Star Trek: The Next Generation episode review: 'Unification - Part I'

1991 – the same year in which a U.S.-led coalition forced Saddam Hussein’s Iraq to retreat from Kuwait and the world witnessed the collapse and dissolution of the Soviet Union – was particularly noteworthy for Star Trek fans. 

In September, the franchise celebrated its Silver Anniversary; 25 years before (on Sept. 8, 1966), Star Trek: The Original Series had had its premiere on NBC and won over an initially modest but loyal fan base which embraced the spacefaring adventures of the Starship Enterprise and her crew. 

Though Star Trek was never a Nielsen ratings champ and lacked a great deal of support from either NBC or Paramount, it was kept on the air (barely) by the fans who wanted to see Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner), First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Dr. McCoy carry out the Enterprise’s five-year mission “to explore strange new worlds.  To seek out new life and new civilizations.  To boldly go where no man has gone before.”  (Alas, the five-year mission was cut short when NBC canceled the series in 1969.) 

By 1991, Star Trek was more than just a canceled TV shows resuscitated by means of syndicated reruns: it was a full-blown multi-media franchise, boasting a brief (and non-canonical) TV rebirth as a Saturday morning animated series, a quintet of theatrical films, a (non-canonical) line of novels and other books published by Pocket Books an d, airing since the fall of 1987, a popular TV spin-off set in the 24th Century, Star Trek: The Next Generation. 

Though 1991 would also be marked by the death of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, Paramount would close the Silver Anniversary by releasing two closely-related productions within a few weeks of each other: the made-for-theaters Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and Star Trek: The Next Generation’s  Unification, Parts I & II. 

Although Star Trek VI was the last feature film in which the cast of the original series (TOS) appeared, it did have several direct connections to Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG).  Not only did TNG’s Michael Dorn appear as Col. Worf – who, according to Paramount’s press package, was Lt. Worf’s grandfather – but one of its main stars – Leonard Nimoy – has a big role in the two-part Unification, which makes references to some plot points from the then-upcoming Undiscovered Country. 

" ’Cowboy diplomacy?’ " - Spock 

Unification, Part I 

Stardate: 45233.1 (Earth Calendar Year 2368) 

Original Air Date: November 4, 1991 

Written by Jeri Taylor 

Story by Rick Berman & Michael Piller 

Directed by Les Landau 

Two days after being recalled to Starbase 234 from a terraforming mission to Doral I, the Galaxy-class starship Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), it is boarded by Fleet Admiral Brackett (Karen Hensel), who wishes to brief Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) about a troubling incident involving an important Federation diplomat. 

Brackett informs Picard that one of the most respected figures in both the Federation diplomatic corps and Starfleet had vanished three weeks before from his home world of Vulcan.  He’d left all his affairs in order, so it doesn’t look like he has been abducted, but Starfleet Security fears that he may have defected to the Romulan Empire.   Although the Vulcan seemed to have gone off the grid, intelligence agents have found video records showing him on Romulus, the Empire’s capital world. 

The imagery Brackett shows Picard is of poor resolution and at first the Vulcan’s facial features are not recognizable.  However, the ship’s computer, prompted by the admiral, cleans up and enhances a portion of the image, and Picard recognizes the missing diplomat: it is Ambassador Spock (Nimoy), the same Spock who had served as the original Enterprise’s science officer and second in command a century before. 

Brackett tasks the Enterprise and her captain to carry out a very covert mission with various goals.  First, Picard must go to Vulcan and see if he can discover any leads as to why Spock may have defected to a potential enemy power.  Second, there’s the matter of the mysterious explosion of Ferengi freighter which was carrying parts of Vulcan spacecraft in mislabeled containers.  Third, Picard must go to Romulus itself, find Spock, determine if he is a traitor or if he was indeed abducted and, if possible, return him to the Federation. 

In order to accomplish this vital assignment, Picard will not only have to visit a very ill Sarek (Mark Lenard) to get any insight into Spock’s disappearance, but he will also need to make a side jaunt to Q’onos, the Klingon home world to seek help from Chancellor Gowron’s government in order to cross the Romulan Neutral Zone. 

As Picard and Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) begin their trek to Romulus, First Officer Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and the Enterprise follow a series of leads to determine why parts of missing Vulcan ships would be found in a now-destroyed Ferengi freighter. Riker hopes to find out who is behind that mystery, and to determine if there is a connection to Spock’s alleged defection ….. 

My Take:  For many Star Trek: The Next Generation  fans, Unification, Part I was the episode which truly united the new series with the original version of Gene Roddenberry’s 1960s show. 

Airing only a few weeks after Roddenberry’s death at the age of 70 and almost a month before the theatrical release of Star Trek VI, Unification’s two-episode story arc not only served as a clever teaser for the last “original cast” movie, but it marked the first substantial appearance of a major character from the first Star Trek TV series on TNG.  (DeForest Kelley, who played Dr. McCoy in TOS, had reprised his role in TNG’s pilot episode Encounter at Farpoint, but that was only a cameo.) 

Though it was actually shot after Unification, Part II to fit actor Leonard Nimoy’s schedule, Unification, Part I is essentially a ‘setting up of the chessboard” story, albeit a complex and entertaining one. 

Here, Jeri Taylor, working from a story written by producers Rick Berman and Michael Piller, plausibly splits the Enterprise-D crew in order to carry out a two-pronged investigation.  Picard and Data must somehow find their way to Romulus without being captured as Federation spies, while Riker (literally) pieces together the mystery of the purloined Vulcan ship parts 

"I have come on an urgent mission from the Federation. I'm looking for Ambassador Spock."

"Indeed. You have found him, Captain Picard."  – Picard and Spock, setting up Part II 

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Because Nimoy’s busy schedule severely limited his availability for his appearance on TNG, Berman, Piller and Taylor had to figure out a way to keep viewers glued to Unification, Part I until the short “tease” at the end of the episode. 

Because Paramount had promoted Spock’s appearance – along with the show’s link to Star Trek VI – quite a bit, most viewers knew that the episode would have a cliff-hanger ending and that Nimoy would somehow be in it.  Knowing this, the writers came up with a mix of subplots that  eventually lead to the payoff encounter between Picard and Spock without spoiling the various “big reveals” of Unification, Part II. 

Though it might seem that Unification, Part I has too many subplots – including a big one that involves Sarek – and takes its time getting from Point A to Point B, Taylor’s teleplay manages to blend drama, comedy, suspense, and pure Star Trek synergy. 

  

[Sarek has died] 

Captain Jean-Luc Picard: The tenor of this mission has changed, Mr. Data; at least, it has for me. We were sent to confront Spock about his disappearance, and now I also have to tell him that his father is dead. 

Lt. Commander Data: I do not entirely understand, sir. As a Vulcan, Ambassador Spock would simply see death as the logical result of his father's illness. 

Captain Jean-Luc Picard: It's never quite that simple, not even for a Vulcan - certainly not for Spock, who is half-Human. Years spent in conflict. And now the chance to resolve those differences is gone. 

Lt. Commander Data: Considering the exceptionally long lifespan of Vulcans, it does seem odd that Sarek and Spock did not choose to resolve those differences in the time allowed. 

Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Father and son - both proud, both stubborn, more alike than either of them were prepared to admit. A lifetime spent building emotional barriers; they are very difficult to break down. And now the time has come and it's too late... it's a difficult moment. It's a lonely one. It's a moment that Spock is about to face. 

Director Les Landau, who helmed 58 episodes of four Star Trek spinoff series, gets great performances from the established TNG regulars and the various guest stars.  Mark Lenard makes his final appearance – in the Star Trek chronology – as Sarek, whose death is the first of a major character that remains permanent.   Watching Lenard portraying the former Ambassador to Earth as a Vulcan version of King Lear is definitely a can’t miss viewing experience; there is a sense of awe and great sadness as we see a once formidable diplomat struggle with the Alzheimer-like symptoms of Bendii Syndrome. (There’s also a nod to Dorothy Fontana’s Yesteryear, an episode of the 1970s Star Trek: The Animated Series. TAS is considered by Paramount as non-canon because it was produced by Filmways, but the Spock backstory alluded to in Unification is used to good effect in this scene. 

If there is a problem with Unification, it’s that it does require some familiarity with both TNG and TOS. The issue of Romulan interfering in Klingon domestic policies, which has been depicted in previous episodes (The Mind’s Eye, Redemption, Parts I and II and Reunion) is touched upon here, and some of the TNG characters’ personal issues – depicted in previous shows – are referenced, including Riker’s uneasy relationship with his father.  

All things considered, though, Unification, Part I works well as the first half of a two-part arc; it is tautly paced and well-written, and it’s good to see TOS veterans Nimoy and Lenard in the same episode, even though they don’t share any scenes toget