Some hail it as one of the best episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Others dismiss it as a silly take on a complex sci-fi concept. When it was released 31 years ago, the Season 7 episode Emergence caught the attention of many Star Trek fans. The episode introduced the possibility of the Enterprise being a sentient being and even showed it giving birth to a progeny.
Emergence deals with the Starfleet ship gaining control over its intelligence and how the crew of the ship tackles the sentience of their ship. Upon rewatching the series, I was astounded at the sheer theories and interpretations that the episode leaves open for the audience, which makes it one of the most thought-provoking episodes in the series.
What happened in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Emergence?
Data and Picard are at the holodeck, as the former rehearses a scene from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. However, the pair sees the lights of a locomotive approaching, and Picard tries to stop it, but fails to end the program. They get out of the train’s way just in time. Data tells Picard that the train originated from Beverly Crusher’s program, which is a recreation of the Orient Express.
The Enterprise enters into warp drive on its own. When Brent Spiner‘s Data investigates the incident, he finds out that a theta flux distortion has been building up around the ship. He reports to Patrick Stewart‘s Picard that if the ship hadn’t entered the warp drive, they would’ve been blown to pieces. The crew is clearly astonished to find out about the ship’s unknown safety feature.
On further investigation, Data and La Forge find several small nodes connecting the ship’s various systems to the holodeck. Inside the holodeck, they find themselves among the passengers of the Orient Express, who strangely interact with each other. Data finds that the formation of the nodes is similar to a human brain and theorizes that the Enterprise is developing its own intelligence.
When Data, Worf, and Counselor Troi return to the holodeck, they learn that the characters are trying to act out various roles. At the same time, La Forge finds a strange object being constructed atom by atom in the cargo bay. They determine that the Enterprise is trying to create a new lifeform, and the Orient Express journey represents the creation process.
Captain Picard allows the Orient Express simulation to run its course, so that the new lifeform can develop fully. The team on the holodeck learn that the final destination of the Orient Express is Vertiform City. At the same time, Enterprise arrives at a white dwarf star, where it starts collecting vertion particles. However, the star only had a limited supply, causing the conductor to pull the emergency brake and a complete power drop across the Enterprise.
The Enterprise again enters warp drive by channeling power from the ship’s other systems. The train now heads for New Vertiform City. Data, who realizes he has to interfere, offers the conductor to help with the journey. He shares that he could take them through a shorter route. He directs the ship to the nearest nebula with the help of La Forge.
Data fires a modified torpedo at the nebula, generating vertion particles. The ship uses these particles and completes the lifeform. The train’s journey also comes to a conclusion successfully. In the cargo bay, the completed life form rises and leaves. Picard didn’t view the lifeform as threatening, as it was created from the Enterprise.
Why is Emergence the most thought-provoking Star Trek: TNG episode?
The Enterprise beginning to develop its own conscious intelligence is a pretty big thing in Star Trek: TNG. The ship’s computer has been fed tons of data, including mission logs and personal data of the crew. The ship has been slowly building these interconnected nodes so that it can create a physical progeny of its own.
I believe that this process could be happening not just on the Enterprise, but on multiple starships. The process would be slow for the crew to hardly notice it. This also opens up the possibility of a community of sentient starships that drift through space as evolved lifeforms. They could be a peaceful group of ships, surviving on interstellar particles as fuel.
While Picard considers the Enterprise’s offspring harmless, others could potentially be killer learning machines. Fans already got to see the Voyager 6 turn into a living villainous entity, V’Ger, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
It isn’t just the functioning starships that would go sentient. I believe there are numerous ships disposed of somewhere in an orbital junkyard after being demilitarized. These could also gain sentience over the years, and could just escape the facility someday. The possibilities that Emergence (Season 7 Episode 23) opened are just endless!
Star Trek: The Next Generation is now available for streaming on Paramount+ (USA).
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