The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JemHadar359 on 2007-06-27 at 5:22pm:
  The battle between the Enterprise-D and the Duras sisters' Bird Of Prey is in my opinion the best technical battle in Star Trek's history.
  
  However, it does have one flaw. Why didn't Riker order the Enterprise's shield nutation rotated after the Bird Of Prey hit them with the first photon torpedo?
  
  Of course, Riker's not doing this makes for a much more exciting sequence.
  
  I love the close-up on Riker when he says simply, "Fire."
• From Heldt on 2010-04-07 at 8:04pm:
  The mystical uniform change was intended. You may have noticed a slow starfleed uniform change in DS9 too.
  Of course not all starfleet members get new uniforms at once.
  
  My problems with the movie are:
  - Earth. Center of Starfleet. Ships are being built here. A few years ago they even tested Transwarp technology in one of the stations. And now no ship is near enough to this... Nexus-thingy? It's in the sol-system! There have to be at least three dozen ships full with cadets.
  - Why is this deflector control Kirk goes to about 100 m off the deflector? Why is he even going there? There must be people in the machine room specially trained for working with these controls. Or at least better trained as a old retired captain...
  - What the hell is Tuvok doing there? And where are his pointy ears?
  
  And that's only 10 Minutes...
• From curt on 2010-04-22 at 6:26am:
  This might be a dumb question, people were talking, and I didnt get to pay as much attention as I wanted to. But when kirk goes back time to meet that girl, it wasnt real, so why is it real when they go back to fight scene with Soran's missle launch? I'm sorry if the movie already addressed this, like I said i didnt get to pay total attention to it.
• From Deepblue on 2010-07-08 at 7:11pm:
  Definitely a thinking person's movie about loss and living past you're perceived usefulness. Kirk's death was foreshadowed in V, that he felt safe w/ Bones and Spock because he always believed he'd die alone, meaning without his comrades. I'm sure a fair amt. of fans woulda preferred fearless Kirk to go out guns blazing in battle but that would've seemed out of place for him in his older age having outlived his dangerous younger years.
  
  The mixed bag of uniforms is realistic to today like the previous commenter noted. Currently in US military, many military personnel in the same branch (if not in an active combat infantry role) have various color uniforms depending on how long they've been in. Newer personnel are issued the latest uniform, individuals with more seniority are given a choice of keeping older uniforms and/or adopting newer ones.
• From MJ on 2011-02-25 at 11:50pm:
  In my opinion, not a single one of the four TNG movies has a premise that makes sense. But, as TNG's movies go, this is probably the best.
  
  My problem with the premise here is that it's very hard to tell (as one review pointed out) what is part of the Nexus and what is not. The Nexus is explained to be a gateway to another dimension in which a person's thoughts and desires become reality. Picard fast forwards to the family life he never had, no doubt inspired by his brother and nephew's recent death reminding him of the importance of family. And Kirk finds himself reliving moments in his past with the opportunity to change their outcome. All of this is very interesting, but both captains recognize that what they experience is not real. When they go back to Veridian 3, do they actually leave the Nexus? They would have to for their actions to have real world consequences, but this is never made clear. This is a fundamental problem in the movie because it calls into question whether Picard and Kirk's actions were simply a part of their Nexus fantasy. Consider that, according to Riker, the mission shown at the film’s beginning is the real world incident in which James Kirk was killed. This would mean that there’s a serious problem in the timeline. And by the way, if Picard can request Kirk's help, what's stopping him from recruiting anybody else he wants? He could bring all kinds people to Veridian to help stop Soren, but for the story purpose it stops at Kirk.
  
  Putting all that aside, the movie has strong mythical overtones, is brilliantly shot and acted, filled with superb dialogue and character developments (particularly Data and his handling of emotion chip), and has visual effects that, when I first saw this movie, left me in awe of what Star Trek could be like with the transition from TV to film. I like how the movie gives us more details on Guinan's past; we've known for a long time now that the Borg destroyed her planet, and now we see the immediate aftermath, which makes for awesome continuity. I'm sure it was fun for Brent Spiner to change things up in this film, adding to the already enormous popularity of Data. I did think Picard's time with Kirk came at the expense of the rest of the TNG crew...most of them had fairly minor roles, certainly not what we're used to seeing from them.
  
  Overall, a nice start to the TNG film series. Unfortunately, each movie got progressively worse.
• From Bernard on 2011-02-27 at 1:48pm:
  First things first. The whole climax to the film is created by Dr. Soran firing a missile at a star that will change the gravitational whatever of that part of space... This means that the planet will be destroyed. But lets get this straight. The Nexus is missing the planet, unless the star is destroyed to divert the course of the Nexus. So to divert the course of the Nexus surely the shockwave would ALREADY have had to have passed by killing our heroes and Dr. Soran before he can even get into the Nexus.
  
  The film is filled with this kind of flawed logic, don't even get me started on the Nexus itself. It's an absolute mess. You could forgive these problems if the film was good enough, but sadly it isn't.
  
  Unfortunately, although this is a bad film, it is fairly consistant to Star Trek themes unlike the three sequels that follow so I'll give it some credit.
  
  There are so many good things in this film, it just feels like they've all been thrown in without any real thought. Another note to film directors and script writers, stop throwing cringeworthy attempts at humour into dark films (check out revenge of the sith for more of this). I love Brent Spiner as Data but this exploration of his humanity has been done to death during the series and has no place in the feature films. Unfortunately as the Next Gen films progress we continue to be fed Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner's personal ego trips.
  
  One thing that I read a lot of Trek fans bitching about is the way that Kirk's send of is carried out in this film. I don't have a problem with that at all. It's not an issue for me.
  
  Overall this film is a load of good stuff lumped together with no real thought. It has a decent premise, good acting (Malcolm Mcdowell is as good as any villain a Star Trek film has had), great sequences that they could not afford to do on the series, but too much clutter and crap. I'd give it a 6.
  
  
• From Seriously? on 2011-04-11 at 6:55pm:
  U gotta be kidding me! This is by far the worst Star Trek movie ever made! How can you defend this piece of crap?
  
  Here's a review worth its name, which treats the movie the way it deserves:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azSh47-oRPI&feature=related
  
  But even they didnt notice the biggest scientific mistake in this bad rip-off of a Star Trek movie. The gravitational effects of a star explosion would need at least a couple of minutes to even reach the nexus. In the movie that stupid space ribbon changes its course instantly.
  Even better, there would be no instant gravitational effects of that explosion, because no matter if the sun explodes or not, the matter is still there until it gets spread by the shockwave. As long as that shockwave didnt pass the planet, the only consequence is the light going off.
• From EvanT on 2011-06-25 at 12:12am:
  The three things that REALLY bugged me in this movie:
  
  1)Riker and Worf during the battle scene. Why didn't they rotate the shield harmonics? And on top of that, all they did was to fire a single phaser shot at the Bird of Prey. C'mon! How much punishment can that thing take? They seemed pretty fragile in DS9. And the Enterprise took a direct torpedo hit and it barely dented the hull (but a disruptor hit at the stardrive brings down half the bridge?). Riddle it with torpedoes and phaser shots. That oughta do it! They would've destroyed it before they had finished their diatribe on antique klingon cloak generator plasma coils. Yeesh.
  
  I'll agree that the crashing on the planet was cool though. How about using a stronger klingon ship then? A Vor'cha might be more of a challenge for a Galaxy class starship without shields! Who wrote that damn scene? And why are Lursa and Betor still alive? Shouldn't someone have tracked them down and killed them for causing a civil war by now?
  
  2) They reused the exploding Bird of Prey from the previous movie. Laaaame! I mean, how cheap can you get? Blow up a CG Bird of Prey! You've already blown up a planet, the stardrive, two stars and a science facility... how much modeling and rendering time would it take? This is just sloppy presentation.
  
  3)I didn't mind how Kirk died, but I did find it distasteful how he was buried. Here's a legendary captain that just gave his life in order to save a planet of millions. How can we possibly honour him?
  
  Let's bury him on a backwater planet under rocks, so the wild animals can easily feast on his rotting carcass. It's not like we could take a corpse back with us when we get evacuated from the planet. That would be just gross! ("Farragut, one person and a cadaver to beam up" <--see? distasteful!)
  
  The greatest captain of the 23rd century, if not in Starfleet history and he doesn't even get an on-screen eulogy or even a torpedo casing funeral.
  
  I mean... C'MON!
• From Inga on 2011-12-17 at 11:39pm:
  I have another problem - how come it only took Soran's rocket 11 seconds to reach the star? Either the planet is very close to it, or the rocket traveled faster than the speed of light...
• From b goldstein on 2012-01-08 at 5:54pm:
  The Opening scene with Kirk, Scotty, and Checkov just seemed out of character for all three -- this is because it was written for Spock and McCoy. It makes sense afterwards, but it was a terrible beginning that it was hard to get into the rest of the movie.
  
  So the rest of the movie was ruined for me because the plot felt so contrived.
• From L on 2013-05-13 at 4:40am:
  
  I loved the performance of the captain in the opening scene, as his moment of pride just turned to a nightmare.
  Lots of cool things, but plot-wise it's weak and more like a good series episode with a rushed end.
  They get out of the nexus way too easily. According to Guinan and the bad guy, it's indescribable joy, you'll forget everything you ever cared about and you'll do anything to stay there, even destroy inhabited solar systems, but the two captains just get bored and hop out.
  Or do they? I thought they were going to do a false reality plot twist, but then was disappointed when I realised it was the real ending to the movie.
  Still, it's Star Trek, so it's about enjoying the characters, not logic. Having both 'styles' of Star Trek in one movie was pretty awesome. And everything looked great, beautiful cinema-photography.
  
• From Richard on 2013-05-28 at 8:14am:
  I don't think changing the shield modulation would have worked, they might even have tried it off camera, as Geordi would have done it and the Klingons would have just matched them. If they changed once or twice and it had no effect, they wouldn't have known why and given up trying and just kept the ship together. The only problems I had were the speed of the final rocket (which I suppose could have had limited warp, but this was never even hinted at) and the change in gravitational forces without any change in mass, which is just impossible. Never-the-less, this is my favorite Star Trek film, I really like how it tied the two series together.
• From Kevin on 2013-12-15 at 2:17pm:
  This film really polarizes viewers for some reason. Maybe the most epic of all trek movies, with awesome action, acting, music, effects and BY FAR the biggest use of multiple locations. Honestly, I thought this movie was awesome,despite some confusion about when they were or were not in the nexus and some gravitational errors maybe.
  
  Overall, it did what STTNG was great at. An exciting story, with fun, adventure, something big happening, and FINALLY a "Bad Guy" that was simply bad, but realistic. Not some super meglamaniac that all the other movies tend to use, but an actual believable person that is just very greedy and obsessed, and seemed to have real motivations for what he does.
  
  Kirk wanted to die. That was his choice and I think it is made clear, despite many crying about how he died or where he was. A perfect movie, not really, but the most ambitious of all for sure!
  
  A must see epic.
• From parqbench on 2016-06-02 at 3:23pm:
  tahw dnafinish, but everything reviewers have pointed out was true. lots of logical problems, and lots of just lost potential in where they could've taken the plot. still, at least this is star trek that seems to have a grip on itself, somewhat realistic characters and some nice meditations on the finitude of life.
  
  i didn't have a trouble with "what is and what is not the nexus" because i knew the movie just wouldn't reach there, and could be confidently assumed to gamble on the safe, "happy" ending that the enterprise was actually saved (though kirk was not).
  
  i did wish the nexus was less matter of fact. i really was thinking some reality-bending, pull-apart-your-being crushing, consciousness-expanding/contracting, spiritual ego-death trip morality play/force of will battle of intellect and soul to escape this thing. even going for palatable, easy-to-follow scenes for a mass audience they could've made it more mysterious, but it kind of just feels like he woke up in a new place and that's it. shatner actually does a much better job of at least coming off as preoccupied--and strangely, almost uncharacteristically unconcerned with what's wrong. funny to say that he would be the better actor in this scenario, since usually it's the opposite (though i love you, man).
  
  anyway, funnily enough, the moment i read other posts asking the shield rotation question is the moment i realised i've become a true fan; i remember reading "gotchas" like that all the time and not really connecting the technobabble with anything tangible in any of the series, but after having rounded out most of the available star trek mythos, that was actually the first thing on my mind. "why don't they just rotate the freaking shield frequencies?" haha. at least this is an established premise in the ST universe. and all the klingons got was their *current* frequency, no? so it would have been an admitted gamble. and they could've framed it like that and been fine--"if we catch them unawares, we'll have a brief window to drive them away before they cycle frequencies." still, was a slow & interesting technical battle, as one commenter noted.
  
  ultimately...patrick stewart is great, though i always have the same dilemma when watching trek--we're essentially softening military figures; it really is technically no different than a movie about a general in afghanistan feeling pangs of family longing and then proceeding to carry out his duty to the letter occupying and razing a foreign country and destroying other families. but that's an essay for another day...cheers. :)
• From Trekkie From Way Back on 2016-07-09 at 3:09am:
  A 10?!!
  
  I agree with Mr. Plinkett, who starts his review: "'Star Trek Generations' is the stupidest Star Trek movie ever made." Check out this in-depth and entertaining 3-part review on youtube.
  
  Sorry Mr. K, you have lost all credibility with me. I've disagreed with some of your reviews before, but this goes beyond belief...
• From Graham Bessellieu on 2019-07-28 at 5:19am:
  Again, agreed with Kethinov here; this is a special piece of Trek history.
  
  The convergence of the two generations is weaved together in a thoughtful manner. In fact, the film’s overarching theme is a reflection on the passage of time.
  
  From a cinematic standpoint, there are quite a few painterly scenes in this film. For example, Picard’s interactions with Riker and Troi during his reflection on family has quite exquisite lighting, which serve to dramatize and humanize Picard in ways rarely seen on the show.
  
  The 18th century sea-faring opening for the TNG cast is memorable and fun.
  
  We get to witness significant character development for Data, with the emotion chip.
  
  And I have to admit, seeing Picard truly happy with family at Christmas (in the Nexus dream) brought a tear to the eye.
  
  The second half of the film does drag a bit, pacing wise occasionally. Then there’s addressing Kirk’s death.
  
  Picard and Kirk working together is excellent and I have no qualm, in principle, with Kirk signing off in this film. It’s just the presentation. There could have been a much more elaborate, exciting and dynamic way to have written that teamwork. Think of all the ways they could have worked together, each playing to their particular strengths and styles of command. Given the entire arc of Kirk’s character, in context, it feels lackluster.
  
  Kirk should have gone out with a bang, with a combination of wit, brash courage, and compassionate self-sacrifice. That’s his character. Instead we get something kind of accidental, with courage no doubt, but awkward and abrupt.
  
  That aside, this film is essential TNG, with major character development and some surprising moments of genuine warmth and heart.
• From gary on 2023-12-24 at 2:34pm:
  William Shatner tried to insert a funny line into the scene where he is dying and Picard comes over to him. In the scene, Kirk is trapped under a bridge. So Shatner wanted Kirk's last words to be "bridge on the captain" as a clever reversal of his usual "captain on the bridge". Stewart also liked the idea so the audience would see they had a sense of humor. But the producers wouldn't let them keep it in the movie.
  
  My biggest problem with this film is that there's no rational reason why Picard would bring only Kirk back to help him defeat Soren. If he's in the Nexus, there are millions of other options. But, it was a nice send-off for the Kirk character. And that really was the point of this one: a "passing of the baton" from TOS to TNG. So in that sense, it was brilliant.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

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

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-07-26 at 4:08am:
  I really enjoyed this episode, and I enjoy every aspect of section 31. I love how the theme of "the universe isn't pure and happy the way you'd like it to be" is visited by Garak at the beginning and by Sloan at the end. Kind of sums up Deep Space Nine. I LOVED Bashir lecturing Admiral Ross. The Cicero quote was extremely cool, and the fact that Admiral Ross had that on the tip of his tongue just ready to spit out as a justification shows what an asshole he is.
  
  I loved Sloan complimenting Bashir at the end. I loved seeing Bashir at work as a spy, especially when he wasn't fooled by the "evaporation" of Sloan.
  
  But above all, I loved Bashir calling security at the end, only to say "never mind. my mistake". HAHAHAHA!!! I give this episode a 9. One of my favorites.
• From MJ on 2011-03-11 at 8:19pm:
  A deeply troubling episode to be sure.
  
  The tragic character here, of course, is Senator Chretak. In the first viewing, I thought she might have been involved in the Section 31 plot, and that Bashir, by approaching her, was playing right into their hands. Instead, she was the victim of the plot; removing her from the Senate ensures the Federation's unlikely ally will both head the Tal Shiar and enter the Romulan Continuing Committee unopposed, thus guaranteeing the Romulan war effort.
  
  One can't help but feel uneasy after this episode. The Federation's...or rather, Section 31's ploy here is so very...Romulan. It's troubling that a Starfleet admiral would be so willing to enact a plan that puts an innocent woman in prison, or possibly to death. But, the episode demonstrates these are desperate times and the Federation cannot afford to lose the Romulans as an ally. Playing dirty politics and spy games to ensure Romulan support is apparently part of Section 31's game plan.
  
  Overall, I found the episode very well acted...and I have yet to encounter a Star Trek Romulan episode that wasn't gripping. Still, I tend to avoid viewing this episode as it somewhat shatters the view of the Federation as the "good guys".
• From Bronn on 2013-07-26 at 11:42pm:
  Loved this episode. The scene between Bashir and Ross was beautiful acted, demonstrating Alexander Siddig at the absolute top of his craft. The twist was well executed-even a smart viewer isn't entirely sure what's going on. It appeared to me, also, that Section 31 had crippled Ross on purpose to force Bashir to work with Cretak, who was going to be their secret operative. And having the head of the Tal-Shiar explain that Sloan had single-handedly invented Section 31 told the viewers, and Bashir, something they wanted to hear: that the Federation really wasn't betraying its ideals. It was enough to make you wonder what it would be.
  
  Unfortunately, after an episode that was brilliant up until the end, the coda is weak. I'd give it a ten, but the conversations between Bashir and Sloan at the end didn't really wrap this up for me. Bashir's attempt to contact security and then deciding not to falls a little flat, since he'd already attempt to futilely chase down Sloan at the beginning. It's too much an echo of that to really convey the message that Bashir is slightly sympathetic to Section 31, which is what the writers had hoped for.
  
  What works for me is the consistency of character, though. Bashir really does like to get up on his moral highground. It's basically a trait all the doctors in the various series share. But Sloon is also spot on about Bashir loving secrets, it's entirely consistent with how he relates to Garak, and the fact that he has his own secret agent holosuite program. He's also easily the most gossipy character on the show, generally curious about what his friends are talking about.
  
  I give it a nine, but that's with an extra point for a smart reference to Cicero. I'm a sucker for a good reference to Roman history.
• From Axel on 2015-07-01 at 3:24am:
  This episode made me wish there had been another episode dealing with the back story on Koval. How the hell did the chairman of the Tal Shiar become a Federation informant? Was he working with the Federation before or after he came to that position? It would be an interesting storyline on its own. It hardly seems believable to me. After all, it would've been nearly impossible for the KGB or CIA to have a mole at the other's highest level. But then, maybe that's why it would be a good episode!
  
  Overall, a decent next chapter of the Section 31/Sloan-Bashir arc. The Federation has really dirtied its hands during this whole effort to get and keep the Romulans in the war. But Bashir is the perfect character to involve in this whole thing. More than anyone, he represents the most principled, decent aspects of the Federation. We see throughout the series his idealism chipped away. It happens a little in his dealings with Garak, but mostly it happens in the dealings with Sloan and Section 31.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Hkelukka on 2008-01-29 at 8:50pm:
  I think archers whole argument imploder the second the cogenitor asked for political asylum. It became obvious that the starfleet of the day was not in the business of being a humanitarian, it was in the business of doing what archer wants. It is okay to stop a species from hunting another if the hunted gives Archer a vision of the girl of his wet dreams. But its not okay to grant political sanctuary to a creature who is kept solely as a sexual object with no rights and no education and when that person asks to be protected against his/her abusers she gets turned away as a indifferent "its not our problem, we just want the technology" and when that person then proceeds to kill him/herself archer gets angry at the one person in his/her entire lifetime to show compassion to him/her.
  
  Personally i love this episode but archers charade about morality and all that made me see red. If i was Trip i would have decked archer by that speech even if i was to be cour martialed and shot.
• From Bob on 2009-07-03 at 3:34pm:
  Archer's decision was correct and followed the not yet constructed prime directive. The third gender makes up only 3% of the Vissian population. Imagine the effect on their population growth if this third gender did not spend all of its time aiding in reproduction. Human concepts of morality are not universal, and obviously a culture that obtained warp drive 1000 years prior to humans has carefully weighed its options, and humans have no right to judge and try to change their culture after meeting them for 3 days.
• From carsonist on 2010-06-18 at 9:51pm:
  I'm rather amazed no one seems to agree with Trip on this one. The cogenitors are slaves, pure and simple. The fact that they're necessary to reproduce doesn't mean they should be enslaved. Surely if there were only two sexes, and there were only three percent women, we'd object to treating them as property?
  
  Just because it's a different culture doesn't mean they can't be wrong.
• From Pete on 2010-08-06 at 1:45am:
  The message that this episode seemed to promote was offensive to me. "Preserving culture is more important than basic human rights" seemed to be the gist of it.
  
  Star Trek, and science fiction in general, has always been about allegory. To me, this episode was a defense of American slavery, radical Islam, and any other "culture" that impinges on human rights.
  
  And to top it all off, Archer berates Tripp at the end to try and make him feel guilty for a suicide that could have been completely avoided had Archer saved the congenitor from a lifetime of slavery.
  
  This episode was not thoughtful. It was not a discussion of "moral issues". The only character who even wanted to have a discussion about any moral issues was Tripp--portrayed as the naive, impulsive, stereotypical southerner, whose white knighting was quickly scoffed at by every other character on the show. Not what I have come to expect from Star Trek, but indeed, everything that I have come to expect from Bermaga.
• From Jadzia Guinan Smith on 2010-09-02 at 5:32am:
  I agree with the other commenters who found Archer's lecture troubling. It's fine to acknowledge the difficulties of navigating first contact situations and respecting alien cultures that present moral dilemmas, but why must he insist that those moral dilemmas shouldn't even exist? And to do it self-righteously, as though he had the moral high ground? It was painful.
  
  By the way, taking a stance against the enslavement of a sentient being is not a species-specific "human" cultural preference. It's one of those few moral issues that really are universal. It really pisses me off when the yahoos that write this stuff dispose of these "human rights" questions with the tautological response that the relevant person is "not human." That's a cop out. This is about the rights of SENTIENTS. It would be much more interesting if the characters had the minimal sophistication to engage the question at that level.
  
  It's true that a complex question developed with all its nuance intact can't be resolved in one episode. I think I speak for a lot of Tfans when I say that I would MUCH rather have an intellectually and morally satisfying LOOK into an issue and live with the lack of its resolution. I think Star Trek at its best does explore ideas that are too difficult to answer in an hour. To paraphrase what T'Pol once said to Hoshi: "if I hold you to a higher standard, Star Trek, it's because I think you're capable of achieving it."
  
  By the way, why did T'Pol keep referring to the cogenitor as "she" after noting the error on Trip's part? It seems out of character. I think she stick to "the cogenitor" if not "it." This is really sloppy writing.
  
  I would give this episode a 9 for addresing a very tantalizing topic but a 3 for executing it poorly. Final average = 6.
• From siukong on 2011-01-31 at 9:06pm:
  I agree that the cogenitor was having its rights as a sentient violated, but I also think that granting it asylum was the less ethical choice.
  
  Sure, the Vissians are friendly to other species, but how do they treat each other? Have they had a past history of equality movements (between males and females, or between some other categorization)? How often do they reproduce, and what are the specifics of their reproductive cycle? If the cogenitors reproduced less often, would the population crash? Have the cogenitors always been such a minority, and have they always had such mental capabilities (maybe they had very small brains at one point)?
  
  My point is that knowing so little about their society, granting the cogenitor asylum could have had many unforeseen repercussions. Perhaps doing so would have led to a backlash, with the cogenitors becoming even more oppressed. Perhaps there was already an equality movement in its infancy and this would have quashed it for another few decades. Perhaps it would have led to civil war, and the deaths of millions or perhaps even extinction. Would the freedom of one individual be worth the suffering of many?
  
  I think by the time Archer had returned things had developed such that both alternatives were not particularly "moral" choices. If I had been in Trip's position I would have been much more gentle with the situation once it was apparent that the cogenitor's mental potential was the same as the other Vissians. Share the cognitive scans with them, and have an exchange on the relevant social history of both humans and Vissians (perhaps both could educate one another about gender politics). They seem like a enlightened, rational and compassionate species and would probably be open to a dialogue about it which could possibly nudge them towards change. Change rarely happens overnight (apart from revolutions, which are often chaotic and violent), so it would be necessary to overlook the inequality in the short-term in an effort to improve it in the long-term and on a broad scale.
• From Tallifer on 2011-05-14 at 9:37pm:
  I could understand the cold cruelty of T'pol, but Archer's passionate (!) defense of chattel slavery was infuriating. The writers also completely failed when they portrayed Tucker meekly accepting responsibility for the suicide: it is clear to any of us viewers that Archer was the one who could have prevented the suicide.
  
  If the episode had portrayed the cogenitor in a more positive light, like a happy sentient puppy, it could have been argued that slavery was just another role in their society. But from the first scene in the dining room, it was clear that the cogenitor was dejected and hopeless. She was filled with joy and life once Trip intervened.
• From -_Name_- on 2013-07-04 at 6:33pm:
  I have another factoid for your enjoyment:
  
  The Enterprise Motion Picture Library has "The Bride of Chaotica" in its Science Fiction database! Nice little throwback to Voyager. (pause frame at 29:03)
  
  - - -
  
  This was a rather stunning and unexpected episode... I'm not even sure what to add to the discussion. It *is* a little troubling that the episode seems to steer the viewer into cultural relativism... The message does seem to be: "don't do what compassion clearly tells you to do, b/c there may be things you don't understand and unforeseen consequences." On a gut level I have to disagree with this, but the interesting thing about this episode is that it is not entirely clear cut, at least not in this case...
  
  As others have pointed out, there may be an almost biological necessity to this morally iffy situation... I'm reminded a little of how the males of cats and some other species have barbed penises (to make sure the sexual act is completed once initiated) and basically have to force the female into submission (the sexual struggle being one means of selecting for stronger genes). It seems cruel and unnecessary but this is what evolutionary adaptation has arrived at in some cases - it's what's required for the perpetuation of some species.
  
  The analogy isn't by any means perfect, but nevertheless... That the cogenitors make up such a tiny percentage of the population and are necessary for the propagation of the species does make one pause, the biological issue does complicate the moral one.
  
  The one thing I would've liked was more uncertainty and inner conflict on Archer's part... This very complicated issue gets a a very simplistic and unambiguous last word. Trip obviously questions his assumptions by the end of the episode, and it would've been nice if Archer did the same, at least a little bit.
• From OmicronthetaDeltaPhi on 2015-11-01 at 6:22am:
  It would have been a much better episode, easily worthy of a "10", if it somehow hinted at Vissian reproduction actually being dependent on cogenitor discrimination.
  
  For example, after Trip taught the cogenitor to read, the Vissians could have told him that stimulating the cogenitor's brain in this manner destroyed its reproductive abilities. Naturally neither Trip nor Archer would believe them, but then Phlox would come in and confirm it.
  
  Now *that* could have been a truly incredible episode. And it could serve as a nice "Prelude to the Prime Directive" background story, too.
• From Zorak on 2016-10-04 at 11:36pm:
  Though it was a somewhat predictable episode (you could tell from the second they showed a side view of the progenitor sitting at the table that the entire episode would be about "it"), it didn't quite go in the ultimate direction I expected. I expected Archer to impose his will on these people like he always does.
  
  It seems lately that the writers have decided to keep the same theme of imposing Archers will on the galaxy, but injecting it into other characters. First Travis, then Phlox and Trip, and now entirely Trip.
  
  If anything this makes Archer look like even more of a twat as they've now turned him into a complete hypocrite. He basically chewed out Trip for acting exactly like Archer himself acts in every previous episode.
  
  I did not like this episode. By the end though, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. The writers simply shouldn't try tackling an issue they are completely unable to do any justice for, as they so often do.
  
  The only real saving grace for this episode is that it didn't end on the typical grandstanding "happy go lucky, we are Archer, savior of the universe and all knowing guiding hand of all things righteous and good, all hail the great and holy Archer and praise be his name, Amen" ending we often get with these ridiculous morality plays the writers insist on.
  
  Have I mentioned I don't like Archer?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-04-23 at 12:50am:
  I didn't care for this one. I agree that it is absurd. And with all due respect to the writers, it's extremely predictable to the average trek fan. Once I saw the MacDuff character, I thought for a moment that it was some redshirt, but then the three pips on the collar, and the whole plot came into focus.
  
  Also, it's very cheap that Guinan just happens to be absent from this episode. Judging from previous episodes, she would undoubtably know exactly what is going on. But then I guess there would be no episode :)
  
  The one thing I did enjoy was worf and riker kicking that guy's ass at the end.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-05-15 at 10:32pm:
  Conundrum is classic Star Trek. The characters get to explore themselves in a way that has never been done. The enemy is powerful, smart, and desperate. There is fun too, as the crew tries to figure out who is in charge.
  
  Unlike other episodes, it is hard to find problems with the science in this one. Everything seems plausible to an extent.
  
  The only down part is that Riker comes across as a male pig. Regardless, this episode is a definite 9.
  
• From Wolfgang on 2006-07-11 at 12:28pm:
  It is unbelievable, that Data loses his memories as well and no single alien aboard the ship could retain its memories.
• From DSOmo on 2007-09-27 at 8:17am:
  After the first encounter with the Lysians, Picard tells MacDuff his doubts about their mission. The fact that the Federation greatly outmatches the Lysians troubles Picard. Then, at the end of the episode, Picard seems to indicate that the Lysians and the Sartaaran have approximately the same level of weapons technology. If the Sartaaran are at that level, how could MacDuff so easily overcome the shields of the Enterprise? The entire episode gives us several hints that the Sartaaran are very powerful. At the end of the show, Riker expresses it best when he says, "With all the power that MacDuff had to alter our brain chemistry and manipulate the computer, it's hard to believe he needed the Enterprise." Very well said!
• From djb on 2008-04-07 at 2:23am:
  My reaction to this episode is twofold.
  
  First, the scifi. It's not the best I've seen, and that's an understatement. Somehow a race who can't muster a photon torpedo can get around a starship's shields and cause its crew to lose their memories? AND falsify the ship's records? AND plant a spy on the ship, perfectly disguised as a human? I don't buy it. I also thought the resolution was rather abrupt; after the climactic scene on the bridge with "MacDuff" going nuts, all of a sudden everything's back to normal! That being said, I did like how MacDuff was introduced: no menacing music or evil glares (as in "Violations". Just another officer on the bridge, with (!) three pips? Hmm. I do like how the erroneous war plot kind of sneaks in on you; first we're just trying to recover from amnesia, then ! Who's this guy MacDuff? The federation is at war??! Slow down!
  
  The other aspect of this episode, which I enjoyed immensely, was the character-driven aspect. As was first explored a bit in "Clues" (which also had some gaping holes in the plot), how do we act when we lose our memory? In this case, every memory of who we are or who others are?
  
  This episode had so many interesting moments: Ro figures out she's the pilot, but I like how Picard doesn't assume command. True to how he acts normally, he accepts authority and wields it well, but doesn't crave it or flaunt it. Here, he doesn't assume authority until the computer tells them he's the captain. Worf, on the other hand, seems to have a desire for leadership, but also a strong sense of duty. He assumes command but immediately relinquishes it when he finds he's in error. He also is loyal to the captain even though MacDuff attempts to play on his warrior sensibilities. I found myself wondering which way he was going to go, which is consistent with his character. It turns out Riker and Ro have some attraction for each other under the "battle of wills" facade! Troi's "emotional memory" of her relationship with Riker is fitting, and the drastic difference in how she and Ro approach Riker is quite interesting. Poor Riker feels like an idiot at the end: Ro is amused, and Troi is pissed off (Sirtis plays that "pissed-off smile" extremely well), and it will always be the elephant in the room when the three of them are around each other again.
  
  I can't help but wonder what I would do in such a situation; it would surely give me some insight as to what parts of my personality are more conditioned and happen naturally, without the aid of previous memories; and what parts are learned and kept in place by memories. Ideally, of course, the more desirable traits I try to engender in myself eventually become rote and would survive amnesia, but it's impossible to accurately tell unless amnesia or something like it actually occurs.
  
  So, good character development, so-so scifi. I think the basic premise, mass amnesia, is plausible, so it's somewhat redeemed by that. I'd give it a 5 or 6.
• From JRPoole on 2008-08-06 at 3:06pm:
  Uggh. There are some redeeming points here. The Riker/Ro/Troi stuff is funny, Data's turn at bartending was cool, and the silent reactions of the bridge crew finally learning their names and ranks is well-acted and in character for everyone.
  
  This is yet another episode in which Riker is revealed to be the complete douchebag that he really is.
• From 2 Of 14 on 2008-08-21 at 4:48pm:
  Addressing the criticism that MacDuff could just have made himself captain, he might have thought it would look a bit silly having such a young person in command whilst the much older Picard was a lesser rank. More importantly, he would need to have removed Picard’s uniform or removed a circle from Picard’s collar to make it look convincing. As nobody was unconscious during the memory loss, this was not possible.
  
  
• From mem@who on 2011-09-19 at 4:13am:
  Wow, I was surprised to see how low the reviewer scored this episode, but not surprised by the high fan rating.
  
  I think the episode explores an interesting concept and does a fairly good job, with plenty of good humor, as mentioned. It's interesting how different some of the interpersonal dynamics were simply because of a different context - no established history, no prejudices, and only vague, tentative acceptance of rank and status. An interesting study, from a psychological/philosophical perspective.
  
  On the other hand, the whole thing is definitely full of absurd elements. That the alien didn't make himself captain is the first and most serious, as the reviewer mentioned. The problems with Data are another. Besides losing at chess, which certainly raised an eyebrow, Data's probability calculations should've probably deduced exactly what the heck was going on. Everyone started getting suspicious when it was revealed just how selective the memory loss and computer failures were. Data should've been much more than suspicious - he should've presented the Captain with the low probabilities of this being a random bi-product of an alien attack, versus the high probability that they were being intentionally manipulated.
  
  At this point it would've been reasonable to "break radio silence" and contact Starfleet, especially given the low level of resistance they encountered and the lack of any credible threat.
  
  Those are the main flaws, and they are pretty serious.
  
  I think it would've also been interesting to see the hidden desires of some of the other crew members. Ro Laren and Riker had a steamy affair. Data mused about belonging to a race and culture of artificial lifeforms. Troi pursued Riker. Wolf tried to assume command. Those were all interesting to watch. What about Geordi, Picard, Crusher...O'Brien? Would've been cool to see them act differently or express some latent desires.
  
  So, not without its faults, some serious, but with plenty of redeeming elements. I'd give it like a 6 or 7, which is about the fan average.
• From philthy animal on 2011-10-17 at 11:03pm:
  I really like this episode. There's some great character stuff in there that was allowed to be ecplored in a unique way due to the circumstances of the premise; for instance, Picard maintaining an air of quiet authority even as he seems to relinquish control to Worf. It's very true to his character in general and the point that the probe leaves the abiity to discharge one's duties in tact. In Picard's case, his leadership qualities.
  
  Also the chemistry between Riker and Ro once their mutual animosity was removed was enjoyable to watch. And let's face it, we can all diss Riker as much as we like but who can honestly say they wouldn't relish two highly attractive women competing for their attention? Plus it's pretty well established if not ever directly stated, that Trek takes place in a future of great sexual liberation, free of the stigma of 'pigs' and 'sluts'.
  
  Finally, and at the risk of being labelled a male pig, it would take a far better man than me to resist Ro's offer of a sleepless night...
• From Daniel on 2014-01-27 at 6:28pm:
  First of all, to address your statement that Data could not lose at chess - to Troi - that is explained correctly by Troi when she says "chess isn't just a game of ploys and gambits, it's a game of intuition." As an empathic Betazoid, Troi must have a highly evolved intuition, whereas Data has not mastered human intuition. While I like the premise of placing the crew in a crisis situation after being stripped of their identities and memory to see how they might respond, I see a certain flaw in the story logic - aside from the many flaws already pointed out by other comments herein. The problem I see in this episode is the opening set-up; first, the green scanning beam affects Data, but not Troi or anyone else in Ten Forward. Troi can clearly see the scan and its effect, therefore, she should have immediately warned Picard. Then, another green scan sweeps over the whole bridge crew, and only then does Commander MacDuff appear on the bridge. Even if the ship's computer was affected by the scan, where it had no "voice interface", it still had the necessary data to manage all shipboard operations. Therefore, wouldn't the ship's computer have immediately recognized the presence of an alien crew member (MacDuff) and report it with some kind of warning? Even so, we know that, at least, Troi was not scanned or affected immediately. Perhaps, she could have warned the others of this scan, and she might have known MacDuff was not human (with her empathic abilities). But, the storyline dismissed her (and Data) from the rest of the story, focusing instead on only the bridge crew. If the computer could not display crew information, how did Worf (after assuming command) know to address Dr. Crusher as "doctor" when she came onto the bridge from the turbo lift the first time? Then, there's the whole premise of MacDuff... As pointed out in another comment here, it does tend to bring about the old premise that the crew member in the red suit is the one to die or be the alien. So, it was no surprise to any viewer that MacDuff was out of place... Especially if you noticed that his appearance on the bridge only occurs after the scan. It may have been a better episode if they had instead used a regular crew member and made the alien presence take over that crew member, similar to the episode in which the Romulans reprogram Geordi to act as an assassin, or in any other episode when an alien presence possesses the mind and body of a crew member. Though alien possession of a crew member has been done many times in Star Trek stories, it is a premise that works well, if written well. The trick is not to use a new and never-seen-before crew member... And not have that new crew member actually be the alien.
• From Kethinov on 2014-01-28 at 11:45pm:
  Chess isn't about intuition. It's about math. That's why computers are now capable of defeating even the best chess players in the world. Data shouldn't be able to lose to Troi, period.
• From Axel on 2015-03-29 at 5:14pm:
  I don't think it's that implausible the Sartaarans would be so advanced in manipulating brain chemistry but lack the technology to make a powerful starship. Technology is driven by a lot of factors. The Inca built one of the most advanced systems of agriculture in world history, but never came to invent the wheel. We think of the wheel as a simple invention, but the Inca simply never had the need for it to the extent others did. The medieval Japanese first acquired and then later abandoned gunpowder because it just didn't take hold. There are all kinds of reasons why a society might have huge gaps in levels of technology. This TNG episode is a bit of a stretch but I don't think it makes the episode unbelievable.
  
  The premise still made for an exciting plot, and some humor thrown in as well. The main problem was the addition of another senior officer, which did make things a little obvious. I agree it would've been more interesting to see what would've happened if he made himself captain.
• From ChristopherA on 2020-01-15 at 6:27am:
  I quite like this episode, I like the concept of losing your memory and being told you are on a mission to kill enemies you can’t even remember having any reason to fight. The setup is a little hard to believe but the exploration of the concept is cool.
  
  I may be biased, though, as I was quite lucky in the way I first watched this episode. By some fluke, this was the first episode I watched after having skipped many previous episodes, so I actually wasn’t sure whether MacDuff was a real crewmember or not, which added a lot to the mystery.
  
• From Ensign Ro bummer on 2021-08-08 at 3:25pm:
  Was the space station at the end the guardian of the Edo?
  
  The Ro-Riker thing was not surprising, he likes strong women who take what they want! The only one he ever turned down was that submissive servant girl.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2008-10-15 at 1:53am:
  This one just isn't working for me. The melodrama at the beginning of the first part with Riker and Troi hashing it out over Picard's death is badly acted and written. The psyonic resonator turns out to be exceptionally lame. The pain/control devices have been done to death. James Worthy's klingon character is just lame.
  
  That said, there is some memorable stuff here. Data's interaction with Worf is well-done. And there is some good intrigue on a plot level.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2008-11-25 at 8:22pm:
  They did all this work, in two episodes, to assemble the artifact, only to find a "gun" that takes 10 seconds to fire. I felt let down.
• From tigertooth on 2011-01-05 at 1:55pm:
  So what would have been the downside if Data had just ordered that the Enterprise fire on the pirate ship and disable it? I think I have to side with Worf on this one.
• From Robert Koenn on 2011-06-22 at 12:29pm:
  I was somewhat let down by the second half of this episode. The first 3/4s of it were fine and continued with the first halfs exciting plot and fair amount of action. However the ending was a big let down for me. As was stated in another review, the "ultimate" weapon was a real let down and the Vulcan peace versus war morality from Picard just came out as extremely lame. The Vulcan woman's reaction was totally out of place and I almost expected to see her go into a childish rant about it throwing it on the ground and stomping on it. Again, the plot line devices are just too convenient and everyone beaming into the cavern at the end seemed too convenient. So this one only gets a 6 rating from me.
• From dronkit on 2014-03-13 at 3:41am:
  "my name is actually T'pol and I'm a member of the [vulcan security]"
  
  o.O They were taking lots of names from these episodes, lol
• From Axel on 2015-03-08 at 2:41am:
  The only thing I don't understand about this two-parter is why Picard would end up in the hands of these mercenaries in the first place. You'd think that tracking mercenaries who are stealing "Romulan" artifacts would be dangerous enough that he'd ask for some backup, or at least let someone know what he's doing. The rogue nature of this episode's premise is a little out of character for Picard.
  
  That aside, it's one of the more enjoyable two-parters. There are a lot of twists and turns, and plenty of intrigue once Riker shows up on the mercenary ship. I really liked watching Riker and Picard try to play different sides of Baran, and also liked the Data-Worf subplot. Adventurous and compelling...nicely done.
• From jeffenator98 on 2019-08-01 at 5:21pm:
  Robin Curtis from Star Trek 3 is in this one.
• From Jack S on 2024-03-02 at 7:27pm:
  A fun, adventurous episode for sure. The ending was a little odd. While Talera was focusing the resonator on Riker or Worf, couldn't Picard have tried to grab it from her instead of standing there watching while she tried to kill them? It seems like the resonator has to be focused on a particular person to work, so Picard could have done something to neutralize her.
  
  Former L.A. Laker "Big Game James" Worthy playing the Klingon Koral was great. Most athletes don't do well in acting gigs, but this was a perfect character for him: few lines, and mostly intimidating behavior. I love when he pours the bloodwine on the floor!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Jaap on 2010-10-29 at 7:54pm:
  I gave this a 9, because i think it was well written. The few layers in the story presented quite a surpise. Besides, it introduces section 31 and with that a darker side of Starfleet.
• From Martin on 2014-04-16 at 12:46am:
  I liked the episode...though i was really disapointed that Garak didn't even appear! Being a cardiassian an a sort of close friend of bashir's i really though he should've taken a part of the deception for bashir!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete on 2011-01-05 at 3:25am:
  Eh, a 9 is a bit generous for a Reset Button Episode. I think this was mainly an excuse for them to blow up Earth and the bridge of Enterprise. I would not put it in the same category as The Visitor (DS9).
• From Zorak on 2016-10-09 at 9:28am:
  It took the destruction of Earth, the near genocide of the human species and what is truly one of the most heartbreaking of medical conditions to make me feel some level of sympathy for Jonathan Archer.
  
  I have always been fascinated and quite moved by cases of loss of long term memory formation. I was pretty shocked to see them explore it here. I was even more shocked that the story centered around it was actually quite coherent, not to mention interesting and moving.
  
  It's a nice change of pace to see Enterprise tackling an issue other then "-ism's are bad" and do something challenging.
  
  The only thing that really bothered me was the (inevitable) use of the only way to make Archer seem like a good captain, which is to make the people around him incompetent by comparison. This is why T'pol and Trip had to be "bad captains". I understand they had to lose to the Xindi and I don't even blame them for writing this into the episode. It's just a reminder in a great episode that I am still watching a poorly (often, not always) written series.
  
  I agree though, this was a great episode. I don't even mind that it is a "reset button" episode. They tried to make "The Inner Light" and "The Visitor", and for Enterprise, they did a good job of it. I also agree that it would have been nice to have Archer retain some shadow of a memory of what happened. A total reset was uncalled for (a bit ironic though, now that I think about it.. given the premise).

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Zorak on 2016-10-10 at 6:51am:
  A good episode, definitely. Enterprise seems to have found its feet again. It would have been a great episode if not for the last 5 minutes. Did Archer really need to gloat? He should have left Degra uninformed in case he needed to trick him further. Also, why would they let the HEAD of the weapons project for the very thing he's trying to stop go on his merry way? Ridiculous.
  
  Also a thought for your Problems section if you think it's significant: The viewscreen TV that was showing the star field outside of the shuttlepod window was about 3 feet away from the window itself. There's no way that would have even covered the whole view when looking strait on, let alone looking out of the window at an angle. A silly mistake, really.
• From President Obummer on 2020-01-28 at 2:52pm:
  Zorak, they obviously wiped his memory again after the gloating ^^
  And they had to let him go as to not tip their hand.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Abigail on 2018-01-11 at 7:11pm:
  I feel like Star Trek has overdone parallel universes in which we all have an evil duplicate. Much like time loops, I am no longer interested. Give me something new, people!
• From Dstyle on 2018-01-18 at 12:50am:
  As soon as I realized this was going to be a mirror universe episode I had a similar reaction to Abigail's, but that was quickly replaced by a surprising giddiness. Sure, Trek has done it to death, but I just can't help but LOVE mirror universe episodes. Long live the Emperor!
• From Rob UK on 2018-01-18 at 6:49am:
  I am amazed they wasted 10 episodes to set up a Mirror Mirror story line in a weak attempt to do the Joss Weddon style with the series long evolving story line and character arcs, you know unlike Star Trek of old they and their world will change drastically and evolve or devolve due to events that happen in their lives and world.
  
  Star Trek usually wraps up a Mirror Mirror story line with 2 episodes, 1 in the early seasons to set up a ripple effect in the Mirror Mirror and then another episode in the later seasons to fix or make worse those ripples.
  
  I have hung in there watching diligently but i sadly have zero emotional or human connection to any characters in this Trek Verse except the nerdy awkward girl as she is the only close to believable character in the whole bloody show, I was very surprised and could not believe how I felt zero about the doctor getting his neck snapped, I didn't even enjoy the surprise violence as it was tee'd up so much you knew the character had to act in an extreme manner to allow the story arc to continue down it's very obvious and so far predictable path.
  
  Then we have the multi verse Stamets's having their own battle between themselves that everything hangs in the balance with in all parallel worlds, if evil versions of Stamets prevail doom doom doom, but which Stamets do we currently have on the ship, is he good or bad the suspense is definitely not killing me
  
  yawn yawn yawn but for some reason i am hanging in there still watching.
  
  On a happy note i am genuinely looking forward to the return of The Orville
• From Dstyle on 2018-01-18 at 4:29pm:
  Rob UK: I assume the "good Stamets vs evil Stamets" faceoff you're referring to occurs in a future episode? It certainly didn't occur in this one. I personally am not too upset by minor spoilers, but perhaps you should confine the discussion of plot points from future episodes to the comments of those particular episodes.
• From Kethinov on 2018-01-19 at 7:46am:
  I have no plans to enforce a no spoilers policy in the comments section. That said, I don't think Rob's comment is necessarily a spoiler unless he is aware of plot points beyond 1x11 that I am not aware of. There is some pretty obvious hint dropping starting with 1x05 about the mirror universe and a probable confrontation between Stamets and mirror Stamets which this episode all but confirms.
• From Rob UK on 2018-01-19 at 8:42pm:
  Sorry folks i definitely had no spoilers at all, it was purely my own speculations based on watching, i thought everyone here was kinda thinking down the same or similar paths based on Kethinov's reviews and the fan comments.
  
  I never read ahead if stuff gets leaked about anything, i don't even like to watch movie trailers and i always read the book before the movie comes out, my genuine apologies if anything i wrote felt like spoilers i was just having a mad midnight ramble about my thoughts on the show like most of my comments on here, check about my other commenst I am always Rob UK and I have been posting on here for about 3 or 4 years now and i have never ever spoilered, my comments are usually so off topic i am sure Kethinov only posts them because of their weird occasional comic value and you can definitely tell i love the Trek.
  
  I'm gonna have a re-read of my post, i might be onto something if it seemed like a spoiler :D it was about 4am when i posted and all i remember is ranting about not being upset when the doctor got killed
• From Dstyle on 2018-02-02 at 6:15pm:
  Fair enough. :)

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Shernand on 2006-11-24 at 7:20pm:
  One of the best DS9 episodes, watched it 3 times and it's still fun to see dukat showing up and the computer replicating phasers and firing ;)
• From szycag on 2008-07-28 at 6:40am:
  This feels like it should be a season one episode... I thought it was kind of predictable. I knew Dukat would find out what was going on, just like I knew they'd find some way to get him stuck on the station afterwards. I thought they'd redeem it with a subplot about Kira coming to grips with her prejudice of cardassians like with Duet or Second Skin, but it was just going through the motions really. I just can't believe they'd be having problems like this after three years on the ship. Feels like a TOS plot, even has red shirts getting fried.
• From djb on 2009-04-27 at 8:10pm:
  Neat episode! A Cardassian easter egg, if you will. No doubt Dukat planned it from the beginning. "I just happened to be taking a stroll around the demilitarized zone, when, imagine my surprise..."
  
  Reminds me of TNG: Disaster. Controls and systems disabled, people stuck in different parts of the ship/station attempting to get a hold on their situation, and a collaborative effort eventually (and barely) saving everyone.
  
  I also like how when Dax's hands get burned, and she can't get them treated right away, she continues to be extremely useful, offering one idea after another.
  
  Dukat is a great character, and it's great to a) see him come aboard all cocky, and b) change his attitude once he realizes he's as hosed as everyone else! Apparently he didn't count on someone laying a trap for him.
• From Popescu on 2010-08-22 at 1:19pm:
  djb, I think you are wrong when saying that Dukat planned this. The program was triggered by accident when working in the ore processing section.
• From peterwolf on 2013-11-10 at 2:30am:
  Not a bad episode, but I vote for 6 points, mainly because the final sequence is incomplete. We see Garak, Kira and Dukat fighting against the self-destruct program while the clock is ticking and then the focus is only on Sisko preventing the fusion reactor to explode. The people in OPS are forgotten ... Dax is injured (she needs some bandages on her hands), Garak, Kira and Dukat are in the middle of a fight that is not resolved, aso. So the two story lines never really fit together, only the third one provides a nice, appropriate ending on the promenade, when Odo suggests to Quark, which Ferengis might be more devious than him ...
  I like how Garak criticized Gul Dukat for his attempts to get involved with Kira (although it is not too obvious). In later episodes Dukat´s speeches addressing Kira with the same intention get extremely annoying and are a horrible waste of time. If the writers had been wise, they would have taken Garak´s advice and never tried to let Dukat go on with that rubbish.
• From dronkit on 2014-03-28 at 5:42pm:
  Oh, O'Brien, every engineer should know these rules:
  
  1- when you buy used electronics, first thing you do is full memory wipe
  
  2- if it ain't broke, don't fix it

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Dio on 2009-02-04 at 8:36pm:
  I totally agree with you on this one, very well written and acted and overall extremely enjoyable. I had to laugh when O'Brien almost fell onto Kira in their final scene!
• From Tallifer on 2011-04-11 at 10:52pm:
  Best episode of Deep Space 9?!?
  
  It is funny and passes the time well, but ti is hardly a masterpiece of science fiction or space opera.
  
  It is a parody of the classic tale of Cyrano de Bergerac, except that Worf-Cyrano is consoled for his loss of Grilka-Roxane by Jadzia Dax. Quark as romantic hero is too much of a stretch (although there have been other such episodes, such as the tedious one about the Cardassian scientist).
• From Mike Furlong on 2016-04-10 at 4:51pm:
  Fun Fact: The actor who plays Garak, Andrew Robinson, was the director of this episode.
• From Axel on 2018-07-04 at 10:56am:
  TUMEK: "Have you ever pursued a Klingon woman?"
  
  WORF: "No"
  
  You mean, aside from K'ehleyr who birthed your child and with whom you went through the mating rituals in TNG? Technically she was half Human and didn't exactly embrace Klingon ways. But it seems odd that Worf doesn't even think it's worth mentioning, especially since Alexander makes several appearances on DS9.
  
  Anyway, I think this episode gets at one of the best things about DS9. Instead of a ship always going out and exploring, sometimes different species from around the galaxy make their way to DS9 and interact with each other. In this case it's done humorously, with inter-species relationships. And it works.
• From JB on 2020-08-28 at 8:26am:
  I love this episode. Worf as an incredulous Cyrano de Bergerac makes for great fun in perhaps the most humorous Trek outing ever produced.
  
  The main story threads with the different characters and their personalities all click together very nicely, but the real cherries on top of this episode are the little extra scenes where the other characters (Keiko, Odo, and Bashir in particular) get involved and give their own humorous takes on the madness they are observing.
  
  10/10, one of my personal favorite hours of Trek.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From szycag on 2008-09-21 at 2:38pm:
  "Why would the Borg stop looking for the emitter technology after One died?"
  
  You assume the Borg collective was even able to assess the presence of the 29th century technology- also, for all we know, One could have sent false signals to the rest of the collective misreporting the whole series of events as a mishap, covering his tracks.
  
  I know it probably wasn't written like this, and the mobile emitter was just a way to give the doctor more possibilities on the show, but I think in hindsight there's a good way to excuse bringing future technology into the show despite how many sci-fi rules it breaks. Voyager was integral in undermining the Borg... the point of origin for the series of events in Future's End could have been making sure Voyager secured the technology necessary to either aid in defeating the Borg or change history by making the Voyager mission successful. What set that whole thing into motion anyways wasn't really clear, but you could totally write up a big Q conspiracy around it.
• From TheAnt on 2013-10-12 at 8:57pm:
  What made me jump when seeing this episode were Seven's comment: "I don't understand. The Borg assimilate, they do not reproduce in this fshion."
  
  So call me a nitpicker on details or say that I am wrong, but I clearly remember seeing a Borg baby already in TNG.
  
  The Borg is very good at assmiliating technology as a collective, granted, but I have a hard time beliving the Borg nanoprobes come with both intelligence and engineering skills, but that incredible and unbelievable idea is presented here or how else would they know how to utilize the 29 century technology from the mobile emitter?
  
  Also I find it weird that they find it so strange that the early (here 'proto') planetary nebula is expanding fast.
  
  Else from that I like some details of this episode, such as the mobile emitter sprouting nanotech roots in all directions.
  
  And the absurd idea that Torres would have a viewscreen in the shower. So overall I give this episode one 8.
• From RodimusBen on 2020-11-22 at 1:48pm:
  Seems like I forgot until my current rewatch that this is one of maybe five or six episodes of Star Trek that bring me to tears. In that and other respects, it's similar to TNG's "The Offspring," but to me it exceeds even that episode's emotional impact because One made a conscious decision to sacrifice himself to save his new "collective" (how very Spock-like of him). J. Paul Boehmer is one of Voyager's best single-ep guest stars and blows it out of the water with his range, from the cold and emotionless drone that emerges from the transporter accident to the cunning individual who makes the decision to resist the Borg.
  
  Jeri Ryan is at her absolute best in the series here, and episodes like this justify Seven of Nine's presence on the show. I think when she says that One is "hurting her" at the very end is usually when I lose it. Then the ep closes with the symmetry of her looking in a mirror again, this time with a genuine human emotion on her face instead of the phony one she was trying to conjure in the teaser.
  
  This is one of those episodes where I diverge from some of the Star Trek fan community (all respect) in that I don't really care about scientific inconsistencies or impossibilities. The premise is intended to drive the characters and emotion, and boy howdy does it do it in "Drone."
  
  Top 5 Voyager ep for me. Easily.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Kelli Tipton on 2008-11-20 at 7:55am:
  You have something against English Imperial Units, I take it? And are you sure they are not U.S. Customary Units instead?
  
  If you look at the Apollo plans, components are measured in U.S. Customary Units. Why would Roddenberry use Metric? Seriously, the only people who ever seem to care about Metric are people who feel the need to feel scientific. Meanwhile, they can't seem to use a unit that can be divided by 3. Just think of that... You can't have a third of something, nor measure out 7/16 of an inch easily. How lame is that.
• From Giuseppe on 2009-03-10 at 1:03am:
  I don't really mind it when they use the Imperial system, however it does make sense that they would use the metric system. After all, the Enterprise is an Earth built ship with a mostly Earth crew and the metric system is the most widespread measurement system on Earth (that was also true back in the '60s). In fact today there are only three countries in the world that don't use it as a primary system: The US, Myanmar and Liberia. Even the Brits who invented the Imperial system now use metric as the primary measurement system.
  The comparison with Apollo is forced to say the least. The Enterprise isn't an all-American project like Apollo was.
  And yeah, on a starship you'd expect that they use the best scientific measurement system around and, for the moment at least, that's metric. It's based on decimal multiples, just like our numbering system, you don't have to mess with various conversion factors when converting from one unit to another (you just have to move the decimal point or change an exponent), nor is there a need to express measurements in fractions.
• From 411314 on 2009-06-15 at 11:12pm:
  I loved how this episode looked like a standard fight the dangerous monster episode and turned out to be completely different. I never saw the ending coming until the eggs were found.
• From Scott Hearon on 2014-03-31 at 12:04pm:
  I really liked this one. Aside from the almost comical appearance of the Horta, there was a lot of thought in this tale.
  
  Most of my gripes are related to McCoy's healing of the Horta. From Kirk's oddly agressive insistence that McCoy shutup and do something that he's not trained to do, to the eye-roll inducing line, "I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer!", I had to cringe.
  
  Aside from these a few other very minor oddities, this was a great little story of rethinking initial impressions. There is, of course, the core Star Trek element of not only seeking out new life, but attempting to forge peaceful bonds with it, whenever possible. This episode took advantage of the opportunity to capitalize on this grand notion, whereas some previous episodes (such as "Arena") missed out.
• From Alan Feldman on 2015-01-24 at 5:27pm:
  THE DEVIL IN THE DARK
  
  Episode is better than one would think given a synopsis (one without spoilers, anyway) of it.
  
  You wrote: "When Kirk personally confronted the creature, he realized that in its wounded state it had been rendered far less aggressive and Kirk started to ponder a means of rendering it harmless without killing it." Good point. I never thought of that. OTOH, Kirk earlier warns us that there's nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal. So I guess the devil is in the details. (Sorry -- couldn't resist.)
  
  I thought the mind-meld scenes went on for too long.
  
  Units again? Scientists often use non-metric units. High-energy physicists, for example, measure mass and energy in electron volts. An electron has a mass of about 511 keV, which is more convenient than 9.110x10^-28 gm, especially in relativistic formulas. A proton has a mass of about 938.3 MeV; a neutron, 939.6 MeV. In the case of calculating the binding energy of nuclei they often use atomic mass units with a table of "mass excess". They also use feet! Electrical signals travel at close to the speed of light. They take 1 nanosecond to travel 1 foot. This is useful in estimating delays due to cabling. Angular momenta of particles, nuclei, and electrons in an atom are most conveniently measured as integral or "half-integral" (0, 1/2, 1, 1 1/2, 2, 2 1/2, . . .) multiples of Plank's constant divided by (2*Pi). (In the first two cases it's a special form of angular momentum called spin.) Then there're light years and parsecs, neither of which is metric. There are many more examples. Oh, and astronomical units. Bottom line: use the right units for the job. (Similar to, "Use the right tool for the job".)
  
  Notice that Kirk said, "The chart says these tunnels converge a few thousand yards further." A few thousand yards?! That's a few kilometers (to put it in metric units)!
  
  KIRK: You take the left (points to his right); I'll take the right (points to his left). Do they really think we're that stupid?
  
  Notice the cave floor is just a regular floor. Not a biggie. Just sayin'.
  
  23rd level? There are at least 23 levels? That's a lot of levels!
  
  "We'll use clubs." Seriously? 30:31-30:36, 44:08-44:15, 44:25-44:28. I guess so!
  
  At 44:08 the miners club the red-shirts. Shouldn't they be charged with a crime?
  
  AEF
  
• From Chris on 2018-09-29 at 7:51pm:
  I love this episode and was actually more fascinated by the reviewers!
  
  Kethinov - I'm often amazed at your command of the language and truly appreciate the insights you bring to your reviews and thought about these stories! THANK YOU!
  
  As far as unit usage goes, this show was made for American audiences first and foremost, not Europeans. As far as the U.S. usage of metric vs. Imp. measurements go, the military has used metric as far as I can remember, which is a long-assed time!
  
  Feldmen - You seem to be nit-picking a bit.
  
  I like McCoy's, "I'm a doctor, not a..."! Check that, I love them!
  
  Time for Lasgna!
• From Chris on 2019-02-03 at 12:06am:
  I thought of a true complaint that has not been addressed by anyone including myself which irritates me and prompts yet another comment!
  This Horta, "which moves through rock like we move through air" is not accurate at all! The creature moves through rock the way birds move through air, except that birds don't leave the equivalent of vacuums in their wake! These things, er, creatures should have left massive caverns or at least molten rubble in their wake, which would be far more accurate! The rock isn't simply being vaporized. Even if it could, there would be something left, heat, of extraordinary levels that no human could be close to it even months after the creature had gone!
  
  I know no one reads my nonsense this late in the game but I still feel the need to rant a little.
• From Chris Long on 2019-05-13 at 2:17am:
  ... and so here I yam yet again!
  
  How is it that McCoy, The greatest medical mind in the history of the Federation not know about the notion of Silicon-Based Life?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From endlessmug on 2006-10-07 at 5:25am:
  The first episode of Voyager was better than I thought it would be. After hearing so many people talk about how horrible the show was, it actually had a pretty good start.
  
  (And on your note about Locarno/Paris: I also hate when they don't reuse a character when it's played by the same actor and basically acts the same. Would it really hurt to put in some continuity into the show?)
  
• From Avril on 2006-11-22 at 3:11pm:
  In regaurds to Nicholas Locarno, they originally wanted to use the charactor but they would've had to pay royalties to the writer of the original episode everytime Paris was on screen. So instead they used the same idea but a different name to avoid this.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-22 at 11:06am:
  Dear Kethinov:
  
  Concerning DS9: Emissary, you state:
  
  "Probably the most remarkable first episode for a Star Trek series ever."
  
  Concerning this episode you state:
  
  "This is probably the best of all the pilot episodes."
  
  OK, you're up. Which is it? Which series has the better pilot: Voyager or DS9? I would readily admit that either is superior to the pilot for either TNG or TOS. TNG's pilot, TNG: Adventure at Farpoint was OK, but not great in my view. TOS's pilot (which I suppose would be "TOS: The Cage) was bad.
• From Kethinov on 2011-10-22 at 5:04pm:
  Voyager's. But DS9's was my favorite until Voyager's aired.
• From wes on 2012-01-13 at 5:36pm:
  It seems a problem of continuity that Tuvok is called "Lieutenant" and not "Commander," while his rank is Lt. Commander. This is a bit annoying to me for two reasons.
  
  1) Lieutenant seems to be the most overused rank on Voyager, especially among senior officers.
  
  2) Every other officer of any Star Trek season with the rank of Lt. Commander has been addressed as "Commander" and not "Lieutenant."
  
  This seems to demean Tuvok's rank more than anything. It's unfortunate.
• From Brian on 2013-09-11 at 12:15am:
  Actually, the reason they didn't use Nicholas Locarno as a name was to avoid paying royalties to the guy that came up with the character.
• From Edwin on 2014-08-07 at 11:06pm:
  To correct one of your factoids, Quark is actually the second character to appear in all three 24th Century Trek series, the first is the Cardassian Gul Evek who is briefly seen in the pre-credits sequence of Caretaker. He had previously appeared in several episodes of TNG Season 7 and DS9 Season 2.
• From Axel on 2015-06-07 at 3:59am:
  Say what you want about Voyager, but I think they are the only Star Trek series to have a pretty solid first season. It took TOS and TNG quite a while to get it right. DS9 and ENT started out decently but really didn't get good until late first season. Voyager did a great job and I think this is without question the best pilot in Star Trek. Fantastic premise, fantastic two-parter and very well executed. I like Janeway's speech about the two crews working together and continuing the mission while also searching for a quicker way home. Sets up the series nicely.
  
  On a side note: Gul Evek has also appeared in all three Star Trek series during this time. He was in this, he was in DS9: The Maquis and Tribunal, and he was in both TNG: Preemptive Strike and TNG: Journey's End.
• From Nightangel on 2017-02-14 at 8:47am:
  Just to let you know, the reason why they didn't use Nicholas Locarno is because then they would have to pay royalties to the writers of the episode of TNG that he was featured in. So... they created Tom Paris as a replacement... giving him the exact same backstory as Locarno, and even hiring the same actor.
• From Ensign Obummer on 2022-02-02 at 8:43pm:
  So about the royalties thing, while it is true that writers back then got these royalties...from the various interviews and statements from the actor about his role Tom Paris it seems they wanted to make a similar character and only later decided to use the same actor.
  It is a fun rumor to say they changed the name to save what... 10 grand ? per season, but I think it is not true.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-05-18 at 9:44pm:
  The only flaw in this episode is the obvious recasting of the captain who dies in Yesterday's Enterprise. Couldn't she have used a different voice? Dr. Evil and Austin Powers had different voices. Other than that this episode represents all the things that Star Trek is about: the human condition.
  
  The B plot about the shuttle stuck in a pocket in space was way off to the side in this episode. It should be, because it allows more depth for the rest of the show. There is also a very emotional ending where you really feel for Riker. Everything works really well. This episode gets a 9.
• From MGinevra on 2007-05-09 at 9:49pm:
  This may sound melodramatic, but this is the only piece of television that I can say changed my world-view. I was a Mormon teenager when this episode aired, all I had ever been told was that gays were evil and unnatural. This was the first time I could look at the issue of homosexuality from a sympathetic viewpoint. I'm glad that this episode helped me to see the other side of things, which definitely helped me accept some dear friends who came out in the following years. Thanks to Star Trek for teaching a bit of tolerance.
• From James on 2007-06-29 at 8:26pm:
  "On a planet full of butch lesbians, Riker falls for the femmist one."
• From DSOmo on 2007-09-30 at 5:35am:
  Picard knew Riker would try to rescue Soren. Picard knew that was a violation of Starfleet code, but he quietly lets Riker proceed. Picard makes no effort to stop Riker. On the other hand, Picard severely reprimands Worf in the episode "Reunion" when Worf - acting within the bounds of Klingon culture - departs from the Enterprise and kills Duras. Doesn't this seem backward?
• From Fenix on 2010-10-17 at 7:41pm:
  To respond to DSOmo, Picard might have similarly reprimanded Riker if Riker had succeeded in bringing Soren back to the Enterprise. As Riker left his meeting, Picard warned him not to risk his career.
  
  Picard's respect for Riker allowed him to give Riker the space to make the decision for himself. If Riker had successfully chosen Soren over Starfleet Code I think Picard would be hard pressed to ignore it.
• From gopher on 2011-03-21 at 9:58pm:
  Riker would never fall in love with a hermaphrodite. That he would is simply embarrassing, not to mention extremely contrived. Soren had no personality, no spark that Riker always finds attractive. They might as well have written an episode in which he falls in love with a penguin. Plus I doubt she had a vag. Did he do her in the butt or something?
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-30 at 9:46am:
  This episode is basically 100% morality play, it has no substance beyond that. But I think it is a pretty good morality play, for the most part.
  - You are absolutely right that the episode should have ended when Soren was taken away. I thought that when I was watching it.
  
• From tigertooth on 2011-08-19 at 3:36am:
  @DSOmo: Not sure why it would be backward that Picard would be more lenient towards an officer who is motivated by love than one who is motivated by hate.
  
  Anyway, along the lines of what MGinevra said above, the following was posted on Andrew Sullivan's blog:
  
  http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/08/star-treks-sexual-equality.html
  
  +*+*+*+*+*+*+
  The episode is about a species without gender, that views gender expression as an abomination and an illness to be cured. It's powerful because there's nothing foreign about it. I was raised in a conservative, devout evangelical home with pretty standard anti-gay attitudes (hate the sin, love the sinner). I saw this at a young age. What I saw was Riker, a manly guy I respected and could relate to, falling in love with a woman (no learned moral outrage alarm bells there!) and losing her to the tragedy of an intolerant society.
  
  I absorbed it as a tragedy, but didn't understand why a society would do that, even as I went to a church that behaved that way. The episode wasn't one of my favorites, and it perplexed me deeply. It was years before I made the obvious connection to homophobia and the ex-gay movement. That realization was profound, and it changed my life. My ability to judge and exclude and cast people out was cast down so completely I'm embarrassed to even talk about it in this anonymous email. The change was so complete and sudden, I almost literally felt as though scales fell off my eyes.
  
  To this day, I don't think my parents have any idea the shape or size of the impact Star Trek had on my moral compass and political choices in this area and others. That's all to the good; they'd never forgive themselves for letting me watch it.
  +*+*+*+*+*+*+
  
  I found the episode kind of ham-fisted and unconvincing, but I'm glad that the episode moved some folks to think more deeply about an important topic.
• From Michael Jackson on 2020-05-22 at 1:03am:
  Picard: "Data, what happened?"
  
  Data: "At the last moment I speculated that 'three' might refer to the number of female crew members with whom Commander Riker shared carnal relations this week. That indicated to me that his solution might be the correct course of action."
  
  Troi: "What the fu--"
  
  Picard: "Well, it seems your promiscuity has finally paid off for the ship, Number One."
  
  Riker: "Data, how do you know about that?"
  
  So the point of my ridiculous alternative script is that I, too, was puzzled why they simply chose to say "3". If it does have to be a single digit, which they never specified, then it's lucky Riker did his Captain Morgan lean on Data's console so he could look over and see the pips on his collar. They could've just as easily chosen "1" since Picard calls Riker "Number One" or since Riker's solution was the first offered.
  
  But that aside, they did a fantastic job of making this episode intriguing and not boring, considering it has so much repetition.
• From Mark on 2021-02-23 at 1:56am:
  Cons: *The idea that would find Soren attractive is ludicrous. She appears as a pale, plain Jane, with a bowl haircut, dressed in a onesie. Soren talks in a monotone and is devoid of any exuberance. Compare Soren to the females Riker usually pursues. Soren and Data would at least be believable.
  *Episode was created to preach not to entertain. Sci Fi writers please stop the perpetual search for alleged victims.
  *One of the worst episodes of TNG.
  Pro: *Worf punching out J’Naii security guards.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-05-07 at 11:43pm:
  remarkable scene addition: Patrick Stewart uttering the words "I'm not much of an actor"
  
  Brent spiner is an unbelievable actor. God knows how many parts he has played in Star Trek. I'm willing to wager more parts than any other actor.
• From DSOmo on 2007-11-01 at 7:16am:
  - Data and Geordi ask Picard for permission to take the computer in Engineering off line. Geordi says they are working on a new interface so Data could act as an emergency backup in the event of a shipwide systems failure. Data adds, "In theory, my neural network should be able to sustain key systems until primary control is restored." In theory? Hasn't the crew already done this? Wasn't it a direct link between Data and the engineering systems that prevented the destruction of the Enterprise during the episode "Disaster"?
  - In the first saloon scene, the bad guy Worf is supposed to arrest rises slowly to his feet. Worf seizes the opportunity and knocks him out with one blow. Immediately, Alexander stops the program and complains that the arrest was too easy. He then restarts the sequence, with a higher difficulty level. The odd thing here is that the second time through, the arrestee gets up from his chair with the same slowness he showed before, only this time Worf lets him back out of range.
  - After Geordi discovers that the problem is in a computer subroutine, he tells Picard it will take a couple of hours to fix it. Isn't this problem similar to that faced by the main computer in "Contagion"? In that episode, Geordi simply shut everything off and reloaded all the programs from the protected archives. Why not do the same thing here? Answer: The creators needed to stall the resolution so Worf could be in the shoot-out on Deadwood's main street.
  - To make his personal force field, Worf tears apart his communicator. Let me say that again: Worf TEARS his communicator apart. Why not just tap it and call for help? Geordi said only secondary systems were affected by Data's overwrite. Communications is a primary system. Shouldn't it still be functioning? Does the holodeck put up some sort of jamming field that prevents communication outside the holodeck?
  - Worf certainly has improved his markmanship skill since the previous episode ;)
• From wepeel on 2008-07-03 at 4:56pm:
  When Data is shuffling cards in his cell, look at his arms...obviously they used another person's hands to do the shuffling, but couldn't they have found someone who had arms similar to Brent? You'll notice that in all the other shots, the excessive arm-hair is gone...
  
  After one of the commercial breaks, we see Geordi working on Data as Riker comes into the scene. Data greets Riker with a "howdy." After Data says, "You got it, partner," look at Geordi...this is purely my opinion but I think he is trying to hide his laugh by looking down. I thought it was pretty funny...
  
  And also, right afterward, while Data is looking at Riker while Geordi is talking...look at Data's face. Tell me he's not trying to suppress his laughter! ;)
• From thaibites on 2012-06-07 at 2:21pm:
  More like "A Fistful of Stupid". This one was painful to watch...
• From Mike Chambers on 2013-11-26 at 6:02pm:
  Terrible episode. One of the worst ever, how this one has a fan rating of nearly 7 is beyond me. I give this a 2 only because there are a few genuinely funny scenes, like Picard continuing to get interrupted in the beginning. The way he says "Computer, pause recording" the very last time when it's Worf makes me laugh every time. Sounds like he's about to have an aneurysm. Overall though, just a CORNY filler episode with a ridiculously far-fetched premise. Alexander is just annoying (when is he not?) and so is Troi here for that matter.
• From Quando on 2014-07-29 at 4:38pm:
  I think this is a really fun episode. Best moments: Alexander saying, "saddle up father" and Work not wanting to go; Worf starting to "get into" the program after the fistfight in the saloon; Data unconsciously saying things like "I recon" and "vamoose"; Worf's final look in the mirror in his quarters showing a sense of imagination. It may not be the most meaningful or the most technologically accurate episode, but it is very entertaining.
• From Damien Bradley on 2017-05-30 at 9:17pm:
  It's always interesting watching these again with more and more time passing since the show was produced. I often catch little things each time I watch the show that I didn't catch before. For example, in this episode, the tiny little dash of homophobia at the very end -- where Worf, the proud, fearless warrior, is seemingly terrified of having to hug or kiss a holographic Data in drag -- is pretty silly! It's relatively innocuous, and forgivable in a franchise that was proudly progressive in many ways, but it's interesting nonetheless.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2008-09-22 at 7:57pm:
  Although the execution sometimes leave a little to be desired, this remains one of my favorite episodes.
  
  I absolutely love the idea of genetic "seeding" and the idea that all humanoid life comes from an ancient common source. It's perhaps a little bit unrealistic that they all found out at the exact same time, but it's necessary for the plot; I found it a little forced that the Cardassians and Klingons thought there would be a weapon or limitless power source at the end of this chase--why would anybody put this kind of code in our DNA if it was simply a weapon? But I guess their suspicions are in character.
  
  A few loose ends: what's the deal with the ship that Worf destroyed? Maybe I missed it, but there didn't seem to be an explanation why a minimal phaser blast destroyed the whole ship. Also, while it's plausible that the Klingon captain would destroy all life on the planet after getting the DNA sample, it seems like there would be some sort of repercussions.
  
  The only person who seems to share Picard's wonder and fascination at the Romulan captain. By this time in the series, the Romulans are becoming the most interesting and well-developed alien race around, and this is no exception. The Klingons and Cardassians hold on to their hatreds, but the Romulans, represented by the captain here anyway, see the bigger picture. Looking back over the next generation, it's a pity the Romulans couldn't have taken a bigger role. They would have made a much more interesting and engaging species to study than the newly-found Ferengi. Maybe that's just my bias talking, as anyone who's read my posts here knows that I loathe the Ferengi and find them to be an embarrassing additon to the series.
• From Mark McC on 2009-02-09 at 12:23pm:
  A strange episode where all races go in search of something that surely must be accepted scientific fact by now.
  
  We've had Human/Vulcan, Human/Klingon, Betazoid/Human, Klingon/Romulan and Human/Romulan mixed-species characters. There's probably more, since Kirk and Riker seem to consider anyone with two legs and breasts a suitable candidate for mating with!
  
  With all these successful hybrids, wouldn't scientists have already concluded that the vast majority of bipedal sentient species in the galaxy must share not only common DNA, but also compatible reproductive systems?
• From Random Guy on 2010-04-30 at 7:34pm:
  Regarding the repercussions bit:
  
  The guy only killed a bunch of trees on some distant planet. There wasn't any kind of civilization there, nor any animals at all, so it's not as big of a deal as it would appear.
• From MJ on 2011-02-23 at 11:22pm:
  This episode reminded me of the TOS episode "Bread and Circuses" in which they talked about parallel planet development. I liked how in that episode, and this one, Star Trek tries to give a somewhat plausible (at least in sci-fi) explanation for why there are thousands of beings in the galaxy that are some variation of the Human form. Star Trek is just as anthropomorphic as any sci-fi show (or religion, for that matter), but at least they acknowledge it.
  
  However, the first time I saw this, I felt a bit as the Klingon captain did: "That's all???" They could've stretched this into a two-parter, adding some more intrigue and action to the chase, and also providing more as to how these original aliens seeded the galaxy. In truth, you actually have the makings of a movie here, certainly a better one than TNG would later field.
  
  Galen was an interesting character, and shows us another side of Picard. The one thing we've seen Picard excited about in previous episodes is archaeology. It's more than a hobby, it's a passion, and now we learn it's something he had the opportunity to devote his life to. And, his mentor hasn't really forgiven him for not doing so.
  
  The scenes with Data and the Klingon captain are priceless. I love the part where Data is trying to logically explain why the captain's offer was indeed a bribe, innocently ruining the subtlety of it.
• From Zaphod on 2011-04-14 at 9:47am:
  Annoying Episode, packed with everything I don't like about Star Trek.
  Here the wise and peaceful Federation guys, there a bunch of insanely stupid and childish aliens not capable of understanding the message of peace and tolerance. Everything we know about these races is thrusted aside and again they are reduced to irrational and aggressive morons not blessed with the superior wisdom and diplomatic skill of the federation. Naturally all suggestions to defuse the situation are made by Picard, the Federation representative.
  
  And how on earth can that Klingon be so foolish and think that a trial of strength with an android is a good idea?!
  
  These caricatures remind me of the arrogant and selfish view Europeans had in past centuries, especially in the imperialistic age. Our ancestors back then also honestly believed they were the good guys and their conquers were beneficial for the "savages" they conquered.
  Star Trek seems to preach tolerance and respect for other cultures but the way the Klingons, Cardassians and Romulans are depicted tells me the opposite.
  And why does every peaceful civilization join the f*cking Federation? Why aren't there many more alliances who are not just stupid warmongering caricatures like the Cardassians and why do these Klingon, Cardassian and Romulan boneheads get so much room in Star Trek? Because it gives the audience a feeling of superiority so they can do the same thing Roddenberry did, feel comfortable with the worldview they have and preach about it everytime someone listens without any doubt and the need to ever think again in their lives or to listen to the unimportant stuff other people say. ^^
  
  And what moron wrote the speech that ancient alien gave them? Didn't sound wise to me, sounded more like an inept preacher trying too hard to reach the poor lost souls of his fold. Really embarrassing.
• From Robert Koenn on 2011-06-06 at 2:08pm:
  I found this episode to be very good and definitely liked the ancient planting of space seed around the galaxy. I told my wife as we watched that was the intent of the riddle right from the beginning and said it reminded me of the theme of 2001 from the perspective of an ancient galactic civilization being the creators of new civilizations. While I still have problems with such militaristic races, particularly the Klingons (how could a race such as that even manage to survive each other and develop technology), it did make sense from how they are portrayed in the series. And I for one liked the morality of the counterpoint of this ancient race hoping we had overcome our war like ways and learned to live peacefully with each other. Even that final point between the Romulan and Picard. Yes it is simplistic but there is a huge portion of the human race that hopes for such a thing even on this rather pathetic human planet with all its' hatred and killing and inequality.
• From Brendan on 2011-09-15 at 12:17pm:
  So would it be a stretch to assume that this ancient civilization evolved to become the Founders of the Dominion. I say that for several reasons.
  
  1. The alien in this episode is played by the same actress who portrayed the female changeling in DS9 (Salome Jens).
  
  2. They look kind of similar, not identical, but the again the Founders are changelings.
  
  3. The Founder mentions to Odo in one episode that they were solids once but then they evolved. Judging by how much time must have passed for life in the entire Alpha Quadrant to evolve, I imagine that would be enough time for this alien race to evolve into the Founders.
  
  Kind of a cool thing to think about....even if it was never intended to be that way. It does seem like sort of a wink and a nod from DS9's producers in casting Salome Jens as the Founder.
• From Ggen on 2012-04-21 at 1:00am:
  This was a most excellent idea that unfortunately was pretty much botched during execution. I really enjoyed the initial scenes with Picard's professor, but although the premise got even more interesting, the actual episode got worse.
  
  The main problem was that the whole thing felt very contrived and everything just lined up in an all too convenient way, one link after the other, one gratuitous-feeling exposition after the next. Virtually everything said in this episode didn't feel like realistic dialogue, although it was all very convenient for explaining the story.
  
  I also didn't really care for how it turned into a who's who of TNG: the Cardassians show up (that captain was kind of ridiculous by the way), then the Klingons, then the Romulans... Although it made sense in the context of the story, it also didn't quite feel right...
  
  I do have to give the episode credit where its due, because the basic idea of a DNA-based computer program was rather original. The "extraterrestrial origins" thing is original for TNG, although not entirely original among scientists/paranormal researchers/ufo buffs, etc (look up "panspermia" and "directed panspermia"). It was certainly a welcome topic, in any case, because it successfully addressed that longstanding nagging question: "Why are almost all aliens in Trek humanoids, some even indistinguishable from humans?"
  
  - - -
  
  Then again, although I'm not a biologist, I'm not sure that question is really answered. Introducing basic DNA material into the primordial soup is one thing. But our humanoid appearance also depends on millions of years of unpredictable, blind evolution, complete with countless random factors, environmental changes, etc.
  
  As far as I understand it, there's really no way to draw a direct line from seeding the genetic material and the eventual outcome, millions of years later, unless you also control or manipulate countless other factors and events.
  
  
• From thaibites on 2012-09-20 at 2:09pm:
  This was a very enjoyable episode with good pacing. It had mystery, intrigue, and even a little action.
  
  I agree with Brendan about the Changelings. I thought the same thing when the Founder appeared to all those gathered on the planet.
  
  
• From Axel on 2015-06-01 at 6:42am:
  I see Zaphod's points about the Federation, but a lot of that gets explored in the DS9 series. There is a lot more moral ambiguity when it comes to Federation policy and the actions of Starfleet in DS9. That's one of the greatest things DS9 brings to the franchise, IMO.
  
  Also, note that the Romulan commander, at least, appeared to grasp the alien's message and hope that the day may come when there could be peace and tolerance between worlds.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-08-19 at 6:03pm:
  - In Riker's future, Troi has left the Enterprise to work at Starfleet command. Was he lying when he tells her, "I can't imagine you ever leaving the Enterprise"? Evidently he could image her leaving, since Riker's thoughts are driving the holographic generators!
  - Troi says Riker will sign the new treaty between the Federation and the Romulan Empire. Riker will sign the treaty? He's just a captain of a starship. Leaders and diplomats sign treaties, not captains.
  - Everyone shows signs of age in the "imperfect future." Everyone, except for Ogawa. She looks unchanged.
  - When the boy takes Riker to his secret hiding place, he pulls out plans that he made of the tunnels. In the long shot, the plans are made out of a transparent plastic. In the close-up, the plans are on a thick white paper (not transparent.)
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-21 at 1:25am:
  I generally liked watching this episode, it was interesting and suspenseful until the ending. The ending itself, however, was quite disappointing. A good plot twist should make the preceding events make perfect sense. But the second plot twist doesn't any sense out of the events before the first plot twist. If the alien boy just wanted a companion, why the convoluted future which seemed to be trying to get Riker to trust the Romulans and betray the location of Outpost 23? It seemed like the writers built up an episode that would require a really clever ending to make sense of, then couldn't think of a clever ending.
• From tigertooth on 2011-05-31 at 12:48am:
  I really liked the double-twist of the ending. To answer CAlexander, perhaps the kid knew that Riker would sense that this wasn't real, so he concocted a double-twist figuring that Riker would see through the first one, but not realize there was a second layer of deception.
  
  Also, it was a kid. Maybe he wasn't the most cunning adversary Riker has ever faced.
• From rwe on 2011-08-17 at 8:14am:
  The only real shortcoming of this episode is the true appearance of the alien at the very end. It is ridiculous. It's like one of the aliens from Close Encounter of the Third Kind, complete with large bug eyes and long, twitchy fingers, but even more ludicrous.
  
  The episode itself was very well done, even though it doesn't really tie into any ongoing arcs or story lines (so it's essentially what the reviewer would call filler).
  
  I like the new look of the uniforms and seeing people in new positions - "Admiral" Picard for instance. The very concept of having the entire star trek TNG universe instantly moved forward 16 years was great (even though fraudulent).
  
  The revelations and plot twists were excellent. Just the first one about it all being a Romulan deception would've been satisfactory, but the writers up the ante and twist it all one more time in the end. Really quite fantastic.
  
  I like the clues about it all being a hologram - how the ship's computer was lagged and how Troi couldn't come up with a fully convincing reason for leaving the Enterprise... I do take some issue with the main clue, the one about Minuet...
  
  ...it's a bit fuzzy how the holographic process (whether it's Ethan doing it, or the equipment itself, or some mixture of the two, it's not clear) could recreate everything and cast the Enterprise crew so perfectly, and yet screw up on Minuet.
  
  But maybe it makes sense, I don't even know. In any case, this is a fun episode.
  
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-09-30 at 11:09pm:
  A couple of issues:
  
  1. At the beginning of the episode, Geordi says he is detecting traces of "organic gases, including nitrous oxide, hydrogen sulfide, and methane". Of these three, only methane is organic. The other two are inorganic.
  
  2. The ability of the alien to scan Riker's thoughts and construct a false reality was only partially explained. The alien shows Riker the devices ( similar to holoemitters ) that allow the alternate reality to be created. But the ability to scan Riker's thoughts is never explained.
• From Jason on 2011-10-14 at 9:02pm:
  Great overall episode, but the last 30 seconds with the reveal of the alien is one of the most unintentionally hilarious things I've ever witnessed.
• From Axel on 2018-06-01 at 2:33am:
  Yes, the alien looked ridiculous, but keep in mind this episode was produced in 1990. People had been watching Spielberg movies for years, and were used to seeing aliens like this. Digital animation was still a long way off, and TV shows with limited budgets usually had to dress up their aliens in costume. I don't really knock this episode much for the true appearance of the alien, although I did laugh as well when I first saw it. Or maybe it was when I heard it speak using its natural voice.
  
  Anyway, the ending is a disappointment but it was an interesting concept and had a fairly gripping plot for about 95% of the episode. The part where Riker first discovers that he's in a fantasy was really well done, and featured some nice continuity with 11001001. I give it a 6.
• From CAlexander on 2019-04-01 at 4:13am:
  I re-watched the episode carefully and realized another factor that makes no sense. If Ethan's goal is to spend more time with Riker, adding the Romulan plot to the fantasy is counter-productive, as it causes Riker to spend more time dealing with the "negotiations" and less time with his "family".
  
  Nevertheless, I do quite enjoy the first 75% of the episode and the whole idea of waking up in the future.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From MJ on 2011-01-14 at 4:39pm:
  This one was the last straw for me when it came to DS9's Klingon episodes. In TNG, the Klingons were an interesting and respectable group of characters, and the series explored their culture. Gowron was a formidable opponent but also very honorable, and Kurn was one of the better minor family characters in the series.
  
  Then comes DS9 in which the Klingons (except Worf) return to the mindless thugs they were in TOS. They suck at battle, as proven in "Way of the Warrior" and "Return to Grace". They act dishonorably on several occasions. Gowron has become a madman, a development that could be justified by his thirst for power but still makes the character one-dimensional.
  
  And now Kurn. I liked the character in TNG, and it was very disappointing to see it end this way for him. His point of view is easy to understand. Even when Worf went through his dishonor, he was in the Federation and didn't really have to face it every day like Kurn has. And it blows my mind that the Federation would have such a problem with the ritual murder, an honorable act in Klingon culture, but be OK with erasing someone's identity without their consent. This is a major discrepancy that is simply too large for me to ignore.
  
  Overall, one of my least favorite episodes of DS9.
• From Jon on 2011-05-26 at 4:59pm:
  In contrast to the other commenter, I rather like that the showed that actions have real-life consequences, in contrast to the real feeling we get that actions are self-contained inside episodes - if that. Worf's actions do have consequences for those left on his home planet, somthing that everyone seems to forget.
  
  These characters are not islands unto themselves - they've got ties and interestes beyond the bulkheads that can go bad or good depending on what they do.
  
  I don't think a highly militarized society such as the Klingons would have many detractors in a universe that was rapidly experiencing threats, changes and the doubts that came with the Changling threats. Therefore you can make the case that a military leader (see the TNG episode where Garwon was chosen) that struck a balance would shift towards a more locked-down military political stance to preserve the Empire from percieved threats. Such a mindset isn't that hard for Klingons to fall into.
  
  And its not like Klingons were really a race of sophisticated or otherwise in TOS that suddenly became 'Vikings in Space' in TNG/DS9....i mean, in ST 6 the whole novelty of General Chang and Gorkon was that they were leaders that quoted Shakespeare and were more politically aware, rather than the 'typical fare'
  
  And the leadership of the empire IS dominated by a Council that seems persuasive to the winds of the time and can be manipulated or dominated, in this case the latter.
• From Selador on 2013-04-09 at 9:44pm:
  With regards to how the mines could be effective given that ships could simply navigate around them - the whole point is that they're cloaked. That's why Worf and Kurn have to board the Klingon ship to discover their locations.
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-10-05 at 11:20am:
  The premise of this episode is excellent, "how can Worf bridge a divide between his Klingon culture demands of him and what his life in the Federation will allow?" And the repeated failed attempts for him to do right by Kurn are great. Tony Todd has done a great job acting with pathos this season, first as older Jake in The Visitor and now reprising this role from TNG.
  
  The conclusion of the episode is highly disappointing. The decision of the Starfleet to inflict the Lovecraftian horror of erasing a man's memory and giving him a new life, just being okay with that, does not sit well. The need to tidily wrap this story up was too strong. I'm not sure what the "best" way to have approached this would have been, but finding a way to let it linger, perhaps to return to the topic in a later season, would have been preferable. This is a product of DS9 not knowing the balance between serial/episodic that it wanted, and it suffers here, wasting a great guest performance.
• From The Bok Obummer on 2022-10-16 at 3:05pm:
  Klingons are such docile whiners, do they just sit by and let the government seize their lands?? Look at Kern whining about how they took his stuff, why didn't he and his house fight Gowrons men? Who cares if they stand no chance, they always brag about honorable deaths.
  Instead he comes to DS9 to whine and just die like a coward. Even the biggest hillibilly would put up more of a fight if the government came to take his stuff.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete on 2010-08-04 at 2:07am:
  Not only does Enterprise now have phasers, but apparently they are capable of being fired at warp now too! Sloppy writing...
• From Shamin Asaikar on 2012-12-01 at 4:29am:
  Archer: The vulans?
  T'Pol: 600,000 km
  
  (That means they are 2 seconds away at warp 1!)
  
  10 seconds later, its 200,000 and Archer asks Travis to take them out of warp!
  
• From -_Name_- on 2013-07-04 at 5:30pm:
  a grand (and elaborate) "waste of time" is right... it would've been a better episode if it was just about the mysterious ship/corpse and didn't get into the temporal cold war stuff, because as kethinov mentions, it really didn't explain or progress a thing... in the end, the ship disappeared and everyone went home... a very annoying TV reset button...
• From bf on 2013-11-17 at 2:35pm:
  Did anyone else notice that the metal cover which connects the pod to "larger on the inside" part of the ship was covered in "TARDIS Blue" paint... a nod of the head to Dr. Who.
• From Dstyle on 2015-09-21 at 7:12pm:
  These temporal cold war episodes remind me of when I used to watch X Files on TV back in high school. Amid the various monster of the week episodes ran a narrative thread about a conspiracy Mulder is unraveling concerning his sister, who he remembers being abducted by aliens when they were children. I thought of these episodes as "Smoking Man" episodes, and the temporal cold war reminds me of them: at first they seemed cool and intriguing, but as the show wore on they never lived up to their initial potential and I'd find myself wanting another monster of the week.
• From hugo on 2018-01-08 at 9:38pm:
  Pretty good episode, I would say!
  But... How did the Suliban get into the docking bay in the beginning?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Sherlock on 2006-10-28 at 3:53pm:
  I liked this episode. Granted, the whole premise with the Kes and the Prytt was a little bizarre, especially given that the Kes were totally paranoid and irrational. But I thought that the subplot with Picard and Beverly was great and long over-due. Beveryly usually annoys me as a character, but I really enjoyed her in this episode.
• From djb on 2009-01-07 at 3:55am:
  I liked this episode a lot. Aside from the Crusher/Picard story, it was interesting to see a world where the people hadn't unified under a single government. Most federation and allied worlds, by definition, are going to be unified, but they are going to be far outnumbered like planets like Kesprytt, or for that matter, ours, which are not.
  
  The Picard/Crusher story was great. The romantic tension between them was a little over the top in the first season, but they wisely toned it down and made it subtle but consistent. It's great to finally have it directly addressed.
  
  This episode shows a good example of something great coming out of a seemingly unfortunate situation: Picard and Crusher are captured and implanted with strange devices, but in the end they finally come to terms with the elephant in the room between them, which they might never have done had it not been for that experience.
  
  The scene at the end was also well-done. We can't be exactly sure why Beverly turns him down (why?); in fact, I was surprised he even suggested pursuing something in the first place, considering it would be a conflict of interest (as illustrated nicely in "Lessons"). But it was poignant, and of course well-acted.
  
  Factoid: This episode establishes that Earth was unified under a single government in 2150.
• From L on 2013-04-27 at 11:06am:
  How are the Prytt allowed to get away with kidnapping Picard and Crusher without consequence? That was maddening. They should have been severely bitch-slapped.
  I get that the Federation is supposedly above such things as petty retaliation, but that doesn't mean you have to let yourself be walked all over - they still have laws don't they? And self-respect?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From MJ on 2011-01-23 at 10:09pm:
  Not a bad episode. For the first time, we get a glimpse of the truly arrogant nature of the Changelings and their apparent lack of concern for the ruinous policies of their Dominion. They simply don't want to be bothered by the solids, and so they are content to dwell in their ocean community and allow genetically engineered soldiers and brainwashed diplomats wreak havoc on the rest of the galaxy, intervening only to ensure their overall plans succeed. They clearly consider themselves a superior life form, and in the Great Link, all the troubles of the galaxy are trivial. It might be easier for the viewer to understand the Changelings if we had some more background on this "persecution" they once experienced at the hands of solids. But for now, they seem even worse than the Borg. At least the Borg were consistent: their collective nature and desire to assimilate explained their indifference to the suffering they caused. Changeling indifference is a bit harder to grasp because it's all so intangible, a big mystery that one could only understand if one is in the Great Link.
  
  Anyway, a good "continuity" episode, continuing to show life on the station and with the Defiant and Federation. This is certainly not the episode you want to watch if you're checking out DS9 for the first time, or else nothing will make sense.
  
  I will say this for the writers of DS9: they incorporate humor, wit, and sharp comedy into their scripts better than any other series of Trek. One-liners like the one O'Brien gave to Nog about nobody being left to call him captain are typical of this series. Then you have characters like Quark and Garak, whose sole purpose at times seems to be to deliver comic relief in tense situations. It's a hallmark of DS9, and it's one I thoroughly enjoy. This series probably has the best "quotations" list of any.
• From L on 2013-08-04 at 6:07am:
  Damn Odo, you'll have to do something pretty big to redeem yourself from this massive lapse in reliability, now that you're a Great Link junkie.
  Slap him Kira. Slap him hard.
• From AW on 2015-12-29 at 6:14am:
  Not showing the mission is good character development. Overall this show has always been presented from Sisko's perspective. Star Trek has almost exclusively presented envy themes in hokey, usually filler, episodes. Conflict between members of Star Fleet rarely surfaces in such a naturally personal level.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Coihue on 2017-10-30 at 4:55pm:
  Hey, there is the time travel. As I said in the previous episode, they will reset time till the time previous Georgiu's death. They can not be able to stop the war, but everything else will be reset.
  
  Also, there was a Q homage when Mudd says "Mon capitain!"
• From Matthew on 2017-10-30 at 10:00pm:
  There were fun bits here but I think you're being very kind Eric! The extent to which they hid Stamets setting things up (which could have been some fun interactions with characters other than Burnham) bothered me too. The Cornwell angle not so much since I think it's a justifiable (in fact good) command decision from Lorca even if for the wrong reason - they can afford to lose her more than the Discovery. And he has asked Saru to inform Starfleet so any negative consequences will be deferred until Cornwell comes back (if she does).
  
  I hope this really is the end of Mudd, since I didn't find him hilarious at all. The character talks like he's stuck in a tediously self regarding, totes not amazeballs, sarcastic social media feed. I'm getting the feeling that the whole writer's room has a bit much of that, and a banterish style that is either snarky or plays to the echo chamber. His violence towards Lorca is justified in character terms because of Lorca keeping him locked up but that stops making sense, and becomes tonally really odd, when presented in ha ha comedy montage. Fishing for laughs out of someone dying in different ways is, in my book, not really Trek. (Trek can and should do comedy - though it tends to work better when the characters are really established, like that DS9 baseball one - Take Me Out To The Holosuite? - that should really be lousy filler but is actually great.)
  
  Oh and 4D race we've never heard of and no-one seems that curious about? How the jiggins did that get through script review? Must have been someone who watched Interstellar and thought the Tesseract bit was really good but needed more Deus Ex Machina factor.
  
  Lethe was v good though - especially the properly grownup acting, writing and subject matter in the Cornwell / Lorca scenes. More please!
• From Inga on 2017-12-26 at 2:12am:
  I would also like to add the rushed (and forced at this point) romance between Tyler and Burham. Just like someone said in one of the comments - the writers should really learn to take their time with character development.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-06-22 at 7:52am:
  - If Mendon is a Starfleet officer, the testing officer during Wesley's entrance exam lied. After Mordock won the competition, the testing officer congratulated him as the first Benzite in Starfleet.
  - During a meal aboard the Klingon ship, the second-in-command tells the story about his father and his father's dishonor. It shames the second-in-command, and he states that he refuses to go see his father. Riker reacts with disbelief, repeating over and over, "He's your father!" Doesn't this behavior seem a bit hypocritical for Riker? The episode "The Icarus Factor" reveals that Riker hasn't seen his own father in fifteen years and they are definitely not on good terms.
  - What happened to the weapons scan in the transporter? The Klingon captain manages to get through with a live weapon.
• From rpeh on 2010-08-25 at 10:34am:
  The food scenes are great fun. I love the way Riker really gets into his food while the other humans react with horror at what he's eating. Riker's banter with the Klingons is fun too.
  
  The Benzite is annoying, but no more so than any other. It's pretty much established that some species are just more annoying to humans than others. At least he doesn't get much screen time.
  
  @DSOmo - perhaps emergency transports have less stringent checks?
• From CAlexander on 2011-02-22 at 4:45am:
  While I didn't think much of the Benzite subplot, I loved the primary plot of Riker with the Klingons. It really achieved its goal of showing the Klingons as being very different and scary, but having some good qualities of their own. I thought the episode really made good use of the Riker character, which not many episodes do. Riker's brash, gung-ho attitude made him absolutely the perfect person for the job, I could totally believe that he would dive into Klingon culture where other characters would fear to tread, and earn the respect of the Klingons.
  
  In response to previous comments: My impression from the episode was that the Benzites have a spaceship fleet which is not part of Starfleet, and that is why the Benzite was part of an exchange program. So Mordock could indeed be the first Benzite in Starfleet, even if he wasn't the first Benzite to serve on a starship.
• From Inga on 2011-12-30 at 8:46pm:
  I really like the idea of this episode, although I find the Klingon Captain's aggression toward the Enterprise rather unprofessional and weakly motivated.
  
  As for the 'Problems' of the episode, I personally like when Klingons speak their language - it seems more realistic
• From a2a on 2012-02-20 at 1:14pm:
  Great episode. Perhaps the first (and perhaps even the best) (modern trek) illustration of what Klingons are about and how they think and operate. Quite brilliantly done.
  
  I also enjoyed how Riker's exchange was mirrored by the alien ensign's tour on the Enterprise, and how the two plots intertwined.
  
  But most of all I enjoyed watching a tense but self-assured Riker on the Klingon ship - his interactions with everyone there were great. The scene with him in the mess hall - getting picked on, joking around, getting hit on by Klingon women, eating live serpent worms - was absolutely priceless.
  
  Interesting detail: at the end, when Riker deposes the captain, he claims it was because the Klingon was acting irrationally, and no one challenges him. This type of scenario is discussed throughout the episode, so there is plenty of foreshadowing... except that the criteria for assassinating and usurping your superior is always talked about as *weakness* not foolhardiness. Perhaps Riker succeeded in teaching the Klingons that irrationality is itself almost inevitably a weakness. If that is the case, then this little exchange had a truly profound effect on both sides.
• From rick on 2013-11-11 at 4:14pm:
  "This episode confirms what many of us suspected, each starship has a majority race on board, in the case of the Enterprise, mostly human. It's confirmed by the Benzite telling us about "his race's ships" even though they're part of the Federation."
  
  So the federation doesnt stand for forced diversity in Starship settings? Well alright, chalk that up as a very conservative standpoint for Star Trek. I guess they have never read any of the Supreme Court busing cases.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-07-22 at 11:43pm:
  - The brig has been retrofitted. In "Heart Of Glory," the brig was a room with a force field around the door. In this episode, the brig is a large room with a detention cell in it.
  - Supposedly the Angosians are technologically inferior to the Federation. Yet one of their soldiers gets loose on the Enterprise and wreaks havoc. Danar makes one pass through Engineering and comprehends all the systems of the Enterprise. He defeats Data in rerouting power systems. He knows the exact location to place an overloading phaser so it will cripple all exterior sensors. He "hot-wires" a phaser to supply power to a transporter. Granted, Danar is supposed to be brilliant, but this is like taking someone who is a genius at fixing tube-type electronics and turning him loose on integrated circuits. He isn't going to get very far.
  - Dr Crusher indicates that the reason the sensor can't lock on Danar is because of the substances the Angosians put into his body. Later, the prime minister admits that the chemicals can be removed, but the mental programming cannot be undone. If you are trying to keep these guys locked up, doesn't it seem reasonable that you would take away any edge they have? Why let them remain invisible to sensors?
  - Danar tries to force a confrontation between his men and the Angosians by firing at a wall. The weapon blows a chunk out of the wall. Several seconds later, the same shot shows that the wall is COMPLETELY WHOLE!
• From JRPoole on 2008-04-06 at 1:22am:
  My only problem with this episode is the way Danar breaks out of the brig. WTF did he do to fight off the transporter beam?
  
  Other than that, and the slight stretch of plausibility mentioned in the above comment, this is a top notch episode. I love Picard's reaction to the stand off.
• From Bruce Dudley on 2009-09-28 at 2:57am:
  Problem: After the prisoner has left engineering and as the the camera pans around, Geordi's visor is on the ground some distance from Geordi. When Worf walks into engineering, Geordi is wearing his visor.
  
• From MJ on 2011-02-23 at 10:52pm:
  I think Season Three of TNG is in the running for "Most New Alien Races Introduced In a Single Season".
  
  This time it bugs me though. Everything about the ending of this episode suggests to me that we should see the Angosians again, either in TNG or maybe DS9. As one of the comments above pointed out, they designed a genetically enhanced soldier that was more than a handful for the Federation's flagship. It seems they have the knowledge and technology to warrant being seen again, especially when the Federation is fighting the Borg or Dominion.
  
  I do like the issue this episode deals with, though, that being veterans struggling to live in a civilized, peaceful society, and that society having no place for them. This episode, like the DS9 war trauma episodes, is interesting to watch in today's context.
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-11 at 12:16pm:
  In response to previous comments:
  
  I, too, found it somewhat difficult to believe that the technology of the Angosians could produce something as deadly as Danar. But I think it is explainable. It appears that the Angosians are inferior to the Federation in most technlogoy but superior in the rest of the galaxy in super-soldier technology; that would explain the Enterprise being unable to handle his anti-sensor and anti-transporter abilities. And if the Angosians are applying for Federation membership, they may already have regular relations with the rest of the galaxy and have access to Federation scientific knowledge. They just haven't had time to build up their infrastructure. Indeed, the enemies of the Angosians probably had better hard technology too, so disabling advanced enemy starships may have been exactly what Danar was trained to do.
  
  Still, I found it weakened the episode that I had to explain so much in order to believe it. And it seemed a bit of a copout to set up a moral quandary about what to do with the super-soldiers after the end of the war, then get out of it by having the Angosian government turn out to just be too cheap and lazy to deal with the issue. But in general this was a good and memorable episode. I liked the character of Danar and the hunt for him was quite exciting.
• From Autre on 2011-03-13 at 10:06pm:
  -Picard says that Danar is in their "Highest Security Detention Area" yet when Troi senses his emotional tension moments later she walks in and there isn't a single guard in sight!
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-21 at 9:55am:
  In response to the comments by others saying that the reasons given by the Angosians for failing to treat the super soldiers was lame: not so! The real reason is quite chilling and given by one of the Angosians in an almost off-handed way, it is this: "We might need to use them again."
  
  If you had access to a devastating weapon, would you give it up readily? Certainly, the Angosians decided not to. They wanted to retain the option to deploy the super soldiers against another potential enemy.
  
  This scenario has many parallels in history. Ancient Rome is a great example. Rome developed the Legions, the most devastating military power of their time. The ancient equivalent of nuclear weapons. Once they had the Legions, though, the Romans found them both difficult to live with and impossible to get rid of. This led to instability eventually resulting in the downfall of the Roman Empire.
• From Ggen on 2012-03-14 at 11:14pm:
  I had a mixed reaction to this episode, but I think it's decent and definitely belongs in the series... The issue of reintegrating war veterans, dealing with PTSD, etc. is important enough that I can applaud the writers for tackling it, and forgive them for doing so in a less than subtle and slightly bumbling manner... (I'm thinking here specifically of the very contrived final scenes, the soldiers rappelling down out of nowhere, the final dialogue and exposition...).
  
  But there were definitely redeeming features, even beyond the social commentary. I liked the nuanced antagonism that eventually developed between Picard and the fugitive, with both apparently respecting each other but forced to contend due to circumstance. I also enjoyed seeing a sympathetic super-soldier wreak total havoc on the Enterprise, outsmarting the entire crew. (I was going to say that the writers preempted The Bourne Identity, but I just learned that the book was written prior, in 1980). I only wish the first fight scenes were a bit better. The crappy choreography doesn't fit the super-soldier plot...
  
  Problem:
  How the hell did Crusher "examine" the fugitive? Warf can't take down the forcefield for .1 seconds without him escaping, but Crusher can perform a complete and thorough examination?
  
  
  
  
  
• From Daniel on 2014-01-26 at 7:06pm:
  Actor side note: the Angosian Prime Minister Nayrok in this episode is played by James Cromwell, who also played Dr. Zefram Cochran in Star Trek: First Contact.
• From Bernard on 2022-04-29 at 5:07pm:
  The rating for this episode doesn’t look quite right…. You want my advice? Double it!!!!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Renee on 2008-09-09 at 8:20pm:
  Why was Empok Nor shown tilted? My guess would be that it was done that way to avoid confusion with Terok Nor alias Deep Space Nine.
  
• From lt. Fitz on 2012-06-29 at 6:30pm:
  Perhaps the station was shown tilted because the cameras, working ships, and working stations are always set up to be aligned with the galactic horizon. Keeps space travels from getting dizzy. :)
• From Hugo on 2012-10-13 at 8:41pm:
  Loved it! Garak-heavy episodes are always good. When I first saw the crew on the runabout - and them being introduced with names etc, my first thought was "redshirts"! And sure enough...
  
  Does this ep count as an "O'Brien-must-suffer" episode?
  
  Loved the twist and the mood by the way - reminded me of "Project Firestart" (cinematic Commodore 64 game) and "System Shock". Just having two Cardassian soldiers on the loose was good, and then having Garak switching sides was a good turn.
• From ChristopherA on 2020-12-16 at 5:02am:
  This is a bottom-tier episode for me. I just couldn’t stand how incredibly stupid the Federation forces were, repeatedly ignoring danger and splitting up just like a group of teenage campers in a cheesy horror movie. First, they are specifically told that the station is likely to be booby trapped, but as soon as they get past the airlock the first thing they do is start wandering around randomly touching things. Second, once they discover that there are enemy forces hunting them down, they decide to split up their forces and do nothing about the threat. I mean, we all expect Federation security to be terrible, that is a given in the Star Trek universe. But this really goes beyond into a level of deliberate incompetence that I found maddening.
• From Empok Obummer on 2022-10-25 at 7:10am:
  Agreed, too much Redshirt killing. What irked me as well were Garaks statements about killing Cardassians, I mean during his time in the Obsidian Gestapo he probably killed more than O'Brien did. We even saw him murdering a few on the show!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2009-01-09 at 9:25pm:
  I gave this one a ten because it's DS9 hitting its stride. Here we have a well-crafted little humor episode that actually made me laugh out loud a few times. It's a good stand-alone episode on the heels of the Dominion saga story arc, and even though this episode isn't linked to that story, the mood on the station has changed because of it.
  
  
• From onlinebroker on 2009-10-31 at 7:20am:
  I really loved this episode and gave it a 10,too. Quark is fantastic and I had to laugh out loud when the klingon kissed him and the spit it out!
  Also a very refreshing breather from the terrible overacting of bashir,sisko and dax.
• From JJ on 2010-08-07 at 6:35pm:
  I loved this! The humor is great, as is the acting by Quark!
  Quark shows that he has character. He could have walked away but didn't.
  Makes one wonder whether he was always like this or that he has become like this under the gradual influence of Odo, Kyra, Circo etc.
• From Gul Ranek on 2012-12-19 at 10:01am:
  A very strong and fun episode, I also gave it a 10.
  
  I love the way Armin Shimerman uses nuances of his voice - "I am Quark, son of Keldar! I have come to answer the challenge of D'Gor, son of... whatever."
• From Harrison on 2013-01-13 at 4:58am:
  An under-rated episode that's close to DS9 perfection. While most Ferengi-centred episodes are a chore & sometimes serve to triviliase the series, this one offers masterful, imaginative insight, generating a wealth of plausible and memorable cultural basics that help underpin the Star Trek universe. It's literature-class story-crafting, championing essential precepts like dignity and honour, and leaving the viewer with a lasting sense of what it means to be Klingon, and a grudging sense of respect for the Ferengi.
• From peterwolf on 2013-11-09 at 3:35pm:
  Although the humour in this episode is really wonderful, mainly caused by the cultural clash of Ferengi and Klingons, I see more serious themes in the story. The different versions of Kozak´s death remind me of the famous movie "Rashomon". It is nice to see that Quark is not always a greedy Ferengi, but shows some good parts of his character, too. Strange enough, he is "a brave Ferengi" as Gowron tells us. The final scene with Rom and Quark is just brilliant and proves how great the actors and writers of Deep Space 9 are.
• From Ravenlord on 2015-09-16 at 6:11am:
  I enjoyed this episode tremendously, but something always bothered me about it and I finally think I've grasped what it is. Bajor and Qo'Nos are quite a distance away from each other. From what I can gather, they're essentially on opposite sides of Federation space. Granted, Trek canon often plays fast and loose with distances for story convenience, but it would take at least three weeks of travel at high warp to get from Bajor to the Klingon homeworld. I find it unlikely they would keep Quark sedated the entire trip, and in any case the episode implies that everything takes place in a handful of days.
  
  Classic Trekkie nitpick, I admit. Ignoring that detail, this is still a very fine episode, one of my favorites in fact.
• From JB on 2020-07-16 at 7:38am:
  Great writing, great acting, great episode. Ferengi values and Klingon values in conflict, with understandable tensions and smart resolutions. Genuinely humorous while maintaining diligence to both plot and character--characters that are complex and believable! Even the side plot with O'Brien and Keiko is well done. And the wrap-up is perfect. This is Trek at its best. One of my personal favorites. 10/10

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From rpeh on 2010-08-19 at 7:08pm:
  "Massively irritating" about sums it up for me. This episode doesn't advance the story, doesn't contain anything interesting and just annoyed the hell out of me.
• From Nick on 2010-09-01 at 2:23am:
  A fantastic episode. One of many overlooked gems from Voyager's long run, and easily the best from season 2. Great performance by Robert Picardo and Kate Mulgrew on this one. The real treasure though is Michael McKean's guest appearance.
  
  Stylistically, I love the homage it pays to the original series of Star Trek. It could easily be an episode from TOS.
  
  
• From These are the voyages on 2013-03-15 at 8:33am:
  This episode creeped me out, and the fact that the villain was a sadistic clown made it even creepier. I can even understand why people didn’t like it, was bleak and frustrating and made you feel very, very uncomfortable to share the helplessness of the captives. It was imaginative, I don’t think many people could have anticipated what they found when they went inside. It looked hopeless, I really couldn’t see a way out for them, which made the ending a delightful surprise. If you’re looking for action and phaser fire, then yes this is a bad episode, but if you’re looking for a gripping situation, this is a winner. It totally sucked me in. I give in an 8 for being so different. BTW thanks for you wonderful website.
• From TheAnt on 2013-10-09 at 5:17pm:
  This is truly a great episode, not dealing as m,uch with spacephenomenons, planets or the other items we expect from the ST type of Science fiction but the kind we find in written SciFi.
  More specifically archetypes.
  
  I agree with Nick, the way they treat the subject visually is indeed reminiscent on how it would have been handled in TOS.
  
  And I rather find it liberating, that things were done this way with jugglers, Fear, his sidekick with the grinning mask, the executioner and all else depicted as a closed in carnival gone mad.
  
  (Instead of a VR or MMO type of environment - which we are treated with on so many other times here in Voyager anyhow.)
  
  The feeling of a theatre stage, and having the actors carry the weight (Picardo, Mulrew and "Fear" McKean) were the right chose for this episode,
• From TiduZ on 2016-05-19 at 11:22am:
  I agree with Nick. This episode stood out in a good way for me. I liked the general idea of fear itself as the main adversary and the actor did a great job. This episode is one of the ones that sticks with you years later so for me this is a 9.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Tony on 2008-08-31 at 2:50am:
  There was one thing that bugged me throughout the episode, and that was that they never gave any good explanation why the aliens specifically wanted to hear the doctor. Is there something wrong with anyone else singing or playing music? I also felt the plot was somewhat weak, so despite the fact that i'm going contrary to nearly everyone else, I give this one a 2.
• From CL on 2012-05-05 at 1:02am:
  what i did not like about this episode is why 7/9 did not preform with the doctor on any of the (shown) operas. i would have like to see her sing with the doctor like she normally does in the cargo bay and the Holodeck.
  
• From JR on 2012-07-13 at 3:07pm:
  I was expecting a duet as well.
  
  I figured that the aliens liked the doctor's voice so much and not other music because the doctor's voice is so perfect - digital precision instead of a human voice or human played instrument. Thinking along those lines, Seven has the perfect Borg voice tone as well. That is why I was expecting a duet at the end.
• From Rick on 2013-04-11 at 3:16am:
  So if Voyager's computer core expressed a desire to leave should they grant that as well. Frickin doctor, what a pain in the ass. He is just a program. He aint no Data.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Jem Hadar on 2010-07-06 at 9:30pm:
  Love this episode, one of my favourites from all of Voyager.
• From joe on 2016-06-19 at 8:34pm:
  Out of all of Trek, Voyager is the worst offender of the time travel non-sense. The is the best example of VOY over-doing the temporal silliness.

No fan commentary yet.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

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

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Psycroptic on 2012-07-29 at 9:06pm:
  I found Seska to be quite an annoying character, I definitely won't miss her.
• From Shani on 2014-12-23 at 12:21pm:
  Why did they not interrogate everyone when they found out there was a traitor. They could have easily have used the technology that showed whether Paris was lying or not in "ex post facto".
  
  Im not sure why they don't use this technology more often. It would certainly come in useful for Odo on DS9 as well.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-11-16 at 4:29am:
  That robot walking around awkwardly running into things was the absolute best part of this episode. I also loved seeing Tuvok's extreme irritation regarding the whole silliness of the Captain Proton story.
  
  I think this is my favorite of the main holodeck programs that characters in Star Trek use (Sherlock Holmes, Vic Fontaine, Dixon Hill, Leonardo Da Vinci, and that stupid other thing Janeway did at the beginning that seemed like some Jane Austen novel)
• From Tallifer on 2011-04-24 at 9:50am:
  I would religiously watch a whole seven seasons of a series of Captain Proton!
• From packman_jon on 2012-07-05 at 4:02am:
  A holodock malfunction episode? I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS BEFORE!
  
  Kidding aside, this episode parodied more than just classic Trek: The intro to "Captain Proton" seemed to feel like the serials (like Flash Gordon) of the 1930-40s - especially with the recaps and "chapters." There's a great quote also in the cold open for - "Cliffhangers - the lost art of hyberbole" - very applicable for the 1940s adventures to even now!
  
  (On a side note, Paramount probably really appreciated the intentionally cheap sets!)
  
  Easily one of my favorite Voyager episodes!
• From Zac on 2014-10-24 at 5:35pm:
  One of the best humor episodes I have seen so far in all of Star Trek. Question/problem though: when Paris is introducing himself and Tuvok to the alien, he says "I'm Ensign Paris and this is Lieutenant Tuvok." Shouldn't Tuvok at this point be referred to as "Commander Tuvok" as he was promoted to Lt Cmdr earlier on?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-07-08 at 11:04pm:
  At the very end of the episode, in his voice-over, Picard claims that Dr. Crusher has tended to his injuries with her usual skill. But in the very next scene, Picard is wearing a sling to support his arm. Why is Picard in a sling? This is the twenty-fourth century, medicine has come a long way.
• From JRPoole on 2008-01-30 at 3:34pm:
  I think the sling was for effect, to show the natives that he'd actually been injured. To them, using the knitter to seemingly magically cure the injury would have seemed god-like, exactly what they were trying to avoid.
• From JRPoole on 2008-03-12 at 9:40pm:
  I remembered this episode as one of my favorites, but when I watched it again this time around, I was a little disappointed. It's still a fairly strong episode, but there are some problems.
  
  I'm not usually one to bitch about issues with the universal translator; we have to accept it as a convention of the show to make many of the plots work. Here it's a little more problematic. Theoretically, the UT works by broadcasting speech in the host language in some fashion while it's being spoken. That would seem to make it impossible to fool someone into thinking you're not using it, which makes Riker and Troi's foray down to the planet unlikely at best.
  
  That said, this episode is classic Trek in its insistence on rational thinking in lieu of religion. I also like episodes that showcase the inner workings of Star Fleet, and the duck blind scenario was great. All in all, an above average episode.
• From TashaFan on 2008-10-28 at 1:39am:
  DSOmo asks "Picard claims that Dr. Crusher has tended to his injuries with her usual skill. But in the very next scene, Picard is wearing a sling to support his arm. Why is Picard in a sling?"
  
  In my recollection, that IS Dr. Crusher's usual level of skill. I think Dr. Pulaski was a far superior physician (for instance, she could fix Geordi's eyes but when Crusher was the doctor, Geordi was told it was impossible), although Crusher had a better knowledge of things like herbal medicine.
• From Stephen on 2010-08-14 at 2:52am:
  I loved the simplicity and strength of this episode. Picard's dialogues were brilliant .. they were efficient, logical and pitch perfect.
  
  Only pet peeve was that the senior researcher studying the civilization was so disrespectful of it. He would completely wreck it by confirming their belief in a god. That should be the antithesis of his perspective.
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-05 at 4:57pm:
  A solid episode.
  
  - Funny how the anthropologist is the one who is eager to ditch the Prime Directive. If there is a scientific basis for the Prime Directive, you would think it would be anthropologists who were responsible for it!
  - On the other hand, mabye there is no scientific basis for the Prime Directive, considering how the crew never seems to have any guidelines and always re-debates the philosophical meaning of it from scratch each time.
  
• From Ggen on 2012-03-10 at 1:10am:
  This episode is a rather poignant and explicit assault on religious belief and its consequences (most of it justified, in my personal opinion... but not entirely).
  
  Riker: "It's worse than we thought. They're beginning to believe in a *God*."
  
  Need I say more?
  
  More about specifics: Picard and the crew are faced with an interesting and rather unique dilemma, a kind of Prime Directive Catch-22. They've been discovered and Picard is assumed to be a God. Do they now follow the anthropologist's suggestion and encourage a benign religion, something closer to the Mintakan's natural development, but also a throwback to earlier stages of their development, or do they do as Picard ultimately decides: expose all, take them on the Enterprise, introducing foreign concepts and foreign technology thousands of years beyond their current state of progress (but amenable and compatible with the general logical direction of their proto-vulcan evolution)? Either way, the intrusion, the "cultural contamination" is considerable.
  
  I don't even know how to pick a side here, from an Anthropological Prime Directive point of view, which is partly what makes this all so great... there is no clear path... arguments can be made for both sides.
  
  Anyway, there are things I liked about the execution as well, among them just seeing a logical and quite likeable primitive people... if only studying them was really studying ourselves (meaning humans), as Picard proclaims presumptuously. Human beings "in the Bronze Age" were almost certainly a much more fearsome sight...
  
  Along those same lines, Lico's character was delightfully sincere, emotive, and conflicted... His scenes and story arc were a pleasure to watch.
  
  So, rather excellent episode, on the whole. A great, original anthropological concept, skillfully executed. I think this falls somewhere in my TNG top 10.
  
• From obumpresidency 4life on 2021-07-21 at 5:51pm:
  That is a great line, Ggen.
  
  While watching this episode it occured to me that the superstitious must hate the prime directive, because if their gods are real, they obviously don't have such a directive with all the bibles and miracles and such.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-07-26 at 5:39am:
  I freaking love this episode. The only thing that bothered me watching it this time was Warren's death. It was far too convenient. Nuria needed to see that Picard & co couldn't bring back the dead, so they had an expendable character die in front of her. It always bothers me a little when a walk-on character with no arc dies just to advance the plot and/or another character's development. It was dramatic, and it didn't exactly NOT work, but had just a hint of deux ex machina. Oh, alien lady doesn't understand that Picard's people can't reverse death? We're at an impasse? Hey, here's someone completely incidental to the plot dying at precisely the right moment just to solve that issue! Redshirt ex machina? Lol. Picard could have just told her "Liko didn't actually die" and gone from there, but nobody bothered to state that until near the end.
  
  I heard George R. R. Martin say in some interview or Q/A that coincidences or unlikely events are OK in fiction, as long as they are bad news for your protagonists. Coincidences that benefit your protagonists don't work so well. I tend to agree. I'm sure this isn't the worst offender in Trek or TNG, but it springs to mind now.
  
  Other than that minor quibble, yeah. Practically a flawless episode that really helps establish season 3 as a step up from before, and states quite clearly some of Trek's most basic values. I sometimes rag on Picard for his overly reverential and righteous attitude about the Prime Directive, but I admire him for putting himself in danger to avoid the Mintakans descending into superstition. And the Mintakans, unlike many other Aliens Of The Week, are somewhat endearing and memorable.

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• From jaylong on 2007-04-11 at 6:52am:
  Also, Robert Picardo, who plays the EMH of course, directed this episode... :)
• From Remco on 2009-08-16 at 10:49pm:
  Torres says that the 21st century spacecraft weighed 92 "metric tons". In this world of SI units, why would she feel the need to emphasize the metricness of those tons? :)
  
  Also funny: a comment by Damien under this review: http://www.jammersreviews.com/st-voy/s6/onesmallstep.php
  
  "But I cannot let a real zinger go by without comment. The anomaly zeros in on electromagnetic fields, so what do they come up with to explain the source of EM causing the anomaly to change course? Dark matter! Yep, the stuff that got its name because it doesn't interact with EM fields at all! It emits ZERO radiation - which is what makes it dark! Why on earth did they come up with that when they ran through some perfectly good sources of EM, like pulsars?"
• From Jem 5x5 on 2013-10-20 at 9:23am:
  When Seven said she had wanted to be a ballerina, I would have bet good money that the episode would end on the holodeck with her doing just that. Quite glad it didn't, the ending we got was more poignant.
• From Dstyle on 2015-07-21 at 3:51pm:
  Thank goodness the Delta Flyer was equipped with a form-fitting space suit for Seven, complete with molded plastic breasts! It'd be a shame if the audience didn't have constant reminders that Seven of Nine is a shapely female.
• From Andrew James on 2017-08-11 at 2:59pm:
  One silly error is the baseball discussion. The Yankees are in the World Series, then John Kelly states that (I can't remember the name, but a nice reference to DS9) broke DiMaggio's record. What record? The 56 game hitting streak. That's a regular season record so it can be done in the World Series. A silly error that should have been caught.

No fan commentary yet.

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• From a on 2006-09-07 at 3:43pm:
  according to Memory-alpha.org:
  
  [did you know]...that the original version of the script for Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Conspiracy" did not feature alien parasites? The 'conspiracy' in question was simply a military coup within Starfleet, but Gene Roddenberry vehemently opposed such an idea, since he believed Starfleet would never stoop to such methods; thus the alien angle was introduced at his insistence.
  
  Interesting.
• From DSOmo on 2007-06-08 at 8:29am:
  - During the "Code 47" transmission, Keel tells Picard to trust no one. Later, after their covert meeting on the planet, Keel says, "This meeting never took place as far as Starfleet is concerned." Then, just as Picard is leaving, Keel says, "Tell Beverly 'hello' for me." How is he supposed to tell Dr. Crusher that he saw Keel if the meeting never happened and he isn't supposed to trust anyone?
  - When Riker is attacked by Admiral Quinn, Riker calls Security. In the next scene, Geordi and Worf are running down the corridor. What happened to the rest of the security force? I realize that "extras" cost money, but sending both Worf and La Forge from the bridge is a bit much.
  - When Data reviews all Starfleet command decisions for the past six months, the information rapidly flashes across his display screen. One of the graphics shown is a parrot! What does a parrot have to do with command decisions?
• From thaibites on 2009-12-03 at 1:49am:
  Don't listen to the lame review on this one. This episode rocks! Finally, a 1st season episode with some testicles.
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-13 at 2:52pm:
  - The idea of an alien conspiracy was interesting, but really suffered from compression into one episode. Imagine how much a show with more continuity, such as DS9, could have done with this concept!
  - Perhaps this is why the aliens seem rather inept. Quinn beams over alone, then decides to have fun beating up Riker in hand-to-hand combat. He should have known Riker would call security; in fact, Riker is rather tardy about doing so. Basically, the Enterprise crew don't do anything clever, Quinn/Alien just hands them the victory on a silver platter. And the other aliens aren't much better.
  - DSOmo's comments are spot-on as far as Keel's comment and the security team are concerned. It was just silly when the "security team" consists of Worf and Geordi. Geordi?
• From Nicolas on 2011-03-28 at 8:43am:
  Why can't Data simply download the information instead of having to painstakingly read it on the computer screen?
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-07 at 3:57pm:
  Response to Nicolas: This is consistent with many other episodes. Data doesn’t have the ability to download data directly from the computer. His positronic brain is a unique technology quite different from that used by the Enterprise computers.
• From rpeh on 2011-06-03 at 8:42am:
  This is a good episode with one or two wrinkles, the main one being the awful acting by most of the support cast. It's also pretty clear that money was running out, hence the lack of extras in the Enterprise security team and in Star Fleet HQ. It really detracts from the believability when the captain of the fleet's flagship is greeted by a total of four or five people.
  
  I don't understand the comments in the main review about the conspiracy. I thought it was fairly well done, and I imagine we would have seen the parasites again had somebody not come up with the idea of The Borg.
• From a2a on 2012-02-12 at 11:53pm:
  Wow. This was a rather shocking episode. There were quite a few uncharacteristic elements - not bad, not necessarily great, just rather surprising. I'm thinking here of the utter GORE, SHOCK and AWE, when Picard and Riker *violently decapitate* an investigator from Starfleet's inspector general's office. I did not see that coming.
  
  As Picard himself admits, it was counter-intuitive and uncharacteristic for him. I don't know that I entirely agree that it was absolutely necessary (they didn't really *try* anything else, just went for the exploding head approach), but at the same time, I'm not prone to complain about or question the decision. I mean, somehow, in the strangeness of this episode, it seems appropriate. These was a rather insidious threat and the solution was rather ballsy...and apparently successful...
  
  Though here we're left with a bit of a question mark and the eerie soundtrack playing over the credits. This is another uncharacteristic aspect for Star Trek - an ominous cliffhanger... This like a number of other things about this episode reminds one of a Hollywood horror flick rather than the show we're used to...
  
  (The worms dinner scene and some of the writing in general is also sort of Hollywood, or almost Stephen King or something...as I mentioned, this is not necessarily good or bad, its just different and surprising, and I commend the writers for mixing it up a bit.)
  
  I must also commend the special effects guys, because that's another thing that was very Hollywood here, in a definitively good way - the effects when Remmick's head explodes and the "mother creature" emerges were absolutely stunning. Imaginative, gory, detailed, disturbing and quite convincing.
  
  So hats off for this bizarre shocker of an episode. (My jaw dropped at least once, which doesn't happen much.)
• From 1moonCircleEyesInDark on 2012-02-19 at 2:26am:
  Not only do Worf and Geordi(?) Show up when Riker calls security but ... Unarmed?!? However Crusher (a medical officer) IS armed? Ok I just didn't get that one? It is like a joke, a medical, science, and security officer walk into a bar and...
  
  I hate to say it but I enjoyed seeing Riker get his butt kicked by grandpa, I think it was priceless. I do like Riker however, especially in later seasons.
  
  The sound effect used at the end of the episode to indicate a disturbance in the force. (i.e. the communication from the bug things to their home world) sounded very similar to the sound effect (used more rhythmically) in the film Contact (Carl Sagan's not ST) when the transport plans are sent to earth from the Vega system.
  
  Anyhow this episode for me was to full of plot holes to really be enjoyable. But I did like Data laughing and chatting with the computer.
• From Nadrac on 2012-05-07 at 12:07am:
  Very disappointing episode considering the buildup to it. Yes it had plot holes, stupidity. I just can't forgive one scene when admiral decided to go onto enterprise( he was a poor choice for this kind of thing considering the history Picard and he has ) anyway then starts a fist fight with Riker, not like it was unavoidable, geordi and worf was alredy mentioned but riker reported an emergency and it seems they bought the "he slipped explanation". For the the love of god, if you tell a story of them being sneaky be consistent, blown up star ship and altered orders were a great buildup for nothing, tail hanging out again watered it down and a single guy dying ended it.
  
  2-3/10 ( just for the first part )
  I am rewatching tng picking only the above average episodes based on rating, this was misleading.
• From mattymjp on 2013-07-23 at 9:27pm:
  Good episode, they cut the gory bit at the end on SyFy though, had to watch it on YouTube.

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• From Zorak on 2016-10-10 at 5:45am:
  Another good episode. Enterprise sure goes up and down a lot. I quite like the Andorians.
  
  One thing I have to disagree with is your complaint about Shran's loyalty and the assertion that the Imperial Guard is corrupt, as well as the hope for a permanent alliance. I feel they handled it quite well. Shran is a patriot (almost Cardassian like) and does what he does for his people as a proud member of the Imperial Guard. The Imperial Guard is not corrupt. They are just an organization trying to serve the best interests of their government. A people and a government with deep seeded fear of the Vulcans. It's no surprise to me that Shran would not let his personal feelings toward Archer interfere with his duties even if he questions them. This makes him a far more realistic character in my eyes. I actually really appreciate Enterprises approach here of a "two steps forward one step back" relationship between the Andorians and Humans.

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• From onlinebroker on 2009-11-10 at 4:55am:
  cool episode to watch, but what about the final revelation, a shapeshifter, just sitting there waiting to die? No attempt to shapeshift his way outta there, as an insect, or an impersonation? or at least fight?
• From rpeh on 2010-07-31 at 11:17pm:
  On a first watching, this episode is brilliant. The trouble comes when you watch it again.
  
  Why did the Jem'Hadar not beam around as they have done in previous episodes? Why did the Founder not attack from within?
  
  The ending is very good, and managed to offset Worf being a bit of an insensitive idiot during the main plot - he MUST have been more sensitive towards humans after his spell on the Enterprise, surely?
  
  All in all I give it an 8.
• From MJ on 2011-01-21 at 7:53pm:
  In my opinion, this is one of the better DS9 episodes. First, it has a twist that is hard to spot. Everything leads you to believe the Dominion wants this ship back because of something about the ship itself: some new piece of equipment, or perhaps some kind of special cargo. The female Vorta gives no real clues about why they want the ship back, and you can only sense the frustration of the DS9 crew trying to find the "item" having absolutely no clue what to look for.
  
  The character interactions are well written and well acted. O'Brien and Muniz, of course...the good-natured ribbing, the camaraderie, all of it is very pleasant to watch. For having never seen Muniz before, I was very convinced that he and O'Brien were good friends with great respect for each other. The interactions between Sisko and the female Vorta...they show the essence of diplomacy: trying to get something you want without giving up too much or revealing too much to the other side. And I loved the moment when Sisko lays it down to his crew, telling O'Brien and Worf to quit their fighting and putting a lid on Dax's unhelpful wisecracks. That was a great moment because it was one of the few times when it seemed Dax's "special friendship" with Sisko did not make him/her exempt from the chain of command or Starfleet duty. The interaction between O'Brien and Worf: true, Worf's insensitivity was a little hard to swallow, but I wasn't too bothered by it since it was believable. But their conflicting views on Muniz, and especially their bonding at the end as they "guard" his body, were a nice dimension.
  
  Initially, I was a bit perplexed about the crew's ability to get past the death of the runabout crew and the science officer who beamed down with them, but all of this is resolved at the end when Sisko is clearly shaken to the core by all the deaths on this mission. Avery Brooks did awesome here; the emotion in his voice was very convincing.
  
  The "bombardment" of the surface by the Jem'Hadar, and its shaking up of the crew, was interesting. Shell shock is very real, and the fraying of nerves that accompanies random, continuous, and extremely loud and shaky bombing was a nice battle fatigue element that is typically missing from Star Trek fight scenes.
  
  Overall, a favorite of mine.
• From ChristopherA on 2020-11-24 at 5:54am:
  I found that this episode really strained my suspension of disbelief, trying to make myself believe that the Jem’Hadar, with all their warrior training and superior technology, were unable to come up with any effective attack plan at all to handle the tiny handful of humans and just chose to let the changeling die. If I get past this, though, I thought it was a decent episode, with a good sense of being under siege, and a good twist ending to the mystery.

No fan commentary yet.

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• From Old Fat Trekkie on 2011-12-09 at 3:32am:
  The technique that Riann used to discover that the antique shop was the source of the epidemic is identical to the discovery of how cholera was spread. It actually involves a well-known graphic – and there is was (or something very similar), in this episode. Google: “John Snow: The London Cholera Epidemic of 1854.” You will see the actual historic graphic. This episode is a 10.
• From themadworld on 2013-12-12 at 2:17am:
  I want to like this episode. Only one question. Why were the Malurians even there? What was their purpose? They were hiding out on some backwater planet with a dangerous reactor because…evil? Were there resources there? Was there any reason at all for the Malurians to be there?
  
  Also, the Riann/Archer romance was forced.
  
  I like that Enterprise is trying some new things like malfunctioning translators and prosthetics, but there was no substance to this episode.
  
  3/10.
• From Hugo on 2017-01-09 at 7:10am:
  @themadworld - I assume that the mineral that they were mining was rare and valuable
  
  I sort of liked this ep, I thought it was fun!

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• From Wayne on 2009-07-24 at 12:27am:
  Roxann Dawson did the voice of the station computer as well as directed this episode. I built a windows theme using Roxann's voice from this episode and "Dreadnought" from Voyager. I met Roxann at a Star Trek Convention and was a little bit in love with her (ok a lot in love with her.) She's is so tiny, pretty and sweet.
• From Kethinov on 2009-07-24 at 12:54am:
  That's one of the creepiest comments I've ever seen posted here, but I must admit it made me smile. :)
• From TS on 2012-07-28 at 5:14am:
  This episode reminded me of the video for ZZ Top's "Rough Boy"

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• From Pete Miller on 2006-05-12 at 4:49am:
  The whole holodeck inside the holodeck thing was confusing. If picard told the computer to "end program" at the end, shouldn't both programs have ended at the same time?
  
  I did find that whole concept of "we might be inside some simulation right now" intriguing. Who knows? Maybe the wachowski brothers ripped off Rick Berman when they made the Matrix ;)
• From Dean on 2007-06-28 at 10:49am:
  Couldn't Data reverse voice control back to Picard with simullating Moriartys voice?
• From DSOmo on 2007-11-13 at 10:36am:
  - In case there was any doubt about the disposition of holodeck matter, this episode absolutely confirms that it cannot exist outside the holodeck. The dialogue again and again pounds this point home. For example, Picard says, "Although objects appear solid on the holodeck, in the real world they have no substance." To prove it, he picks up a book and tosses it through the holodeck entrance. The book immediately vaporizes (much quicker, by the way, than the villians did in "The Big Good-Bye"). True, this scene occurs within Moriarty's simulation of the Enterprise, but Picard acts like the book behaved exactly as he expected. If holodeck matter cannot exist outside the holodeck, the following anomalies exist. Wesley, drenched in holodeck water, walks off the holodeck and remains wet ("Encounter At Farpoint"). Picard, kissed by a 1940s holodeck woman, leaves the holodeck with her lipstick intact on his cheek ("The Big Good-Bye"). A snowball flies out of the holodeck and hits Picard ("Angel One"). And finally, Data carries a piece of holodeck-created paper to a meeting of the senior staff ("Elementary, Dear Data").
  - In the opening scene of the episode, Data and Geordi enjoy a Sherlock Holmes adventure. At one point, Geordi tells the computer to "freeze program." While the character quits moving, the clock keeps ticking and the fire keeps burning. Shouldn't these freeze also?
• From Rob on 2008-04-18 at 12:34am:
  I don't think some of the anomolies are really problems. I always got the impression that the Holodeck uses standard replicator technology to augment the illusions of the environment it creates. Ergo - food, water, even objects specified by the user can be "really created" out of standard replicator materials, the same as ordering tea in Picard's ready room. These things would exist beyond the holodeck and even within a simulation after it is ended.
• From Remco on 2008-08-06 at 1:20pm:
  I think this is a brilliant episode. Is this episode the first demonstration of phishing? Creating an environment in which someone will inadvertently release their authentication key surely does seem similar to the problems we face on the web today.
• From Ggen on 2012-04-15 at 9:02pm:
  Brilliant episode with a good balance of intrigue, suspense, and metaphysical musing. Moriarti is great as usual (glad they took the concept one step further and made this sequel).
  
  I love the concept and the execution, with all its twists. Of course, I kind of thought the whole thing might've still been on the holodeck, but pretty much forgot about that idea by the time it was actually revealed. And the final twist was even more surprising, and chock full of irony to boot.
  
  This episode very effectively preempted the movie Inception by a full 17 years.
  
  Goes straight into my personal Trek Hall of Fame.
• From Mikael on 2014-05-29 at 11:20pm:
  Two planets colliding, creating a star? WTF???

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• From Pete Miller on 2006-05-15 at 3:31am:
  Factoid: Is it just me, or does Troi start wearing her official starfleet uniform more often after being criticized by Captain Jellico in "Chain of Command"?
  
  Data was tripping BALLS in this episode. That was the most ridiculously psychotropic experience I've ever seen.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Aris on 2009-08-01 at 6:56pm:
  A fun Episode.Reminded me of the ancient greek tragedies and comedies.Had many elements like the chorus, masks etc. In ancient greek mythology the nine muses were considered as the goddesses or spirits who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. Not many tragedies and comedies have survived. I wonder if among the lost ones, were any similar to this episode... After all a greek ancient writer named Lucian wrote the first sci-fi story ever: "The True Story"
  I laughed very much when Tuvok was snoring. At first I thougt it was the faint sound of Torres' distress call. I'm pretty sure that was the impression Tom Paris also had!
  
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Tragic_Theatre
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucian
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_History

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• From DSOmo on 2007-06-04 at 5:36am:
  - After Data removes Riker from the force field, Data mentions that they need to find Picard and Crusher. Since he was encased in the force field, Riker didn't even know Picard was on the planet, let alone lost. Given his belief that captains should stay on their ships, shouldn't Riker be really ticked off when he learns that Picard is on the surface?
  - Picard saves the day when he agrees to buy the weapons system. The demonstration ends and the fourth pod evaporates. So why is La Forge still fighting the pod in orbit? Shouldn't it have evaporated as soon as the demonstration ended?
  - Immediately after destroying the pod, La Forge drops the shields so they can beam the away team back. Isn't the star drive section still flying through the atmosphere? Aren't the shields the only thing keeping the ship from burning up?
• From djb on 2008-03-17 at 7:14pm:
  I really enjoyed the battle sequence towards the end of this episode. The combination of the action with the music is very effective, and the tension is further increased by Geordi's mixed feelings about commanding the ship. Even though the actual "battle" was not very complicated, it was still quite expertly done, and made for one of the more memorable episodes from Season 1.
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-09 at 1:39am:
  Picard's decision to go to the planet is very odd. Normally I don't mind when the captain leads the away time, it is just one of those things you accept about Star Trek. But here my suspension of disbelief was really tested. Picard is told that the situation down on the planet is actively dangerous, and nothing seems to require his personal presence. If there is any time he should stay on the ship, this is it. Yet he beams down without even a security team. The worst part is that Troi reminds us he isn't supposed to be doing this! Yet we never even get an explanation for his actions. Maybe he had a precognitive vision that he needed to beam down and fall in a hole in order to complete the mission.
  
  Something about the general plotting of the episode wasn't very appealing to me. But you are right, many of the individual scenes are well executed. I love the Lollipop dialogue.
  
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-09-20 at 2:08pm:
  The weapons were hilariously hokey and poorly done. The shooting was so obviously contrived to hide the booms that were moving them. Realizing this is before CGI, but still. Some of TNG special effects were quite innovative and effective. This episode does not show that, unfortunately. The other issue was that Geordi tolerates far too much from Logan. Its irritating. I have been around the military for much of my life. Logan's behavior was contemptible and would not have been tolerated.
• From mattymjp on 2013-07-16 at 1:18pm:
  First of all, great website! Am really enjoying reading your reviews, I've decided to start watching TNG from the beginning and your site is helping me to decide which dud episodes to miss (of which there are a few in the first couple of seasons especially)
  
  Rewatching the first season has been a bit painful so far, it has dated and I'm looking forward to getting onto Season 3 onwards. Some of the acting is awful, although Patrick Steward is ALWAYS good, with Levar Burton and Brent Spiner the other stand-out actors in my opinion. Johnny Frakes does improve as time goes by though.
  
  I wasn't a fan of this particular episode. Thought it was cheesy and left too many unanswered questions at the end. And they used the exact same shots for the saucer section separating as in Encounter at Farpoint. But it was a good Geordi episode.
• From the obampresident on 2021-07-13 at 4:19pm:
  Anyone notice that the drones look just like the floating eye robots in the videogames Fallout 1 and 2? Some dev was inspired there.

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• From siukong on 2010-06-08 at 6:38am:
  Actually, I'm pretty sure Torres mentions explicitly that she's half-human in the pilot episode.
• From Krs321 on 2012-01-09 at 4:10pm:
  While not direct, I'm pretty sure Kim mentions Torres' Klingon ancestry in "Caretaker" when they're climbing the stairs, saying something to the effect of "I probably wouldn't be so tired if I were half Klingon, too" and Torres gives an affirmative response "It's almost more trouble than it's worth"
• From Rick on 2013-03-19 at 3:24am:
  To me the doctor doesnt really make sense. When Data is activated he is essentially a blank slate. Of course, he grows considerably. The Doctor, on the other hand, is a smug jackass from Day 1. He was apparently programmed to be that way as well as overly emotional, sensitive, and imposing on everyone he meets. Basically, it is the most irrationally designed program I have ever heard of. The whole holographic rights movement in voyager is utterly ridiculous. You can take their arguments to so many incredibly illogical ends that they need not be stated.
• From spline on 2013-10-19 at 10:06am:
  Belanna does say (in the pilot, 2nd half, right in the beginning, talking with Harry) that she's half Klingon, but doesnt mention the other half.
• From Dstyle on 2013-12-18 at 2:48am:
  Wait a minute: aren't wormholes super unstable, prone to collapse at any moment? That's what made DS9's wormhole to the Gamma quadrant so special: it was stable and wasn't going anywhere. So where do they get off theorizing that this wormhole is deteriorating and is centuries old? Wouldn't that mean this wormhole is also (relatively) stable? I thought wormholes were supposed to appear and disappear without warning. I feel like there were several TNG episodes to that effect.
• From Shani on 2014-12-22 at 1:41pm:
  I am very impressed with voyager so far. I find this first season to be very strong and it is quickly becoming my favourite Star Trek series. I've watched all other incarnations of Star Trek but have stirred away from this one due to warnings from friends.
  
  I do not understand why my friends and so many other Star Trek fans do not like voyager. The science is a bit weak sometimes but for me the character development and storylines makes up for it. I enjoyed the doctor in this episode in particular.
• From Mike on 2017-05-25 at 3:11am:
  I can't believe no other reviews have pointed out that Torres explains she's half-Klingon in the pilot episode! OK, I'm joking...I take pride in being the fourth to do so :)
  
  Anyway, I thought this was quite an innovative episode. I didn't care much for The Doctor subplot, despite its advancement of his fantastic character. But on the plus side, they only spent as much time on it as they needed to. Most of the episode revolved around the rather unique concept of their first Alpha Quadrant contact being a Romulan...and one 20 years in the past to boot! Very creative.
  
  I do find myself agreeing with Shani. Voyager gets overly criticized despite its many awesome contributions to the Star Trek saga. Before people criticize it too much, let's not forget that TOS, despite its awesomeness, did give us such mind-numbing nonsense as Iotian gangsters, Greek gods, the Koms and Yangs, and an offworld Roman Empire. You can criticize VOY for having its characters be a bit flat at times, but it still captures the same Star Trek excitement and exposes us to an entirely new quadrant.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-05-24 at 2:04am:
  Once again, this episode has very blatant duality between the bajorans and the jews. They are secluded in ghetto-like areas on the stations. Odo refers to bajorans that would sell out their own people to the cardassians, similar to jews that sold out their friends and families to the nazis. I wish they would just come out and admit it.
  
  The ending was abrupt and incomplete. I wanted to see the rest of the flashback
  
  PS- what's up with the obsession with Morn?
• From JRPoole on 2008-12-08 at 4:17pm:
  Why in the world did some one give this a 1?
  
  This is one of the strongest episodes to this point in DS9. It's a stand-alone, but it does a great deal of work in fleshing out both Kira and Odo's characters and their relationship with each other. It's cool to see the station as it was under the Cardassians, great to see Kira in the underground, and the mystery of the plot works well.
• From djb on 2009-01-12 at 7:34am:
  What is with Rom's rogue tooth? It's really distracting.
  
  And, good question: why point out every time Morn appears?
• From Kethinov on 2009-01-12 at 8:04pm:
  It's like Where's Waldo. Cataloging every Morn appearance is like a weird little game for me.
• From Jens-Ivar Seland on 2009-08-02 at 8:55pm:
  Morn (or someone very like him, the focus is unclear) appears at 35:14, passing behind the guy who leter tries to kill quark in the infirmary.
• From Pemmer Harge on 2010-03-14 at 7:07pm:
  One of the very best episodes of Deep Space Nine. This sort of thing doesn't happen on the other Trek shows and episodes like this helped DS9 establish its own identity. The show got more consistent in later seasons, but it only rarely matched this level of quality. I rate it a 10.
• From Bernard on 2010-10-13 at 5:24pm:
  Excellent episode. Wonderful performances by Nana Visitor and Rene Auberjonois. The further insight into Odo's character is most welcome and the revelation at the end is executed superbly.
• From John on 2011-09-10 at 2:48am:
  Pete raises two stupid points.
  
  The first: "this episode has very blatant duality between the bajorans and the jews". I think you mean to say that this episode has very blatant PARALLELS between the Bajorans and the Jews. Duality implies they have opposing, or at least complementary, characteristics. There is a duality between the Cardassians and the Bajorans, for example.
  
  The second: "what's up with the obsession with Morn?" Morn adds a bit a regular levity to the otherwise dark tone of the show. Also, some people just happen to like Morn because he looks like a friendly turtle or something.
• From Matt on 2012-06-07 at 7:23am:
  I can fault the series for some unfortunate parallels between Jewish stereotypes and Ferengi mannerisms, but the similarities to Bajoran characteristics had not occurred to me.
• From Dstyle on 2013-09-09 at 3:07pm:
  An excellent episode: love the dark, shadowy noir style, complete with a femme fatale, a complicated mystery, and Odo's voice over. I almost wish they had used some of the angular Cardassian architecture to create a Venetian blind effect in some of the scenes, but that might have been just a little too much.
• From Rob UK on 2013-11-10 at 11:31pm:
  Great episode for all the reasons you all mentioned so i'll not repeat them but i can't believe the biggest thing you have all missed,
  
  This is a blatant and continuous and excellent homage to Feter Falk as the character Columbo in regards to Odo being an investigator in the modern day parts where he is investigating (he is a master now like Columbo) compared to his first venture investigating, he even drops the famous line (27m53s) "Just one more thing ......." when talking with the widow in modern day and then he begins to question her on seemingly irrelevant details which she points out just like every previous victim of Columbo would whilst slipping a detail he was chasing at the same time dropping her guard taking him for a simpleton, add to this the continuous hand mannerism and the only thing he left out for the perfect Columbo impression was Peter's squint to hide his false eye. This was what made me go 9
• From Abigail on 2021-06-07 at 6:09pm:
  I just rewatched this one and really enjoyed it. It was neat to see the station under the Cardassians and get some character backstory, too.
• From Luke on 2022-08-03 at 8:55am:
  The voice of the female guest star sounds IDENTICAL to that of the Voyager Borg queen, those inflections. However according to IMDB it isn't her. Strange.