“Tin Man”
Written by Dennis Putman Bailey & David Bischoff
Directed by Robert Sheerer
Season 3, Episode 20
Original air date: April 23, 1990
Star date: 43779.3
Mission summary
The Enterprise has an unexpected run-in with Captain DeSoto, who interrupts a really boring charting mission with top secret, ix-nay on the Omulan-Ray implications. He sends over a passenger, a Betazed named Tam Elbrun–“of the Ghorusda disaster,” whatever that means–who is to be the mission specialist of the week. He and Troi have already met, however, back at Betazed University, where she was studying basic visual cues and he was a patient. The mission? Approach a star about to go supernova, currently orbited by what appears to be a living ship that Elbrun has dubbed the “tin man.” Not only that, but they have to get there before the Romulans do, or else.
Unlike most Betazoids, Elbrun had his telepathic ability since birth rather than the onset of adolescence. As a result, he’s never really played well with others, and with “disaster” on his resume he has a lot of crippling self-doubt. On the Enterprise, he is having a very hard time adjusting to the overwhelming thoughts of so many minds around him, but takes an instant shine to Data because, for one, his mind is absolutely silent; and for two, he’s a little bit of a lonely philosopher. Elbrun confides a bit in Troi, and reveals that he has some contact with “tin man” already. He knows the creature is lonely.
As the Enterprise approaches the star, a cloaked Romulan warbird appears and fires some disabling shots, crippling the ship to get to the creature first. Elbrun wants to be the first, but Picard warns him that sometimes being first isn’t what matters. Meanwhile, further sensor scans show that the living ship has corridors and a breathable atmosphere. It once had a crew!
DATA: Tin Man is a living being which has been bred or has adapted itself to serve a purpose. I find that interesting.
TAM: Why? Must living beings have a purpose? Or do we exist for no reason but to exist?
DATA: I do not believe I am qualified to express an opinion.
TAM: Ah, Data, you’re uniquely qualified. You think a great deal about humanity and you’re an honest researcher. You don’t treat anything as trivial, or irrelevant. You want to try it all.
The Romulans, however, aren’t having any luck talking to Tin Man. In fact, they’re so frustrated that they start to charge up their disruptors, and Elbrun can read their minds: their orders are to destroy the alien if they cannot secure it from the Federation. Elbrun will not let this happen to his new friend, named Gomtuu, and uses his telepathic power to warn the creature. Gomtuu must be listening because he blasts the Romulan ship out of the sky, and in the process cripples the Enterprise so that it, too, is a sitting duck for the impending supernova.
Elbrun is a little worse for the wear as a result of the mental connection he’s established with Gomtuu, but he has learned some valuable information. Gomtuu is the last of his kind, a species from very far away, and he knows very well that the star is going to explode. In fact, that’s why he’s there. He wants to die. There was an accident and his crew died, and now he is alone in the universe. Elbrun thinks he can persuade it to live, but he needs to be in physical contact to make that kind of connection. With the Enterprise at risk and another Romulan ship on the way, Picard reluctantly agrees, as long as Data goes with him.
Onboard Tin Man, Elbrun is in awe of the living ship. He finds the “bridge” and a chair appears for him, along with a viewscreen. Data reminds him of their mission, but it’s too late. Elbrun is not coming back.
TAM: Explain to them. Make them understand.
DATA: But our mission–
TAM: Is to save Tin Man. And I will. But he’s going to save me as well. All my life I have waited for this. A chance to find peace. Finally all the voices are silent. Only Tin Man speaks to me now. Don’t you see, Data? This is where I belong.
Just as the star goes supernova, Tin Man releases a blast of energy that sends both the newly arrived Romulan ship and the Enterprise to a safe distance away (the latter, with Data miraculously onboard). Data tries to fulfill his end of the bargain and explain what happened.
DATA: I witnessed something remarkable. Individually they were both so–
TROI: Wounded? Isolated?
DATA: Yes. But no longer. Through joining they have been healed. Grief has been transmuted to joy. Loneliness to belonging.
TROI: Data, you do understand.
DATA: Yes, Counselor. When Tin Man returned me to the Enterprise, I realized this is where I belong.
Analysis
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this story done right. Not here, not anywhere. It’s a phenomenal premise, and I think Tam Elbrun is actually a great character played by a great actor, but the episode manages to disappoint because it tries to do too much at once. Is it supposed to be about Elbrun and Troi? About being “different,” as he tells Data? About being literally differently abled in a world that feels overwhelming? Or is it about Elbrun and Data, about belonging and needing a purpose in life, needing to feel needed? Maybe it’s about the dangers of first contact, of “racing” to be first and exploit the unknown instead of actually trying to understand it? Really any of these would be fine stories, but by trying to do all three the episode does none of them justice.
Harry Groener is fantastic in this role. We learn so much about this character (thank you, poorly done exposition!) and yet Groener manages to convey deeper and darker secrets and wounds than the writers were able to give him. On the one hand Elbrun is like a lost child, struggling to find his place in the world with people who are essentially aliens to him. And on the other hand, he’s an incredibly gifted and sophisticated communicator, able not just to speak with but to truly understand the most alien life. I love this dichotomy–the irony of his position, and the “terrible blessing” nature of his gift. It’s a little cliche, but it’s done well and it anchors the episode even when it goes off on little tangents.
But the appeal of that character and that story are exactly why it’s such a shame that the narrative gets away from them. I have always loved the living ship idea, but this episode doesn’t really use it. Ultimately, we simply get the same story told in “The Corbomite Maneuver” and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Anything unique or special about this life form is hinted at in exposition (the crew, the explosion, the loneliness) rather than shown as part of this story, and I’m left wanting more. The same goes for the disaster in Elbrun’s past, and his internal struggle to overcome guilt and self-doubt. What happened there? Why does it matter to this story? Don’t you kind of want to see that particular story play out, rather than this one?
I really do wish I had liked this more. It is so nearly a great episode.
Torie’s Rating: Warp 4 (on a scale of 1-6)
Thread Alert: Nothing says “itinerant loner” like dressing like the Jolly Green Giant.
Best Line: DATA: You said in the transporter room that you could not read my mind.
TAM: True enough. But I think I understand you pretty well. It worries you that I can’t read your mind?
DATA: Perhaps there is nothing to read. Nothing more than mechanisms and algorithmic responses.
TAM: Perhaps you’re just different. Not a sin, you know, though you may have heard otherwise.
Trivia/Other Notes: The script was based on Dennis Russell Bailey and David Bischoff’s Nebula award-winning story called “Tin Woodman” published in Amazing Stories 1976. The script was written by three people: Bailey, Bischoff, and Lisa Putman White, whose name was incorporated into Bailey’s credit because rules required no more than two people be paid as a writing team.
Gomtuu’s weird ambient noises are the work of Emmy-winning sound artist Jim Wolvington recording a stethoscope next to his grumbling stomach as he eats pizza.
The magical appearing chair was made of wax, melted, and then used in reverse time lapse to make it seem as if it had grown out of the floor. The episode was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Special Effects.
Harry Groener, who played Tam Elbrun, has had a remarkable career. As an accomplished stage actor, he was nominated for a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for his role in the 1980 revival of Oklahoma!. Two years later, he originated the role of Munkustrap in Cats and earned another Tony award nomination. Then he was in Sunday in the Park with George (with Brent Spiner), before raking up another Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle nomination for Crazy for You. Oh, and he can sing, and was in Spamalot, and used to be a ballet dancer. To TV viewers, he’s of course the evil Mayor Wilkins in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (who, interesting, winds up eating Armin Shimmerman at some point). And he’ll be back two more times in Trek: first, in Voyager‘s “Sacred Ground”; then, as Nathan Samuels in Enterprise‘s “Demons” and “Terra Prime.”
Previous episode: Season 3, Episode 19 – “Captain’s Holiday.”
Next episode: Season 3, Episode 21 – “Hollow Pursuits.”
Man, how often do we say that a TNG episode was almost great? About as often as they try to do too much at any one time.
I really think that Star Trek’s biggest sin is that it’s not satisfied with telling an interesting story: There always has to be an outside element of danger there and that crisis almost always throws the episode off balance. It seems to me if they’d dropped the Romulan thing entirely and focused the crisis on the Tinman’s despair and suicidal intentions, it would have been a much better episode.
Harry Groener was great, even if he looked like he belonged in an old Robin Hood show.
To paraphrase Branch Rickey or Connie Mack or some baseball exec, the worst thing a television episode can have is potential, because that means it’s not achieving what it is capable of. This episode has a lot of potential. I’m also a bit put off by the heavy-handedness of the Tin Man metaphor. Sure, Trek has always specialized in clue-by-fours, but this practically gives away the whole thing from the moment we get to know Elbrun.
I wonder if this living ship is somehow connected with the planet devourer from “The Doomsday Machine”. But here we have another common TNG problem, stuff that happens not having any long-term effect on the universe at large. Starfleet is going to want to go over this thing with a fine-toothed comb and have copies of every last one of its files. All that stuff is priceless and should have led to several new technologies. Although, maybe this is where Voyager’s bio-neural gel packs came from. (Having Voyager come across some relics of the civilization that created Tin Man would have made a pretty good episode. Too bad nobody thought of that.)
I can’t really give this more than a 3.
@1
Agree with this. Lots to like, but not sure where my attention should fall.
Contra Torie, I was put off by Tam Elbrun in this rewatch. He seems to wear his heart a little too heavily on his sleeve, like a whiny petulant child having a bad day. Seems like the very first things you’d learn, as an empath of this scale, is mastery of the quick putdown and how to shield your own emotive response. The human brain should be pretty boring to him… a big lump of gray in which SEX-SEX-SEX is writ large, followed by all manner of cliche and petty Fears and Regret… lots of living either in the past or the future, as one mystic observed… and in that boredom nothing particularly exasperating. Just dull. Annoyingly dull.*
It’s Elbrun’s crazy-ish instability that makes it unlikely Starfleet would send him solo on this mission. Shouldn’t he have a staff?
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* I think Andy Kaufman at his most annoying would have made a good Tam.
I like the concept of Tin Man, but it is not handled in a particularly interesting way.
Granted, there are some notable similarities with the end of Star Trek The Motion Picture ( and the reuse of the ‘explosion’ special effect from that movie helps to hammer that home ) but I actually really like this episode. Although there are times I really want to slap Tam ( as I do with most unnecessarily rude people… a lasting scar from working retail ), I can sympathize with his plight.
The first 9 years of my life were spent as a somewhat coddled, asthmatic, only child. I developed many indoor interests, such as reading, drawing and, of course, my love of Star Trek and other TV favorites. I learned to enjoy myself, by myself. After my mother passed away and my father remarried I was suddenly thrust into a new family whose demeanor and behavior was very different from that I was used to. Noisy, emotional and very different in temperament, yelling, arguments and upheavals were frequent. My father and stepmother separated and reconciled at least three times, which meant moving to new location each time. Add to that suddenly finding myself with three stepsisters of varying ages, and I often found myself to be the subject of a lot of often unwanted attention.
Like Tam, I found myself retreating away from the chaos and noise of my new surroundings and learned how to lock my door for a bit of privacy. Alone time became a highly prized luxury. I wanted to return to my old family life and to my Aunt and Uncle’s home to live in what I considered normalcy. As a grown man I’ve come to peace with my upbringing and have realized that, had I gotten my wish, I might have ended up far less able to deal with the real world. But there is still that frightened little boy inside of me who was ripped away from the life that he knew and loved and thrust into a seemingly unrelentingly harsh and noisy new environment. He still shies away from conflict and can retreat to his sanctuary or occasionally lash out in frustration when he feels overwhelmed. This is the side of Tam Elbrun that hits home for me, and that part of me is happy for him when he and Tin Man find each other.
P.S. I forgot to add; Also I really love it when Tam calls Riker “Billy Boy”, and tells him he doesn’t really care what Riker thinks. God, I wish I had the balls to do that more often!
Since my first viewing, I’ve counted this episode among my favorite TNG episodes. The funny thing is that whenever I think about this one, I never remember the Romulan part of the story. I think I now prefer my memories of this episode to actually watching it.
I also prefer my memories of this episode to what I just re-watched. There’s a very old school SF/classic Trek feel to it, as others have pointed out, but the story is all over the place and trying to do too many things, without doing any of them particularly well. I still find the concept of a living ship to be interesting, but it wasn’t explored much, and it turns out Farscape did a much better job of it.
And Tam… Tam is annoying and rude, and you’d think he would have mastered his abilities better. Actually, he’s a bit like Lwaxana in some ways, which makes me wonder if all Betazeds are inherently insufferable. I was distinctly unimpressed with how he was used to convey massive amounts of exposition about the Tin Man before we even meet it; it could have been more interesting if they’d focused on making contact and understanding it, instead of already having all the answers.
On the other hand, having Tam onboard is an interesting counterpoint to Deanna. Instead of “I sense that he’s angry… He’s hiding something…” we get, “He’s heading for the planet and he’s going to destroy that ship.” Having a full telepath on board, particularly such a powerful one, would be an incredible advantage in diplomacy and combat, which is probably why they don’t have one.
Anyway, I wanted to like this a lot more. I agree that Harry Groener is amazing, at least when he doesn’t have to act like he’s in pain, but his talent is overshadowed by the rest of the episode’s failings. And I agree that the “Tin Man” metaphor would have worked better if the episode, or at least the ship, hadn’t been called that.
Warp 3 from me.
I think there’s something to this. When you get down to it, there isn’t much point in putting on a polite face or saying things to be nice if you live in a culture of empaths. The person you’re talking to knows you’re just shining them on/think that dress really does make her butt look big/whatever. As a result, the outward projection of your personality isn’t going to have as many filters as western human cultures do. Maybe Deanna is the way she is because she absorbed a lot of cultural cues from her father.
I’m really interested in this discussion about what an empathic culture would actually look like. I find Tam a believable product of his situation and culture. I have never take a psych class but I think an important aspect of confidence, relatability, and maturity is a strong sense of self. It’s the sense of self we get from the kind of privacy that dep1701 described. I also had a fairly solitary childhood (my sister wasn’t born until I was nearly 10), and spent a lot of time doing quiet things like reading and crafting or doing not-so-quiet but alone things like running around, exploring, digging holes, making up games to play with the outside world. The result was a lot of interiority–a lot of me time, and a lot of quiet thinking, and a lot of self-exploration in terms of my interests and likes and dislikes. By the time I got to puberty, I had a strong set of values and interests and emotional attachments/repulsions.
Tam never had that. He’s spent his entire existence as only a small voice in an overwhelming cacophony of others’ voices. Without that silence and privacy and the strong sense of self vs. others that we develop as children, I can imagine him not really knowing who he is or what he wants or what he’s good at and what he’s even truly interested in. I believe that he would be unstable, unpredictable, and isolated.
Sure, Betazeds don’t HAVE to be polite, but neither do we in our culture. And we don’t KNOW what others are thinking, but can usually guess. Societal pressure, I would think, would be ESPECIALLY strong in a telepathic culture. When you know what the other person is thinking, it’s easier to hurt them. Without cultural rules for behavior, people would be emotionally vulnerable way too much of the time.
Lwaxana is different. She uses her empathic ability to manipulate non-empaths–suggesting thoughts that aren’t there and otherwise exploiting their sense of politeness and propriety to get what she wants. It’s generally harmless with her, but in a more serious form could be like a PUA.
I know this has been discussed here with another episode (and series?) but it does fit your question. The Kelgians in James White’s Sector General series are not telepathic but they are in a similar situation. They look like six foot long caterpillars with 34 legs. Their emotions and intentions are displayed – without control – by flexing and ripples in their muscles and fur. The without control part means that they are incapable of lying to other kelgians and, by cultural extension, to other races. Therefore, the Kelgians at Sector General are doctors and nurses with the worst bedside manners. In the book, Mind Changer, White expanded our view of Kelgian society by having the retiring head of the hospital devote the rest of his life to working to help Kelgians who have had their expressions crippled as a result of fire or other accidents. I understood what they were trying to do with Tam here, and Lwaxana in TNG in general, because I was already familiar with the Kelgians.
For whatever reason this episode lodged itself firmly in my memory back when it first came out and I find that I like it still. I can’t deny the validity of the criticism of it here but after watching the episode again I find that I still like it.
I even like Data in it, almost. At the very least the odd rapport he develops with Tam Elbrun makes good sense to me, not merely because it’s reasonable that Elbrun might enjoy the company of someone unreadable to him and who wasn’t flooding him with thoughts, but also because it’s reasonable that Elbrun would enjoy the company of someone who was dispassionate and collected such as Data, who would treat with him far more equanimity than someone like, say, Riker. Spiner plays it well for the most part although he does permit a bit of incongruous emotion to sneak into his line readings, especially when he’s saying his, “Perhaps there is nothing there to read,” piece. But it’s an acceptable lapse and a hundred times more tolerable than Spiner’s smirky performance of Data from a couple of years before.
Yet it was also nice to see some real passion out of a major TNG character for a change. Riker’s contempt for Elbrun was entirely believable, as was Elbrun’s defensive response to it.
I do agree entirely that it’s not credible for Elbrun to be put in charge of the mission to Tin Man, seeing that he is so obviously unstable. It seems far more likely that he’d be the advisor to some Federation apparatchik, somewhat like “The Traveller” was to his Federation front man in “Where No One Has Gone Before”. Yet there Elbrun is, conducting the briefing and doing a crappy job of it.
I do like Troi in this, although it occurs to me that her most logical role might actually be as the hypothetical Federation minder in real charge of the mission, assigned to keep Elbrun in line. She ends up playing that role anyway and it’s a good role.
By the way…was any reason given for calling Tin Man “Tin Man”? I didn’t catch it.
Gah, I hate double posting. I’d rather edit my previous post. Anyhow…there is one great weakness to this episode I’ll concede: it’s never made at all clear why investigating Tin Man is a such an enormously important priority for Starfleet. The unconvincing obtrusion of the Romulans into the plot seems like an attempt to justify the unusual importance attached to the mission. Talk about the “advanced technology” is not satisfying, especially since Tin Man is not a creation of technology.
Nice review, thanks.
A note on credits: Lisa’s name is Putman rather than Putnam.
@13 Dennis Bailey
Fixed, thanks! And thank you for stopping by!
Thank you.
I hate this episode and the whole time I just wanted to smack Tam and tell him to calm the cluck down. A passive aggressive telepathic emo really grates on me for some reason.
Also the idea that you can telepathically read thoughts like nobody’s business through light years of space shatters any believability I found in this episode.