Episode Discussion: The Inner Light

Christopher Halsey · Posted Sun 26 Jun, 2016 8:00 PM

EPISODE DISCUSSION

The Inner Light
Original Air Date: 1st of June 1992
Series: The Next Generation
Episode: 5x25

SUMMARY

The Enterprise encounters an alien probe which renders Picard unconscious, as his crew fight to shield him from the effects of the probe Picard wakes up on a distant alien world as a man named "Kamin" the resident of a dying world.

"Seize the time, Meribor - live now! Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again." - Kamin

DISCUSSION

The Inner Light, widely regarded as one of the greatest Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes ever and in my opinion rightly so, but what do you think?

Is 'The Inner Light' one of TNG's finest episodes? What did you think of Patrick Stewart's performance in the episode? Do you think Picard's experiences as Kamin changed his character going forward? Did you know that Daniel Stewart (Patrick's son) played Kamin's son Batai? If CBS sold them for a decent price would you purchase a replica of Kamin's flute? What did you think of the flute music written for the episode?

Christopher Halsey · Posted Sun 26 Jun, 2016 8:03 PM

For anyone that needs a reminder of The Inner Light theme you can check it out via the below video. The track can be found on the 'The Best Of Star Trek: 30th Anniversary Special' album and the piece was used brilliantly in ENTERPRISENX01's STAR TREK 40th Anniversary Tribute (Link HERE).

Personally I think it is absolutely beautiful and in my opinion is one of, if not the best piece of music ever produced for Star Trek.

Mark Okuda · Posted Sun 26 Jun, 2016 8:06 PM

"The Inner Light" is one of my favorite episodes from TNG. I also believe it is one of Patrick Stewart's best performances. I like how he plays Kamin and how he accepts that he is not a starship captain and goes on with being married, having children. I do think his experience changes his character for the rest of the series. I think i would actually buy a replica flute if it was reasonable priced and did like the music from the episode.

Caymen Greener · Posted Sun 26 Jun, 2016 8:09 PM

This is absolutely my favorite Trek episode of all times. I know it is not very sci-fi meaning it has very little space flight or fight, but man is it such a great episode. It's such a great story about life, love, legacy... And Picard playing the flute in the end. So awesome.

Caymen Greener · Posted Sun 26 Jun, 2016 8:11 PM

Originally Posted by Mark Okuda

"The Inner Light" is one of my favorite episodes from TNG. I also believe it is one of Patrick Stewart's best performances. I like how he plays Kamin and how he accepts that he is not a starship captain and goes on with being married, having children. I do think his experience changes his character for the rest of the series. I think i would actually buy a replica flute if it was reasonable priced and did like the music from the episode.

Ditto on everything you said here, including buying the flute (I play recorder and tin whistle and stuff anyways).

I forgot to mention that, while I am not 100% certain, it is highly likely that's where I got my main Trek character's first name.

Danska101 · Posted Sun 26 Jun, 2016 8:41 PM

I'm not sure how much I have to say, except that it's a damn fine episode. Extremely unusual for a Trek episode, but so beautifully made in every sense. I think it's one that becomes easier to appreciate as you get older (and more heartwrenching in the process).

Now I want to watch it again.

Kains · Posted Sun 26 Jun, 2016 8:56 PM

I remember watching this a young man and being very moved by it. I credit it as the moment I *really* understood what kind of a family life I wanted to have in the future, where before I could never really understand the 'simple' life.

Flash forward nearly 25 years (Yeesh), and I still feel that way.

A truly moving performance in my opinion.

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Deltron · Posted Mon 27 Jun, 2016 12:45 AM

It was simply genius. It moves me every time I watch it.

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Deltron · Posted Mon 27 Jun, 2016 1:00 AM

Given the plot of the story, I think it takes a strong minded person like Capt. Picard to go through something like that. Maybe no other. Going through the whole experience of living another life then coming back would ruin me. I mean it would take years of therapy for me to come back from this one. He didn't just learn about an extinct civilization, he became one of them. Waking up back to the Enterprise, I cannot imagine how alone he must've felt. that's all I think about whenever I watch that episode.

Keenan · Posted Mon 27 Jun, 2016 2:01 AM

I loved that episode myself, very moving and music was great. I listen to it when I need to relax after a stressful day.
Got to meet the writer Morgan Gendel at last year's convention, and almost bought a signed copy of the screenplay.
He did have replicas of the flute for sale at 75 dollars, though of course it doesn't actually play.

Always thought the technology where you could live 25 years in 25 minutes would be cool. Imagine learning to be a surgeon or similar profession in ten minutes.

Toanstation · Posted Tue 28 Jun, 2016 12:07 PM

This is one of my favorite TNG episodes. It was a very human story, and a very Star Trek one. It was also good science fiction.

I also loved that they revisited this story in "Lessons".

Allan Hood · Posted Thu 30 Jun, 2016 2:25 PM

Interesting Facts....

This episode won the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. It's the third of four Star Trek episodes to win the award. The others are "The Menagerie, Part I" and "The Menagerie, Part II" (with both parts combined), "The City on the Edge of Forever", and "All Good Things...".
This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Series.

Patrick Stewart nominated this episode as the greatest acting challenge he faced in the seven years of The Next Generation. ("Mission Overview Year Five" ("The Inner Light"), TNG Season 5 DVD special feature)

Peter Lauritson named this episode as definitely one of the favourite Star Trek episodes. ("Departmental Briefing Year Five" ("Production"), TNG Season 5 DVD special feature)

Michael Westmore noted that "The Inner Light" was a show Patrick [Stewart] should have won an Emmy for. ("Departmental Briefing Year Five" ("Production"), TNG Season 5 DVD special feature)

Entertainment Weekly ranked this episode #3 on their list of "The Top 10 Episodes" to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation. [2]

Michael Piller named this episode (along with "The Measure Of A Man" and "The Offspring") as one of his favorite TNG episodes, "because they had remarkable emotional impacts. And they genuinely explored the Human condition, which this franchise does better than any other when it does it well." (AOL chat, 1997)

The book Star Trek 101, by Terry J. Erdmann and Paula M. Block, lists this episode as one of the "Ten Essential Episodes" from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

This episode was featured in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Viewers Choice Marathon.

In the TNG Season 5 DVD collection, the menu for this episode features the flute solo.

A sequel was planned, but it was scrapped. The story, called "The Outer Light," was adapted as a comic on Trekmovie.com. [3]

A mission report for this episode by John Sayers was published in The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine Vol. 21, pp. 58-60.

Writer Peter Allan Fields praises Patrick Stewart's performance but has the highest praise for guest actress Margot Rose; "She was absolutely superb, no ifs, ands or buts! I was grateful to have written something that an actress of that caliber had brought to life. She was excellent. I had never seen her before. I saw dailies, so I saw aspects of her performance that, unfortunately, the audience never got to see because the show ran long. They had to take out seven minutes." (The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine Vol. 21, p. 25)
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/T...ight_(episode)

I was eleven when I saw it for the first time, it's definitely the greatest TNG, always thought that.

Picard's experiences as Kamin had to change him, just like his experience with the Borg. He's had the gift of living two full lives and experiencing another culture through their eyes. I imagine he really appreciated it later, being an archeology student. He also plays the flute occasionally in other episodes.

haha when I watched it the first time, I remember thinking, "that can't be Picard's son; looks nothing like him."

I use to play the flute music on the piano haha

Originally Posted by Kains

I remember watching this a young man and being very moved by it. I credit it as the moment I *really* understood what kind of a family life I wanted to have in the future, where before I could never really understand the 'simple' life.

Flash forward nearly 25 years (Yeesh), and I still feel that way.

A truly moving performance in my opinion.

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

Wow, same with me. The story totally influenced my future family life, at the time. Now I'm married with a daughter and another on the way. Though she's two, she can point out Mars haha smart baby.

Originally Posted by Deltron

Given the plot of the story, I think it takes a strong minded person like Capt. Picard to go through something like that. Maybe no other. Going through the whole experience of living another life then coming back would ruin me. I mean it would take years of therapy for me to come back from this one. He didn't just learn about an extinct civilization, he became one of them. Waking up back to the Enterprise, I cannot imagine how alone he must've felt. that's all I think about whenever I watch that episode.

Right, in reality I believe this experience would send anyone else to the nut house. He'd have to retire from Starfleet and undergo therapy for the rest of his life. To square with this when I was a kid, I figured it must have felt like a really detailed dream, maybe not remember every exact detail, but enough for it to impact him and learn their culture.

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