Unnatural Selection (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Did You Know?

• Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode a grade B+.
• Keith R.A. DeCandido of Tor.com rated the episode 3 out of 10.
• Den of Geek's James Hunt wrote that there are bits which are interesting but was critical of the ending and recommended viewers skip the episode.

Plot

The Federation starship Enterprise, under Captain Jean-Luc Picard, receives a distress call from the USS Lantree and finds it adrift. The crew appear to have died from old age, though many were as young as the Enterprise crew. The only medical evidence is a harmless case of Thelusian flu in one officer. The Lantree's last port-of-call was the Darwin Genetic Research Station on Gagarin IV. Picard orders a quarantine warning broadcast and heads to Gagarin IV. Near the planet, they receive another distress call from the station's researchers, who have begun rapid geriatric symptoms tied to the Lantree. The research team leader pleads to bring the station's genetically engineered children aboard, asserting they are safe due to isolation. Picard allows Chief Medical Officer Dr. Pulaski to beam one child aboard encased in styrolite. The child, a male teenager, is brought to sick bay. Pulaski describes him as the "next step in human evolution." She convinces Picard to let her take a shuttle away from the Enterprise to examine the child outside the styrolite, recruiting Commander Data as pilot. When she removes the protective material, the boy awakens and telepathically communicates with her. Pulaski is suddenly struck by joint pain, recognizing the same condition as the Lantree and station crew, and orders Data to pilot the shuttle to the research station.