10 Times Star Trek: The Next Generation Went "Dark & Gritty"

For the most part Star Trek: The Next Generation was a family-friendly show. Many episodes had a moral, or message to teach the audience. And, the show promoted ideas like equality, understanding, and acceptance.

TNG also painted a rosy picture of the future. Things like war, poverty, and pestilence were non-existent within the Federation. The Enterprise was a ship of exploration rather than one of war. Hell, there were even families and children aboard, much to the chagrin of Captain Picard.

Rarely did TNG delve into the gritty plots that shows like Deep Space Nine and Discovery have explored. In fact, this is what most people love about the show. Fans have lamented the loss of the optimism that permeated The Next Generation but this doesn’t mean that TNG was completely tame.

The series had a handful of episodes that did explore the seedy underbelly of the Alpha Quadrant. Some of these episodes were great, some were awful, but all of them are dark and or gritty.

The Perfect Mate sparked a lot of controversy. And, generally, was not well-received by critics or fans- and rightly so. If you don’t remember this episode involves the Enterprise mediating a conflict between two planets. This is pretty standard fare for a TNG episode.

What makes this episode stand out is a character named Kamala. She is an empathic metamorph able to read men’s minds and change her personality to suit their desire. And, she does this instinctively, causing much chaos aboard the ship.

Kamala is presented as a gift to the leader of one of the warring planets. She is meant as a peace offering. Strangely, this episode sets up a world where human trafficking is not only accepted by Starfleet, but they even facilitate it!

The writers make an effort to whitewash this. Kamala tells Picard that she believes she is acting on duty. She claims female metamorphs are rare, so she feels this is the best way for her to serve her people.

But, throughout the episode, she is treated as property rather than a human being. She’s kept in stasis for a time. Two Ferengi even try to buy her.

The plot of this episode involves a romance between Picard and Kamala. And, at the end of the episode, he even gives her away. Or rather abandons her to a life of servitude.

The episode never deals with the broader questions of consent, or, hell, slavery, that it naturally poses.

In fact, in the final scene, we’re meant to feel bad for Picard because he’s lost his girlfriend. Kamala’s awful fate isn’t even an after-thought.