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.

No fan commentary yet.

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 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 Vlad on 2006-03-31 at 12:55pm:
  I finally watched this last night. Is the best Star Trek episode ever? I don't know. But it made the list of my favourite episodes. And mine is a short list.
  
  We've always known that Sisko is human. That's not the issue here. What we come to realize, painfully so, is that he is just as flawed as any 20th century human being. Faced with the paradox "Doing something wrong to do something right", he makes a choice that will cost him his self-respect. And perhaps, it cost him our respect as well.
  
  Ira Behr said that Trekkies see the captains as gods. Well, this God just sinned!
• From RichD on 2006-05-02 at 9:56pm:
  In the Pale Moonlight is an astonishing episode. It ranks in my top 5 among any of the 5 series. I remember how tense and riveted I was when I first saw this episode. A stroke of genius retelling this story through Sisko's log entry. The opening scene immediately captures your attention. We all knew one way or another, the Romulans were going to be key players in the war. What we didn't know, is that Sisko would trick them into it?! Would Picard ever do this? I doubt it. He didn't in The Wounded and he wouldn't here. I do believe Kirk would do it.
• From JTL on 2008-08-17 at 8:37pm:
  This is without a doubt one of the best Star Trek episodes ever done. It is an excellent probe into the human system of moralities and epitomizes what this franchise is all about. Yes, "Favor the Bold" and "Sacrifice of Angels" are awesome, but if there is one postmortem episode I think Gene Roddenberry should be shown if it were at all possible it would be this one. Absolutely astounding. The best? I can't say whether it is or not. However it is very, very high on my list of great episodes.
• From Abigail on 2008-12-17 at 7:47pm:
  Although I greatly enjoyed the plot, I thought the confession-in-personal-log style of telling the story was very cliche. I'm not so into the confessions. If I ignore that minor annoyance, though, it really was a terrific episode.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2009-05-05 at 2:00pm:
  Sisko's treatment of Tolar (holding him up against the wall, threatening to send him back to the Klingons for execution) is not really consistent with his character. I think they should have cut that part out. Although, he seemed to regret it later by saying "Maybe I was under more pressure than I had realized."
  
  Other than that nitpic, this is an episode that never gets old.
• From Jaap on 2010-10-31 at 8:06pm:
  The review says: "Sisko couldn't personally forgive himself for his actions and he felt that maybe recording it all in his log would make him feel better".
  
  I don't say I don't agree but another possibility occured to me. Sisko has grown to be a very "self-aware" person. He's very confident and has grown more confident in the years on DS9. Like he said: HE fell like he just walked through a door and locked it behind him. HE was going to get the Romulans to enter the war; HE was going to convince Vreenak; HE was going to turn the war around; HE was going to defeat the Dominion; HE was going to get the credits with SF Command (and the rest of the quadrant).
  
  But then... he didn't see through the plot, he was outsmarted by Garak; he didn't turn the war around but a Cardassian did.
  
  So i don't think it troubled him all that much that two "innocent" men got killed. Innocent people get killed by the hundreds of thousands at this stage and Sisko has - in some way - been responsible for quite a few deaths himself, just look a the Maquis.
  
  No, I think the thing that pains him most is the damage inflicted to his self esteem. And that's why he got what he wanted but can't be really happy about it.
  
• From Tallifer on 2011-04-21 at 6:18am:
  The point of the Federation is the vision of a utopian future where men have learned to forgo money and concomitant greed, militarism and fascism; where men of all races live in harmony and peace. The moral of Kirk and Picard's inevitable victories of the warlords, maniacs and monsters of outer space was that the Good and the Just will triumph over the Wicked and the Mighty.
  
  If the Federation must resort to Section 31 and murder, forgery and manipulation, then it is just another sinful empire. Parallel to this is the increasing respect for the militaristic and barbaric Klingons and the selfish and honorless Ferengi through the successive generations of Star Trek.
  
  I did enjoy this episode, but these stories should not be told about the Federation: it would have been better to set this Deep Space Nine series in a different polity, perhaps someone neutral like the Tholians. Then the stories could be as free of utopianism as the writers want.
  
  0/10 despite the fun. Simply not Star Trek for me.
• From Gul Darhe'el on 2012-04-04 at 3:01pm:
  During its initial run I didn't get to see much of DS9 beyond early season 4. Also, at the time I was unsure on the direction the series was taking as I found the whole Klingon war story a bit contrived. With that being said, I was stunned at this instant classic years later catching it at random in re-runs. This episode is flawless. Every one (especially the guest stars) turned in spot on performances, the story is completely original, all of the dialogue was interesting and meaningful, I can't say enough. I love the dynamincs and conflict that arise when Sisko employs a small group of professional liars to deceive someone from an ever-skeptical and paranoid race. Simply perfect. I was even more pleasantly surprised upon purchasing the series DVD's that this episode was just one from possibly the best season of Star Trek ever done.
• From DK on 2013-04-23 at 6:18pm:
  Tallifer got it exactly right.  I can understand making this your best episode ever but not best Star Trek.  The artistic vision of this series is most definitely different from the creators of the Star Trek universe.  I happen to like the direction this series took but it is not the "Star Trek" way.  Witness what Roddenberry did when he got a second bite at the apple and created The Next Generation and contrast it with the gritty nature of DS9.  DS9 is a fine vision of the future and a wonderful premise for a show but the differences Tallifer mentions between it and what the vision of the future the creator of Star Trek  had preclude this episode from being the best of what Star Trek has to offer (IMHO).  
  I completely understand the dilemma.  If put on the spot to name my favorite I suppose, like many others, I would choose The Wrath of Kahn.  Ricardo Mantalban was a formidable presence.  Much criticism could be leveled at TWOK too but in the end entertainment is the highest measuring stick but may be different from what Star Trek was all about.
• From BigBoss on 2013-10-08 at 9:39pm:
  To claim that the episode doesn't mesh with Roddenberry's "Trek" is a bit of a misnomer, since Roddenberry's closest vision of Trek was Season 1 of TNG (which is almost universally derided as the worst season).
  
  The issue is that TNG/TOS are well, cartoonish in their morals. You can still tell a great store, but, their stories preclude the possibility of a no-win scenario. Or, to put it even more bluntly, that the only right solution is a morally corrupt one.
  
  This is what makes this episode, and conversly DS9, such a breath of fresh air in the series. Characters have baggage, they have decisions that they wear the repercussions of as scars, instead of everything getting neatly trimmed up at the end of each episode and perhaps not mentioned again. In TNG we never really see anyone make the tough decisions because plot contrivance always foregoes that possibility. The weight of decisions is where DS9 really shines.
• From OmicronThetaDeltaPhi on 2014-06-30 at 1:43am:
  Wow! This is one of those episodes where you leave the TV screen and tell yourself "Now THAT'S what a perfect 10 episode looks like".
  
  It's impressive. It's captivating. It's full of moral dilemmas. Bravo, Deep Space Nine!
  
  As for the claims of this episode being "Un-Roddenberry", I disagree. Sisko simply had no choice, but to do what he did. And he didn't do it to save his ship, or even to save the Federation. He did it to save the entire Alpha Quadrant - including those Romulans he lied to.
  
  And I think that the very fact that Sisko agonized over the whole affair of "presenting a lie as truth", demonstrates how far the morals of humanity have come in the 24th century. A 21st century person wouldn't even blink an eye over this, when the stakes are so high. Yet Sisko feels wretched by what he did. And Why? Because as a Starfleet officer, he values the truth. And this, in my opinion, makes this episode very Roddenberry.
  
• From Phil on 2015-08-22 at 5:03am:
  I don't necessarily see this as being against the spirit of Star Trek if you frame Roddenberry's two series in a slightly different light from what's been presented in the comments so far.
  
  Rather than "Mankind will eventually evolve beyond militarism and pettiness" I believe the takeaway of TOS and TNG should be "if technological progress leads to eradicating scarcity, then mankind can put aside its pettiness, etc."
  
  This leaves room for the Dominion arc--in the first two series you never see the Federation face an existential threat that lasts more than an episode or two. Here you see what would really happen to a society that has its back against the wall, and I believe that both this portrayal and the TNG portrayal are in line with human nature--it's only the context that has changed. Technology and progress can remove the internal causes for base, primitive behavior, but they can't change human nature.
• From Phi on 2015-09-13 at 3:56pm:
  This episode also reminded me of this quotation from Frank Herbert's "God Emperor of Dune":
  
  "I know the evil of my ancestors because I am those people. The balance is delicate in the extreme. I know that few of you who read my words have ever thought about your ancestors this way. It has not occurred to you that your ancestors were survivors and that the survival itself sometimes involved savage decisions, a kind of wanton brutality which civilized humankind works very hard to suppress. What price will you pay for that suppression? Will you accept your own extinction?"
• From tigertooth on 2017-01-06 at 5:10am:
  I gave this a 10 so this didn't hang me up too terribly much, but...
  
  One the Romulan learned the recording was a fake, wouldn't he have transmitted that info to Romulus immediately? Like even before meeting Sisko? If he does that, the whole plan flops.
  
  I think Garak's plan could have been identical if he had just gotten the Romulans to come to the station for any old reason. He can still hide the rod on their ship then blow them up and he gets the same result.
  
  Though, of course, I'd think Romulus would be wondering why the killed Romulans didn't send them a message saying they had come into possession of extremely vital information.
  
  But whatever. I'm not going to let that seriously get in the way of such a great episode.
• From McCoy on 2017-03-02 at 5:49pm:
  While I love DS9, I can't agree it's the best episode ever made. DS9 has without doubt best characters in all Trek (not so boring, soulless mannekins as i.e. TNG or Voy). Even secondary characters, like Weyoun or Garak, are greatly written and performed (why they couldn't write interesting characters in other series is beyond my imagination). However, I'm not a fan of military space opera. I like different kind of s-f - speculations about "what if...", about mystery things in Universe, about human's place in Universe. But not war with aliens. You can make film about war without all that s-f stuff, it's irrelevant. And it's irrelevant here. Maybe it's good episode, mabybe Dominion story arc is good, but... It's not good s-f for me. It lacks that "something". 7/10 is max I can vote for Pale Moonlight, sorry.
• From Axel on 2018-06-17 at 4:10am:
  Interesting takes on this episode. I can't really go along with the notion that this, and DS9 in general, go against Roddenberry's Trek vision, though.
  
  First, TOS and TNG episodes weren't always neatly packaged stories about good triumphing over evil. Kirk faced a comparable moral dilemma to Sisko's-allowing one to die so millions could be saved-in TOS: City on the Edge of Forever. Picard wrestled with numerous Prime Directive violations, showing that Federation values were sometimes at odds with another, perhaps more moral, course of action. And what about when Nechayev scolded him for not sending Hugh back to the Borg and wiping them all out? Moral dilemmas indeed.
  
  Second, as Phil pointed out, the Federation faces an existential threat in the Dominion. Under such circumstances, things are bound to get messy. Nothing like that was ever quite shown in TOS or TNG, although in TNG: BOBW, Picard is co-opted by the Borg.
  
  Third, I don't even agree that this goes against Roddenberry's "vision" of what the future or the Federation were supposed to be. It wasn't a future where all moral problems, ethical dilemmas, and human shortcomings disappeared completely. It was a future where the modern societal problems of poverty, hunger, racism, sexism, corruption, and lack of opportunity had disappeared. Faced with an external threat, though, that future society may make decisions that are still human and survival-driven. And even if the DS9 Federation didn't meet Roddenberry's standards, it's a reminder that the course of human history has a "bunny-hop" rhythm to it: sometimes taking two steps forward, one back.
  
  Anyway, this episode is an amazing story. Sisko and Garak, as it turns out, were using each other. But Garak has no moral qualms about the outcome; Sisko does. This didn't feature a lot of "science-fiction" but it did what Star Trek does best: it gives you multiple points of view and makes you think, all with a gripping plot from beginning to end. Definitely one of the best Trek episodes ever.
• From Thavash on 2019-01-01 at 12:25pm:
  The final scene between Garak and Sisko is a masterpiece
• From Cthulu on 2023-02-06 at 6:06am:
  I didn't see it mentioned in any of the other comments. But there's a line of thinking that Garak used the bio memetic gel as the bomb to blow up Vreenak's shuttle. His claim that it was to be exchanged for the data rod was a ruse, and he simply needed to get material that the Romulans wouldn't be able to detect. That blew my mind when I first heard it, but it makes sense.
  
  Unlike the deal with Tolar, we never learn the identity of the person Garak claims is requesting gel in exchange for the data rod. This mystery person never comes aboard the station, nor does anyone witness the transaction. That could've been to keep the episode within the time limit. But then, why focus so much on this bio memetic gel to the point that we have a separate scene with Bashir arguing over it, and specifically mentioning it can be used to make weaponry?
  
  If true, that would be the one piece of the puzzle that Sisko did not figure out and which Garak got away with. It's also interesting that, when Sisko realizes Garak planted the bomb on Vreenak's shuttle, he never questions how Garak got ahold of a bomb. He probably just assumes Garak used his Obsidian Order skillset to make one.
  
  Of course, this would also mean that Garak had another way of getting ahold of the data rod, or maybe he just traded some of the gel and used the rest for the bomb. That would fit with his claim that the quantity is "open to negotiation".
  
  Anyway, enough of that rabbit hole. It's definitely one of the best episodes in all of Star Trek.

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 Scott on 2008-11-10 at 8:56pm:
  In my eyes this episode was a massive let down. Starts of well, get to see the hirogen, puts the doctor on another ship, see some romulans and the new starfleet ship that travels at warp 9.9. Thats where the good ends, and it becomes a joke. For one, why are the romulans acting like kason, there interregation of the doctor was laughable, says everythin bout the Tal Shiar. Comparing the vulcan cousins in this episode to Senator Vreenak in DS9 makes them seem shallow and stupid. Why did they kill everybody and yet leave some bodies in sickbay, one of them who was resuscitated only to die seconds later. good one doc. Lastly i hope to god these are rebel romulans, if not then why on earth do they have the ship instead of been camped in by the dominion or helping the feds in the dominion war. looks like this ship was too important for both factions than the alpha quadrent itself. And why do the fed ships go in all guns blazing against 3 warbirds and the most technologically advanced ship in their own fleet, just doesnt seem starfleet to me. Still none of the attack makes sense anyway. Imagine sisko when he finds out about this ship and that TWO defiant style ships went off to rescue it from romulans. He must be wondering why this information of new ship technology was not forthcoming when he's basically head of the station forefronting the war. Shockin continuity here in this episode, and you almost forget why the doctor was on the ship in the first place when they're gettin attacked. But its ok, this is just brushed aside in the last 3 minutes. You would be forgiven for thinking that the doctor went to an alternate universe alpha quadrant. In 7 seasons id say this was the biggest let down of all voyager episodes. Id even go as far as sayin its a disgrace but im obviously in a minority there. I just cant get over the lack of clever romulans, it just fails the episode in my opinion
• From Michael on 2011-10-23 at 9:44pm:
  I don't get how the computer can program an artificially sentient Leonardo da Vinci, Moriarty, etc. on it's own, but creating a doctor holodeck character requires years of programming by top holodeck engineers.
• From Rick on 2013-01-04 at 9:16pm:
  Problem: New EMH guy says that he is transferring all life support power to something else because they obviously dont need it. Good point, except for the fact that there were 27 unconscious Romulans that he killed by doing so.
• From Jadzia Guinan Smith on 2015-06-11 at 1:53pm:
  I wondered about that life support, too. Would they let the tranquilized Romulans die? Didn't they just recently treat wounded Romulans because, as doctors, they value the life and well-being of all species?
  
  Also, the 2 Federation officers who boarded the ship near the end weren't wearing environment suits... how did they survive/function on a vessel without life support? They didn't seem to be gasping or suffering in any way.
  
  I thought this episode had a lot of technical problems. But it was spirited, funny, hugely entertaining... as Doctor-centered episodes usually are! easily a 7 or 8.
  
• From Phil on 2015-09-01 at 1:48pm:
  Re: life support, I've always seen it as responsible for replenishing oxygen and keeping the ship warm enough for life. With only 27 unconscious humanoids onboard, it would take days to exhaust the oxygen in the ship's atmosphere, and the heat dissipation characteristics of these starships are never really explained in any detail.
  
  I laughed out loud at the replacement holographic doctor scenes because I've seen those same conversations happen between programmers and less savvy managers with unrealistic expectations. For once the technology in Star Trek isn't just "push a button and then it's all just magic", which I greatly appreciated.
• From Xall on 2017-05-10 at 5:56pm:
  My main issue with this whole episode is the whole Alpha/Beta quadrant debacle.
  
  At first, Seven says the ship's in the Alpha Quadrant; cue to visual representation which clearly shows in the Beta Quadrant. Thereafter, she says it's at the outer edges of the Alpha Quadrant.
  
  Even so, when The Doctor beams over to the Prometheus, the computer (!) acknowledges their presence as in the Alpha Quadrant. The show's writers really were a letdown as fas as this was concerned.
• From Mike on 2017-07-09 at 7:22pm:
  The Romulans definitely sent their goof troop to take over the Prometheus. They were a bit too bozo-like in this one, reminding me of the Ferengi in TNG. Maybe not quite that bad...but still.
  
  In response to Scott, I believe this one aired before DS9: In The Pale Moonlight, so the Romulans weren't yet in the Dominion War. If I remember, Andy Dick's character even mentions something about this,. But, since this episode begins with the Romulans taking over a ship and ends with multiple starships in a full-on battle, it does seem like a tricky thing to smooth over even when they become partners against the Dominion later on.
  
  I'm not a fan of Andy Dick and didn't think I'd like this one. But the Mark II worked well with the Doctor to create a good balance of humor and suspense. It was a nice episode for both the Doctor and Seven in their journeys to become more human, as the Doctor gets to see how far he's come in relation to a "normal" hologram, and Seven learns about how her abrasive communication pisses off her crew mates :)
  
  I was also curious about the wider Romulan motives here and also about the relay station. Who put it there? We (spoiler alert) learn later that the Hirogen merely use part of it, but it is clearly much older. Since it covers nearly half the galaxy, it opens up all kinds of possibilities about being the communications network for an ancient civilization that we never learn more about. Oh well. Still a good episode.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From FH on 2009-02-04 at 9:45am:
  Sito is not a new character. She was in Wesley's team at the academy in "The First Duty".
• From askthepizzaguy on 2010-08-10 at 5:56pm:
  I thought that the actor that played Taurik went on to play a vulcan on Voyager, Vorik.
  
  Vorik is basically a Taurik clone. Similar to Tom Paris and Locarno being a clone.
• From MJ on 2011-04-25 at 10:04pm:
  This is one of the best episodes of the seventh season of TNG, and is probably one of my top 10 for the whole series.
  
  First, the concept itself is unorthodox. Not many television shows put their main casts in a side role and make the story revolve around a bunch of characters, some of which haven't been introduced before. It works, too, because the actors and actresses pull it off and we still see enough of the main cast-it's just that we see them through the eyes of junior officers. The writing is perfect because we instantly get a sense of the characters and their relationships with each other.
  
  I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, including Picard's testing of this young ensign in order to prepare her for a dangerous mission, with the added benefit of having some nice continuity from TNG: The First Duty. Worf was well written in this episode too. His bonding with Sito was both believable and a nice fit to the overall story.
  
  This one gets a 10 from me.
• From L on 2013-05-02 at 4:02am:
  Genuinely moving at the end, and great to see the view from other members of the crew. I like how we were kept in the dark as much as the characters were, which is how it must be for 98% of the crew every time a red alert or an emergency is happening.
  Incidental personnel aren't usually privilege to exposition, unless Picard does a weekly 'This week on the Enterprise' public announcement wrap-up.
  Sad to know we won't see any more of the perky Cardassian. Loved the way Whorf and the Captain helped to build her up.
  
• From L on 2013-05-02 at 6:34am:
  Oh crap. I meant 'perky Bajoran'. Embarrassed apologies.
• From Quando on 2014-01-27 at 9:55pm:
  I just watched this episode again, and I think it is my favorite of the whole TNG series. I love that we get to see a "crisis of the week" in a way that the crew would actually experience it -- learning bits and pieces here and there but never really knowing exactly what is going on, even when it is over. I also loved the somewhat parallel but different dynamics between each of the senior officers and their corresponding junior officer counterparts (Riker/Lavell, Beverly/Ogawa, Geordie/Taurik, Worf/Sito). Lavell being terrified of Riker, but trying to kiss up to him, and Riker eventually realizing that he was being too hard on Lavell, possibly because he saw some of his own young self in him. Worf personally vouching for Sito and trying to give her more confidence and an opportunity to succeed, only to see her killed and feel like it was partly his fault (note how he protectively stands next to her when she is sitting in the observation lounge meeting the Cardassian). Geordie getting over his pride and annoyance with a show-off newbie and Taurik learning a little about how to interact with humans without coming across as a jerk. Letting the senior officers interact with new characters in the crew who are somewhat more developed than the usual "redshirt" extras lets us see old, familiar characters in a new light. Also, the ending of the episode is sad but perfect. The crew has to presume that Sito is dead based on some pretty strong circumstantial evidence, but in the end nobody really knows for sure what happened - and we the viewer don't even get to see it from our usual third person omniscient point of view. We get to see no more that the crew does, and even the senior officers don't know (indeed, there are no shots outside of the ship in the whole episode). Very true to life. My only complaint is that with the exception of Ogawa (IMO the least interesting of the four), we don't get to see any of these interesting characters ever again. I would have even liked to see a whole episode about Ben, and how he ended up tending bar on a starship. But this was the last TNG season, so I guess time had kind of run out. Even so, this is a really great story about the people on the ship and how they act and react to each other, and for that reason I give it a "10" and my vote as the best episode of TNG.
• From dronkit on 2014-03-14 at 6:58am:
  Another favorite episode for me, when I saw it the first time years ago I loved it, seeing new characters developed, a civilian and lower rank officers, and I loved the new reformed Zito and her destiny was so sad.
  
  Anyway I came to say: Troi playing poker?!? She should be banned!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-04-23 at 3:38am:
  problem: How the HELL can casualty reports be coming in from all over the ship a mere 2 seconds after impact?? A little ridiculous.
  
  Some of the stuff in this episode is just chilling. Like hearing Picard order all hands to abandon ship, while he's sitting there at the table
  
  I love how they refuse to reveal the actual year at the end. Picard just craftily tells him to beam aboard, but doesn't say "well its actually ____ A.D." I thought I could finally know, but I guess we're just damned to deal with their stardates.
  
  Wonderfully directed, Jonathan, wonderfully directed
• From DSOmo on 2007-09-30 at 7:15am:
  - At the end of the show, Worf checks with the nearest starbase and discovers that the Enterprise has been stuck in the loop for more than seventeen days. If that is true, the crew hasn't been repeating the same fragment of time. If they were repeating the same fragment of time, the ship's chronometer would line up with the starbase's chronometer, since the entire universe would get reset at the beginning of each loop. Instead, the crew of the Enterprise must have been repeating the same actions, and somehow everything on the ship - including the crew's memories and the ship's chronometer - got reset at the beginning of each loop.
  - The episode never adequately explains where the other ship came from. The show implies that the USS Bozeman has been caught in a loop for eighty years. If so, how did the Bozeman get started with its loop? According to Geordi, the Enterprise began its loop when the ship exploded. The captain of the Bozeman made no mention of any explosion before seeing the Enterprise. He simply said the time-space distortion appeared and was followed by the Enterprise. The Bozeman could have jumped forward in time eighty years when it entered the time-space distortion. It could have exited the distortion and collided with the Enterprise. That would explain the lack of explosion for the Bozeman. If that is true, Picard should be treating the Bozeman the same way he treated the Enterprise-C in "Yesterday's Enterprise." Just after the Enterprise-C came through the temporal rift, Picard realized that disclosing information to the crew of the Enterprise-C could fundamentally alter history if the Enterprise-C ever returned to its own time. In this episode, Picard's behavior is quite the opposite. He immediately invites the captain aboard for a conference.
• From djb on 2008-04-16 at 10:05am:
  I love this episode, and always have, and the one thing I think that's lacking was already brought up: what the deal is with the other ship and why it's 80 years off, where the enterprise is only 17 days off.
  
  
• From online broker on 2009-10-04 at 9:17pm:
  I love this episode, its my favourite of TNG, and has been since I was 12 and saw it on TV. I always thought it is called "Deja Vu"!
• From musterpuffer on 2010-03-04 at 9:11pm:
  One of my favourite episodes ever, I love the repetitions which are slightly different from time to time. Jonathan Frakes is such a talented guy!
  
  I think Data should have found the way out of the loop though: At one critical point they discuss whether to change course or not. Picard speculates that altering course might have caused the problem in the first place. But, the single reason the discussion arises is because they have become aware of the loop by now - hearing the echos etc. The very first time around there was no loop and no echos or other pointers so therefore there would have been no reason to change course. From which they might have concluded that there was no course change in the original timeline. But then the episode would have been a lot shorter so it's not meant as a criticism! Great stuff.
• From Jason on 2011-01-06 at 4:06am:
  My question: how can the crew program the number 3 (recognizing Riker to be correct in his strategy for avoiding the collision) when they have no tangible memory of these (for them) still future events? The crew has no idea what is coming through the rift and yet they retain memory of who had the correct strategy of how to avoid it? Seems far-fetched and certainly not adequately explained
  
  Otherwise an excellent episode and a season (and series) highlight
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-07 at 6:27pm:
  When I think of my favorite TNG episodes, this always comes to mind first. Really skillfully done.
  
  In answer to Jason's question: Seconds before the Enterprise is destroyed the last time, Data realizes his strategy was wrong, looks at Riker's 3 rank buttons, and sends the message to the next iteration. This is clearly shown, but easy to miss since it happens so fast and with no verbal explanation.
• From Zaphod on 2011-04-12 at 1:27pm:
  I don't like this episode, not just because it indeed is very repetitive, but because of a couple of other reasons too:
  1. Timeloops dont make any sense and the technobabble explaining them is complete bullshit, period.
  2. Moreover there is no believable explanation for why they have memories of past runs through that loop. Dekyonparticles interfering with their brains or what? Where did I hear that before? ... Ah, that's it! I bet Geordi is wrong and the midi-clorians told them what happened last time! That's where the whispering came from too! Midi-clorians, Dekyon-Particles, both just pathetic excuses for magic mumbo jumbo, nothing more. Star Wars was about magic, at least before George Lucas screwed it, so at least they have an excuse.
  Doesnt make sense at all. If I want to watch magic mumbo jumbo then Star Wars does a better job.
  3. Why do they remember some unimportant things like the cards they got dealt but not important ones like using the tractor beam doesn't work? Very easy answer, plot convenience, that's why.
  4. The story they repeat over and over again ... *headdesk* ... it's just boring as hell!
  You might argue: "But the Enterprise explodes!"
  Sorry, still boring, taking into account the poor special effects of that explosion and the annoyingly stupid explosion sound they play every f***ing time when a ship blows up in Star Trek.
• From Zaphod on 2011-04-12 at 1:57pm:
  @ Jason:
  Since CAlexander didnt really understand your question, here's the explanation:
  
  They altered the dekyon grid last time they went throught the loop and that alteration manipulated Data (his Brain seems to be sensitive to these dekyon field emissions) into unknowingly placing that 3 everywhere he went this time.
• From Zaphod on 2011-04-12 at 4:20pm:
  Sry, it's me who didnt understand Jasons question. ^^
  He asked for the message, I explained the delivery method. CAlexander is right of course.
• From Robert Koenn on 2011-04-19 at 11:39am:
  I only rated this a 6 as I found the episode beginning to get repetitive and a bit boring as a result. Certainly there were minor differences each time which managed to hold my interest a bit but I told my wife, one more repetition and I'm giving up on it. Now at the same time I did find the idea somewhat interesting although flawed a bit but then while being fairly good technically ST still deals with some of these things as magic rather than technology. The crew interaction was good and that also kept me from turning it off. Still, one more time through this loop would have been it for me.
• From Rache on 2012-05-03 at 8:29pm:
  My favorite TNG episode too!
• From Keith on 2013-08-21 at 8:46pm:
  Love the episode, but absolutely hate the poker. Once a pair of queens is showing everyone should have folded, looking at the cards there is no conceivable way that Worf or Data should have stayed in for as long as they did, that is lousy poker, and while Riker may have wanted to bluff Crusher should have bet whatever the limit is before the last card giving him a possible straight. Finally, poker in general in STNG is silly. Poker only works if there are stakes or consequnces to betting, i.e. losing money, if played for points nobody folds and it is just a silly game of luck.
• From Daniel on 2014-05-03 at 10:10pm:
  This episode brought about two questions for me; one purely hypothetical. First - Riker orders all crew to be ready at the escape pods, then Picard orders all hands abandon ship. Now, admittedly, there is no time for anyone to actually escape the ship. But, suppose a few crew members did manage to escape in time. What would happen to them in the repeating time loop? Would they be out of the loop and adrift in their escape pods? (Just a hypothetical.) The other question for me regards the habit that Riker has of putting his foot up on the console and assuming a pose like that. Like when he is standing next to Data at the helm and props his leg up on Data's console. Is it okay for a Starfleet officer to use ship equipment as a footrest?
• From tigertooth on 2017-07-04 at 2:31pm:
  I loved this back when it first aired and have considered it my favorite episode since. Watching it now, it didn't hold up for me. Without the mystery, it loses the effect.
  
  I found it funny how useless they made Nurse Ogawa seem. She has to call Dr. Crusher away from her off-duty hours just because Geordie comes in feeling dizzy?
  
  Also, I know why it had to be this way, but the reactions of Picard and crew when the impact is 30 seconds away seem awfully slow. If they'd fired up the tractor beam a few seconds sooner, they might have deflected the Bozeman successfully.
  
  And Riker's solution seems pretty goofy, really. You couldn't control how the decompression would move the ship. I'm not even convinced that it would move the ship very much. That said, why not do both? Use the tractor beam *and* blow the shuttle bays!
  
  Finally, I get why the writers went with "three" as the message to be sent -- to add to the mystery. But I'd think Data might have sent "Riker" or "shuttle" or something instead.
• From Chris on 2018-04-03 at 4:50pm:
  Did I miss something? The Bozeman apparently is stuck in the 24th Century from here on out?
  
  Since that seems to be the case, They would've done well to keep Grammer on as a semi-regular who was re-learning updated Ster Fleet protocols and tech! Or perhaps as a history teacher? He's a great actor and his cameo in this episode was wasted I think...
  
  I liked this episode when I first saw it, but thank god for Netflix to allow me to kick through the repetitions! ;-)
  
  Also, 10 'right arrows' on your keyboard allow you to skip the main intro after the set-up intro!
  
  Personally, I think the message I might have sent to myself if I were Data, would have been simply "Wrong". Three or 3 would have simply been way too arcane a reference to have figured out so abruptly or quickly. In fact, by this point, I'm thinking that once the drama began to unfold, and them all having a good idea that bad things were afoot, whatever command Picard designated as make-it-so, would've been the incorrect one.
  
  My guess is that they figured they could only send a single character and not a word... I don't recall them specifying.
  
  Why was 'Sideshow Bateson' unaware of what was happening to his ship and crew who surely must've been getting the same deja vu feelings!
  Made me think of the Darmok episode or others, where the Enterprise crew is filled with geniuses compared to the boobs in the rest of Star Fleet who no matter how much time they have, are unable to figure things out for themselves! It's a little irritating.
  
  Still, a great episode!

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 Rich Dixon on 2006-04-20 at 10:37pm:
  Patrick Stewart never quite fully received the accolades and recognition from the Emmy's for his portrayal of Jean Luc Picard during his stint on TNG. The show as a whole was disregarded come Emmy time. We all know the reason why. It was a science fiction show, syndicated no less. In the early 90s, there was no way in hell a sci-fi show would be nominated for best drama on TV. Now in the 21st century, things have changed of course. Shows on Cable TV are routinely nominated. I still wonder if TNG and Stewart would garner nominations even still today. Not that the Emmy's are the end all to be all. My point is this. Somebody had to give this man an award! Stewart's performance in this episode was a tour de force. It was just stunning. The Inner Light although simplistic in its story telling, encompassed everything that Star Trek represents. The aliens in this episode will never be forgotten. At least not for Picard, who was controlled by an alien probe from a world long since vanished. During a span of 25-30 minutes, he lives a lifetime of another man complete with a loving wife and two kids. He watches them grow up along with the decaying of his planet. We watch as Picard stubbornly and defiantly refuses to play along with these people who seem to believe he's another man. Eventually, Picard assumes the life of this man and leads the life he never had and longed for. He has a family. He has a companion who is loyal, patient and nurturing. Picard's brilliant mind leads him to find ways to save his planet to no avail. Ultimately, the aliens reveal themselves and inform Picard the truth about themselves and their planet. This was their way of being remembered. What an effective way to let others understand who you are. Let them live a lifetime as one of you. One of the most moving and touching scenes came at the end, in Picard's ready room. Riker walks in and gives the captain the only contents that were found in the alien probe. A flute Picard learned to play as this other man. When Picard was first abducted, he didn't even know how to hold it properly. As Riker leaves the captain to his thoughts, Picard stares out the window. He begins to play it with a feeling and passion that conveys everything we need to know. These memories will stay with him forever. This is an excellent episode. It's the very reason why I loved this show.
• From Pete Miller on 2006-05-05 at 3:08am:
  Is it just me or does the second version of picard (aged once) look a hell of a lot like Jimmy Buffett?
• From Pete Miller on 2006-07-18 at 10:30pm:
  Sorry to come back and post again, but after I finished the series I decided to award my personal Best episode of TNG award.
  
  When I picked my "Best of..." episodes, I took into consideration what each series was really about. The Next Generation is truly about exploring the unexplored, discovering new people and cultures, and above all self-improvement. It is not like DS9, which focuses on more darker themes and contains more action. The Next Generation aims to paint an optimistic picture of the future, and to affect its audiences profoundly.
  
  The Inner Light accomplished all of TNG's goals. It is a masterful story of the tragic death of an entire species whose sun went supernova. The culture is not lost, however, but preserved through the memories of Picard, who is a changed man. It is a story of life in general, and of growing old and losing loved ones. The bottom line, though, is that the future is a bright one, and those things that we may consider to be lost causes today may yet live on in the future.
  
  This was a very moving performance by Patrick Stewart, the best actor to ever grace Star Trek. It was a perfectly written story, demonstrating the awesomeness of TNG's writers. I cannot subtract any points from anything, and the episode basically epitomizes TNG.
  
  It is with all of these things in consideration that I bestow my "Best of TNG" award to "The Inner Light". As soon as I finish Voyager I'll re-evaluate all episodes to find the best overall.
• From DSOmo on 2007-10-05 at 7:29am:
  This is one of my favorite TNG episodes of all time. That is not correct. This is one of my favorite Star Trek episodes of all time! Jean-Luc Picard is one of my favorite Star Trek characters (it doesn't hurt having an amazing actor like Patrick Stewart playing the part.) However, yes, I have even "discovered" a problem with this episode.
  - This is a society with the technological level of midtwentieth-century Earth. It manufactured a device that can create an alternate reality within an unknown alien mind. Look at what this probe accomplishes. It scans the Enterprise and overpowers the ship's shields. It finds Picard and attaches an energy beam to him. This energy beam creates an alternate reality so complete that "it is as real as his life on the Enterprise." Does this sound like a project undertaken by a community who have just begun to launch missles? In the late 1950s, if the nations of Earth discovered that the Sun would soon explode, is it even conceivable that those nations would be able to build such a device?
• From baron on 2010-12-11 at 7:49pm:
  After watching this I found the society that he lived in pretty unbelievable. All Picard seems to do is play his flute and look through a telescope. How did he raise a family just by doing that? Wouldn't he need a job and income of some kind? This isn't a futuristic society with food replicators and unlimited energy. They say they have to grow crops. Towards the end they say the crops are failing. Where are they getting their food from then? They say it takes a day just to send a message to the next village. It's pretty impossible that society could have built the probe in the first place.
  
  In an earlier episode someone mentioned that it would have been to impossible for a time traveler from the past to take a phaser and try to manufacture it back in his own society. Since their society wouldn't have the infrastructure in place to be able to manufacture it. Perhaps a phaser needs a mineral from another star system but they don't have the ability to leave their planet. But yet in this episode a 1950's era society can make technology more advanced than the enterprise.
• From Autre on 2011-03-04 at 7:32pm:
  They are aliens, and regardless if they are in a 1950's era situation they are much different from humans. Rather than creating atomic bombs or weapons to destroy one another they all banded together as a race with a single goal in mind.
  
  If you were to take every scientist in the world and work them to one cause it is very likely something astounding would come from it.
  
  But again, the main point behind this is that they are aliens, and TNG has many episodes with aliens that appear to not be advanced but turn out having technological marvels.
• From Robert Koenn on 2011-04-29 at 3:46pm:
  This was a very good episode but not nearly my favorite. In fact I rated it a 7. Stewart did do an excellent job of acting in the episode. But why I lowered my rating was that I did not find the scenario and the overall plot that exciting. While I could also say it was technically absurd, a race that seems to live a simple agrarian existence creating this marvelously advanced spacecraft that was launched on a very basic solid fueled rocket, that is not really my main complaint. It just wasn't that exciting or even enticing to watch Picard live this imaginary life. I am not a particular fan of massive doses of action or such but found this more of a soap operaish plot line. It appears I am the minority in this take on the episode but those were my thoughts while watching it. I found the interplay between characters much more interesting in the episode where Picard returns home and visits his brother.
• From Alvlin on 2011-05-27 at 3:45am:
  I agree with Baron. While this is a great episode both emotionally & executionally, logically it has a HUGE flaw -- there is no way that such a "technologically primitive" society could manufacture & launch a probe that would be able to pierce the defenses of a ship 1,000 years into the future, not to mention reach directly into Picard's mind and play out a scenario based on his own reactions. A real strech which unfortunately hurts the overall credibility of this one.
• From Bronn on 2011-09-25 at 5:33am:
  I just want to comment on some of the scientific critique's of this episode. One of the reasons I can buy is that I don't necessarily think their technology had to evolve at a similar rate to ours. Just because they weren't advanced in the field of space travel doesn't mean they weren't advanced in other areas-they just may not have been interested in space travel. It's worth wondering how interested humanity would be in space travel if this planet had no moon. The extreme advance of technology during the space race is partly owed to the existence of an easily definable objective: Let's put a human on the closest celestial object. It helps also to have such a close orbit body to fuel the curiosity of planet-dwellers, to give them an actual urge to reach space.
  
  What we see of the planet during this episode also represents a single agrarian community. It's not necessarily the best cross-section. If you visited 20th century Earth and all you saw was a farming community in Nebraska, you might not catch on that we can generate nuclear power, or that there is a laboratory in Geneva that can isolate atoms of anti-hydrogen. The native culture in this episode may have simply had some specialization in ways to affect brain chemistry, and this was a technology unique to their development.
  
  "But how does it pierce the defenses of the USS Enterprise!?" Well it's just possible that the Enterprise's defenses aren't designed to defeat the specific thing that the probe was doing. The shields are designed to repel only specific types of energy, and presumably solid objects (there are many inconsistencies with THAT). The shields clearly allow certain types of energy to pass through-as evidenced by the fact that the crew can actually see out a window even with the shields are activated, so visible light is not stopped by the shields. The crew is also still able to use communication frequencies with the shields up, so perhaps other parts of the EM spectrum are not screened out. It's not like this beam utterly defeats the Enterprise, since it takes the crew a whopping 5 minutes to figure out how to interrupt it (if that)-they are only stopped because removing it nearly kills Picard.
  
  Okay, so there's a little bit of a hand-waving in that the probe apparently "scans" the crew, or least has some method of identifying that there are life forms on board the Enterprise, and it manages to isolate one to communicate with, but it's not like we ever learn much about how the USSE itself scans for lifeforms. There's not really an issue with bad science in this episode, at least not enough to destroy willful suspension of disbelief, unless you're just looking for reasons not to like it.
• From Rob on 2013-01-27 at 6:05am:
  I love this episode, it could be my own personal experiences that leads me to this but it seems to me to be an analogy to a psychedelic induced state of mind wherein the 'traveller' can experience an entire lifetime in the blink of an eye.
  
  Once returning to their original understanding of their reality and normal perspectives there is a struggle, a conflict between the person they were before the event, the person they were during the event and who they need to be to move on from the event. Everything that took place was easily as real as the present and past to them, completely linked with emotions and feelings as real as any other memory in their mind.
  
  The only way for the traveller to move on is to merge the persona they lived into their ego, challenge the resistance from the higher ego and accept that they experienced a true existence and that perception combined with perspective is all there is, we accept our current one as the only one in order to live.
  
  This analogy would have been complete if after returning to the enterprise when Picard was given the flute he was able to play it as proficiently as he did in the mental projection.
• From skye_sken on 2013-03-28 at 12:31am:
  Just thought to comment on the allegations that a civilization such as theirs could not produce the technology needed for the probe to exist: I always figured the dreamworld that Picard experiences is rather an ideal representation of this people, or perhaps a "play" of a sort, rather than a full-on realistic portrayal of the advanced civilization they fostered just before the supernova event which eradicated it's people.
  
  When you think of it, some might say that a fine way to express one's civilization would be through art. It can be argued that technology is kind of homogenic in the way that any alien species can produce the same quantative results and inventions, whereas art I would suppose is always subjective and thus unique. I mean, showing aliens a play by Shakespeare would cover an immense amount of human emotions, those we hold so dear to us, and in a way sleek the image of humanity for the alien specators (after all, not many of us would sooner paint impressions of war, rape, extortion and other realistic qualities expressed by mankind).
  
  As someone before me noted, Picard doesn't seem to be doing any work, well, expect for his scientific research, which I guess many a folk do care for, and might deem important enough to sustain through their own labor. In the INNER LIGHT, art plays a key role in cultural preservation. In the dreamworld, we see art approached in the manner of the flute Picard gradually learns to play, the music of which in a way is a strong symbol of the lost people and a means to immortalize a part of their civilization.
  
  While we're making assumptions, I guess it's possible that if Picard's dreamworld was indeed a play, it was not entirely truthful, and this civilization never actually disappeared in a super nova after all; Picard just became a buffoon of an elaborate cosmic jape. But that's not nearly as romantic an idea, so forget it.
• From railohio on 2014-07-27 at 3:03pm:
  You guys are forgetting that while the probe was advanced, it certainly did not overpower the enterprise. The enterprise could have easily destoyed it, or severed the link (which they did), but they wouldn't because it would have been fatal to Picard. Even before he was connected by the beam, the Enterprise's mission is to explore new life and civilizations, so they could not simply destroy it on sight.
  
  As far as creating the probe in the 1st place. We can say the beginning of the episode took place somewhere in the 1950's. He lived almost a full life on Katan so it is feasible to say 40 years passed. That would put the society somewhere in the 1990s. With 1990s technology, it was seem like a far stretch to create such a device. However with the entirety of the planet working on such a desperate cause, one can conclude that it is somewhat possible to create something like this.
  
  Overall I loved this episode, and found it extremely interesting. A solid 9
• From Axel on 2015-03-25 at 3:53am:
  I'm in the minority that didn't enjoy this episode, and it's not because of the technological issues discussed above. It's because I really can't believe Picard or anyone else doesn't give a second thought to the ethics of what the Kataan have done.
  
  This probe is designed to take control of a person's conscious, force that person to relive a lifetime with the Kataan, and then awaken that person after making clear that this experience was just a recreation designed to keep the memory of their civilization alive. So twice you are confronted with years and years of your life being an illusion. The first time would be enough to make anyone question their own sanity. As for the second round of news at the end, Picard takes it pretty well. But the Kataan seem not to have considered (or cared) that others might not handle it that well. A person could leave this entire experience with serious mental and emotional problems rather than fond memories. Many might not have adjusted to living with the Kataan in the first place.
  
  Maybe the Kataan think that the collective memory of their civilization is worth all of this. But that issue is never really explored. Instead, Picard is released from his fake probe life as a happy man with a flute, never once wondering about the roller-coaster the Kataan just put him through.
  
  The acting in this episode is superb, not just Stewart but the guests as well. Still, the details of Picard's life with the Kataan isn't enough to redeem this one for me, nor was it interesting enough to put the episode's plot above average.
• From Harrison on 2016-06-25 at 11:50pm:
  A dramatic masterpiece, by far the best episode of any of the Star trek series. Stewart's performance is simply magnificent.
  
  Of course it is easy as pie to poke holes in the sci-fi logic underpinning the plot. That's true with any episode in the series, and it is hardly significant in light of the outstanding screenplay, character formation and plain old dramatic compulsion. A little suspension of disbelief won't harm you, and in the laws of the Star trek universe, there's nothing terribly difficult to accept.
• From dominic on 2016-06-26 at 5:11am:
  The thought did cross my mind that such a primitive society shouldnt' have been able to build such an advanced piece of technology in the probe, but I was able suspend my disbelief and get over that.
  
  What really bothers me about this episode is what Axel mentioned above. Surely the victim of this probe is put through an unfathomable amount of emotional trauma...not once, but twice. When Captain Picard "came back" and they asked him to go sickbay, I was totally expecting him to say something like "I don't need to go to sickbay. I need to see Counselor Troi." Not only did he not say that, but he didn't even see her. Was she even in this episode? Seems like a huge oversight to not have her play a more important role.
• From Chris on 2018-02-11 at 3:02am:
  I, like most folks, love this episode. An easy 10.
  
  If we here on earth were faced with a similar fate, I'm certain that once the religious idiots got out of the way, we could build something exactly like they did! ... and with current technology to start with!
  
  There are lots of study into mind reading technology going on right now and so nothing in this show is too much of a stretch for me.
  
  People always define other, alien technical abilities using humans as their benchmark and that is simply nonsensical to attempt. There is no context with which to base another alien's technical level and so leave it alone.
  
  I would have preferred if the aliens had done the probe to two people instead of just one. Like Axel, I think a person could seriously come out of an experience like this questioning one's sanity, and so having someone else come along for the ride would've been better I think.
  
  I have no problems with the food issues either. It's called C-Rations! ;-)
  
  Easily my favorite episode!
• From CAlexander on 2019-04-01 at 3:38am:
  Just watched this episode again, and it is even better when re-watched. This episode is too beautiful to care about the logic problems.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-07-09 at 1:16am:
  I give All Good Things a 10 overall. I did not rate Part 1 and Part 2, since I watch it on DVD and have no idea where the halfway point is.
  
  The episode itself is actually better than all the TNG movies. Everything about it is genius. Having the episode take place in three time periods is genius. Having the episode be a sequel to the very first episode is genius. I always look forward to watching it again.
• From Tony on 2008-09-09 at 4:23am:
  The whole idea of working among diferent time periods and Picard in that "one moment" open to new posibilities and things to explore is great, but there is one problem: the movies and series set after this episode in time seem to show that humanity didn't expand in ways predicted in this episode and just settled back into their old ways. Admittedly, our current minds are not highly evolved enough to comprehend such endevers, but it does seem odd that both humanity doesn't advance (except maybe in VOY: Relativity dealing with an even farther future) and that the Q doesn't seem to care. This is not a strike against this episode, but a strike against future episodes relating to this episode.
• From JRPoole on 2008-11-05 at 8:09pm:
  I just finished the entire TNG series, so this is a review of the series as a whole as well as a comment on this episode.
  
  "All Good Things" is phenomenal. It's intelligently written, fleshes out the characters well, and filled with fanboy fun stuff that doesn't get in the way of a good episode. I gave it a 10.
  
  TNG overall was also solid. Like the original series, it had its lame moments, but it was able to take the original concept and turn it into a sleek, intelligent show that took itself seriously but was still still fun. The best moments of TNG ("Measure of a Man," "The Inner Light," the Klingon saga episodes, the Borg invasion, Wesley's continuing journey to higher astral planes, et al) get at the heart of what Trek was really about. Now I'm looking forward to seeing DS9. I've seen a good bit of it, but a lot of it will be new to me.
• From djb on 2009-04-03 at 8:20am:
  I loved the 3D space battle scene. Unfortunately throughout most of Trek, the potential allowed by the three dimensions of space is wasted and most everything is in two dimensions, as if they were in a ship on the ocean. The brief battle scene here with the Enterprise arriving from a totally different angle and orientation was brilliant, and I wish we could have seen more battle scenes like that.
• From Ali on 2009-04-12 at 4:21pm:
  I love this episode too, but I think the science is a little bit iffy.
  
  Since Picard establishes that changes in timelines don't affect each other (i.e. Deanna doesn't recall him ordering a red alert on his first mission), then the fact that the first amino acid doesn't bond in the past shouldn't affect their known future or present...
  
  Multiple Universe Theories generally say that if an event is changed in the past, it will not alter the present; rather, create a new alternate Universe with that decision. And since there are infinite universes that exist where life did not end up occurring on earth, it wouldn't be that amazing. Life would have continued as normal to their perspective...
• From Jadzia Guinan Smith on 2011-10-01 at 1:49pm:
  If it's a 10, why isn't a candidate for your "Best TNG Episode" award?
• From Kethinov on 2011-10-07 at 6:49am:
  Both parts of the episode would have had to be rated 10 for it to be considered.
• From Vlad on 2012-02-13 at 3:49pm:
  This is one of my favourite episodes in all of Star Trek, but one little problem kills the magic for me...
  
  An early draft of the script, which was discarded for budget reasons, had the future crew stealing the Enterprise from a museum. Which meant that they started the search for the anomaly in the Enterprise and not the Pasteur.
  
  In the final version of the script they were on the Pasteur.
  
  Later, present-day Data says that the resonance pulses (or whatever they were called) inside the anomaly were identical "as if all three originated from the Enterprise".
  
  But they didn't!
  
  Anyway, aside from this little nitpick I have with the episode it's a fantastic send-off for TNG.
• From michael on 2012-08-07 at 10:03pm:
  If the anti-time reaction in the future goes backwards in time - how were they able to see it in the future? From the point of origin it travels backwards. From the perspective of linear time it would be impossible for anyone perceiving the forwards movement of time to see a reaction that moves precisely in the opposite direction?
• From Captain Keogh on 2013-03-17 at 10:38am:
  I loved this episode, just saw it on 26.12.2012 and thought it was brilliant, I gave it a 10.
• From thaibites on 2013-04-16 at 11:41pm:
  This is a great send-off for TNG. It's obvious a lot of thought was put into this episode. For example, I love the shot of Baby-face Riker they lifted from the 1st season. It was ingenious how they had new audio from Frakes while the shot shows Picard looking at the monitor, and then cuts back to Riker actually saying something from the season 1 footage. It was seamless and shows a lot of attention to detail.
  But the bigger aspect here is that All Good Things is what Star Trek is all about - pushing frontiers and going where no one (man) has gone before. Plus there's a lot at stake here - the existence of humanity (and the existence of every species between Earth and the Neutral Zone). This is awesome science fiction and TNG at its best!
• From L on 2013-05-09 at 12:32pm:
  This definitely was a great finale, epic and exciting. But a little frustrating too.
  
  Why do the Q continuum continue to torture Picard? They create some nonsensical dilemma and accuse Picard of being the cause when it was solely due to them that the crisis existed in the first place, just so they can force him to make some grand act they approve of.
  I thought the dilemma and its solution was totally irrational and may as well have been a dream, but it is implied that to evolve humanity must stop exploring real world science and technology and devote more time to this sort of thing. It seems they want to hold them back more than anything.
  I was annoyed at Q seeming to revert back to his earlier character after all they'd been through together, but felt better when it turns out he was acting under orders and did try to help after all.
  
  It was awesome seeing how irritable Picard was as an old man, and seeing Troi in a mini-skirt. It was a shame Guinan didn't make an appearance for the last episode.
  The last scene was perfect and uplifting.
• From Dstyle on 2013-09-23 at 3:03pm:
  This episode first aired when I was in middle school, and I remember being very annoyed at the fact that the anomaly, which is supposed to be moving backwards in time, was somehow moving forward in time after it was created. It was the first time I ever noticed any logical inconsistencies in my favorite show (which is kind of funny now, looking back on all the various logical inconsistencies throughout TNG's run), and it still hinders my enjoyment of this episode. But I guess it would have taken too much screen time for the future crew to create the static warp bubble in the past by slingshotting around a sun or something.
  
  I've always wondered why star ships always seem to be on the same plane when they run into each other, so it was good to see the future Enterprise approach and attack perpendicular to the Klingon Birds of Prey. Shame future Star Trek's didn't continue with this.
  
  Everyone thinks future Picard is crazy, but they inexplicably (or perhaps touchingly) humor him because he is Jean-Luc Picard. He refuses a brain scan at Cambridge, insisting instead that they immediately get a ship to the neutral zone. The "present day" crew, on the other hand, believe Picard completely, in part because Beverley was able to show (via two brain scans) that he had accrued two days worth of memories in a matter of hours. Why didn't future Picard immediately insist on the same brain scans? Wouldn't it have been much, much easier to get everyone on board with him (and to avoid being sedated) by easily providing evidence that what he was saying was true?
  
  Future Geordi is married to a woman named Leah. Leah Brahms, perhaps?
• From Jai Parker on 2014-07-10 at 2:11am:
  After a generally disappointing Season 7 TNG ends with a massive bang! Easily the best finale of any Trek series and 20 years on this is still one of the best grand finale's of any TV series IMO.
  
  I just wish they'd left the story here, rather than trying to reinvent TNG as a series of half baked sci-fi action films with a horribly out-of-character Picard at the helm.
  
  As with the Star Wars prequels I pretend the TNG films didn't happen and it ended with "the sky's the limit!"
• From englanddg on 2014-08-02 at 8:40am:
  The only thing I'll add is that the previous episodes were all setting up for this, outside of summing up loose characters (as fan service).
  
  Many of the derided episodes (when taken on their own) are in fact building the audience to this climax...
  
  Where Picard finally loses his mind.
  
  It was a quite brilliant story arch, across episodes, while still paying fan service to characters in interesting ways as they writers knew the show was dead after this season.
  
  Extremely well done.
• From Mike Chambers on 2016-08-25 at 2:55pm:
  This has already been mentioned by another commenter, but I want to reiterate. The one thing that always bothered me about this otherwise amazing finale is, if the anomaly only grows backwards through time then how the heck were they able to go back several hours into the future and see it??
  
  It's been a while since I've watched this, so maybe I'm forgetting something but I don't recall any explanation for it. Seems like a pretty massive oversight.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-07-22 at 5:12am:
  "But why?"
  
  "He was cardassian. That's reason enough."
  
  A line that certainly is a microcosm of the current conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Eventually the killing goes on for so long that both sides don't even know why they do it, except that the other side is their adversary.
• From JTL on 2008-08-03 at 11:35pm:
  A supremely touching episode; when Marritza breaks down at the end there I don't think I've ever felt such sympathy for a character in a television series. The only reason I wouldn't normally give this episode a 10 is because Marritza's death is (while perhaps necessary) very rushed and, as you said, too easy. However this was much too moving as to not get a 10.
• From Thorsten Wieking on 2008-09-02 at 12:54pm:
  What struck me while watching the first season a second time in this episode and episode "Dax" is the fact that obviously there is still the death penalty imposed on Worlds belonging to or becoming a member of the Federation. I for one thought that this punishment has been abolished at least in the future UFP.
  
  Cheers
  Thorsten
• From Bernard on 2010-01-12 at 12:16am:
  Beautifully constructed episode, brilliantly performed.
  
  Enough said!
  
  Seriously though, it seems like they saved the best stuff for the last two episodes. You have to wonder what was going on for most of the season when they can produce this standard of episode that rivals anything TNG could do for emotional impact and profound messages.
• From MJ on 2011-02-09 at 9:39pm:
  This ranks as one of my favorite DS9 episodes of all time.
  
  It's brilliance has already been pointed out by the other reviews here. My only other thought is that I can't think of a single other TV series in science-fiction or elsewhere that produced such a stunningly and powerfully dramatic episode in its first season. I must admit, when I first watched DS9, I was not prepared for this episode based on what I'd seen. And Moritza's breakdown loses absolutely none of its power with repeated viewing, the sign of a truly great episode.
  
  Even TNG, which I still tend to like better, did not produce such a moving episode until its second season (Measure of a Man). Pure brilliance...
• From John on 2011-12-07 at 3:49am:
  While the rest of the characters are well utilized, particularly the brilliantly-written Marritza, the weak link (as usual) is Kira. No surprise there, as she is one of the most irritating and one-dimensional characters in the entire Star Trek canon. Her constantly over-dramatic indignation gets very tired very quickly, and detracts from an otherwise gripping episode.
  
  
• From Jimmy on 2019-08-22 at 1:32am:
  
  For me simply the best Star Trek episode ever written! Excellent acting all around. Captivating and riveting dialogue. Not one punch thrown, not one phaser fired, not one explosion. The current people working on Star Trek could learn a lot from this episode.
• From Abigail on 2019-09-01 at 6:02pm:
  Great episode!
  
  Kira was super annoying in this episode.
  
  But still, it was great!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Wes on 2012-04-13 at 5:40pm:
  Agreed. This is the best episode of DS9 thus far. Probably my favorite up to this point, too.
  
  I noticed something after watching this time. Something about this episode seems really similar to Star Wars. It's like they took the best parts of Star Wars and capitalized on them in this episode. (Of course, I'm not saying that's actually what they did. It just has the things I liked about Star Wars.) I think most of that comes from the great space battle. Other feelings of Star Wars come from all the characters who have some role to play. DS9 makes awesome use of a huge (for Star Trek) cast. This is just an awesome episode. The music was good, too.
• From Thavash on 2018-12-25 at 5:59pm:
  Why did Starfleet not send any assistance to the most strategic Station in the Alpha Quadrant , which was being attacked by the strongest enemy they had yet faced ? For me a major inconsistency.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Neil on 2006-05-23 at 7:42pm:
  Hi, great site. I am loving the reviews and may submit some when time allows.
  
  I would like to make one point though, you say that Lt Hawk dies in First Contact but appears in future films. This is not true, Neil McDonough's character does not reappear after his death, in any of the remaining 2 star trek films.
  
  Thanks
• From EKH on 2007-05-14 at 7:32pm:
  If this movie was a place, its name would be "Perfection, Arizona". "Perfection", because IMHO this is the best SF movie ever - though it ties with Aliens for that position - and "Arizona" because it is out-of-the-way, and far too frequently overlooked as a great film in its own right. It has got all the elements: The humour, the wonder, the plot, the atmosphere, the scares, the darkness and lightness, and all those wonderful little character moments. And the Defiant!
  And then it weaves everything together in just the right manner. While I agree the space battle might have been longer, I'm afraid that might break up the pace.
• From JTL on 2008-01-20 at 4:26am:
  This is truly the greatest movie that the Star Trek franchise has put out - but I have one problem with it, and indeed all incidents with the Borg. If the Borg adept so readily to energy weapons, then why not get the computer to replicate machine-guns to mow them down? It seems simple and it obviously works, looking at the Dixon Hill holodeck scene.
• From JRPoole on 2008-11-17 at 8:30pm:
  I just watched this again recently, as I'm hitting all the films during my slow march through the franchises. I agree that it's easily the best film of the bunch (with the possible exception of Star Trek II, just because it's so iconic) but there are some trouble spots that keep it from being a 10 in my book.
  
  Cochrane's character is a little too broadly-drawn for my tastes, and his generic rock n roll jukebox is a little embarrassing. That said, I think it's cool that they revisited first contact with the Vulcans in a way that makes the Vulcans in Enterprise more believable. One huge problem for me is the way that Hawk is assimilated while still inside his suit. This makes the Borg out to be zombies, and doesn't seem to fit with their character.
  
  That said, I love the scene in which Picard and Worf let loose the deflector dish. It's cool to see the ship close up from outside. Lilly is also a great character, and Patrick Stewart has good chemistry with Alfre Woodard.
• From Jonathon on 2009-12-09 at 5:41am:
  I loved this film when it first came out and for a long time it was my favorite trek movie. However for me it does not stand the test of time that well. It lacks the personal emotions of TWOK, the political relevance of TUC, and the humor (I feel) is only really funny to star trek fans. Yes the battle is great, but again it lacks weight and is really just a bunch of ships shooting at one big ship. Cool for me as a star trek fan (I wanted to see a big Borg battle since BOBW as much as anyone else) but now it just feels like eye candy. Compared it to the battles on TWOK and TUC, while they may not look as nice (due to when they were made), I still feel a real sense of danger with each shot fired.
  
  Not to say I dislike FC now, I like the interactions between the Queen and Data (lots of people don’t), I like the grief and personal turmoil of Picard (Whether this is true to his character can be debated), I like that Cochrane was an anti-hero.
  
  There is more good and bad to say but I will leave with this, more than 10 years after 1998 this movie means much less to me than when it came out. It can not be great sci-fi in my books because it fails that crucial test of time.
  
• From Jason on 2009-12-22 at 12:03pm:
  I'd like to echo Jonathon's thinking on this movie. When I saw it on opening night, I was ecstatic with it. But over time, this movie has lost its luster.
  
  In particular, the idea of a "Queen", a central point that you can disable and knock out the whole hive, entirely defeats the whole concept of the Borg. The whole reason that the Borg were scary was that (1) they were so adaptable, and (2) they are perfectly decentralized, precisely so that this kind of single-shot-killing-the-death-star kind of foolishness could never occur. This movie takes one of Star Trek's most innovative, truly frightening enemies and turns them into generic stupid centralized bad guys.
  
  In short, the movie is a fun romp, but doesn't have any bigger purpose, and takes the Star Trek universe a step backward on the whole.
• From MJ on 2011-02-26 at 1:35pm:
  The Borg were one of the most brilliant aliens ever created in science-fiction, and they worked out great for a couple episodes of TNG, specifically "Q Who?" and "Best of Both Worlds". After that, they weren't the same.
  
  For me, this movie was the last straw. A queen? Come on! The Borg’s decentralized structure and hive mind are exactly what make them so interesting. Also, you do not negotiate with the Borg, as they are amoral and only interested in assimilating life forms and their technologies. This completely upset that concept. As for the premise of the movie, it’s riddled with timeline disruptions and contradictions that I won’t get too much into here…suffice to say that the Enterprise crew’s spelling out of the entire future to Cochrane and Lilly makes it very hard for me to believe the timeline still unfolded exactly as it would have if the crew never visited Earth.
  
  Anyway, as with the other TNG films, there is enough here to somewhat redeem the movie despite its glaring failures. The Borg now look scarier and more sophisticated than ever…imagine what a budget like this would’ve enabled the TV show to do with Borg costumes and makeup! We can now see close-up shots of gadgets being installed into body parts, skin being graphed, eyes being drilled into, and all kinds of other frighteningly realistic operations to turn humanoids into cybernetic beings. This added a lot to the film, as it made the Borg seem more real!
  
  The opening battle scene is incredible. Once again, Trek’s efforts to incorporate humor so as to appeal to a wider audience are largely successful here. And I loved the “Big Goodbye” scene, which offered some nice continuity. This movie is worth watching twice (unlike Nemesis and Insurrection) because it has several exciting twists and turns, and three parallel plots that keep your attention.
• From Johnnyribcage on 2012-05-15 at 7:01am:
  Hi all, this is my first comment on this site. I've been a Trekker since I can remember (I'm 31). Grew up on the Kirk Treks, and TNG to a lesser extent. I've never been a big fan of anything other than TOS, the original cast movies, and a couple of the TNG movies including this one. Had some time on my hands recently and I tracked down this site, which led to a little Trek revival in my life (looking back on episodes I've loved, misjudged, and/or missed) I've always enjoyed this movie in particular. I just wanted to say that I agree with the host that this one is really up there with the best of Trek. Also, I noticed that someone earlier posted a gripe about Cochran's generic jukebox. I wanted to set the record straight that there's nothing generic about Roy Orbison OR Ooby Dooby - it's a classic (albeit one of my all time least favorite classic rock songs).
• From TLAS on 2013-01-03 at 8:37am:
  Great movie... But I just have to ask...
  Anyone find it funny how the enterprise is magically able to reverse-engineer time travel from the Borg at the end of the film? If so, shouldn't that mean the federation has the ability to (at least) jump 300 years into the past and future at will now? Kind of seems like something that would have changed everything in the future movies and was just a side wrap-up rather than a coherent concept.
  Oh we'll - still a good movie.
• From Selador on 2013-06-25 at 1:17am:
  This film is riddled with flaws which makes it completely incoherent. It frustrates me how the writers of the 'the best Star Trek film ever done' couldn't even be bothered to think things through properly. Here are some of the most obvious problems in ascending order.
  
  1. How many decks are there on the Enterprise-E? 26 according to Worf, 24 according to Picard.
  
  2. Weapons - when the Borg adapt to the phase-modulation, Picard says they'll need to find a way around it. So the Federation of the 24th century either haven't done that already or Picard reckons his crew can come up with something new during an extremely chaotic situation. Also Picard kills a few Borg in the holosuite using projectile weapons - so why not just use them? If the Borg are capable of 'adapting' to this then they would have done so already - matter is matter, you can't re-modulate that.
  
  3. Even though the Borg have assimilated "thousands of worlds" they all look human. Didn't they ever assimilate shorter/taller/bigger/smaller species?
  
  4. Picard says the Borg won't attack them until they consider them a threat - so they don't consider a big, armed crew of hostiles a threat?
  
  5. The Vulcans are aware of humanity but have decided not to make contact with them because they're "too primitive". Does one man inventing warp drive change this? How?
  
  6. In the end, before Data intentionally misses Zefram's ship with the missiles, he over-rides the computer decryption. Why? Doing so gives him no tactical advantage and only adds a huge unnecessary risk, since if he fails to incapacitate the Borg, they then have control of the ship.
  
  7. Apparently the Vulcans didn't detect the presence of the Enterprise. How could this be? Countless times we've seen Federation captains scanning for other ships in the sector - are we supposed to believe that Vulcans can't do this?
  
  8. Can Vulcans speak English? Surely not... But when they land on earth they can converse with humans. Via the Universal Translator? No, because as we've seen in DS9 it has to be implanted in the brains of those that have it for it to work. There is also an episode of DS9 where the crew comes across a new species - the Universal Translator can't translate their language because it's "not in the database". So what's going on here?
  
  9. Time. This is by far the biggest flaw in the film and completely undermines its whole premise. So the Borg can travel to the past in order to assimilate earth before it has made first contact. Why haven't they already done this? I mean, what's the point of launching an attack with one Cube (one!!! They have a massive empire!) when they could have simply traveled to the past in Borg space THEN traveled to earth? If they're willing to do that at all why not just do it?
  
  I don't understand how these problems weren't flagged up during production, and why Trek fans are willing to put up with such lazy writing. Are we really that easy to please?
• From Kethinov on 2013-06-25 at 4:12pm:
  Selador, some of your critiques are valid, but most are easily rationalized.
  
  #1: Valid. I just checked. Though it was Daniels, not Worf who contradicted Picard.
  
  #2: Not valid. It's well established throughout Star Trek that projectile weapons are considered primitive and passé. For example, in DS9: Field of Fire, the plot goes out of its way to make a point of that. So it seems reasonable that the Federation would not have come up with Picard's idea on its own.
  
  #3: Not valid. It's well established throughout Star Trek that nearly all aliens are humanoid to some degree. Besides, if you look closely at their faces you can see alien detail. I'm pretty sure one of the Borg that fights them on the deflector disk used to be Klingon!
  
  #4: Not valid. Maybe it's bad tactics for the Borg to ignore an armed boarding party walking around near them, but that's how they are, and it's how they were depicted since day one. It's a character flaw, not a plot hole. They're supposed to be an insect colony metaphor, remember?
  
  #5: Not valid. It's well established throughout Star Trek that any species without warp drive is to be left alone to develop on its own. That's what that whole Prime Directive thing is about.
  
  #6: Not valid. Data did that to gain and then abuse the Borg queen's trust. Once the encryption was defeated, she thought she had Data in her pocket and then trusted him too much.
  
  #7: Not valid. The Vulcans were stated to be just passing through the system at the exact time Cochrane made his famous warp flight. The Enterprise arrived a considerable time before that. Once they discovered what historical event was about to happen, the Enterprise took measures to conceal themselves from the Vulcans.
  
  #8: Not valid. The Vulcans had plenty of time to learn English while studying humans from afar. This is confirmed in In Star Trek Enterprise, where it is well established that T'Pol and her Vulcan comrades learned English to work with humans, and T'Pol's ancestors learned English while studying Earth in secret.
  
  #9: Not valid. The Borg are overconfident. That's why they sent only a single cube both times they attacked Earth. As for the time travel, the movie doesn't make it clear why the Borg can't just try again. However, it seems obvious that if they could, they would. It stands to reason that whatever device the Borg used to travel back in time must require a scarce resource or something.
  
  
• From Bernard on 2013-06-25 at 6:10pm:
  This movie polarises my own opinion so goodness knows it must with the Star Trek fanbase as a whole.
  
  On the one hand, you have one of the best sci-fi (dumb) action movies ever made (in my opinion).
  
  On the other hand, you have a plot that is very silly and characters doing silly things in order to make that plot work.
  
  I have to agree with one poster that said this movie does not stand the test of time in terms of my maturity. When I saw this film at the cinema I was 13 and it was one of the best films I'd ever seen, period!
  
  Looking back on it now, as I said above it is a great action movie that ticks a hell of a lot more boxes than most current action movies do, but it lacks common sense and that is a fatal flaw when I watch it as an adult.
  
  I don't actually agree with most of selador's gripes, there are more! It's the way the individuals act. Specifically, Picard, Data and the Queen (who should not have been in this movie or invented at all - she was the beginning of the Borg becoming a joke). The three of them act so stupidly, especially towards the end of the movie, that understanding they're goals and motives is nigh on impossible, thus you lose your grip on the audience.
  
  Why can Picard hear the Borg? Beverly is incompetant after Best of Both Worlds? (I know you'll come up with some explanation for this webmaster - but essentially it's a plot device). Why does Picard go to Engineering at the end, what is his plan? No plan? What is the Queen's goal with Data? Why is she thinking like an individual? What is Data doing? He has a chance to break the plasma tanks midway through the film and doesn't, he says at the end he only considered the Queen's offer for a fraction of a second. The fact that these three characters are acting like they have no clue what they are trying to achieve is simply a plot device to allow the events of the film to play out. How the hell does Picard manage to survive the plasma being blown at the end of the film, supposedly everyone in Engineering was going to be killed by that? Why is Picard suddenly so affected by his Best of Both Worlds experience again? In I, Borg he lets Hugh go instead of getting his revenge and that was only a year or so after, this is years later! Why do the Borg stop on deck 16? Why not continue assimilating the ship whilst building the emmitter? Oh hang on, I know why, to give the good guys chance to come up with a plan and execute it!
  
  Now, despite all this I still love this film. I accept the silliness for what it is. You cannot do time travel without some fudging around the edges. You cannot defeat the Borg without either dumbing them down and powering them down a bit or creating some kind of get out of jail free card.
  
  This is a fantastic action movie, the shots of the big battle at the start still look at good as anything J.J. put in his films and this is nearly 20 years old. The production value used to sex up the Borg was excellent, this was the Borg we always wanted to see on TNG appearance-wise. The back story of Cochrane and the Phoenix was well realised along with First Contact and it all ties in nicely and works well with the action on board the ship. The magnetic boot scene is the absolute highlight in terms of using a different envronment to create a tense action scene. The interaction between Picard and Lily and Picard and Worf is excellent creating great tension between the good guys. Worf's 'if you were any other man' dialogue still makes my neck hairs stand on end.
  
  So these days I think I have to rate this film a 8 or 9. When I first saw it I thought it was an outstanding 10...
• From Kevin on 2013-12-18 at 7:13pm:
  Wow, I hate to be in the minority, but this is by far my least favorite Next Gen movie. It has action, it has a lot of action...and it has action. Beyond that it is a plot with many holes, and is FAR too simple. There is no grand message, no epic story, but merely fighting the borg, that have gone back in time.
  YAWN. Star trek does so much better at stories that aspire to more. Exploration, a statement. It is entertaining somewhat, but also has some boring parts. It feels mostly like an excuse to fight the borg. Is that all it takes to excite star trek fans?
• From Edward on 2014-12-16 at 12:44pm:
  Loved this movie so much I didn't notice this until recently:
  How come none of those highly educated Starfleet officers recognized Lily? She was supposed to fly in the Phoenix with Cochrane. She was Buzz Aldrin, for crying out loud!
• From Armsauce on 2017-06-02 at 9:59pm:
  I'll never understand the praise for the TNG movies. Picard is completely out of character in all of them, First Contact included. Not to mention completely trivializing the borg.
  
  It's another movie filled with too many coincidences and lazy explanations.
• From Thomas on 2018-08-19 at 3:15am:
  Picard: "You may encounter members of the crew who have been assimilated. Don't hesitate to fire on them. Believe me, you'll be doing them a favor."
  
  Picard (on Lynch): "There was no way to save him."
  Lily: "You didn't even try. Where was your evolved sensibility then?"
  
  Picard: "When I was held captive on the Borg ship, my crew risked everything to save me. There is someone still on this ship, and I owe him the same."
  
  This stuff is the only thing about the film that bugged me. True, Picard probably barely knows Ensign Lynch from Adam's housecat, whereas Data did save his life in TNG: BOBW. But don't hesitate to fire on them? Seriously?? What if an assimilated crewman's friends wanted to do for him or her what the main cast did for Picard? It just comes across as badly inconsistent writing. I know they want to spotlight Picard's feelings about the Borg, but I can't imagine him ever telling his crew to unflinchingly kill former crew members that may still be worth saving. Yet, he goes after Data. Do as I say, not as I do? Unlikely for Picard.
  
  That aside, it was definitely the best TNG movie, and one of the best Star Trek movies. I know some people didn't like the Borg queen, but that was done for the big screen. Edward, not sure about your criticism. I'd say saving the future of humanity counts as a pretty epic story.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-10-21 at 3:00am:
  I gave it a 4. There is just not much here. Garak is a fascinating character, but most of the airtime here is spent on scenes with him physically suffering and acting out of character. There are better "Garak's past" episodes than this.
• From Mr. Lincoln on 2007-11-29 at 7:45am:
  This is a very enjoyable episode, and a good introduction to Garak's past (although what we actually learn is up for questions at this point).
  
  For the record, the Morn appearance is immediately after the scene with Bashir and Jadzia when they are discussing her plant. Immediately before the scene where Quark meets with Garak. I enjoy how Morn is looking sad after he realizes Quark's is closed.
• From djb on 2009-04-06 at 5:36am:
  I liked this episode a lot. I'm coming to really like Garak's character.
  
  I think the episode title may be a reference to Larry Niven's "Ringworld" series, wherein the main character, Louis Wu, is an ex-"wirehead," i.e. he used to have some kind of "wire" implanted in his brain that directly stimulated his endorphin receptors. Just a thought.
• From Bernard on 2011-05-06 at 8:40pm:
  This is a very difficult one to judge. I think Robinsons performance is fairly good but not all that others have made of it. The performance however does not necessarily make the episode and in this case it does not quite do it.
  
  There just isn't any payoff here. It just sets up Garak for more stories... and that's great! It just makes this episode fall into the 'above average' bracket.
  
  I'd give it a 6 or 7 but at least it's good enough to keep up this late-season surge of good episodes.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From David from California on 2007-10-04 at 7:46pm:
  Wow! That was *ridiculously* good! I can't believe I missed seeing this one until now. The early change of narrative perspective, the delightful humor in the first half, the performances of all the supporting cast playing the Voth, sets, dialogue, costumes. I found myself wondering how the production team could suddenly raise their game for one episode to this extent. Coming here now and seeing it's highly rated by others confirms I'm not going mad. :)
• From EKH on 2007-11-23 at 7:11am:
  I actually found the life form count to be rather low, as I assumed it included *all* life forms - including the ocntents of the hydroponics bay.
• From Mark McC on 2009-07-03 at 9:38pm:
  This is easily my favourite episode of Voyager to date (watching it for the first time). Nice to see them taking a leaf out of TOS - tackling issues that are topical back here on present-day Earth and presenting them in an original way.
  
  It would have been pretty well perfect if not for a little silliness at the start with the Voth's attempt to track down Voyager. They may be advanced, but being able to translate one word ("VOYAGER" from the uniform) with no knowledge of the language, alphabet or any kind of context to work with is simply impossible.
  
  That, and the fact that the Voyager crew seem to have been giving away technological souvenirs to alien races along the way (handing out tricorders and containers of warp plasma - didn't Neelix find it impossible to get hold of that for his drug-dealing in "Fair Trade"?)
  
  Only minor flaws, and totally forgivable considering the excellence of the rest of the episode. I'd give it a 9.5, but since I can't vote halves on here I'll round it up to a nice fat 10.
• From Thomas on 2009-10-01 at 11:15pm:
  I agree this is one of the best Star Trek episodes ever made. The struggle between honest science and hypocritical religious doctine was never dealt with this well. However, there is quite unnecessary misrepresenting of evolution again - surely not nearly as bad as in "The Threshold". However, the scene with holo-evolution of the Voth implied quite the same evolution=progression-misunderstanding.
  There are no most "higly evolved" lifeforms and certainly the extrapolatation of how the dinosaur evolved wouldn't work this way, not even with extremely advanced computers. You just cannot predict to such detail how a species will evolve, because of random environmental changes.
  Another real mystery is how the Voth culture could evolve on earth to a spaceage technology level without leaving any trace at all.
• From Dennis on 2011-09-14 at 2:44am:
  Unfortunately there was something that bugged me. When the Minister asked Gegen if he could have been mistaken, Gegen should have said yes. Because he said no, he appeared as stubborn, but no where near as heartless, as the Minister and the Doctrine she represented. In spite of all the evidence supporting this notion, that they were in fact Dinosaurs from Earth, it is entirely possible (though completely implausible) that they could have developed native to the Delta Quadrant. Science itself is not about believing in the infallibility of whatever theory you have with enough evidence to make it seem real, it is about challenging the status quo and reaching beyond the world as it is and seeing what it will be tomorrow.
  
  Even so, apart from that minor blemish, I readily enjoyed it. 9/10.
• From distant@origin on 2011-09-18 at 7:52pm:
  Agree with everything above. Great episode.
  
  One thing I would've enjoyed more: the "change in narrative perspective" in the very beginning could've been kept up a bit longer. That was really fascinating and novel to watch.
  
  There is also a minor wrinkle in the plot: at the trial, Chakotay refers to Janeway's and the Doc's research and analysis of the Voth... but he's been more or less kidnapped during that time, and as soon as he got on decent terms with Gegen, Voyager itself ended up kidnapped, its systems locked down and overrun. We neither see Chakotay communicate with Voyager, nor is it even very likely that he could do so off screen... So it's kind of implausible that he'd have access to that information.
  
  But who really cares about a wrinkle in this case? I agree with the general consensus: this episode fries some pretty big fish, and does it well.
  
  
• From Josh on 2011-09-29 at 3:36am:
  One of the best Star Trek episodes of all time. It's incredibly refreshing to see such a solid example of 'hard' sci-fi on Star Trek, let alone on television in general.
  
  Obviously they missed some of the finer scientific points, but its easily forgiven considering the rare form of the episode's subject matter. Arthur C. Clarke would be pleased.
• From Joseph Angeles on 2012-08-09 at 11:23pm:
  Without question one of the most compelling Star Trek episodes, and probably the very best Voyager episode. I only wish the writing team had stuck to such rigorous attention to detail throughout the series.
• From TheAnt on 2013-09-24 at 8:31pm:
  I cant but chime in with most other comments here.
  
  The idea of what the dinosaurs might have become have gotten a treatment in pop science.
  So the story is not entirely original.
  
  Even so it really reminds me of the episodes in TOS and TNG where science fiction writers provided the storyline and resulted in outstanding episodes.
  Distant origins can only compare with those few and in my opinion is one of the best Star Trek episodes ever made.
  
• From thaibites on 2014-05-11 at 4:41am:
  Finally, a good episode! The last 2/3 of season 3 has been poo-poo.
  I loved how the the first part of the show is seen through the eyes of the aliens. It was really refreshing to get away from the Voyager crew and get a different perspective on things.
  This episode affected me deeply because I live in Thailand, which is on the brink of a civil war as I write this. The cause of the problem that is splitting the country is dogma. The royalist side wants to continue lies that have portrayed the king as a god. They have a law called lese majeste where anyone who challenges dogma (the myth that the king is perfect) gets thrown in jail. The royalists only have money and power as long as the myth continues to be believed in by the citizens. It's the same with the Minister in this episode. Her power is built around myth. Take away that myth and she loses everything.
  Awesome!
• From tigertooth on 2016-10-08 at 5:57pm:
  Besides starting from the Voth perspective, after some Voyager perspective in the middle, the trial is Voth-centric with Chakotay offering a well-done but ultimately ineffectual (plotwise) monologue. This episode is Gegen's story, and Voyager is just a supporting player.
  
  If you gave this a "Filler Quotient" it would actually be high, since it has little to do with the Voyager crew. But of course this is not an episode to be skipped.
  
  One quibble I have that I didn't see mentioned: it seems implausible that a species could have warp technology but A) not leave any trace of their existence on Earth and B) not keep records of their history that would survive. Yeah, it's 65 million years, but still - this is *the* most important thing to happen to this species: packing up and leaving their planet of origin. How could that ever be lost to history?
  
  It's a shame Voyager didn't offer Gegen a chance to get away from his sad fate by coming with them. I don't recall him mentioning having a family, and joining Voyager would be vastly more scientifically rewarding.
• From tigertooth on 2017-04-26 at 3:56am:
  D'oh - of course Gegen's daughter was *in* the episode. So yeah, he had family.
• From Rick on 2017-05-02 at 1:02pm:
  I dont see the problem with the way evolution is presented on the holodeck. Janeways asks the computer to display what would be the most highly evolved species from that specific dinosaur. Since Voyager has all environmental data from Earth's history, it has a basis for making a reasonable extrapolation of evolution from that dinosaur. The end result isnt exact, which is a nice nod to the fact that it is just a guess and not meant to be perfect.
• From Mike on 2017-05-28 at 10:58pm:
  I was also expecting that this would end with Gegen joining the Voyager crew, maybe as some form of exile. It would've made sense: the Voth authorities clearly would see life among a mammalian species as being fitting punishment. But that, of course, would've necessitated the addition of yet another character so within the show's constraints it was good enough ending.
  
  I agree, this one begins fantastically well and immediately piques your interest. It's a great piece of science fiction, and the problems to me are excusable as it tells a compelling story and deals with important themes. The most glaring problem is that raised by the reviewer above, that in the ST universe there is no archaeological evidence for a spacefaring race of hadrosaur descendants on Earth. Keep in mind that how the Voth left Earth is up to the imagination. Maybe they joined with another spacefaring species that was visiting Earth. It's a detail, that's all.
  
  What matters is that the truth of their origin is a threat to the species' mythology about itself. I remember studying Darwin in college, and that he clearly did not set out to overturn and eliminate all religion. He merely sought to explain something he observed in the natural world, and could not have foreseen the implications of his theories or how they would be perceived as such a threat by religious authorities. Gegen, in this story, asserts that he isn't trying to upend the Voth worldview entirely, just bring some truths to light that may require some adjustment in the historical record. For a scientist, this isn't a problem because science is constantly challenging itself until left with the truth. But challenging even a small part of a religious belief has historically been seen as dangerously disruptive to the socio-religious order, and that has led to countless wars and persecutions. THat's really what this episode is about.
• From McCoy on 2017-08-11 at 3:46pm:
  It's an enertaining episode, but a 10? Best of Voyager? With all that nonsense included? Please... This episode is based on silly idea of advanced warp capable dinosaurs escaping Earth - it's almost as stupid as newts from "Threshold". Am I suppose to believe, they didn't left any signs of existence and after millions of years further evolution are only a bit more technologically advanced than humans? As was written above - holodeck reconstruction of evolved dinosaur is based on complete lack of understanding what evolution is. We have plenty of evolved dinosaurs aroud us - they're called birds... Next - it's really that strange voth and humans have common parts of DNA? It's Trek! Almost every race can mate with another and have children, so humans, vulcans, klingons, ocampa and so on... - they all must have similar DNA. So even in delta quadrant the voth could find plenty of other "cousins". Sorry, but I just can't take this episode seriously, it's almost a parody.
  PS - Galileo's conflict with Inquisition and pope (who was in fact his former friend and supporter) wasn't such simple and one dimensional as we may think:) I recommend further investigation of this matter, off duty:)
• From Axel on 2018-06-11 at 12:12am:
  Some interesting criticism of this one in the fan comments. I don't share most of it though. I think the overall lessons and themes of this episode are more important than any science-fiction blunders, and if anything, the "blunders" get you thinking about the science rather than forcing you to suspend logic so badly.
  
  First, on the question of how a civilization of evolved, space-faring hadrosaurs could have existed without any trace: I recommend an excellent article in the The Atlantic back in April by Adam Frank. It was more about how long the impact we humans are currently leaving on Earth's geological and atmospheric record will be available, but it posed some questions that made me think of this episode. We assume that we'd be able to detect an ancient civilization, and if it's a few thousand years ago, we could. But that ability becomes a lot murkier if you turn back the clock several million years. An advanced civilization may not be as traceable as we think, especially if it only lasted a few thousand years itself. Just some modern science to inject into a sci-fi premise :) Could something like the Voth have actually existed? Of course it's extremely unlikely. But if nothing else, it raises some interesting questions about the long-term impact a civilization can make on a planet, depending on its technology.
  
  Second, I don't think the Saurian they show in the holodeck, or the Voth themselves, are such an outrageous slap in the face to evolutionary biology because of the existence of modern birds. Homo sapiens and other modern species of ape share common hominid ancestors that no longer exist. And, the more fossils we uncover, the more complete our understanding of the evolutionary process becomes. The only known evidence linking birds and dinosaurs used to be Archaeopteryx; now we have a lot more. It's fun to imagine, I think, that in the distant future, when every continent on Earth has been excavated, how much more we'll know about evolution. That's how I looked at the holodeck extrapolation: just a sci-fi imagination of a real-world future technology. We'll one day be able to fill in a lot of gaps that we currently can't.
  
  All in all, this was badly in need of a sequel. If you accept the webmaster's view that the last couple seasons of Voyager could've been spent back in the Alpha Quadrant, then you would have the makings for that sequel. Of all the discoveries Voyager made along their journey, this would be earth-shattering, and they could've done a great sequel involving Federation efforts to re-establish contact with the Voth. Maybe then, some doctrines change.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Wolfgang on 2006-07-10 at 1:04pm:
  Remarkable Scenes
  
  -Lieutenant Picard !
• From JRPoole on 2008-09-18 at 3:58pm:
  There's not a whole lot to complain about here, but I'm not as smitten with this episode as many fans are.
  
  It's great to see Picard's past, and his evolving relationship with Q is certainly interesting. But I find the It's-A-Wonderful-Life theme of this episode is a bit heavy-handed and explained to death. I also think they could have done a better job writing the characters of the young Picard's friends, who both seem pretty broadly drawn and never really elevate out of stereotype.
  
  Still, this is solid, and I can definitely see the charm, but I can't list it as one of the absolute best episodes. I guess I'll have to wait until I finish the series to make that call, though.
• From Dennis on 2013-04-02 at 10:05pm:
  I couldn't wait for this one to be over, and I've never felt that way about any other episode. The stupid costumes and make up. The over the top acting by Picard's adversary's, Q, all of it just stupid. The story had nothing to do with the theme of Star Trek. It could have easily been an episode of Mayberry RFD. Sorry if I'm a little heavy handed but they can flush this one.
• From dominic on 2016-08-19 at 1:04am:
  Problems: Q let Picard go back and put things back the way they were originally, so how did he end up surviving his present-day injury? A pretty glaring one IMO.
• From Cal on 2017-02-27 at 12:39pm:
  Q was involved, he can give and take life at any moment, so Picard's injury isn't an issue. Maybe Beverly saved him, maybe the whole injury thing was set up by Q in the first place, so it's hardly a problem. I adore the episode.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-06-24 at 12:39am:
  Data: "That action injured you and saved me. I will not forget it." (Great line)
  
  - Data tells Picard that Maddox was the only dissenting member of a sceening committee that approved his entrance into Starfleet. Maddox did this because he did not believe that Data was sentient. It seems reasonable that Starfleet would allow only sentient beings to attend the academy. However, since the rest of the members of the committee disagreed with Maddox's position, didn't they already imply that Data is sentient? If so, when did Data lose that label?
  - Maddox asks the JAG officer if Starfleet would let the computer of a starship refuse a refit. But the comparison doesn't match up at all. Starfleet built the computers on starships. They did not build Data. If Data belongs to anyone, he belongs to Dr. Noonian Soong. All Starfleet did was find him.
  - JAG officer to Riker if he doesn't prosecute: "Then I will rule summarily based on my findings. Data is a toaster." A toaster? That seems a little antiquated for the twenty-fourth century. Wouldn't a person in the twenty-fourth century illustrate their point using an everyday item for them - something like a food replicator, a tricorder, or a communicator?
• From TashaFan on 2008-09-28 at 11:34pm:
  I LOVED the reference to Data being "a toaster"... because "toaster" is what the Colonial warriors in "Battlestar Galactica" called the Cylons, who are also a mechanized artificial lifeform. I wonder if Ron Moore, who went to spearhead the "reimagined" Battlestar series, had anything to do with this reference?
• From Razorback on 2009-06-26 at 1:26am:
  A shocking episode.
  They have stripped away all of the trappings of a normal star trek episode, and done away with the sense of intergalactic exploration that gives me a reason to continu watching.
  
  Istead, they have created this terrible episode.
  
  You ask me to justify this?
  
  It has ruined me for the rest of star trek.
  No oher episodes will have even the slightest chance of ever living up to this one, seemingly set up to allow patrick stewart to prove exactly why he is seen as one of the greatest actors of all time. Brent spiner and Jonathan Frakes also outdo themselves - the dialogue is wonderful, the character's magnificent, and the whoe issue outstanding - leaving us with the question are we not all man made machines?
  
  I would also like to note the look on maddox's face at the end of the episode, as he relises that Cmr Data is far more wonderful than he'd ever imagined.
  
  Definately a 10 rated episode - a wonderful example of exactly why star trek is more than a sci-fi show.
  
• From Ching on 2010-04-06 at 3:38am:
  Thoroughly moving episode, but there are two things I question. One is to do with Picard's speech being, perhaps, unrealistically effective. I think I received it as one of those fictional events that has a perfect effect in it's story, but realistically would be questioned or perhaps a bit unprofessional (with Picard being so intimidating and emotional). But I'm much hazier on whether I find that an issue (and it wouldn't be a huge one) or not. I'm also not exactly well versed in court procedures to begin with.
  The second issue is with Riker's role in the story. I know the episode makes it clear why he was unfit to have taken the prosecution role, but does anyone know why there's a rule that the next most senior officer of the 'defendant's' ship becomes 'prosecutor'? I know, at least, that a jury is chosen specifically as an impartial body of people, so why chose a prosecutor who's in agreement with the defender? Makes no sense to have your opposing forces biased in the same way, but it certainly created an interesting drama. And like I said before, I really liked this episode on the whole, despite some confusion about common sense.
• From tigertooth on 2011-03-24 at 2:12am:
  I agree that the episode was great. My quibble: the first thing Riker does is call Data to the stand as his witness. Would he call a tricorder to the stand? Or the ship's computer? No, you call *people* to the stand as witnesses. If I was Picard, I would have said "There you go! Case closed!"
  
  But anything that gives Picard (Stewart) a chance to go off on a righteous monologue is pretty much guaranteed to be great.
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-29 at 2:13am:
  This is a fine episode. I especially love the way Picard starts his speech by dismissing the opposing arguments as irrelevant. The only caveat I have about this episode is that it portrays Starfleet's judicial system as oddly primitive and arbitrary.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-09-23 at 11:24pm:
  Agree with CAlexander's comment about how crude the Federation legal system appeared. As an attorney, I found it embarrassing. Several obvious issues:
  
  1. Data can't choose his own counsel? He is told that Picard will represent him. Picard offers to replace himself, but Louvois makes no such offer. The choice of defense counsel is totally in the control of the defendant in all civilized legal systems.
  
  2. The notion that Riker has to prosecute is absurd. He has a strong personal relationship with the accused. He is obviously not qualified. He would have to recuse himself.
  
  3. Why didn't Maddox appeal? You're telling me that a ruling by a mere JAG officer in a remote star base is final?
  
  You get the idea. Anyone with any legal training can find holes big enough to drive a truck through on this one.
• From One moon shirt on 2012-02-27 at 3:56am:
  I would give this episode 100 if there was such a rating. This is some of the best Trek out there. The issue of slavery and human rights is classic, this is an episode that will always endure the test of time, people will be watching this one in the 24th century :)
• From Rick on 2012-10-10 at 4:11am:
  This may well be the quintessential star trek episode. How do we treat new life forms?
  
  A commenter above notes that this episode may be flawed because Maddox already made the argument that Data was not sentient and he lost. This point of view is flawed, however, because although Maddox made the argument that Data is not sentient, the Board may have ruled that Data could be admitted to Starfleet on alternate grounds. This is a technical legal point but it is certainly plausible. The board simply couldve punted on the sentience issue and ruled that Data was admissible to Starfleet for whatever reason.
  
  The rest of Maddox's argument is rather poor upon further examination, as other commenters have noted. His entire reasoning is based upon analogy to other types of machines. Fatal flaw? No other type of machine is capable of or would refuse his examination. It seems pretty obvious to me that as soon as a being is capable of refusing to be destroyed (albeit potentially), it has earned the right not to be.
• From Rick on 2013-11-11 at 5:19pm:
  One more thing. Even if Data is ruled to be property why would he be Starfleet's property? Isnt he still his creator's property? Maddox would have a tough time explaining how he was against Data being able to join Starfleet while also believing that Starfleet owns him. If I were the judge it wouldve been an easy ruling to say even if Data is ruled as property Starfleet has no ownership so the whole case is irrelevant.
• From the obampresident on 2021-07-16 at 5:44pm:
  Why starfleet property? Because finders keepers :D
  
  Also the whole starship computer refit argument was strange. What if one of those computers really refuses? I am sure investigating the reasons (like possible sentience) for refusing will be more interesting than getting the refit done.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-07-17 at 2:37am:
  This episode still feels relevant, as our species continues to struggle with the challenge of seeing the humanity and intrinsic worth of people who look or act different. Despite ample evidence, Maddox could not see what everyone else could see: that Data exhibits enough obvious signs of sapience, personhood, and self-awareness that we should treat him like a person. He has a will. He's not predictable. He arouses emotion in others. It makes no sense NOT to treat him like a person.
  
  It took considerable effort to get Maddox to see Data's personhood even a little bit, and it wasn't until then that Maddox used Data's correct pronoun, thus signifying his acceptance of Data's autonomy. I find this quite a powerful allegory for the many people whose humanity, whose reality, whose lived experience, has been or is still denied for various reasons.
  
  Fortunately for both Maddox and Data, Data is not capable of being insulted by this or holding a grudge. (In "Data's Day" we hear him reading a letter he is sending to Maddox.) Most of us are not so lucky.
  
  I love the shameless flirting between Picard and Louvois!
  
  "If we weren't around all these people, do you know what I would like to do?"
  "Bust a chair across my teeth?"
  "After that."
  "Oh, ain't love wonderful?"
  
  Damn. Thirsty Trek best Trek.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Jeff on 2009-06-05 at 12:20am:
  I remember seeing a big continuity error in this episode way back when it aired. How could they encounter the Krenim in 6-11 months? In Voy: Before and After, Kes' prediction was under the assumption that she would still be with the crew and hadn't flung them so far closer to home. Her boost would have flung them 9.5 years of travel past the Krenim.
• From Kirk 377 on 2010-05-21 at 1:22pm:
  @ Jeff-- Good catch man, I dunno why but that never occurred to me. Is it just me, or do they sometimes seem like they want us to forget all about Kes? I never heard her name much after she left(Not that I expect them to, maybe in this episode I would). But I've still not finished the series.
• From pbench on 2015-09-03 at 7:13am:
  i just can't believe the snafu with the chronoton torpedo thing. even if the entire crew's apparent amnesia about this was a thing, a 5 second scene that showed someone about to say something about it followed by a sudden shudder/wave from one of the 'incursions' would be enough justification to move forward. as it stands it just feels weird.
  
  more examples of voyager dropping the ball amidst otherwise amazing things.
• From McCoy on 2017-08-17 at 6:01pm:
  I agree - there ara major continuity problems here. Even if we assume, that Krenim-amnesia among the crew is caused by Annorax' time changes, we still have a problem. Because there is no way to reach Krenim space without "farewell gift" from Kes. And in "Before and After" such thing didn't happened yet. Answer is simple - it's just careless writing. During third season they didn't plan to kick out Kes, so she was present when Voyager encountered Krenim. But they kicked her evetually, so I really don't understand, why "Year of Hell" was ever written. I imagine something more like this - Paris: "We're entering Krenim space". Janeway: "So what are you waiting for? Change the course now!"
  PS - Don't know if it's just my opinion, but Janeway looks 10 yers older in this haircut. Speaking of which... In "Before and After" she still had prevoius hairs, so it's another continuity problem:D

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From MJ on 2011-02-10 at 6:46pm:
  I'm not a fan of most DS9's Klingon episodes from the first four seasons. It got better with "Soldiers of the Empire" and "Once More Unto the Breach", and I do really like what they did later with Martok's character. But this one was pretty good.
  
  The personality differences between the three Klingons reminded me a bit of the Three Musketeers. You have the lover of life, women, and drink, you have the ambitious, arrogant one, and the quiet, secretive leader of the group. They are also old friends seeking one final adventure together. Dax is d'Artagnan, the one who wants to join the group and is seen with affection by them, but not quite one of their own until later.
  
  There are some nice moments in this episode, such as the conversation between Kang and Jadzia about their friendship, about the blood oath, and the Klingon glory days. Overall this was very well written.
  
  I also mark it down somewhat because Jadzia just isn't as convincing as a Klingon warrior as I'd like her to be, and because I would expect a bit more in the way of consequences for her actions. Remember how in TNG: Reunion that Worf was reprimanded formally for his vengeance killing of Duras, despite Picard's sympathies. It would've been nice to see some kind of consquence for Dax, but instead this would seem to reinforce the privileged relationship she enjoys with Sisko simply because of Curzon.
• From Bernard on 2011-03-29 at 2:40pm:
  So, here we go again with the new Jadzia who's decided that she's Curzon.
  
  I love the use of the three TOS Klingons although I find it an interesting 'device' to make all the other races long-lived... Romulans, Vulcans and now Klingons all live well into their hundreds.
  
  The episode itself is good enough and I would give it a solid 7. Just wait for Worfs arrival for plenty more where this episode came from. This episode marks the start of a run of high quality toward the seasons end.
• From int on 2011-08-29 at 7:41pm:
  This was a great episode. The three Klingons are exceptionally interesting, unique characters. They make for a very believable team of old warrior friends. The final raid on "the Albino" has a bit of a Three Musketeers (+ 1 Dax) quality to it, and also a bit of a Tom Clancy quality to it... the premise and execution of this episode is almost feature film material.
  
  There were some good subtleties around Jadzia's uncertainty, which at times reached almost palpable levels. As Dax with her 7 lifetimes she is an experienced warrior, no stranger to battle, hand-to-hand combat, and death. As Jadzia, she is a fairly delicate, innocent creature who's never personally killed anyone in her life. As Jadzia Dax, about to enact an ancient vendetta, she's, well, visibly uncertain, torn, unsure of herself. It's interesting to watch her resolve these things, put on some armor and pull her own weight in battle, but stop short of personally executing the albino herself. Interesting how the Klingon interprets this too, as saving the deathblow for himself.
  
  This is a fun episode, and also an interesting exploration of what some less compatible elements of Dax, and specifically Curzon Dax, mean now, for Jadzia...
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-25 at 12:13pm:
  Kor is played by John Colicos, who among other roles played Count Baltar, the principle villain in the original Battlestar Galactica series. He also played Kor in DS9: The Sword of Kahless and DS9: Once More Unto the Breach. His first appearance as Kor was in TOS: Errand of Mercy way back in 1967, 27 years before this episode. Colicos was thus one of the longest running guest stars on Star Trek ever. (It would be an interesting study to find out who holds that record.) According to Memory Alpha, it seems that Colicos was also the first major character to appear on screen in a Star Trek episode playing a Klingon. Thus, Colicos defined the initial look of the Klingons.
• From Harrison on 2013-01-10 at 9:18am:
  A solid story line with some very unconvincing performances from Dax (Terry Farrell, who conveys nothing of the great Curzon, but chews through her lines in the most stilted, smarmy way) and William Campbell, who is hopelesslu mis-cast as Koloth. He exudes about as much noble Klingon aggression as a retired suburban Jr high school teacher. Kang's character is adequately stolid, but it is Kor (John Colicos) who salvage the episode with more believable & impassioned delivery.
• From Scott on 2018-05-18 at 1:11am:
  I know I'm responding to what is now a very old set of comments, but I think you're being (were being?) unfair to Terry Farrell. I think she possesses an outstanding ability to convey emotion with her expressions, and think she did so here.
  
  Of course Jadzia's not Curzon. She's a 27-28 year old woman. But she feels what he felt and I think Farrell did a good job conveying that dichotomy.
  
  One of my favorite DS9 episodes.
• From ChristopherA on 2020-07-22 at 3:21pm:
  I thought it was really neat getting all 3 of the Klingon commanders from the original series, with their original actors, into the same episode. And I really liked the “Klingon-ness” of the episode’s resolution, it feels like a look into part of Klingon culture. Instead of Dax acting like a proper Federation officer and finding some clever way to ethically deal with the problem, she just goes along with them killing everyone they see so they can flat out murder the guy to gain vengeance. I guess she really does make a good Klingon!
  
  Issues: It was somewhat jarring having a comedy Klingon from a comedy episode (Koloth) along with the two serious Klingons from serious episodes, I tend to think the character would have been better utilized in a less serious story. Jadzia never suffers any consequences from doing far worse than Worf ever did when he was reprimanded for seeking vengeance. The idea of disabling all high-tech equipment is necessary for the episode to work but hard to take seriously; if this were possible, everyone would be disabling everyone else’s equipment all the time.
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Sean on 2010-07-07 at 7:11am:
  "If the Dominion come through the wormhole, the first battle will be fought here. And I intend to be ready for them."
  
  That's what Sisko said at the end of season two, and just when I thought we'd finally get the big battle we were promised... they turn and head towards Cardassia. Sigh. Still a terrific episode, though, amoung DS9's best.
• From peterwolf on 2013-12-13 at 11:21pm:
  An episode with many unexpected turns. After Cardassia joined the Dominion one of the best (quite surprising) moments was the Romulans joining a new alliance with Klingons and the Federation against the Dominion. They should have done this earlier. The Bashir-changeling with female voice is rather eerie. His determination to wipe out the solar system of Bajor is nearly too much. At least they would wipe out Odo too, although the founders may not consider him as part of the changelings any more.
  Another strong part was Worf not giving up against the 20th or so Jem Hadar warrior in hand-to-hand combat and made them "yield", because they could not gain victory against him. In parallel, Garak had to overcome his claustrophobia and inner fears to save the prisoners of the federation. The short scene in the runabout when Worf and Garak show some mutual respect is very well done.
• From dronkit on 2014-04-21 at 4:44am:
  The continuity with "Rapture" is notewrthy too. The "flock of locusts" skips Bajor and flies right away to Cardassia because Bajor is not Federation, thanks to Sisko's visions.
• From Dubhan on 2014-10-01 at 4:44am:
  This is also a fantastic Garak episode. We get another little glimpse at his background and he saves the day for those imprisoned by the Jem'Hadar.
  
  Is there any question that Andy Robinson is the best actor in DS9? Not in my mind.
• From tigertooth on 2016-12-03 at 5:08am:
  When Dukat announced to Kira that the Cardassians joined the Dominion, Kira's response was to say to Dax "Lock phasers and fire". This was when the huge Dominion fleet was starting to move away. When a huge hostile force is leaving, you don't shoot at them!
  
  I want to believe that Dax was lying when she said Dukat was out of range; she was just stopping Kira from going through with something that could have needlessly cost hundreds of lives.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Hugo on 2012-11-10 at 10:17pm:
  I don't really get it - how did the Dominion ship get there? We saw two jem'hadar fighters chasing our heroes and attacking them - then we saw the ship with the heroes crashing towards the planet in the nebula - but... ? Just before we saw the two enemy fighters breaking off, and no shot was fired against them...
• From L on 2013-08-03 at 9:33am:
  A fantastic exploration of the poignant relationship between the Jem Hadar and their Vorta. The Jem Hadar's blind and doomed loyalty to 'the order of things' was somehow noble, akin to the Samurai ethic.
  Kira's situation as a frustrated civil servant to a bureaucracy she despises was interesting too.
  Lots of moral complexity here.
• From Axel on 2015-07-02 at 4:10pm:
  I like the dual storyline here depicting people wrestling with the morality of what they are doing. At the same time Kira is questioning whether she is a collaborator with evil, Ramata'Klan is being asked to question his own loyalty to the Vorta. Kira ultimately decides that she is playing the very role she fought against during the Cardassian occupation. Meanwhile, Ramata'Klan is well aware of the flaws of the Dominion command structure and the treacherous ways of the Vorta, but has resigned himself to his own role within that system. He chooses obedience-the overarching Jem'Hadar value-over his own freedom and self-determination.
  
  This episode has lots of great scenes and dialogue: Garak and Nog's conversation just before being captured; Jakes interview with Kira and Odo; Ramata'Klan standing up to Keevan and insisting that only he should be able to discipline his men; and of course, Yassim's chilling suicide on the Promenade. Overall, a really well done episode and some fantastic acting by the guest stars who played Remata'Klan, Keevan, and Vedek Yassim.
• From Rick on 2023-11-30 at 3:21am:
  Ummm, couldn’t sisko have just stunned all of them at the end?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From RichD on 2006-06-20 at 12:18am:
  What a fantastic episode. It incorporated brave, bold ideas that were missing in say, the last 2 Star Trek movies. Dukat's meltdown at the end after witnessing the death of his daughter Ziyal was truly gut wrenching. The battle scenes were epic in nature. DS9 is my favorite among all the Star Trek series. This episode ranks among the top five or Six along with In the Pale Moonlight, A Call to Arms, Rocks and Shoals, The Siege of AR558 and The Visitor.
• From Pete Miller on 2006-07-13 at 5:14am:
  The scenes over the past two episodes where the female shapeshifter is talking to Odo about leaving the pathetic solids behind and joining the great link are really quite disturbing. This reminded me alot of Emperor Palpatine trying to turn Luke Skywalker to the dark side in 'Star Wars: Return of The Jedi'. That shapeshifter lady is so evil, it's unbelievable. She just dismisses all solids as irrelevant and constantly manipulates Odo to turn to the Star Trek dark side. I was waiting for her to start shooting lightning bolts out of her fingers at the end.
  
  For all the female shapeshifter's smugness, condescension, superior attitude, and downright xenophobia, it was quite a pleasure to see the prophets destroy the Dominion's ships like flies. It's nice to know that there are those out there who would consider the shapeshifters limited and pathetic, as the shapeshifters consider the solids. It also reveals that the dominion and the shapeshifters are nothing but petty dictators and conquerors. If they were as superior and detached as they claimed, they would be in a situation similar to the prophets, not messing in the affairs of the solids as they currently do.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-03-09 at 4:55pm:
  This episode marks the end of the fun Dukat, and the beginning of the insane Dukat. I love DS9, but I think this is the single biggest mistake in the DS9 story arc.
• From Zaphod on 2011-05-18 at 11:33am:
  What a letdown, what foolish decision to let the prophets conjure away that Dominion fleet just like that.
  
  Btw, I stopped watching DS9 after that bullshit ending to such a promising and exciting story arc, because I just dont trust the authors of the series anymore, dont want to give them the chance to fool me again. ^^
  And I wont read your site anymore btw, guess, the reviews on this site are more to my taste:
  
  http://www.cynicscorner.org/ds9_6/ds9_6s.html
• From Bernard on 2011-05-25 at 4:50pm:
  And I'm sure our webmaster is truly devastated by that announcement Zaphod.
  
  This is by no means the best television I have ever watched, but it is a super conclusion to the 7 episode story arc. It really is. As usual with DS9 it is what's going on with the characters that is important. Here, Marc Alaimo gets to take centre stage and he doesn't disappoint.
  
  This episode also has a rare commodity in Star Trek... genuine suspense. It builds up and up continuing from where the last episode left off. Will they make it? Will Rom do it? All the pay-offs here are brilliant.
  
  The only thing that brings this episode down slightly is the problem with many major episodes later in the DS9 run - too much pointless space battles. I just don't want to see another CGI sequence, that's not why I watch Star Trek. TNG had that aspect nailed, used just enough to show what was going on. DS9 in episodes like this hits you over the head with shot after shot of ships exploding... I want to see more of what's going on in Sisko's head, Dukat's head.
  
  The conclusion that Zaphod takes such exception to is fine with me. In fact they could have used a similar 'get out' in Voyager by using Q to save their bacon instead of the preposterous watering down and then besting of the Borg in 'Endgame'.
  
  The aspect of the prophets that I dislike as shown here, and I already discussed this in a comment on 'Ascension', is that they become more and more interested in Bajor as the series progresses. Instead of Science Fiction you almost feel like you are watching 'Spiritual-Fiction'. Throughout all other incarnations of Star Trek religious belief was continually held up as ancient superstition by our heroes. Everytime there is a culture or being that holds some beliefs they are shown to be backward or erroneous in some way. This show actually starts to suggest that the spiritual people of Bajor are being watched over by beings that didn't even understand the concept of time in the pilot.
  
  Anyway, none of that takes away from this episode as a dramatic piece. As our webmaster describes it, 'utter brilliance'. I would say ALMOST flawless, but not quite.
• From Christopher Wright on 2011-12-18 at 7:56pm:
  Deus Ex Machina. That's that only problem I have with the conclusion. Too many things worked out in this epsiode. The change of h eart Odo had seemed a bit too quick as well. They should have played up the conflict more with Odo in that respect - almost like a drug addict having to give up his fix for the ones he loves. I LOVED the Weyoun's quick retreat comment and body language. I can see why this episode is highly rated, I just wish the resolution was more creative.
• From JR on 2012-06-12 at 7:04am:
  There are so many good episodes in seasons 5 & 6 and this one is non-stop action. It seems like I find ways to nitpick a bit in each one.
  
  I could not, and still cannot, figure out how a mere Captain, on one of the lead ships no less, is commanding the entire fleet of ships. That would be the responsibility of someone three or four grades higher. They even had an admiral (not sure how high) in the last couple episodes that could easily have been included.
  
  I understand Sisko commanding maybe one attack wing, but giving orders to all of them while making a rapier himself is a bit ridiculous.
  
  I also agree with the above sentiment that having the prophets "disappear" all the dominion ships in the wormhole was pretty cheesy. It would have been cooler if Rom's minefield ended up working after the dominion thought it was clear and ordered their ships through. But, I gather there will be some repercussions to Sisko for asking the prophets to act, and I guess that will make for a good storyline down the road.
• From Captain Keogh on 2013-03-17 at 11:20am:
  I remember the first time I saw this episode, I was only 8, I was amazed at how many ships there were.
  
  I alos loved the ending where Dukat is being led away and O'brein is holding a baseball bat, I just thought there was a bit of humour in that.
• From L on 2013-08-04 at 8:05am:
  I didn't see any O'Brien with a baseball bat.
  
  This was a fitting climax. Hard to see how the rest of the season can compete.
  
  I was as shocked as Dukat was when his daughter was killed. Why did they have to do that? I really liked her. Almost made me cry, especially coming straight after the honest exchange between them of their love for each other.
  
  The Changeling's callousness and superiority is becoming more evident and sinister.
  The head changeling's apparent blandness just increases this evil.
  
  I did not like the Prophet's cliched intervention, and the demanding of a 'price' to do so. I don't see any reason they had to deny Sisko his future happiness, other than the usual psychopathic motivation of those who call themselves gods.
  A very slight anti-climax to a moving story arc.
• From TheAnt on 2013-09-15 at 11:22pm:
  It really is a great episode, tension and quite some excitement how the situation will resolve with such impossible odds.
  A remarkable scene in my book is when Quark stand stunned after killing the two guards.
  
  Odo comes around all of a sudden, sadly it does not feel altogether convincing. Ok Kira have given him a verbal kick in the gonads, yet even so he shrugs off the lure of the changelings from having been all enthralled.
  
  The reason I cannot give the episode a solid 10 is the fact that the Dominion is defeated by a Deux ex machina - that's where the storytelling depart from the style which have made Star Trek great - not even 'Q' did any supernatural rescue from the Borg for example. I shake my head and give a thumbs down on this detail.
  
  Now if we accept that, and watch this as Space opera in the Star Trek universe.
  Then Dukat's madness is rather fitting, and as such t can be viewed as one heck of an episode for entertainment value, with good action and multiple story lines that make it top notch drama.
  
  A small correction, it's actually Weyoun who push for the idea of wiping out Earth's population. Whereas Dukat appear to think it might not be necessary if only the will to resist can be broken by a decisive victory.
• From Axel on 2015-05-10 at 12:13am:
  Sure, this does end with a deux ex machina as other comments have pointed out. It's made a little more bearable by the fact that the wormhole aliens (hate calling them Prophets) do extract a price from Sisko in exchange for intervening purely at his insistence. Without that aspect, it would've been a lot more ridiculous to simply have them make the Jem'Hadar fleet disappear. It would've begged the question as to why Sisko doesn't just go to the wormhole aliens every time he needs help fighting the Dominion.
  
  I would've preferred an ending that involved the minefield too. Far too much time was spent on that plot element for it to simply end as abruptly as it did. But the episode still gets an 8 from me for all its other awesomeness.
  
  It's been suggested that Roddenberry might've included more space battles in TOS if he'd had the budget and technology. This episode shows what that can add: a fantastic visual to go along with the plot. It's also beautifully acted especially by Alaimo.
• From Zorak on 2016-06-21 at 4:48am:
  All other things aside, the ending with Dukat was surprisingly heart wrenching. As much of a villain as he is and as much as he had it coming to him, I couldn't help but feel for the guy. That was brutal.
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-11-26 at 7:17pm:
  While Gul Dukat definitely doesn't deserve any statues on Bajor, Marc Alaimo should have one built for his portrayal in this episode. Fantastically played turning point in Dukat's character arc.
• From jobu on 2024-02-26 at 1:49pm:
  On to this episode and arc. All I remembered from my first watch was the deus ex machina which irritated me so much I stopped watching for a while. Even knowing it was coming, I still found it just as ridiculous.
  
  The prophets wiping out the dominion ships is just such a massive missed storytelling opportunity. The DS9 creators loved to mock and boast about flouting Star Trek and Sci-Fi tropes about technobabble and reset buttons. So their conclusion to a 7 episode galactic invasion story is a magic wave of the hand without a scratch on any of the main cast? My mind immediately went to the original V Mini-series where after thought provoking allegorical storytelling a little girl with super powers stops the evil enemy on the brink of destroying humanity with the wave of a hand. This was just as awful to me. There will be a "penance" is not enough.
  
  I could think of more compelling story turns off the top of my head and I'm not a writer. How about the Prophets meeting the Founders? How about Weyoun and Dukat meeting the Prophets ? Weyoun questioning his entire belief system leading to a Dominion dissident movement? Or if you really want to do the epic divine intervention, do a DS9 take on the TOS Organians or TNG Q . Render all weapons useless passing through the wormhole. Make the Federation immune to Dominion weapons and vice versa. Hand wave the Jem'Hadar drug dependence away and see what happens. Create an even graver threat forcing them to cooperate. Anything other than Poof! All the Bad GuysTM are gone. Its far too simplistic like the Vedic who killed herself to "oppose evil."
  
  What really bothers me is the moral implication. This show already has Founders who have no respect for lifeforms other than their own. They literally create two races of disposable beings to do their bidding. Now the Prophets just wiped how many Dominion troops out of existence, tens of thousands? So apparently in DS9, all powerful beings have absolutely zero regard for life. What, its okay because the Dominion were "the enemy"? That's just an awful message. For a show intent on exploring moral ambiguity that's again way too simplistic.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Johnny Storm on 2006-05-07 at 11:59am:
  I have to admit that I am mainly a TOS and TNG fan but I would go so far as to say that this is IMHO my candidate for pretty much the best episode of any Trek, ever.
  
  It beautifully portrays a father's love for his son. It is the only ep of Trek that has ever brought tears to my eyes (and my wife's). It is successful on a number of different levels: the plot, the superb acting, the view of how the DS9 charcters will turn out in future (very like "All good things...").
  
  Having said that it does not stand up so well to repeated viewings and the view of the future was superceeded by later events.
  
  Still a great one though.
  
  
• From RichD on 2006-06-02 at 9:16pm:
  I just saw this episode recently. I had not seen it in many years. I'd forgotten how incredibly moving and touching it is. I am a full grown man. I do not cry often watching a tv show or a movie. Maybe ET when I was a boy. This episode gets me every time. Perhaps it reminds me a lot of my relationship with my father. The thing that struck me with this most recent viewing, was Cirroc Lofton's acting. It's like a .150 hitter coming up with the game winning hit in the World Series. Superb. Where did that come from? If he'd only been half as good, the episode would have suffered. This is an episode you can watch and show to someone who doesn't even follow the Star Trek. It's that good.
• From Pete Miller on 2006-06-25 at 2:06am:
  You know, as I was watching this I thought "I can't wait to see how low a rating eric gave this reset button episode". When I came to find out that you gave it a TEN my mind was blown. I am sorry, I usually agree with all your ratings but I found this episode to be filler, doubtlessly the producers recovering from the expensive "Way of the Warrior". I couldn't focus on the episode because the whole time I knew that this couldn't possibly be. I knew that DS9 didn't just end with an old man jake kicking the bucket and the Klingons owning deep space nine. Now if I went back and watched it again, maybe I'd enjoy it more. I did like seeing Nog as a CAPTAIN.
  
  Bottom line, I disliked it. I thought it wasn't nearly as profound as it was trying to be, and I think that TNG "The Inner Light" is a much better executed version of a similar premise. I recognize that I am in the minority, so I won't mess up the fan votes by submitting mine. I, however, would give this one a 3. I didn't care for it at all.
• From Alex von Treifeldt on 2008-07-07 at 8:25am:
  An absolute cracker! I only saw it 7 July 2008. Your last sentence sums it up perfectly! The series really came alive for me today! I just didn't know what hit me...
• From djb on 2009-11-08 at 6:48am:
  The concept of a "reset button" episode is not, in itself, bad. Some of the best TNG episodes had that going, to some degree (The Inner Light, Tapestry, Yesterday's Enterprise, and All Good Things come to mind). It's all in the execution. This episode executed the reset button quite well. In fact, you could even say that aspect strengthens this episode, in a way.
  
  For one, it's obvious from the very start. As soon as we find out that the old man is Jake, it's clear that this is not a typical episode. Then when he refers to his father's death, since we know Sisko doesn't die, it has to be some kind of alternate-reality-type episode.
  
  One way it which this aspect is a strength is the way it implies how things would have turned out if Sisko weren't around; in other words, Sisko is instrumental in the events that happen over the next 4 seasons. This is clear, but the episode highlights that. Plus, as someone else pointed out, Sisko is left with the memory.
  
  I always appreciate these small excursions from the normal sci-fi Trek. It reminds us that this show (series of shows) is about the human journey as well.
• From L on 2013-05-28 at 8:29am:
  Jake and Sisko's relationship has always been portrayed so wonderfully, an openly affectionate father-son dynamic is rarely seen in popular culture or sadly even real-life. This was beautiful and moving.
  My only concern - does losing his father and his consequent bumming around make Jake a great writer, or will he still be one with the timeline 'fixed'?
• From meinerHeld on 2013-06-03 at 2:57am:
  Too bad that the poignant exchanges between Jake and Melanie are rendered meaningless. Nonetheless, just the chance to see a sagely Jake in an exquisitely homey setting, dispensing wisdom unto the youngun, was beautiful.
• From Dstyle on 2013-10-24 at 7:44pm:
  You know how sports teams sometimes wear retro throwback jerseys in certain games? It must have been throwback uniform day on Commander Nog's ship, because there's no way that TNG era uniform was still in use!
• From Zorak on 2016-05-17 at 8:53pm:
  As good as the acting was by the regular cast all around, I think it was Tony Todd who really made this episode what it was.
• From Coihue on 2018-10-02 at 4:37pm:
  Made me cry. Every-time-they-get-together.
  This was even better than The Inner Light.
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-07-25 at 8:10am:
  - Someone needs to replace the light bulbs in the transporter room. When Kurn beams aboard the Enterprise, the transporter platform is very dark. Maybe he called ahead to tell the transporter chief he wanted to make a dramatic entrance ;)
  - Picard replicates a variety of foods for Kurn to sample. One of them is roast turkey. Why would the replicators aboard the Enterprise replicate bones? Doesn't this seem like a waste of enegy? Picard must be a real stickler for authenticity ;)
• From thaibites on 2011-02-05 at 5:05am:
  To say that this episode is a soap opera brings dishonor to this episode. A soap opera is where some slut is having an affair with her boss, while her Mom is banging some guy upstairs, and then the boss wants to bang the Mom, but the Mom is now depressed because blah, blah, blah...
  
  This episode is intense and obviously had a lot of energy put into it. I love how the Klingon homeworld is shown as a dark, sterile, foreboding place. The lighting is great! For me, this is the best episode of TNG so far, chronologically speaking. It's flawless.
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-22 at 2:12pm:
  This becomes a really superb episode once the main plot starts. No wonder Klingons became popular, they had some strong episodes in TNG. It also adds a lot of dimension to both Worf and the Klingons to see that not all Klingons are as rigidly obsessed with honor as Worf – that he has essentially overcompensated for his Federation upbringing by trying to become the perfect Klingon.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-09-28 at 2:48am:
  Tony Todd who played Kurn, Worf's younger brother, also appeared in several other Star Trek episodes, two TNG episodes where he reprises the role of Kurn (as he does in one DS9 episode) plus one other DS9 episode (The Visitor) where he played the older Jake Sisco. This DS9 episode is arguably the best Star Trek episode ever. Certainly, Todd's performance was a major factor in that. Todd also plus the Alpha Hirgen on Voyager.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-09-28 at 4:47pm:
  Tony Todd who played Kurn, Worf's younger brother, also appeared in several other Star Trek episodes, two TNG episodes where he reprises the role of Kurn (as he does in one DS9 episode) plus one other DS9 episode (The Visitor) where he played the older Jake Sisco. This DS9 episode is arguably the best Star Trek episode ever. Certainly, Todd's performance was a major factor in that. Todd also plus the Alpha Hirgen on Voyager.
• From John on 2011-11-23 at 2:33am:
  That I really like this episode. I tend to like most Klingon episodes, but this one in particular because it's the first time we get to meet Worf's brother Kurn, played so well by Tony Todd.
  
  There's only one thing about this episode that confuses me. It's really a nitpick, but... when Picard first finds out the story behind why Kurn is there, he orders a course change to the first city of the "Klingon Imperial Empire". As opposed to the Klingon "non-Imperial" Empire. If it's an empire, then it's imperial. What's up with the redundance?
  
  Other than that I think this episode is great.
• From Ggen on 2012-03-22 at 4:21am:
  Another excellent episode. There are almost two separate halves here, each interesting in its own way: first Kurn as exchange commander, and then Warf's legal drama on the Klingon homeworld.
  
  Kurn is a great character, with the tension on the bridge practically dripping off the ceiling... And the heartfelt scenes of loyalty between both Warf/Kurn and Warf/Picard were great. And finally the legal drama was excellent, with all its open court and behind-the-scenes elements.
  
  I'd imagine this is how many of our earlier courts operated, complete with stabbings in the halls. Unfortunately, I also strongly suspect that our modern courts aren't a heck of a lot better, not when there's a "powerful family" involved, and there's a perceived threat to "national security." There are backroom deals, plea bargains, and all sorts of extralegal, purely political considerations. See the mock "trial" of MLK's assassin, James Earl Ray, for a very prominent example.
• From Daniel on 2014-07-02 at 10:04am:
  I too loved this episode for many of the same reasons as others do. I like the introduction of Kurn and the seeding of a future storyline with Worf and the Klingons. I do have one nitpick about one particular scene... When Wesley Crusher is at his post to navigate and Kurn is in command, Kurn gives the coordinates and speed, then says "Execute" - which is the Klingon version of Picard's "Engage"... Now, any other Starfleet officer would have simply replied, "Aye, Sir!" And obeyed the command. But, Wesley, upstart brat that he is, replies very vehemently "Engage!" Thus correcting his commanding officer's choice of words in pure spite. No one seemed to notice this. If Kurn had noticed Wesley's smart-ass response, he would have killed him, as any Klingon would do. If Picard or Riker had noticed Wesley's contempt of his commanding officer, they'd have scolded him and possibly reprimanded him. Yet, somehow, the boy wonder gets away with being insolent. Doesn't seem right! What about the rigid Starfleet regulations and code of honor? Since when is it okay for a Federation Starship crew member to correct his superior officer... And spitefully too, since the correction is unnecessary?
• From Axel on 2015-03-03 at 2:13am:
  John's comment made me laugh only because I thought the same thing. THe first time I saw this episode, I had to rewind and listen again because I thought I misheard. But "Imperial Empire" doesn't make a lot of sense. Was that in the script or was it just a flub-up?
  
  That redundancy aside, this episode was awesome with lots of great plot twists. The Worf-Picard relationship evolves a lot in this one, and will continue to do so in "Reunion" and "Redemption" as they discuss Worf's family honor and their mutual struggles to balance between Federation and Klingon interests and cultures.
  
  On a side note, Tony Todd is one of the better guest actors in Star Trek. He does a great job as Kurn in TNG and DS9, and also portrays an older Jake Sisko in DS9: The Visitor.
• From Captain President Obummer I. on 2021-07-25 at 5:51pm:
  The scenes where Kurn tries to anger everyone but Picard are too funny.
  But I don't buy the whole klingon plot, are Klingons so dishonorable that there would be enough support for such a romulan traitor for a civil war?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From djb on 2008-07-20 at 8:36am:
  I've seen this episode many times, but I just got what might be a little joke at the end. This bit of dialogue between Picard and Worf:
  
  "I only wish I'd had the opportunity to use it on a horse."
  
  "Of course."
  
  Reminds me of Mr. Ed....
• From JRPoole on 2008-09-22 at 10:17pm:
  Not so much a problem as a WTF moment: Data mentions that ther are several Terralians living on the Enterprise, and that Terralia is one of only a few inhabited planets without any atmosphere whatsoever. How in the world can someone from a planet with no atmosphere exist in the first place--perhaps an underwater civilization? In any case, it's hard to believe they could function on a ship.
  
  This episode is pretty incosequential in the long run, but it's a perfect 10 from an entertainment stand point. As mentioned in the review, Picard the killer is cool in James Bond mode here, and there is some serious McGuyver action with Geordi's visor being turned into a weapon. Come to think of it, Spock was doing that sort of thing long before McGuyver anyway.
  
• From JRPoole on 2008-09-23 at 1:56pm:
  An afterthought:
  
  With the obvious exeption of the Borg conflict episode and the occasional random death-of-an-entire-civilization plot, this episode has to have one of the highest body counts ever recorded in a Trek episode. Picard kills pretty much all of the thieves and even indirectly blows up their shuttle. Plus, "Hutch" is gunned down and presumably dies as well.
  
  The slapstick stuff with Data and Commander Hutchinson is funny and well done. I also love the way Troi rolls her eyes when Picard excuses himself from the reception.
• From Mark McC on 2009-02-08 at 1:58pm:
  Some on the production team was obviously a fan of the Bruce Willis move, Die Hard, and decided to make Die Hard in Space! There's a whole raft of similarities, the staff/crew are both held hostage at a social function while our lone hero runs around the building/ship causing mischief. In both, what we assume to be terrorists actually turn out to be mercenaries doing it purely for profit.
  
  Even the scene where Picard pretends to be Mott the barber is a reversal of the movie scene where Alan Rickman, the leader of the bad guys, fools Bruce Willis by pretending to be a clueless hostage escaped from his captors.
  
  I enjoy Trek for the range and depth of social and moral questions it explores, but sometimes an all-out entertainment episode like this is a breath of fresh air.
  
  Data and Hutchinson's slapstick is the icing on the cake, the comic timing and quick repartee between the two is fantastically done. 9/10
• From Markus on 2009-11-09 at 8:33am:
  Didn't they forget to save Picard's fishes from the sweep?
• From Inga on 2012-03-20 at 5:01pm:
  Is it me, or did Picard use a Vulcan nerve pinch on Devor?
• From Bronn on 2012-12-25 at 8:22am:
  Picard executing the Vulcan nerve pinch is actually a subtle, but nice, continuity nod. Remember that he's been in a mind meld with both Sarek and Spock, by this point. He should possess quite a bit of Vulcan knowledge.
• From dronkit on 2014-03-09 at 3:19am:
  A barber without hair? lol
• From Autre31415 on 2014-08-31 at 11:28pm:
  Also ironic about the Vulcan nerve pinch Picard performs is that it was on a future Vulcan!
• From tigertooth on 2018-02-27 at 3:17am:
  To dronkit's point: the real Mott is bald, too!
  
  The Baryon sweep was such a great gimmick to bring tension and to force everybody to be in the same spot on the ship.
  
  I loved how after the sonic pulse that knocks out everybody but Data, the first thing Data does is calmly collect the bad guys' weapons. A detail like that could easily have been missed, but it was done perfectly.
  
  I also liked how you think the B plot is just going to be comic relief, but then they end up being part of the A plot. It was timed well, too, as you couldn't have gotten much more out of the "small talk" gag.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Old Fat Trekkie on 2011-12-15 at 10:22am:
  I thought the tension between Decker and Kirk was forced, unnecessary, and silly. Kirk is an admiral. He should behave as an admiral and he should function as an admiral. I would have liked to have seen his character grow a bit. Kirk's character never does throughout all of the movies. He remains Captain Kirk, while all of his subordinates become Captains as well.
  
  With such a danger approaching the Earth, why wasn't a fleet sent out? Now, Kirk as an Admiral, could have used the Enterprise as his flag ship with Decker as Captain. Kirk could have assumed a more strategic roll, and left the running of the Star Ship in the more capable hands of Decker in that role. In WWII Admiral Halsey was not the captain of a ship, he was the fleet commander. That is the role Kirk should of had.
  
  It becomes incredibly absurd in STIV-TVH when Kirk is demoted and this appears to be a good thing. In real life this is a career ending event.
• From Bernard on 2011-12-16 at 12:04am:
  Ahhh, Star Trek: The Motion-less Picture.
  
  I actually really like this film. Yes all the complaints thrown at it are valid and it is a BIG disappointment compared to what it could and should have been. I think they were thinking too much 2001: A Space Odyssey when they should have been concentrating more on the elements that made the original series tick at its best moments.
  
  I have to disagree with Old Fat Trekkie because part of what gives this film the extra notch that makes it more watchable is Captain Decker. His interaction with Kirk is central because it provides some much needed conflict. Conflict, otherwise, is missing from the film because the all powerful VGER has no underhand objective or evil plan it is simply going about its business. Also what happens to Decker throughout the movie, his arc if you like, paves the way for his dramatic exit in what is for me, a special and spectacular ending.
  This movie shows how to do dramatic and tense scenes between two characters at odds with each other unlike the latest reincarnation of Trek where Chris Pine and Zach Quinto just shout and ball at each other.
  To finish, this movie is a masterpiece in terms of an artistic (effects, shots and music) feature film set in the Star Trek universe. Unfortunately the plot cannot handle the burden placed upon it and the movie drags towards its conclusion with long contrived scenes. Still love it though!
• From Old Fat Trekkie on 2011-12-17 at 8:30pm:
  Thank you, Bernard for our thoughtful comments. I do find it interesting that you disagree with "Old Fat Trekkie," then go on to state that the tension between Kirk and Decker was needed since the film itself was lacking. In that, I totally agree with you.
  
  I believe a great opportunity was lost by the writers. The reason was laziness on their part. Let’s face it; this movie was going to do fantastic at the Boxes regardless of the story line. Trekkies, such as myself and I am sure you as well, had been waiting 10 years for this film. I still would loved to have see Kirk as an admiral, I mean a real admiral, leading a fleet.
• From Bernard on 2011-12-18 at 5:41pm:
  I guess I should have been slightly more specific. I disagreed with your statement that the tension between Kirk and Decker was forced and unneccessary. In my view it was absolutely neccessary and well played. Everything else you said I can agree with!
  
  And yes, always nice to have dialogue though isn't it!
  
  
• From jeffenator98 on 2014-02-06 at 7:45pm:
  After what happened in the transporter room I understand Dr. McCoys fears of "Having my atoms scattered all over the universe."
• From Scott Hearon on 2014-04-16 at 1:25am:
  Not bad, really. I gave it a 6/10.
  
  The "Slow Motion Picture" jokes are warranted, as I thought that first super-slow pan of the Enterprise was was overdone. I guess they just wanted hardcore Trekkies to have time to bask in the glory, soak it all in, and then have time to recover before any more dialogue or plot movement occurred.
  
  The story is actually a very good one, even if it does take a while to build up to it. I love the notion of a massive, mysterious alien lifeform bearing down on Earth, and then learning that it's not malevolent. The idea of living machines is intriguing, and the noted sci-fi writer Alan Dean Foster used it well.
  
  I have to say that some minor parts of the story were ill-conceived and a bit contrived. As others point out, there seemed to be no need to have Kirk an admiral. It just complicated and mucked up the tale unnecessarily. And having to "get the band back together" by pulling in Spock and McCoy seemed like a silly contrivance, in the name of being sly and funny. I found it neither. And this will sound odd, but I found Spock to be too distant and cold. I know, I know - he's a Vulcan. Still, during TOS, Nimoy and the writers always managed to work in the sense that Spock was at least willing to acknowledge emotions and humor, even if he very rarely participated in them. In the Motion Picture, I didn't get any such sense.
  
  The clothing aesthetic was a bit weird, but hardly tragic. A bit drab, but certainly a bit more stately. Though why, oh why, can science fiction movies never get past the hairstyles of the times in which the movies are made?
  
  The remodeling of the Enterprise was quite nice, considering it was 1979. Much stronger, even, were the external visuals. Yes, it borrowed very heavily from the trippy, psychedelic light show of 2001, but it worked well. Though it was probably a tad too long, I actually liked the drawn out journey through and to the alien energy field. It conveyed the sense of scale needed to induce wonderment.
  
  The resolution was fine to me, though I feel that we never get enough information about Decker and Ilia's relationship to feel much empathy for them. it certainly is a romantic, and even poetic, ending for them both, and I liked that. But it was missing some of the emotional punch which I assume the filmmakers intended.
  
  A film not without warts, but a decent one nonetheless.
• From Alan Feldman on 2022-08-04 at 4:09am:
  Hmmm. You've always complained that the aliens in TOS look just like humans. Well, you've got some exceptions: the Gorn, the Vians, the Tholians, the Melkots, Kollos, the thing in "The Savage Curtain." Anyway, now we have a Klingon with the Aquatred [yes, that's how it's spelled] forehead, and now it's a continuity problem! OK, it was cleared up later somehow. I haven't seen that part. The aliens in the newer shows basically look just like humans, but with gunk all over their heads and faces. Basically Halloween costumes. Hey, we've got FTL travel, transporters, gravity almost everywhere, everyone speaking English, stopping in deep space, no seat belts -- why not humans in Halloween costumes as aliens?
  
  Back to the slow-motion-picture. Yes, some parts were okay. But it was definitely too long. A 60-minute story stretched out to 2+ hours. I still recall being in the theater thinking to myself, "Alright! Enough with the blue and purple clouds. Something happen!"
  
  At least in the Nostalgia Critic's video on this, there is a scene where it looks like Decker is looking directly at V'ger's, uh, crotch. (Sorry, I haven't seen the full movie since it came out. I'm going by the Nostalgia Critic's videos and the "Everything wrong with <movie>" videos here. Might not be in some cuts. IDK.)
  
  "One particularly noticeable detail is the uniforms for women are no longer sexist." In an interview in TV Guide, Aug 24, 1996, edition, Grace Lee Whitney said it was her idea for the women to wear really short skirts, or "skorts," as she called them. And after a demo, Gene approved.
  
  Yes, it's _2001: A Space Odyssey_ crossed with "The Changeling." A not so great "Stargate" sequence, and they finally get to V'ger itself. Notice the weird sounds? Just like the weird sounds in the fancy room near the end of 2001 (!). Except it was much better in 2001.
  
  I think the lack of time allowed for making the movie, didn't help any!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From gategod on 2011-07-04 at 4:34am:
  You do relieze that at the very end we see Annorax reset back to where he would have been if the time ship never existed. Yay great, makes sense right? Oh wait he was on the time ship and time passed for nearly 200 YEARS! Time past outside the time ship 260 some odd days when they were looking for Voyager and inside it past 260 some days... THEREFORE if the time ship never existed he would go back in time 200 years. Therefore... he should be dead at the end of the episode and instead they've jumped the culture forward or backward or some strange thing to make him still alive so that we could have the unique ending... Why not just say "200 years ago" as a little title before that scene, otherwise it is pointless and wrong!
  
  I don't know why you think that is a brilliant ending, can't you see the major plot hole. If they have been on the ship for 200 years or however long it was, then if time gets reset 200 years would pass once he was back on his homeworld so by the time voyager is there... he is already DEAD! The scene they showed of him is thus WRONG! ahhh lol anyways i just couldn't get past that and no one seems to mention it ever. Please let me know if you can agree with that?!
• From Kethinov on 2011-07-06 at 11:29pm:
  I always just assumed the scenes with Annorax at the end were set 200 years ago, although I do agree with you that the lack of a caption indicating this leaves it rather annoyingly open to interpretation.
  
  My interpretation is that the temporal incursion within the ship created an alternate timeline in which Annorax failed to achieve his breakthrough to create the weapon ship in the first place, because in this timeline he gave his wife the attention she deserved and began to neglect his work.
  
  Fast forward 200 years, the Krenim's demeanor is all different now because Annorex never invented that weapon and the enemy they were fighting continued to exist.
  
  Overall, I stand by the ending. I thought it was fantastic.
  
• From JR on 2012-06-12 at 5:02am:
  I thought it was pretty good two-parter overall. I really did not like how there was seemingly no recollection by the Voyager crew of Kes' "Before and After" warning about the Krenim and the 1.47 variance.
  
  Up until the very last scene I was expecting that the first meeting with the Krenim would somehow reset. In this last iteration we would witness the crew react quickly to the realization that these aliens were Krenim, and utilize the 1.47 variation that they know about via Kes. That is, I expected the last scene would have been Voyager taking no damage from the chroniton torpedo, disabling or destroying that Krenim warship, and then detouring around Krenim space.
  
  It was set up so carefully and to not utilize it...looking back, it really seems the writers/producers did not want to mention Kes/Jennifer Lien ever again.
  
  
  
  
• From Rick on 2014-01-21 at 8:48pm:
  I think the best way to view the ending is that the temporal incursion erased the temporal core from history. Therefore, Annorax never invented it and because he never invented it he spent more time with his wife. This is similar to what kethinov said above but I reversed the cause and effect because the temporal incursion erased the temporal core, it did not cause him to want to spend more time with his wife. I disagree, however, with what Kethinov wrote in his review about Annorax eventually building the weapon again. Annorax's temporal core has been permanently removed from history.
  
  The temporal incursion only incurred within the temporal core though. If it occurred throughout the ship then none of the people on the ship would exist. Rather, the temporal shockwave hit the rest of the ship and the other ships, which allowed them to exist as if the temporal ship never existed. Took me quite a few years to figure this out and I probably still have a few things wrong, but Im getting damn close to a perfect solution.
• From pbench on 2015-09-03 at 3:26pm:
  was pretty amazing seeing voyager smash into the ship. i knew it was going to happen and it still made me say "daaaaamn" out loud.
  
  however i was frustrated by the way chakotay and tom acted onboard annorax's ship. as i said in my comment on the previous episode, more rich character development/clever writing opportunities dropped for weird uncharacteristic banter.
  
  chakotay, the way he has been portrayed throughout the series, is extremely loyal, or has become extremely loyal to captain janeway, and aboard this ship--with all his training, everything he's been through and seen--he basically immediately falls for annorax's siren song. it just seemed preposterous to me--i mean i get the plot device of him being persuaded and then disappointed but it was just inappropriate, completely. when tom & chakotay first had their little spat in front of annorax i thought for sure we would get a later scene of them conferring and agreeing to do a good cop/bad cop routine, one of them getting in annroax's graces and the other being the fall guy. i thought, what a brilliant way to mess with the viewers' expectations--because i was insantly cognizant of how chakotay, beyond being strategic, was being more sycophantic than usual. instead we get pithy lines about "you don't understand him", etc. are you serious? CHAKOTAY? with his life story, his experience of the world, hell as a supposedly earth-indigenous character (and that's its own can of worms obviously) who should have a very well-oiled and effective bullshit meter is suddenly waxing (shittly) philosophic about how this guy is misunderstood? when his entire mission is to return to the ship?
  
  let's say he does buy some of annorax's story--the point is, chakotay never loses sight of the mission. he would never have sympathised with, and only have taken advantage of annorax's narcissism in a better story, in my opinion. have the morality play, fine, but this is not the way to do it, at all. if anything they could have shown tom & chakotay colluding at different ends of the tactical spectrum. but the idea of chakotay being whisked away by the concept of playing with time...it just seems so patently naive and against his morals and everything he's come to stand for, it felt cheapening for him to get enthusiastic about it like that.
  
  was very disappointed, and felt like it left a taint on the whole episode, which i still enjoyed immensely but had me shaking my head and confirming yet again what i have come to believe about voyager: it has a lot of strong actors and some good writing, but just freely gives away their potential seemingly at random, which is why it can never be my favorite star trek.
  
  oh yeah and the kes thing. *face palm*

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Macca on 2007-12-26 at 3:19pm:
  Re the factoid about Rene Auberjonois playing Colonel West. Isn't his rank something of an anomaly? All the ranks in Starfleet are naval - Commanders, Admirals, Ensigns etc. Colonel is an Army rank - and to my memory, the only one to appear in Star Fleet. Apart from Kira, of course -but that's a Bajoran Militia rank. It's hardly a killer detail - but it is an odd one that could have been avoided by giving him the rank of Commodore, which was still around in that era.
• From Bernard on 2008-07-25 at 8:44pm:
  I absolutely love this film. I remember it fondly as being the first one I saw at the cinema.
  
  I give it a 10, any faults in this film are glossed over for me with the energy, action and also family feel to the performances, script and direction.
• From Spatula on 2008-11-23 at 6:13am:
  Regarding the explosion of Praxis, one of the theories I've heard is that it was a failed test of a Klingon copy of the Genesis Device.
• From Zaphod on 2011-04-11 at 9:07pm:
  Best Star Trek movie by far imo. Great fun to watch, I really miss the old crew, especially the trio Kirk, McCoy and Spock.
  
  The only scene I didnt like was the one where they trapped the traitor in the infirmary. That never should have worked, it smelled like a trap when they mentioned the names on the public address system and it yelled TRAP!!! when the infirmary was dark and abandoned. That traitor obviously is a retard too.
• From Wes on 2011-08-24 at 2:58pm:
  After my last viewing of this pretty good movie, I noticed an interesting FACTOID: the Federation president's office is actually the Ten Forward set from TNG.
• From Duffnick on 2013-12-10 at 4:25am:
  Kirk orders Lt. Valeris to leave space dock at 1/4 impulse. Are we to believe she then lit this up to 1/4 the speed of light. The doors would not have opened yet and if they had it would appear that the ship just disappeared.
• From Shane on 2013-12-22 at 3:19pm:
  I thought that female's couldn't be on the council. But yet in this film the daughter takes over when her father dies.
• From Douglas Horton on 2015-12-10 at 2:38am:
  The Colonel West character was a reference to the U.S. Colonel Oliver North: a gung-ho military officer. That's why in the movie the rank is colonel and not a naval rank.
• From Bronn on 2016-01-31 at 2:29am:
  Having just watched this again, it occurs to me that THIS is the film that they should have tried to copy for Nemesis, instead of Khan. Mostly because Khan was a unique villain and there's never any connection between poor Tom Hardy and Patrick Stewart in that. Instead, it should have been a film about the Romulans and overcoming fear. And in that film, the various characters could be spread out-Riker captaining his own vessel with Troi working with him, and Worf serving as the Klingon ambassador.
  
  I don't know if this is the BEST Trek film, but it's really strong. It holds up 25 years later. It just makes me sad to watch this and remember all the actors who've passed on: Leonard Nimoy, Deforest Kelley, and James Doohan.
• From Stephen on 2016-02-25 at 2:54pm:
  @Duffnick impulse isn't relative to the speed of light so 1/4 impulse isn't 1/4 the speed of light.
  
  Also, I always assumed Worf being in the movie was a nod that his father (before being called a traitor) was well regarded and a politician iirc

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Marissa on 2012-08-02 at 1:45am:
  I absolutely love the final scene of this episode, where we only see Odo's reflection in the mirror. It kind of makes the whole thing feel surreal. Odo's offer of friendship there is a beautiful moment for both of my two favorite characters of DS9, and the choice of camera angle was just perfect. Too bad I can't seem to find the proper words to describe exactly why I love this scene.
• From Dubhan on 2014-07-16 at 5:41am:
  This episode is pretty jam-packed. It's got action, subterfuge, sabotage, willful disobeyance of orders, a substantial space battle (!), and - the best part - great dramatic scenes between Garak and Odo to hit you in the feels. This is some of the best Trek has to offer.
• From Mike D. on 2017-01-25 at 6:50am:
  I've heard season 4 is when this series really takes off, and I hope this awesome two-parter is a taste of what's to come. Garak's wide-eyed stare is so effective, he really is a great character. I loved the special effects in this episode, both the peeling Odo and the big ship battle.

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 Pete Miller on 2006-07-15 at 3:16am:
  Yelgrun has a barely tolerable lisp that annoys the hell out of me. It sounds like he's wearing a retainer.
• From onlinebroker on 2009-11-15 at 5:53am:
  The scene where Nogg checks his grandmas blood is just hilarious. Loved the whole episode, and I agree, great performance by Iggy Pop!
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-02-18 at 9:40pm:
  The laughing between Quark and Nog at the end of the episode seems to be an ad-lib. Out of character, but I always laugh with them when I see it.
  
  I'd probably give it an 8. There's one part that I dislike. It's when Nog, Quark, and Rom first come out to greet Yelgrun. The three stare at each other with these bad-ass looks on their faces. Maybe it was a parody of some old movie, but I thought it was a stupid moment.
• From rpeh on 2010-08-03 at 7:20am:
  It's a great episode that manages to mix fun and suspense well. The references to westerns make it even better.
  
  @Orion Pimpdaddy, Gene Roddenberry created star trek as a western in space: "Wagon Train to the Stars" was his description, so homages to the genre are entirely appropriate. It's tough if you don't understand them.
• From Popescu on 2010-09-22 at 2:55am:
  This episode is absolutely fantastic! I've never laughed so much watching a ST episode. Watching those little Ferengi banging their heads to form a commando and confront the Dominion was simply amazing.
  
  "Two slips of latinum to the first who makes it to the infirmary" - I couldn't believe my ears hearing that :)
  
  A very nice relief episode during the Dominion war and a very very good reuse of characters! Bravos!
• From MJ on 2011-01-26 at 6:18pm:
  Well, both the Vorta may hate Ferengi, but I love them! Or rather, I love the Ferengi as they are portrayed in DS9, which did the same thing with the Ferengi that TNG did with the Klingons.
  
  DS9 really made itself better and more rounded by expanding on the Ferengi through episodes like this. The Dominion War, the Maquis, Sisko's struggle with his wife's death, Odo's separation from his people, Kira's stories and the horrific history of the Bajoran persecution...all of these are very serious topics that deal with complex issues. How nice to have the comical Ferengi episodes enter the series every now and again!
  
  My two favorite scenes in this episode are the bungled rescue operation in the holo suite, and the prisoner exchange at the end. I couldn't stop laughing...very well done!
  
  
• From attractionmagnetical on 2011-07-11 at 6:59am:
  I have to say, Keevan really made this episode for me. His constant disgust while being dragged around the station, his bored expressions while the Ferengi planned, his over-the-top predictions of doom, his dying words, and of course, the behaviour and expressions of puppet Keevan were all priceless. Christopher Shea (the actor who played Keevan) did a delightful job with puppet Keevan; I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. Plus, Iggy Pop made a delightful appearance, too.
  
  As an old movie buff, I really appreciated the many references to the classic "Magnificent Seven" film, although I suspect that DS9's younger audience may miss a lot of them.
• From Axel on 2015-08-17 at 3:30am:
  DS9 really found a great crop of actors to play the recurring Ferengi characters. This episode is their crowning achievement. The ensemble works well together, each one bringing his own hilarity to the group. The return of cousin Gala, the assassin Leck, and of course Jeffrey Combs as ex-Liquidator Brunt combined with the usual trio made for a spectacularly humorous and adventurous episode. Close runner-up to "Little Green Men" as far as Ferengi episodes go. Not a dull moment in this one, and great continuity with other story arcs as well. One of my favorites.

No fan commentary yet.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Wes on 2011-02-21 at 11:28pm:
  I just watched Search for Spock. It's frustrating to me that they change the bridge of the Klingon Bird of Prey between Search for Spock and Voyage Home. Have you ever noticed that? The new bridge set is very similar to that of the Birds of Prey in later episodes and movies, but very different from the set used for Kruge's bridge. If you ask me, Kruge's bridge was pretty fruity looking. It didn't look like a Klingon bridge with all the blues and lighter colors. The doors were lame. I'm glad they altered the set, but it's frustrating, too. Why didn't they just do the new design from the beginning?
• From Wes on 2011-02-22 at 5:27pm:
  This is one of my favorites. I love the humor in it. I really liked the continuity seen in having the same guy play the Klingon Ambassador in this movie and in The Undiscovered Country (although, he gained a little weight between now and then).
  Another stage flaw! The set of the Enterprise-A bridge at the end is DIFFERENT than the bridge set in The Undiscovered Country. The set at the end of this movie is more like the set in the newest movie (Star Trek). That's a bit frustrating. It doesn't make sense to me either. You would think it would cost them more to change the set than to just keep what they had the first time.
• From Overand on 2014-08-07 at 1:53pm:
  One fun tidbit about this film - that scene with Checkov asking about the nuclear vessels? That was filmed with a candid camera.
  
  It was the *actual* responses of people in 1986 San Francisco being asked about Nuclear Vessels by someone with a Russian accent.
  
  Hilarious!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Rob UK on 2013-10-26 at 11:08am:
  I enjoy this episode for the quirky backdoor feelings and insight you get into the crew and life onboard, the confrontation about hearing the intimate relations was great, being on a starship in the future is like living in a tower block in modern day, i could do a nature reserve study on any one of my neighbors with great accuracy.
  
  The key swing comedy factor for me is the doctors slideshow
  
  "Here we see how fortress ovum is besieged by countless little warriors" with all the arm movements and hand gestures is a classic.
  
• From thaibites on 2015-02-14 at 12:56am:
  Another horrendous soap opera episode that gets an 8 rating from HRM Eric Newport. Are you people all gay? Unbelievable...
• From parkbench on 2016-02-12 at 9:54am:
  well, a truly mediocre episode with lackluster pacing and based purely on the novelty of seeing the characters in a banal situation. but rather than explore this in any profound way or use it to get behind some of the themes of voyager, we get more voyager aimless meandering--another crappy love interest episode that star trek is famous for, recycling a hundred stereotypes a minute and wielding them all in the least-thought out, least creative and safest character on the show--seven of nine, unfortunately little more than eye-candy in most of the episodes. it's like they felt bad for having janeway for the first few seasons and had to pander even more than they usually do. so embarrassing.
  
  apparently the writing for this one was so bad that it caused the above commenter to lower several grades of intelligence and equate mediocrity with emotions, and emotions with gay people. the discovery of the century, no doubt. i fear for this (no doubt) man, anyone who must care for him, and whatever offspring he may one day produce. be on the lookout for profound moments like this one. oh, i'm gay, by the way.
  
  anyway, back to seven. really i can't stand most episodes about her, because they read like poor imitations of Data episodes, and even some of those aren't that amazing! i found myself compelled to skip at the beginning and now wish i had.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Jason on 2009-10-24 at 7:23am:
  Great episode. "You're even more insidious than the Borg -- at least they tell you that they're going to assimilate you!". But it's too bad about Eddington; I liked him. At least his plot was well enough hatched that he got away safely to the Badlands.
• From MJ on 2011-01-14 at 8:08pm:
  Several episodes of TNG and DS9 have dealt with the Maquis now, and they’ve all been very, very good. It’s a dilemma that is relevant to the real world, in situations like the Middle East peace process. What’s great about these episodes is how powerful the Maquis point of view is always portrayed. These are not truly terrorists, they are ordinary men and women who are convinced tey are doing the right thing for their well being. But you can also understand the Federation’s point of view.
  
  This might be one of the best Maquis episodes yet, if for no other reason than Eddington’s very well written speech to Sisko. Hell, he almost had me ready to join the Maquis, even knowing they don’t really exist! But this episode hints at a greater theme, a disturbing one, at least for Star Trek fans. The Federation has always been the “good guys” in TOS and TNG. It’s a group of aligned planets whose goal is to explore the galaxy and make peaceful contact with new worlds, and to protect the fundamental rights of its members. DS9, for all its other faults, is really the first series to explore the darker side of the Federation, and it’s a very compelling theme. For the first time, we see covert agencies, we see attempted military coups, we see naivety in government…and we see a distant bureaucracy unable to grasp the demands of its former colonists. The Federation that Gene Roddenberry conceived is shown in a very different light in DS9. I don’t know that Roddenberry would have approved, and I don’t know if I really do either. But whatever the case may be, it certainly is fascinating, and it strikes a powerful chord: after all, isn’t America supposed to be “paradise”? And don’t we have our darker side too? This is what separates DS9 from other Trek series, and in my opinion, what ultimately makes DS9 worth watching.
• From peterwolf on 2013-12-03 at 5:15am:
  Kiras interference with the Ziyal and Garak romance was absolutely unnecessary. Her charater shown as being a tough woman is overdone too often for too many times. Physically she does not fit into the role. It is total nonsense that she could fight Klingon or Jem Hadar warriorrs in hand-to-hand combat. Only Dax, who is much more athletic and trains constantly with Klingon combat prorgrams could stand a chance against such opponents.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-07-24 at 6:59am:
  - The major plot oversight in this episode concerns the personnel aboard the Enterprise during the alternate future created by the Enterprise-C. In the alternate future, the Federation and the Klingon Empire have been at war for twenty years. In war, people get killed. In fact, Picard says the Klingons have destroyed half of the Federation's fleet. Since people get killed in war, people get promoted quickly. It is inconceivable that Riker, Data, and Geordi would still be serving with Picard. They would have their own commands fighting the Klingons. Of course, this is a television series. The viewers want to see the same set of core actors from week to week.
  - Picard has an odd sense of three-dimensional space in this episode. He meets with Guinan on the spacious observation lounge. He meets with Riker and Yar on the spacious observation lounge. However, when he meets with his senior officers, five in all, he crams them like sardines into his ready room.
  - At the beginning of the episode, emergency teams beam over to the Enterprise-C. Dr. Crusher determines to take the captain back to the Enterprise-D. Dr. Crusher taps her badge and calls for transport. She then puts her tricorder away and reaches up to tap her badge again. At this point a befuddled look comes across her face and she puts her hand back down to her side. I guess she realized she didn't need to tap her communicator to shut it off.
  - After Crusher leaves, Riker and Yar find a survivor in the wreckage. The survivor is buried under a bunch of rubble on a darkened main bridge. Riker and Yar dig him out. What's the first thing they do for him after he's out? They shine flashlights on his face!
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-21 at 2:14am:
  One of the great Star Trek episodes. I'd like to add one more Remarkable Scene:
  - Picard discussing how the war is going badly, and Federation defeat is inevitable.
  
• From Percivale on 2011-09-05 at 5:02pm:
  A perfect Star Trek episode - worth a 10.
  
  I feel that the ingenuity, energy and skill that went into this script surpasses any of the TNG movies (and most TOS movies) and feels much more epic.
  
  Wouldn't it have been great as a film? The only important characters left out of this are Wesley and Worf. I don't know (and frankly don't care) what could be done with Wesley, but there's an obvious role for Worf - as a Klingon commander attacking the Enterprise, of course!
  
  I especially love how they let Guinan really shine in this one. It shows the strength of her character and the depth of her relationship with Picard - even in a depressing alternate universe - and we are even left with another tantalizing clue as to the nature of her species. I don't think there is another episode where we are shown quite as clearly why she is on the Enterprise.
  
  But the interesting cinematography, the dramatic tension, the moving ending - Man, I could watch this one over and over again (and have).
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-21 at 12:31pm:
  I agree generally that this is a fabulous episode. For one thing Denise Crosby is terrific. Perhaps because she was unhappy in her role in season 1, she seemed to be lacking in that season. Her performances were rather wooden, I thought.
  
  One logical issue: when the Enterprise D is holding off the Klingons, it takes the Enterprise C friggin' forever to go into the temporal rift! What's up with that? At the distance they were from the rift, they should have been through in a couple of seconds. As it is, it takes several minutes. Of course this adds to the tension, but it still creates a logical problem.
• From Sean on 2012-01-07 at 1:20pm:
  As I write this, there are over 700 episodes of Star Trek and eleven movies, and "Yesterday's Enterprise" still stands as my favourite episode of all time, twenty years after it first aired on television. To me, this episode is a perfect representation of what Star Trek is about: hope for the future. In this timeline, Picard is still as loyal and reflective as his normal counterpart, but he's a man who's been turned bitter by decades of war. I love seeing his slow turn from stubbornly refusing to sacrifice the Enterprise C ("Every instinct is telling me that this is wrong, it is dangerous, it is FUTILE!") to slowly realising that Guinan has introduced an incredible idea: that this ship has altered history - badly ("I've weighed the alternatives. I will follow Guinan's recommendations").
  
  Ultimately, Picard puts the needs of the many (the billions lost in the way) above the needs of the few (the crews of the Enterprise C & D). It's Star Trek at its very best. The fact that the crew all accept this is just beautiful - there's no dumb mutiny by a character who's looking out for his own skin, everyone realises that by sacrificing themselves, they are saving billions of lives and creating a brighter future for humanity. Even in this dark version of the future, the crew stays true to Roddenberry's vision of a united humanity. Even Riker, who clearly disagrees with Picard's decision, speaks to him with respect and once Picard makes his decision, that's it.
  
  What truly makes this episode so perfect, though, is the performances. As I've already mentioned, Patrick Stewart is in fine form, as are all the other regulars. Tricia O'Neil gives Captain Garrett a tough, strong personality without ever making her annoying. Whoopi Goldberg is suitably spooky, yet Denise Crosby steals the show by giving Yar the send off she deserved - particularly the scene where she requests the transfer to the Enterprise C. Seeing her explain to Picard that she's "supposed to be dead" always moves me.
  
  Of course, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the space battle, which to this day is impressive to look at, hardly aging at all. I love how the ultimate fate of the Enterprise C - it's final stand and it's destruction by the Romulans - is left to our imagination.
  
  Others may complain that it should have been a two-parter, or that Worf should have been on board the Klingon battleships, but I disagree. Having only one episode gives it a quick, almost panicked pace - after all, the Klingons are on their way! And we don't need to see the Klingons, or Worf, or any other part of this dark world, it's so much more interesting to see the story at the intimate level of just one starship. Often the best way to tell a large story is to just tell a small part of it.
  
  "Yesterday's Enterprise" is Star Trek at its best. My favourite episode of not only The Next Generation, but all of Star Trek. "Let's make sure, history never forgets the name... Enterprise."
• From meinerHeld on 2012-02-10 at 6:36pm:
  Keith: "I like how the writers gave Yar a better send off in this episode than in Skin of Evil."
  
  Three cheers for that one!
• From Ggen on 2012-03-21 at 6:21am:
  This was a rather excellent episode. In fact, of all the time travel episodes throughout Trek, this has got to be one of my favorites, for several reasons: For one thing, this episode accomplishes so much more than just the typical temporal parodox. 1) It is also a "mirror universe" episode of sorts, because the alternate militarized timeline is so fundamentally different from the norm. [And rather awesome to observe, I might add. I've long wondered about the straight-up military dimension of Starfleet - nice to finally see it on display] 2) It is very much so a Tasha Yarr episode, and a damn proper one at that. Tasha's oddly timed and oddly executed first death is rather gloriously redeemed here. 3) We're introduced to the mysterious and unique Al-Aurian "perceptions beyond linear time," which is a neat concept and a useful plot device. 4) Finally, this time travel episode is the only one I know of where someone (in this case Picard) asks the crucial question, "Who's to say *this* history is any less proper than *that* one?" This typically unexamined question has been perpetually in the back of my mind throughout the rest of Trek, causing me to cringe every time I heard the words "polluting the timeline."
  
  I also loved the high stakes of the final scenes - revealed when Picard admits that the Federation is doomed to lose the war within 6 months, failing some radical change of events.
  
  I don't know if I entirely follow how all of the events tie together to the very beginning and the very end, when the Enterprise (in "present" time) stumbles onto the space-time anomoly, but in this case I'm willing to just assume it makes some sense.
  
  Details
  - Warf calling prune juice a "warriors drink," and being sort of chauvinistic and piggish.
  
  - Alternate Picard's jargon: "miltary log," "combat date," "battleship."
• From Mike Chambers on 2013-11-16 at 7:05am:
  One of the best TNG episodes ever filmed, without a doubt. However, one major problem I noticed.
  
  - Since the Enterprise-C traveling into the future caused such a radical change in the timeline, do you really think the Enterprise-D would have still been at the exact position in this new timeline that they were at in the old timeline? That is, at the site of the temporal distortion at that particular moment in time. I'd say the chances are practically zero percent.
  
  Granted, there wouldn't be much of an episode if they weren't. It's just something I was thinking about while watching.
• From tigertooth on 2017-05-01 at 2:30am:
  This is great. I loved the instances of Picard arguing against the logic of the plot. NOT GOOD ENOUGH, DAMNIT! And also when he and Yar have the scene in the Ready Room. He tells her it's illogical for her to go, which it is! But I still completely dug it.
  
  I guess I view it as all the characters having a less defined version of the El Aurian senses. Guinan can sense the anomalies far more than anyone else, but the others sense it, too. That's the only reason I can imagine for Picard and Yar's actions. And it works for me.
  
  I will say the death of Captain Garrett was not great. The shot of her wide-eyed with shrapnel in her forehead was more comical than anything else. The Riker death scene was only better by comparison. Overall the director did a great job, but that was a clunker. The casting of Castillo was questionable, too.
  
  One other quibble: right after Riker was killed, it probably would have made more sense for Picard to talk about surrender terms with the Klingons if for no other reason than to stall them while the Enterprise-C got through the rift. But the awesomeness of Picard's "That'll be the day!" and vaulting back to tactical? Those far outweigh the logic issue.
  
  But overall this was great - a terrific sendoff for Yar, a fascinating look into a possible military Starfleet, some juicy moral conundrums... what more could you ask for?
• From Steve R Mohns on 2018-05-08 at 10:05pm:
  I love that at the end of the episode they are heading to "Archer 4".

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From MJ on 2011-02-02 at 4:59pm:
  This episode is one of the things that sets DS9, and Star Trek in general, apart from other TV series. The powerful social message and creativity of this episode is so rarely seen on TV these days. This episode also convinced me that Star Trek has found some of the most talented actors in the business. In this case, Avery Brooks!
  
  His mental breakdown as Benny Russell is breathtaking in its intensity. Had I been on the stage during the filming of that scene, I probably would've neglected my job because of being drawn into his performance. Sometimes Brooks overdoes the emotion just a tad, but in this episode it was stunningly real. It reminded me of "The Ship" when he contemplates his dead comrades at the end.
  
  The concept of the episode is well executed. I share the webmaster's dislike for "it was all a dream" episodes. In TNG's "The Inner Light" for example, I couldn't believe how the Kataan aliens could reconcile abducting a person, making him live his entire life in their world having doubted his sanity, only to reawaken him back on his ship to once again doubt his sanity. But in that episode, Patrick Stewart's performance helped overcome this glaring problem. In this episode, the performance of Brooks and all the others does the same. And the ending is a nice twist in the sense that DS9 is sort of getting in touch with its roots. Gene Roddenberry lived in a time of social upheaval, and dreamt of a future where all humanity is united regardless of petty differences. Benny Russell shares that same dream.
  
  This episode reminds us that Star Trek is more than just another TV series. It's a form of social commentary. It forces us to look at ourselves in new ways and keep our imaginations going. This episode is a gem for sure.
• From djb on 2011-04-15 at 8:11am:
  This episode was painful to watch, but very powerful, and still enjoyable. Viewers in the 90s, especially younger ones, can easily take for granted that a popular show could depict a "negro captain." Just 50 years previous, this was unthinkable, and it is good to be intimately reminded of how hard it is to be an oppressed minority. Sisko, a 24th century man in the Trek universe, most likely has no direct experience of racism, and probably doesn't appreciate what his ancestors were up against. The experience probably gave him some good perspective.
  
  It was great to see all the actors without their makeup! It was also a pleasure to see them playing different characters. I'll bet it was refreshing for all of them. I liked how each character had some similarity to their corresponding DS9 character, but was also markedly different. Michael Dorn's character was very different from Worf, but like Worf, was very good at a physical skill and competed in it. Marc Alaimo and Jeffery Combs still played villains, but their villainy was much more overt. Shimmerman's character may have been annoying, like Quark, but he was also very idealistic and principled, very unlike Quark.
  
  A unique and fascinating episode.
• From Jay on 2013-02-26 at 6:36am:
  I had half a mind to stop watching the series after this episode, because after Sisko said, "I'm a human being" I knew the series couldn't possibly get any better. Honestly, maybe the best acted anything I've ever seen. Definitely a performance deserving of an Emmy.
• From L on 2013-08-06 at 7:48am:
  I couldn't work out if the pulp artist was an un made-up regular or not, he looked familiar but I couldn't place him.
  
  The rocket model on the table in the writer's office seems to be inspired by the Tintin on the moon books, which came out in the early 50's.
  
  I loved Jake's character, he played it well. The two cops were really disturbing.
  
  'You are the dreamer, and the dream.'
  Powerful episode.
• From Dstyle on 2013-12-02 at 12:53pm:
  L, the pulp artist was Martok. I admit, I had to check IMDB, but he was so familiar and it was driving me crazy!
• From Zorak on 2016-06-23 at 9:38pm:
  I both like and dislike this episode. On the upside, the acting was great, the sets were well done and it was definitely powerful and expertly written and directed. On the downside, there's just something about them doing an episode like this that just doesn't seem right. Focusing on Sisko being black feels very out of place to me. I can't quite articulate why this felt cheap, but it did. That being said I still really enjoyed the episode.
• From McCoy on 2017-02-26 at 8:37pm:
  11/10 and a winner of my personal Best Trek Episode Ever. It's not only a story about racism. It's a story about how other people and ideology can destroy you (but not your idea). I've experienced something similar in my life, so I'm taking it probably more emotional.
  One more thing - it's not "it was all a dream". It's more meta-level. Similar to Dick's "The Man in the High Castle". A character, who suspect, he's fictional.
  Masterpiece!
• From Jadzia Guinan Smith on 2017-09-08 at 7:11pm:
  I was wondering about the pulp artist too, I thought either Garak or Morn. I hadn't thought it could be Martok?! I have to watch it again. Oh, twist my arm :-)
  
  I also liked seeing Michael Dorn without klingon make up. Such a good-looking guy forever covered up with THAT make up! sigh... (he looked even better when he was a few years younger, in TNG: Homeward, where worf was surgically "altered" to look human for a mission. Hah!)
  
  I usually don't like "it was all a dream" episodes either, as a concept. But I agree with the other reviewers that this one had so much going for it, that it really makes up for the cop-out device. Also, it's not absolutely clear that it was JUST a dream. It could be the wormhole aliens sending him visions.... although as I hear myself say it, I don't think that makes it better at all :-(
  
  But really great episode thought provoking in a serious, deeply star-trek way, but also super funny. A solid 8 from me.
• From J B on 2020-11-20 at 6:39am:
  This is a fun episode, but it is just too heavy-handed and over-the-top for me to understand why so many people love it so much.
  
  The main storyline (in Sisko's dream) contains no moral ambiguity, something which regularly adds interest to this series. Instead, it comes off as straightforward and excessively melodramatic. There is no resolution either--it ends abruptly during Benny's breakdown which makes for an unsatisfying, incomplete story. It feels like the director is trying for some emotional impact here, but the whole thing is so overdone that it almost comes across as camp.
  
  The fun part is seeing the whole regular cast in their new roles in the dream.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From siukong on 2010-08-31 at 5:31am:
  I don't necessarily see your beef with this episode as that big of a problem. In espionage, sleeper agents often have to ignore smaller opportunities that arise in order to achieve success with their long-term objective. Changeling-Bashir probably didn't want to blow his cover and risk losing the chance to cripple the Federation, Klingons and Romulans all in one fell swoop. That act would achieve a lot more than just killing a single Starfleet Captain and/or Bajoran major.
• From Christopher Wright on 2011-12-13 at 3:50am:
  I actually didn't notice that the real Bashir was wearing a different style uniform (but I am no Sherlock.) I know from reading the other reviews that uniforms are HUGE to the owner of this site. Speaking of uniforms, why is it that in the Star Trek universe, no one is EVER removed of his/her uniform when taken captive? Does that even make sense? I mean, it would have prevent Kirk's escape from the Klingon jail world (moon?) in ST VI. I guess that such questions shouldn't be asked - like when Ben Affleck asked Michael Bay on the set of ARMAGEDDON: "Why is it easier to train oil riggers to be astronauts than to train astronauts to be oil riggers?"
• From Wes on 2012-04-10 at 1:19pm:
  The staging when Sisko calls for battle stations makes me laugh. And it's not just in this episode. But when he does, Bashir moves forward, out of the picture and Kira moves from one side of the central console to the other. Would there really be that big of a difference in the controls from one side of the central command console to the other?
  
  I mean, I totally see why they do it. It has nothing to do with the function of the consoles. It adds a dramatic, moving element to the shot in what would otherwise be a very boring shot following a command for battle stations (like on the other star ships we're familiar with).
• From Lee on 2012-04-10 at 1:31pm:
  I actually like the fact that they use different uniforms for the different Bashirs, and that's not because I am too stupid to realize the difference between them :p
  
  I think it adds to the shocking moment of realizing that one of our main characters has been replaced for such a long time (the uniforms have been changed for quite a while). For that reason I also like that the real Bashir isn't shaved :p
  
  But I think the changelings behaviour seems a bit too suspicious, I mean, he didn't act like that in the episodes before, but here he acts too "evil", almost like in a cartoon for children. I think it would've been much more convincing, if the fake Bashir would've acted just like the normal one, not with the dramatic music and looking around like a suspicious bandit.
  
  But all in all, it's a great two-parter and it's on my list of favourite episodes!
• From dronkit on 2014-04-21 at 2:23am:
  An almost suicide "reconaissance" mission to find prisoners in the heart of the dominion and they send a petty runabout insted of the Defiant?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From GDorn on 2011-10-16 at 11:53pm:
  This episode has the classic shrinking problem shared with Honey I Shrunk The Kids and Inner Space. If you simply remove some of the empty space between atoms to decrease volume, the mass will remain the same and the density will increase. So even though the runabout is six inches long, it weighs the same as a normal sized runabout. O'Brien and Bashir walking around in the circuitry would have destroyed it, ramming the control panel would have destroyed it, and there would have been no need to fire torpedos at the Jem'Hadar - ramming them alone would have been more than sufficient.
  
  This leads to all kinds of physics abuses, like building a excessively large ship, shrinking it to normal size, and noticing that the ablative armor is almost completely immune to conventional weaponry due to sheer density...
• From Mike on 2016-10-28 at 6:21pm:
  Even with the point about increased density, I think Dax would've found firing a torpedo at the Jem'Hadar far less risky than ramming into him. It seems like having the Rubicon ram its way out of the plasma vent when they first entered the engine room was tricky enough.
  
  I also don't know that O'Brien and Bashir simply walking around the circuit would've destroyed it, but the mass/volume/density relationship would've probably allowed them to much more easily lift everything. That's hard to show on TV, however. I agree with the original review that getting the air molecule thing right is pretty impressive.
  
  Anyway, I enjoyed this one. It had some good action and an interesting story. I also prefer the episodes of DS9 where the Jem'Hadar are shown to be more than mindless hordes of soldiers.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-11-05 at 5:18am:
  Absolutely my favorite episode of Voyager so far. i too was convinced that it was a stupid mirror universe episode, but it turned out to be much more. Not only was it original and hilarious at times, but it also made huge statements about society and revisionist history, even dangerously skirting the whole issue of Holocaust denial. Overall, it was a true 'Star Trekkish' episode, and those are the best kind! Bravo to the writing team for this one. The only voyager episode so far that even comes close is distant origin.
• From David Chambers on 2010-09-09 at 9:22pm:
  I was amused to notice that the actor who played the scientist Quaren (Henry Woronicz) also played the Voth scientist Gegen in 'Distant Origin'. He seems to have cornered the market for playing unconventional scientists!
• From Tallifer on 2011-04-17 at 6:33am:
  Holy cow!
  
  This one rates 11 out of 10.
  
  The revisionist re-creation of Voyager and her crew is exciting and darkly humourous. "Shut up, Hedgehog!" one shouts at Neelix during a meeting. Janeway ordering the use of biogenic weapons on a massive scale; Chakotay and Harry as psychotic interrogators.
  
  The subsequent historical investigation and discussion was interesting and intelligent. One is reminded of the constant re-examination of the American civil war as well as the soul-searching by Germans about the two world wars.
• From packman_jon on 2012-07-10 at 3:23am:
  Brilliant episode. Tallifer touched on it a little, but I'll add more. This episode makes a nice portrayal on how people have twisted history to be used as propaganda for their own uses - not to mention how people can't accept reality.
  
  On an unrelated note, dang! Janeway looks great with more black colors! ;)
• From Lee on 2012-07-29 at 12:44pm:
  I actually loved the ending scene with the doctor going on another journey to the alpha quadrant. I always thought a whole series of the doctor travelling through the delta quadrant in his little ship would have been awesome!
• From Rick on 2013-01-05 at 6:52pm:
  Huge missed opportunity in this episode. When that female arbiter retorted, "It's always about race!" I was immediately disappointed that they didnt get jesse jackson or rev. sharpton to play the role. Wouldve been perfect.
• From Dstyle on 2015-06-16 at 2:54pm:
  In the doctor's version of the simulation the Kyrian rebels invade engineering, and after a brief confrontation Tuvok reports to Janeway that the raiding party has taken Seven of Nine and "one of the injured crew members" hostage. Seriously? I know this "injured crew member" is not one of the seven or eight characters we're supposed to care about on this show, but for the purposes of the story couldn't you at least give him a name? How about "Ensign Jones." There, see? That was easy. Or are we worried the audience might think, "Ensign Jones? Do we know him? Who is that?" If that's the problem, use a minor named character like Vorik or something. There are only 150 people on board Voyager anyway (well, 147 now, since three are dead)(oh just kidding, no one cares about them!) and I'm pretty sure after four year everyone knows each others' names.
  
  I know the red shirts are a tried and true Trek tradition, but on Voyager I find the nameless extras to be frustrating. This isn't TNG's Enterprise, where crew members can come and go at each space station stop. I mean, I get it, I do: I understand that we, the idiot box viewing public, can't realistically be bothered to care about more than the core cast, but at least pretend the in-universe officers care about the entire crew!
  
  It's a minor complaint, to be sure, and it doesn't seriously hinder my enjoyment of the show, but I do find it irritating each time it happens.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-06-08 at 2:56am:
  This episode has one of the most intriguing "hook" beginnings of all of star trek. I thought the whole episode was just stupendously done, and the director(s) achieved a truly spooky feel throughout it. I was a little disappointed at the quick, cheap ending. When I looked down and saw that there was only 10 minutes left, I could feel the cheap ending coming on.
  
  I think the episode would have been REALLY cool if they had made it into a two-parter and really explored the situation with the rebels and such.
  
  -1 for the cheap ending, but all in all one of my favorite ds9 episodes. The Obrien concentration was fun.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-09-30 at 3:41am:
  A perfect 10 all the way! You get to watch O'Brien slowly lose everyone he cares about drift away in deception. Every time he finds someone to confide in, they turn against him. First it is Jake, then it is Odo, then a Starfleet commmander. All trust becomes diminished. I would not want this to happen to me.
  
  What is great is that if you are watching the episode for the first time, you will not be able to figure out the mystery, no matter how smart you are. Nor, do you notice that the clone O'Brien is constantly drinking a kind of coffee that the real O'Brien never dirnks. Fantastic!
  
  
• From djb on 2009-01-28 at 8:11am:
  I liked the buildup in this episode. At first, the way people are acting towards the fake O'Brien is subtle, yet noticeable, and it eventually becomes more and more strange and overt.
  
  I also loved the acting; yet another great performance from Rosalind Chao (and others). I especially liked the scene where they're eating, with the closeups on their faces. He knows she's up to something, but won't tell. She knows he's not really her husband. The tension is terrific.
  
  I definitely didn't guess what was going to happen, but I did get an inkling when he was told to go back by the starfleet admiral. I began to think that there was something wrong with him rather than the others, given that if there seems to be something wrong with everyone but you, chances are you're the problem!
  
  A very decent episode, worth watching twice.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-03-16 at 1:03pm:
  Bashir totally misjudges what has happened when, at the end, he says, "I think he was trying to be a hero." Honestly, O'brien just wanted to survive. Heroic just doesn't seem to apply here.
• From Popescu on 2010-08-10 at 2:18am:
  I feel that a lot of Star Trek is inspired by the writings of Isaac Asimov. This episode also I think was inspired by the short story "Let's get together" by the writer.
  
  Well, not the entire episode, just the ending stroke me as being very similar.
• From MJ on 2011-02-04 at 6:15pm:
  This should have been a two-parter. This episode was so gripping that it kept my attention right up until the very end. If they'd have done a "to be continued" when he arrived on the planet and then further explored the Paradas rebel plot a bit more in part two, this would have been fantastic. Instead, as with several DS9 episodes, they try to rush the ending after giving us a truly intriguing storyline. I share the webmaster's below average rating for that reason alone.
• From bernard on 2011-03-08 at 4:05pm:
  Whenever the webmaster has given a rating that is near enough 4 points below the mean then that points toward the true score of the episode being somewhere in between. I think that is true here.
  
  We have a good episode that is one of those oddities that you can get equal fascination from both first and second viewings, first from O'Briens point of view and then when rewatched from the other characters point of view.
  
  Overall a quality outing.
• From Zaphod on 2011-04-20 at 9:36am:
  Great episode, one of the best DS9 episodes this far.
  4 points is ridiculous, as is giving no good explanation for such a low rating.
  It's not just another conspiracy episode, for Christ's sake!
  None of the conspiracy episodes in other series of the franchise was even close to be this original and well written.
  Waiting to the very end to solve the mystery was a very clever move too as it saves the suspense until the end.
  And it's no "cheap ending", quite the opposite. TNG "Conspiracy" had a cheap ending, this one here is amazing and makes you watch the episode a second time just to see it from the other's point of view.
• From James T Quark on 2015-08-16 at 1:14am:
  This is actually one of my favorite eps of DS9. I understand a lot of viewers don't like "dream" episodes, "tricked into thinking the holosuite is real" or episodes where things are conveniently reversed due to time manipulation.
  
  I get why some people don't really enjoy those type of episodes but I'm the opposite. I really enjoy the twists they exhibit and this episode is a perfect example.
  
  On my first watch, I was completely fixated and didn't see that twist coming at all.
  
  I'd give it a ten and a must watch.
  
  JTQ
• From ChristopherA on 2020-07-18 at 2:01am:
  I did not enjoy watching this episode. It sets up an intriguing mystery at the beginning, but you quickly get the idea that “something weird is going on” and after that, the mystery doesn’t develop, it just sits there until the end, when it is suddenly resolved so quickly that I only have a vague idea what happened. I felt like the middle half of the episode was just padding and the episode needed more story to add more context to what was going on.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-05-22 at 1:42am:
  One of my favorite episodes EVER. The whole concept was really cool, the story was engrossing, and I enjoyed the romulan-federation cooperation. The only thing keeping it from a 10 is that it's not profound or anything. Only episodes that move me deeply get 10's. But certainly a 9.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-06-04 at 8:52pm:
  This episode is fun from beginning to end. The plot moves along nicely with enormous challenges for the characters involved, such as the warp core breach, Beverly receiving a point blank phaser shot from a Romulan, and the difficulties with working in a suspended environment. There are a lot of memorable scenes, such as when Picard draws the happy face. The science portion is also well explained.
  
  Deserving of a 9.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-06-04 at 8:57pm:
  Problem:
  I could be wrong about this, but when Picard, Troi, Data, and Geordi first see the Enterprise and the Warbird frozen, their descriptions don't seem to match up with what is shown. The refer to a second beam, but there is only one beam visible. I don't think they are talking about the photon torpedos that the Warbird is firing.
  
  Correct me if I'm wrong.
• From Kethinov on 2006-06-05 at 4:56am:
  I'm pretty sure the warbird was firing disruptors and that that's indeed what they were referring to, Orion.
• From Evan on 2008-05-26 at 2:36pm:
  I don't think there's an issue with the life support per se. What would it need to do? (1) Keep the Enterprise warm enough and (2) provide enough air. The first wouldn't be affected by time, and the second wouldn't matter so much because there would be plenty of oxygen in the spaces available to last for the "fast" characters' short visits. The bigger problem is where the O2 that they breathe come from, since the air molecules would also have been slowed.
• From J Reffin on 2009-08-05 at 8:34pm:
  A very fast moving episode packing a lot in to the time available.
  
  One of the actors playing a Romulan can't help swaying slightly in the background when Picard is making a speech on the Bridge on the first visit (no - not one of the aliens). Must have been tough to hold a freeze pose for that length of time.
• From Mike on 2017-04-24 at 1:53am:
  This is one of my favorite episodes. It's just a classically well-done piece of science fiction. Like "Darmok" and the finale, this is TNG sci-fi at its best. This one comes down to the crew experiencing something entirely unexpected as a result of encountering a life form they had no idea existed.
  
  While the plots of some episodes tend to crash in the final minutes, this one kept it together until the end. Yeah, there are some problems. For example, I don't know how they managed to save Geordi...granted, they said they were beaming him directly to sickbay, but quite a bit of time elapsed between the resumption of normal time and that, and he was seconds away from dying when they removed his armband. Overall, though, this is brilliant and one that doesn't lose its suspense with repeated viewing.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-04-01 at 2:41am:
  This episode is one of the few times I disagree with Mr. Kethinov. To me, this episode is what Star Trek is all about.
  
  Negative : What's up with all the 70 year old Grandma Admirals in Starfleet? I do agree that some of the characters were out of character. And the episode lacks, shall we say, action. As silly as it may seem, a 10-rated episode for me has to have SOME action. So -1 for those things.
  
  Positive : This episode builds a very intriguing and nicely done story right from the beginning with the Klingon spy. I liked how the grandma admiral gradually transformed from a typical bureaucrat into a ruthless monster. I would not say that the paranoia seen in the episode is at all ridiculous. It is quite real, as was seen partly in the McCarthy trials, but most prominently in the Salem witch trials. The mob rule sentiment makes your blood boil, yet it is extememly applicable to the world today.
  
  "Witch hunting" in the sense exhibited in this episode is something that has occurred throughout human history. It is important to have episodes like this that remind us of problems within our culture. This episode is a manifestation of Gene Roddenberry's intentions at their finest, and as I said earlier they are what Star trek is all about. Makes you want to read the Crucible by Arthur Miller. Great Episode, I'd give it a 9, perhaps even a 10.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-05-07 at 6:26pm:
  "Trial" episodes of Trek have never been disappointing, but most fall along a predictable plot line. The trial always gets out of hand with the protagonist about to win, but the defendant pulls off a remarkable comeback in the end.
  
  It is always great to see Picard's moral conscience react to the things going on around him. This episode brings that out a lot. Worf, on the other hand, seems to be easily influenced by what is happening. This becomes out of line with his character as we know it. He may kill a person every now and then, but it is unlikely for him to conduct an unhonorable witch hunt.
  
  Although the Drumhead immediately relates to some of the issues of the modern world, such as the interrogation of suspected terrorists, I just find this episode forgettable just hours after I watched it.
  
• From DSOmo on 2007-08-26 at 9:15am:
  A Klingon exobiologist? Not a "normal" occupation for a Klingon. Doesn't seem like a very "warrior-like" line of work to me.
• From Firewater on 2008-03-03 at 12:47pm:
  I have admired many of your TNG reviews although I will, respectfully, disagree with your comments on this one.
  
  I believe making the characters "out-of-character" until the end propelled this episode's story. At it's essence, it *was* about fear, uncertainty, doubt and paranoia. It was an example of how even the best of men/women can fall to the influence of such things, despite their intentions.
  
  All of the Romulan/Tarses shenanigans were red herrings. In the end, it was all a witch hunt with no verifiable ties to anything at all. To be honest, I see this as a very TOS episode, hinting at the way our society could easily shift back into McCarthyism even though (when this episode was aired) it was the 1990s.
  
  In fact, I would even go so far to say that this would be relevant today post-9/11. So I would just suggest looking at this episode from a slightly different viewpoint.. I think it's highly underrated and worth another shot.
• From JRPoole on 2008-06-26 at 3:53am:
  I'm in almost total agreement with the review here. I don't find this offensive really, but I do find it dreadfully dull, didactic, and obvious.
  
  On the subject of Tarses' Romulan heritage, I think the most reasonable explanation is that his grandfather was a defector who lived his life posing as a Vulcan to avoid trouble. Probably only his family knew the truth.
• From Flot on 2010-09-24 at 11:40pm:
  I agree with your view, and think this episode could have easily been fantastic if it didn't feel like it came out of nowhere, nor end with no real consequences.
  
  I found it frustrating to watch because you could see that they were trying to take advantage of a lot of good content and continuity, but to no avail.
• From MJ on 2011-01-07 at 10:27pm:
  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.
  
  But overall, I really enjoyed it!
• From Robert Koenn on 2011-03-16 at 12:43pm:
  I personally found this to be a very good episode which I rated 8. I suppose a big part of that for me was the way it applies to our present Muslim fear mongering which is actually going on as I write with Rep. King's Muslim witch hunt in congress. It was so pertinent the way a powerful politician can gain fame by preying on the fears of the populace and undercutting our fundamental principles using this fear. It of course also reinforces that persons personae for personal gain. It was so great to see Picard handle this is such a moral and principled way that is portrays what one rationale individual can do to put these glory seekers in their place. I did not find the characterizations out of place and Worf has always been a character to jump off the deep end at a moments notice, not an inaccurate portrayal of his Klingon genetics at all. So for me using this alliterative to present day and historical events was quite good and I rated this episode quite high.
• From ChristopherA on 2012-06-19 at 1:13am:
  This is an excellent morality play, though a little clunky a times. While it is true that the characters seem to fall into the witch hunt mentality somewhat too easily, morality episodes like this usually have to play rather aggressively with characterization in order to get to the point and fit the episode within the time available. Also, it can be hard to set stories in a utopia. Measure of a Man has exactly the same issues as this – it makes the Federation justice system seem awfully unfair – but it works if you just accept the premises and go with the episode.
  - They never explain why Tarses lied on his application at all. So what if he is part-Romulan. Is the Federation racist? I thought it had been established that they had gotten over that. Perhaps the Federation is only racist when it comes to races that are currently enemies of the Federation.
  - DSOmo: Although the Klingons love thinking of themselves as warriors in spirit, that doesn't mean they have no other occupations. Somebody has to fill all those support roles.
• From Quando on 2013-07-31 at 5:13am:
  This episode raises a question I often ask about Star Trek TNG: why is there no lawyer assigned to the Enterprise? This is the flagship of the Federation, and it's not like this is the first time that having a lawyer around would have really come in handy (see, e.g., Data's trial in the Measure of a Man, or the episode where Picard is analyzing the really complicated treaty with the Sheliac Corporate looking for a loophole). I mean, the Enterprise seems to have everything else. They have a botanist, a bartender, several waiters in Ten Forward, a barber, and even an expert on 20th century earth history (Wyatt what's-his-name on The Long Goodbye episode). But the best they can do for poor old Simon Tarses, with his career and maybe even his freedom hanging in the balance, is appointing Will Riker as his "counsel" (practicing law without a license). Remember when they stopped at that planet where everyone was half-naked and peaceful for shore leave? They asked Lt. Yar (who, I assume, has no legal training at all) to review the planet's legal system, and she concludes that there is "nothing unusual". Except, as it turns out, that they have the death penalty for EVERYTHING - including stepping on the flowers. Nice job Yar (although, you almost got Wesley killed, and in the words of Galron, I consider that "no small favor"). Come on. The Enterprise needs a lawyer. I'd be glad to volunteer!
• From Troy on 2015-06-08 at 6:28pm:
  Yes a lawyer for the Enterprise...make him an ambulance chasing Ferengi!
• From Chantarelle on 2015-12-23 at 6:07am:
  Like other commenters, I mostly agree with the reviews on this website, however, I disagree with most of this one. I’ll agree that the premise of the episode, and the witch hunt involved was kind of clumsy and forceful, however, if that had been handled better, then I think the Enterprise’s reaction, and their being ‘out of character’, would have been completely believable. That’s the whole point of causing that kind of fear and paranoia. I especially liked Worf’s embarrassment at being swayed so easily.
  Interesting to see that comments going back to 2006 talk about how relevant this episode is in ‘today’s’ world. Sadly, it seems to be even more relevant today than it was 10 years ago. Can only hope that people won’t still be saying that in 2026.
  Eric, if you read this, I’d be curious to know whether you have reviewed your opinion on this one since posting the review, and whether your opinion may have changed at all either due to some of the comments here, or a rewatch? Not that I’m implying it *should* change. Just curious :-)
  
• From tigertooth on 2017-06-08 at 3:37am:
  I remember really liking this one, and I was excited to re-watch it. I still liked it, but I certainly see some of the criticisms here. It's a bit obvious -- perhaps the tropes are more fully entrenched now than they were in 1991.
  
  Also, as someone pointed out, there's really no action and I'd add there's no real sci-fi either. Sure, there's hypospray-this and dilithium-that, but there's nothing that you couldn't easily put in a modern setting -- or even a few centuries pre-modern. Not a huge criticism, but it's interesting.
  
  Maybe even a bigger flaw than a lack of resolution on Tarses is the lack of resolution on Satie. What happened to her after this? It seems like she just went on to her next case. Yikes, no repercussions? I'd almost be tempted to check her for one of the aliens from Conspiracy (1x25).
  
  But more than that, the question I would have liked to have seen explored is: Why did Satie get so hellbent on finding traitors where they didn't exist? Without an answer to that, her motivation is a complete mystery, thus hurting the drama.
  
  Another problem is J'Dan. So there was a Klingon spying for the Romulans who was aboard the Enterprise?!!? Whoa! That's huge! And they only caught him by sheer luck that the new dilithium chamber hatch happened to be faulty in such a way that it happened to fail at just the right time and in just the right way that it looked at first like sabotage. Man, they got super duper lucky! What information did J'Dan transmit? How did he get turned by the Romulans? There's a lot of big stuff there that never gets discussed, and I think that's way bigger than all the talk about Tarses' grandfather. I get why the dropped the J'Dan story when they did, but it's a huge thread to just let go of.
  
  So while I still give this a thumbs up for the main story arc -- the nice Picard-Satie enemy-to-friend-to-enemy cycle -- nearly all the surrounding stuff with Tarses, Worf, and J'Dan
  is neutral at best. Even Genestra seemed like he'd be more interesting than he turned out to be. A ton of potential for an amazing episode (even without much action or sci-fi), but it didn't really come together.
  
  
  
• From McCoy on 2017-12-10 at 9:29am:
  10/10.
  About lack of action - watch "Twelve angry men":)
  It's a great episode and even paradoxally good sf. Because it remind us that witch hunt is always possible, even in technologically advanced society. Human is always human and we need to watch our morality, no matter how "advanced" we think we are. People may think, that witch hunt were all about religion, but it's not true. Episodes like this makes me wonder - all that Federation stuff is to good to be true, and their confidence in "starfleet values" sometimes reminds me of totalitarism. Just a bit, of course, but still...
• From Admiral Oh bummer! on 2021-08-03 at 7:58pm:
  A 1?? This is the episode I think of when I contemplate how great the Picard character and Patrick Stewart is.
  
  And to the guy who wonders about Grandma admirals...admirals are old, I mean we mostly see Grandma/Grandpa Admirals in Star Trek and even the great Admiral Nacheyev will be a Grandma Admiral in 10 years.