S1.E18

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IMDbPro

Coming of Age

Episode aired Mar 12, 1988
TV-PG
46m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

3.4K

YOUR RATING

Wil Wheaton and John Putch in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Action Adventure Sci-Fi

Picard finds himself facing a strenuous test of his loyalty to Starfleet, one which the other members of the crew are struggling to cope with, whilst Wesley faces an equally challenging entr... Read allPicard finds himself facing a strenuous test of his loyalty to Starfleet, one which the other members of the crew are struggling to cope with, whilst Wesley faces an equally challenging entrance exam at Starfleet Academy.Picard finds himself facing a strenuous test of his loyalty to Starfleet, one which the other members of the crew are struggling to cope with, whilst Wesley faces an equally challenging entrance exam at Starfleet Academy.

See production, box office & company info

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

3.4K

YOUR RATING

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

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Estee Chandler and Tasia Valenza in Coming of Age (1988)

Wil Wheaton and Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Brent Spiner and Robert Schenkkan in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Stephen Gregory in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, and Robert Schenkkan in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Denise Crosby, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Wil Wheaton, and Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Wil Wheaton in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Starting with this episode, Maurice Hurley took over the job of showrunner from Gene Roddenberry. Hurley was concerned that the show's writing process had stalled under Roddenberry's leadership, and so personally paid for a holiday for Roddenberry and Majel Barrett on the understanding that he would take over while they were gone. Upon his eventual return, Roddenberry opted to leave Hurley in charge of the writing staff.

Goofs
The crew informs Capt. Picard that the wayward shuttle is out of transporter range, but that simply isn't possible. If the Enterprise can use the transporter to transport people to and from the surface of the planet, how could it not be able to transport someone from a shuttle that is between the planet's atmosphere and the Enterprise?

Even if the shuttle were, for some reason, out of the transporter range, the Enterprise is much faster than any of its shuttles, so it could very easily maneuver into transporter range or, if the transporter isn't functional, into tractor-beam range.

It makes absolutely no sense that Capt. Picard doesn't immediately give the command to chase the shuttle once it is in danger. Maintaining a standard orbit in the face of this emergency serves no purpose.

Quotes
Lt. Cmdr. Dexter Remmick: You don't like me very much, do you?
Lieutenant Worf: Is it required - sir?

Connections
Featured in Mr. Plinkett's Star Trek 2009 Review (2010)

Soundtracks
Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User reviews17

Review

Featured review

7/10

Evaluation, that's the name of the game

In this TNG story the Enterprise is hosting a few visitors. Admiral Ward Costello and his aide Robert Schenkkman are on board, but the Admiral won't tell Patrick Stewart the reason for the visit. In the meantime Schenkkman who is an officious little twit goes around the ship poking his nose into a lot of places that don't concern him. That has the crew really annoyed and Jonathan Frakes duly reports said annoyance to the captain.

I think the subplot is stronger however. Commander Robert Ito and a few candidates for StarFleet Academy are also on board and the Enterprise is used as a training exercise field. That offers no advantage to Wil Wheaton who is one of those candidates. Some really interesting tests are given the candidates, especially the last one for Wesley Crusher who is reminded of the great family tragedy in his life.

Nicely done with both Costello and Schenkkman returning in the future in the same characters.

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