The TNG episode “The Inner Light” got an unofficial sequel by the original writer

In the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode “The Inner Light,” the USS Enterprise is sailing through space when it happens upon an alien probe, unknown to its databases. Enthusiasm for investigation Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) In the brain, unconsciousness is located. Picard awakens on the planet Catan, and is told that his real name is Kamen, and that he is married to a woman named Eileen (Margot Rose). Picard assumes he has been kidnapped, but cannot figure out why.

Months pass, and Picard begins to accept that, yes, he is in fact Kamen. He and Elaine have children and a loving family together. Picard disappears from his memory. He mastered the flute. He grows into a very old man. Kamen eventually dies in his nineties when Catan is destroyed by an inevitable natural disaster.

Back at the Enterprise, Picard is revealed to be merely unconscious on Earth, and he’s cheering everyone on Catan. Sitting, with only 25 minutes to go. It is revealed that Catan has been extinct for generations, and that the investigation was the last record of its civilization. Picard was the last person to experience this kind of life. Picard is back in the captain’s chair, but now with a whole new life in his head.

“Inner Light,” written by Morgan Gindel, is often counted as one of the best episodes of “The Next Generation,” and it certainly is. One of the most emotional ones. It features one of Stewart’s best “Star Trek” performances, and won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. It also, perhaps unexpectedly, had a sequel. Back in 2012, Gendel spoke with Forbes On how to craft a follow-up story to “The Inner Light,” called (natch) “Outer Light.” Gendel originally published “The Outer Light” as a webcomic, which can be read in part, in part, On the Travels in Science Fiction website.

an idea Sequel to “Inner Light” It may strike some heretical excursions. As mentioned, it’s usually viewed as one of the best episodes in the series, and ends on such a perfect tragic note. Picard fell in love with a new life, was allowed to retire, had a family, and lost himself in a new identity. The revelation at the end—that Catan has been dead from the beginning—adds a wrenching array of sadness.

But, at the same time, many Trekkies felt a little uncomfortable with how important the story really was. Picard lived an entire life in his head, and the next week, he was back at work as if nothing had happened. The idea for a sequel to Gendel was to address this aspect of the story. He said in the Forbes interview that he saw Picard as the only legitimate Holocaust survivor, and that he was never given any kind of dramatic developments or closure needed to accept that he now lived that way. However, it was Gendel’s idea for Picard to meet real-life Ellen face-to-face. In actual reality, Eileen will never meet Picard, so their interactions will be awkward at best. As the writer said:

“Well, I came up with the idea (for a sequel), but at the time they just said they didn’t do sequels. So I didn’t even get a sequel. However, all my idea for twenty years in the current story I’m working on with Andre Duza and Don Ellis Aguillo has in common is one line of the concept of Picard meeting Eline.”

When asked why Gendel wanted to revisit Inner Light, he was refreshingly frank, saying:

“The simple answer: Because I can. Technology has gotten to the point where I can put this together. And once I started going to conventions and talking to fans, I realized that Picard was never shut down.”

actually.

Unfortunately, Gendel was coy when asked about the “Outer Light” story. In fact, while he may have had a story plan, he seemed to have a comical sense of humor while confronting him. The Web Comic was released in short installments over time, properly serialized like a long-running comic book title. But Gendel also admitted that he didn’t know much about comics before starting the project, saying:

“I actually think of these (individual issues) as episodes. I’m not a comic book guy, so I write the scripts like I would write for television.

This was completely unauthorized, by the way. Gendel did not make any money from the project.

The comic itself is more of an illustrated outline than a full script. The premise is fun: It turns out that the people of Catan couldn’t save their planet, but they have the technological ability to put themselves into hypersleep and launch themselves into space. They were revived 1,000 years later, after being destroyed on a distant world. Picard found the revived Catanians, including Elaine, and began working with their scientists again to solve a problem with the ore they were mining. It is also revealed that a conspiracy was afoot, with people being deliberately kidnapped and placed in dream states similar to what Picard witnessed in “The Inner Light”. There is an assassination attempt, and the revelation that he remembers Ellen from Picard thanks to the drift of strange manipulation of technology. The Romulans may be behind everything.

It’s more of an action/espionage story than the follow-up to “The Inner Light.” The actual depth of “The Inner Light” is absent here, reducing Picard’s Kamen experience to mere distraction in Capper’s story. It would have made a fun episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” but it doesn’t quite work well as a sequel.

Online bulletin boardsAt the same time, he praised the writing of comedy, even if it salvaged its art. Some did not like that the USS Foundation was not screen accurate. Of course, if this is your biggest complaint, you’re in good shape.