"Resistance is... not futile?"

Reflections on the most TNG episode of TNG episodes, "I, Borg"

If I had to choose one single episode of Next Generation that most captures the essence of the show at its best, I wouldn’t hesitate—the right answer is clearly “I, Borg.” On the most superficial level, it is the most intriguing exploration of TNG’s most creative contribution to Star Trek lore, namely the Borg, at least up until the extended character development of Seven of Nine on Voyager (about which I have written elsewhere). It takes TNG’s ethos of overcoming prejudice and gives it teeth, because everyone involved—especially Captain Picard, who was abducted and mutilated by the Borg, and Guinan, whose people were driven nearly to extinction by them—has good reason to view Borg drones as irredeemable monsters. The stakes are higher and much more real than the many episodes in which they must sit back and watch what appears to be a profound injustice unfold, due to respect for different cultures.

I also love the episode as a compact exploration of ethics. I’ve read enough Buber and Levinas to find it appealing that Hugh’s discovery of selfhood immediately entails connection to others and therefore ethical obligation to them. He discovers himself through friendship with Geordi, and in the end, when offered a chance to escape the Borg, he realizes he must go back to avoid endangering everyone on the Enterprise. This move is all the more striking in that Hugh is escaping from a totalitarian culture and could be forgiven for “overcorrecting” in the direction of pure self-interested individualism. Hugh intuits what so many of us try to resist—the fact that being a self is not a possession but an ethical calling—and that’s what makes his initial appearance in Picard such a joyous surprise at the same time that it’s the only possible trajectory for his character. Of course Hugh would dedicate his life to helping other drones find their own individuality! How perfect! (And how callous and offensive that the writers killed him off!)

In all these ways, “I, Borg” pushes TNG beyond itself. Something similar happens even at the level of storytelling. I’ve mentioned before that I am rewatching TNG while rowing, which is a unique experience insofar as I am giving it my undivided attention—not stopping to look at the phone, no wandering off to get a snack. And I have noticed that once the show really hits its stride in season 3 or so, there is almost a default “template” to most episodes. First, a problem presents itself. Second, Picard delegates the issue to the appropriate member(s) of the ensemble cast to deal with. Finally, when things are really coming to a head and getting serious, Picard himself becomes directly involved and brings the situation to a satisfactory resolution. Not every episode is like this, obviously, but once you notice this rhythm, it's unmistakable that this is the most comfortable formula for a TNG episode.

Armed with my awareness of The Template, I found that “I, Borg” landed differently this time. In a sense, the episode hits all the plot beats. The presenting problem is that they've beamed up an injured Borg. Picard delegates the problem to Geordi and Crusher, primarily. And when push comes to shove, Picard has a decisive conversation with Hugh that informs him about how to resolve the issue.

Yet there are two key twists. The first is that Picard is not just “delegating”: he is actively refusing to engage with Hugh because of his traumatic experience with the Borg. And this means that, by the end of the episode, the real “problem” is not Hugh so much as Picard himself. By outsourcing Hugh to his crew, he is depriving himself of the information he needs to understand what is really going on, leading him to embrace the morally reprehensible plan to commit genocide against the Borg by using Hugh to infect them with a computer virus. Only once he confronts Hugh as a person does he realize that the real solution is to respect Hugh as an individual. Picard isn't saving the day in any simple sense—if anything, he is creating more danger for everyone involved by offering to shelter Hugh instead of returning him to the Borg, knowing that the Borg will likely pursue him. But he is saving himself from his worst impulses.

Hugh’s self-discovery as a moral agent is thus the occasion for Picard—normally presented as the ultimate moral exemplar—to find new ethical horizons for himself as well. That’s why, at a certain stage of my drafting of the article on “Ethics” for the Routledge Companion to Star Trek, I determined that the only possible conclusion was a meditation on “I, Borg,” which so neatly exemplifies Star Trek’s approach to ethics. And yet, at some point, from some combination distraction and fatigue, I decided that the penultimate draft that ends with Data’s refusal of slavery in “The Best Toys” was good enough to serve as the final draft. For that omission, I can only repent—and try to make amends here.