Movies - TV
Star Trek: TNG’s The Neutral Zone Episode Was Nearly Sunk By A Strike
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
In the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "The Neutral Zone," the U.S.S. Enterprise-D encounters a cryo-pod floating out in the galaxy with three frozen humans.
The episode's B-plot re-established the Romulans as a major threat in the galaxy. The writing isn't great, but it created some key elements of Star Trek lore.
There's a reason the writing could have been better. The episode's makers only had days to finish their script before a WGA writers' strike began.
The strike lasted 153 days, the longest in WGA history. "The Next Generation" hadn't adequately prepared for the strike, and the rushed writing on "The Neutral Zone" shows.
The Romulan B-plot made the episode far too busy, and the episode's moralizing is ham-fisted in the worst way. One might expect that kind of sappy writing in a first draft.
"The Neutral Zone" was initially conceived as a two-part episode in which the Enterprise and the Romulans team up to fight the Borg. Unfortunately, that story was abandoned.