Observations in TNG: "Symbiosis"
A joint project with TrekCore, by Jörg Hillebrand and Bernd Schneider
Here are some observations about sets, props and visual effects in TNG: "Symbiosis" without a specific theme, and a comparison of the original TV release (TNG) with the remastered episode (TNG-R).
"Symbiosis" HD Screencaps @ TrekCore
| Description TNG | Other caps | Comparison TNG to TNG-R | Description TNG-R | |
| A Vulcan woman in engineering. She may be the last female Vulcan with long hair ever to appear in the 24th century, after T'Shanik sort of set a standard with her bowl cut in "Coming of Age". |    |
The Vulcan woman in HD. | ||
| Visual effects of the solar flares in the Delos system. |   |
The first shot shows a completely new CG model of the sun while the second one of the sun's corona is the same one as in the original episode. | ||
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| The graphic depicting the sun Delos was previously used in "The Naked Now" where it represented the red giant seen in the episode. The graphic appears again in "Tin Man", this time showing Beta Stromgren. |  "The Naked Now" |
 "Tin Man" |
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A close-up of the display in HD. |
| Another very noticeable piece of black cardboard covers part of the LCARS display. |   |
The cardboard - even more obvious in the HD close-up. | ||
| The Enterprise raises shields as the ship approaches the star Delos. |   |
In TNG-R, we can recognize the double shield bubble of the ship even better. | ||
| This shot illustrates well that the curved transparent walls that were still present in "The Naked Now" are no longer part of the main engineering set and that the door is usually hidden behind a wall. |  "The Naked Now" |
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No changes | |
| The Enterprise uses a tractor beam to stabilize the Sanction. The tractor beam's color changes while trying to lock on. |   |
The color change is much the same in HD. The planet was completely reconstructed too and now exhibits distinct surface structures and clouds. | ||
| The console wall on the Ornaran freighter Sanction was originally created for the engineering set of the USS Enterprise and first appeared in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan". It had previously appeared as a Ferengi console in "The Battle" and a Talarian console in "Heart of Glory". It seems the same display graphic that was created for "Heart of Glory" is still in place as Talarian letters can vaguely be made out. Re-Used Starship Interiors |
 "Star Trek II" |
 TNG-R: "Heart of Glory" |
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In HD, it becomes clear that the graphic indeed still features Talarian letters. |
| The star chart also is the same as the one seen aboard the Batris in "Heart of Glory". The same star chart appears in "Conspiracy" as part of one of the communications logs Data views in the episode in order to investigate signs of a conspiracy in Starfleet. |  TNG-R: "Heart of Glory" |
 "Conspiracy" |
The HD screen cap ultimately confirms it's the same diagram. | |
| The containers used to store the drug felicium in this episode will later appear as Starfleet sample containers in "The Ensigns of Command" and "Hollow Pursuits". In real life, these are casings of sonobuoys used by the U.S. Navy. Re-Uses of Sonobuoy Containers |
 "Hollow Pursuits" |
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A close-up of the very versatile containers in HD. | |
| The Sanction is a redress of the Batris from "Heart of Glory". In this modification, the ship will appear again as the Erstwhile in "The Outrageous Okona". Redresses of the Batris |
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TNG-R uses all the old filmed material whenever possible, so there are no changes to the ship design. | ||
| Similar cargo containers were seen in "V - The Miniseries". In "Symbiosis", these containers first feature the Federation logo (without the leaves) on the central octagon. In "V", the Visitor logo is usually seen in that spot. Re-Used Props - Containers |
 "V - The Final Battle" |
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No changes | |
| Visual effect of the Ornaran and Brekkian psychoelectric powers. |   |
The visual effect was faithfully reconstructed for TNG-R. | ||
| Unusually for TNG, a large cargo container is seen in the corridor leading to the cargo bay. |  |
No changes | ||
| The large PADD-like device on the small table was previously seen in "Encounter at Farpoint" and later reappears in "The Quality of Life" as a Tyran wall panel. The beige case was previously seen in "11001001" where it was used by members of the Starbase 74 technical crew. |
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A close-up of the prop in HD. | ||
| The doors to the medical lab are no longer partially transparent, like they were in "Angel One" and "Home Soil". |  "Angel One" |
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No changes | |
| The sculpture made from glass or ceramic was also seen in Admiral Jameson's guest quarters in "Too Short a Season". |  "Too Short a Season" |
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No changes | |
| A small model of a Vulcan long range shuttle, as first seen in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" can be seen on this desk in the guest quarters. It previously appeared in Admiral Jameson's quarters in "Too Short a Season" and will be seen again in Wesley's quarters in "The Dauphin". |  "The Dauphin" |
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A close-up of the model in HD. | |
| The vase was also seen in Admiral Jameson's guest quarters in "Too Short a Season". Next to the vase there is a 3D chessboard or checkerboard. The vase, finally, is resting on a transparent plate which was previously used as a holographic projector in Riker's quarters in "Haven". |  "Too Short a Season" |
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A close-up of the props in HD. | |
| In "Ménage à Troi" a man is seen in Ten Forward wearing Sobi's costume. |  "Ménage à Troi" |
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No changes | |
| The device used to measure doses of felicium (or a very similar device) is seen again in "Concerning Flight" where it is used as a plasma injector conduit. In real life, this is most likely a pneumatic component, a clutch or a brake. |  VOY: "Concerning Flight" |
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The prop in HD. | |
| An unobstructed view of the large sickbay monitor. |   |
An HD close-up that allows to read some of the lettering. Most of the small lettering solely consists of strings of numbers though. | ||
| The felicium injector reappears as another drug injector used by the Taresians in "Favorite Son". In real life, this is quite possibly a valve of a combustion engine. |  VOY: "Favorite Son" |
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A close-up of the prop in HD. | |
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This shot of Brekka reappears in "Transfigurations" where it represents a planet in the Zeta Gelis cluster. Re-Used Planets in TNG |
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Brekka too was reconstructed. | ||
Transparent PADDs like the ones Doctor Crusher is using here are rarely seen on Star Trek. Mike Okuda: "I vaguely recall those padds. I think they were an attempt to use simple pieces of acrylic plastic sheeting with sheets of thermal-printed clear art. If I recall, the results weren't very satisfactory, so we didn't do it again." |
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HD close-ups of the prop. The writing on the PADD is now legible in HD. Doctor Crusher is holding a neural scan. | ||
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| Another rarity is this flat viewscreen that looks almost like a modern flatscreen TV. |  |
No changes | ||
| The cargo transporter was previously seen like this in "Datalore". In later episodes, it is a much simpler device with a large transporter platform. |  "Datalore" |
 "The Hunted" |
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A better view of the set in HD. |
| As "Skin of Evil", Denise Crosby's last episode as Tasha Yar, was filmed before "Symbiosis", the final cargo bay scene was the final scene she filmed for Star Trek: The Next Generation. That is why she waves goodbye as Picard and Crusher leave the cargo bay. |   |
An HD close-up on Tasha. | ||
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The shot of Ornara and its moon was originally seen in "Datalore" as Omicron Theta and one of its moons. Re-Used Planets in TNG |
 "Datalore" SD |
 "Datalore" HD |
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In the remastered version of the episode, Ornara and its moon are newly created and are no longer re-uses of Omicron Theta and its moon. |
