Captain Picard, Ensign Ro, Guinan, and Keiko O'Brien are regressed physiologically to the age of twelve, by a transporter accident, but retain their adult memories, resulting in different reactions from each. When rogue Ferengi hijack theEnterprise, the young crewmembers, along with Alexander Rozhenko, lead the revolt.

Summary[]

Teaser[]

"Captain's log,Stardate 46235.7.Ensign Ro,Keiko O'Brien,Guinan, andI are returning to theEnterprise after a fascinating visit to theplanet Marlonia."

Captain Picard, Ro Laren, Keiko, and Guinan are returning to thestarship aboard theEnterprise-DshuttlecraftFermi. Their recent visit to Marlonia was abotanic andarchaeology expedition, during which Keiko found a specimen ofDraebidium calimus and Picard found 700-year-old crockery, with inscriptions somewhat resembling earlyTaguan but more closely resemblingBarolian designs. Suddenly, theirshuttlecraft is enveloped by an energy anomaly. They are beamed out of the emergency, but their transport to theEnterprise is difficult –Chief O'Brien having been puzzled by the implications of a forty-percent drop in mass of the transportees, believing that he has lost one of them. When the four members of the away party are beamed aboard the ship, they and O'Brien are shocked by the materialization, on the transporter platform, of a twelve-year-old captain,bartender,botanist, andBajoran ensign, instead of their adult selves.

Act One[]

"Mr. Data, have you secured all of the shuttle debris?""Almost. It is being stored in shuttlebay two... sir — "*Mr. Data, have you secured all of the shuttle debris?*"
"*Almost. It is being stored in shuttlebay two... sir.*"

The fourEnterprise crewmembers, despite their new appearances, fortunately still have the mental capacity and memories of their former bodies. Since he seems physically fit enough, Picard immediately heads to thebridge to handle the situation. While dealing with the crew's discomfort at his appearance after he enters the bridge, he givesWorf the command to leave aclass 4 probe behind to study the area and head toLigos VII, once they are done salvaging the remains of theFermi. Privately, in Picard'sready room,Doctor Crusher tries to convince him to relieve himself of duty, in case the transformation becomes more serious and begins affecting his mental capacity. He reluctantly agrees and placesCommander Riker in command of the ship until further notice and retires to hisquarters.

Elsewhere on the ship, Guinan and Ro are trying to adjust to their new lifestyles. Ro just wants to return to duty, while Guinan is enjoying this experience of being a child. She tells Ro she has not been this young in avery long time and intends to enjoy every minute of it. Ro complains constantly about how much she hates being a child, but Guinan insists on how funchildhood is. Ro leaves to contemplate her current situation alone in her quarters, although Guinan joins her in aturbolift.

Also, Keiko's situation is at odds with her family life, what with her being a wife and mother. Her husband, Miles, is confounded by the fact that she now resembles the image of a twelve-year-old girl. In the course of a difficult discussion with Keiko, who is worried about their marriage, he eventually reassures her that they will make it work but admits he does not know how to do so. Their daughter,Molly, does not recognize her mother when she comes to read her a bedtime story. Rather than telling Molly what has happened, Keiko leaves the room and Miles tells the story instead.

Act Two[]

"First officer's log, supplemental. TheEnterprise has reached theLigos system. We have begun to search for the missingFederation science team. Doctor Crusher reports no progress on a cure for the members of the shuttle crew."

Counselor Troi comes to see Picard. Exploring the possibility that he must grow up again, she suggests alternatives for him, should Starfleet not accept a child captain, such as getting another degree atStarfleet Academy or taking asabbatical, and studyinggeology orarchaeology. He admits the options have an appeal, but still seem like a big step, and feels like that would mean his life is moving backward, instead of forward.

Doctor Crusher compares therybo-viroxic-nucleic sequences of tissues taken from Picard prior to the event and afterwards. It appears that the new sample is missing several key viroxic sequences. She explains to Riker that, somehow, these sequences were lost during transport. The same effect happened to Keiko's plants. By accelerating the growth, the plant became a normal, older plant, which means, if they do nothing, the four crewmembers will grow up again, like normal. She then gets the idea of using thetransporter pattern buffer since she has all the affected crew members patterns on file.

Geordi La Forge arrives in thecargo bay with asensor report to meet O'Brien. They proceed to study the shuttledebris and find thetritanium's molecular structure on the starboard side has completely broken down and can be easily crushed with the hand. La Forge decides to run ametallurgical analysis on it inengineering.

Meanwhile, Guinan finally persuades Ro to have a little childhood fun, which apparently allows Ro to relax and enjoy herself; they jump on abed, each trying to go higher than the other.

The Enterprise-D under attack by the Ferengi renegades — TheEnterprise-D under attack by the Ferengi renegades

La Forge and O'Brien report to Riker their theory: amolecular reversion field caught the shuttle and threw off the transporter lock, reconstructing the away party as children when it missed the RVN sequences. Crusher starts to confirm her transporter option with O'Brien when Riker is called to the bridge, since they have arrived at Ligos VII. Riker tells them they will discuss this option later and heads for the bridge.

The crew starts their investigation when twoKlingon Birds-of-Prey decloak and start firing.

Act Three[]

"You will cooperate with our salvage operations, or we will begin... executing your crew — "*You will cooperate with our salvage operations, or we will begin... executing your crew.*"

TheEnterprise is able to fire briefly but is quickly overwhelmed by the attack by losing their shields. Soon, the ship is boarded byFerengi at multiple locations, including the bridge. Fortunately for theEnterprise crew, Riker manages tolock out thecomputer's command functions as the Ferengi arrive with weapons drawn. They begin transporting all able-bodied adults to the surface of the planet.

The leader of the Ferengi invaders,DaiMon Lurin, enters the bridge, and the Ferengi crew reports that they have secured the ship but don't have command access. Addressing Riker, Lurin declares the ship to be a loss and open for the claim tosalvage according to theFerengi Salvage Code, demanding theEnterpriseofficers help or the Ferengi will start killing them.

Act Four[]

The Ferengi decide to keep the children aboard theEnterprise. One of the Ferengi takes Picard to a schoolroom aboard the ship and leaves him there. Ro, Guinan, Keiko, andAlexander are already in the room. Ro knows the Ferengi have control of engineering and several decks, and the children have to assume the intruders have occupied the bridge. Ro suggests flooding the ship withAnesthizine to knock out the Ferengi, but Picard quickly turns this option down due to command functions being locked out. Because they are no longer adults, Guinan states that they may need to starting acting their age if they want to stop the Ferengi.

Lurin is enjoying the captain's ready room as Riker is brought in and tells him that his little adventure risks going towar with the Federation, but Lurin explains that he and his cohorts are not affiliated with theFerengi Alliance and are in business for themselves. He reveals they plan to use the crew as additional slave labor in extractingvendarite from the planet, with the Federation science team already being used. Lurin plans to sell theEnterprise to theRomulans and threatens to kill the vessel's entire crew unless Riker helps him.

Picard and Guinan wrestle with trying to operate a computer in the schoolroom, which won't allow normal schematic information on theEnterprise-D, though they do manage to obtain a decent graphic representation of the ship in general. Ro and Keiko open up a panel to aJefferies tube, and they all head in to begin putting in action what they have planned. Picard and Keiko lure the Ferengi in the transporter room out with aremote controlled toy, obtainphasers, and set up aforce field around thetransporter pad, while Alexander steals twohyposprays fromsickbay, and Ro and Guinan head to main engineering and wait there.

"He's my number one dad!" — "*He's my number one dad!*"

Next, Picard needs to get to the bridge and talk to Riker. By trickingBerik, the Ferengi guard outside the room in which he is held captive, by acting petulant (as a child might), Picard manages to get him to bring him to Riker in theobservation lounge, under the pretense that Riker is his father. Riker is surprised, but immediately plays along.

Act Five[]

Pretending to want to play computer games, Picard conveys a message, while sitting at the table in the observation lounge, to Riker to activate theLCARS net in the schoolroom, which would give them full access to the ship's computer systems. Once Picard is back in the classroom, Lurin threatens to harm the children if Riker does not unlock the computer and teach hislieutenant Morta how to operate theEnterprise. Riker pretends to instruct the Ferengi officer but only speaks in nonsensicaltechnobabble. On the side, Riker unlocks the computer in the classroom.

When the "children" gain control to the transporter, they start usingcombadges to beam the Ferengi behind a force field on the transporter pad, and the weapons deactivation program to disable their sidearms. With the majority of the Ferengi confined, and with help from Riker, Picard disables the Ferengi on the bridge and confronts Lurin in the ready room with a phaser, thus ending the siege and liberating the ship.

Ro coloring with Guinan and enjoying her second chance at childhood

"Captain's log, Stardate 46236.3. We have taken Lurin and his men into custody. The Ferengi Alliance has quickly disavowed any knowledge of these renegades. With the mining operation closed and our crew back on board, we can now turn our attention to other problems."

After the Ferengi are taken into custody, Doctor Crusher and Chief O'Brien use the transporter to successfully change Picard, Keiko and Guinan back into adults. However, at Guinan's suggestion, Ro decides to stay a child a little longer, so she can finally learn to enjoy her childhood.

Log entries[]

Memorable quotes[]

"Look at these fragments. They're... they're very nearly in perfect condition, and yet they're seven hundred years old."
"So ismy father."

-Picard andGuinan

"So, what the hell am I supposed to do now?"

-Young Ro, getting used to being a child again

"You are asking me to step down."
"You arestill Jean-Luc Picard. What do you think you should do?"

-Young Picard andCrusher, after she advises him to hand command of theEnterprise to Riker

"Well, I should be doing something, instead of just standing around, waiting for them to find a cure!"
"You're right. Let's go play."

-Young Ro andYoung Guinan

"[Childhood] was a long, depressing period of my life and I was grateful when it was finally over. I'd rather not relive it."

-Young Ro, toYoung Guinan

"I haven't been young for a long time and I intend to enjoy every minute of it."

-Young Guinan, toYoung Ro

"It's... I don't know, but this feels wrong somehow."
"Miles Edward O'Brien, I am still your wife."

-Miles O' Brien andYoung Keiko, readjusting to married life

"You could return to the Academy. Take another degree. Brush up on yourLatin."
"And beWesley Crusher's roommate?"

-Troi andYoung Picard, discussing Picard's choices while waiting for his body to mature again

"[...] I've spent my life looking forward [...]"

-Young Picard, about his attitude toward life

"It's a child's computer, remember? Computer, can you show me a picture of the inside of theEnterprise?"
"Yes, I can. TheEnterprise is aGalaxy-class starship. Do you know how to spellEnterprise? E-N-T-E-R-..."
"Delete audio!"

-Young Guinan,the elementary school computer, andYoung Picard

"This is the first time these Jefferies tubes haven't seemed cramped."
"How much farther do we have to go?"
"About fifty meters. Don't tell me you're tired."
"I'm not as young as I used to be."

-Young Ro andYoung Guinan

"I need to see my father. ... I need to see him right now! ... I need to see him now! Now, now, now, now, now, now, now, n- – Stop it; you hurt me! I want my father! I want my father!"

-Young Picard, to Berik

"Thanks, Number One."
(A Ferengi guard eyes Picard and Riker with suspicion)
"- He's my number one dad!"
(Picard and Riker embrace, grinning widely)

-Young Picard, plotting with Riker to recapture theEnterprise

"You *do* know what a bilateral keli-lactiral is, don't you?"
(Morta is lost, but unwilling to admit it)
"Of course I do, Human. I am not stupid!"

-Riker, confusing Morta with techno-babble

"I believe you're in my chair."

-Young Picard, as he points a phaser at Lurin in his ready room

"How do you feel?"
"I feel fine. Everything... seems a little smaller."

-Crusher andPicard, after the latter is returned to being an adult by the transporter

"Did you do this one, too?"
"Uh-huh. I did that one, all of them!"

-Adult Guinan andYoung Ro, discussing Ro's drawings

Background information[]

Production history[]

Writers' first draftscript:10 November 1991
Third draft script:12 August 1992 [1]
Final draft script:4 September 1992 [2]
Premiere airdate:2 November 1992
First UK airdate:23 August 1995

Story and script[]

Goldberg and script supervisor on set — Goldberg and script supervisorCosmo Genovese on set

This episode's story idea was bought byMichael Piller andJeri Taylor duringthe fifth season. The script went through a number of rewrites before being assigned toRonald D. Moore. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2nd ed., p. 223)
Moore recalled, "When Michael bought the premise I thought he was completely insane: An Away Team rematerializes on the transporter as children — with adult minds! I tried again and again to bury this idea, which of course meant that I would get saddled with the inevitable rewrite when the script came in. I just thought it was a ludicrous idea and wanted nothing to do with it. That said, once I got the assignment, the professional writer in me had to commit to the material and do the best with it that I could, so I tried very hard to bring humor and Humanity to the proceedings, chiefly through the Guinan/Ro story." (AOL chat,1997)
In another interview, he remarked, "It was not my favorite assignment and it was a difficult show to write." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 264)
Taylor noted that Ferengi were chosen as antagonists because "Would you believe four little kids could retake [theEnterprise] from theCardassians?" (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2nd ed., p. 223)
Langford was named after a woman Moore was dating at the time. He commented, "She wasn't a fan and we stopped going out soon after, so I don't think she ever saw it!" (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2nd ed., p. 223)
Moore referred to the scene where Riker confuses the Ferengi with fictional technology as his "salute totechnobabble". (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2nd ed., p. 223)
As a self-described "liberal arts moron", Moore turned to science advisorNaren Shankar for assistance. Shankar remembered, "The problem was that it was virtually impossible to come up with a sensible explanation and so we kind of did a lot of hand waving on this episode." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 264)
"Rybo-viroxic-nucleic" (RVN) was invented by Moore and Shankar in the hope it would be a pleasing sound of letters that would not invite close scrutiny. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2nd ed., p. 223)
As originally scripted, when the Ferengi begin to board theEnterprise, both Worf and Data were rendered unconscious by the intruders.[3] In the final episode, Data remained uninjured and was held captive along with the rest of the bridge crew.
Jill Sherman Donner was credited as co-writer on the third draft script but was not credited in the actual episode.[4]

Production[]

This episode was directed byAdam Nimoy, the son ofLeonard Nimoy. He also later directed "Timescape". Naren Shankar remarked, "For Adam, that was a helluva way to make a directorial debut. Directing kids is not easy under any circumstances." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 264)
This episode was filmed after theStar Trek: Deep Space Nine pilot, "Emissary" (although it aired two months earlier).^{(citation needed •edit)}
Two shots of the battle against the Birds-of-Prey were reused from "Yesterday's Enterprise".

Cast and characters[]

As Ro was not seen returning to an adult in this episode, the writing staff considered having her choose to remain a child. Jeri Taylor commented, "Where else but onStar Trek could you do something like that? But it seemed too drastic for us, and we were sort of squelched on that." (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 2nd ed., p. 223)
This episode marks the only appearance ofHana Hatae (Molly O'Brien) on the series. The character of Molly O'Brien was previously played byAngela andAngelica Tedeski.
Mike Gomez andTracey Walter previously appeared together as different Ferengi,Tarr andKayron, respectively, in "The Last Outpost".Michael Snyder also previously played a different Ferengi,Qol, in "The Perfect Mate".
The young Picard is played byDavid Tristan Birkin, the same actor who played Captain Picard's nephewRené Picard in the episode "Family". David was actually fifteen years old when "Rascals" was filmed.
The actress who played Young Guinan,Isis J. Jones, also played a young version ofWhoopi Goldberg's (Adult Guinan) character in the movieSister Act, which was released the same year as this episode aired.

Continuity[]

This is the last episode of the series, chronologically, in whichMiles,Keiko, andMolly O'Brien appear. Soon thereafter, Miles O'Brien transfers toDeep Space 9, accompanied by his family. An earlier version of him does, however, appear in TNG finale "All Good Things...", in scenes set in2364. Although Miles appears as early as DS9 pilot "Emissary", both Molly and Keiko make their first DS9 appearance in "A Man Alone".
There is a reference to this episode in theStar Trek: Deep Space Ninefourth season episode "Bar Association". In that episode,Odo cites the case of the Ferengi invaders as an example of security breaches aboard theEnterprise-D.
CaptainKirk and crew had undergone a similar change (reverting to children) in theStar Trek: The Animated Series episode "The Counter-Clock Incident".
Picard pretending to be Riker's son recalls the episode "Future Imperfect", in which Riker had a son named "Jean-Luc" in a holographic simulation of theEnterprise-D.
In this episode, Miles O'Brien shares acoffee withKeiko in the late evening. By theDeep Space Ninesecond season episode "Armageddon Game", either Miles made a point to stop drinking coffee in the afternoon or Keiko apparently forgot that he does occasionally drink coffee late in the day. It could also be a one-off, given the strangeness of the situation.
Guinan is ultimately able to get the classroom computer to display a rudimentary diagram of the Enterprise which shows the classroom as being towards the port-side forward edge of the saucer section. As Picard directs Guinan to Engineering, the insert shot shows him indicating that a service conduit will take them towards the forward edge of the saucer, and then to aJeffries Tube clockwise around the saucer (towards Starboard). He then notes that they will "still have to cross [a] corridor before you get to Main Engineering". This is inconsistent with Main Engineering generally being depicted as being far aft of the classroom, and many decks below, on deck 36 in the stardrive section. When they are actually shown to make the journey, they do descend at least one deck by ladder (a step Picard doesn't mention) after travelling through a Jefferies tube.

Reception[]

Ronald D. Moore ultimately wasn't fond of this episode, with the exception of the subplot featuring Guinan and Ro Laren. "I did end up liking[it] in the end," Moore said about that element of this installment. "I still cringe when I think of the episode (the Ferengi capture theEnterprise in a couple of broken-down Birds of Prey???) but many people have told me how much they like it." (AOL chat,1997)
Rick Berman referred to this outing as a "fun" episode with a "very imaginative" story. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 23, No. 6, p. 18)

Video and DVD releases[]

UK VHS release (two-episode tapes,CIC Video): Volume 67,17 May 1993
As part of theTNG Season 6 DVD collection

Links and references[]

Starring[]

Also starring[]

Guest stars[]

And

Special guest star[]

Whoopi Goldberg asGuinan

Co-stars[]

Uncredited co-stars[]

Stunt doubles[]

George Colucci as thestunt double forMichael Snyder
Mark Riccardi as the stunt double forJonathan Frakes

Stand-ins and photo doubles[]

David Keith Anderson – thestand-in forLeVar Burton
Debbie David – the stand-in forBrent Spiner
Tracee Lee Cocco – thehand double forDavid Tristan Birkin
Michael Echols – the stand-in forMichael Dorn
Nora Leonhardt – the stand-in forMarina Sirtis
Lorine Mendell – the stand-in forGates McFadden
Richard Sarstedt – the stand-in forJonathan Frakes
Dennis Tracy – the stand-in forPatrick Stewart

References[]

17th century;adolescence;adult;anesthizine;alloy;archaeology;auxiliary power;bearing;bed;bilateral kelilactiral;bioscan;B'rel-class;Buranian;calcium;childhood;central computer;children;class 4 probe;coffee;crayon;cream;Crusher, Wesley;cup;DaiMon;DNA;doll;Draebidium calimus;Draebidium froctus;drawing;Earl Grey tea;elements;Federation;Ferengi;Ferengi hand phaser;Ferengi Salvage Code;Fermi;firomactal drive;FTL nanoprocessor;Galaxy-class;Galaxy class decks;Guinan's father;Humuhumunukunukuapua'a;inertial damper;interface module;intermix ratio;intruder alert;Jefferies tube;jumper;keiyurium;kiloquad;Langford;Latin;Ligos VII;Ligos system;Lurin's Bird-of-Prey;Lurin's Bird-of-Prey's sister ship;Marlonia;Marlonian;meter;mercury (element);microfracture;Midsummer Night's Dream, A;molecular reversion field;Number one;pattern buffer;preadolescence;phase inducer;plant biology;primary heisenfram terminal;puberty;quad;red alert;redundant melacortz ramistat;refugee camp;remote-controlled toy;renegade;Ro Talia;Romulans;roommate;royal blue;rybo-viroxic-nucleic;sabbatical;secondary generator;second childhood;security access code;security field;seedling;shore leave;spelling;square root;Starfleet;Starfleet Academy;sugar;Suvin IV;tag;Taguan;Tarcassian razor beast;tin;tissue sample;torsional stress;toy;transporter;Transporter Room 3;transporter signature;transposition matrix;tritanium;turbolift;Type 6 shuttlecraft;Vendarite;vocabulary

Library computer references[]

External links[]

"Rascals" atMemory Beta, the wiki for licensedStar Trek works
"Rascals" atWikipedia
"Rascals" atMissionLogPodcast.com
"Rascals" script atStar Trek Minutiae
"Rascals" at theInternet Movie Database

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