"I, Borg" was the twenty third episode of the fifth season of the television show Star Trek: The Next Generation Image File history File links BorgScoutCrashed. ... Screenwriters, scenarists or script writers, are authors who write the screenplays from which movies and television programs are made. ... René Echevarria is a television writer and producer. ... A television director is usually responsible for directing the actors and other taped aspects of a television production. ... Robert Lederman is a television director, who worked on shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation. ... Whoopi Goldberg performing stand-up at a benefit for Rainforest Action Network. ... Jonathan del Arco (March 7, 1966 in Uruguay) is an American actor. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Imaginary Friend is a fifth-season Star Trek: The Next Generation episode. ... The Next Phase is a fifth season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. ... The title as it appeared in most episodes opening credits. ...

Plot

Overview: A member of the dangerous cybernetic race known as the Borg is captured by the Enterprise crew and examined. During the course of the interactions which follow, they begin to rethink their attitude towards the Borg. This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) (or Enterprise-D, to distinguish it from prior starships with the same name) is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series. ...

The Enterprise discovers a wrecked Borg scout ship with a single survivor amongst the wreckage; a young Borg drone. Dr. Crusher insists on treating the surviving Borg, and Captain Picard reluctantly agrees to transport him aboard the Enterprise. Given that the Federation is technically at war with the Borg (despite an absence of official declaration on their part), the crew are initially wary of the rescued Borg. The idea of using it as a weapon of mass destruction is one of the central themes of the episode with Picard and the crew considering sending back Hugh to destroy and/or cripple the Borg. This idea is refined throughout the show, eventually culminating in the planned use of a paradoxical mathematical construct, which would be inserted into the Borg drone's memory banks, and would be passed to the central collective due to the drone's inability to process it, causing chaos at the heart of the borg collective. The morality of such an action is called into question by Dr. Crusher who maintains that genocide should not be a consideration. Picard counters by saying that with any other race the idea would be out of the question, but the nature of the Borg calls for extreme measures. In the Star Trek fictional universe, various Borg starships are observed, all appearing as simple geometric solids with greebled exteriors and being very generalized and decentralized in design. ... Captain Jean-Luc Picard, played by Patrick Stewart, is a character from the Star Trek franchise who appears in the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation, in the movies Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek: Nemesis, and makes a cameo appearence in... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Weapons of Mass Destruction is also the name of rapper Xzibits 2004 album. ... Genocide is the mass killing of a group of people as defined by Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or...

The Borg drone (played by Jonathan del Arco), calling himself "Third of Five" (his position aboard the five-crew scout ship), was dubbed "Hugh" by Geordi La Forge following a conversation of self and Human "designations." Hugh explains that the Borg only wish to learn about other cultures and cannot understand why Geordi does not want to be assimilated. The engineer begins to explain individuality, and leads onto friendship. In the course of working with Hugh, Geordi begins to question the action of genocide as Dr. Crusher does. These questions are compounded when Hugh begins to display individual traits. This demonstrated independence raises another question of morality for the crew; is it right to sacrifice one individual to protect the majority? The Unicomplex, a huge Borg complex in the Delta Quadrant. ... Jonathan del Arco (March 7, 1966 in Uruguay) is an American actor. ... Jonathan del Arco as Hugh, the Borg drone In the fictional Star Trek universe, Hugh, otherwise known as Three of Five, is a Borg that appeared in The Next Generation episodes I, Borg and Descent. ... Geordi La Forge is a regular character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, played by LeVar Burton. ...

Geordi and Data show a virus they've created to infect the Borg.

Geordi voices his concerns to Picard who dismisses them with little thought suggesting that the engineer "de-attach" himself from the drone. Geordi then speaks to Guinan whose homeworld was destroyed by the Borg. Despite initial skepticism and displayed repugnance at the idea of giving a drone a name, Guinan goes to meet Hugh. Her skepticism is called into question when she does not find the expected mindless drone, but a confused young individual who concedes that "Resistance is not futile," at clear odds with the mentality of his people. Now with her own doubts, Guinan speaks to Picard and urges him to meet with the Borg. He does so under duress, pretending at first to be Locutus of Borg in front of Hugh, and ordering him to assimilate the crew of the Enterprise, including Geordi. Hugh resists the idea, claiming that Geordi is his friend. When Picard pushes him further, he instinctively cries out "I will not assist you," shocking Picard with his use of the first person singular, and prompting the Captain to reconsider his plans. Image File history File links from STNG episode I, Borg. ... Image File history File links from STNG episode I, Borg. ... Geordi La Forge is a regular character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, played by LeVar Burton. ... Data[1] is a character, portrayed by Brent Spiner, in the Star Trek fictional universe. ... Guinan, played by Whoopi Goldberg, is a recurring character on Star Trek: The Next Generation. ... Spoiler warning: Locutus of Borg Locutus of Borg is, in the Star Trek fictional universe, the designation for a drone within the Borg Collective made using the body of Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise-D, who was assimilated circa stardate 43989. ... Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to the participant role of a referent, such as the speaker, the addressee, and others. ...

Picard concludes that it would be immoral to use Hugh as a weapon to destroy his people, and offers the drone asylum within the Federation. Hugh is tempted but realises that the Borg, having lost a drone would continue to look for him, placing the Enterprise and her crew in jeopardy. He decides to go back to the crash site and be re-assimilated by the Collective — a plan which Picard theorises may cause disruption of its own, with Hugh's experienced individualism spreading throughout the Collective.

As the Enterprise masks itself from the recovery ship's sensors, Geordi accompanies Hugh to the crash site and witnesses him being "rescued" and reassimilated. Just before Hugh is transported aboard the Borg vessel, however, he gives a small parting glance to Geordi.

Trivia

• The title of the episode is a reference to Isaac Asimov's anthology I, Robot, which similarly explored the concept of cybernetic life.

• This episode examines the idea of an individual Borg. As the Borg are a collective consciousness, this appears to be an oxymoron.

• In the Next Generation episode Descent, Part I, Admiral Nechayev criticises Picard for failing to deliver the invasive program via Hugh. She orders him to deploy the program should the opportunity present itself again.

• In Descent, Part II, it is revealed to the Enterprise crew that Hugh's individuality did spread throughout part of the Collective, resulting in the 'infected' ship being cut off from the Hive mind. These drones wandered aimlessly until they were found by Lore, who convinced them to follow him by falsely claiming he could help them. Hugh was one of these drones though did not agree with Lore's teachings, and began an underground movement of Borg close to Lore's base of operations. He initially held the Enterprise crew responsible for the chaos that had occurred but later helped them defeat Lore.

• In a 2002 TV Guide magazine commemorating the 35th anniversary of the Star Trek television series, "I, Borg" ranked 5th among the greatest episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

• It was recently the $2000 answer on Jeopardy! in a category of TV episodes.^{[citation needed]}

• Although Picard is shocked when the Borg says, " 'I' will not help you", it is not the first time in the episode Hugh says I. When Geordi and Doctor Crusher tell them they have names instead of designations, the borg asked "Do 'I' have a name?" This was not shocking to anyone.

Isaac Asimov (January 2?, 1920?[1] – April 6, 1992), IPA: , originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as Айзек Азимов) was a Russian-born American Jewish author and professor of biochemistry, a highly successful and exceptionally prolific writer best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. ... I, Robot is a collection of nine English language science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov, first published by Gnome Press in 1950 in an edition of 5,000 copies. ... -1... Descent is a two-part episode from the sixth/seventh season of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. ... Descent is a two-part episode from the sixth/seventh season of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. ... Lore, played by Brent Spiner is a prototype android and the evil twin brother of Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... TV Guide is the name of two North American weekly magazines about television programming, one in the United States and one in Canada. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The current Star Trek franchise logo Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment series and media franchise. ... Jeopardy! is an international television quiz game show, originally devised by Merv Griffin. ...

Quotes

Geordi La Forge: No, not "You." "Hugh."

Hugh: Resistance is not futile?

Guinan: Before you kill this person, I suggest you look him in the eye.

Picard: He's not a person damnit, he's a Borg!

Hugh: I will not assist you. Geordi must not be assimilated.

Picard: You said 'I'. But you are Borg.

Hugh: No. I am Hugh.

Hugh: Captain, I do not want to forget that I am Hugh.

External links

• I, Borg article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
• I, Borg at StarTrek.com