The Borg

Story: Q Who
Written By: Maurice Hurley
Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Year: 1989

Q returns, but this time he wants to prove just how ready the Federation actually is, so he sends the Enterprise to a distant uncharted sector of space, and puts them face to face with the biggest danger in the galaxy: The Borg.
The greatest strength of this episode is that unlike the Ferengi who was hinted to be really scary and didn’t come close to living up to the hype, the Borg are called threatening and then act exactly that. They are scary, they have less emotions than a Vulcan, are physically strong, mentally they just collect technology, and they are clearly stronger than the Enterprise or anything the Federation have to offer. They are fucking scary.

The episode ends with a strong moment, Picard knows he can not possibly defeat the Borg, and he begs Q to send them away, admitting not only defeat from the Borg, but also in his bet with Q…that they ARE ready for anything. They aren’t ready for this.

Picard ends the episode with a thought that really felt like it meant something about the show as well: maybe what Starfleet (and this show) need is a kick in its complacency. The series had since it began sort of seemed mundane too often, but this exciting episode was a big step in changing that.

Just wait until the Borg get to Federation space…

NEXT TIME: Uh-ha…