Original air date: March 16, 1992
The Enterprise is on an errand of mercy for an independent space-faring species known as the J'naii, who have lost track of one of their shuttles near their homeworld. It had no means of leaving the system, yet not even the Enterprise's advanced sensors can find it. What they find instead are neutrino emissions with no obvious source. The probe they send to investigate is swallowed up by an unseen maw without a trace.
The visiting J'naii scientists believe they have found a pocket of null space, until now a purely theoretical phenomenon, which presumably has trapped their missing shuttle. Commander Riker and Soren, a J'naii pilot, take the lead in formulating a rescue plan. The pair work well together, despite a few linguistic barriers. The J'naii are a monogendered race, which presents some challenges for Riker.
Soren: We use a pronoun that is neutral. I do not think there is really a translation.
Riker: Well, then I'll just have to muddle through.
They break for lunch and enjoy some pleasant conversation discussing the differences (and similarities) between their physiologies. Soren eventually excuses herself after Krite, one of her colleagues, approaches them. Her farewell to Riker is uncharacteristically formal compared to the more casual tone of their conversation.
The two take a Starfleet shuttle to map the perimeter of the null space pocket from a safe distance. It's a slow process, which gives them more time to talk about the birds and the bees.
Riker: For humans, the sexual act brings closeness and intimacy. It can be a very pleasurable experience. Inseminating a husk...
Soren: That's just the last step. Mating is a long ritual for us, full of variety and invention. I assure you... it is extremely pleasurable.
Soren also mentions that the J'naii were once bisexed like humans, in an earlier evolutionary stage, which has created a cultural perception that having a gender and attraction toward a dual-sexed being is primitive.
As the rescue preparations continue, it becomes more evident that Riker and Soren feel a mutual attraction to each other. Soren eventually works up the nerve to admit her feelings to him in private. She explains that there are a minority of J'naii who identify as one of their ancestral sexes—female, in her case—but the stigma prevents them from revealing these inclinations openly. Those who are discovered are "cured", typically against their will. Unfortunately, some of the senior staff have already noticed the Unresolved Sexual Tension between them, and if they've noticed, others may have, too...
By now, the rescue operation is ready to proceed. Riker and Soren take their shuttle, which has been hardened against the null space's power-draining properties, into the pocket. Finding the J'naii ship is quick, but its two passengers are severely hypoxic. Beaming them aboard proves more difficult than expected, leaving the shuttle with critically low power. Riker and Soren barely manage to beam the group back to the Enterprise, much to everyone's relief. The J'naii host a celebration back on their planet that night in honor of everyone who contributed to the rescue.
But there's another crisis brewing. Riker's feelings for Soren have grown to the point that he feels compelled to tell Troi, being his former lover, to make sure it won't hurt their friendship if it becomes serious. The two of them shared a passionate kiss after the party together in private... or so they thought. When Riker returns to Soren's quarters, he finds Krite there instead.
Riker heads down to the planet where Soren has been put in front of a judge. He tries to cover for her by painting himself as an Abhorrent Admirer who was ignorant of their culture, but Soren is tired of hiding who she is and refuses to play along. She makes an impassioned appeal for her right to keep her identity.
The court listens patiently to her, and Riker in turn, but remains unmoved. They take her away under protest to undergo the corrective procedure.
Riker: She is!
Riker is beyond angry, but Picard tells him, as they both already know, that the Prime Directive will not allow them to interfere. But there is a subtext to their conversation... that Riker might decide to take matters into his own hands. Picard's answer to the unspoken question is neither encouragement nor condemnation, only warning. He won't stop Riker, but he also won't be able to protect him if things go wrong, and it would most likely mean the end of Riker's career.
For Soren, he is willing to take that risk. Worf offers to help, as well. They sneak down to the planet's surface where they easily find Soren and incapacitate her escorts, but they're too late. It becomes clear that she has already been changed. Her feminine gender is gone, along with her feelings for Riker. With brutally cold formality, she apologizes for her behavior and leaves without another word.
Riker returns to the ship, morose and empty-handed. He takes his place on the bridge and informs Picard that their business in the system is complete.
Tropes found in "The Outcast":
- Adopting the Gender Binary: In spite of belonging to a monogendered species that looks down upon binary gender, Soren identifies as female up until she is brainwashed into identifying as genderless like the rest of her people do.
- Bizarre Alien Reproduction: In spite of being genderless, the J'naii apparently have a long sexual ritual between a mated pair before they both inseminate a "fibrous husk."
- Blunt "Yes": Mr. Worf pulls no punches.Worf: That is a woman's game. [...] All those wild cards support a weak hand. A man's game has no wild cards.Dr. Crusher: Let me get this straight, you're saying it's a woman's game because women are weak and need help.Worf: Yes.
- Boldly Coming: Riker is not one to let something as shallow as being from a (usually) genderless, single-sexed species or an unflattering hairstyle stand between him and falling madly in love with an alien he just met.
-
Broken Aesop:- For an episode with a Gay Aesop, the show doesn't even acknowledge anything other than heterosexual relationships in Federation society. This was likely due to content restrictions of its era.note The fact that the episode uses gender identity as a metaphor for sexual orientation also causes it to trip all over the real-world subject of gender identity, which receives much more attention now than it did when the episode aired.
- The completion of Soren's psychotectic treatment is supposed to be a Downer Ending, but there was no indication of physical abuse, she wasn't speaking in a Creepy Monotone or sporting a forced smile to indicate she had been lobotomized, and there was no indication that she was putting on an act out of fear that someone was watching. She seemed genuinely grateful to have been "cured." This could allow viewers to confuse the moral of the story to support conversion therapy.
- Coming-Out Story: The major plot of the episode. Soren, a member of the genderless J'naii species, identifies as being female and is attracted to male aliens based on their gender. First she comes out to Riker, and says she's attracted by him. Then when it's publicly revealed she won't deny her identity even when faced with punishment by her government, and confirms this while in court. However, it ends in tragedy as she's subject to a "psychotectic treatment" that makes her renounce this.
- Compressed Vice: Worf is suddenly moved to express bigoted attitudes toward women as "weak" that have not cropped up before and don't come up again. It's apparently a reflection of his conservative, Klingon values.
- Cure Your Gays: "Psychotectic treatment" is used to "cure" J'naii who identify as having a gender, which in their society is viewed as mental illness. Soren is subject to this at the end of the episode, professing her gratitude as a result.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The stigma of Soren's people against those who identify as having a gender, and the "psychotectic therapy" they are forced to undergo to reintegrate into society, are all stand-ins for the persecution of homosexuals and "conversion therapy." In spite of revolving around gender identity, however, the show isn't actually attempting to address that issue.
- Downer Ending: Not only does Riker not stay with Soren, but she's essentially brainwashed into becoming agender rather than female again.
- Fantastic Racism: Fantastic gender identity persecution, in this case, as Soren is persecuted by her own people for identifying as female. The whole thing is really a metaphor for homophobia rather than gender identity.
- Gay Aesop: If you somehow missed it, Soren's fight for recognition of her gender identity is a stand-in for the fight for acceptance of homosexuality.
- Honor Before Reason: Worf knows that Riker will attempt to rescue Soren. He immediately offers to go with him.Worf: A warrior does not let a friend face danger alone.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: When Riker has Pronoun Trouble referring to members of the genderless J'naii, he explicitly rejects using "it," noting that that is very rude where he comes from.
- Limited Wardrobe:
- Like many alien species, Soren only seems to have one outfit, which she wears to both a dangerous shuttlecraft rescue and the fancy soiree afterwards.
- A notable exception comes when both Riker and Worf don dark-colored civilian clothing for their night raid. This is in contrast to the last time they both participated in an ambush, when they wore their brightly colored and glittery uniforms.
- Non-Human Non-Binary: The J'naii are rigidly androgynous, reconditioning anyone who dares to be male or female.
- One-Gender Race: The J'naii, who used to have separate genders, but evolved into a society with one gender.
- Out-of-Character Moment: Worf breaks character slightly for a scene to bluntly state that women are "weaker and need help." Worf is certainly the most rigidly conservative member of the crew, and Klingon culture is certainly patriarchal, so he's the best fit for an episode needing someone to express a less favorable side to gender roles, but it still comes across as jarring, particularly for a man who frequently expresses interest in strong, fierce women.
- Persecution Flip: A person with a binary gender and heterosexual orientation is persecuted for it.
- Trans Equals Gay: A major part of the reason the episode's Aesop is garbled. The episode uses gender identity as a sci-fi stand-in for sexual orientation, but that means that the actual subject of gender identity gets lost in the mix.
- Very Special Episode: This is the show's attempt at a Gay Aesop episode, though it ultimately does it through metaphor rather than overtly, following the tradition of such very special episodes as TOS's "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield," which did it for racism.
