The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Remco on 2009-07-28 at 8:51pm:
  Did Ron Moore get the idea for a virtual Six in Baltar's head on BSG from this episode?
• From JR on 2012-07-02 at 2:39am:
  I don't understand how the crew jumped to the conclusion that the tritanium bullet was fired from close range.
  O'brien: " According to these readings, the bullet only traveled 8 or 9 centimeters."
  Sisko: "Then the killer must have fired at point blank range."
  Odo: "I don't think so; there are no powder burns on the body."
  
  A bit of circular logic there...what exactly is the tricorder detecting to if not powder burns? The bullet's odometer? If that were the case, Obrien would say 8.63 cm, not "8 or 9 cm".
  
  Taking it one step further, why wouldn't some of the powder be present anyway. If it is as conventional as Sisko claims, there would in fact be hot gases expanding right aside that bullet at the muzzle and they would be transported as well.
  
  I liked the episode's premise, but between the Xray snooper scope, the false logic, and the very abrupt ending (Joran immediately convincing Ezri that particular Vulcan was the killer out of 28 possible, and actually being correct) I don't think it was particularly well done. I'd give it a 5 or 6.
• From Lt. Fitz on 2012-07-07 at 10:01pm:
  Not a great episode. It seemed too easy to find the murderer, and Joran annoyed the heck out of me with his weird and creepy muttering. Lots of good bits, but just it didn't fall together for me.
• From Damien Bradley on 2013-09-25 at 6:32am:
  This was a nice episode, but I'm surprised at its 10 rating here. The suspense was pretty well done, especially right as Ezri sets her sights on the Vulcan setting sights on her.
  
  Some things didn't work well for me: first, Trek has a penchant for ridiculously powerful weapons. A phaser that can disintegrate a person in one blast is a long-standing staple, and now a gun that can deliver a high-speed bullet anywhere in the surrounding area, complete with a headset that can see anywhere? That's arguably more powerful than a phaser. I'm surprised no one's thought of it yet. Even the headset alone means goodbye to privacy for anyone. But that's one of the unfortunate effects of technology in Trek. So much of it is so over-the-top powerful that the writers haven't really thought through the ramifications of it all.
  
  I really wanted there to come something after the climax. The Vuclan said "logic demanded it." I wanted to know his reasoning and some kind of epilogue to the whole thing.
  
  I felt the dynamic between Ezri and Joran was a little cheesy. So the Trill have a ritual they can do to where they can temporarily hallucinate one of their past lives and converse with them? And they have to do another ritual to make it go away? I would have preferred something more subtle. (I don't remember if we've seen this ritual before.) I also would have liked Joran to be a little less one-dimensional.
  
  Anyway, it's nice we're seeing lots of Ezri. She has a lot of catching up to do in terms of character development (and yes, she's cute as a button, maybe too much sometimes).
• From Axel on 2015-06-06 at 3:27pm:
  I agree with Damien's point about the Vulcan's motives. I was hoping to know a bit more, aside from the archetypical Vulcan "logic demanded it" response. That's the lazy way to wrap this up. Clearly there was some emotion behind what he was doing stemming from the loss of his companions. The inclusion of Joran was a fantastic story element, but his murderer profile was dragged on at the expense of the Vulcan.
  
  I do disagree with the point about the high-speed bullet, though. Phasers would have a lot of other advantages over projectile weapons. It's easier to control the intensity, you can charge them rather than continuously load them, and they are no doubt lighter and more wieldy.
  
  Overall, good Trill episode, good Dax episode, and good suspense. Murder mystery is rare for Trek, but this was done very nicely.
• From ChristopherA on 2021-06-17 at 4:30pm:
  I thought the episode had pluses and minuses, it had a decent murder mystery flow with good suspense and somewhat interesting acting between Ezri and Joran, but I also thought it was overly contrived attempt to emulate one of those “Silence of the Lambs” stories where the heroes have to work with a killer to catch a killer. The idea that because Joran is a disturbed murderer, he must therefore be an expert homicide detective, is just silly. And there didn’t even seem to be any reason whatsoever to believe that Joran was similar in any way to the mysterious killer.
  
  I agree with the previous fan commentary about the abrupt ending and the super scope. Think of all the times they were sneaking around looking for the enemy instead of just using the scanner to view the entire station from a safe location and attack without reprisal. I can't be too critical because it is extremely common in Star Trek to invent incredible advanced technologies and completely forget about them later. However, in most cases these inventions are essential to the plot and are sufficiently foreign, experimental, or situationally specific to kind of handwave them away. In this case the superweapon was absolutely not required for the plot, the villain could have used any means to commit murders, so inventing a superweapon to do the job seemed a bit like lazy writing. Still, if you ignore the implications, the idea of two people with ultimate sniper technology trying to hunt each other down, and ultimately firing simultaneously, is an interesting idea that could have made a good science fiction short story.
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Tallifer on 2011-05-01 at 12:20pm:
  How do some people rate this zero or one? Do they simply hate Star Trek and stumbled onto the wrong website in their search for Jersey Shore?
  
  This final story was amazing. Space battles. Intrigue and rebellion. The final battle between the pah-wraiths and the prophets.
  
  And I must confess that the extended epilogue detailing everyone's final fate brought tears to my eyes.
• From Inga on 2013-07-06 at 3:37pm:
  The last two episodes were indeed marvelous, but the pah wraith battle was pretty silly and banal (a tired concept of good vs evil).

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-07-29 at 6:29am:
  This finale makes "All Good Things..." look like an article of trash. DS9 stayed true to itself down to the bitter end. Everyone doesn't live happily ever after and stay together on the station for a set of new movies. No, DS9 is a very human show, a very realistic one. Though I've heard the writers and producers say that DS9 contains so many shades of gray, the finale was very clear cut. When the founder ordered the eradication of the Cardassians, you could see pure evil in her face. On the same token, Sisko made the ultimate sacrifice for Good in the end.
  
  The finale captured everything DS9 was about, as well. It had awesome action sequences, political intrigue, ethereal matters, and of course emotional and moral matters. Towards the end, when Sisko sacrificed himself, I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. When he kissed Kassidy in the celestial temple and she realized what he had done, I absolutely burst into tears. I'm a grown man, and there are very few things that make me cry. The conclusion was truly powerful, and it is something I will never forget.
  
  In the end, the show is about people. It's about the imperfection of humanity, something not covered in other Star Trek series. However, contrary to many critics' opinions, DS9 shows the most optimistic picture of the future of any of the Star Trek series. It shows that, even with our faults, humans will make the right decisions and contribute positively to the universe in the future when all is said and done. For every man like Sloan or the Female Shapeshifter, there is a greater man like Sisko or O'brien. I wholeheartedly agree with Eric when I say that DS9 is, without question, FAR superior to every other Star Trek series.
  
  Finally I know it's kind of corny to award this to the finale, but I am absolutely compelled to award "Best Episode of DS9" to "What You Leave Behind". It simply embodies everything DS9 is about; all the things I mentioned above. If I had to take an episode of DS9 to someone and say "this episode is what DS9 is", then this is the one. It is indescribably powerful and moving, especially if you have seen all 7 seasons culminate up to that point. It may very well be the best episode of Star Trek period, but I haven't seen all of Voyager or Enterprise yet, so I can't pass judgement.
  
  All I can say is "Deep Space Nine, you will be missed."
• From rpeh on 2010-08-05 at 10:05pm:
  A good finale; nay, a great one - but not without its flaws. The flashbacks were mawkish and sentimental, and I have a feeling that the war was over a bit too quickly.
  
  There's also a sense of an attempt to seal the fates of several characters - and the DVD extras even have Ira Behr saying that was the intent. Resolving O'Brien and Worf looks to me like an attempt to give closure to TNG more than DS9, but what's next for Kira, Dax, and Bashir?
  
  Turning the battle between the Prophets and the Pah-wraiths into a christian-like Heaven vs Hell struggle didn't sit well with me either.
  
  DS9 set new heights for Star Trek. I think two or three TNG episodes were better than anything the series had to offer, entirely because Patrick Stewart was the best actor ever to grace the Trek franchise, but there can't be any doubt that the average on DS9 was higher than anywhere else, and it had its own fair share of hits.
  
  The only problem is that by wrapping up some characters and not others, the writers essentially ruined any chance of a film being made.
  
  This episode gets an 8 for being too sentimental, but the series gets a full 10.
• From MJ on 2011-01-29 at 6:00pm:
  Decent finale. But not great. DS9 bit off more than it could chew in this final episode. In TNG, they focused the entire two-part ending on the one problem and involved the entire crew coming together to solve it, while also being able to reflect back on earlier themes throughout the show. In DS9, they tried to wrap up the Dominion War, the Prophets/Pah-Wraith thing, and also send the individual characters on their separate paths all in one two-parter. And it didn’t go well in my view.
  
  The Dominion War ended very suddenly. This was DS9’s greatest contribution to Star Trek, and while the final battle was spectacular, there are just so many unanswered questions. Most of the episode should have been focused on the war and its aftermath, and maybe Section 31 which is a potentially huge subplot. Instead, a lot of time is spent wrapping up this Pah-Wraith struggle, which is probably DS9’s worst contribution to Star Trek and I think damages the show’s credibility somewhat. Not only that, but we have to endure one final scene of Vic Fontaine’s singing rather than actual plot. What a waste of time.
  
  Then we have a series of scenes that try to clarify what will happen to each person. It’s an odd transition between the Dominion War struggle and the Pah-Wraith fight. It slows things down and gets you ready for the end, but then suddenly Sisko goes back to fight a possessed Dukat and "dies" in an apocalyptic battle that also ends very suddenly. Following this is a quick attempt to focus on how this impacts Yates and Jake, and then a series of flashbacks of everyone's fondest memories.
  
  The whole thing was fast, and seemed a very forced attempt to end so many themes and plots that it really didn’t give me the same sense of finale that I had after viewing “All Good Things”. I agree that DS9’s average episodes were more exciting than TNG’s average episodes, and that DS9 had just as many ethical, political, and social messages as TNG. But as finales go, I think TNG outshines this one just a bit. But even if you’re not into the whole comparison thing, it’s just a weird way to end a spectacular saga.
  
  The flashback moments were touching, and Odo’s rejoining the Great Link was a nicely done scene. I didn’t like Odo and Quark’s parting; DS9 has done some awkward goodbyes (like Picard and O’Brien at the opener) and this one was no different.
  
  But overall I’d give part 1 a 9, and part 2 a 6.
• From PaulBW on 2012-05-26 at 6:51am:
  Underwhelming as a follow up to the excellent part one. Gul Dukat's 15 minutes as a super-villian felt unnessary, especially for all the tedious build-up we had to endure to get to that point. Though I did get sentimental towards the end of the episode when the characters met their final conclusions in the series.
  
  After Quark says, "hasn't there been enough change around here already." I felt like it would of been a perfect moment for Morn to say a word or too. A simple "ya" would have been hilarious. It would play into the times-are-changin theme they got going on this second half.
• From L on 2013-08-19 at 10:07am:
  Then I guess everything's wrapped up in a neat little package.
  
  Awesome battle scenes.
  
  I think what made this show great was the writing and development of the villains, which was made possible by doing the larger arcs, and also that they were able to make them complex and sympathetic with shades of grey well as all-out evil. The acting of the Cardassians, Vorta, Jem-Hadaar and the Ferengi eclipses everyone else's (all the 'nice' races) performance for some reason, or they're just more compelling to me.
  The exploration of darker and heavier themes was also to its merit.
  The development of the Ferenghi culture over TNG was very welcome and priceless.
  
  I wasn't particularly moved by the wrap-up however - I think the only flashback that touched me was that showing the relationship of Jake and Sisko, truly one of the greatest father/son relationships ever portrayed on television.
  
  I feel a bit let down by the fact that I didn't really care in the end about the fate of the characters - possibly it's the 'spiritual' ridiculousness of Sisko's fate that poured cold water on it for me, plus the farewell party in the Vegas holosuite seemed pointless and cheesy, as that whole Vic/smooth jazzclub sub-plot always did.
  The best flashback to me was the one showing a lanky Bashir in a lycra body-suit playing whatever that squash game was with O'Brien.
  
  This just did not have the same impact as TNG for me, that felt so much more of a family and had a really positive feeling. Perhaps it's the lack of optimism in this ending, as lots of heavy stuff has been going on - we've all lost our Star Trek innocence and future idealism now.
  
  My lack of emotional investment started half-way through the last season with my resistance to the Bajoran culture and religion and the blind faith being advocated, so I'm just glad to have got through it.
  
  I can see why it's praised. Definitely some fantastic moments.
  Now onto Voyager.
• From Rob UK on 2013-12-01 at 6:23pm:
  I will write something more on this episode at some point as in regards to the ending of a Star Trek season i think it is the best, sidetracked.
  
  My reason for writing now is Major Kira who seems to have turned into first a Sith lord (see previous episode as she lurks all cloaked up conducting the dissent on Kardasia) an then in this episode she goes all Princess Leah invading Jabba's Palace with the captured Chewbacca and the thermal detonator as she is dressed as the Breen to save Garrick and co, if she had just said "Someone who loves you" in response to someone asking "Who are you?" from under the Breen helmet we were complete in the homage.
  
  I know Star Wars and Star Trek comparatives i have probably broken all the rules of fandom, anyone sitting there melting at their computer at my foibles please forgive, count to ten and breath deep, no offense was ever intended as i am a fan of it all
• From Alex on 2014-05-19 at 11:08pm:
  I`ll be honest,i personally thought DS9 was the most overrated steaming heap of manure ever to masquerade as anything to be connected with star trek.The star trek ethos is meant to be to boldly go and explore,not to bore everyone whitless about the inane goings on (and lets face it,for the first 2 series the SCI-FI CONTENT was negligible)at a second rate Babylon 5 effort.The only thing that made it bearable was the introduction of Worf,the Defiant(something to get off that bloody station)and the Dominion story arc which at times was brilliant,especially the episode Rocks And Shoals.To finish this is not a series i will miss in anyway,good riddance
• From mandeponium on 2014-08-03 at 12:39am:
  This is the episode I've been waiting for since Episode 1 and the start of the Dominion War. It all finally culminates here with the fight that means everything but also changes everything.
  
  It's the last task to save the thing that you love the most. But in doing so, the fighting changes the thing and you can't go back to it. You can't go back to the way things were. You've saved it but it's different now than when you left it. Garak lost 800 million countrymen. He can never go back to the Cardassia he knew. Even if the thing hadn't changed, you still couldn't go back because now you're different. The struggle changed you. Sisko now lives with the prophets.
  
  It reminded me a lot of the end of Lord of the Rings. Maybe DS9 copied it or maybe they both copied the broader archetype: the struggle to save followed by loss.
  "We set out to save the Shire, Sam and it has been saved - but not for me," says Frodo as he makes way to the ships that will take him to the White Shores.
  
• From RichD on 2016-09-29 at 9:26pm:
  A great finale for a great series. I recently re-watched the entire series on Netflix. DS9 gets my vote as the best ST series. TOS was the 1st so it must be respected. TNG had the master thespian. ENT and VOY had their moments, but DS9 was much more complex and diverse. It told so many different stories, and it told them well. I loved the series when I first watched it, and I love it even more now after watching it again. I'm almost a little misty that's over, ha!
  
  My top ten episodes:
  
  In the Pale Moonlight
  The Visitor
  The Die is Cast
  By Inferno's Light
  The Siege of AR-558
  In Purgatory's Shadow
  Duet
  The Way of the Warrior
  Trials and Tribble-ations
  A time to Stand
  
  
• From ChristopherA on 2021-09-13 at 3:06am:
  I like that DS9 has a proper finale to wrap things up. The timing of network television made it hard for many series to have satisfactory finales (look at how poor Babylon 5 went through the ringer), so it is great that the series had a proper finale, though it really varies how well each storyline was wrapped up.
  
  The conclusion to the Dominion war was really the long-awaited part and I thought the finale was really quite an excellent ending to the war, with the Dominion turning on Cardassia, Cardassia turning on the Dominion, and the female shapeshifter fighting to the bitter end until Odo links with her and brings peace by rejoining the Great Link. My only complaint is not with the finale itself, but rather that it seems like there was something rushed in the episodes leading up to this. After the war going on and on seemingly indefinitely throughout the show, with our heroes just able to hold their own, suddenly the Breen appear and turn the tides against the Allies, but shortly after that the heroes turn around and start doing better than ever, despite the presence of the Breen. Maybe the Breen are actually a rather weak military power and became largely insignificant after the special energy damping weapon was nullified? But as early as episode 5 of this very season a big point was made that the power of the Dominion was so overwhelming that their victory was inevitable, and that was before the Breen joined the war. Suddenly, after the Breen are neutralized, the Dominion are outright losing and forced to retreat. What happened? There were a few little things that helped the Federation Alliance, like the Cardassian rebels and the Changeling disease interfering with shapeshifting, but none of it seemed to clearly explain the incredible turnaround. Feels like there were some episodes missing from the middle of the season to explain this.
  
  It is nice that they had the time to wrap up the pah-wraiths storyline, rather than just leave it hanging, but boy did it feel rushed. All that elaborate build up for multiple episodes only to suddenly end without very much happening. Also, I am really starting to agree with some of the other commentators that the religious mysticism is getting out of hand. Originally the idea was that the Prophets really were super powerful wormhole aliens living outside of linear time, and the religious aspects were created by the Bajorans, and by the way that contacting the prophets feels like a religious experience due to the weird and confusing effects of primitive humanoid brains trying to communicate with beings on another plane of existence. Part of what made them interesting was that every experience with them could either be looked at through a religious Bajoran viewpoint, or through a scientific Federation viewpoint. But the Pah-Wraiths just seemed to be inserted from a fantasy novel – reading spells from a mystic tome to unleash the demons from their mystic prison, hand to hand combat between the chosen ones with the fate of good versus evil hanging in the balance. What’s up with that? It just seems out of place.
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-12-10 at 11:45pm:
  I agree that this is an underrated episode. There were lots of little things that made it a good episode to watch, like the prototype forcefield. It also had that Star Trekkish spirit to it. However, I don't think it's deserving of a Ten. I'd say more like a 7, maybe an 8.
• From JRPoole on 2011-07-24 at 12:36am:
  This is a remarkable episode for a lot of reasons. What I like most is the way that what could have been just another alien of the week episode gets some storyline/character building touches, like the Hoshi/T'Pol dynamic, the mention of Risa that gets explored later, the Univeral Translator drama, the force field development, etc. I wouldn't give it a 10, though, because the main plot, though executed well, is pretty much a rehash of a very familiar Star Trek meme: misunderstood alien turns out to be sentient and its hostility is only a miscommunication. How many times have we seen this? I can't remember episode names, but it all started with the Horta. TNG had the sand crystals, the huge baby space creature "nursing" off the Enterprise, and several others, as did Voyager and DS9 in their turn.
  
  This episode also highlights the weaknesses of Enterprise for me. "Vox Sola" excels because it's character-driven. With the stiffest, most wooden characters Trek has ever seen--Archer and Tripp--safely tucked away inside the AOTW, the other, stronger characters can shine.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Abigail on 2009-03-15 at 1:11am:
  I had a really hard time getting over the ethical problems that I felt this episode had. I was not necessarily opposed to the idea of creating another being who only lives fifteen days in order to save Trip. I was opposed to forcing him to give his life to do so, which Archer clearly showed that he was going to do. ("Even if it means killing you!") I don't feel that Sim gave his life voluntarily. He noted that one reason he opted not to escape was "Where the hell would I go?" He shouldn't have had that lack of option. He should have been allowed to live out the rest of his life (albeit very short... or perhaps longer) on the ship.
  
  The idea that Trip had to be saved in order for the mission to succeed was a bit absurd to me, too. First of all, if Trip had just died, that means that all hope would be lost for their mission? That seems silly. And with another being with all of his memories and abilities on it, it's even sillier. If you watch the episode with commentary, the writer says about Sim's delimma, "Would you give your life to save billions? Most people would." Sorry, but I'm not convinced that Sim saved anyone except Trip by dying. I don't know why Archer and everyone else seemed to see the mission as a failure without Trip around.
  
  The commentary in itself is a little odd. The writer has a strange perspective, in my opinion, which is maybe why the episode itself sits so poorly with me. For instance, he says that to him, the episode is not about cloning; he was more interested in examining a being whose entire life span is seven days. It is about that, of course, but it seems much moreso about an ethical delimma. It seems like the writer didn't notice the delimma. To him, there was only one possible outcome. To me, that outcome is not acceptable.
• From Pete on 2011-01-06 at 2:50am:
  I agree with Abigail's commentary. I found most aspects of this episode to be morally offensive. In fact, it is fair to say that the episode disturbed me. All the morals were backwards. The eulogy at the end felt fake and creepy, given that Captain Archer had mere hours earlier told him to his face that he was prepared to kill him--essentially that Sim's life was objectively worth less than Tripp's. How can any person's life be worth more than another's?
  
  If Archer and Phlox were living on Earth NOW, they would certainly be tried and convicted of crimes against humanity for their actions in this episode. And this is supposed to be "the future"?
• From Kyle on 2012-07-07 at 4:48pm:
  Great Episode! I think it's pretty clear how much Archer and Phlox were struggling with their decision. But as Archer said, it was all about the mission: "Desperate times call for desperate measures".
  As for the importance of Trip, sure, sometimes the role of someone can be exaggerated in movies or tv series. But in this case, Earth only had Enterprise, and Enterprise needed Trip (as Archer said). When Trip is on Columbia (season 4), it's clear how important he is. Or when Archer is ill (twilight), when things start to fall apart. It can be true in real life. Sometimes only a certain doctor can perform a certain surgery. The Bulls wouldn't have won anything without Michael Jordan.
• From Zorak on 2016-10-09 at 11:02am:
  An even more moving episode then Twilight, indeed. Contrary to a few things I've read from other people, I feel Trip is the strongest and most likeable character on this show. Early on it was T'pol, but they've degraded her character too much and Trip overtook her a while back. That being said, I was definitely concerned to think they killed him off here.
  
  The actor that brings us Trip gave another compelling performance as Sim. I also really liked the actor who played Sim as a kid (the one flying the model starship). They did a fine job making Sim relatable and sympathetic.
  
  A fantastic episode.
  
  However, the thing that stands out for me most is the possible long term implications of Archers development. Archer is not a man with the highest of moral codes. He's a giant immature space baby who thinks every issue is black and white and his side is always righteous and pure. The show constantly rewards this behavior and lauds him as bringing justice to the galaxy.
  
  By now making Archer desperate and giving him an "anything for the mission" attitude, perhaps they are setting the stage to drop the ridiculous pretense that everything he does is morally justified. I don't even care about the actual morality of his actions anymore. That ship sailed long ago. I just want them to stop insulting our intelligence by trying to convince us that he is right.
• From McCoy on 2017-07-24 at 9:53am:
  I know almost from the beginning that Archer is a hypocrite and moron, this opinion won't change:) Now I have another antihero in this series - Phlox - he's just future Mengele, amoral and purely evil. First denying to help whole species, because of cruel darwinistic babble, now this - creating a sapient being just for ripping of part of its brain. What next? Making a soap from aliens? He's disgusting...
  Jim! I'm a doctor not a murderer!
• From Rick on 2019-03-06 at 12:21am:
  I think the above commenters are underselling the importance of Trip and this mission.
  
  You really think that four days of a person's life is worth risking the death of 10+ billion people?
  
  Of course in a vacuum it is a morally and ethically wrong decision. As Archer said in an earlier episode, "I cant let my morality get in the way."
  
  He is right.
• From Urdomen on 2022-04-21 at 10:02pm:
  Only a few episodes ago he self-righteously proclaimed: "I can't try to save humanity without holding on to what makes me human.", and now he openly supports a procedure that is forbidden by the very society it originated, and considers murdering a sentient being without regards for its wishes or inherent rights because he deems its life less important than that of another. A better Starfleet captain once asked, how many people it would take, admiral, to make it wrong. If only he had been there.
  A part of me wishes that Sim had refused to undergo the operation until the very end, and that Archer would then have to be forced to show his true colours. That then would have been the end of me watching the show at least.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From hmad on 2010-07-17 at 8:51am:
  My God, to see this sweet and respected devotion to not only canon but TOS homage not seen since DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations" and done in a way that would make Matt Jeffries and D.C. Fontana jealous of the Mirror Universe in true epicness.
  
  It was the almost flawless run of this fourth season that made me lament (a full three years after the end) that this series had finally, after shedding the burnt out Brannon Braga for Coto, found its legs and teeth. Too late, unlike TOS their would be no revival via the fans, even Trekkies were almost trekked out, or at least needed a siesta.
  
  But man, if only Enterprise was given the three more seasons that other franchises were with the same level of bravado that the 4th season had. In the words of a Klingon warrior, it would have been "glorious....!".
• From Azalea Jane on 2022-01-01 at 6:34am:
  I watched The Tholian Web right before watching this one, so the continuity was cool. So far I've only seen a bit of season 1 of Enterprise, but I decided to treat myself.
  
  I was a little put off by the midriff-baring uniforms on the women. Don't get me wrong -- Hoshi and T'Pol are both gorgeous and fit and this is not lost on me -- it just seems like such gratuitous pandering that it takes me out of the story a little bit. (Do people less confident about their figure have to wear those too?) I also can't forget what a lot of actresses go through to maintain figures like that, just to be able to get work. Jeri Ryan "joking" that she would barely be able to eat while on the cast of Voyager comes to mind. And considering the myriad reports of Rick Berman being a horrible misogynist, it's hard to enjoy those uniforms, gay as I may be.
  
  I'm sure there's an in-universe rationale for the uniforms, but I think it could have been done better. I'd understand if it were in the culture to have uniforms that emphasize certain features, or for crew to have the option to wear "sexy" versions of their uniforms. But if it were me, I'd tone down the women's uniforms and tone up the men's. There is something to be said for subtlety. If "sexy uniform" is an option, I'm sure plenty of the dudes would be into it too! This is himbo erasure! LOL.
  
  Great episode overall, though. Really kept me interested. It's always fun seeing Trek characters out of character. Mirror Archer is unnerving. The sadistic Phlox is downright creepy! And I find the Tholians fascinating. It's always nice when Trek uses non-humanoid aliens. That's pretty rare.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Abigail on 2009-04-20 at 12:28am:
  These two episodes were very intriguing! I loved the continuity with TOS -- the ship (of course), the Tholian web, the gorn (although he looked and acted nothing like the TOS gorn). I also loved the opening credits! It caught me completely off-guard!
  
  I do have one pretty big complaint ... It was very odd that the crew of "our" enterprise never came into play. Despite its intrigue, it felt a bit like a waste because it has nothing at all to do with the rest of the show, plot-wise. I kept waiting for them to bring in "our" characters! Because of this, when it was over, I felt like it needed a part III.
• From peterwolf on 2012-10-04 at 9:54am:
  Two more and mirrored heavy arguments why the 4th Enterprise season was so amazing. The first two seasons I saw only dubbed in German after watching it now on DVD, but I still liked the characters of T'Pol and Captain Archer. For example, characters like Reed you can only really appreciate in the original version. Anyway, the last two seasons of Enterprise were so much better with their continuous plots and unblievable great topics and good stories leading to TOS (like Andorian and Vulcan "history")! In fact, the decent, closer to real life characters were great then, overall much better than Voyager. Sheer madness to cancel this series!
• From Dstyle on 2015-11-04 at 2:44pm:
  I was really disappointed that the two Vulcans who helped T'Pol release Captain Forrest in Part I didn't have evil Mirror-Vulcan goatees, so I'm glad to see Soval was at least sporting one!
• From Luke on 2016-07-27 at 8:37am:
  There is a HUGE continuity problem here - if the ship from our universe was the USS Defiant, and it was build along time before DS9s Defiant, the why wasn't the one from DS9 the -A?
  
  It shouldn't matter that it was the first of class - in fact I don't think they would reuse a name for the lead ship of a class in the same was the lead Sovreign wasn't the Enterprise.
  
  Of course, DS9 was made before ENT, but still it's another small yet irritating continuity problem.
• From Temlakos on 2016-08-15 at 9:47am:
  The numbering of USS Defiant NX-74205 is in no way inconsistent with the numbering of USS Defiant NCC-1764. The only reason for the A, B, and C designations for the Enterprise is that Starfleet honored Captain Kirk by retaining the original NCC number of his ship, and adding A, B, C, etc. for each successive iteration. Consider the real-life naming of multiple ships named Enterprise in the United States Navy. (With another one--USS Enterprise CVN-80, the third Ford class carrier--already in the graving dock, if I am not mistaken.)
• From McCoy on 2017-08-01 at 2:23pm:
  I like everything related to TOS:) Shame that upcoming Discovery doesn't look like true retro sf (looks quite opposite, sadly). However I see one continuity problem here. If they managed to get Defiant, why they didn't improve technology over time? Kirk visited his mirror Enterprise, not some advanced vessel. So Terran Empire just keep building Defiant-era ships with no upgrades over 100 years? Unlikely:)
• From Azalea Jane on 2022-01-06 at 10:16pm:
  Hats off to the production designers. I thought they blended TOS and ENT designs seamlessly. Reminds me a little of the Tribble episode in DS9. Though they didn't recycle footage for this one, they still had to have sets and costumes that bore close enough resemblance to TOS without clashing. For me it really helped bridge the gap between eras a bit. We all just have to collectively pretend that the Duplo-looking controls on the Defiant are more advanced than those on the NX-01!
  
  Hoshi's last-minute coup was quite surprising to me, too! Especially with it ending right there. Mirror Archer was much too much of an egotistical hothead to handle being an emperor! Sato, on the other hand, knows the value of patience and subtlety, and letting your enemies underestimate you while you take advantage of their weaknesses. I agree the Gorn subplot was kind of random. They catch him, then just kill him, and that's it? Oh well. I also thought that gravity trick was pretty clever - I wonder why we don't see that more often!
  
  One could call this two-parter irrelevant because we don't see them interacting with "our" universe characters, however I think it was pretty cool to see the aftermath of what we see in The Tholian Web. It does raise the question of why mirror Terran technology isn't more advanced, but my guess is that Mirror Sato never let the Defiant be studied or reverse-engineered and that it eventually got destroyed when enough of her enemies got wind of it and the threat it posed. It is technology from far in the future with a too-small crew. It's eventually going to be too unwieldy.
  
  I don't think it's an error that we've seen two ships called Defiant. The first Defiant was lost over a hundred years before the second one. There's no chance they'd be confused.

No fan commentary yet.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Azalea Jane on 2021-12-06 at 5:57pm:
  Shaxs' death put my jaw on the FLOOR. This show is not fooling around! It can't be a coincidence that both LD and TNG have the security chief dying in season 1. Maybe it was an homage to, or even apology for, Yar's meaningless death. Shaxs went out laughing on the best day of his life saving his crew. He is truly with the Prophets now!
  
  Not only has Riker appeared in many Trek shows now, but he's saved the day in three different season finales. I love it.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Abigail on 2010-06-02 at 4:01pm:
  It turns out that this rather important episode was amont the few remaining episodes of Star Trek that I had never seen! I watched it last night, and I did enjoy the plot. I suspect that I now need to rewatch "The Wrath of Khan", as I could more fully appreciate it.
  
  It was definitely a fun factoid that the Eugenics War took place during the 1990's. How'd I miss that one?! :)
  
  I have to say, though, that McGiver's role made me rather sick to my stomach. I know you have to remember the time period in which it was made and try not to judge it so harshly... But it was so painful when Khan made her beg to stay in the room with him and she gave in and did so! I had sat down with the plan of watching both this episode and the subsequent one, but this one was so hard for me to stomach that I had to move on to another activity.
  
  Luckily, I'm not totally dissuaded. "A Taste of Armageddon" is still in my immediate future!
• From Rick on 2011-09-07 at 4:13am:
  I love this episode...but...another "problem" with the episode is the speed of Kahn's spaceship. He used a ship that would take years to travel from planet to planet. A ship that slow wouldn't get very far from Earth in 3 centuries.
  
  I read someplace, that if the Voyager spacecraft was headed to Gleise, which is 20 light years away from Earth, it would take 360 thousand years to get there.
  
  So, using that as a guide, Kahn's ship wouldn't be very far out of the solar system in 3 centuries. The Enterprise could have discovered it in space like in the episode. But it would have been a very quick trip back to Earth, instead of Kahn's sleeper ship making it all the way to ceti alpha.
• From Old Fat Trekkie on 2011-12-19 at 10:18pm:
  The timing of this episode has always bothered me, even in the 60's when I first saw it. If the Eugenics War took place in the 90's, then judging from Khan's age, he would have had to have been born in the 1950s, maybe 60's. So, I take it this process was already in effect when the episode ran.
  
  Even further, wouldn't selective breeding require several generations before truly superior beings were the result? So, this process had to have been going on for several decades, and perhaps even in the 19th century?
• From Kethinov on 2011-12-22 at 8:07pm:
  Rick, I agree that the facts surrounding the distance Khan's ship traveled are fuzzy, but I don't think they're necessarily a problem. We don't know 1. how fast the ship was moving or 2. where exactly the Gamma 400 star system where the ship was found is. Assuming the ship was moving at a significant fraction of the speed of light and that the Gamma 400 system is relatively close to Earth, the problem may be moot.
  
  Old Fat Trekkie, I always got the impression that the genetic engineering wasn't literally selective breeding which as you've stated would take too much time but instead actual artificially created super-embryos. Star Trek Enterprise later confirms this in their augments arc during the fourth season.
• From Old Fat Trekkie on 2011-12-22 at 8:45pm:
  Kethinov, Ahh, that makes much more sense. I have just started Enterprise. I look forward to that fourth season. Contrary to much of what I read, I am actually enjoying Enterprise more that the other sequel series. TOS is still my favorite, however.
  Nostalgia, no doubt.
• From Glenn239 on 2012-09-26 at 12:29pm:
  An ‘8’. Ricardo Montalbán puts in what might be the strongest guest appearance in the whole series. He effortlessly makes Khan both believable and complex. Most enjoyable was the 'alpha dogs' scene at dinner; his sparring with Kirk and Spock. No wonder they brought him back for Star Trek II!
• From Oz on 2012-12-16 at 4:11am:
  The 23rd century starts at just after midnight, Jan 01, 2200. It has been said repeatedly that the 23rd century is 300 years from now. Not true, it's 200.
  
• From Alan Feldman on 2013-05-27 at 3:19pm:
  To Oz:
  
  Three hundred years from 1967 is 2267, which is in the 23rd century. Thus, even though the _beginning_ of the 23rd century isn't 300 years in the future, our heroes _are_.
  
  AEF, aka betaneptune
• From Arthur in Trinidad on 2013-08-31 at 12:33am:
  I've never liked Ricardo Montalban, but the reasons I dislike him are what made him perfect for the role of Khan. The man oozes ego and narcissism. But he was never able to convince me that he was of Indian/Sikh origin. For me, he will always be Mr. Roarke from "Fantasy Island". Anyway, one aspect of this episode that never washed with me was that Khan and his followers were of different races. My take on eugenics (and I freely admit that I may be wrong) is that, most likely, the scientists who embarked on it would have concentrated on one race, i.e., the one they would have considered the "best" and then worked from there. I imagine that Khan's makers would have been "Social Darwinists", subscribing to the kinds of ideas Hitler would have found appealing. The fact that Khan and co. are so "cosmopolitan" runs counter to that sort of thinking. But I can easily overlook that as this is such a fine episode, made moreso by the fact that Sr. Montalban is undoubtedly Mr. Shatner's equal, if not superior, in the realm of hammy overacting.
• From Ian Smith Adventures on 2013-10-25 at 10:20pm:
  An amazing episode. Definitely my favorite so far. Not just for its story and concept but the direction and acting were first rate and really sold this as a suspenseful battle with a superhuman genius.
• From Scott Hearon on 2014-03-27 at 3:15am:
  Great episode, despite McGivers.
  
  Digging into the past mythology of Star Trek is great. And the fact that a "Eugenics War" is still a relevant concept in 2014 (and will be for a while) speaks to some strong speculative fiction writing.
  
  Khan really has been the most interesting guest character so far. A perfect way to represent humans' repulsion from and fascination with people of great power, ability, and megalomaniacal ambition.
  
  I'm already looking forward to when I get up to watching Wrath of Khan again. It's been ages since I last saw it, and now that I've seen Space Seed, it will have much more meaning. I also can't help but wonder if it will alter my opinion of Star Trek: Into Darkness.
• From Alan Feldman on 2014-06-19 at 2:03am:
  "SPACE SEED"
  
  Pretty good, but as usual, there are problems.
  
  I must say it was idiotic of Kirk to give Khan unfettered access to his ship's manuals. You'd think they'd be top secret. Spock was quite right to be concerned. Khan could have gotten caught up on new technology without them. It's like when the guy in "The Naked Time" takes off his glove and thereby gets himself infected. Do something dumb to get yourself in trouble, and then get an exciting episode out of it by trying to save yourself. I believe this to be one of two strong contenders for the weakest part of the story.
  
  I doubt that the Botany Bay could go at significant fraction of the speed of light in the 1990s, even in the Star Trek universe. Not until 2018 did ships get reasonably fast, according to Marla. So it must have been close to our solar system when Kirk and company came upon it. Still, they most likely traveled at warp speeds once it was in tow, making it easy to get far from our solar system. Regardless, Gamma 400 was their "heading", not the place where they encountered the Botany Bay.
  
  Breeding superior human beings in less than 3 decades? I don't see how that's possible.
  
  SPOCK: Of course. Your attempt to improve the race through selective breeding.
  
  It's pretty explicit: selective breeding, not creating artificial embryos. Even if it were, it's rather unlikely you'd strike gold on the first try, in which case you're back to a somewhat large number of decades, if not centuries. The fact that Star Trek Enterprise says it was embryos just creates an inconsistency. Who's to say which is "right"? And by what criteria? Still, it doesn't matter.
  
  How could Khan be Napoleon, Leif Ericson, and Richard the Lionheart? These are not four men who look alike. Assuming somehow he was, how did Marla figure this out? (That must have made a big impression on Khan, of course.) And how does this jive with the eugenics bit?
  
  Again, I don't see how Star Trek was established to be 300 years in the future (from 1967). In "Miri" it was _Miri's_ civilization whose 1960 was approx. 300 years in the past, not Earth's. This means you have to go with "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"'s figure of approx. 200 years, which is consistent with this episode. (Well, perhaps approx. 230 years, to account for the time between the 1960s and 1990s. But this is still several decades short of 300.) To give another "data point," consider for a moment just Wrath of Khan:
  
  At the beginning of the movie we find Romulan Ale from 2283.
  
  Kahn: "These people have sworn to live and die at my command two hundred years before you were born." Say about 1990. (Well, certainly before 1992.) 1990+200+43=2233.
  
  A few breaths later he says:
  
  "On Earth . . . 200 years ago . . . I was a prince." So that puts the movie at about 1996+200=2196 or earlier.
  
  That's three rather different numbers _in the same movie_!
  
  Face it: Star Trek has just not been consistent on its own timeline, and I don't see how you can justify one timeline over another.
  
  No regulations about romance? Really? Hell, where I work we have rules for that. You can get some serious conflict-of-interest issues!
  
  At the dinner, Khan appears to be no match for Kirk and Spock questioning him. Perhaps he thinks that his drink was spiked. He _does_ pause to look at it in brief contemplation just before he gets up to leave. Who knows? Maybe it _was_ spiked. I'd give it a 35% probability.
  
  It sure took a long time for our heroes to notice Khan had escaped! He had to knock out the guard, leave him lying on the floor, coordinate with McGivers, walk all the way to the transporter (and he's rather easy to spot!), disable the operator, beam over to his ship, revive his crew, beam them and himself back to the Enterprise, make it to Engineering, kick out anyone who was there, and finally take over the ship -- all unnoticed by anyone. Additionally, it would have taken a considerable amount of time! How could the crew have possibly missed all of this? This is the other strong contender for the weakest part of the story.
  
  Why didn't the crew on the bridge die from lack of oxygen or at least suffer some brain damage?
  
  You'd think Kirk would get the bends in the decompression chamber, no?
  
  Spock is "pleased" to see Kirk alive after that. Still yet another emotion from the "emotionless" one.
  
  At about 44m01s, Kirk runs from the intercom station to Engineering. What a great tense exciting moment! If only they could have made it last!
  
  Why are our heroes' voices broadcast to Engineering so that Khan can hear them? And with them mentioning Engineering as to where Khan most likely is, no less! OK, perhaps an error on their part. Or maybe Khan found a way to monitor it! I'll go with the latter.
  
  Maybe it's just me, but it looks like not much is happening to the phaser while Khan is "crushing" it. I think it was already mangled before Khan started crushing it (replaced between shots, i.e.). As a result I find that shot rather annoying.
  
  Another remarkable scene to add to your list, or more accurately, shot: Khan looking nasty at Kirk after he crushes Kirk's phaser. Good music for this shot, too. Awesome.
  
  How could Kirk not lose his fight with Khan, given that Khan has five times Kirk's strength and can crush a hand phaser with his bare hands? -- Khan comes off as an unexpectedly lousy fighter. Regardless, Kirk had to, and did, pull off a clever, effective way to end it. But what _is_ that white (hard plastic?) thing he pulls out of the control board to hit Khan with?
  
  Why does it take pressing so many buttons to abort the overload?
  
  Why does Kirk drop all charges against Khan and then strand him on the planet? And how can he do this given the charges are dropped?! Obviously this is just job protection on Shatner's part, with a movie sequel to star in! :-D (Yeah, but I just had to say it.)
  
  What's with the bell at the hearing? We see that in "Court Martial," too. Maybe that's a good thing -- to clearly mark the beginning of a trial.
  
  About Marla McGivers and her relationship with Khan: Yes, she was infatuated with him, but he must have been infatuated he with her, since he forgave her rescuing Kirk. Interesting. So love is illogical, as Spock would say. On the other hand we must keep in mind that he was impressed that she figured out "who he is." She also said "No" to him when he told her to go. As for as McGivers herself: Yeah, not the most admirable figure.
  
  On the positive side, Montalban is awesome as Khan, obviously. Some great action at the end, too. And it's still a pretty good episode, despite all of the above.
  
  I wouldn't give it a 9, primarily because of the two major weak points. But Montalban is so much fun to watch, as well as our heroes. Maybe an 8.
  
  AEF, a.k.a. betaneptune
  
• From Rob UK on 2014-06-20 at 2:58pm:
  @ Alan, if that is what you say about an episode that you like i'd hate to read a review of an episode you hated with a passion.
• From Alan Feldman on 2014-06-27 at 1:18am:
  To Rob UK
  
  Well, I suggest you not read my review of "The Empath." I'm also not terribly fond of "The Corbomite Maneuver," so you might want to skip my review of that one, too. (But the latter episode _does_ have a few fun scenes worth watching.)
  
  Sorry, but I call 'em as I see 'em. But I do love the show.
  
  Remember that the plot is just one element of an episode. So even if it has some plot holes, other facets of the episode may make up for it.
  
  Since you pointed this out, I just might lower my rating of Space Seed from 8 to 7. I mean, c'mon. You see the crew suffocate on the bridge. Then you see them sitting around fully alive as if nothing had happened. How can you not notice things like that?
  
  Maybe it's just not possible, or at least very difficult, to write a good story without plot holes, at least for some genres. Also, you get some constraints if you want to see your heroes again next week. But again, you still get many episodes well worth watching because of other things about the show.
  
  >----o----<
  
  While I'm composing this post this anyway, please allow me to make a correction. When I wrote above, "...make it to Engineering, kick out anyone who was there, ...", I should have written "...make it to Engineering, _capture_ everyone who was there, ..."
  
  AEF, a.k.a. betaneptune
• From Rob UK on 2014-06-27 at 7:33pm:
  You can tell you love the show, it is only when we watch them se intently that we can pull them apart so much, i seriously doubt when this was made they ever thought anyone would watch any episode more than once in a decade due to tv broadcasting practices back then, never did they dream (even GR) that we would all own every episode in HD and watch them until we fried out hard drives or whatever other futuristic viewing devices we have they never dreamed of. i find myself watching them and loving the bad just as much as the good, like Kirk's fighting and womanising (if she's green he's keen)or the Vulcan Neck Pinch (i cringe with pleasure every time they use it).
  
  I am strangely looking forward to reading how much you tarred and feathered the above mentioned episodes.
  
  Quality patter all around
  
  Rob

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Cory on 2010-08-12 at 2:56am:
  I found a problem with this episode, only one however. If the mirror universe is parallel, then why are the aliens in the mirror universe also peaceful pacifist? Shouldn't they be as ruthless as the Federation, more so even?
• From Lennier on 2011-03-31 at 2:42am:
  Ah, so you are revising your ratings (this used to be a "7", and now it's a "9").
  
  By the way, this is not a criticism; I would be doing the same thing!
  
  Anyway, this is indeed a classic but I agree that there a few minor niggles that prevent promotion to a perfect score.
• From Glenn239 on 2012-10-18 at 2:43pm:
  Spock, arguably the most intriguing science fiction character ever created, is thrust into the situation where he alone has to ignite the struggle to reconnect all of humanity to its human values. That is a deliciously ironic premise, and may be the most interesting unexplored Star Trek idea ever. This would have been a very interesting story, albiet one that would have required an entire season to have told properly.
  
  Obviously, bad Kirk has to go back to his quarters to find the Tantalus Field is missing. He’s not converted to bearded Spock’s cause, he doesn’t even know Spock has one, but he is cornered and careful because whoever stole the weapon can make him disappear at any time. Spock has to reach out one by one around Kirk and reestablish the ‘normal’ bonds of loyalty with the other crew members. Seems to me that McCoy is first ‘recruit’, in part because he is the one that will be the most idealistically inclined, in part because he’s already mind melded with ‘good’ McCoy, but mainly because he is the least corruptible to darker influences. Each character will have different ways for Spock to reach them. But in order to overthrow the empire, he has to have Kirk, because only Kirk has the abilities to pull it off. Kirk is the most strong willed, the most capable of deception, and therefore the most dangerous to approach. Then, once Spock has his rebel crew lead by his rebel captain, somehow just this one ship has to go on to ignite freedom in the galaxy. Ah, what a delicious tale this would have been. Mirror Mirror - a stroke of genius and a genuine ‘10’.
  
• From Alan Feldman on 2013-04-14 at 4:40pm:
  "MIRROR, MIRROR"
  
  Great episode. Here are my comments:
  
  Factoid: The leader of the Halkan council was played by Vic Perrin, who also played the voice of Nomad in "The Changeling"!
  
  Notice that after the opening title sequence, the Enterprise is orbiting the planet in the opposite of the usual direction! The planet's rotation is also reversed, at least based on a few spot checks I just made. But, as usual, the planet is rotating way too fast.
  
  The Halkans reasoning in denying Kirk the di-lithium crystals is just plain dumb.
  
  [Main Phaser Power Control]
  
  (The door opens and guard blocks Scott's entrance.)
  SCOTT: I've been ordered to check phaser couplings for possible damage by the storm.
  GUARD: Do you have authorization from security, sir?
  SCOTT: Captain's orders.
  GUARD: I'll have to check with Security Chief Sulu, sir.
  SCOTT: Never mind. I'll attend to it.
  
  OK, since when does the chief engineer need authorization to check the phasers?
  
  Why are the Halkans the same extreme pacifists in the mirror universe? Well, it's clear that the anti-symmetry is not exact (witness Evil Spock's goatee, e.g.), so this must be one of the larger aberrations, sort of like non-conservation of parity of just a miniscule percentage of phenomena in our own universe. (Conservation of parity in physics means that the mirror image of any possible process is also a possible process. Astonishingly, albeit for only a very few processes, such as beta decay, this is not true. Hence the Halkan aberration is somewhat analogous to non-conservation of parity.
  
  Why does Marlena "disappear" every one of Sulu's cohorts except Sulu himself?
  
  I love scene with Spock's and the evil gang of four, esp. when he says "fascinating." The scene with his commentary on them at the end of the show is also quite good.
  
  Re your command about the "Halkan prediction of galactic revolt": Check out Isaac Asimov's _Foundation_ series with Hari Seldon's "psychohistory," which allows one to make useful, though probabilistic, predictions of large-scale events. So one can view it like that, though I'm not so sure the Halkans could perform such calculations!
  
  About this line:
  
  KIRK: In every revolution, there's one man with a vision.
  
  Awesome. Though it's partly due to the music (as is quite often the case), only Shatner could do it so well.
  
  AEF, aka betaneptune
• From Scott Hearon on 2014-04-05 at 5:33pm:
  I gave this one 8/10. Really entertaining episode.
  
  The problems I had with this one "mirror" those given by other posters, especially Alan (above).
  The one that probably bugged me most was the interaction with the computer, which, as Kethinov has pointed out, is ridiculously capable. It would seem that nearly any question about astrophysics, theoretical or not, can be handled by this thing. It would seem to make engineers virtually worthless. Bye-bye, Mr. Scott.
  
  Nonetheless, the story and characters are wonderful to watch here. The subtleties are intriguing, of not completely consistent. The notion of parallel worlds has enough plausibility, and the story was written just intelligently enough to keep a viewer's brain engaged throughout.
• From Pietro on 2019-06-21 at 5:46pm:
  Fun episode for all the reasons mentioned!
  
  However, at some point, plot-wise, I was asking what the landing party had to lose by admitting to Spok what they suspected had happened, so that they could then work together to get the two versions of the landing party back to where they should be. I mean, this is what eventually did happen -- not sure why the landing party had to pretend they were the evil version of themselves for as long as they did. Spok, being rational as he is, would have understood it was in the interest of both universes to put things back to normal. He wouldn't have harmed the -out-of-place landing party, because that would diminish the chances of getting his evil version of the crew back... right?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From TashaFan on 2008-10-25 at 12:57pm:
  If you're referring to TNG, I'm not sure heart surgery is all that perfect in the 2300's - despite all the regeneration technology, Picard still ends up with an artificial heart when a Nausican stabs him as a cadet (and was that guy prosecuted?) but even so the new heart requires unexpected maintenance, (Wesley asks, naively "why would anyone use a faulty artificial heart" as though they planned it that way) and then the surgery goes so poorly that the Enterprise has to be called to the medical facility so that Dr. Pulaski can intervene (TNG "Samaritan Snare").
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-05-02 at 11:35pm:
  I just watched the Blu-Ray version of this. Despite being cleaned up for the upgrade to high def, there are some serious issues with the picture quality in some of the scenes. From time to time the screen gets blurry as if it's being filmed with a 9mm camera. This isn't anything to do with the conversion to Blu-Ray; it had issues beforehand. I guess they couldn't repair some of the images.
  
  They did do a good job with the special effects upgrades. There's a map screen that Checkov stares at a lot in this epidode, and it's been redone and looks more high tech. Also, the mysterious ship has been redone, but it's still mysterious because it's never shown up close.
  
  Very good episode.
• From JB on 2010-10-05 at 11:47am:
  This is so far the best TOS episode I have seen. I started with TNG some years ago, and have seen DS9, Voyager and all the movies. Now it's time for TOS :) And so far this is my favorite :) 10/10
• From tigertooth on 2011-01-05 at 4:09am:
  Overall it was quite good, but I was confused by one thing: early on, Spock is all for the transfusion/operation, but Bones and Spock's mom are both strongly against it. Then when Kirk is incapacitated, Spock changes his mind. So far, so good.
  
  But why did Bones and Spock's mom suddenly decide that it was imperative for Spock to undergo the transfusion? What made them change their minds?
  
  Before Kirk is hurt, Spock's mom says "I can't lose both of you" at the thought of Spock undergoing the risky procedure. Then after Spock changes his mind, suddenly his mom is slapping him for not doing it. WTF?
  
  I also found it quite odd that in one scene, Sarek is well enough to easily defend himself against the Tellarite ambassador, but soon after he's on his deathbed requiring immediate risky surgery. They could have easily explained this by saying that he was poisoned by the spy on board (everything about the transfusion and the experimental drug would have fit), but instead it was just a big coincidence that his health problems came to a head right as he was about to attend an important summit. And he didn't even bring a doctor with him.
  
  Anyway, apologies for focusing on the negatives when overall it's quite a fun episode.
• From McCoy on 2012-04-13 at 2:05pm:
  I disagree about this being better as a two-part episode. While I agree that seeing the summit would have been fun, it's really just one scene. TOS is notorious for "stretching" episodes with useless filler that bog down the excitement. I can see this as a two part episode getting a review like "why couldn't they just remove all the useless parts and make this a single episode"...
• From Ser Mosh on 2012-07-07 at 4:01am:
  I really liked this episode. Until a month ago, I had only ever seen the movies, but I decided to go through all 700+ episodes of all Star Trek series recently. Your site has been a great source of information.
  
  Also, I just wanted to say that the Vulcan salute (along with the "Live long and prosper" line) was shown at the end of Amok Time, so this isn't the first appearance.
  
  Thanks for all the work you put into these reviews!
  
  
• From Scott Hearon on 2014-04-07 at 1:02am:
  Excellent episode. The only thing that I didn't like was the hyper-fast cut to Kirk as he's right in the middle of the assassination attempt. It seemed like a really bad editing job, and the fight itself (like pretty much every TOS hand-to-hand fight), it downright silly in terms of physical action.
  
  Every thing else is solid gold. All that we learn about the various alien races, Spock, and his parents is interesting enough. When it's all blended into a gripping tale of intergalactic politics, intrigue an action, both inside and outside of the Enterprise, you have one of the most well-rounded stories of the series.
  
  I love the twist of a wounded Kirk's ruse to get Spock off of the bridge going slightly awry and forcing him to stay, tough it out, and see his ship to safety.
• From Mike on 2017-08-13 at 9:47pm:
  This was the first episode of Star Trek television I ever saw. I'd seen "Wrath of Khan" as a kid, and had heard that it was based on a TV show. At the time, the brand new TNG was only airing on Monday nights and I was usually too busy with homework to watch it, so didn't see it for its first few seasons. But TOS episodes were running in syndication on weekends.
  
  I got lucky in seeing this one first, as it kind of introduces you in a way to the Federation itself, the mission of Starfleet, the character of Spock, and the relationships between Kirk, McCoy and Spock primarily. The episode also has an exciting plot, with plenty of intrigue and action involving the delegates and the Orion ship shadowing and battling the Enterprise.
  
  I do agree it could've been a two-parter, flushing out the Babel conference plot a bit more. But the suspense of the episode was excellent. Even after we realize Thelev is involved and in contact with the unidentified ship, we still don't yet know why any of this is going on until it's reveled that Thelev is actually an Orion.
  
  We also see in this episode, to an extent, that the Federation isn't always a big happy family, and that member worlds sometimes have competing or diverging interests. It adds to the intrigue.
  
  The plot involving Spock's parents is wonderfully done, with a very interesting dynamic. It's reveled that Sarek doesn't approve of Spock's career path, a typical father-son problem. And Spock, throughout this episode, is presented with a problem: logic dictates that he fulfill his duty in Kirk's absence, but he must weigh his obligations to the ship against his father's health, a dilemma that is not made easier after Amanda's pleadings.
  
  This is a classic Trek episode that is just as enjoyable with repeated viewing.
• From Chris on 2018-01-17 at 6:12pm:
  I wish they had shown/identified the other aliens in the lounge!
  
  The dudes with the goofy women's hairdos look hilarious to me and I'd love to have learned more about them!
  
  The little gold guys, as well as the tall black guys! Who are these Federation members?
• From Chris on 2018-09-28 at 2:17am:
  Follow up... I wonder how Spock would react if it was his mother in distress?
  
  Yeah, I understand, it's not part of the story, but it's just an interesting thought experiment on Spock!
  
• From Chris on 2018-10-25 at 1:46am:
  Follow-up yet again!
  How is it that SUOER-DOC McCoy is clueless about Vulcan physiology much less every other alien on board the ship?!?!?
  Perhaps there are specialists as in the episode with the goofy gorilla, they should have given McCoy the medical know-how or assigned a specialist to do the surgery.
  
  Also, why are Vulcans the only ones able to kill 'logically, and efficiently'... whatever that means?!?!?!?
  
  This should have been a two-parter for sure!! Along with all the other arguments!
• From Q on 2023-05-10 at 9:36am:
  I think that this episode was MAJOR inspiration, or self-inspiration (you know, D.C. Fontana in both teams) for Babylon 5:
  
  Babel -> Babylon station
  Vulcans -> Minbari (both stoic and monk-like)
  Tellarites -> Centauri (both arrogant and doing illegal things)
  Andorians -> Narn (both violent, in medieval looking clothes)
  Kirk + three ambassadors -> Sheridan + three ambassadors too
  Starfleet -> WhiteStar fleet (in very Garth's-like uniforms*)
  UFP -> IA
  
  * Ok, that's from another episode of TOS, like:
  
  Medusans -> Vorlon (both hidding themselves)
  
  And we also have (that's from TNG):
  
  Betazoids -> Byron's telepaths
  Martian Independence Declaration -> Martian struggle for independence
  Galen - archeology professor -> Galen - technomage and archeologist
  
  I dare to say that B5 is unofficial TOS prequel (better than ENT), like AND and ORV are unofficial TNG/DS9/VGR sequels.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Jem Hadar on 2010-08-25 at 12:56am:
  Only a 9 and not a 10? :O
• From Scott on 2011-05-04 at 3:23pm:
  I really don't like this episode. I just don't think its funny. I chuckled maybe twice.
  
  I don't understand why Chekov's references to Russia inventing everything should be funny. I just found them repetitive.
  
  The scene in which Kirk interrogates Scotty is just painful - it's obvious where the scene is going.
  
  Then there's the "wah-wah-wah-waaaahhhh" music accompanying every joke. Urrggh!
  
  Generally, I like the humour in Star Trek - mostly when it involves Spock.
  
  As for this episode - I hated it!
• From Glenn239 on 2012-09-27 at 12:28pm:
  A good episode, but certainly not a '10'. This one is campy-cute, like the 3rd Season tried often to be, but failed. Tribbles is not in the top tier of episodes because that requires an intensity that this story lacks.
• From Scott Hearon on 2014-04-08 at 12:01am:
  It's rare for me to disagree so strongly with the esteemed founder of this great website, but I can only give this episode a 4/10.
  
  I totally agree with the other Scott here on the comment board - I really didn't like most of this episode. I'm simply not into campy humor, and a lot of the gags in this one are either repetitive, hokey, or can be seen coming from a mile off.
  
  I will say that James Doohan actually had a few good, solid scenes in this one, as he often does.
  
  The story is OK, and Kethinov makes the astute observation that this episode puts a few interesting twists on several of the stale cliches of Star Trek. Still, it wasn't enough to elicit more than a few wry grins from me.
  
  I also didn't like the casting of the same actor from the Squire of Gothos as a Klingon. Terrible choice, as he comes off about as threatening as Liberace.
  
  I know that this is considered a classic episode, and I can even see why, for hardcore fans of the original series. For me, though, I need something far different from my comedy.
• From Alan Feldman on 2016-05-30 at 1:29am:
  "THE TROUBLE WITH TRIBBLES"
  
  As far as humor goes, this is definitely right on the funny/not-funny fence. (Sort of like Mel Brooks' movies.) I can see some people not finding it funny. I like it, though.
  
  In the scene where Spock says he's immune to the tribbles' trilling: I'm not sure, but when he and Kirk walk away I think you can see that Shatner is barely able to keep from bursting out loud in laughter.
  
  Why on earth (or anywhere else) would you make a grain storage compartment with overhead doors that the grain will fall out of when opened? I suppose you could put a bin under it, but it seems like a messy way to do things. It's only real purpose, of course, is to drown Kirk in tribbles, and make it easier for our heroes to find that the tribbles were dying or dead. But if there were still grain in there, he'd be drowning in that!
  
  "A Klingon warship is hovering only 100 km from deep space station K7". In the remastered version it looks a lot closer than that to me! In the original you can't see it at all, and if it really were 100 km away, you'd have a tough time seeing it. Point: the original.
  
  About the location of the station in deep space:
  
  In orbit around a planet, various parties can beam down to a common area and interact. Out in deep space you're stuck with just your vessel. So it'd be nice to have a common external area to hang out with others, pick up supplies, what have you. In the episode it appears to serve as a relay station for the grain.
  
  In the scene starting at about 21:32, Korax pours some of his drink into Cyrano Jones's glass. What? Is this some bar custom I'm not aware of?
  
  I love Spock's line, "He simply could not believe his ears."
  
  "Disrupting a space station is not an offense." Say what?
  
  As for Spock's quoting from the Bible: Like it or not, the Bible is part of our culture. No less than Richard Dawkins (author of _The God Delusion_) says people should read it, but as literature, not scripture. There are too many references in English literature and such that you would not get without at least cursory knowledge of the Bible (see the first 3 minutes of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJtCqjUUHG0 ). Since Spock seems to know pretty much everything, that would include the Bible.
  
  Yes, it was cool to see continuity with "Errand of Mercy" with the Organian peace treaty.
  
  I tend to agree with Scott Hearon about the odd choice of William Campbell for Koloth. On the other hand, he fits in quite well with the lighthearted, humorous atmosphere of the story.
  
• From Pietro on 2019-06-25 at 2:37pm:
  Did you notice how the camera showing K7 on the Enterprise's screen panned right and zoomed out to reveal (for dramatic effect) the captain of the Klingong ship ("the captain of the Klingong ship is sitting right here in my office"). Normally visual communication feeds --between ships, or different parts of the Enterprise--they stay put, they don't move, which lets us assume the cameras used for visual communication are fixed. The panning of the frame in this case suggests what? That there's a camera person operating a camera for for visual communication between K7 and the Enterprise? Or is it somehow automatic and intelligent enough to know to pan based on speech that includes someone out of frame?
  
  Obviously they just wanted the dramatic effect of the slow reveal, but it's fun to try and justify the panning, when it otherwise never happens during visual communications. :)

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2008-12-12 at 10:46pm:
  Problem: Spock has Kirk order up period clothes, then waltzes through the Guardian without them, only to be wearing them later.
  
  Bigger problem: Selik/Spock tells Sarek he's "on a pilgrimmage to honor our Gods." I just don't see the logical Vulcans worshipping gods, and I don't think it's ever mentioned again.
  
  That said, not a bad episode for TAS.
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-05 at 11:58pm:
  The actual story of this episode is fairly routine. It is that chance to see some of Mr. Spock's back story that makes it cool.
  
  Response to JRPoole:
  - I believe Spock put the outfit in a bag, carried it through, and put it on off-camera. Though I wondered why he didn't put it on before going through, that would make more sense to me.
  - You wouldn't think the Vulcans would worship Gods. But TNG, at least, made clear that they had Gods at some point. And as seen in Amok Time, they do some really, really weird stuff when it comes to honoring ancient Vulcan traditions. So I wouldn't disbelieve some sort of pilgrimage for that purpose.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2008-09-03 at 3:01am:
  The more I watch this film, the less favorable it becomes to me. First, the actions of he Klingon commander don't make sense to me. He already had a tape with Genesis information on it. What else did he want Kirk to tell him about it? I believe he was asking, "What is the secret to Genesis?" How does Kirk answer that? Does he say "Well, the secret is peanut butter, yeah, that's right peanut butter"?
  
  My other problem with the film is the recasting of Saavik. Why, why, why!? Why not give the character a different name?
  
  Those two things are trip me up so much when I watch the film. I still watch it about once every year, so it is definitely not the worst.
• From Aaron on 2009-08-20 at 9:21pm:
  The Klingon only had the short promotional video from ST II that didn't show how the device worked, only what it did. If he knew that Kirk's kid was the main scientist, he probably wouldn't have killed him.
  
  My main beef with the movie was kiling David. It reset the characters back to their TOS setup and they ended up stuck without ever having a chance to grow. Plus, David was in Square Pegs which was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-11-05 at 5:27am:
  Logical issue: Why would Spock's body regenerate? The previous film clearly indicated that organic matter present on a planet where the Genesis device detonated would be reformed into the new matrix. In other words, total destruction of all organic matter. This is never explained adequately.
  
  Also, what's with the accelerated aging? It is too convenient. It gets Spock to exactly the same age he was at before the events of The Wrath of Khan. It is just too neat.
  
  I agree with the comment about recasting Lt. Saavik. What was so bad about Kirstie Alley? I rather liked her as Lt. Saavik. She certainly went on to great success in other films. And the person they casted in this movie (Robin Curtis) was basically never heard from again (aside from a roll on General Hospital).
  
  I did think that Christopher Lloyd was terrific as Kruge, the Klingon commander.
• From Glenn239 on 2012-10-23 at 1:41pm:
  ‘7’. Pretty good, overall. Of the original six movies, I rate this one in 4th place – but that’s only because 2, 4, and 6 are VERY good movies. The character interaction, a sense of unity and purpose towards a common goal, all this is high on the list of the appeal to this movie; more so than in any of the others, this film gives the characters’ collective sense of personal honor and duty, and shows how that relates to (and can override), professional considerations. Unrealistic perhaps, but a fun premise nonetheless.
  
  That being said, there were a few elements to this film that I did not like. First, and least importantly; Starfleet. The ‘retiring the Enterprise’ subplot (a factor from here on out) was tiresome– stop telling me your decommissioning the Enterprise. Starfleet security (at Earth and Genesis) is also notoriously bad.
  
  Second, Saavik. The replacement was terrible. Hated it. A great character is introduced in ST2, and then in ST3 it is completely ruined. Better to have left her out altogether.
  
  Last and most importantly, this movie robbed ‘Wrath of Khan’ of its dramatic power by reversing the death of Spock. It is said in the site review that this movie deals with loss and passing, but I think the opposite is actually the case. This movie is all about using a cheap gimmick to avoid dealing with what real loss is all about.
• From Captain Keogh on 2013-05-30 at 7:40am:
  This film was the first appearance of Earth Spacedock [correct me if I am wrong] the Excelsior Class and the Oberth Class starships
• From Abigail on 2019-12-26 at 3:47pm:
  I watched this movie with two friends last night. I remember it being rated as one of the poorer movies, although I didn't really remember it from last time I saw it (approximately 20 years ago). To my surprise, I quite enjoyed it. I admit I hadn't thought as deeply about it as you did in your review, but I agree with your points regarding character development in Kirk. An enjoyable film.
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-11-06 at 9:07pm:
  Considering the dominating adage of "only even-numbered Star Trek movies are good," I was not expecting this film to be as solid as it was.
  
  DeForest Kelley gets to absolutely shine here, no longer taking the typical backseat to Nimoy, and his scenes where he's channeling Spock's consciousness
  (doing a Spock impression) are gold - "to expect one to order poison in a bar is not logical."
  
  Kirk gets several moments to shine as he outwits Starfleet and the Klingons. The rest of the supporting cast gets ample moments, as well. Memorable scenes for Scotty, Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura.
  
  Christopher Lloyd is an absolute gem as Kruge, and sets a good bar for the "new Klingon" characterization.
  
  The biggest letdown of the movie, to me, is the death of David. The character had a lot of potential but I would have loved an opportunity to see him develop more than just here and Star Trek II. Perhaps that's part of why it hits the audience hard, defies our expectation...
  
  From the destruction of the Enterprise to the fal tor pan, this movie is rife with defining scenes. Nimoy did a fantastic job directing, and I feel this film is unfairly maligned with that "odd-numbered Trek" canard. Watch it.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-06-06 at 7:04am:
  Changed Premise: If the transporter can screen out bacteria and viruses, as mentioned in this episode, how could the young people who went on the field trip in the episode "Angel One" bring back a viral infection?
  
  - At the end of the show, La Forge calls out the new heading, "9-7-0 mark 3-1-8." The episode "Datalore" establishes that each of the numbers given in a heading cannot exceed 360.
• From Jens-Ivar Seland on 2009-05-22 at 4:34pm:
  Merritt Butrick, who plays T'Jon, also plays Kir'k son David Marcus, in Start Trek 2 and 3.
• From rpeh on 2010-06-20 at 5:33pm:
  The god-awful "Just say no" exchange between Wesley, Yar and Data is the single most preaching, sanctimonious scene in Star Trek. Apart from that, it's not a bad episode.
• From Nick Counts on 2010-11-08 at 8:19pm:
  Sobi is played by Judson Scott, who also played Kahn's right hand man in Wrath of Khan
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-14 at 1:00am:
  I found the Prime Directive issues raised in this episode very interesting. Picard's dilemma is much more abstruse than in the typical morality episode since the Prime Directive doesn't exist in the real world.
  
  Picard's approach is interesting because, if he hadn't been aware of the political situation, he clearly would have given the Ornarans their engineering parts and told them they were not really sick. So Picard is not merely being neutral, he is actively manipulating the two sides in order to return them to the situation they were in before the Enterprise arrived.
  
  The downside to the episode is that it strains credulity to believe that in 200 years, nobody on Ornara has ever realized he can't die from the plague or noticed what the Brekkans are doing. Perhaps the Brekkans control the government and media on Ornara, and anyone who realizes the truth is taken away by the secret police.
  
  Also, how can the Ornarans be so stoned that they can't even remember how to maintain the space ships that they believe are critical to their planetary survival? You would think the Brekkans, at least, would try to correct the problem when the freighters started breaking down. Oh well, those silly alien races can be pretty short-sighted sometimes.
• From a2a on 2012-02-11 at 11:08pm:
  The beginning of this episode made me realize something: I really enjoy how in TNG the Captain addresses and encourages the entire crew, and not just the senior officers (at least in these early episodes - for instance he did this also in Where No One Has Gone Before - and perhaps continues to throughout the series). It creates atmosphere and realism, and gives you a sense of the ship as a whole, with its full complement. When you see random crew men, they are no longer quite so random and forgettable, because they've been incorporated in some small but emotionally significant way into the main events. There's a real sense that the story is about them too, and not just about the main characters.
  
  I'm not so sure about DS9, but this was something that was sorely lacking in Voyager, with a few exceptions. With Voyager, after a while you kind of get the sense that the ship doesn't extend very far beyond the bridge, the captain's quarters, and sickbay (and later the astrometrics lab). (BTW this is why I so strongly disagreed with Kethinov and very much appreciated Neelix' short-lived television show - it gave the ship a kind of social *atmosphere* (and incorporated the rest of the crew and their minor dramas and events...).
  
  Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Little more to say about the actual episode. Quite a good one.
  
  A possible problem in the technical ineptness of the addicted population: I mean, they supplied their drug-dealers with all the means of survival and even prosperity, right? (Who themselves had no industry besides cultivating and producing the narcotic.) So... how inept could they really be? If they could provide for the "necessities of life" of both their own planet and another dependent one, is it really conceivable that they can't maintain their ships, can't produce replacement parts, don't have the necessary tools, and can't align their engine coils or whatever?
  
  The resolution of the episode hinges on this technical ineptness (on a societal scale, not just with this particular crew), and I'm not sure it really squares with their role as suppliers in the relationship...
• From 1ne Moon Circles on 2012-02-18 at 4:57am:
  I have done a ton of reading about Yar leaving STNG, I am still not convinced that Yar did not have a drug problem. If so the after school special scene between Yar and Young Crusher must have been so humiliating for her.
  
  I agree with what some others have said about the drug addicts, if they were industrious enough to supply the drug dealers with all the their posh comforts
  
  then could they really be so technicnly unaware and dim?
• From Daniel on 2014-07-09 at 5:06am:
  Just one comment for this episode... In the scene where the Enterprise approaches the star, and the bridge crew is blinded by the bright light, Picard orders them to "mask out the photosphere", and a big black dot appears on the view screen and is moved into place. With 24th century technology, a big black dot is the best they could come up with to filter out bright light??? Kind of lacking on the tech level here.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2008-02-18 at 7:21pm:
  This is perhaps the first truly important episode of the series in terms of long-term developments, and it's a fittingly good one.
  
  Some of Picard's best moments are when he's antagonized by Q. You can really see his frustration that he's being toyed with by a petulant child who happens to be endowed with omnipotent powers. It offends his sensibilities that he's subjected to this, and it shows in his demeanor with Q. Even his plea at the end, when he admits that the Federation is outmatched by the Borg, is spiked with contempt for Q.
  
  My only quibble with this episode is the interaction between Q and Guinan. I like that they know each other, but the way they raise their hands at each other like some kind of fantasy wizards seems out of character and rather silly. Still, this doesn't tarnish an otherwise excellent episode.
• From JR on 2008-10-26 at 5:46pm:
  "This episode establishes that Federation shuttlecrafts of this time period do not have warp drive."
  
  Thad had been established in Time Squared.
• From paidmailer on 2009-09-23 at 2:56pm:
  Great episode, but isn't there one GIGANTIC plothole? If the planets destroyed look like the destroyed outposts in the neutral zone, then the borg were already there, so Q did not lead the borg to the federation, did he?
• From Inga on 2012-01-03 at 7:01pm:
  "Q may very well have done the the Federation a favor" how is that a favor?
  
  Also, agree with paidmailer.
• From Kethinov on 2012-01-03 at 8:15pm:
  Paidmailer, no, it's not a plot hole. Q was trying to warn them that the Borg were a yet-unnoticed threat that they should begin taking seriously.
  
  Inga, that's the favor that Q did for the Federation. He alerted them to the threat of the Borg that they had previously been oblivious to, but existed and was coming for them nevertheless.
• From Ggen on 2012-02-27 at 2:06am:
  This episode is superbly done and full of great moments, "both subtle and gross," to quote Q.
  
  It presents good continuity with events from last season, when both Romulan and Federation outposts were mysteriously "scooped up" by an unknown force. But most of all it brilliantly and seamlessly weaves together a number of great elements: the greenhorn Sonya subplot (itself useful in creating the social atmosphere on the ship, reminding us that there's a full complement of different characters, not just those we're most familiar with), Guinan's character development and history (with more background on the El-Aurians), the very first Borg encounter (and an exciting and dramatic one too), and a masterfully executed "Q returns" main plot.
  
  All of this is done well and nicely tied together. Sonya is convincingly overexcited and shaky under pressure, the Borg are perfectly cold, creepy, and confidently indifferent, Guinan is mysteriously wise, and Q is... well, Q ("next of kin to Chaos," according to Picard, and arguably at his best, with plenty of great lines of his own).
  
  This is exactly what a Q episode should be, and should've been all along. Less posturing and historical references, less "weird animal things" in costume dress, less inconsequential illusions and more serious threats, more real developments and dangers, including casualties.
  
  (I love how Q refers to the loss of several sections across a number of decks, along with 18
  crewmen, as "a nosebleed.")
  
  Finally, I love how Q is the archetypal "trickster" figure. Neither obviously good and beneficial, nor explicitly malevelent - and how his actions often have seemingly unintended positive consequence (in this case, giving the Federation a "kick in its complacency," to quote Picard).
  
  (From Wikipedia:
  
  "In mythology, and in the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit,
  man, woman, or anthropomorphic animal who plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and
  conventional behavior.
  
  The trickster deity breaks the rules of the gods or nature, sometimes maliciously (for example,
  Loki) but usually, albeit unintentionally, with ultimately positive effects. Often, the
  bending/breaking of rules takes the form of tricks (e.g. Eris) or thievery. Tricksters can be
  cunning or foolish or both; they are often funny even when considered sacred or performing
  important cultural tasks. An example of this is the sacred Iktomi, whose role is to play tricks and games and by doing so raises awareness and acts as an equalizer."
  
  - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickster)
• From Mike Chambers on 2013-10-21 at 12:51am:
  "Con permiso, capitàn. The hall is rented, the orchestra engaged. It's now time to see if you can dance."
  
  Wow, what an episode! I can watch this over and over again, and not get tired of it. The only thing that I thought was stupid was when they went over to the Borg ship, and Data said something like "we were scanning for individual life forms" when Riker asked why their sensors didn't detect any life signs when there were that many Borg.
  
  That's one of the stupidest "technical" explanations of the entire series.
• From Seven Inch Screw on 2020-09-17 at 11:24pm:
  One of my favorite Data moments is in this episode.
  
  LaForge: "He's got the straight flush, folks."
  
  Data: "Not necessarily. ::leans in intently:: Commander Riker may be bluffing, Wesley. ::Quietly folds, stares at Wesley::
  
  Hilarious.
• From obummer forever on 2021-07-18 at 4:24pm:
  I don't like that Q gets 18 people killed, it mars all future fun encounters with him. What if someone important had died, like Troi or Worf, would they joke with him about it later? Doubtful
  
  Also, I still don't buy the not a plothole thing, if these Borg are already active in the neutral zone, why does Q make it seem like they are 7000 LYs away? Not to mention, why are they not doing more than eradicate some outposts? It makes no sense.
• From Mitchell O on 2024-03-23 at 3:14am:
  “ Ensign Sonia Gomez will appear on the show only one more time (the next episode). Seems her confrontation with the captain resulted in a dismal career!”
  
  Rather amusing that 30 years later we learn that she did quite well for herself! (LD: 2x10)

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-07-30 at 4:50am:
  - As the show opens, Riker leads an away team down to the destroyed colony. When they arrive, he asks O'Brien to confirm their coordinates. O'Brien verifies the coordinates and says that they are at the center of town. The next shot shows the away team standing at the edge of a gaping hole. No buildings ring the abyss. If the hole is all that's left of the colony and they transported to the center of town, shouldn't they be standing in the center of the pit?
  - With the Enterprise concealed in the nebula, both Worf and Picard make statements about what the Borg ship is doing. How do they know what the Borg ship is doing? If the nebula is dense enough to confound the Borg's sensors, wouldn't it do the same to the Enterprise's sensors?
  - Before the away team beams over to the Borg ship, Worf hands out phasers. Shelby then comments that they will only be able to use the phasers a few times before the Borg will adapt to the frequencies. Evidently, tuning these phasers is a big deal. Otherwise the away could fire a few times, use the controls to set a new frequency, and start firing again. However, in the episode "The Arsenal Of Freedom," Data continues to retune the frequency on his phaser to find the "precise frequency" to free Riker from the force field. If Data's phaser had this capability in the first season, what happened to the phasers in the third season?
  - At one point, when Shelby boards a turbolift, she states her destination as, "Deck 8, battle bridge." She and Riker then have a disagreement, and she leaves as soon as the turbolift reaches her destination. However, the turbolift doors open into a hallway, not the battle bridge. "Encounter At Farpoint" showed two entrances to the battle bridge: both were turbolifts.
  - The Enterprise seems to have solved its structural integrity problems. During the runaway acceleration of "Hollow Pursuits," the Enterprise began shuddering as soon as it passed warp 9.4. In this episode, the Enterprise sustains a speed of warp 9.6 for several hours and everything's fine.
• From JRPoole on 2008-04-17 at 4:25pm:
  This is something I've wondered before, but I thought of it again watching this episode. Can Troi turn off her empathic abilities? If not, how is it fair for her to play poker? Couldn't she sense if someone was bluffing?
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2009-06-26 at 7:31pm:
  The cool thing is, this episode wasn't just about the Borg. Riker's personal and professional life was under a microscope and you had Picard pondering man's role in history while talking to Guinan.
  
  When you add all these small pieces to the main plot, you get a very enjoyable, movie-like episode.
• From Mike Chambers on 2013-11-18 at 12:11am:
  A very good, but imho overrated episode. I'd give it a 7. The Riker/Shelby rivalry thing gets annoying very fast to me, and I thought Picard becoming Borg was interesting enough but ultimately pretty gimmicky.
• From Daniel on 2014-07-04 at 5:22pm:
  I love this episode, as well as Part 2. One thing I want to say about this episode is that it's perhaps the best cliffhanger episode of any series! I shall never forget that famous ending with the music building and Riker giving the command "Fire!" Then... To be continued!
• From Dr. Paul Obumheim on 2023-05-02 at 4:17pm:
  This episode is remarkable because it might be the first one in which Riker is not trying to romance the female guest star.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-07-30 at 7:35am:
  - In "Q Who," Q sent the Enterprise seven thousand light-years through space to meet the Borg. At the end of that episode, Guinan pointed out that the Borg would be coming. Also, Data states that it would take two and a half years to get back to the Federation at maximum warp. At the beginning of "The Best Of Both Worlds," Part 1, an admiral says that the Federation knew for over a year that the Borg were coming. Picard responds that the Borg must have a source of power far superior to their own. Yet, in "TBOBW," Part 1, the Enterprise manages to stay with the Borg ship for several hours. And in this episode, even after Locutus claims the Borg ship is proceeding without further delay to Earth, the Enterprise actually catches up to the Borg ship. If the Borg ship has a superior power source, why aren't they using it and leaving the Enterprise behind?
  - Someone reworked the layout and look of the battle bridge. The last time the series showed the battle bridge was during "Arsenal Of Freedom." This battle bridge is a great improvement.
  - This episode contains a very interesting scene concerning communications on the Enterprise. At the end of the episode, Riker sends an away team to the "sleeping" Borg ship. While walking through the halls of the Enterprise, Riker discusses the Borg ship with the away team. Shelby asks Riker if they should stop the Borg's autodestruct sequence. Riker turns the corner and doors pop open. He walks into the room with Picard, and both Dr. Crusher and Data give their opinions on Shelby's question! Since Shelby asked the question while Riker was in the hall, were Data and Crusher eavesdropping on Riker's conversation? Yet, moments earlier, Riker gave orders to ram the Borg ship - just seconds after talking to Data, Crusher, and Troi. Evidently they didn't hear Riker's intention to destroy the Enterprise, because they calmly discuss the meaning of Picard's "sleep" instruction. If they did hear the order, Data simply would have implemented Picard's instruction instead of discussing it. If some protocol exists for establishing open communications among all bridge officers during a crisis, wouldn't it be more reasonable for that protocol to be in effect during the Borg attack than afterward?
• From JRPoole on 2008-04-28 at 5:35pm:
  Outstanding. This is definitely the best espisode up to this point, and there's not much to complain about here. I only wish we got to see more of Shelby in the future; what a great character she was.
• From Robert Koenn on 2011-02-23 at 2:46pm:
  Myself and my wife enjoyed this episode and the first part immensely. I liked the scene with Guinan telling Riker he must forget Picard and then Riker's follow up when he takes forceful command of the ship and executes his plan. Data had another great episode and his joining with Picard was inspired. I was wondering how they would resolve having the Federation win this one and thought this method of taking over control of the Borg was totally feasible without being hokey or just pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Very logical plot to carry the story. While I am the big scifi fan in the house this episode and most of the others has my wife enjoying the show as much or more than me. When the show was on the air family duties and work prevented us from watching it but now being able to enjoy it at our leisure on DVD is great.
• From Robert Koenn on 2011-02-24 at 4:52pm:
  Addendum to my earlier comment today:
  
  I also found the ending so perfect. I don't know where or when but I have seen a painting/picture of the boy under the tree gazing at the night sky. It may have been something to do with Isaac Newton but whatever that scene was iconic and perfect.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-08-07 at 3:06am:
  During one tender moment between Worf and K'Ehleyr, she places her hands on his chest. In fact, she lays her hand directly over his communicator. Of course, it doesn't chirp. It must have a "loving embrace sensor" to know when not to turn on ;)
• From JRPoole on 2008-05-02 at 2:05pm:
  Another factoid established by this episode: there are representatives of 13 planets among the Enterprise crew.
  
  This is fantastic, definitely a candidate for my 'best of TNG' award. I especially like Picard's reaction to Worf going AWOL and killing Duras. This is possibly the best-rendered episode of Klingon intrigue, and there's not much to dislike here. Gowron eats the scenery every time he's on screen, Duras finally gets his due, the Romulan involvement in the Klingon power struggle gets teased out, K'mpec dies a death worthy of Shakespeare, and everything comes together nicely.
• From JRPoole on 2008-05-06 at 5:14pm:
  Something I just thought about. As I pointed out in my mini-review, this episode maintains that there are 13 planets represented on the Enterprise crew. This number seems a little small:
  
  Earth (multiple examples)
  Betazed (Troi)
  Kling (Worf)
  Guinan's planet
  Bolia (I guess this is the name of the Bolians', as evidenced by Mot the barber's, homeworld)
  Vulcan (several Vulcans can be seen as crew members in the backgrounds of prior episodes)
  
  This is six already, nearly halfway there, and doesn't even count Data, who's from a colony planet, and the various obviously alien extras who've appeared in the background (the lady getting her hair done in the background of the barbershop scene in "Data's Day," etc.
  
  Okay, I've officially descended into Trek geek-dom by even thinking about this...
• From MarkMcC on 2008-12-25 at 11:44am:
  I've been rewatching this show recently and this is definitely one of the strongest episodes so far. My only minor gripe is with the lacklustre performance of the Enterprise security staff again.
  
  Ambassador K'Ehleyr is playing a pivotal role in the mediations where one of the two sides has already poisoned K'mpect and set off a bomb, and has been directly threatened by Gowron. You'd think after all that, security might at least post someone at her door in case of emergency.
  
  And let's not even talk about the security officer's Keystone Cops-style chasing after Duras' associate. Would a trained Starfleet officer really fall for such an old ploy?
  
  Then again, if security ever did their job properly there would be a lot less drama (and stolen shuttlecrafts) in this great series.
• From John on 2010-12-30 at 5:24am:
  Another "remarkable scene", in my opinion: at the end, when Alexander asks Worf "are you my father?" It's a nice reminder to us that Alexander has been pretty much ignored through all of this, even though it affects his life as much as, if not more than, anybody else's.
  
  I've always liked Alexander. I know some people hate him or find him annoying, but I sympathize with him. It's not easy to see your mother die a bloody death, and then find out your father is the biggest hardass in the galaxy.
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-19 at 3:06pm:
  Great episode. It could so easily have been done badly, but it was done well. I found K'Ehleyr very interesting to watch.
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-20 at 12:05am:
  One point I that was confusing to me was the bomb plot. They never described exactly how the plot was supposed to work and why it failed. It came across as though Duras randomly set off a Romulan bomb because, hey, he's an evil traitor, that's what evil traitors do.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-21 at 2:17pm:
  Another excellent use of the "onesie", the tight, form fitting one piece outfit favored by Star Trek for young, attractive women, in this case K'Ehleyr, who did not disappoint in this area. See my comment on the previous episode.
• From Axel on 2015-02-28 at 5:18am:
  JRPoole, I'll join you in geek-dom, years after your post.
  
  The Federation has a lot of planets and races, but how involved all of them are with Starfleet is unclear. Tellar and Andor are founding members of the Federation and we rarely see them as crew on any ship in most ST series. I think 13 is a reasonable number for the Starfleet flagship. It also stands to reason that humans dominate Starfleet if for no other reason than Earth is where the HQ is at, and therefore probably the main recruiting grounds.
  
  Descending even further into geek-dom, it's been implied that races like Vulcans and Andorians don't reproduce nearly as quickly as humans. Vulcans enter their cycle every seven years, Andorians need four parents, etc. This may also be why Earth and human-colonized planets dominate the overall Federation population.
  
  The simple, real-world reason why humans dominate Starfleet is that makeup and costumes inevitably consume budget money, but I still think that 13 is about right if you consider how many humans are on the Enterprise.
• From House of Obummer on 2021-07-29 at 4:34pm:
  When Alexander grabs the bathlet on the wall, the next scene should have been sickbay. Look where and how he grabs it.
  And the death of the mother was annoying because they did not seem to hurry at all. No beaming her to sickbay, no beaming the doctors into her quarters.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-10-18 at 4:22am:
  No major problems with this episode ;)
  Just a couple continuity/production problems:
  - Data orders food for Spot. The bowl that materializes contains a very small amount of something on the bottom. Yet, in the close-up, the bowl suddenly becomes over half filled with food.
  - The wedding glass O'Brien and Keiko drink from appears to be empty. The glass is translucent, so it is difficult to tell. If there was any liquid in the glass, I think it would show up.
• From djb on 2008-02-20 at 9:06am:
  - Notice how data's hands are twitching when he is explaining his findings about the transporter malfunction to the rest of the crew? I wonder if it as all related to Lore's facial tick. I'm more inclined to suspect it was just Brent Spiner being fidgety.
  
  - This is one of the funniest episodes I've seen so far. It's up there with "Deja Q" in terms of how often it made me laugh out loud. Data's logically coming to conclusions that we find so obvious is priceless. I bet Maddox will laugh his ass off when he gets the letter. Worf's assessment of human bonding rituals is also funny; it reminds me of his description of Klingon mating in "The Dauphin." ("...he reads love poetry... he ducks a lot.") Also, Data's big smile is something to remember.
  
  - Notice how Data's dance partner looks a lot like Tasha Yar? Seems appropriate given their connection. It wasn't Denise Crosby, but she sure did look similar.
  
  - Nice balance of character development and overall plot advancement. Very interesting existential questions brought up in line with "The Measure of a Man." It seems Data doesn't take personally Maddox's desire to disassemble him. But... since Data is not really a "person" in many senses, one wouldn't expect him to.
• From JRPoole on 2008-05-05 at 3:50pm:
  This is up there with the best TNG had to offer. I love episodes that give the viewer an idea about what goes on behind the scenes on a normal day aboard the Enterprise, so this one is a personal favorite. Data's attempts at uderstanding human behavior here are priceless, O'brien finally comes into his own, and overall this is phenomenal. My only (small) quibble is with the T'pel side-plot. It's interesting, and well-done, but it could have made a great episode of its own, and sometimes it cuts into the plot concering Data and the wedding a little too much. I still give this one a 10.
• From thaibites on 2011-06-27 at 3:16am:
  I've been watching TNG sequentially, and this is the WORST episode so far. I was shocked to see that so many people liked it. Another "soap opera" episode with very little sci-fi. And what's up with Kaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyko!?! What an emotionally unbalanced, useless twit! We have to treat that as an equal!?! If I was a woman who is striving for all women to be treated as equals, I would be angered and sickened by the writer's portrayal of Keiko as being a completely emotionally out of control woman. This episode is crap!
  
  In the review, the website creator says, "It seems Data holds no hard feelings for the man..." Excuse me...HELLO???? Data doesn't have ANY feelings at all for anybody or anything. That's one of the big points of this episode!
• From Kethinov on 2011-06-29 at 3:56pm:
  You don't need to have feelings to exhibit the qualities of bias toward an individual. It would be well within the realm of realism for Data to break contact with Maddox in an effort to avoid any further unpleasant dealings with him. In that respect, the phrase "hard feelings" need not be taken so literally.
• From Mike Chambers on 2013-11-22 at 4:25am:
  Very surprised to see this episode rated so highly by everyone. It's a cute little episode with a few laughs, but belongs nowhere near the top of the TNG heap!
  
  There's basically no sci-fi to be found, and it's not like we learn anything new about Data from it either. Overall just a very watchable, but go-nowhere filler episode that earns a very average 5 rating from me. Not something I'd put on heavy rotation. I did, however, enjoy seeing O'Brien get some more screen time finally.
• From Axel on 2015-02-28 at 9:02pm:
  The last thing Data says to Maddox in "Measure of a Man" is that Maddox should continue his research and that Data is ready to help in the right way. So, apparently Data had no negative views of Maddox even immediately after the hearing. I like that the writers handled it this way and picked up the Data-Maddox relationship for this episode. It makes sense for the character to view Maddox's research as intriguing rather than hold a grudge, which would be a purely human thing to do.
  
  Anyway, this episode had a lot of great stuff. It was funny, touching, and had several plots working together nicely from the perspective of Data.
  
  I do wonder a little bit about the T'Pel thing. You'd think the Federation would be aware that Romulans might try to impersonate Vulcans. They apparently have different life signs, and a Federation ambassador would have very high clearance level which would require rigorous screening. It's somewhat surprising to me that a Romulan could do this at all. I'm sure there are explanations, but it seems to me that T'Pel/Selok gets away with an awful lot more than she should have.
• From Chris on 2018-04-05 at 2:55pm:
  My only whine about this episode is that Data didn't have that goofy smile on his face during the real dance with the bride!
  
  I would have passed beer through my nose because I was waiting for it, but alas! :-(

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Whoa Nellie on 2007-04-15 at 6:56pm:
  This episode is a perfect 10! If you're going to have someone who is not a Trek fan or even a sci-fi fan watch an episode of TNG, this is the episode to have them watch. Like the TOS's 'Trouble with Tribbles,' Qpid is pure, unmitigated fun! Patrick Stewart's Picard doing Errol Flynn's Robin Hood, you just have to love that! Picard and Vash have a very compelling 'battle of wills' dynamic to their romantic relationship. The combination of Picard/Vash and Q is unbeatable. Star Trek at its character driven best!
• From DSOmo on 2007-08-26 at 8:15am:
  - When Q barges into Vash's room and discovers a rescue note to Riker, Q calls for the guards. The guards rush in, grab Vash, and march her out of the room. She's already in a cell in the tower. Just where are they taking her?
  - When Q returns the crew to the Enterprise, Picard immediately notices that Vash is missing. Picard taps his communicator and asks the computer to locate Vash. The computer replies that Vash is not on board the Enterprise. I thought the computer used the communicators to locate people. Vash doesn't have a communicator. So how does the computer know Vash isn't on board?
• From Dio on 2009-01-02 at 9:35pm:
  I had to rate this episode 10. Vash is a great character, representing both romance and adventure, so she automatically gives this episode 5 points. Q is always fantastic and adds another 2. The last 3 come from the humor, production and continuity.
  
  I wish Vash had made one more appearance in TNG. maybe this could have been a 2 parter with the second episode focusing more on Picard and Vash before Q whisks her away...
• From John on 2010-12-31 at 4:49pm:
  Worf saying "Nice legs. For a human." -- priceless.
• From CAlexander on 2011-05-27 at 12:45am:
  This episode feels aimless. Q pops in and argues with Picard, then puts him in some random situation for no apparent reason, then they act out part of an old movie. I did, however, like some of the funny bits, like Picard being embarrassed by Vash and Worf's reaction to becoming a merry man.
  - It is cool that Vash tries to use guile to manipulate the imaginary characters, which puzzles Q since he knows, as do we, that the Enterprise crew would be too principled for such a thing.
  
• From Mike Chambers on 2013-11-18 at 5:35am:
  Pointless, boring, cheesy episode with a few laughs scattered about. The only bad episode of TNG starring Q. This one gets a big fat ZERO from me. Vash is the worst TNG guest star. Even worse than the traveler, that creepy interdimensional space-pedo.
• From Axel on 2015-03-17 at 10:57pm:
  Either Q endowed Picard's team with special swordfighting skills for the purpose of this fantasy, or fencing is apparently a top past time for most of the senior officers :) I could see Picard himself learning to fence, and obviously Worf has a natural weapon proficiency. But LaForge? How the hell did he so good with a blade?
  
  Anyway, this is a pretty amusing episode. It was good to see Vash again as she is the perfect woman to trip up Picard a bit. There are a lot of scenes I also enjoyed in this one, aside from the ones listed by the OP. For some reason, the scene where Riker is fighting one of the soldiers while Q is munching on a piece of chicken really cracked me up.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-05-07 at 5:06pm:
  Half a Life takes the euthenasia issue and stuffs it into a Lwaxana Troi episode. While it is nice to see a more rounded characterization of Lwaxana, I was not moved by the many heavy conversations between her and Timicin, or between her and her daughter. This emotional disconnection is coupled with a bit of bad science. How can you alter a massive star with photon torpedos? The Enterprise has almost become a Death Star, able to wipe out whole systems with a push of a button. While I find the moral issues intriguing, I just wanted more out of this episode.
• From Frogshortening on 2006-08-25 at 10:24pm:
  I loved the way they pu the serious issue in with Lwaxanne- showed that she really did take some things seriously... and the contrast between her normal self and the one who was upset about Timicin's decision made it all the more dramatic! They WERE very moving scenes! (so there)!
• From DSOmo on 2007-08-29 at 12:01am:
  - When Timicin first beams aboard, Picard immediately sticks out his hand to greet him. This action confuses Timicin, and then he comments that he has heard humans shake hands to greet each other. For a man as well versed in diplomacy as Picard, this seems very out of character for him. Timicin comes from an isolationist planet. Why make him feel immediately uncomfortable by forcing him to participate in a human ritual? Prior to this episode, Picard initiates a handshake only one other time, and that was only in respond to a physical greeting from the other party ("Final Mission")
  - In this episode, Lwaxana orders Oskoid from the food replicator. When Timicin asks what it is, Lwaxana says it is a Betazed delicacy. But during the picnic in "Menage a Troi," Lwaxana offers Riker an Oskoid leaf and he acts like he's never had one before. Riker offers it to Troi, as if she'd never had one before. If Oskoid leaves are a Betazed delicacy, why do Riker and Troi act like they'd never eaten them before? Troi grew up on Betazed, and Riker was stationed there for several years.
  - When Timicin and Lwaxana transport to the planet they are holding hands. Their hands are outside the confinement beam but they manage to transport OK (see "Sarek")
  - After Timicin asks for asylum, Lwaxana and Troi have a talk. The scene opens with a shot of Lwaxana leaning against a mirror. As she walks away, the pole from the boom mic can be seen in the mirror. When the scene changes and follows Lwaxana walking across the room, the boom mic shadow can be seen moving across the wall.
• From djb on 2008-03-13 at 7:17am:
  This was a valuable episode in many ways.
  
  As others pointed out, I liked how Lwaxana's character was a bit more fleshed out in this episode. Usually she's just obnoxious and insufferable, but here we get to see something really, truly bother her, and see her go through some intense emotions. Much better.
  
  At first I thought it strange that Lwaxana would become so romantically attracted to a man (an alien, at that) at first sight, but I then remember that she's a telepath, an especially talented one at that, who can basically "read" the gestalt of a person in the first few moments of knowing them. What takes us humans months or years to find out takes her minutes instead. Makes you think about what Betazoid culture must be like, with basically no one able to lie to each other...
  
  I like how this episode brings up the issue of moral relativism. Normally I'm not a moral relativist; I think that there are some standard rights we can uphold for all of humanity. But what about when other sapient species come into play? The "Resolution" concept sounds to us like euthanasia taken to an unacceptable extreme, but I actually tend to agree with Timicin's daughter when she basically tells Lwaxana she has no place to judge their people's practices. Even though it sounds abhorrent to us, we're talking about a different species, planet, culture, psychology, history; enough to determine that we have no moral jurisdiction. Plus, it sets a bad precedent: species intervening on other species' practices they find offensive can lead down a totalitarian path pretty fast.
  
  So much of Star Trek is based upon speculation. We really have no idea what other species in this galaxy are going to be like. An episode devoted (partially)to one alien's personal dilemma makes me think about what fields of study will pop up once we start making contact with extra-terrestrial species. Basically take any field we have now and add the prefix "xeno," and you have a new field: Xenobiology, xenopsychology, xenosociology. Xenoethics. Xenotheology. Xenomusicology! The possibilities are endless...
  
  Good point someone made about the star subplot... The idea that a starship can make a star go nova with just a few specially-modified photon torpedoes, in minutes, is ludicrous (at least they made the nova look semi-believable, unlike "Evolution." They still don't get that novas appear for weeks, even months). If not ludicrous, extremely scary. The power not to destroy planets a la Death Star, but to cause the devastation of an entire solar system! This system had no inhabitants, but what about systems that do? If life on any of the planets survived the radiation and solar debris, how long would life last without the primary power source? How would they react gravitationally to a white dwarf (which will be less massive than the original star)? If this kind of stellar apocalypse is possible, why didn't the Romulans send a few cloaked ships into sector 001 and just decapitate the federation as soon as it became a threat?
  
  If anything I'd say that an unsuccessful result of this experiment would be no change in the star. I also think that if the experiment were successful, we wouldn't find out for months, even years. Remember we're talking about a body that's about 1 and a half sextillion (1.5x10^21) cubic meters in volume and about 2 nonillion kilograms (that's 2x10^30) in mass. Whatever effects our special little torpedoes might have is going to take quite some time in real life.
  
  Anyway, bad sci-fi, but great character study, great themes. Also, David Ogden Stiers is such a good actor that even though I've seen him in M*A*S*H countless times, I didn't realize it was him until I looked him up! Great guest star performance. An 8.
• From JRPoole on 2008-06-26 at 4:43am:
  I don't have much to add to the commentaries here. This is about as good as stand-along episodes get: interesting (if not very plausible) science, great guest actors, interesting themes, and finally a Lwaxana episode that doesn't annoy. I give it a 9. Did the Enterprise wait for Ms. Troi? Or is she staying here until she can hitch a ride back to Betazed?
• From John on 2010-12-31 at 8:36pm:
  You have to love how good an actor David Ogden-Stiers is. He renders his part with a quiet dignity that perfectly fits the character. I can't think of anyone better suited for the role. Certainly one of the best guest-stars TNG has ever had.
• From MJ on 2011-01-05 at 7:12pm:
  I also agree with the vast majority of the webmaster’s ratings, but I would give this one a 7. The lack of explanation of Tarses fate doesn’t ruin it for me, nor does the lack of sufficient explanation for what exactly he did wrong (was it falsifying the application or the fact that his grandparent is Romulan?).
  
  The drama of the episode is irresistible, and the issues it grapples with are both complex and timely; it would’ve been interesting to see how differently this might have been written in a post-9/11 world. I also don’t think everyone is quite out of character. Worf’s paranoia at the prospect of having a Romulan spy on board seems very fitting, for example.
  
  The only other snag which knocks the episode down somewhat is that it seems strange that Admiral Satie would’ve been able to use tactics like this in all her investigations without throwing up any red flags. Sometimes it seems everyone at Starfleet are blind, despicable fools compared to Picard and crew.
• From Robert Koenn on 2011-03-17 at 1:50pm:
  Some of the other comments are very pertinent. As far as the backup story about rejuvenating a star with photon torpedoes, that is technical bunk. Stars burn based on their internal hydrogen and other element components and the fusion induced by the mass and these components makeup. If this star had burned out of hydrogen a photon torpedo barrage is not going to make it spontaneously rejuvenate. This was only a device to allow for the fundamental plot line of euthanasia.
  
  Now that part was quite interesting to watch and quite pertinent in many ways to our present conditions. While there is the prime directive to not get involved in other species culture, if there was a cultural decision years ago to go this course that is not a reason to consider changing a flawed decision. However that would have to be instigated in person by Timicin but with support of Lwaxana and/or others. I wanted that to start out of basic morality but felt in the end Timicin was only returning to accept his preordained fate rather than starting a fundamental examination of a flawed law. He should have become the catalyst but it was not in his psyche. The same is so true of so many things on our planet at present, women's rights, children's rights, etc. If one person does not start a movement or does but gets not support it is fundamentally unjust. But for no one to even try then the conditions will simply stay the same flawed way. I do enjoy these episodes that examine fundamental human rights.
• From Lee on 2012-04-25 at 4:27pm:
  Since I don't care much for technical problems (as long as they aren't as severe as in VOY: Threshold of course), I could really enjoy this episode. It's also the chronologically first Lwaxana-episode I really like!
  
  It not only has the typical TNG-themes, it's also very sad and the acting of the guest star was magnificent! And although the science of the episode is probably not the best, it has still some awesome visuals.
  
  
• From Douglas on 2016-04-21 at 12:48pm:
  I've watched this episode many times but only just saw that when Georgi is at his console, the file number for the experiment is 4077. Nice in-joke since guest star David Ogden Stiers was in M.A.S.H. and the unit he was posted to was the 4077th.
• From QuasiGiani on 2018-04-18 at 7:38am:
  Not euthanasia.
  
  Just pure bureaucratic stupidity.
  
  Irritating episode. As formulaic as the preceding episode on witch-hunts. But at least that episode was addressing its intended subject. The only problem there was that it missed the opportunity it had so worked to go beyond the ordinary and extend an understanding to the witchfinder's pitiable foundation of fear... This episode just entirely mistakes its very subject... Not euthanasia. Just pure bureaucratic stupidity.
  
  
• From RodimusBen on 2020-10-05 at 1:22pm:
  Is it just me or does Majet Barrett act the heck out of this episode? More often than not I can't stand Lwaxana, but every now and then they give her a powerhouse ep (see "Dark Page" and DS9's "The Forsaken").
  
  There are only a few episodes of Trek that move me to tears but I got close to it listening to Lwaxana talk to Deanna about the trauma of aging in the transporter room. Perhaps because it is so real. This is a universal human experience that everyone can identify with (or will, sooner or later).

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-09-03 at 7:02am:
  - Near the beginning of the episode, Worf and Guinan practice together on the phaser range. Guinan tells Worf she had a bet with Picard that she could make Worf laugh before he made the rank of lieutenant commander. "Not a good bet today," he replies. The conversation seems to imply that Guinan has never made Worf laugh. In the opening scene of "Yesterday's Enterprise," Guinan did make Worf laugh. Was there an alternate reality that was caused in that episode by the older Enterprise coming through the time fissure and then returning so that Worf never laughed in Ten-Forward?
  - When Gowron first tells Picard of the Duras sisters' challenge, Picard asks for details. Gowron has none, stating that women cannot serve on the High Council. That must be a new rule, because Gowron offered K'Ehleyr a seat on the High Council in "Reunion."
  - As Worf prepares to leave the Enterprise, he packs his belongings in a large chest. Picard comes to his quarters for a chat. During the conversation, Picard says he will make sure Worf's belongings get transferred to the Klingon ship. Just before Picard escorts Worf to the transporter, Worf closes the lid on the chest and they walk out. However, while they were talking, a pan of the room showed Worf's bat'leth still hanging on the wall. In "Reunion," Worf explained to his son that the weapon had been in his family for ten generations. There is no way Worf would leave that behind. Was he hoping that Picard would remember to pack it also?
  - When the family of Duras attacks Gowron, two Klingon warships attack, pummeling Gowron's ship. Picard observes the battle as Data narrates. At one point, Data says, "[Gowron's ship] has lost her port shield. It is unlikely that they will withstand another hit in that quarter." The shot changes to the main viewer of the Enterprise. As Data continues narrating, the graphics show Gowron's ship taking not one, not two, not three, but four more phaser hits on the port side, and in each of those hits the blast disperses as if the port shield still functions!
• From JRPoole on 2008-07-02 at 1:00am:
  This two-parter would be a candidate for my best of trek award. The only small problem for me is the Romulan Tasha Yar, which, despite the explanation coming in the second part, is stretching it a little.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-09-03 at 8:59pm:
  - At the end of "Redemption," Worf was leaving to serve as weapons officer on Gowron's ship. Yet this episode opens with Worf serving under his brother Kurn on Kurn's ship. Did Worf get a demotion?
  - Worf's brother claims that the bar is filled both with men loyal to Duras and those loyal to Gowron. At one point, men loyal to Duras attack Worf in the bar. They knock him unconscious and drag him out. Why doesn't anyone come to Worf's aid?
  - Sela gives Picard an accurate recounting of the facts of "Yesterday's Enterprise." Specifically, she knows that her mother came from twenty-two years in the future. If the Romulans knew that Yar came from twenty-two years in the future, it is inconceivable that they would kill her. Yar was a tactical officer with in-depth knowledge of weapons systems. The Romulans had unlimited time to torture her until she cooperated. It makes no sense for them to throw away a resource like that just because she tried to escape.
  - After the sisters of Duras fail to convince Worf to join their cause, Sela appears on a viewscreen and gives them new orders. Worf calmly looks at the screen before they lead him away. Is Worf still groggy from the beating in the bar? The viewscreen shows the face of a woman he called a friend - a woman he thought died years ago. His reaction should have been similar to Picard's: shock and amazement.
  - Picard's entire plan for exposing Romulan involvement hinges on the successful detection of cloaked Romulan supply ships. The successful detection of the supply ships rests solely on the blockade using active tachyon beams. When the main computers on both the Enterprise and Sela's ship show the blockade, the graphics show lines connecting the Starfleet ships. If the Starfleet ships are using beams, they've got problems. The Romulans could detect the gaps and fly through them. To get the type of density they need, the Starfleet ships would have to be clustered very closely together. And if the ships are clutered that closely together, then the Romulans could simply fly around the blockade. Picard and the main computers on both the Enterprise and Sela's ship must be confused. The Starfleet ships must be sending out "waves" of tachyon emissions. This would fill in the gaps.
  - At one point, O'Brien tells Picard, "The detection net is picking up activity from the Romulans ... fifteen cloaked ships spreading out along the border." O'Brien says this before the Romulans cross into Klingon space. If the blockade could only detect a cloaked ship when it crossed a "beam," how does O'Brien know that there are fifteen cloaked ships getting ready to cross?
  - When Sela speaks with Picard, she asks why twenty-three Starfleet ships lie on the Romulan border. If there are twenty-three ships in the blockade, why do only seventeen show up on the viewscreens both on the Enterprise and Sela's ship?
  - After the Romulans flood the border with tachyon emissions, Picard orders the ships to fall back. Data realizes that the Romulan ships might be detectable for a short time. He gets to work immediately, disobeying a direct order from Picard. Aside from the fact that everything in Data's programming supports his full compliance with orders from a superior officer - Data's disobedience is totally unnecessary. In the time that Data spends arguing with his first officer about Picard's orders, Data could simply say, "Data to Captain Picard. There may be another way to detect the Romulans. Stand by." Data's disobedience is simply a plot contrivance to add tension.
  - Worf's resignation from Starfleet was a major component of the cliff-hanger of the finale for the fourth season. Then, just before this episode concludes, Worf turns to Picard and says, "Request permission to return to duty, sir." Picard says ok, and they leave together! That's it? That's all? A person can resign from Starfleet and all they have to do is say, "Oops, I've changed my mind," and everything's fine?
• From Bernard on 2008-05-26 at 12:09pm:
  I have to say that after such a great buildup in the first part in terms of klingon political intrigue what we get in this concluding part is an episode that deals mostly with a romulan/federation confrontation and a rather out of place storyline for data. Surely we're all thinking 'lets see klingons!!' all the way through the other scenes. Judging by the average scoring others no doubt disagree with me.
  
  Solid episode, but such a disappointment for me considering how well the first part sets things up.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-02 at 3:49pm:
  Problem: During the battle among the three Klingon Warbirds (one of which is commanded by Kurn, Worf's brother), Worf announces that the aft shields are gone. Immediately afterwards, the ship takes several direct phaser hits on the aft section. It would have been totally destroyed without shields. However, the shots are clearly deflected off the Warbird's aft shields. Which is of course inconsistent with the statement Worf just made.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-10-10 at 8:49am:
  - When the Enterprise first discovers the Dyson's sphere, Data states it is 200 million kilometers in diameter. Riker responds, "That's nearly as large as the Earth's orbit around the Sun." The Earth's orbit around the Sun is approximately 297 million kilometers. I leave it for you to decide if a difference of 97 million kilometers qualifies as "nearly."
  - When Scotty rematerializes, his arm is in a sling. Later, Crusher states that he has a hairline fracture of the humerus - the long bone of the upper arm. Surprisingly, Scotty seems to feel no pain as Geordi bumps the arm several times and gives it a good whack right where the injury is!
  - When Data discovers Scotty doesn't care for the taste of synthahol, he tells Scotty that Guinan keeps a store of true alcoholic beverages and proceeds around the bar to fetch some. Can anyone just help themselves to Guinan's provisions?
• From JRPoole on 2008-09-07 at 1:30am:
  I agree with everything here. One nice touch to this episode is Scotty's relationship with Worf. He refuses to shake Worf's hand at the end of the episode. I like this because it's true to his character and it's not a pollyanna feelgood ending, as some things never change.
• From KStrock on 2009-01-23 at 1:43pm:
  In reference to DSOmo and the alcohol.
  
  In Season 2's episode "Up the Long Ladder", Worf states that true alcohol can be replicated. Although then we would't be able to reference the "It is...green" scene.
• From Ali on 2009-03-22 at 6:04pm:
  When Scotty is first brought back, and Riker tells him he is from the Enterprise, Scotty assumes Kirk is commanding it, and Riker has to explain the time passage, etc.
  
  But Kirk is dead at this point (or believed to be by the world). According to the Generations movie, he was picked up by the Nexxus, and Scotty is one of the first ones to find out he is gone.
  
  So, did Scotty forget this? At first, I thought maybe Scotty had been placed in this beam before the Kirk incident, but then Scotty never returns to the earlier time from whence he came, so Kirk's death must have happened beforehand.
  
  Someone tell me if I am missing something here!
• From Someone Else on 2009-05-04 at 1:11am:
  Ali:
  
  No, you're right, and this is the main problem with this episode - however, bear in mind that this episode was filmed a considerable time before Generations. And, who knows? Maybe being stuck in the transporter buffer for half an aeon can lead to temporary amnesia or something.
• From Daniel Blessing on 2009-09-16 at 9:30pm:
  Beamings happen all of the time between Federation ships while shields are active. I am surprised you have not mentioned that as a problem in more of your episodes.
  My only reasonable explanation for these occurrences is that the Federation ships are all provided with either a universal transponder code, or they are provided with every commissioned ships transponder codes, including old, lost, and out dated ships. This could explain how they were able to beam the two of them out while the shields were up. They also are able in certain episodes to beam people aboard while their OWN shields are active... This could be a bit harder to explain, unless again, my theory is applied? They are able to beam thru the shields if they are aware of how to "penetrate" them.
• From direktbroker on 2009-10-06 at 12:13pm:
  Nice thought,but no good Daniel, just think of all the times they could not bring back their own teams because their own shields are up due to some terribly artificial threat in orbit.
• From rpeh on 2010-07-19 at 11:21am:
  I may be an old softy, but the bit on the holodeck where Scotty raises a glass to his all crew and toasts them with "Here's to ye, lads" always brings a tear to my eye.
  
  Of course, Bones was still alive in the very first episode and Spock's still around too, so it's not totally impossible that he could catch up with two of his best friends from the old Enterprise.
• From Jadzia Guinan Smith on 2010-08-18 at 4:22am:
  The Dyson Sphere, although a popular device in sci-fi, is not a "sci-fi concept"; it's a hypothetical structure proposed by the very real and very brilliant theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson.
  
  Good review, though and a fantastic site overall. Count me as your newest fan!
• From Zaphod on 2011-04-13 at 1:05pm:
  Dyson himself refered to that idea of him as a joke btw.
  
  I nevertheless wished they would have concentrated more on it and even the slightest bit on its creators and less on Scotty. I really like him but using such a wonderful idea as the Dyson Sphere only for the usual Star Trek problem of the week is a waste. So for me it's just an okay episode, way above the crap u would expect from a TNG episode though.
• From John on 2011-08-30 at 3:53am:
  Once again, DSOmo proves that he does not understand the concept of narrative writing. He also proves his desire to tear down things other people in enjoy with petty nitpicking.
  
  Riker's statement that the diameter of the Dyson sphere is "nearly the orbit of the earth around the sun" is meant to to fire the imagination of the viewer by planting the idea that the sphere may be habitable. We find out later that it is (or was). Perhaps it's not close enough to the mean orbital diameter of Earth to qualify as "nearly", but who cares?
• From Will on 2011-10-30 at 1:41am:
  Earths orbital radius may not be the same in 300 years for all we know.
• From Inga on 2012-01-12 at 12:51pm:
  I really wish they would explore the Dyson Sphere more, though.
  
  Also, maybe I just missed something here, but how did the Enterprise get free from the pull at the end of the episode?
  
  1. The helmsman said they've lost main power and the auxiliary power is down
  
  2. Then she stated that they were still being carried by the initial motion of the tractor beam and that the impulse engines were offline. She also said "I can't stop our momentum."
  
  3. They couldn't use the maneuvering thrusters, until they diverted the remaining auxiliary power to them.
  
  4. Then, they achieved orbit, yet it seems they couldn't escape it (?). I mean, why else would they wait until their shields went down and the solar flares would burn them up? Couldn't Picard order Data to scan for another exit from a safer location?
  
  5. So when Geordi contacted the Enterprise, how did they manage to escape?
  
  I feel like I just missed or misunderstood something, though :/
  
  
  
  
• From railohio on 2014-06-03 at 11:00pm:
  If anyone is disappointed by this episode, he should read the novel "relics." On top of including every single part and line of the episode, the book adds a whole section of information. In the novel, they actually send an away team down to the planet before making their escape through the jammed doors. The book goes through a great depth of description of the surface inside the sphere, as well as a deeper exploration of Scotty's inner consciousness. Even if reading is not your thing, I strongly recommend reading the novel based on this fantastic episode
• From Jadzia Guinan Smith on 2015-06-02 at 3:26am:
  @Zaphod: the Dyson sphere concept was published in an academic paper in the journal science and it was definitely NOT a “joke”. What Dyson did say was that he was not “serious” – not in the sense that he was “joking” but in the sense that he didn’t think it was ever going to be a plausible technology for anyone to find useful. But he DEFINITELY thought such a sphere was technically possible. HOWEVER, his version of the “sphere” was not a solid structure like the ones you see in sci-fi, but rather, a collection of structures spread out over a region of space constituting a “sphere”.... so I guess, in way, we’ve come full circle and our host is (in a limited sense) correct in describing the star trek version of the sphere as a “sci-fi concept.”... touché...
• From ChristopherA on 2019-06-27 at 6:04am:
  When I first watched this episode a long time ago, I thought Scotty's problem was that he was a "fish out of water", unprepared for the time period. But now that I rewatch it, it is obvious that his real problem is that he is having a mid-life crisis, feeling old and out-of-touch, in a parallel to how Kirk was rusty, depressed, and out of touch in the movie era. TOS Scotty would act totally differently if he were transported to the future. It is arguably an interesting progression to see his life path progress from ernest and serious in the show, to goofy and laid back in the movies, to lonely and pathetically trying to be wanted.
  
  However, I mostly find "over-the-hill Scotty" annoying, so this isn't a top episode for me. But I do like the recreation of the TOS-era bridge, and Scotty getting to use his mad engineering skills at the beginning and end of the episode.
• From Andrew James on 2019-09-16 at 2:37pm:
  My problem with this episode is the idea that people were not interested in Scottie's stories about the old days. This man is no a living legend from one of the most famous ships ever, he would more likely be inundated by historians and fan boys and girls. The better plot work up is him not being interested in "reliving" the old days but by wanting to be an engineer and being obsolete. The trip to the old enterprise should have been to get away from the people who did not care who he was know but just wanted his old stories.
• From Chris Long on 2020-05-21 at 1:51am:
  With TNG being the way it is, the character stories are most interesting to me.
  This one is right there satisfying that 'element'!
  My big complaint about this episode is that the from any perspective showing the Enterprise with the sphere, one can see the curvature of it! What utter nonsense! There is no way anyone could discern anything remotely like some curvature from something that size!
  It bugs that they dropped the ball on the scale but I suppose maybe they simply didn't think about it.
  No one else here has made a comment on it so I'm alone in this.
  Meh... ;-)

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-11-12 at 7:58am:
  - Madred asks Picard the names and ranks of those who accompanied him on the raid. Picard responds with "Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher and Lieutenant Worf." Isn't "chief medical officer" more of a title than a rank? Crusher's rank is commander, in the same way that Riker's rank is commander and his title is first officer.
  - Both Part 1 and Part 2 of "Chain of Command" suggests that the Cardassians were able to lure Picard into their trap simply by using theta band emissions as the bait. Is Picard really the only person in Starfleet who knows about these kinds of subspace waves? What happened to the rest of the crew on the Stargazer? Data seems to address these questions when he says that Picard is "one of only three Starfleet captains with extensive experience in theta band devices. The other two are no longer in Starfleet." But is this the type of mission that Starfleet feels must be lead by a captain? Isn't this really just a commando raid to seek out and destroy a Cardassian lab? Does it seem reasonable to send the captain of the flagship of the Federation on a grenade-throwing mission? And does it seem reasonable that the Cardassians would expect that they could capture Picard simply by transmitting a bunch of theta waves?
• From wepeel on 2008-05-04 at 6:11pm:
  While DSOmo is once again on point with Picard saying the title Chief Medical Officer instead of Crusher's rank (like he was asked to), and is probably a writer oversight, one could make the argument that the writers deliberately wrote that line to illustrate the view that information extracted via torture is neither ethical nor reliable. Picard was simply too exhausted to give the most appropriate answer...
• From JRPoole on 2008-09-16 at 5:13pm:
  This is one of the stronger episodes of the series, and one that's often overlooked.
  
  The only problem I see here is that it seems a little unlikely that Star Fleet would choose to send it's flagship captain on such a dangerous mission. We're given some justification of that -- Picard is an expert on the techno-babble issue of the day-- but it still seems like a long shot for the Cardassians to lure him in this way. I can't imagine that Star Fleet couldn't simply train some special-ops task team on the subspace emissions and turn them loose rather than sending Picard. But that's a minor thing, and the this episode is more than worth the suspension of disbelief needed to get through it.
  
  The torture scenes are acted wonderfully by everybody involved, and they're some of the most gripping scenes of TNG. This episode also features a great guest turn by the actor playing Jellico, as well as the one portraying Gul Madred. We also get that rarest of TNG treats, a Ferengi character not so annoying and overdrawn that the Ferengi at large seem unrealistic. This is quality stuff, and I give the two-parter as a whole a 9.
• From rpeh on 2010-08-01 at 11:26pm:
  As far as I'm concerned, this is the best episode in the entire Trek oeuvre. The story is gripping from start to finish and then... Patrick Stewart.
  
  His acting in the torture scenes was nothing short of perfect, and the final line in the scene with Troi... well. Perfect again. This is one episode where the TNG writers finally realised that had a serious actor on their books and gave him a chance to show off his talent.
  
  It's almost as if every other actor steps up a gear given Stewart's performance. Frakes in particular loses some of his usual cardboard edge and gives a great show as Riker, and the others are almost as good.
  
  It was the memory of this episode that made me get the old DVDs down off the shelf and watch them all again. Absolutely brilliant.
• From nirutha on 2010-11-21 at 11:28pm:
  I really dig David Warner as Gul Madred. He has the perfect voice for that role, one that seems to belong to a man both sophisticated and sadistic. (He also voice-acted Jon Irenicus in a similiar role in the RPG classic Baldur's Gate 2.)
• From John on 2011-02-01 at 3:46pm:
  Once again, DSOmo manages to suck all the mystery and fun out of a fictional show. I bet he's a lot of fun at parties. And funerals.
• From anon on 2013-12-29 at 1:14pm:
  I feel kind of sorry for captain Picard at this stage. He's lived a very hard life. First he was a borg, then he lived a whole false life in 'Inner Light' (to suddenly discover your children and wife weren't real would be devastating) and now he has been tortured. Plus it appears that he has never been in a very serious relationship despite him appearing to want companionship.
• From Quando on 2014-03-19 at 9:47pm:
  The whole "how many lights do you see" thing was borrowed (stolen?) from George Orwell's great novel 1984, in which the protagonist Winston was being tortured by the state and asked repeatedly how many fingers the torturer was holding up (there were only four, but the torturer insisted that there were five). Like Picard, in the end Winston said that he really did believe that he saw five fingers, although there were only four.
• From Axel on 2015-03-22 at 3:59am:
  This two-parter was held back a bit by the scenes involving Jellico's interaction with the crew, but is redeemed by Picard's mission and subsequent captivity.
  
  The Enterprise crew comes off as very whiny in this episode. Sure, Jellico may be an abrasive captain, but what is he really asking? That the ship be prepared for an emergency combat situation and shut down its research missions to be fully ready for that? Surely the Enterprise has contingency plans for this kind of thing, so it can't be that unusual for the crew to step up its game a bit. I think the conflict between Jellico and the rest of the crew was forced. Jellico's negotiations with the Cardassians did make for some great scenes, along with the plan to place mines on the Cardassian ships.
  
  The Seltris III mission and Picard's captivity, though, are amazingly done. David Warner is one of the best guest cast members in all of TNG as Gul Madred. Patrick Stewart's research and preparation for this role pay off, and the two actors' performances are what make this two-parter pure gold. The final scene where Picard talks about seeing five lights was gripping and the perfect end to this story.
• From Emitter Array on 2016-08-20 at 2:13pm:
  I think this is one of TNG's finest episodes (although I do agree with DSOmo's comments about problems with the premise). David Warner is perfect in his role while Patrick Stewart gets to act out a bit more compared to the usual fare he gets on the show; just excellent all around and a joy to watch.
• From Mike on 2017-05-06 at 9:59pm:
  If you want the Enterprise to explore space, make contact with new civilizations, or even go into a confrontation hoping to work out a peaceful result, you go with Picard. If you have to send the Enterprise into a confrontation expecting to do battle, you want a Jellico.
  
  What's interesting to me about the Jellico part of this plot is that all we can really say is that Jellico and the senior staff had a hard time working together. The episode does a good job of not portraying Jellico as a bad captain, just a different captain who excels in a situation most of the TNG crew aren't used to. Ultimately, he does have to rely on Riker and the rest to complete the mission, humbling him a bit. But Starfleet's confidence in Jellico as a Cardassian expert is clearly justified.
  
  The scenes between Picard and Madred are superbly written and acted. It was a very gripping part of the plot, and again, what we get in Gul Madred is not a one-dimensionally evil interrogator, but a complex and somewhat tragic figure. Picard recognizes as much. I absolutely loved the final scene, too, where Picard is speaking with Troi. He didn't come away from this experience completely unchanged, just as with his abduction by the Borg.
• From jeffenator98 on 2019-06-04 at 5:19pm:
  David Warner played a Cardassian in this a Human in Star trek 5 and a Klingon in Star trek 6.
• From Chris on 2019-07-29 at 10:03pm:
  What a great episode!
  
  Awesome acting and drama at all stages!
  
  To me a perfect STNG episode, one of my favorites along with Fistful, Relics, I forget...
  
• From RodimusBen on 2020-10-25 at 2:27pm:
  I have a strong aversion to scenes of torture, so this episode is difficult to watch, but from a writing and acting standpoint it is excellently done. Most Star Trek episodes aren't fortunate enough to have two heavy-hitters for guest stars like David Warner and Ronny Cox. Both of them play their parts perfectly.
  
  I actually watched this episode after having watched some of Deep Space Nine, so it brought into crystal clear focus just how terrifying and sadistic of an antagonist the Cardassians can be. Suddenly the 50 years of occupation the Bajorans endured at their hands becomes all the more horrifying.
  
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-06-21 at 1:56am:
  It is always fun to watch this episode. The problem with Worf switching realities becomes worse and worse. You start to feel bad for him. The only drawback is that the solution was too easy. Get in your shuttle, emit this kind of field, and off you go. However, that part is long after all the cool things happen. I'll never forget the Enterprises filling space, or the Enterprise from Borg infested space, who's Captain Riker refuses to go back. This episode it a balls to the ground classic. I'm giving it a 9.
• From Wolfgang on 2006-06-29 at 8:48pm:
  The disappointing ending turns a nearly-perfect one into a superb one. I guess that a 2-part episode may have presented the room for a more dramatic final, although it could have been difficult not to frustrate the viewers, and to maintain the tension.
• From Jason on 2008-02-07 at 10:41am:
  Did you notice how in one of the timelines Data had blue eyes? Spooky!
• From Paul on 2010-08-17 at 10:13pm:
  Really enjoyed this episode, the scene with hundreds of thousands of enterprises! I also enjoyed the subtle changes that were unlaboured, like data's eyes and the picture on his wall constantly changing
• From Bronn on 2013-06-04 at 5:51am:
  Agree with others that the ending was disappointing and rushed. There were some serious changes in some of the timelines, and especially with the last one, which could have been explored more. Science Fiction fans always love to ask "What if?" This episode could have been a two parter.
  
  The first part could have ended with the revelation that Worf's shifting, and his inability to perform his duty had killed Geordi. That was a moment that was not very well explored in this episode. Deanna rather casually shows up in his quarters, lightheartedly mentioning that she'd heard he'd had some trouble on the bridge. It would have had real dramatic weight if she'd had this attitude of concern and nervousness in knowing that he'd screwed up badly enough that one of their dear friends and comrades had been seriously injured. The second of the two parts would have only had one timeshift, but it would have deal with Worf accepting some of the realities of his current universe in his attempt to get back. It's a different, and grimmer one, without Captain Picard or LaForge, and they'd end up losing Worf also (most likely, since we never see what happens in that timeframe after the shift back). The grim reality of a Deanna Troi forced to give up her husband and an Enterprise losing its first officer would have made for great drama. A second part of this episode would have been a greater contribution to Trek history than some of the later episodes in season 7, like Genesis and Sub Rosa.
• From TheAnt on 2013-11-04 at 3:33pm:
  A shuttle full of Worf's.
  
  There's a bit too many episodes with time loops and alternative timelines in Star Trek.
  
  But if we would have to remove one such, this is not one of those that would have to go. Since even though it is weird, and of course completely impossible, the idea presented here is indeed found in actual scientific discussions. That for every action with a choice - two timelines would be created.
  Even the conservation of energy in creating the new split off universes would not be violated, in case the universe is a hologram - which is part of a hypothesis that have been introduced after this episode of TNG were made.
  (Not that I even for a split second think the universe works that way, but consider it to be one interesting model only.)
  
  The telling of the story is also better than for a few other alternative episodes in Start Trek. So with good science and one enjoyable story I give this episode a solid 8.
• From pzaz on 2017-08-19 at 5:25am:
  I don't get why Troi would have to "give up her husband"... once the Worf that we know goes back to his "proper" dimension, aren't all the dimensions put back to normal--and therefore, wouldn't alternative Troi's life with her husband Worf also be put back in place?
  
  hmm... this hole in the narrative logic meant I didn't feel sad for her

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2009-01-02 at 10:21pm:
  This is the beginning of the "real" DS9, and it's a good introduction. Thankfully, the writers didn't have Jake and Nog pull some sort of daring rescue of Sisko and Quark. The only (slight) problems I have with this episode are very minor:
  
  --It seems a little unlikely that the Jem'hadar could overlook Jake and Nog, especially when there's a shuttle orbiting the planet, but I guess that stands to reason because Sisko and Quark were meant to escape all along.
  
  -Just where is Eris beaming to at the end? How sophisticated is Dominion transporter technology?
• From BlueLabel on 2010-06-10 at 7:43am:
  The biggest problem I have with this episode, and in fact most star trek battle scenes, is how puny and frail Federation ships always seem to be during engagements like this. Seriously, watch the battle in this episode. The Jem'Hadar make one pass, firing a couple of shots at the Odyssey, then it cuts to the bridge and it's absolute chaos up there, exploding consoles and everything.
  
  The reverse case hardly ever happens. Which I think sucks. I mean, this is a Galaxy class ship right? And if they could take it out so easily, why not pick off the runabouts first?
• From Wes Thompson on 2011-01-14 at 7:56pm:
  I have to gladly agree with JRPoole that this marks the beginning of the rest of DS9. Again, I agree that the rest of DS9 is GREAT! There are those episodes here and there that have their own little, self-contained stories. I like a lot of them for the way the writers examine humanity and morals. However, my favorite part of DS9 is the Dominion story. I greatly enjoy the ongoing story. For me, the ongoing saga of episodes and seasons is what makes DS9 better than TNG. Don't get me wrong; there are many great stand-alone and two-part TNG episodes. But DS9 has a much better overall story and drama. This comes from someone who grew up loving TNG and almost detesting DS9 for trying to copy what TNG had done so well. After watching DS9, I have to say that I look forward to rewatching the episodes often.
• From Krs321 on 2011-02-01 at 8:19pm:
  Why doesn't Eris pause or at least say something about or to Odo? I guess they were already aware that a shapeshifter was on DS9 and it wasn't a big deal...?
• From Bernard on 2011-11-13 at 11:54am:
  As others have said, this episode marks the start of bad ass DS9. The transition to bad ass DS9 is completed by the start of season four when all the boxes are ticked.
  Sisko with bald head and goatee - check
  DS9 has it's own warship armed to the teeth - check
  Worf has arrived - check
  
  The episode is very introductory and so I don't think it can be hailed as a masterpiece. It does a great job introducing the Jem'Hader and the idea that the Dominion is going to be a nasty adversary.
  The plot involving Sisko, Jake, Nog and Quark is a nice little addition that plays out through the episode with Quark needling Sisko but then they need to work together and appreciate each other a bit more by the end giving the episode a much needed character arc. The two play off each other very nicely, as do Nog and Jake but then we know they do from many, many other episodes.
  
  I'd give this a 7 or maybe 8 depending on my mood.
• From Spencer Miller on 2012-04-10 at 9:09pm:
  Nice episode. I love the Quark character but he was just too insufferable on the camping trip/during captivity - I know thats the obvious intention but I found it a little aggravating.
  
  I also wanted to comment on the battle with the Odyssey. In Kethinov's review he comments: "The destruction of the USS Odyssey was downright shocking; to see a galaxy class starship taken down so easily!" But with regards to this, I felt the same way as BlueLabel...the Federation starships always seem sorely underpowered to me. The space battles often seem very one sided...either the Enterprise (in TNG) can easily take out their adversaries, or else its the whole "two hits and sparks are flying everywhere and people are flying all over the place". It gets a little aggravating for me when the protagonist faction's firepower is so impotent.
• From Troy on 2013-01-27 at 8:55am:
  Usually I either get aggravated or make a running gag out of how Federation ships shields are down after taking 2 hits, but in this particular episode it made sense to me. The Odyssey was being attacked by Phased Polaron beams which I doubt the Federation has ever really dealt with, and since Polaron beams are designed to penetrate shields the sparks flying right away is mostly justified. Now it did take quite a few hits and was still able to attempt a retreat with the final blow being a suicide run, so at the very least she was able to handle an incredible pounding before finally kicking it. It was indeed shocking and really showed off how this is Star Trek with consequences. Apart from the technobabble about starships I loved this episode, it indeed is the beginning of the best arc ever in Star Trek history.
• From Captain Keogh on 2013-03-24 at 2:05pm:
  Problems
  -As the Odyssey and the runabouts are retreating, the Jem'Hadar fighter makes a suicide run at the Odyssey, but when it moves to another shot, the fighter comes in at a different angle and the Odyssey is not moving, plus there is no sign of the runabouts.
  
  Remarkable scenes
  -- Quark asking Odo to let him use the station's monitors to run commercials for Quark's bar
  -The whole camping trip scene
  -The Odyssey vs the jem'hadar [could have been longer]
  -The suicide run
  -The Odyssey getting blown to hell.
  
  "...a galaxy class starship taken down easily", no surprise there lol.
• From Zorak on 2016-05-14 at 5:01pm:
  The captain of the Odyssey seemed like a really cool character. It's too bad he made such a short appearance.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-11-21 at 4:21am:
  @BlueLabel: There were numerous times in TNG when it was obvious that the Enterprise outmatched whoever they were dealing with, but since the Federation is typically not aggressive, they usually don't get in fights with anyone they can beat easily. ("Conundrum" comes to mind.) Thus we often them battle with ships as powerful or more powerful than theirs, who started the confrontation.
  
  @Krs321 I wonder if Eris even knew who Odo was. She may have known that the Founders sent several of their own out into the galaxy, but she wouldn't know what shape they would take. Odo is not immediately obvious as a shapeshifter. When we see Founders later, they've taken on similar features to Odo, seemingly out of convenience, consistency, or affection for him.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From djb on 2009-04-10 at 2:34am:
  Wow. This really ups the ante, doesn't it?
  
  I'm watching DS9 eps in order, so I don't know much about what comes next, except for a few spoilers I've read on Memory Alpha. So I'll try to keep this review from the perspective of someone who knows nothing about what's to come.
  
  First of all, the Defiant. Awesome. A Federation war ship! What a concept! This brings to mind a concern I've long held. I don't know if this is a problem with Roddenberry's vision, or a problem he intended there to be, or what, but basically it's this: the Federation is run by a bunch of bleeding-heart wimps. Now, I usually recoil from the term "bleeding-heart," as it implies things I don't like politically, but this is the best term. This was especially true in TNG. Examples: Season 3's premiere, "Evolution." Nanites become apparently intelligent and become a threat to the ship, and instead of eliminate them (as one character tries to do), they get all weird and act as if it has some kind of right to exist, even though it's threatening everyone on the ship.
  
  Anyway. The federation is all about exploration, but they don't seem to want to be realistic about the fact that very real threats exist out there and they have to be ready. They could be like the Swiss: peaceful yet armed to the teeth. But they're not. They didn't last half an hour against the Borg, with 39 ships (granted, the borg had Picard's knowledge on their side, but still). They start work on a warship, and once the Borg threat recedes, they abandon it? They should have a fleet of a hundred Defiants at the ready!
  
  And now, we're facing the Dominion, whose teeth (the Jem-Hadar) are even more ruthless/efficient/deadly, it would seem, than the Cardassians, who have weapons and transporters that make short work of Federation shields, and have no qualms about a suicide mission to gratuitously destroy a disabled retreating ship. Nothing to sneeze at. If I were the federation, I would re-open the Defiant project, perfect it, start building a ton of them, start training Federation-equivalents of Marines en masse, reopen development on a cloaking device, put a ton of energy in to weapons and defense development, and so on. This is all stuff they should have done long ago, but for whatever reason decided to act as if real threats like the Borg or the Dominion didn't exist out there.
  
  Anyway. I don't know what comes next, so the Federation may very well grow some balls over the next few seasons. I hope they do. But it's nice to see the Defiant and what it's capable of.
  
  Of course, a major highlight of the episode is Odo finding his own kind. I already know (spoilers ahead) that the Changelings are the Founders, but for someone who doesn't know what's to come, it's still a powerful moment. I'm still aching to find out what happens: why did the Changelings form the Dominion? What happened to Sisko and the others? Why does Odo go back to the Alpha quadrant and not stay with his own? If they all seem to occupy the same "lake" on their planet (a rogue planet?), do the Changelings have individual identities the way we do or not? What would they look like if they hadn't just matched Odo's default form? Do they have a default solid form? Why and how do they have genders?
  
  Anyway, I'm looking forward to the rest of the series immensely.
• From rpeh on 2010-07-28 at 7:39pm:
  A magnificent episode that really starts the new season with a bang.
  
  One minor problem: why is it when the Defiant is boarded by the Jem'Hadar that their first instinct is to use their guns as clubs? They were all locked and loaded and could have stunned the crew in an instant.
• From MJ on 2011-08-08 at 9:01pm:
  This episode would seem to establish that the Jem'Hadar cannot instinctively recognize Changelings unless seeing them shapeshift. In DS9: THe Adversary, the Jem'Hadar only recognizes Odo as a "Founder" after passing through him. Here, we see the Jem'Hadar attack Odo with the same ferocity as they did Kira, obviously unaware who or what he is.
  
  There is a minor annoyance in this episode...as in DS9: The Way of the Warrior, I have a very hard time believing that a bunch of humans can defeat Jem'Hadar (and Klingons) in hand to hand combat. In reality, I think the Jem-Hadar, who let's not forget are genetically engineered warriors, would likely have taken over the ship in a matter of seconds, given how accustomed they are to boarding attacks.
  
  That aside, this was one of the better starts to a DS9 season. It's got plenty of action and intrigue. The Odo subplot is very well done; Odo is already very disgruntled because of Starfleet's decision to "augment" him with Eddington, and when he sees the Omarii Nebula, it becomes a singular obsession that will reveal the most stunning discovery of his life!
  
  The Romulan assistant was in character: highly mistrustful, a bit cold, and also possessing one of the most interesting Romulan traits: that is, preferring to avoid brash, direct confrontation in favor of a strategic advantage and saving the fight for a different day. This trait will frustrate Starfleet and the Klingons during the Dominion War.
  
  The Defiant's introduction is brilliant, and it's easy to see why the ship gains the affection of Sisko from the get-go.
  
  Nicely done!
• From * on 2011-09-03 at 9:55pm:
  Dax' hair looks like a spray painted cinder block in this episode. Thank you for reassuring me that it won't last.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-27 at 7:30pm:
  T'Kul was played by Martha Hackett who also plays the (somewhat) major character Seska in ST: Voyager.
  
  Fully agree with comments on the Jem'Hadar. I also noticed in the previous episode (DS9: The Jem'Hadar) that the Jem'Hadar did an astonishingly poor job of subduing Sisko and Quark after they escaped confinement. At the beginning of the altercation, one of the Jem'Hadar attacked Sisko with a phaser rifle he was using as a club, similar to the Jem'Hadar attack not the Defiant in this episode. Possible explanation in that episode was that the entire escape was designed as a ploy to allow one of the Vorta to infiltrate DS9 as a spy. Still, Sisko reasonably should have noticed that the Jem'Hadar did not simply shoot him.
  
  Also agree that Dax's hair in this episode (as well as part 2) was not that nice.
• From peterwolf on 2013-11-08 at 11:07pm:
  I like this episode very much, in particular Odo´s quest for his origins and his altered behaviour. However, some inconsistencies concerning his shape-shifter abilites were never really resolved: He could perfectly imitate the feathers of a bird or the fur and the ears of a rat, but not human ears!?!
  I take it that these imperfect ears are simply symbols indicating that Odo or the female shapeshifter belong to a different species.
  Also, my only other dislike in this great episode is that the Defiant was to easily defaeted by the Jem Hadar. After failure of the cloaking device the defiant should have had enough firepower to take out more than one Jem Hadar ship. Her shields and armour (I am not quite sure when the ablative armour was introduced?) should made her more resilient than we saw it. Whatsoever, we may blame it to the quite unexperienced crew, like Dr. Bashir being abused as weapons officer ...