Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 103: Ensign Ro (1987) Review

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(More customer reviews)It was funny about 'Star Trek -- The Next Generation,' I was against the idea of the show from the beginning. The very idea of a sequel to the original show with a different cast...God, No! For the first several seasons, STNG was...Okay, I guess. It never did anything to change my initial opinion, however. The first season seemed to be a collection of rewrites of older episodes, but, very gradually, STNG seemed to get its space legs. Then, something (or, more accurately someone) very extraordinary happened.
Ro Laren happened.
Bajor happened.
(And from that a whole other series happened, but I shouldn't digress.)
Episode 103, "Ro Laren" was the beginning and an introduction to that Bajoran world, spearheaded by a (then) fairly unknown actress named Michelle Forbes. (Funny, but even now I don't know why she isn't better known.) There is a sincerity, and an honesty to the way she created Ro. The way Forbes and Patrick Stewart play off one another is a true delight. Near the end of the episode they do a scene that, no matter how many times I see it, I simply can not turn away from. For an instant we see through Ro's eyes, we can see some of the gears that make this most complicated Star Trek character tick. I bought that scene utterly. I totally bought Ensign Ro Laren and, I suppose, fell in love with her.
Forbes played Ro as a somewhat conflicted, mysterious character who didn't seem to be comfortable in her own skin. A female with a past, she became a breath of fresh air in what had become a too-perfect Star Trek world. But, more than that, she added a note of believability to this universe and began to make it live beyond the edges of the screen.
During a way too short run of six episodes, Michelle Forbes as Ro created a "believability factor" for the whole series which lasted far beyond her tenure (even though she had evaporated for all but one, very well-acted but thematically ill-conceived "wrap-up" episode in STNG's last season). I would like to save this episode (and Ms. Forbes performance) in a bottle. There's magic in here, along with the seeds of something that the producers of the show never quite realized. I'm going to buy all the "Ro Laren" episodes, then hoard them like gold coins I found by accident. My wife is a little jealous of Ro Laren, even though she won't admit it.
Michelle Forbes made Ro Laren live. I can't think of a better complement to any actor. Good for you, Michelle. Good for you.

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