Episode 5.07: “Unification I“

Act One, Scenes 6-7: After greeting her in the transporter room, Picard and Perrin share deep concern over the declining health of Perrin’s husband (and Spock’s father), Sarek.

This is a lovely sequence unfortunately excised from the episode. Perrin discusses Sarek’s “good days and bad days” much in the way you hear people today talk about loved ones with Alzheimer’s. This scene is only available on the “Unification” Blu-ray release.

. . .

Episode 5.10: “New Ground“

Act Four, Scene 56: Worf is deeply conflicted about how to deal with his rebellious son, Alexander. Sending him off to boarding school offers a neat solution, but Worf’s not sure if it’s the right thing to do. He waits for a quiet moment to seek Picard’s counsel.

This is an odd little scene where Worf implies that the stress of having Alexander around is causing him to fall below his performance standards — Picard disagrees, reminding that he’s overcome many similar challenges, since his son on board is different than traditional Klingon customs. Sure, we’re used to seeing Worf beat himself up for failing to be perfect, but this cut to the episode is probably for the best; it feels rather abrupt and a bit of a bump-in-the-road for the show’s story.

. . .

Episode 5.16: “Ethics“

Act Four, Scene 39: In sickbay, Beverly Crusher tries to convince Worf that his paralysis can be partially reversed, despite the seriousness of his recent spinal injury… but that’s not the Klingon way.

This scene was likely cut to the repetitive nature of the dialogue: Worf complains that he wants to die, Beverly fights back, and Worf growls at her to leave him alone. It works just fine by itself, but in the final episode, it would have been a bit overkill.

. . .

Episode 5.17: “The Outcast“

Act Four, Scenes 33-34: In Engineering, Riker and Soren make dinner plans while Soren’s fellow J’naii watches disapprovingly.

This cut slightly changes the context of the next scene in the final episode, where Riker comes to Soren’s quarters to meet her, only to find that she’s been taken into custody. Riker begins to explain that the two of them were going to meet to discuss the project — something that seems like an excuse for his appearance — but this deleted scene shows that they really WERE planning to meet as he said!

. . .

Episode 5.19: “The First Duty“

Act One, Scene 10: Cadet Albert’s father tries to learn more about the accident that claimed the boy’s life.

Act One, Scene 11: Beverly attempts to comfort Lieutenant Commander Albert in his time of grief.

Act Four, Scene 51A: Dr. Crusher and Captain Picard struggle with the realization that Wesley may have been responsible for the accident.

Again, this collection of scenes seem like obvious cut-for-time choices, especially the first and third scenes which only serve to reinforce ideas presented in other ways throughout the episode. The second scene, however, where Beverly meets Joshua Albert’s father, is a nice little moment — especially because neither one knows of Wesley’s role in the accident yet.

. . .

Episode 5.20: “Cost of Living“

Act Four, Scene 53: Lwaxana Troi offers to take Campio on a tour of the ship, so the two might get acquainted before the wedding.

Act Four, Scene 57: Troi and Worf discuss their family issues in Deanna’s office, but neither one is listening to the other.

While the first scene is yet another cut not really worth keeping, the Troi / Worf scene is a bit more interesting. Worf laments that he doesn’t understand why he can’t keep Alexander under control – after all, he (mostly) followed his parents’ rules as a kid. Meanwhile, Troi is off in her own world, complaining that she’s always needed to be the parent in the Deanna / Lwaxana relationship, offering an amusing story about a rather embarrassing stunt Lwaxana pulled at Deanna’s sixth birthday party.

. . .

Episode 5.21: “The Perfect Mate“

Act Five, Scene 62: While observing Kamala’s wedding, Captain Picard fantasizes about interrupting and keeping the metamorph for himself.

This is just a great addition to an already wonderful episode. Picard watches as Kamala and Alrik are about to marry – just after he’s learned that Kamala has bonded with him – and for a brief moment, we’re allowed to see his hidden desire for the woman who is now the best companion he could ever ask for.

Both Patrick Stewart and episode co-writer Michael Piller liked the sequence (according to Star Trek: TNG 365), but it was ultimately removed in the final edit.

. . .

Episode 5.25: “The Inner Light“

Teaser, Scene 4: The crew shares a casual moment discussing an encounter with a boring Starfleet admiral. This entire scene was cut and replaced with the Captain’s Log found in the final episode.

Act One, Scene 10: Picard introduces himself to Eline as the captain of the Enterprise, and demands to know where his uniform and communicator have been taken.

Act Two, Scene 25: The bridge crew tries to figure out what has happened to Picard; Crusher arives on the bridge to tend to the captain.

Act Five, Scene 74: Picard’s medical readings start to take a turn as Crusher recognizes them as scans similar to an eighty-year-old man.

Act Five, Scene 77: After Picard (as Kamin) laments that his grandson’s life will soon end, his daughter Meribor promises that his short life will be a good one.

We finish off this season’s lost footage with another collection of largely forgettable clips, though the teaser features a rather amusing tale of a Starfleet Admiral who coerced Picard into attending a twelve-hour opera performance.

Episode writer Morgan Gendel, and remastering consultants Michael & Denise Okuda bring up a few of the cut scenes (including Beverly’s “eighty-year-old man” comments) in the audio commentary on the Blu-ray set, but there is no additional insight provided as to why the scenes were removed.

. . .