Confrontation. The ship's Romulan occupant requests asylum as he is being pursued by a Romulan Warbird. Both ships cross the Neutral Zone but the Warbird engages its cloaking device and heads back for Romulan space when the Enterprise begins protecting the other ship.
The crew on the bridge are in a tense situation. Who's that cute guy at the helm?
The Romulan scoutship up close. Picard assigns Geordi La Forge to dissect the Romulan vessel, though it auto-destructs before he can do this.
The defector is taken to sickbay to be checked out. A little row incurs between the Romulan and Worf. Curses are exchanged, and Riker chimes in... "Your knowledge of Klingon curses is impressive, but, as a Romulan might say only a veruul would use such language in public."
On Ten-Forward, Setal explains to Data that his defection has come with a very terrible price. He misses his home world. Data says that he's never been to Romulus. "The loss is yours. For I have visited over a hundred different worlds and none possessed the awesome beauty of Romulus."
Behold, glorious Romulus.
Next... Play movie - The Day The Earth Stood Still (2009).
A large unknown object with a speed of approximately one-tenth the speed of light is due to impact Manhattan in approximately 78 minutes.
Princeton professor Dr. Helen Benson - a member of a scientific team - approaches the alien orb.
A being named Klaatu emerges from the sphere, around which the military has established a perimeter. Amidst the confusion, Klaatu is shot. A gigantic robot emerges, emitting a sound that paralyzes humans and disrupts all electrical systems in New York City. Before the robot can take the being back, Klaatu orders it to shut down.
Klaatu will be interogated. Polygraph Operator: I'm going to ask you a series of control questions. Are you currently in a seated position? Klaatu: Yes. Polygraph Operator: Are you human? Klaatu: My body is. Polygraph Operator: Do you feel pain? Klaatu: My body does. Polygraph Operator: Are you aware of an impending attack on the planet earth? Klaatu: You should let me go.
Helen is curious why Klaatu has come to our planet. Klaatu tries to explain. Our planet is in trouble because of us - human beings. Helen Benson: You came to save the Earth... from us. You came to save the Earth *from* us.
[Seated at a McDonald's, Klaatu begins speaking to Mr. Wu in Mandarin] Klaatu: You've been out of contact for a long time. Mr. Wu: I had a dangerous assignment. This is hostile territory.
John Cleese as Professor Karl Barnhardt, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who specializes in the evolutionary basis of altruism. Helen takes Klaatu to him to further change his mind.
John Driscoll: So is it a machine or a living thing? Flash Chamber Colonel: Both. Or neither. John Driscoll: What do you mean 'neither'? Flash Chamber Colonel: It seems to be some sort of silicone-based hybrid. We're calling it GORT: Genetically-Organized Robotic Technology. John Driscoll: The military and their acronyms...
I think Gort is awesome!
Professor Barnhardt: There must be alternatives. You must have some technology that could solve our problem. Klaatu: Your problem is not technology. The problem is you. You lack the will to change. Professor Barnhardt: Then help us change. Klaatu: I cannot change your nature. You treat the world as you treat each other. Professor Barnhardt: But every civilization reaches a crisis point eventually. Klaatu: Most of them don't make it. Professor Barnhardt: Yours did. How? Klaatu: Our sun was dying. We had to evolve in order to survive. Professor Barnhardt: So it was only when your world was threated with destruction that you became what you are now. Klaatu: Yes. Professor Barnhardt: Well that's where we are. You say we're on the brink of destruction and you're right. But it's only on the brink that people find the will to change. Only at the precipice do we evolve. This is our moment. Don't take it from us, we are close to an answer.
Gort is subjected to experiments in an underground facility in Virginia. After receiving the order from Klaatu, it then transforms itself into a swarm of self-replicating insect-like nanites that begin destroying everything in their path back to Manhattan.
Helen's son, Jacob, takes Klaatu to his father's grave and begs him to resurrect him. Klaatu: There are some things I can't do. Jacob Benson: But you have powers. Klaatu: I'm sorry. Jacob Benson: Please. Please! Klaatu: Jacob, nothing ever truly dies. The universe wastes nothing. Everything is simply, transformed. Jacob Benson: Just leave me alone.
After the movie, I turn on BBC. I sleep for a couple hours. The light outside wakes me up. Odon soup for breakfast. Nice hot bath. Putter around the apartment. Walk down to University Street Station.
Train to Uwajimaya.
Buy some baked chicken, sushi and sake. #106 back to my place. Listen to A Prairie Home Companion - live from Rochester, MN. Walk in a light rain to my friendly, neighborhood Barnes & Noble and browse through some books. Henry V is interesting. "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more. Or close the wall up with our English dead!" (Act III, Scene I). I don't buy anything. Back out in the rain. What's with the crowds? Oh! I see. They're going to Xanadu. Back to my place. Turn on Tavis Smiley. He talks with Howard Dodson - the director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture - about The Gentrification of Harlem. Chicken and potato salad for dinner. Watch some classic Star Trek - Balance Of Terror and Mirror, Mirror.
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