Evolution
- FIRST SHOWN (US)
- 25 September 1989
- ON
- First-run syndication
- STARDATE
- 43125.8
- DIRECTED BY
- Winrich Kolbe
- PRODUCTION NO.
- 150
WRITTEN BYTeleplay by Michael Piller; story by Michael Piller & Michael Wagner
Dr Crusher returns to find her son preoccupied, a scientist chasing a once-in-a-lifetime experiment, and the Enterprise's computers starting to misbehave.
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSIS
Dr Beverly Crusher returns from Starfleet Medical as the Enterprise arrives at Kavis Alpha, where Dr Paul Stubbs plans to launch the Egg, a probe to study a stellar eruption that happens only once every 196 years. Stubbs has staked his whole career on it. Then the ship's systems start to fail in strange ways. Wesley, already feeling the pressure of his mother's return, realises that two nanites from his school project escaped into the computer core. The tiny robots have multiplied and evolved, and they appear to be acting with purpose. Desperate to protect his experiment, Stubbs attacks them with gamma radiation, and the nanites strike back at the ship. Data allows the nanites to speak through him, and they reveal that they are conscious beings. Picard negotiates a truce, offering them Kavis Alpha IV as a new home. The nanites repair the damage and leave, and Stubbs finally launches his probe.
- 01Introduced new two-piece uniforms with a raised collar, replacing the spandex jumpsuits the cast had complained about.
- 02Gates McFadden returns as Dr Crusher after a season away, and the opening titles were redesigned.
- 03Michael Piller joined the staff on Michael Wagner's recommendation. The two had previously worked together on the series Probe.