Gene Roddenberry did have some great ideas. But kids and families on a starship? This is a warship in more danger week to week than the average Navy ship in our day. And it’s not like it takes a long time to get home – people jet around this corner of the galaxy pretty frequently. It’s a bad idea, that lends itself to silly plots.
And, to prove the point, this week it’s super-powerful aliens who happen to like kidnapping children.[^1]
So, I’m pretty much going to hate this episode unless it does something remarkable. And while there’s a slight creepy vibe to the early scenes with the kidnapped children, it rings really false – there would be a lot more noise, crying, tantrums.
The rest runs pretty predictably down the rails. Everyone is pissed off, but they find a solution that makes everyone happy and keeps the kids on the Enterprise.
122 down, 615 to go.
[^1]: I do hope the risk register didn’t have this one on it, or some Federation Minister is going to have to resign.