Descent (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

26th episode of the 6th and 1st of the 7th season

"Descent" is the 26th episode of the sixth season and the first episode of the seventh season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 152nd and 153rd episodes overall. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise D. In this episode they once again encounter the Borg. The episode, which was aired on television in 1993, features a guest appearance by astrophysicist Stephen Hawking. He appears in the show's opening on the holodeck in a card game with android Data, as a holographic version of himself.

On the holodeck, Lt. Commander Data plays a game of poker with holographic representations of Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking. Data explains to Newton that the game is an experiment for understanding "how three of history's greatest minds would interact" in such a setting. He suspends the program when a red alert is issued from the bridge. The Enterprise responds to a distress call from a Starfleet outpost. Riker, Worf, Data and a security guard form an away team and they find the crew of the outpost dead. They are suddenly attacked by a group of Borg, who kill the "red shirt" security guard. Riker notices that, in contrast to previous encounters, the Borg are armed with energy weapons and refer to each other as individuals. Data experiences anger while fighting a Borg and breaks the Borg's neck. Later, when actor Brent Spiner, who appeared in the scene with Hawking, first read the script and saw that Hawking was a character in it, he imagined that he might be asked to play the scientist, as he had played multiple roles in episodes before. Spiner was excited, however, to learn that Hawking had agreed to play himself, leading Spiner to remark, "But I still think the guy cost me an Emmy". Filming of the scene drew a crowd of staff people, including some who were not working on the scene but pretended to have a work related reason to be there according to screenwriter Ronald D. Moore. Between camera setups, Hawking was placed in a closet sized room at his request, because such solitude allowed him to think without distractions. Berman related that of all the notable people he had met through the course of his career, including presidents and business magnates, the visitor who stood out above the rest was Hawking. He also appears in the role of Third of Five (i. e. Hugh), in "I, Borg" and "Descent, Part II",

In 2019, ScreenRant recommended "Descent" as background on the character Data, for the series Star Trek: Picard. In 2020, Space. com recommended watching this episode as background for Star Trek: Picard. In 2020, Cnet noted "Descent" for featuring the return of the characters Hugh and Lore, and described it as "fun" but not as good as "Best of Both Worlds". In 2020, SyFy Wire recommended this episode for binge watching, noting how it explores Hugh, Data, and the Borg.

The Nerdist suggested this episode as the conclusion of a story arc of this TV show. They propose a story arc with the Enterprise 1701 D confronting the Borg, that would include "Q Who? ", "The Best of Both Worlds", "I, Borg", and "Descent".

"Descent, Part I" and "Descent, Part II" was released on LaserDisc in the United Kingdom in January 1996. The PAL format optical disc had a runtime of 88 minutes, including both Parts of episode using both sides of the disc (CLV). The "Timescape" and "Descent, Part I" disc released in NTSC format on November 17, 1998. "Descent, Part I" was released as part of the Star Trek: The Next Generation season six DVD box set in the United States on December 3, 2002. A remastered HD version of "Descent Part I" was released on Blu ray optical disc, on June 24, 2014.