The Inner Light (TNG episode)

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Star Trek: TNG episode
"The Inner Light"
Picard relives the life experiences of a long-dead man in "The Inner Light".
Episode no.	125
Prod. code	225
Airdate	June 1, 1992
Writer(s)	Morgan Gendel Peter Allan Fields
Director	Peter Lauritson
Guest star(s)	Patti Yasutake Margot Rose Richard Riehle Scott Jaeck Jennifer Nash Daniel Stewart
Year	2368
Stardate	45944.1
Episode chronology
Previous	"The Next Phase"
Next	"Time's Arrow, Part I"

For other uses, see The Inner Light.

"The Inner Light" is the twenty fifth episode of the fifth season of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the penultimate episode of the season.

1 Plot
2 Critical reaction
3 Trivia
4 Christie's auction
5 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The Enterprise-D is scanned by a primitive space probe left behind by the people of Kataan, a long-dead world, whose sun went nova a thousand years or so prior. When the ship is scanned, Picard is targeted and is rendered unconscious. During the twenty-five minutes he spends unconscious on the bridge, he lives for roughly forty full years in a simulated lifetime on the doomed world as an ironweaver, Kamin, in the village of Ressik. He has a loving wife, Eline, friends, eventually has children, then a grandchild, and a place in the community, all while watching the planet slowly meet its fate.

Some time after Eline dies, his scientifically-minded daughter Meribor takes him and his grandson to watch the launch of a probe, which he knew nothing about. Then Meribor reveals that he has already seen it, and his long-dead friend Batai appears to explain more, then Eline, alive and in her prime again, calls him "my love" and explains the purpose of the probe. That is, to preserve the memory of the people and culture which once existed on the planet a thousand years before Picard's time by encoding the memories of a prominent citizen in the culture onto the probe, which will transfer that knowledge into someone else and thus keep their history alive. The civilization did not have the technology to exodus the planet, their only option of letting the universe know of their existence was to launch this memory transferring probe. After the memories are transferred into Picard, the probe becomes inactive. Once he awakens he takes some time to adjust back to life on the Enterprise after his apparent lifetime as Kamin... he has just spent forty-some years in twenty-five minutes. He is now the sole survivor of this planet and the only source of knowledge about it.

"The Inner Light" introduces Picard's beloved Ressikan flute, which he learned to play during his life on the planet, awkwardly at first but with increasing grace and style as the years of the fantasy pass; the real flute is found inside the probe and Picard keeps it.

[edit] Critical reaction

The episode is considered by many fans to be the most touching of the series' episodes, particularly those where Jean-Luc Picard has the primary role. It is the favorite episode of actor Wil Wheaton, who played Ensign Wesley Crusher on the series during the first four seasons, and it was ranked the 4th-best episode in the UPN's "viewer's choice" marathon.

This episode won the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. The award was given at the World Science Fiction Convention in San Francisco. "The Inner Light" was the first television program to be so honored since the original series Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" won in 1968.

[edit] Trivia

The episode's title is derived from the George Harrison song, "The Inner Light," which was the B-side song of The Beatles' single "Lady Madonna."
In German-speaking countries, the title of this episode is "Das zweite Leben" ("The Second Life").
The plot of this episode is similar to that of the Japanese folktale, "The Dream of Akinosuke." In that story, a man named Akinosuke falls asleep while picnicking with friends under a tree. He awakes to find himself in a dream world, in which he marries and has children. After living in the dream world for many years, he leaves the dream world, finding himself back under the tree. He then learns from his friends that he has only been asleep for a short time. He eventually discovers that the kingdom he lived in was in fact a kingdom of ants living under the tree.
A similar story appeared in the book of brief tales "Il Novellino" (1525)
This episode is also similar in plot to a third Season Star Trek TOS episode called "The Paradise Syndrome".
Kamin's son was played by Daniel Stewart, Patrick Stewart's son.
This episode is featured on the Star Trek: The Next Generation — Jean-Luc Picard Collection DVD set. It is one of seven episodes featured on the two-disc set.
In a short marathon of fan favorite Next Generation episodes played before the airing of "All Good Things...", "The Inner Light" was #4.
After this episode aired, Picard's flute could occasionally be seen in its box, as a visual prop on his desk. Its final appearance was in a deleted scene from Star Trek: Nemesis; Commander Data picks it up and examines it while discussing human life with Picard. The original placement of this scene was to have been immediately following the wedding ceremony shown in the opening scenes.
There is a lasting reminder of Picard's virtual life on the planet through the rest of the series, The flute plays one more role in the episode "Lessons" where Picard falls for a stellar cartographer, Nella Darren, who encourages his musical side.

[edit] Christie's auction

The brass Ressikan flute was one of the items up for bid at the Christie's official studio auction of Star Trek memorabilia, which took place on October 5-7, 2006. The flute, which cannot actually be played, was originally estimated to have a sale price of $300. Auction directors admitted that their estimates for many items did not "factor in that emotional fury generated around this kind of material." [1] The estimate was later raised to $800-$1200 on Christie's website.

In the days leading up to the auction, Denise Okuda, former Trek scenic artist and video supervisor as well as co-writer of the auction catalog, stated that "That's the item people say they really have to have, because it's so iconic to a much-beloved episode." [2] The final bid for the flute at the auction was $40,000. Including the additional 20% fee Christie's collected on all items from the winning bidder, the total price for the flute was $48,000. [3]