeting, Picard impresses a regional administrator by suggesting that atmospheric condensers be built to relieve the prolonged drought. Batai feels that Kamin is once again acting as a member of the community. Later that night, Picard confesses to his wife that the relationship has been one-sided, and decides that it is time to start a family.

On the bridge, Data finds a way to block the signal. Riker, believing the probe is hostile, gives the go-ahead despite Dr. Crusher's objections.

Four years later, with a daughter and newborn son, Picard realizes that his life wouldn't be complete without children. He collapses when - on the Enterprise - the probe's beam is blocked, and his body quickly begins to shutdown. Crusher attempts to stabilize him, but only re-establishing the signal averts his death.

Many years later, Picard chides his fully grown daughter for placing scientific pursuits above the social. By now the drought has become serious enough to threaten all life on the planet, and the sun's radiation is beginning to increase rapidly.

The Enterprise tracks the probe's trail to its planet of origin, Kataan, a lifeless planet whose star went nova a millennium ago.

An old Picard discusses his adult son's career choices. He presents his findings about the planet's fate to the administrator, who by now is an old friend. However the administrator has been aware of the problem (which has now grown much worse - the sun is out of control, blazing with light, and the inhabitants rarely venture outside without extensive protection) for the past two years, but the government chose not to inform the public. He assures Picard that despite the lack of space faring technology the government does have a plan to save some remnant of the society. His son calls him back to the house where his wife soon dies. Some years later, an ancient Picard interrupts his play with his grandson to watch a missile launch: the launch of the probe. His wife and old friend Batai appear as when he first saw them, and they tell him that the probe is a way for them to live on.

On the bridge, the transmission from the probe ceases and Picard wakes up, recalling distant memories of his life aboard the Enterprise. He can scarcely believe that only 25 minutes have passed in real-time.

Later, in his quarters, Riker gives Picard a small box that was found inside the probe and leaves him alone. Inside, Picard finds Kamin's flute, which he had gradually mastered over the years. Treasuring the memory of his life on Kataan, he adeptly plays a tune.

[edit] Critical reaction

The episode is considered by many fans to be the most touching of the series' episodes, particularly those where Jean-Luc Picard has the primary role. It is the favorite episode of actor Wil Wheaton, who played Ensign Wesley Crusher on the series during the first four seasons, and it was ranked among the top five episodes in a "viewer's choice" marathon that was broadcast just prior to the premiere of the series finale. [2]

This episode won the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. The award was given at the World Science Fiction Convention in San Francisco. "The Inner Light" was the first television program to be so honored since the original Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" won in 1968. The other Hugo Award-winning Star Trek episodes are "The Menagerie" (the only two-part episode of the original series) and "All Good Things...". (the series finale for The Next Generation)

[edit] Similar stories

The plot of this episode is similar to that of the Japanese folktale, "The Dream of Akinosuke." In that story, a man named Akinosuke falls asleep while picnicking with friends under a tree. He awakes to find himself in a dream world, in which he marries and has children. After living in the dream world for many years, he leaves the dream world, finding himself back under the tree. He then learns from his friends that he has only been asleep for a short time. He eventually discovers that the kingdom he lived in was in fact a kingdom of ants living under the tree.^{[citation needed]}
A similar story appeared in the book of brief tales "Il Novellino" (1525).^[clarify]
The plot of this episode closely resembles that of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' comic book story "For the Man Who Has Everything" , first published in Superman Annual #11 (1985) and later adapted into a Justice League Unlimited episode in 2004. In Moore and Gibbons' story, a parasitic alien life-form attaches itself to Superman, leaving him comatose and fantasizing about living a life with a wife and children on the planet Krypton - a planet facing imminent destruction. In the real world, Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman try to remove the parasite from Superman in order to break its hold on him. In "The Inner Light", the alien probe renders Picard comatose and living a fantasy life with a wife and children on a planet facing imminent destruction, whilst in the real world, the Enterprise crew try to break the probe's hold on Picard.
The episode is also reminiscent of the Nikos Kazantzakis novel The Last Temptation of Christ (1951), which was later adapted by Martin Scorsese into a film in 1988. In the book and the film, Jesus Christ experiences an elaborate fantasy of marrying, raising children and growing old, not dissimilar to what happens to Picard in "The Inner Light".
There are also similarities between this episode and "The Paradise Syndrome" from the original series. In both the captain of the Enterprise is cut off from the crew and is assimilated into a bucolic culture.

[edit] The Flute

After this episode aired, Picard's flute could occasionally be seen in its box, as a visual prop on his desk. Its final appearance was in a deleted scene from Star Trek Nemesis; Commander Data picks it up and examines it while discussing human life with Picard. The original placement of this scene was to have been immediately following the wedding ceremony shown in the opening scenes.
There is a lasting reminder of Picard's virtual life on the planet through the rest of the series. The flute plays one more role in the episode "Lessons" where Picard falls for a stellar cartographer, Nella Daren, who encourages his musical side, and with whom he performs a duet version of the "Inner Light" theme. Picard is seen earlier recording a piece on the flute in the beginning of "A Fistful of Datas."

[edit] Christie's auction

The brass Ressikan flute was one of the items up for bid at the Christie's official studio auction of Star Trek memorabilia, which took place on October 5-7, 2006. The flute, which cannot actually be played, was originally estimated to have a sale price of $300. Auction directors admitted that their estimates for many items did not "factor in that emotional fury generated around this kind of material."^[1] The estimate was later raised to $800-$1200 on Christie's website.

In the days leading up to the auction, Denise Okuda, former Trek scenic artist and video supervisor as well as co-writer of the auction catalog, stated that "That's the item people say they really have to have, because it's so iconic to a much-beloved episode."^[2] The final bid for the flute at the auction was $40,000. Including the additional 20% fee Christie's collected on all items from the winning bidder, the total price for the flute was $48,000.^[3]