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• From Inga on 2018-02-14 at 12:17pm:
  I think mirror Saru saved Burnham's life because she showed him kindness.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From rpeh on 2010-07-30 at 8:12pm:
  I *want* to hate this episode but I can't. It's a totally pointless James Bond parody, but it's done so well that you have to love it.
  
  There are so many references to real Bond movies you can't count them all: the basic plot is Moonraker; the gem identification scene is a rework of the fish identification scene from The Spy Who Loved Me; Doctor Noah -> Doctor No; the music could come from almost any 60's or 70's film; "You should have killed me while you had the chance"... and so on.
  
  This could have been such a dreadful failure that I cringed when I realised what was going on, but as it played out I got more and more engrossed. It's a perfect melding of Trek and Bond, and the actors get into their roles so well, and I'm such a fan of both series... that it gets a 9.
• From Mike on 2011-06-06 at 7:53am:
  If it takes the entire station memory to store the neural patterns of the crew, how did Scotty manage to keep his pattern in electronic stasis for 50 years?
• From Hugo on 2012-04-18 at 7:32pm:
  Loved it! What a great show, especially Kira, Sisko and O'Brien - and Bashir of course. Garak is one of my fave characters, but he was mostly whining in this episode. Interesting that Eddington (what a dull character...) got to play a bigger role this time.
• From L on 2013-05-24 at 8:28am:
  The emergency scenario was just an excuse for them to have some fun, and it was.
  Being they were in a scenario based on Bond-logic, Bashir and Garak were never in any real danger as Bond's ability to get out of certain-death scenarios would be part of the program, but it's fitting that Garak was overly-concerned about coming to harm, as never having seen any Bond films he wouldn't know this.
  It was funny the way they had to outwit the cliches to keep everyone alive, especially to ensure Kira and Dax would both survive - one of the two women always dies and he ends up with the other one, but it's never certain which.
  Sisko's normal over-stated acting style made him perfect to play the villain.
  Love Rom's patchwork fixes for the holosuite.
  "Where's the core memory interface?"
  "It's... right behind the spatula."

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-06-22 at 8:11pm:
  I think your review was much too nitpicky. I mean, who really cares about the uniforms? It's Jonathan Frakes. He doesn't wear ds9 uniforms! ;) And all that with the airing schedule.... honestly who cares again. Most people watch these out of sequence with the movies anyway.
  
  I think it was absolutely AWESOME continuity to bring back Riker's double and not just abandon that interesting plot line from TNG. The whole Cardassia Prime thing was really cool, too. The only problem I had was not getting to see all the Defiant's information on the shipyard being discussed at the end. Wonderful episode, and great way to bring in Jonathan Frakes!
• From omex@omex on 2011-09-11 at 1:01am:
  I thought the politics in this episode were portrayed very well. I don't have first hand experience, but I understand that the final resolution is very realistic. This is how things get done in both international and domestic politics. There are multiple interests involved, there's duplicity, there's inter-agency secrecy and strife (like the Obsidian Order's secret machinations in the Orion Sector), and conflicts are resolved through bargaining, with a special role for the fall guy, or the sacrificial lamb (Tom Riker).
  
  I love how Dukat is set in opposition to the Obsidian Order, which is encroaching on his authority. Also love how in the end, even though he wants the information from the Defiant, he recognizes that, "Someone has to pay for the damage that's been done, and I don't want that someone to be me." Again, the politics are great.
  
  Probs: I'm not sure I'm crazy about how Kira was portrayed in this episode. It seems like she should've been a little more sympathetic to Riker given her history. I mean, she's certainly been very sympathetic to the Maquis in previous episodes, so she seems just a little out of character.
  
• From Wes on 2012-12-10 at 7:59pm:
  Memory-alpha says: "Although this episode was screened three days after the release of Star Trek Generations, the stardates indicate that it takes place shortly before. This makes sense, as Riker and Sisko's conversation would seem to indicate the Enterprise is still active."
• From AW on 2015-12-04 at 7:32am:
  Another great RDM episode.
• From Zorak on 2016-05-15 at 3:22pm:
  Of all the time's I've ever had to suspend my disbelief at something in Star Trek, the thing Tom Riker does once he makes off with the Defiant might be the hardest to accept. I'm talking about him ripping off his false sideburns. Are you telling me that he loved his goatee look so much that he was willing to risk this super important Defiant heist by wearing a disguise instead of simply growing out his beard a little for real and then shaving it later? That's completely insane.
• From tigertooth on 2016-09-26 at 3:20am:
  Good point, Zorak!
  
  As to the "problem" of Kira being back on duty, I believe that's because she took her mandated day off and presumably enjoyed at least two of the things Bashir ordered her to enjoy.
  
  I wish the Cardassia Prime set looked bigger. Or somehow different -- it looked too much like a starship bridge to me.
  
  Anyway, this was great. Tom Riker was fun, all the Dukat stuff was great, the various interplays between Cardassia-Starfleet, Central Command-Obsidian Order, Sisko-Dukat, Starfleet-Maquis, Kira's relationship to the Maquis... really well put together and executed.
• From JB on 2020-07-17 at 10:02am:
  Problem:
  
  Riker said he was "passing through" DS9 on his way to Risa. Isn't DS9 on the outskirts of Federation space? Sloppy writing.
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-08-15 at 2:47pm:
  Great use of Frakes, and all episodes where Alaimo gets to play off Brooks as an ally of necessity are can't-miss.

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• From Jadzia Guinan Smith on 2010-08-30 at 8:59pm:
  It's clear that in "later" Star Trek history human religions lose their influence significantly, but I'm not sure they disappear altogether. On DS9 Kassidy said her mother would probably insist she were married by a minister rather than a Bajoran Vedek. I know it's an obscure reference, but I just watched the episode recently :)
• From Old Fat Trekkie on 2011-12-07 at 1:25am:
  There was another Sci-fi "Sliders" that introduced something very similar to the "Temporal Cold War" of Enterprise. I thought it was a disaster to go down that road in both cases.
  
  TOS had a great deal in place - how did that all get there? I believe both TOS and TOS naive audiences would have enjoyed seeing much of that. And of course, I would love to have seen the first Romulan War, and the explanation concerning why the future Federation had such sparce information about them.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-08-03 at 11:19am:
  - Many times Star Trek will dispense too quickly with disastrous encounters in a character's life. For instance, it would have been very easy to jump right into a new set of adventures after rescuing Picard from the Borg. Instead, the creators took an entire episode to explore the emotional changes that the experience caused in Picard's life. Excellent!! One of my favorite TNG episodes.
  - Does it strike anyone else as odd that everyone in France speaks with an English accent during this episode?
• From Wayne on 2009-07-13 at 2:12pm:
  If I remember correctly this was also one of the lowest rated TNG episodes when it was first broadcast.
• From Robert Koenn on 2011-02-24 at 3:09pm:
  My wife and I watched this one last night. It was definitely a different type of episode and quite enjoyable. Picard's recovery and return to his home was heart warming and the rivalry with his brother was very realistic and brought their personalities out. Worf's story was also enjoyable and we always get a kick out of Worf's over the top Klingon reaction to things. Wesley still gets on my nerves but this was a better than usual story for him. Overall I gave it a 9 as I did miss some of the "real" science fiction.
• From thaibites on 2011-04-03 at 3:12am:
  I usually don't like human relationship episodes, but this one is really strong and a pleasure to watch. I think what makes it so strong is that the stories are all central and vital to each character - Wesley's father's death, Worf's discommendation, and Picard's emotional scars after being violated by the Borg. This is all pretty intense stuff, and there is no wasted fluff here. Great episode!
  
  And yes, I was wondering why everyone in France spoke with a British accent. I always wondered why Picard spoke with a mild British accent if he was supposed to be from France. Oh well, c'est la vie...(written with a British accent just to be consistent)
• From CAlexander on 2011-05-26 at 3:06pm:
  An excellent episode, very good all around. I wouldn't picture Picard as the sort of person that bonds with his brother by fighting with him, but it seems perfectly consistent with him growing up as the brash young man who picked a fight with some Nausicans and died laughing. And I love Worf's parents; they are so unlike him, but he just looks perfect as the child who is trying to be manly and is embarrassed by his doting parents. And while the Jack Crusher plot seemed rather extraneous, it too was well-written.
• From Axel on 2015-03-24 at 2:43am:
  This one may have been the lowest rated episode of the season when TNG was on the air, but I think it's gotten more appreciation as time has gone by. I doubt viewers enjoyed seeing Star Trek dabble in soap opera and now it's clear this is so much more.
  
  I agree that after Best of Both Worlds, it would've been strange to just go right to the next voyage of the starship Enterprise. Picard's visit home is the perfect epilogue. He briefly considers leaving his Starfleet career, showing just how much the Borg experience has shaken him. He and his brother continue the lifelong feud they've had, and I like that they really don't completely resolve it in the end. Instead, they reach an understanding through their fight that they both lead different lives, and that Picard's life is in the stars with his ship. The whole visit ends up being cathartic.
  
  It was also the perfect time to show how Worf's parents handle the news about his discommendation. They don't know what exactly it means, nor do they feel entirely comfortable asking Worf the details of it. What they do know is that they need to be there for their son. Despite his rigid emotional hide, Worf shows how much this means to him.
  
  The Wesley storyline was appropriately short, and was just enough to fill in between the others while also keeping with the theme.
• From Mike Chambers on 2020-08-24 at 4:04am:
  A very good episode. A little slow in parts, but excellent character development all around. The scenes with Picard and his brother are very well written and moving.
  
  A nice breather from the action and intensity after The Best Of Both Worlds.
  
  7/10 from me.
• From Encounter at Obamberg on 2023-05-03 at 4:02pm:
  The french have english accents because french is just an obscure language in the 24th century! Come on, this great continuity.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Dstyle on 2015-11-05 at 7:33pm:
  Gannet: "Travis, I'm not a member of Terra Prime. I'm a member of Star Fleet Intelligence."(at this point every single person watching the show realizes that this is true, because there'd be no reason to include it in the script otherwise)
  Travis: "So why don't you tell Captain Archer? One call to your superior and you'd be out of this brig in a second."
  Gannet: "Sure and have the real Terra Prime operative know who I am?"
  Travis: "Or, you know, just tell Archer anyway, because if there is a Terra Prime operative at large on this ship it'd be incredibly irresponsible of you to not do anything about it. Archer doesn't have to let you out or let anyone other than his senior staff know anything, but if what you're saying is true then you're absolutely telling the wrong person right now. I'm sure you must have some sort of protocol you're supposed to follow in situations like this. Didn't they teach you anything at your space-spy training school?"
  Gannet: <flashes a knowing, come-hither look> "Hey, why did you and I break up again?"
  Travis: <rolls eyes, walks out>
  
  
• From Hugo on 2020-05-12 at 8:54pm:
  I was waiting for the mayor from Buffy to bring out his crazy side... !
  
  The lunar mining facility didn't impress me - it looked more like an alien prison camp. At the time of Enterprise it should have been more factory-like and with more machines/robots...
• From Mitch O on 2021-03-19 at 10:40am:
  Bit of a continuity error in this episode. They talk with surprise that Vulcans and Humans can have a child together, but the characters already know this from the season 3 episode E2. Wh

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• From JRPoole on 2009-03-07 at 6:31pm:
  This is one of the best Voyager outings so far just because it's part of the plot arc, something that Voyager desperately needs since 90% of its stand-alone episodes are embarrassing (though not quite as god-awful as the zero below).
  
  Here's my main problem with Voyager, though: the Kazon aren't very interesting. The Mokra, who we saw recently, would have made better villains (maybe they come back; I'm not familiar with Voyager after about this point in the series) and so would have the creepy Ocampa who lived with second Caretaker. Instead we get 2-dimensional nomadic Klingons.
  
  Giving Voyager recurring races is tricky because of their situation. It gets a little problematic with the Kazon. So just how big is Kazon territory? Isn't Voyager pretty much hauling ass across the Delta Quadrant (except, of course to investigate the alien or phenomenon of the week or to make pit stops for food)? Plus, the same Kazon Majes keep showing up. Are they following Voyager? I'm hoping that these problems get answered in future episodes; despite the fact that most of my posts on it are negative, I'm actually enjoying the series.
  
  
  
  
• From Mike on 2017-05-27 at 2:49am:
  I agree that some of Chakotay's later solutions are annoying, but this one seems to fit the situation. What he's saying makes sense: the Maquis form ad hoc alliances out of convenience for short-term gains, which is what Voyager needs to do here with the Kazon. I do like the ending of this one, though, seeing that it all falls apart as Voyager finds itself in the middle of a continuing blood feud between the Trabe and Kazon. Ultimately, Janeway's instincts are reaffirmed.
  
  I don't quite agree with JRPoole that the Kazon are uninteresting. They reflect this region of the galaxy. Whereas the Alpha Quadrant is controlled by several very powerful races vying for control, this region lacks major powers and is controlled by marauders and bandits like the Kazon factions. As for how big Kazon territory is...well, the Enterprises A and D both explored uncharted space in the Alpha Quadrant but still within reasonable travel of the Federation. It stands to reason the Kazon are present in a pretty wide expanse of the Delta Quadrant, and given their "nomadic" ways, may even follow Voyager.
  
  The only thing that bugged me about this episode was that the Trabe go from having a bunch of their people confined to suddenly repossessing lots of warships after escaping with Neeliz and rendezvousing with Voyager. There's a lot of backstory there that gets glossed over.

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• From what the? on 2007-02-05 at 4:49am:
  I'll gladly take a million sub-par ferengi episodes to this flaming pile of human crap. We all know what happens when star trek meets 20th century earth. Stupid fill-in-the-blank jokes about spock not being able to swear right. Doesn't the joke get old after 2 minutes? Seriously, I had all I could take of star trek visiting 20th century earth when the whales needed help. Why do I need to see a rehash of a gimmicky 20 year old idea? This gets my personal worst of trek award. Enough with the social commentary nonsense.
• From Macca on 2009-02-04 at 3:53am:
  Actually, I rather like this one. It's fun; the temporal paradox is the usual head-f**k; Tuvok and Paris sparring makes me smile; Harry in the big chair; Neelix watching soaps - loads of good stuff.
  On the niggle side - Janeway tells Chakotay she has no idea what her ancestors were doing in 1996. Jars rather with her obsession with Shannon O'Donnell in 23:59 who was apprently the reason she went into Star Fleet.
• From Tallifer on 2011-04-09 at 9:37am:
  Take a look outside and you will see that the Eugenics Wars clearly did not happen in the 1990s: the dates of history from that chaotic time must have become jumbled and confused during the chaos of post-armageddon Earth as portrayed in "Farpoint Station." (My justification anyways.)
• From fromfuture on 2011-09-10 at 2:45am:
  As of right now, this two-parter is one of my favorites of Voyager. This could've been a complete catastrophe, full of painfully cheesy and gimmicky moments. Instead, it's a solid, immersive, intensely comical, action-packed, intriguing portrayal.
  
  It's not perfect, but it's damn good. Braxton is a great character. The time paradoxes are excellent, including how a time anomaly and Voyager's battle with Braxton led to the computer revolution, and thus to the technology that made Voyager, Braxton's ship, and all of Starfleet (and it's "Timefleet" successor) possible.
  
  Rain is a great character. Starling is a great character. His silent henchman is suitable. It all works, as far as I'm concerned. Harry even gets to be captain for a day, libertarian secessionist survivalists get a cameo (love the bookcase full of canned and pickled food detail), and to top it all off the Doc is granted freedom from sickbay/holodeck! Man this thing was packed, and I enjoyed every minute of it.
  
  
  Notable Lines:
  
  -Braxton to LAPD: "Quasi-Cardassian totalitarian!"
  
  -Janeway: "The future is the past, the past is the future, it all gives me a headache."
  
  -Braxton: "Temporal prime directive."
  
  
  
  Notable Details:
  
  -VW/Truck chase scene is pretty awesome, for a TV show
  
  -Paris tells Rain that her VW van's engine is flooded. His knowledge of 20th century cars proving useful (sort of, at least for continuity's sake).
  
  -Doc is visibly gleeful and excited about being "out and about." It's funny how Janeway is slightly annoyed when he demands his own quarters. It's that existential dilemma creeping in again - is he a person, or a ship function?
  
  -The time-ship and the time rift looks awesome as far as I'm concerned.
  
  
  
  Minor Problems:
  
  -(this is really about Voyager: Death Wish, not about this episode) It's cool how Janeway at least asks Braxton to return them to the Alpha quadrant. I wonder why she didn't even ask Q when she had the opportunity (I mean after the hearing was over, not when he tried to bribe her with it)?
  
  -OK. The shuttle crashes in Arizona. Chakotay and Torres are captured. One of the survivalists spots "the Feds" already on their way: there are three cars and a chopper. Tuvak, Paris, and the Doctor are still in LA, when they find out the news. They take off immediately, and somehow beat the U.S. government there? Isn't there an army base or an FBI office or even a police precinct closer to the crash site than LA? Kind of weird, no? The only way I can make it work is... well... maybe if the events are not quite shown in chronological order (I'm stretching it, I know). So that the Feds are *not* spotted and *not* "on their way" before Tuvak/Paris/Doctor even hear about it, but rather after, when they are almost there. We are shown things out of order for some mysterious reasons (hey, it's a time paradox episode, why not). I'm stretching it, but the episode is good enough to deserve wiggle room.
  
  -The very last scene is just a tad too cheesy.
• From thaibites on 2014-03-06 at 12:11pm:
  To all you Trek geeks that have a problem with no Eugenics wars. "I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH THAT TIMELINE." Isn't that what Braxton says at the end of the next episode? Works for me!
  My problem with this 2-parter is that we yet again have another Voyager episode dealing with Earth. I thought the whole point of creating this series was to get away from Earth and Federation Space so that we could truly "go where no one has gone before".
  What happened? Did the writers run out of ideas? Did the corporate bean-counters upstairs tell the producers that the show would appeal to more viewers if it had familiar themes and would then increase advertising revenue?
  
• From Bronn on 2015-07-24 at 7:23pm:
  This is a case in which Voyager actually does several things really well, and I generally approve of the effort.
  
  I really, really like Tom Paris in this. They've done a good job (using actual continuity!) of establishing that Paris is a history buff (maybe American history from what we've seen), so it makes sense that he's comfortable here. His love of cars and his comments about "Secret Agents" makes me wonder if he enjoys James Bond movies. Despite that, even he's not perfect-his focus was always more on the early part of the 20th century, so he gets details wrong, like when the Cold War ended. It really humanizes him that he can be an expert without having an encyclopedic memory-it would have been easy for the writers to just have him know everything and fill in the rest of the crew.
  
  The mobile emitter is another brilliant thing to come out of this-it actually develops the Doctor's character, and the Doctor's character development is one of the most interesting things to happen on Voyager. Plus, it's a piece of tech that you can use to let the Doc explore, but you can always lose it later on if you feel it ruins the Doctor's character.
  
  Heck, I even loved Sarah Silverman in this.
  
  Things I don't like:
  
  1) Braxton at the beginning. Not in so much of a rush that he can't explain what he's doing, but in so much of a rush (why? he's in a TIME SHIP) that he tries to murder everyone on Voyager instead of evacuating them.
  
  2) Starling is a bit cartoonish as a villain.

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• From badure on 2011-12-15 at 7:02am:
  I actually thought this was easily the best psychological exploration of the Borg in all of Star Trek (much better than TNG's I Borg), and one of the best Seven of Nine episodes in all of Voyager.
  
  The triad's description of what it was like to be intimately and perpetually linked to two others was fascinating and quite compelling.
  
  Basically, by "scaling down" the notion of belonging to a collective intelligence, reducing it down to just a group of three, effectively demonstrates what its really like to be sentient but not fully differentiated...no other episode gets this across as well as this one.
  
  There are other redeeming features in the episode, but that's the main one, and a very important feat. I gave it a 10.
  
  

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• From JRPoole on 2008-11-13 at 5:08pm:
  While I like the idea of the hunt, I don't like the hunter aliens. I find it hard to believe that Sisko would tolerate them tearing up his station in pursuit of their quarry.
  
  What I do like about this episode is O'brien's growing dislike for Bashir. Notice how he completely cuts off Julian's speech in Ops? DS9 is better at continuing character development and plot threads in filler episodes and alien-of-the-week episodes than TNG ever was, and that's one of it's strengths.
  
  The review above wondered whether these races are part of the Dominion. Tosk certainly is reminiscent of the Jem Hadar to come....
• From Bernard on 2009-11-22 at 1:59am:
  Strongest episode since the pilot. Tosk is magnificently portrayed too aswell as providing a good outing for the Chief.
  
  I love the way Sisko reacts to O'Brien's subterfuge, gives him a blasting but he agrees with him.
  
  Sounds like I'm copying the review above ... but I found it to be spot on. Solid 6.
• From John on 2011-09-07 at 11:05pm:
  Additional factoids:
  
  At the time of this episode, about 300 people live on Deep Space 9.
  
  At this point in time, DS9 has traffic of about 5 or 6 ships per week.
  
  
• From Dstyle on 2013-08-25 at 12:57pm:
  Man, those universal translators are magic! First contact with a brand new species, and they understand and are understood completely!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Sir Brando on 2006-05-15 at 6:03am:
  I agree that this episode is excellent. I really like the fact that they start to change their reputation here. They've made another friend, one of many to come.
• From hobospice on 2007-01-28 at 5:07am:
  This is a good episode, no doubt. But it seems that every episode on this site that gets a 9 or 10 is always a high stakes tactical/action episode. I want star trek, not Tom Clancy books. Having said that, I think this one is pretty cookie cutter and predictable. I mean obviously they are going to stop the bomb and obviously voyager won't be destoyed. The ending was complete uninspired. Frankly I would have been more impressed if Torres just fried the computer using just logic ;)
• From rpeh on 2010-08-19 at 9:33am:
  It's an exciting episode and Belana's battle with the computer is at different points, funny and fascinating.
  
  Two problems. How can Janeway set the self destruct on her own? Every other time it's been done it has needed at least two officers. And why does Belana start running out of breath after about 20 minutes? There's enough oxygen on something that size for one person to breathe for ages even with no regeneration.
  
  I'll give it a 7.
• From GDorn on 2011-09-29 at 8:29pm:
  Why would a missile have a bridge and life support? Why would it leave the life support on, consuming energy, when it didn't expect to have any lifeforms on board?
  
  Also, with the vastness of space, it's quite the coincidence that Voyager happened to come across wreckage of a ship the missile destroyed, decide to follow the trail and come across the missile merely hours before it was to reach its destination.
• From Rick on 2012-12-29 at 10:41pm:
  Fairly average episode that we have seen multiple times before. No offense to our reviewer but I think if this exact same episode was on TOS it would get a 3. You never seem to like irrational computers and this one is certainly that.
• From Kethinov on 2012-12-30 at 11:43am:
  I'm really not sure what you're on about, Rick. I compared this episode favorably to TOS: The Ultimate Computer, which got a similar score.
  
  But there are many "Kirk talks a computer to death" episodes and not all of them are as good as TOS: The Ultimate Computer. The stereotypical TOS episode with a computer as an antagonist that I slap around with a low rating would be something like TOS: The Changeling.
  
  Because seriously, do you think Nomad is anywhere near as cool as Dreadnought? I certainly don't. Aesthetics count for a lot in my ratings. Most of the TOS "Kirk talks a computer to death" episodes are painful to watch because the computer feels like a 1960s stereotype rather than a futuristic antagonist.
  
  Dreadnought holds up well. And so does TOS: The Ultimate Computer.
• From thaibites on 2013-11-06 at 12:05am:
  The biggest problem with episode is Torres. She's a smack-off. She's always running around bitching and complaining and angry about something. Any episode that focuses on her can never be good.
• From Mike on 2017-05-26 at 1:37pm:
  Not quite sure why the one reviewer felt this was more Clancy than Star Trek. This is a missile with a computer that has the power to calculate all kinds of probabilities, analyze them, interact with its users at advanced levels, make attempts at deception to preserve itself and its mission, and even "scout" its adversaries to test their motives. In other words, it's practically a sentient missile. Seems to fall well within the realm of cool Star Trek sci-fi to me.
  
  The suspense was well developed in this one. Just when you think Torres has found a way to disable the missile, it surprises her, outsmarts or anticipates her actions, and denies her victory. Even her attempts to reason with it ultimately backfire until finally, she finds its weakness through sheer determination. We knew that she would probably disable it in the end, but we didn't really know how or whether the missile would remain a future threat.
  
  I do agree with the original review that the Jonas scene is pointless and annoying. It seems to serve no other purpose than to tell us, "hey just in case you forgot, this guy is still secretly talking to the Kazon!" And maybe to establish that Seska's no longer the provided contact, although, again, there was really no logical reason given for them to contact Seska other than her being Cardassian and this is a Cardassian weapon....but, one that's been reappropriated by the Maquis.
  
  As far as needing two officers to set up self-destruct, there's one key difference between Voyager and the Enterprises/other ships: Janeway's first officer is a former Maquis. She no doubt trusts him with many things to give him that position, but maybe the self-destruct sequence was one area she wanted to keep firmly under Starfleet control. Tuvok would be a good second choice, but maybe there are rank/command requirements in order to set that up.

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• From fan ive on 2009-12-26 at 2:58am:
  about your second problem. after testing that weapon on earth humans didn't know to who to retaliate and the xindi were probably well aware of that. so if it isn't to that future guy humans wouldn't know who attacked them.
  
• From Rick on 2013-12-10 at 7:12pm:
  on your first problem: travis said in "horizon" they travelled 150 light years. I think he literally meant that is their total distance travelled, not how far from earth they are. I think this is pretty obvious that they are not traveling in a straight line away from earth and they have turned around many times. Think about it, they just met up with the horizon five episodes ago and that ship can only go 1.8. So they are not that far from earth when they received the message

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• From DSOmo on 2007-09-29 at 11:57pm:
  - When the barrel falls on Worf, it ends up near his FEET. Another barrel follows it down, and when it hits the floor, the top pops off. In the next shot, Geordi runs up and pushes a barrel away from Worf's SIDE. Also, the second barrel suddenly has its top back on.
  - During his first visit with Worf, Riker makes small talk by commenting that Worf looks pretty good for someone who's been eating sick bay food for three days. How can institutional food still have a stigma in the twenty-fourth century? Everything is replicated!
  - When Worf dies at the end of the operation, Dr. Crusher uses a drug that under normal circumstances would kill him. Even after being taken completely off life support and giving flatline readouts on all the medical displays, Worf manages to come back to life! Dr. Crusher makes a comment that Worf must have a "backup for his synaptic functions." Even if Worf had a backup, wouldn't the lethal drug Crusher administered have killed that, too?
  - Also, why didn't Worf's backup show on a medical scan? And why didn't the medical displays show the activity of his synaptic backup?
• From KingElessar8 on 2009-03-22 at 1:52pm:
  I like this episode, probably more than most. It's an unusual subject for Trek, and it always seemed to me like there was more character conflict here than is common for TNG, making this one a little sharper-edged and more personal than the usual "ship in peril" type plots we so often are given. I liked how Picard, Riker, Troi, Beverly and Worf each have a very distinct way of reacting to this problem, and in each case it is fully in character - but it was interesting to me that Data plays no real role in the story. What would Data's reaction be to Worf's desire to commit suicide? Accept it as logical, or does suicide run counter to his ethical programming?
• From MJ on 2011-02-13 at 5:06pm:
  I think this is TNG at its finest, the real essence of the show that sets it apart from other shows. Here you have several different points of view, each of them with strong justification, and none of them able to be reconciled with the others. The solution is not easily found, and getting to it ends up straining some relationships along the way.
  
  You have Crusher, who takes her usual cavalier attitude regarding the customs of her non-human patients. She's rigidly tied to her perception of good medicine and doesn't apologize for it. You have Riker, the chosen friend and honorable companion, who fought alongside Worf and loves him, but finds it difficult to abandon his human morals on this matter. You have Picard, able to see the Klingon perspective and, while certainly not wanting Worf to die, tries to give Crusher and Riker a new perspective. And then enter Dr. Russell, who practices a wildly different style of medicine than Crusher, who sees Russsell as being reckless and is thoroughly unimpressed by her. All of this makes for a fascinating work of TV.
  
  In the end, things are more complicated than anybody might be willing to admit. Worf is confronted with a flaw in his plan. He is prepared to accept the Klingon fate for a crippling injury, but is unable to involve his son in the ritual, a flaw which absolves Riker of the burden he wrestles with. And while Crusher is disgusted with Russell's brand of medicine, the fact is, Worf represents the one type of situation where Crusher's do-no-harm, play it safe style simply doesn't suffice. Being risky might be bad medicine, but as Picard points out, it's exactly the type of medicine needed for a patient like Worf.
  
  Underlying this episode, of course, is the euthanasia/assisted suicide debate. The old points of contention over sanctity of life, playing God, sparing suffering, and all the rest are brought to bear, but since it’s not a human patient, there’s a new twist: for humans, this particular injury would never call for assisted suicide. By exploring it from the point of view of another species for whom it does call for assisted suicide, however, we can ask the same types of questions in a more dispassionate setting.
• From Daniel on 2014-07-18 at 12:50pm:
  I like this episode for its examples of contrasting morals and ethics in the various characters. I also like it for its emotional impact. But, it brings up two general questions for me... 1. When the doctors perform surgery, why do they go to such lengths to cover their bodies to prevent contaminating the sterile environment, yet they don't wear face masks to prevent breathing germs onto the patient, as any surgeon would? 2. Aside from Geordi's blindness, why are there no handicapped people in Starfleet, on any ship, or any space station? If Worf were to be confined to a wheelchair, do you think they'd still let him do his duty as chief of security?
• From Mr. Awesome on 2016-01-11 at 9:08pm:
  I have mixed feelings about this episode contrary to popular belief. While I do like the premise of this episode (any serious subject requiring lots of thought with no easy solutions are the most fascinating to me), there are numerous flaws, ranging from the practically absurd to intellectual inconsistency.
  
  First, you would think that silly ailments like paralysis would have long been easily treatable by this time. In real life right now, as I'm typing this, medical advancements are being made with such things as stem cell research, nanotechnology, and bionics. You would think heavily advanced versions of these would be readily available. That's why it kind of irks me that La Forge would be blind, requiring a visor for corrective vision.
  
  Secondly, it was mentioned that Klingon anatomy was still not fully understood. How is this possible so far on the future? How could you have members of Starfleet whose basic anatomy you still don't understand? How can Klingons have advanced technology allowing them to pursue interstellar travel, yet not have basic medical understandings of their own physiological makeup? Considering the fact that Klingons are now members of the Federation, this seems illogical.
  
  Thirdly, my biggest gripe is with Dr. Crusher's hypocrisy considering her "holier than thou" attitude. She condemned Dr. Russell for testing new treatment methods on patients, which is understandable to a degree. However, wasn't Crusher the one who, in a previous episode, suggested, or even ordered, Captain Picard undergo a surgery to fix his heart, a surgery holding the potential of killing him? Also, as aforementioned, Crusher admits in this episode that her medical team lacked a full understanding of Klingon biology. As such, wouldn't ALL her treatment methods for Klingons be dangerous, seeing as how there's no telling what kind of adverse effects could occur from various treatment methods designed to treat human ailments? In addition, Crusher can't pretend as if she has a perfect track record when it comes to treating patients. Numerous patients have died under her care over the course of this show. On top of that, she condemns Dr. Russell for her failed treatments for the patients that died under her care, yet Worf dies after Crusher chooses to administer a drug that Russell claims would kill him. Furthermore, Crusher lectures Russell at the end about "conventional research/medicine", yet Crusher doesnt offer any kind of assistance to Russell in terms of developing and perfecting this new surgical technique to perhaps enhance Worf's chances of survival, which could be revolutionary for Federation medicine overall. On top of ALL of that, Crusher is willing to hold Worf hostage against his will in sick bay rather than respect his wishes to die or undergo a dangerous yet potentially revolutionary treatment that could help him regain his abilities. Wouldn't that violate the Hippocratic oath? I understand this episode was made around the time of the real life issue concerning Dr. Kevorkian and his physician assisted suicide methods, but one would think that hundreds of years from now, these types of ethical conundrums would have long been solved.
  
  Despite these gripes, it's still a good episode. Obviously it's very thought-provoking, but I wish it could've been put together a little better.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Captain Keogh on 2013-05-05 at 5:45pm:
  The one problem I have with this episode is the beginning, very trivial, when the USS Saratoga is hit by the Borg vutting beam, it hits the sensor dome, but when Sisko asks for the damage report, the tactical officer says it hit Decks 1-4, I will be looking forward to any insight into this.
• From James T Quark on 2015-08-16 at 2:28am:
  A good start. On my first viewing I had hoped that the whole "spiritual / emissary / religious" aspect wouldn't be a pivotal plot point, but I sure was wrong!
  
  As well, I'm not too fond of the whole Bajoran back story ie the Cardassian Rape of Bajor, so one might as "why watch?" Simple.
  
  The stories are excellent. If you can tolerate the religious overtones and perhaps skip over a few of the less important "Oh those poor, unfortunate Bajorans" episodes, this is a great series.
  
  While TNG will always be my favorite ST series, this would a close second, or maybe even first if they had made the Bajorans a stronger species, and not so deluded by the wormhole aliens magical powers. Imagine the series if it wasn't Bajor that was invaded and occupied but a race like the Romulans or the Klingons! Now THAT would be some good, albeit most likely DARKER, Trek.
  
  All in all, a very good addition to the franchise and a must see for any Trekerie!
• From Allen on 2021-04-17 at 9:50pm:
  Odd how I found this site. I was looking for the propose of the chest/crest rise on the cardassian uniforms. It lead to here. Very thoughtful comments about DS9. I'm revisiting DS9 shows because I missed some of them on the first broadcast. Due to comments. I might have to re-watch the first.
  
  I was there from the beginning of Star Trek. I was a kid when I watched the first Star Trek show on our B&W TV in the 1960's. Some of them were scary to me, being at that age even though I knew it was just a show.
  
  It was the right time for it. The "space race" was happening then.
  
  I am not a "Treky" I don't go to the conventions. I just like watching most of what has been produced on the original Star Trek story and all of the other SyFy built after it.
  
  Here's a question. Would "Star Wars" have happened had Star Trek not have?
• From Kethinov on 2021-04-19 at 3:05pm:
  Glad you found it! I would guess that Star Wars would not have happened without Star Trek becoming such a cult success in the 60s, since pop culture phenomenons tend to build off of each other. I would also guess that Star Trek would not have been revived had Star Wars not been so successful.
  
  Regarding DS9, it remains my favorite Trek show even decades later. Like all Trek shows, the early seasons are rough, but the last few seasons of DS9 are Star Trek at its finest with deep, nuanced writing that remains unrivaled to this day. I recommend to you and anyone else reading to give it a go. It aged well in a way that much of the rest of Trek before and after did not.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Yanks on 2010-05-15 at 4:22pm:
  A comment for the reviewer. You state "Conversely, the revelation that T'Pol's been trying to develop a tolerance for Trellium-D so that the crew can line the hull with it as an explanation for her emotional behavior is very cool."
  
  Actually, I would have loved that to be the reason she was ingesting Trellium, but we get this: "T'POL: The initial effects were overwhelming, but as they began to wear off I discovered I was able to access certain emotions. I wanted more. I began to experiment by ingesting small amounts of Trellium. I devised a way to inject it into my bloodstream.
  PHLOX: You must have known it was dangerous. Trellium exposure is deadly to Vulcans. It eats away at the neural pathways.
  T'POL: I thought, in small amounts, it would be safe. At first, I was able to control the new emotions. My interactions with the crew improved."
  
  She was just exploring her emotions. A selfish act, opposed to attempting to tolerate Trellium D so they could line the hull - a much more "Vulcan" (the needs of the many...) act.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From TheAnt on 2013-10-09 at 9:54am:
  This is one of the very best Voyager episodes, and that on several levels.
  One good touch is that we get to experience the development and speculation of the alien race on the nature of Voyager.
  And we are presented with a good idea that provides a sense of wonder.
  
  (Though not completely original, the compressed time theme have been used in at least one novel about life on one neutron star, and this is also to some part reminiscent of "Mission of Gravity" by Harry 'Hal' Clement.)
  
  The problem I see is why the visiting astronauts would be slowed down as much as they are unable to communicate with their mission control. Yet get to see the crew of Voyager frozen to statues?
  But it provide with some cool scenes so I can let that detail pass.
  
  Full score and a must see IMO.
• From Fic on 2014-02-16 at 10:41am:
  I absolutely loved this episode. However, I'm surprised that a rather sizable problem hasn't been picked up.
  
  I'm not sure if the time rate differential is quite consistent throughout the episode.
  
  If one second is nearly a day as Seven points out, then surely a few hours wouldn't represent the "rise and fall of a civilization" as Chakotay says... a few hours would be equal a similar number of decades! Above all: how much time in Earth years would have passed between the primitive civilization we encounter at the start of the episode, and the highly advanced civilization who tug Voyager free? 3000? 4000? Let's say the former - on Voyager, this would correspond to two weeks. Were they really stuck in orbit that long? I guess one could check stardates and all, but my impression was that they were there for a couple of days. The only way to explain this away is to state that the development of the civilization was hugely accelerated by Voyager's presence, such that they went through millennia of Earth's development in several centuries. Possible, but it would have been nice to clarify.
  
  Of course, this doesn't detract from the fact that the episode is one of the Voyager episodes that will stick with me - in fact, on my recent revisitation of the series, I was eagerly awaiting "The weird planet displaced in time"... ;-)
  
  To sum it up, it's a 9 for me.
• From Mike on 2017-06-04 at 2:16am:
  I agree this is fantastic science fiction. This is Voyager's Darmok: an encounter with a unique species (or rather, their unique world) that is difficult to make contact with but ultimately efforts are successful.
  
  The episode is fascinating on many levels. The rapidly rotating world was amazing to see. The progress of a civilization, and how Voyager was perceived at different stages of that progress, was also remarkably shown in such a short time. I also liked the episode's showing how cultural taboos are formed, in this case a taboo developed around the eating of "fire fruit" as a result of Voyager's arrival and the tremors coinciding with an offering containing fire fruits. And like you say the idea of having the inhabitants make contact with Voyager, initially out of sync, was a very nice twist.
  
  In response to Fic: if we assume Voyager is using Earth measurements of time in its conversion, then one "Earth day" seems to be approximately 250 years. That is enough time for a civilization to rise and fall as we've had many in our history that didn't last that long. So Chakotay's assessment is possible.
  
  As for the other point, I think the episode drops a few hints agreeing with your reasoning as to why the species goes from Stone Age to warp-capable in a few centuries. The desire to signal, contact, and eventually reach Voyager has been their collective focus for generations. It fueled their progress. When Voyager is under attack, Chakotay says that they've done enough damage to the inhabitants over the last thousand years. Even if he's using that figuratively, it implies that Voyager has been in orbit for 3 or 4 days. That seems about right.
• From McCoy on 2017-10-17 at 2:58pm:
  Great fiction, but terrible science. I admit, this episode is enjoyable but only if you switch your brain in offline mode:)
  If the planet rotates so fast - what with day/night cycle on the surface? And how the planet orbits sun? Fast too? Or normal?
  Plus Voyager arrives in stone age - too convenient:) And we suppose to believe this planet just exist in space from eons of normal time and life is evolving now? They should have warp capable civilization before Mars lost his atmosphere:)
• From Axel on 2018-06-08 at 10:32pm:
  DOCTOR: "He was my...son."
  
  GOTANA-RETZ: "But you're a hologram"
  
  DOCTOR: "It's a long story. He's dead by now. But perhaps you could discover what happened to him. Maybe he had children, or grandchildren, if you could tell them..."
  
  JANEWAY: "Janeway to Doctor. I hate to ruin a touching moment, but may I remind you WE ARE UNDER ATTACK by anti-matter torpedoes! Shut up and let that guy get back to the planet!!!"
  
  Anyway, I don't think there are as many problems with this as pointed out. It would still have a day-night cycle if it rotates; the speed wouldn't be perceptible to the inhabitants any more than our relatively fast rotation is perceptible to us. Its revolutions around its star aren't mentioned, and don't need to be. The time difference was already explained: Voyager's only been in orbit a few days which is centuries on the planet. Finally, the planet might've had other civilizations that rose and fell, as Torres and Chakotay imply at one point. I don't think you have to shut your brain off to enjoy this. You just have to keep in mind that it's sci-fi.
• From jtax on 2022-02-18 at 8:25pm:
  Janeway: "I'm beaming you down there for three seconds, Doctor. THat's almost two days in their timeframe. Gather seismic charts, meteorological records, whatever you can..."
  
  I'm just trying to imagine gathering that kind of stuff in two days. I know he ends up being there a lot longer, but...what do they expect him to do? Walk into the nearest weather station or research lab and say, "hey, you guys know where I can score some charts or seismic data? I need as much as you can give me, and I'd really appreciate it if you didn't ask me any questions at all about why I need it..."
  
  I also love B'Elanna verbally counting out the three seconds. Sometimes, you just don't need to get all high-tech to get the job done.
  
  I agree though, great episode. One of Voyager's better ones. The series ages well because you can watch the good ones and skip over the bad.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From David in California on 2007-08-03 at 5:26pm:
  Just saw this episode for the first time last night and I liked it very much. I read in one of your BSG articles that you think Dr. Who is "silly". (I think it's enjoyable whimsical space fantasy--I don't like all my sci-fi to have the same tone. I still respect and enjoy your more "hard SF" reviews here, however. :) ) But I just want to note that it's so clear this episode was inspired by the widely noted "classic" 1976 episode "Robots of Death". The look, voice, and manner of the robots, the way they seem "innocent" and gradually are revealed to be homicidal, their relationship to their "builder", etc. are too similar to be coincidental, IMO. You mention similarity to the Cylons, but see this acclaimed Dr. Who episode and you'll quickly see what I mean.
  
• From plus on 2011-08-25 at 10:09pm:
  This was an absolutely charming episode. After the cool, slightly creepy teaser, the rest of the episode runs a little like a fairy tale or fable,
  but it works remarkably well. The robotic species here is almost like a placeholder, a symbol for artificial, sentient life more generally. This is
  evident even in their lack of definite features, and their generic "tin man" appearance.
  
  When I first saw/heard them, I braced myself for a painful, unbelievable episode, but my fears were quickly dissipated. It immediately became clear that this episode takes a different tone, a decidedly "non-hard-sci-fi" tone, in order to do something very important: to directly address the
  ethical issues around artificial life.
  
  I completely agree with the other commentator and with the show's producers - there's nothing wrong with that at all, especially if it's done as
  elegantly as in this episode.
  
  As the reviewer describes, the nature of the robots is revealed slowly, piecemeal, leading the viewer to develop a sympathetic understanding of
  their condition. This sympathy is then challenged with the revelation that they killed their creators, and are now engaged in endless conflict with each other.
  
  I would argue that this does not mean that they're "genocidal megalomaniacs." What it does mean, is that creating sentient artificial
  life is a deadly serious business, with huge ethical implications.
  
  Early in the episode Janeway asks Torres, "Who are we to swoop in, play god, and then continue on our way without the slightest consideration of
  the long term effects of our actions?" At the end of the episode we are led to pose the same question to the now deceased builders.
  
  Are the robots really to blame for what happened? They were created, programmed to fight and defend themselves, given sentience, and then once their purpose was up, threatened with decommission, extinction, death. Was it not sensible for the sentient "service units" to defend themselves?
  
  It would seem it was the builders who first "played God" without fully appreciating the consequences of their actions. Consequences which led to their own destruction, and decades later to a renewed ethical dilemma for Torres, and a serious threat for Voyager.
  
  A well conceived episode, and very well executed.
  
  Interesting tidbit: The robot asks Torres about artificial lifeforms on her society. Torres responds that "there is only one sentient artificial lifeform," referring to Data. Somehow the Doctor isn't considered in this category! Is that because he is finally being accepted as a full-fledged "honorary human" member of the crew? Or because his condition is as bad as ever, and he is simply not considered... at all? It's probably the former, or perhaps a total slip by the writers of this episode.
• From onlinebroker on 2012-03-12 at 7:13pm:
  I don't see how the prime directive applies here at all and found the discussion about it totally misplaced.
  This is a warp capable species making a request.The federation helps those all the time to get new members!
• From TheAnt on 2013-09-20 at 6:53pm:
  This if the (in)famous 'Pulp' episode of ST Voyager.
  
  It have all the pulp mag elements.
  Including the fact that the robot do look pretty much like any film about robot invasion or flying saucers of the 1950-1960 period.
  
  The stage for what is to come is found already in the teaser which is in black and white, with signal noise pretty much like an old TV set in the period.
  
  So what make this pulp?
  Robot who kidnap a female, and carry her in it's arms. Robots who have killed their creators.
  And in one of the final scenes. Torres exclaiming 'My god what have I done' in an oft repeated Frankensteinian manner and then she stabs the prototype to death.
  
  It is amusing as a concept, but it does not work entirely well IMO.
  
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Mike on 2017-05-28 at 9:33pm:
  Chakotay and Janeway both had good rationale for their different views, but they both turn out to be right about something too: that the Borg would make every effort to assimilate the ship and crew. Janeway believed the key was to hold off on handing the Borg the Doctor's modified nanoprobes until the ship could get through Borg space, which was a good call. Chakotay feared that, once the Borg were aboard Voyager, they would try to assimilate the ship and this also turned out to be a correct instinct. I think both Janeway and Chakotay knew that there was no reason for the Borg to honor any promise to them because, without the threat of Species 8472, such promises would be irrelevant.
  
  Part two handled their conflict a little better, I thought. And I agree that the threat of Species 8472 did end rather suddenly. Maybe they did not think themselves capable of being defeated or having vulnerabilities that other life forms could exploit, so when that happened they opted to play it safe and back away. Clearly, they would not be accustomed to losing people in great numbers. But who knows...
  
  Anyway, they were a very cool idea for a species and the concept behind their war with the Borg was very interesting: the Borg find a species they consider the apex of evolution, try to assimilate it, and end up fighting for their very survival. Definitely a great two-parter and, despite the lukewarm entrance of Seven of Nine, one of the better stories of the series.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From David Chambers on 2009-11-26 at 9:58pm:
  Is it me, or does the actor that played Alexander look a lot like Tom Cruise?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-05-28 at 11:16pm:
  Main Bridge Design: The big curved railing on the main bridge looks great. Unfortunately, the railing is also very impractical (which is very evident in this episode). The captain sits in front of the railing, while the security people are behind it. To protect Picard, Worf needs to run down the ramp a little ways and then jump over the railing! Not the best layout to ensure the captain's safety.
• From Bernard on 2008-01-17 at 12:45am:
  TNG does 'where no man has gone before', but for me it's not as good as the original series despite the excellent john de lancie.
  
  Too many characters are acting out of character, except the consistantly written picard. I love the interaction between him and Q it is delightful as always
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-22 at 3:33am:
  I found this episode too simple-minded. Q wants to corrupt Riker. So he gives him Q powers, then puts his friends in a situation where he has to use his powers to save them. It immediately becomes clear that the Q power has unhinged Riker's mind. Not very sporting of Q, poor Riker never stood a chance. Eventually he decides to give everyone their greatest wishes. But everyone refuses – naturally, since the whole situation is just a big creepy Q game and refusing is the only way to rescue poor Riker's mind. Riker is saved, end of story. No interesting decisions or actions at any point in the story.
  
  The combat scenes with the animal-things are rather stilted and unnatural, especially the way Wesley runs forward to get killed. On the other hand, maybe this is a positive - it sort of acts as an artistic way to emphasize that the confrontation isn't real, but merely a game concocted by Q.
  
  On a positive, the scenes that stick in my memory are Q interacting with Riker (rather than Picard), and the "penalty box" scene with Yar, which was unexpected.
  
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-20 at 11:05am:
  This episode, as well as TNG: Adventure at Farpoint, further elaborates one of TNG's principle themes: That humanity is evolving into some sort of semi-divine state, similar to the Q Continuim. While very common in new-age metaphysical movements (including Bahai of which Gene Roddenberry was a member) the idea is utter nonsense scientifically.
  
  All evolutionary processes require a life-and-death struggle, as I have said on other posts. Star Trek TNG completely misses this point, where other Sci Fi fictional works get it perfectly. (Two examples being Dune by Frank Herbert and Dragon's Egg by Robert Forward.)
  
  While there is some support for the idea of altruism evolving in species (including the human race, see for example The Moral Animal by Robert Wright), all evolution is nonetheless grounded in a brutal, selfish process. That's just the way it is. TNG seems to think that it we all are simply nice to each other and get along, we will evolve into gods. Sorry, folks. Ain't gonna happen.
• From g@g on 2012-02-05 at 2:39am:
  Early in the episode, when Picard finds himself alone on an unresponsive ship, he yells "Turbolift control, do you read?!"
  
  "Turbolift control" ? Seriously?
  
  Can you imagine the kind of log entries they must write in "Turbolift control"? "Today, I heard that Commander Riker gained total control over matter, space, and time - and Captain Picard outwitted the godlike Q. Turbolift 2 is functioning properly, but 3 is running a little slow."
  
  WTF. "Turbolift" control? The image of a "liftman" is anachronistic even in the 21st century... Yet, somehow, 350 years later, even on the flagship of the Federation we still need someone to run the elevators? So much for that infamous "human compulsion" to grow.
• From President Obummer on 2021-07-12 at 9:54am:
  Dreamjob Turbolift Control :D
  
  I thought it was very funny when Data was to describe the scenes with the French Pigsoldiers to Picard and said "you might find it asthetically displeasing". A nice reference to earlier episodes where Data disrespected the French in front of Picard.
  
  Also, I think this is the episode that most shows why they needed to get rid of Tasha. The scene in the penalty box is so embarrassing, she is just a terrible actress and the charater is super-lame.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2009-02-09 at 5:36pm:
  I find this episode interesting because it signifies a change in Trek's philosophies to a certain degree.
  
  TOS and (especially) TNG were both very anti-religion. The show's philosophies about science and rationality over religion and faith are clearly evident in many, many episodes. That starts to change a little on DS9. Sisko has always been uncomfortable with the role of Emissary, but here he begins to grow into it a little, and the plot of this episode suggests that there is something to the Bajoran faith beyond ancient mumbo jumbo. But even before this, Sisko has a more balanced view of such things than Picard ever did. For example, the episode in which then-Vedek Winn threatens Keiko's school makes it clear that while Sisko doesn't believe in the prophets as such, he understands their importance to the Bajoran people.
  
  Even if the "prophets" are explained in scientific terms as non-corporeal beings who live in the wormhole and exist outside of linear time, this episode makes it abundantly clear that their fate is tied to that of Bajor and that the ancient texts are in some ways "true," and that the Prophets are somehow (perhaps without their knowledge) guiding Bajoran society through their interactions with the orbs.
  
  This is an interesting wrinkle, and DS9 is definitely the most fully-realized series in the franchise, but I have to wonder if Gene Roddenberry would have approved of the new direction.
• From djb on 2009-05-22 at 8:27pm:
  I agree that DS9's exploration of religion is interesting. But in a sense, it's not a religion. Not to get off on a spiritual/religious rant here, but in my mind, the very definition of "spiritual" (despite its Latin roots meaning "breath") refers to that which is non-material, and which is not subject to scientific/empirical verification (for better or for worse).
  
  The Prophets, AKA Wormhole aliens, are non-coporeal, but still exist in the material universe, and are observable. In other words, there is nothing sacred or holy about the wormhole aliens; they simply are very, very different from humanoids.
  
  The fact that ancient Bajorans didn't understand the true nature of the wormhole and its inhabitants, and decided to worship them as gods, to me, seems nothing more than superstition, even idol worship. Primitive people often deify, and therefore worship, that which they cannot understand, so arguably the Bajoran religion is nothing more than a vestige of pre-scientific ignorance.
  
  The way the "prophecy" in this episode fulfills itself reminds me of the ancient Greek story of Oedipus Rex. The prophecy was fulfilled by Oedipus' very act of trying to avoid it.
  
  Similarly, Vedek Yarka foolishly tries to avert a prophecy given by the Prophets, and of course, in doing so, helps to fulfill, or at the very least is completely ineffective in stopping, the prophecy he set out to thwart. This was because he did not take into account that if the Prophets can see past, present, and future, they would have seen his efforts to avoid the inevitable, and then THAT would be the prophecy itself. Fascinating.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From MJ on 2011-02-19 at 7:33pm:
  Overall, a great episode.
  
  I was a bit bothered that Odo could simply take Quark into custody and bring him to a Grand Jury without telling him why. It seems the Federation justice system would require that; however, given the fact that it involves the Orion syndicate, the secrecy may have been necessary (although, as it turns out, unsuccessful).
  
  The first time I saw this one, the subplot involving Jake and Nog was uninteresting, but after seeing the whole series and the many turns their friendship takes, this was actually a very nice addition. Jake and Nog are interesting characters as it is. Jake, one of the few Human characters in Star Trek not to be in Starfleet, and Nog, the first Ferengi to do so, make for a fun pair. I enjoy the Huckleberry Finn/Tom Sawyer nature of their friendship.
  
  But this is obviously about Odo and Quark, and it doesn't disappoint. I really love when DS9 stretches Quark's character a bit. So often he provides comic relief, but in episodes like this (and Siege of AAR-558) his more serious nature kicks in, and it's very nicely written and acted.
  
  And (spoiler alert), this episode is further proof in my mind that the writers completely fumbled the parting between Odo and Quark in the finale.
• From Krs321 on 2011-07-14 at 4:20pm:
  I just watched this last night and I'm about 90% sure Quark asks Odo if he wants to play "Fisbin", Kirk's fictional card came from "A Piece of the Action".

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From christopher wright on 2011-12-10 at 5:48am:
  Did anyone else find Silaran similar to Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs? I half expected him to say, "It places the lotion in the basket."
• From Selador on 2013-06-03 at 2:10pm:
  As usual, we disagree...
  
  I kept wishing throughout the episode that Major Kira was played by a different actress. Nina Visitor is incredibly annoying. A very average episode as well, and the 'evil' Cardiassian character was such a cliche. If only he'd succeded though...

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Krs321 on 2011-08-24 at 12:38pm:
  This episode offered a ton of potential but squandered it on poor writing. The idea of a bunch of intelligence savants is intriguing but used kind of foolishly. They only had 1 hour to build an arc so I can't complain too much but the conflict/resolution could've been so much better.
  
  Never has an existing inside joke had a better chance at being used in an episode centered around Julian (and his relationship with O'Brien): the Battle of Britain.
  
  Instead of having Julian get punched and released by Deus Ex Sarina (b/c of Love? lame):
  - Julian wakes up and is found by Miles.
  - Miles says he was going to find Julian to go "play" (derisive joke from earlier) the Battle of Britain in the holosuite
  - Julian has an ah-ha moment
  - Cut to Julian intercepting the augments and dropping some logic on Jack about how all their statistical methods predicted certain defeat for England in the face of a German invasion in 1940. That way we can at least give some kind of credence to the fighting spirit of humanity/the Federation rather than Julian just proving the already obvious fact that probability estimates are just estimates. Zzzzz
  
  I wanted to like this episode and I'm glad they stayed away from the "Julian starts to over identify with the augments and everyone gets mad at him" trope, but they left a lot on the table.
• From John on 2011-09-24 at 6:30pm:
  I have to say I really enjoy this episode, though I do think the writing is a bit ridiculous.
  
  I like the way Jack is depicted as a sort of Mad Hatter, while Lauren is a genius nymphomaniac. Patrick is more along the lines of a classic, introverted autistic personality. We don't learn a lot about Sarina in this episode, but I'm glad they included her, because the later episodes will feature her more prominently.
  
  It's also interesting to note how the group of them become a sort of "Bletchley Park" for the Federation in the Dominion War. In case you don't know, in WW2, Bletchley Park was where the Allies had their code-breaking operation: a lot of mathematicians worked there, trying to crack the German Enigma codes -- by all accounts these analysts were brilliant, but quite quirky. Kind of neat to see the Federation with such an operation of their own.
  
  It does lose a point from me though, only because the savants (especially Jack) are written so over-the-top.
• From Zorak on 2016-06-22 at 6:31am:
  I didn't read Asimov's Foundation series until I was in my 20's, well after DS9 ended. When I did read it I could tell I'd seen it's theme referenced (or simply mirrored) by something I'd previously seen or read. It seems to have been this episode. Asimov's idea of predicting the future through probability and statistical data is very interesting, but it's a bad fit for Star Trek. Aside from that annoyance (which was made more annoying by how seriously it was taken, and then completely dismissed), this was a fun episode. I enjoy the group of misfit "mutants".
• From Armsauce on 2017-06-11 at 1:01am:
  When Sisko dismisses Bashir's surrender proposal, he should have brought up the prophet's actions in Sacrifice of Angels. There's no way the mutants could predict something like that, and it showed that there's no real way to know how the war will turn out.
  
  It really seems like something Bashir would have realized himself but it seems like everyone would rather forget about it.
  
  
• From Tooms on 2021-04-08 at 7:13am:
  A decent idea sunk by awful writing and even worse acting. Siddig wasn’t able to carry the episode and the mutant crew is just plain bad. The knockoff Twelve Monkeys Brad Pitt act is painful to watch. One of my least favorite DS9 episodes & I’m honestly puzzled that people liked it.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-12-24 at 2:21am:
  I thought that Janeway was really off base in this episode. She has always been something of a hypocrite, but it's really clear here. She will lecture Ransom about being ethical, and then try to execute a fellow officer. She seemed to be insane with revenge, even surpassing Sisko's obsession with Eddington. It's damn scary that she was allowed to continue in command of the ship, despite constant objections from her first and second officers regarding ethics and tactical decisions. She absolutely should have been relieved of duty, not Chakotay.
  
  This leads me to another point about Voyager that I'll keep brief. The structure and order aboard Voyager is pathetic. Janeway regularly has loud arguments with Chakotay, as well as other crewmembers, on the bridge. She NEVER listens to anyone, even (especially) if they are right. The first officer is a really weak person, and just shuts up when he is overruled. (Point in case this episode when Chakotay just goes to his room like he's been bad) Can you imagine Picard and Riker screaming at each other on the bridge, or Picard ranting to Worf loudly while they both walk out of the ready room? Of course not.
  
  Bottom Line: Janeway is a terrible captain. The worst. I'm sorry to all her fans out there, but she's irrational, impulsive, vengeful, and spiteful.
• From Bernard on 2010-03-29 at 9:58pm:
  Just been revisiting some of my favourite episodes of voyager, which isn't many, but anyway.
  
  Just a couple of comments on this episode:
  
  The two parter as a whole is very good. Unfortunately, and as per usual for Voyager as a whole, there are missed opportunities. I love the clash in styles between the two ships, I love seeing a ship that has been in the delta quadrant and under constant threat. The Equinox has obviously suffered major losses and damage, very realistic. I liked the plot in general, Janeway has to stop the renegade captain.
  
  What I don't like is how the Equinox crew are all written to be psychopaths. Why did they have to polarise the episode like that? If the lines had been made more blurry they could even have written some voyager crew as having sympathy with the Equinox crew thus creating tension between Janeway and crew. Also they could have created some sympathy for the Equinox crew from the viewer, making the inevitable ending all the more effective.
  
  I also dislike how Janeway is written for the second part of this two-parter. I agree with all of the points made by Pete. She is out of character, even for Janeway, and it seems ridiculous that Chakotay ends up relieved of duty!
• From Steve Mohns on 2012-08-23 at 4:12am:
  Agreed with the above comments. I was thinking after watching this show again, that the person who should have mutinied was Kate Mulgrew when she saw the script. After 5 seasons she should have known the character and the series well enough to recognize that this was out of character and a good way to ruin the legacy of her version of a Starship captain. The basic Captain Ahab idea of the writers was a good one. We saw it with Picard in "Star Trek: First Contact". We saw it with Kirk in "Obsession". And we saw it with Archer in the Xindi arc. In each of these cases the personal conflict that shaped the actions of those captains was a good one, and the way they responded was believable. All were well executed. But the writers did a poor job on both counts for Janeway and diminished her character in the process. And Chakotay says that mutinying would have been crossing the line? Hardly, with the behaviour she showed. Bones would have relieved her from duty in a nanosecond. Spock or Riker would have hesitated to mutiny out of Star Fleet duty. Archer or Picard would have had her in the brig to stay, and she never have been trusted again.
  
  Entertaining episode, but a major flaw.
• From Jem 5x5 on 2013-10-13 at 10:52pm:
  Just watched this episode on a first-time run through Voyager, and I genuinely thought Janeway must have been somehow possessed by the alien that knocked her over at the start of he episode, she was so wildly out of character.
• From Hugo on 2015-02-18 at 2:23pm:
  I hope we will see some of the adopted Equinox crew in the future! I thought Marla (the engineer) seemed like an interesting character.
  
  Wasn't it odd that there were only humans on Equinox btw?
• From parkbench on 2016-02-23 at 10:56am:
  i was just so absolutely happy with this two-parter. i wish every voyager episode was like this.
  
  i wish they did story arcs, or something like this kind of character depth, transformation, fragility. so many twists and unexpected turns--not in anything "dangerous", as site author mentioned (obviously Janeway was never going to be in danger)--but how the different alignments of good/evil played out, with ransom coming round in the end.
  
  i also appreciated it because it respected the intelligence of the viewer--rather than bluntly hitting us over the head with janeway going a little bonkers you see it happening slowly--and while chakotay vocalises it, other characters make noted faces or brief objections but the point is not belabored. a lot is left to the imagination which is good; there are no gratuitous scenes of people debating how far gone the captain is--still leaving it, in a sense, up in the air, though by that time i was with chakotay.
  
  and that's perhaps the greatest thing about this two-parter: it's the first time in...almost ever (with a voyager episode at least) that i felt like they truly presented the idea of principles vs. a slippery slope and it wasn't cheap or dull.
  
  finally we see what the consequences of just choosing expediency are, not merely because we should "believe" it's wrong (the unfortunately milquetoat conclusion of many lesser ST episodes across all series), but because you can see it qualitatively produces different results.
  
  everything janeway was doing as she was "becoming" ransom could be seen to deteriorate everything: strategy, morale, consistency, ethics itself--and this way the moral quandary, unlike most episodes, is actually way more polarising and tense. it's not just a vague "let's turn the other cheek and not hurt our enemies" plot, but actually mixed and compelling arguments for either approach (though i still am firmly w chakotay), in that you can see that the situation tactically can appear to call for a set of steps that, though logical, are very harmful in the long run.
  
  these are how real-life situations, and real-life violence is. it is very layered and complex. it often deteriorates into bloated, festering situations that go way beyond their original scope and launch a sort of dragnet drawing all kinds of people into its maw that have varying levels of agency and responsibility, as well as being coerced into it. and rather than that all of that being a reason to just abjure responsibility and try to pretend that everyone is right, or that everyone's wrong in some kind of simplistic relativism (because ultimately, action needs to be taken)...we get an episode that tells the hardest story of all: that in the DEPTHS of these moments, in the very hardest of them, is when we must STILL center ourselves, even more than usual, b/c your moral center can get away with you in a blink of an eye, and it will not be dramatic: it will be gradual, until it's sudden. if you catch my drift.
  
  in real-life genocides, massacres, mass sterilisation programs, ethnic cleansing projects, violent statecraft, you name it--this is the dilemma. there is such a complex set of decisions and procedures to arrive at the result--millions of dead beings--that it is impossible for any one person to execute. it requires the consent of and infiltration of massive social structures, which also implies culpability for more than just the "leader". the whole scenario itself becomes a toxic lake baptisiing its swimmers with an unholy burden--enough ethical dilemmas to last a life time, and if one does not take a stand, look for an alternate route, and potentially even face death (a scary thought indeed), one inevitably ends up part of it. the platitudes about german society being partner to the shoah would come right about here.
  
  and on that note, as i have no doubt said before in a million places and on this very site, i will always come back to hannah arendt's "the banality of evil", and say that this is precisely the scary thing: that the question of evil is not one of supervillains, but of its being actually quite banal--something that can appear so simple, and often executed by seemingly "normal" people, that it escapes us if we always think about the Big Bad and not the true evil that permeates the systems that surround us, affecting everyone and leaving no-one untouched.
  
  this is why i don't think janeway was 'out of character', as some people mentioned. if you look carefully, you can see that beneath the cool exterior there is an inner seriousness and sort of uncompromising passion that drives her to do her "job"--even in a situation where there is (potentially) no federation to do a job for. like most people in high places, she is a mix of intelligent (in a calculating sense) and ruthlessly ambitious, not merely a "nice person" who knows how to run a
  bureaucracy, but somebody who had to work incessantly and no doubt beat out other people for her position--such are top-down military hierarchies. and most high-ranking jobs require a certain kind of total sacrifice of the person to the job itself, an insane thing to ask of a person but also why it is so easy to lose yourself and be corrupted in such roles. even if we imagine a rich CEO vacationing and enjoying all their life at a level of luxury almost no one experiences--as in, "how could this be sacrifice?"--you are still losing a piece of your soul, since it is this very luxury that provides the direct incentive to blithely make horrifying, oppressive decisions on the daily (remember that worldwide colonialism almost always began as a business venture, the most famous case being the east india trading company).
  
  the fact the we haven't seen more of this side of her is actually the weirder part. seeing her inner passion, obsession with the federation ideal & image--the only thing she has LEFT in this land far away from her home--totally makes sense to me, and again, when people break, they are not usually "the joker". they break and they act increasingly off until you don't recognise them anymore--and her stubbornness only made me enjoy this more. because frustrating as it was, rather than capitulate to chakotay, she truly had tunnel vision until it was over. and if you've ever gotten yourself into a rut and lost yourself, well...that tunnel vision is real. and it's f'ed up. i do wish she had repented a little more at the end. but at least they sort of tease it out.
  
  now i can only hope--though i doubt--that this sets up the 'maquis dynamic' we always wanted for voyager, with the theme of these new crew members integrating into the crew and janeway's dance with the devil, the other side of the line that marks the prime directive. my god, that would be amazing; halfway through pt. 2 i even imagined a battlestar reboot-style season where they chase the equinox onto that planet and crash land there, leading to a whole season where they have to figure out how to survive on this planet as they repair voyager and interact begrudgingly with the survivors of the other crew, also showing how janeway's heedlessness lead to real consequences--a la bg on caprica...and yes, i clearly am a noob for having seen BG and not voyager first :P.
  
  now THAT would've been brave. but we know that that's not what voyager's about...at least, unless it's about to surprise me...
  
  thanks to kethinov for giving us over-thinkers an outlet for our grey matter.
• From McCoy on 2017-10-09 at 4:40pm:
  I see a problem with The Doctor. Two things: Why he didn't completed his surgery on Seven's brain? He had enough time to turn her into vegetable.
  And second, far more important - just when exactly his ethical subroutines were activated again? On Eqinox he was evil, then after beaming on Voyager boom, and he's good again? Why?
  I was thinking all the time, he's just faking his psychopatic behavior, because he evolved so much, he doesn't need ethical subroutines to act ethically (I was even thinking he uploaded Seven's image into Ransoms "vids" to influence him). Just like human brain can sometimes take over functions of his damaged part - Doctors program could do the same. But well, it's not the case. A bit of wasted opportunity.
• From Mike J on 2023-11-13 at 11:56pm:
  A lot of fair criticisms of Janeway in this episode. One comment above compares this with Kirk, Picard, and Archer in their various "Captain Ahab" moments. And I think someone else added Sisko with Michael Eddington.
  
  The difference between all of those, and this, comes down to writing and acting. Neither Mulgrew nor the writers sold me on the idea that Janeway was consumed by revenge. I got the impression she was just intentionally being stubborn about pursuing Ransom with no real emotional or logical reason for doing so, because that's what was in the script. And I have to say, Beltran didn't sell me on the protesting First Officer role, either. To me, this two-parter illustrates one of the main problems with Voyager: bad acting.
  
  Now, Mulgrew and Beltran are both talented actors, and there are plenty of fantastic Janeway and Chakotay moments in this series. But it wasn't consistent. I feel like there were often breakdowns between the writers and the actors on Voyager, and comments by Robert Beltran in the years since Voyager went off the air convince me that's true, as well as Garrett Wang and a couple others. I think some of the other cast members had frustrations about how their characters were being written.
  
  In any case, this was an exciting two-parter. I also feel like Equinox gave us an example of how things might've turned out for Voyager. As the webmaster said, we rarely got the sense that Voyager was in dire straights during their long journey across the galaxy; Equinox, on the other hand, reflects a formerly noble Starfleet crew that has been reduced to a desperate rabble living on the edge of privation. It was an astonishing contrast that I wish had been more thoroughly explored.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Nick on 2017-06-06 at 1:40am:
  Naming the NX-02 Columbia is certainly a touching remembrance of the lost shuttle, but it is also a fitting homage to the shuttle program in general.
  
  The first shuttle built and tested was the Enterprise.
  The second shuttle built, and first to actually fly in space was the Columbia
  
  Great naming either way. One presumes the next ships will be Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Lennier on 2009-05-11 at 5:24am:
  I can't for the life of me figure out when Majel Barrett's voice is used for the computer... Does anyone know when her voice comes up?
• From JRPoole on 2009-05-11 at 10:59am:
  For many years, you were in love with an incredibly smart, beautiful woman. She excited you, challenged you, changed the way you thought about the universe and humanity's place in it, and she gave you hope that maybe, just maybe, everything was going to work out in the end. Most people failed to understand your attraction to this woman. Even you had to admit that sometimes she was embarrassingly corny, and it was often hard to tell whether she was taking herself way too seriously or just making a big joke. But you loved her, and you were willing to forgive her flaws. She came back to you in several different guises over the years, most of them a little different and better than before, but in the end she drifted away. Then suddenly, she comes roaring back into your life. She's got a whole new attitude, and she's sleeker and sexier than she's ever been. But something just doesn't feel right, like the love of your life has been replaced by a pod person, and though you know that you should be happy she's back, you can't help but think about how it used to be. That's what J.J. Abrams' newly "rebooted" Star Trek is going to feel like to many longtime fans of the franchise.
  
  Abrams set out to completely re-imagine the entire Trek universe, and he has succeeded. The script of the film gives him a neat little loophole for doing that, since the events of this movie take place in an alternate time line, an entirely separate reality created when the elderly Spock's attempt to prevent the Romulan sun from going supernova fails. This drags our villain, a newly stylized Romulan by the name of Nero, into the past, where he kills James Kirk's father just as the future captain is being born. It seems that Nero now has a bone to pick with Spock, and devotes the next 25 years to finding the young Spock in order to force him to watch as he creates an artificial black hole to destroy the entire planet of Vulcan.
  
  Abrams has done well with all the characters we've come to love. The now fatherless Kirk, played adequately by Chris Pine, is a more interesting and fully realized character than William Shatner's Kirk. Thankfully, Pine's performance doesn't ape Shatner's much-parodied portrayal of Kirk, and we see Kirk as a cocky, two-bit punk on the verge of becoming the alpha male of the galaxy.
  
  Zachary Quinto's Spock, meanwhile, is in some ways the best thing about the new Trek. Abrams explores Spock's childhood, focusing on the tension created by trying to fit in on Vulcan as a half-human, and casts Spock's decision to join Star Fleet as a rebellion against the very Vulcan culture he has consciously decided to uphold. The new movie, in fact, is the best exploration of Vulcan ideaology in any Trek production yet. The new Spock is also in a torrid secret relationship with Zoe Saldano's smoking-hot Uhura, who plays a meatier role here than ever before.
  
  Fans of DeForrest Kelley's crochety Dr. McCoy will be happy to find that Karl Urban's performance is a virtual clone of the original. Simon Pegg does an excellent job with Scotty, and John Cho seems to be playing Sulu as if his character Harold from the Harold and Kumar movies had gotten stoned and decided to join Star Fleet, but it works. Even Anton Yelchin's Chekov (who diehards know shouldn't even be on the Enterprise yet) is a pleasant surprise, complete with the Cold War accent.
  
  Aside from the characters, the trickiest thing about this production was updating the look of Star Trek. This is, after all, a movie set before the original series, whose technology and style already seem dated. This is another front on which Abrams succeeds. The new/old Enterprise captures the look of the original one but looks entirely more viable, and its hot-rod-esque lines manage a look at once futuristic and vintage. The costumes and uniforms here manage to pay homage to the original series as well, making it seem entirely plausible that 60s-styled fashions come back into vogue in the 23rd century. The new Trek also does a good job of acknowledging the original series' inherent campiness without falling victim to it, though there are a couple of scenes that are obviously played for laughs and don't seem to fit with the rest of the film.
  
  Despite its successes, the new Star Trek has some pretty serious flaws. The first is the villain. It's a bit problematic within the established canon of Star Trek to have a Romulan villian, since the original series made it clear that no one from the Federation had ever seen a Romulan, even after fighting a war with them, until Kirk encountered one near the neutral zone. But Enterprise clouded the continuity issue during its troubled run, and this is, after all, a reboot of the franchise taking place in a different reality from the franchise as we know it, so I'm willing to drop the fanboy grudge. But Nero is a pretty flat character, nowhere near as interesting as Trek's greatest villains like the unforgettable Khan. His motivation to kill Spock doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and his plan is nebulous at best. The technobabble and the science behind the science fiction is also pretty weak here, with black hole singularities acting as time travel portals and the vague mumbo jumbo about the supernova-inducing red matter.
  
  The biggest risk that Abrams takes in his new vision of Trek is a huge one: he destroys Vulcan. The entire planet, along with most of its billions of inhabitants, including Spock's human mother, dies, turned into a massive singularity. Here's the ballsy part: in a movie that plays with time lines and alternate realities, he LEAVES IT DESTROYED. In effect, this renders all the previous films and series (with the exception of Enterprise) completely moot. They never happened, not in the time line established by this film anyway. This is a huge decision, as it changes the very fabric of the Trek universe in a way that can never be explained away as some minor inconsistency. Killing Vulcan sends a message that the Trek franchise is poised to boldly go where it's never gone before, but it remains to be seen if that place is worth going.
  
  All in all, the new Star Trek is a success. it's a big, loud, sleek, brand new Star Trek, a bona fide summer blockbuster with all the trimmings. For longtime fans, that's both the good news and the bad news.
  
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2009-05-11 at 3:19pm:
  What made the previous Original Series episodes, Original Series movies, TNG, and DS9 so meaningful to the hardcore fans was the "commentary" about morality, ideals, and the human experience, not the special effects. This sounds boring, but it is not, because those things made the franchise stand out from other shows and movies, and have kept it around since the late 60's. How many other franchises have lasted so long?
  
  The makers of Star Trek (2009) have decided to do away with all of that "moral stuff" and focus on creating a summer action popcorn movie.
  
  The common belief out there is that today's audiences want to see explosions and action, not meaning. I don't hold this belief, and I think the current generation of movie goers are unfairly stereotyped as having severe ADHD. Give people a chance!
  
  HOWEVER, as a popcorn movie, this is pretty fun to watch. The casting is wonderful, and we get to see them in some funny situations. The soundtrack is also wonderful. These, and other strengths almost make me forget about the "moral stuff," .... almost.
  
  What about the plot? In short, it is pretty pathetic, even for an action movie; lots of clichés and pieces similar to the previous movies (especially Nemesis). I don't want to waste too much space explaining specifically what I found dumb about the plot, but there are some real problems that I think people will be talking about for the next 15 years.
  
  I ended up giving this movie a 5. I'm conflicted, which isn't a good thing. I think they have a chance to do something better in the next movie, they just need to remember Roddenberry’s vision.
  
• From elim on 2009-05-11 at 6:00pm:
  E tu, Kethinov?
  
  I actually am in partial agreement with your “bad idea, good execution” assessment of the movie. It was, indeed a bad idea.
  
  The characters, with the exceptions you gave of Chekov and Sulu, to which I would also add Kirk, were decently to well acted, but they were almost all terribly written. The writers were apparently unaware that frustration and vindictiveness are emotions, so they made all of the Vulcans express those emotions all the time. Then to emphasize Spock’s human lineage and contrast it with the already emotional Vulcans, they made him downright Emo. Kirk on the other hand, seemed incapable of expressing any emotion other than smug, and he came off as a complete asshole throughout the movie and offered no reason for anybody to care about him in the slightest.
  
  Scotty’s acting was fine, but his character was wasted on his pet Ewok. Despite the effort they made to show that Uhura was an expert at xenolinguistics, she only did three things during the entire movie: make out with Spock, take off her clothes, and get accidentally groped by Kirk. The only character who was actually done well was McCoy, and a good part of that was due to the fact that he got to torture the thoroughly unlikable Kirk.
  
  For a movie that tried so hard to be funny, the attempted jokes were groan-inducingly awful. Kirk falling on Uhura’s boobs? Scotty’s pet Ewok sitting on the equipment? Seriously? Then there are all the jibes the human characters make against Spock and Spock makes against the other Vulcans for being so emotional, which really doesn’t work when they have such emotional reactions. Finally most of the “nods to continuity” you mentioned were painfully self-aware meta references to various clichés of the various series that constantly broke the fourth wall.
  
  The action scenes were also uniformly awful, from the flashing-lights-and-jump-cuts direction of the space battles to driving a car into the Great Gaping Chasm of the Iowa Plains (did Nero’s time travel escapades cause the Xindi to attack Earth again?), to the button that retracted the parachute back into its case, to the fact that Sulu and Random Romulan Dude both dropped their guns at the same time, but both just happened to bring archaic weaponry with them just in case. By the time Kirk and Nero had their climactic battle in the Romulan ship that was designed for the sole purpose of being dangerous, I felt like Sigourney Weaver’s character in Galaxy Quest demanding that “whoever wrote this movie should be killed.”
  
  To top it all off, the attempts at tugging the audience’s heartstrings with “intense emotion” fall completely flat (unless you count the burning desire to punch a hole through the screen, but I don’t think that’s what they were going for). The big emotional scene, the destruction of Vulcan, was so utterly contrived and unrealistic it was impossible to take seriously.
  
  Just think of the sequence of events. A supernova destroys Romulus (and all the effort done over the course of the years to make the Romulans one of the more interesting species) Spock tries unsuccessfully to save them. Unfortunately, the few Romulans who survive are really, really stupid so they blame Spock for the supernova and decide to go back in time to suck Vulcan into a black hole. Despite that they are complete imbeciles (and terrible architects) they somehow have enough black-hole-making knowhow that they are able to do this. And why did all this happen? The Romulans motivations don’t make any sense, but the writer’s motivation was clear: it was to teach Spock and Kirk a valuable lesson about the importance of friendship. Also, if Spock’s mother had been standing a few feet to the side, she would have survived.
  
  The treatment Romulans is where the movie gets downright offensive. When the Romulans were first introduced in “Balance of Terror” the best episode of TOS, made especially awesome because of how sympathetic the villains were. Then over the course of the franchise, we get things like “Unification” and “In the Pale Moonlight” and other classics, humanizing the Romulans as a race. How does it all end? The majority of the Romulans die an off-screen death, the rest of them become stupid cartoonish supervillains so the good guys can bond and have a bit of a giggle at the species extinction. They come in with “In a different reality I could have called you ‘friend’,” and go out with Spock: “‘Captain, what are you doing?’ Kirk: ‘Showing a little compassion, may be the only way to earn peace with the Romulans. It's logic, Spock. I thought you'd like that.’ Spock: ‘No, not really. Not this time’.”
  
  The question you asked at the beginning of your review would make for an interesting premise, but this movie, contrary to your claim, does not grapple with the question in the slightest. Kirk is told that in the original reality his father survived, but nobody mentions that he was a wimpy bookworm who got picked on by Finnegan. He never actually learns anything about the “non-traumatized” version of himself and audience members who haven’t seen TOS wouldn’t even know that old timeline Kirk was a different character. The time travel stuff barely gets any attention and it serves two main purposes: to provide an extra cog in the Rube Goldberg Vulcan-Destroying Machine, and to provide a cheap excuse for continuity errors.
  
  This is not a clever examination of the consequences of time travel. It’s a repetition of the half-assed attempts at building a coherent DC Comics Universe. There, because the writers made no attempt at continuity for most of DC’s history, they used a cheap multiverse explanation to cover up their tracks. Thus the golden age characters and the modern characters get their own universes. Adam West’s, Tim Burton’s, Joel Schumacher’s and Chris Nolan’s versions of Batman all get their own universes. The result is that the continuity gets extra convoluted to the point where there is no point thinking about it at all.
  
  Until now, Star Trek never messed things up so badly to the point where stuff like that was necessary to maintain a single continuity. There may have been alternate realities, but it was always clear that we were following a single reality, even if they made occasional slip-ups. This movie turns the entire franchise into an incoherent mess. They should have either made a genuine effort to follow continuity or go the BSG route and make it completely separate without even the pretense that the two realities are connected (frankly I would have preferred a female Spock to Scotty’s pet Ewok).
  
  As it is, the newly introduced continuity is atrocious. But even if we chose to go back to the old continuity, the movie screws that up to, by destroying Romulus in a supernova and making the survivors a bunch of idiots. For those of us who wanted to see a movie dealing with Federation-Romulan relations post-DS9, “Nemesis” was a wasted opportunity, but this movie not only crushed those dreams but salted the earth so nothing would ever grow there again.
  
  Frankly, the only way that I could even tolerate this episode as being part of the same continuity as the rest of Star Trek is if it turned out the whole movie was a Holodeck adventure created by a 12-year-old boy. The whole thing was excruciating and unwatchable.
  
• From Kethinov on 2009-05-11 at 7:19pm:
  Elim, your post is well written and touched me. I feel many aspects of your pain. For a moment you convinced me that the destruction of Romulus was nothing more than a cavalierly conceived of plot device, an egregious insult to one of the founding members of the Star Trek universe. Like Federation replicated Romulan Ale, you had me convinced for a moment. But only for a moment. On further reflection, it occurred to me that the destruction of Romulus didn't phase me because it was actually a pretty smart move.
  
  Suppose the original timeline still exists and the Star Trek narrative returns to it some day. The distinct lack of information this film gives us about the events of that timeline is precisely what could make it a compelling drama again. Consider this: we don't know very much about what led to Romulus' destruction. What if the supernova wasn't a natural phenomenon but was the deployment of a weapon created by an enemy of the empire? That's a pretty good premise for a decent continuation of the 24th century right there.
  
  The potential for drama in that premise is nearly endless. Just as one of the Federation's greatest adversaries is on the verge of making peace, one of the empire's rivals from their warlike past destroys their home world. For all we know, the Romulus star was the only star system in the Romulan Empire destroyed. The empire itself could live on in the remaining colonies and the demeanor of the survivors might be something fierce to contend with.
  
  Thinking up fun premises like that are what give me hope that intelligent storytelling in Star Trek can live on. We may have had an immature action romp this time around, but times change. Maybe Star Trek can get back to its roots some day. Thanks for your comment, Elim!
• From MrVicchio on 2009-05-11 at 8:59pm:
  I'd like to say I have been a fan of this site, and reading the reviews of TNG as my wife and I re-watched them, so after watching Star Trek: Galactic Reset as I liked to refer to it, I came here eager to see your views, and to be honest, I was surprised, pleasantly that you didn't rip it to shreds :)
  
  A friend of mine is all discombobulated over this movie. "They've destroyed START TREK!!!" he goes on and on about. I did mollify him by pointing out that there is precedence in Trek for this sort of time travel alternating of the Trek Universe. My prime example? Tasha Yar. They changed history, and here it happens again.
  
  I was impressed with the new look, they updated the Enterprise in a way I that just made it seem more plausible. Main Engineering is no longer a small but cozy office, but a working space.
  
  Spock and Bones were near as perfect as you could get, Scotty was fun to watch, Kirk was manageable and the others were... well weak. Uhura was a typical black smart female with sexy sass.. gee we haven't seen that a million times before. The original was much more respectfully and earnestly portrayed, I was very disappointed in her.
  
  I get why they killed Vulcan, to give Spock an emotional depth he lacked, I don't know if that will work out, but I'm willing to give them another movie to convince me Trek has been reborn.
  
  PS Thanks for all the great reviews, and we'll be back here for DS9 when it hits the mail box!
• From Bernard on 2009-05-14 at 7:17pm:
  I'll get my gripes out of the way first. I have never so far commented on other peoples ratings when I have put a comment on here, but who is giving the ratings of 10 for this movie?? Maybe someone that has could post a message here to explain the reasoning? I would never give 10 unless I consider the episode/movie to be almost perfect in most departments (based on the premise that no production is ever totally perfect in every way)
  Okay, onto the gripes. I hate some of the basic flaws displayed in this movie that have already been mentioned in great detail. For example, we have Delta Vega as close to Vulcan as we are to our moon annoyingly just so that Spock can witness the destruction. Couldn't they just have said that he 'felt' all those deaths, after all vulcans are quite apparently sensitive to other beings with mind melds and such. That would not have been such a large leap of common sense for me. I'll leave it right there for the nitpicky stuff, but we can all agree that simple things were done incorrectly and it's not as if the information is hard to come by regarding the trek-verse is it. I also agree with someone above, that the plot is shaky at best, the movie carries itself off at breakneck pace to hide that particular frailty. I think looking for deep meaning in certain areas will give you a headache though.
  
  I have chosen (and had chosen before I even went to see it in case it was awful) to look at this movie in a completely positive light and ignore everything that I dislike.
  
  The characters, the meat of the movie, are excellently fleshed out for me. The central story of Kirk and Spock is really well done. Spock is how I'd always imagined he could have been, well done to Zachary Quinto. Chris Pine could have so easily fallen into the mire that would have been a parody of Shatner, I know some people will not like him. I think he brings some of the Kirk qualities perfectly and the rest I put down to the difference in his upbringing. He is cocky, but also quite disarming too. I loved the interaction between the two characters.
  I thought the other characters were all great too. Chekov was always a bit of a goof in the original series anyway, I didn't have a problem with him. Didn't see too much of Sulu or Scotty (played by the superb Simon Pegg!). I disagree that Uhura doesn't do much, yes she doesn't have the dignified grace of Nichelle Nichols, but Uhura is finally given credit for being a member of the team and is played with a bit more zest. I don't see mimics paying off in the long run anyway... Except, McCoy. I absolutely loved watching Karl Urban as bones from the first moment he got on the screen. He was amazingly close to copying Deforest Kelleys McCoy. I'm glad they didn't all do the same though. Nearly forgot about Captain Pike, Bruce Greenwood is superb. The movie is let down by the villain a bit, when you hire Eric Bana, use him better! but I realise they had to focus on the relationship between the central characters for the movie to work.
  
  I adore the look of the movie, the starships, planets, black holes, uniforms, aliens, everything. The soundtrack is excellent, I keep listening to it on YouTube. The opening sequence is something that I loved too, probably the only scene in the movie when I felt true menace, fear and it was done slightly over the top for me but also the self sacrifice aspect. Surely a true Star Trek scene? The scenes showing Kirks youth, spocks youth and the academy days are so much of what I was looking forward to. I wish they'd spent longer on that. Kobyashi Maru lived up to my expectations though, I loved that scene. I'm starting to put my finger on precisely what is wrong with this movie. Many scenes are very well done, characters are interesting, but plot is gaping.
  
  I think that they have done a clever thing in wiping the slate clean. By changing everything they can go anywhere they like with the next movie (and the one after?). They don't have to get anybody into the right place for certain aspects of continuity, what a relief! They can develop the characters and species etc. in any way they want now because this universe now bears no resemblence to anything else in the Star Trek franchise. I don't care about canon too much anymore since they made 'Enterprise'. In fact I wish they had simply 'remade' Star Trek without any explanation. Why is one needed? To satisfy all the trekkies that care about continuity and so forth? Well in that case mission.... not accomplished! Many are not satisfied with the way it fits into Trek canon.
  
  I did really like this film by the way and I'm not disturbed by the fact that it overrides the trek timeline in the slightest. It is a fun romp of a movie and really it is only the beginning. What follows should be far better now they have set it up. For the next installment, I want them to forget trying to explain anything and just write a damned good story. Let them loose on an interesting premise and watch the characters grow up.
• From Dave E on 2009-05-15 at 9:42pm:
  You wanted to know why someone would post a 10. I am a 10 poster. Here's why. For the entire duration of this movie, I was 100% engaged in what was going on. I laughed, squirmed, and cared deeply about these characters. I was touched by all the references to the old show. It was great seeing Nimoy. I was mad when the movie ended, because I did not want it to stop. A friend of mine compared this to the feeling he got walking out of the theater in 1977 after seeing Star Wars the first time.
  
  A "10" rating does not mean the entire movie has to be perfect. It's not a "Mint" or "NOS" condition rating like collectibles. A "10" rating for a movie means it's on your list of Best Movies Ever. And, for me, this is added to the list, alongside Star Wars, 2001, and a few non-sci fi flicks.
• From Obsidian Disorder on 2009-05-17 at 6:11am:
  The 3 previews before the film were:
  1) The new GI Joe
  2) The new Terminator
  3) The new Transformers
  
  The previews of all looked similar with lots of explosions and large vehicles/robots/ships blowing up/blowing stuff up. Then we had 2 hours of Star Trek that looked the same and shredded most of Trek history. Vulcan Destroyed? So what! We are going in a new direction for a couple of films! No one cares about TOS, TNG, Voyager, DS9! That's for old folks. I guess they plan to milk their all new Trek universe for some big budget summer movies until one tanks at the box office and then leave it dead on the side of the road. I really wanted to like the film, but I found myself horrified by its assault on all Trek that has come before. Hmmm, one positive: I liked Sulus cool sword.
• From elim on 2009-05-18 at 3:17am:
  Okay, I will accept that it’s still possible to redeem the franchise and still count the movie as cannon. The premise you suggested for a 24th century storyline does sound awesome but, as you said about BSG, “I will not gush all over the show over the mere implication of good stories to come.” The prospect that maybe, just maybe, someone competent will take over the franchise and tell a good story doesn’t make up for two hours of product placement, dry humping, contrived plotlines, casual genocide, and really boring fight scenes between two-dimensional heroes and one-dimensional villains. Especially since Obsidian Disorder’s predictions are much more likely to come to pass than any Coto-ification.
  
  If they gave any indication, either in the movie or in interviews or anywhere, that they intended to follow through with the destruction of Romulus by telling what really happened in a future storyline, I’d be more inclined to accept it as a smart move. However, given the commitment J.J. and co. have shown thus far towards developing the Romulans (none whatsoever) it’s hard to view it as anything more a cavalierly conceived of plot device.
  
  Hopefully, they’ll establish some coherent criteria for canonicity amongst the Star Trek novels and comic books, because it’s looking like that’s where all the good stories will come from now.
  
  
• From Krs321 on 2009-05-20 at 5:53pm:
  1. The reason no one freaked out about the Romulans looking like Vulcans is because besides the ears, these Romulans don't look at all like Vulcans like they do in regular canon.
  
  2. No mention here of the what I assume is an Orion chick? Suddenly they're Star Fleet cadets? Maybe she's a half-breed child raised offworld and doesn't have the intoxicating pheromones? And what's with the inclusion of all the other new races? Annoying.
  
  3. I assumed when Spock said that the supernova "treatened the entire Galaxy", he spoke to the political shockwave that the destruction of Romulus would create. Unintented but potentially useful dialogue line.
  
  4. I echo the comments regarding the treatment of the Romulan race character. The most compelling race is whittled down to little more than alien of the week. I guess the fact that the "real" Romulan empire still exists in the Chris Pine timeline means they're still badass, but excrutiating nonetheless.
  
  
  5. The biggeswt problem with the plot for me isn't the time travelling (abused in Stark Trek, especially in films) or the blandness of Nero, it's Starfleet/the Federation/Vulcan's plan of sending an ancient ambassador on a solo mission into Romulan space with the most dangerous substance this side of Omega particles. WTF?
  
  Side-bar stupidity: Regulation whatever that says a Captain can be relieved because of emotional whatever blah blah blah. Please. "well, we can't have Bones declare him unfit for command because that threat is even more overused than time travel, let's invent something especially damning for Vulcans". Groan.
  
  6. Kirk - C: Chris Pine did alright but he was written too smug and fratty. he just wasn't cool at all. The only reason anyone did what he wanted was that he had the balls to speak up when Uhura didn't. Wouldn't call him a leader really. Reflection on how people define leadership today? Hmm..
  
  I thought they botched the Kobayashi Maru test scene by making it silly and slightly obnoxious; although, I guess we that meshes with the fact that this timeline's Kirk is part douche and less clever.
  
  Spock - A-: The writers seemed to be a little off on what vulcans are like but overall it was pretty interesting to see the alternate reality Spock with a little more emotion. Hated that "no, not this time" line. I felt that betrayed the character and the franchise.
  
  Bones - A-: DeForest Kelly created an iconic character and Urban nailed a younger version perfectly without letting it devolve into parody. I gave him an A- because I like my Star Trek traditional and I loved the nods and thought Urban really hit Bones' cadences and inflections perfectly, but some people might think it's boring and safe to go that route.
  
  The "stallion" exchange between he and Spock is a delightful piece of writing.
  
  Scotty - B+: The original Scotty wasn't funny because he was silly, he just had a knack for the right turn of phrase + scottish accent. Pegg is amusing and I'm waiting to see the character evolve, but not if it becomes the designated forced comic relief. The Ewok character was a bad move but can be quietly disavowed in subsequent installments.
  
  Sulu - D: One of my favorite characters from TOS is suddenly without a shoehorned character with no personality. Not much to say here other than he's asian, at the helm, and uses a sword (katana btw, not an epee, so not exactly fencing, are we? Just say you're trained in swordfighting next time or something). Forgot to take off the space-parking break? Hilarious...seriously.
  
  Chekov - C+, I guess: Meh. Chekov's once delightful accent is suddenly a parody. I liked that the writers had him say that he's 17 thus making it somewhat plausible that he's on the ship when everyone else is just graduating the academy. Not a bad character revamp considering the original was pretty fluffy and somewhat annoying.
  
  Uhura - C: Abuse of generic characterization alert. She's got boobs and a sassy attitude...watch out! Why is a newly minted cadet able to speak 3 dialects of Romulan when the currently stationed officer on the newly minted FLAGSHIP unable to even differentiate between Klingon and Romulan? I guess she's a phenom or something but use her appropriately and not try to make her the Megan Fox of this franchise. I actually thought her relationship with Spock had/has potential, but was too heaviy handed. Chris Pine Kirk's writing also had a hand in making her kind of a waste.
  
  
  
  Overall, I actually enjoyed the movie quite a bit. I liked the new visuals, just ease the pacing and cool it on the punching sound effects (every punch sounded like an Ali haymaker! How does anyone still have a face??) I thought it was still "Star Trek" enough, although I'd rather someone other than JJ direct the next installment. I'm willing to see the franchise move in a new direction as long as it makes sense and is done well.
• From Dio on 2009-05-25 at 10:12pm:
  I have not seen many episodes from TOS or anything before TNG Season 1. I've thoroughly examined the entire TNG and a lot of DS9 however. And I understand what makes Star Trek standout - the episodes that examine emotions and relationships. The fighting and aliens are nice but at the end of the day, I remember "The Inner Light", "Tapestry" and "In The Pale Moonlight...".
  
  That's why, as a fan of the Star Trek universe, I didn't like this movie. The action is all well and good but, as stated above, the emotional side of the story was a complete letdown. Even the main plot was confusing and unnecessarily drawn out - I would have loved to see a lot more introduction between the crew members and how they find themselves onboard the Enterprise.
  
  Also, many people who are unfamiliar with Star Trek believe it to be just about guns, aliens and spaceships. This really applies to all sci-fi of course (I'm an even bigger Star Wars fan, sorry!). I saw this movie with some friends who are new to Star Trek, and it certainly reinforced the idea that action is the main reason why people watch Trek. It just gets on my nerves - I wish they could understand the beauty of "All Good Things..." or Q's games with Picard.
  
  Because I don't feel connected to TOS or the characters before TNG, this movie didn't really upset me and I was able to appreciate it for whatever it is. However, if they try something like this with TNG, they better plan it out A LOT better.
• From ek5a on 2009-06-09 at 8:36pm:
  This definitely is an alternate timeline - Simply because Old Spock exists. If the original timeline is destroyed by the events of this film that will old Spock will wink out existence. The fact that he remains at the end of the movie means that events of TOS, TNG, DS9 and the rest continue to exist, with Old Spock disappearing from their timeline at some point and diverging into this new alternate one.
  
  So basically it's a long thread that continues on and a split occurs that continues on a parallel plane from the Kelvin incident. I wish I could draw this.
• From Kethinov on 2009-06-10 at 4:40pm:
  No ek5a, if that reasoning were correct, then all previous uses of time travel would be alternate universes too, which is not the case.
  
  That said, I am fairly convinced this is an alternate universe, but not for that reason. See my article on the subject linked above.
• From Giuseppe on 2009-10-26 at 10:38pm:
  This movie was pretty much what I expected: very good as a summer blockbuster, but mediocre as a Star Trek story. The special effects are great, the action is what you would expect from a movie made in the late 2000s, but the acting isn't all that great, the story is pretty iffy at times and it relies on too many extraordinary coincidences to be believable.
  Basically, if you're interested in two hours of lighthearted fun then this is the movie for you; if, on the other hand, you're looking for a great work of the science fiction genre then you might as well look somewhere else.
  Personally this movie was a fun, if rather shallow, experience. But that's just my two cents.
• From Kirk 377 on 2010-04-22 at 10:32am:
  @kethinov -Maybe traveling back through a black hole to go back in time had something to do with the alternate reality? (I don't know, just a theory) I'm sure it's a alternate universe, because the movie says so. I think Uhuru says it on the bridge once they have figured things out. Plus the release of the Star Trek Online game(I don't know if it's cannon, I read it was set after Nemesis) So don't worry Star Trek has done alternate realities before-just for a standard episode. So why would they throw away everything, if they didnt have to. I love the new movie and also can't wait for whats to come, but I don't wanna give up everything thats been. And who knows Universe B(Star Trek XI) could use things from Universe A(40 years of greatness). They already kept our Spock. Maybe have a TNG character visit Universe B, a universe where they might not even be born! Ah just a little idea, I know it won't happen. but you get the idea. Plus Universe A could have alot left in it. If they do things right than Star Trek XI just raised the bar, by giving us basically 2 different Star Trek's. If Star trek 12 does reset everything, I'm not gonna count it as my version of cannon.
• From Pemmer Harge on 2010-07-16 at 7:45pm:
  Massively superior to any Star Trek since the end of DS9. Indeed I'd go so far as to say it singlehandedly made Trek relevant again. Bravo.
• From wes on 2011-03-21 at 10:04pm:
  I agree that this movie was great as a summer blockbuster. It felt an awful lot like Transformers with all the action.
  
  JJ Abrams said that he wanted to make this Star Trek movie much more like Star Wars because he felt that the pace of Trek was a bit slow. I enjoyed getting to know the little bit about the characters in this setting that I could, but I sure hope there is quite a bit more of what we all knew and loved in the rest of Star Trek in the next film(s) -- commentary on humanity and morals. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Star Wars didn't even really deal much with morals and what it means to be human, did it? The original Star Wars trilogy had some good character development, not great character development.
  
  I really hope Abrams decides to get a real good story pinned down for this next film. Have something that makes more sense and that will allow depth for the characters (i.e. The Empire Strikes Back, The Wrath of Khan, DS9 episodes, etc.).
  
  I understand and will defend that this film was a good way to reintroduce the characters and launch into a new wave of films. However, now let's get back to what made Star Trek great.
  
  Kirk annoyed me at times. He's more of a jerk than he is confident and sure of himself. He didn't really show any leader qualities at all.
  
  Quinto did a MARVELOUS job portraying Spock. I'm glad he has signed on for the rest of the films. He should really get to develop his version of Spock a lot more.
  
  Having lived in Russia, I thought Chekov was great. The way he struggles with his accent and even his "Yomayo!" was PERFECT! I got a huge kick out of him.
  
  Zoe Saldana's Uhura really annoyed me. It seemed almost wrong for Uhura to be a major love interest of anyone. She's always had a quiet dignity about her, which was most appreciated. Now she's sassy and has a big role for no apparent reason.
  
  @Kethinov, How can we let Abrams and his writers hear our voice that he should be sure to go back to what made Star Trek great in the beginning -- social commentary? That's what it seems so many of us want to see.
• From Kethinov on 2011-03-22 at 12:35am:
  @wes The best way I know of is simply to be vocal on the internet about how a summer blockbuster is not the best way to ensure Star Trek's long term health either in the creative sense or in the fiscal sense. This movie may have been a success, but it will not sustain a long term rejuvenation of Star Trek as I have previously argued.
  
  Websites like this one do occasionally influence the creative direction of the producers, but only in extremely rare cases in my experience. I can count on one hand the number of times I have directly interacted with a producer or writer from any sci-fi show. Typically TPTB have their own vision and since most of this stuff is subjective anyway they can be difficult to influence.
• From EvanT on 2011-06-25 at 11:14pm:
  "it is not well understood why Spock can't simply go back in time to stop Nero from destroying the Kelvin"
  
  It's never implied that they can control where in time they'll get thrust. But that's hardly the issue. Consider this: N
  
  ero takes his ship and delivers it to the Tal Shiar of the past along with the hunk of red matter and his ship's historical and scientific database --> The Romulans conquer pretty much the whole galaxy in short order.
  
  The villain in this movie is portrayed as ridiculously stupid (you'd imagine he'd have enough time to cool off in 25+ years of waiting and do something constructive with all that technology and fire power), acts in distinctively non-Romulan fashion and he doesn't even act on the immediate threat (or we're not told about it). You know which star will go nova. Go and destroy it now in the past with the red matter so it's never a threat. There! You're wife's now safe. That's the least he could've done.
  
  Where's the delicious Romulan guile, duplicity and industriousness?
  
  Nope, we're treated instead to an unrealistic and monolithic slab of idiocy. And I might buy it if Nero was alone on the ship. But he had an entire crew with him. Where they ALL morons? No one had a more romulan-like idea on how to use their ship?
  
  But enough of that. All in all, it's sad that the premise had potential and the film was really well-made for an action movie. And it had enough effects and action scenes to please the general audience. But no, we just had to have a plot no longer than a single paragraph.
  
  In short: WASTED POTENTIAL
  
  I'm waiting for the second movie and I sincerely hope it won't be the final nail on the coffin and it won't completely alienate the fan base (and in the mean time, we're still waiting even for a rumour of a new TV show).
• From Cory on 2011-08-27 at 5:46pm:
  I'm sorry the more and more I read about these negative reviews of this movie, the more angry I get. Now listen, I've been watching Star Trek since I was born, literally, I was raised on the Trek Movies, in fact I know them more then I even know Disney!
  
  Now this movie was by no stretch of the imagination perfect, but a lot of things a lot of you bash the movie for just don't make any sense to me.
  
  First the Romulans being one dimensional cartoony villains. What do you expect people? These were miners, a ship full of minors, I'm not expecting General Chang Hamlet quoting here, they were simple minors who witnessed the destruction of there home world, and Romulans are established as emotional as it is, so of course they would try to blame Spock, of course they would be savages, insanity isn't supposed to make sense, honestly what do you expect here?
  
  How can people bash any of the minor characters, in TOS the only characters that were given ANY arcs were Spock, Bones and Kirk, this movie at least gave EVERYBODY some relevance and allowed them to do stuff.
  
  Guys, this next one is simple, Star Trek established thousands of times a multiverse exists. See TNG Parallels to confirm this, this is just a whole new universe they are asking us to follow, a perfect way to introduce a reboot by star trek standards.
  
  How can people bash this movie for not having moral implications but defend movies like Voyage Home? Voyage Home at the time was created EXACTLY for this reason, to bring in more of a main stream audience to Star Trek, and the plot was laughable, but that isn't the issue, the reason Voyage Home was so good was because it was a good movie first, entertaining, funny, and had you invested for most of it, just like this one.
  
  This movie did everything it needed to do, it gave us die hard trek fans something to fan-gasm about with all of the inside references only we can pick up, it gave us a great action popcorn flick which brought star trek into 21st century households, making it relevant again, and its not NEARLY as insulting as all of you make it out to be. Any nitpicks can be made about every, single, trek film, period.
• From Gul Darhe'el on 2012-01-27 at 4:49pm:
  If one’s expectation for any production named “Star Trek” is to be defined by work done prior that had the same label, then by all rights this movie should not be called “Star Trek”. “Star Cowboys”, “Extreme Galaxy Protectors”, or “Fast Times in the Milky Way” would seem more appropriate titles to this film. How could anyone give this movie the same name as a series that produced episodes like “Tapestry” or “The Visitor”? It is akin to labeling an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians as “Shakespearian”. For that reason, I think all the debate over whether or not this belongs in the established canon or is an alternate universe is pointless because this movie is simply not Star Trek. It is special effect drenched, soul-less fluff that will be forgotten as quickly as it was watched. The studio may get one or two more sequels out of this before its thrown in the scrap bin with the likes of Thor, Captain America, Transformers, or any of the other short term franchises built around CGI instead of real story-telling. The tragedy is younger generations that this movie was specifically made to target will associate this with Star Trek instead of TNG, DS9, Voyager, or even Enterprise.
• From jonnyskillz on 2012-02-24 at 8:12am:
  What about the erroneous use of the uniform emblem? It's used on the uss Kelvin and two decades later at Starfleet academy. The emblem on Starfleet uniforms (of the period before w.o.k.) is supposed to be referential to ones assigned starship. Ie t.o.s. doomsday machine or ent. In a mirror darkly II. It's possibly reconciled if the uss Kelvin were assigned the enterprise emblem (as no enterprise was commissioned at the time). So with the tragic and sudden destruction of the Kelvin, maybe as a tribute, Starfleet adopted the "enterprise" emblem fleet-wide. In the prime or original timeline, Starfleet adopted fleet-wide use of it to honor the enterprise's heroics with the resolution of the v'ger incident in t.m.p. also, didn't spocks mom die at birth as mentioned in part v (t.f.f.)? Other than that, I found jj abrams trek acceptable and even enjoyable.
• From neoteotihuacan on 2012-03-30 at 5:25am:
  @kethinov Thank you for this site. Its awesome.
  I was thinking that the world can use a Star Trek review site and, upon discovering you (through the Google) you follow through quite well.
  
  Now, about Star Trek 11...I feel I must take issue with some of the criticisms floating around the page here.
  
  - The Romulan ship could be designed anyway that it needed to be...I agree, it is odd (and remarkably, probably purposefully, reminiscent of the Romulan ship in Nemesis, as they are the same species/same time period, so the ship styles would naturally be related). But, importantly, spaceships even in reality have unique design requirements that are very different than craft that are meant to traverse atmospheres. That, combined with a fictional alien race (with its own fictional, alien mindsets) makes it plausible in my mind that an alien ship can be any shape or color it wants to be without any explanation whatsoever. Really, the thing I find most baffling in the universe of Star Trek (and all sci-fi, for that matter) is the covergent evolution of spacecraft design...I mean, does every single species in the galaxy build their starships with a bridge, for example? THAT seems odd to me.
  
  - Concerning your criticism that no one was surprised that Romulans and Vulcans favor, that would be because Earth already met the Romulans in war between 2156-2160.Its true, in canon, that no one human had seen a Romulan until Kirk's time. However, it is safe to assume that Humanity knew somethings about Romulans through intelligence gathering, and through their Vulcan friends.
  
  - As far as Spock's line about the supernova threatening the entire galaxy...I am willing to bet he meant that politically.
  
  - Delta Vega. Ya, they screwed that up. The TOS crew already encountered a Delta Vega, near the galactic barrier, which is NOT in the Vulcan system. But, let's say that there are 2 planetary bodies called Delta Vega. Why would the Vulcans name a moon in their system in a human language? Why not name it a Vulcan name? I thought this was kinda odd. This is a case of the writers not paying enough attention...and they have no excuse really, I mean the internet is right here.
  
  - Delta Vega is too close to Vulcan to NOT be destroyed. There can be no explaining this away. It is an oversight of the laws of physics suspended to show the audience a heartwrenching shot in the movie. And it was heartwrenching...at the time I was watching it I just couldn't believe the writers were that brave.
  
  - As far as the beaming stuff works...we can give fictional Scotty and fictional Spock the benefit of the doubt on that one, right? The Star Trek universe is filled with lots of technology that escapes explanation.
  
  - Agreed on the time of travel between Vulcan and Earth...obviously cut down to move the story along. Although, when they dropped out of warp...man was that a shot! Crazy stuff...
  
  - "The physics behind the portrayal of black holes in this film are a bit fuzzy at times"...to this I say, the physics of Star Trek in general is fuzzy at times!!
  
  
  Like many of you that have commented, I am torn by this movie. I loved watching it! It was really exciting; a great popcorn flick. Afterward, non-trek-types would discuss the movie and its fictional implications and, generally, are interested when I present them with back story. This 3rd Generation of Star Trek, as kethinov classifies it, has reignited the franchise to a degree. And this is worth celebrating.
  
  However, the movie does trample a bit on Roddenberry's golden rules. It stays true excellently to form for some characters, and poorly reinvents others (quite disappointed in Uhura's changes). Quinto's Spock is soooo awesome. Seriously. It does mention the point of Star Trek nriefly, in a bar with Pike and Kirk, but does not put this to the forefront as a good episode might. And the villains are terribly two-dimensional, a fault not just of this film but of almost every Star Trek film (all but I and IV have villains!! And only General Chang did not suck!). It is possible, in Star Trek to put together a great villain...Gul Dukat comes to mind. So, this isn't J.J. Abrams & Crew's fault; they were simply following form.
  
  While I look forward to more of this 3rd generation of Trek, I know that it will not be perfect. If a writer does happen to grace these comments and then goes on to write the next movie or TV series, then please let me say only two things that will put you on the right path to proper Trekdom:
  
  1) Star Trek is about the future of Humanity...it is a vessel to discuss current issues we currently face. It is not about 2D villains. Please reconsider the villain in the Star Trek universe. Its very outdated.
  
  2) Please research everything. Continuity is a pet peeve, I imagine, but it is held in high regard by Trek fans. I suppose it helps us to suspend disbelief. The internet is alive with Trek resources. THIS site is an excellent resource. So is the sprawling memory-alpha site. Google it, and you will please the fans.
  
  Thanks kethinov. The site is very great! Keep up the good work.
• From Glenn239 on 2012-10-19 at 3:12pm:
  QUOTE: I'll get my gripes out of the way first. I have never so far commented on other peoples ratings when I have put a comment on here, but who is giving the ratings of 10 for this movie??
  
  No problem, Bernard. I’ll tell you why I gave this one a ‘10’.
  
  The TNG movies were unmitigated dross from start to finish. VII was the worst pile of junk I’ve ever seen, and the others were not much better. The last good Trek movie was VI, arguably the best ST movie made and the posterchild for the argument that old age, and only old age , finished off the “Kirk” team.
  
  Now, just as Picard and his band of merry morons appear to have ‘double tapped’ the whole franchise out of existence with their painfully bad characters in painfully bad plots, along comes J.J. Abrams. He examined these unqualified atrocities against mankind and decides to ‘punt’ - rebooting the franchise from its original strength, as if Captain Shorty “Surrenderpants” Picard and his Care Bear friends never existed, (which, with a handy asteroid or two on some hometowns in the 2nd film, might even be arranged).
  
  I never cared for Roddenberry’s pompous vision of humanity, and therefore I do not respond to Star Trek’s fantastically tiresome lectures about what the human race shall become. J.J. Abrams got rid of all that pie-in-the-sky TNG ‘huggypants’ stuff and went back to basics. The plot of XI? Terrible. The action sequences? An unending blizzard of over-the-top, completely implausible sequences, (what, the 23rd century cop doesn’t know there’s a cliff coming and so will chase kiddie Kirk right off it? And what cliff like that is in Iowa? C’mon). But all that – beside the point.
  
  I gave this movie a ‘10’ because the rebooted characters are fantastic. The rebooted premise is fantastic. TNG has been expurgated from the face of the franchise. Most importantly, IT HAS BROUGHT THE STAR TREK BACK FROM THE DEAD. It made it cool again. The movie rocked with energy. Kids who walked out of “Nemisis” saying things like, “I wish the bad guy had phasered Riker’s smuggy face off” walked out of this movie saying things like, “That was COOL! When will the next one come out?” If that fact of revitalization, rebirth, of the series, if that alone doesn’t rate this movie at least and ‘8’ or a ‘10’, then one must care not whether the Star Trek franchise lives or dies.
  
• From Bernard on 2012-11-18 at 1:58pm:
  Thank you for your replies Glenn239 and Dave E
  
  These posters made responses to my question, "who is giving this movie 10 ratings?"
  
  So far the reasons seem to be as follows:
  
  1. Because it was better than TNG movies
  
  Well watching paint dry is better than a couple of the TNG movies so to me that's not much of a reason. Besides which I would like to think that you would rate this movie based on its own merits, not the problems of its predecessors.
  
  2. It's a non-stop action piece
  
  Does that mean that the three Bayformers movies are 10/10 movies? No? Didn't think so.
  
  3. The characters are fantastic
  
  I will concede this one, this movie is primarily about how characters deal with situations and how they react to them. But for me, the way you then get a 10/10 movie is to add those characters to a super plot!
  
  4. Fully engaged in what was going on.
  
  Yep, this movie does that. It moves at break neck pace to try to make you forget that it has a terrible plot and everything is horrendously contrived.
  
  
  I would like to mention that I do give this movie its due... it is a fantastic reboot, it is a fantastic summer action blockbuster with action aplenty. It has fantastic characters that you care about deeply after only meeting them briefly. It has emotionally charged and impactful scenes. It pays homage to what went before repeatedly. I do like it a lot! I therefore gave it a strong 8/10
  
  But I cannot give it a 10 because other films have all of these things AND more. Just look at Undiscovered Country or Wrath of Khan. That is why I wanted others to comment to see why exactly they had given it a 10. It seems they are very easily pleased! You guys must give a lot of movies 10's if those are the things you require to but it on your best ever list.
  
  It would be a boring place if we all agreed all the time though wouldn't it. :)
  
  As an aside, just quickly, because I like to look at numbers. Up above the fans ratings show a fan average rating of 6.53. To me, this is skewed by the number of raters that have chosen not to accept this movie as canon by giving it 0. Let's say we ignore all those 0's and also ignore an equal amount of 10's (so now 23 scores of 10). Now the fan rating average would be 7.71. A figure that I believe to be more in keeping with the actual level of this film.
• From k2spitfire88 on 2013-01-16 at 12:53am:
  One of the things I think are consistently overlooked in this movie is something I think is worth examining, that the Star Trek XI did, without being "In your face" about it, so to speak. That is, it addressed the issue of "Nature vs. Nurture". Which is more important to who you are? I think this movie looked at this in a very interesting way. Will Spock continue to embrace logic as he has in the past, attempting to be Vulcan as Vulcan as possible, ignoring his human heritage as much as possible, or will he embrace his human side, now that his mother is destroyed? I think there are some key character questions like this worth exploring. It may not be out in the front like some of the other movies, but they are there if you look for them, I think.
• From DK on 2013-04-25 at 2:12am:
  Wow, a lot to comment on for an old Trekkie like me.  Being an old Trekkie it's not hard to figure where I come down.  I can't imagine there are very many (any?) Trek fans over the age of 45 who appreciated the reboot vision this movie gave (for any of a number of reasons).  I understand why it was done; make a movie that appeals to as wide a range of moviegoers as possible.  
  
  Why make a movie?  Profit is usually highest on the list and the formula is clear.  The action aspect of this movie has been covered extensively elsewhere in this discussion.  I would add however that in this movie we see Kirk getting his ass kicked in the bar, then twice by Spock and also it is Sulu who saves Kirk in the fight on the drill (then it is Chekov who saves them both); even the villain in the movie gets a turn at Kirk.  I liked how Kirk use to win all the fights.  Hell, even Jean Luc won his share of fights.  This difference typifies my take on the rest of the film.
  
  Why wear uniforms and follow a command type structure if this is how everyone is going to act?  I'm not sure I have the writing skills to adequately describe my feelings about this one but was there any respect for the command structure followed by anyone at anytime?  I understand the need to not follow orders or question your superiors when the situation calls for it but shouldn't there be some structure and rules of conduct actually followed by a crew?  Which brings up Uhura.
  
  It's not Kirk, Spock and McCoy any longer.  Take out McCoy and add Uhura plus Kirk and Spock are now equals.  It seems it is now Spock's job to break Kirk like a horse.  Once again, I understand why this was done.  The formula now days must include a strong, sexy female character and we cannot have a solo leader without someone to question him and challenge his authority.  For better or worse, days of yeoman Rand are over.  And can you imagine the criticism TPTB would  have had to endure if they had Uhura just sitting there answering the phone for Kirk?  No, the wider audience now demands that she (or some other woman in the same mold) be front, center and in your face irrespective of previous character history.  Which also relates by the way to Kirk now being the ass-kickee rather than the ass-kicker and getting punked for his maneuver during the Kobayashi Maru simulation; it just doesn't fit with the standard of the day or, more to the point the  money making formula of the day. 
  
   The focus used to always be on how events and situations affect Kirk and to a lesser extent some of the others; you use to always be able to depend upon Kirk killing the bad guy and getting the girl in the end.  Add up all the other changes to the formula including all the continuity history and it's just easier to throw the baby out with the bath water and start over.
  
  But for the record.  Had I had the opportunityk to make the cash from this movie I'd have sold out too.  Hell, I'd have Uhura taking over the whole damn ship and running things her way if I thought I could appeal to just one more demographic (somehow this is likely to happen in the next movie or two anyway).
  
  For those of you who take issue with the tone of my words; your time is coming.  The times are changing on you too.  One day you will wake up to someone perverting something you are familiar and happy with to fit the times or turn a buck. May you have more grace than I.
  
  So, given the realities that must be followed if we are to get fresh Trek stories with Kirk as a character, is it better to have a perverted Trek or no Trek at all?  For me, I will watch the shows as long as I don't have to pay for them.
• From Moi on 2013-05-25 at 4:51pm:
  The worst plot hole is that Nero hangs around the worm hole exit for close to twenty years waiting for Spock but at no time in those twenty years does he take his advanced mining ship back to Romulus to warn them of the impending disaster and save his family.
• From Aki on 2013-11-22 at 6:16pm:
  In my opinion this movie is non canon due to Starfleet tactical mistakes.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

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

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Arianwen on 2010-08-07 at 11:29pm:
  I don't know, I find this episode very entertaining and good sci-fi. It seemed very original - no clichés that I noticed, and multiple plotlines. The idea of 'space distorting' and actually causing the psychosis that killed the Defiant's crew was interesting, and a welcome surprise (after innumerable episodes infested by mysterious diseases, finding a dead crew *not* killed by disease was quite a shock). The Defiant and the Captain being dragged into a parallel universe gave the plot added depth and complexity, not allowing the crew or us to focus on the one problem.
  
  It would have been nice, though, to see a little more of the Tholians. They too felt original - they actually *listened* to Spock's explanation! - and it's a pity we never hear any more from them. But I mark it as a sign of a good episode that I was left with questions rather than complaints.
• From Orion on 2011-09-05 at 2:50am:
  This episode felt like too many people were involved with the script. There's too many things going on, and their combined mass ends up hurting the storytelling.
  
  You got Tholians, but not much explanation about who they are
  
  You got an energy web, but almost no talk about what it actually does
  
  You got McCoy being belligerent toward Spock, with no real resolution to the conflict
  
  You got crew member turning hostile
  
  You got the captain floating around like a ghost
  
  Instead of having so many plotlines, they should have saved some of them for another episode. The plot about Kirk floating around the ship should have had the most playtime since it was the most creepy, but instead it takes a backseat to all the other stuff. All in all, I think Tholian Web was a missed opportunity.
• From Andrew Wiltz on 2012-04-08 at 3:15am:
  In episode 2 of season 3 of TOS, "The Enterprise Incident," it is established that Vulcans cannot lie.
  
  However, Spock rather blatantly lied directly to the captain in this episode. Spock is half human, so perhaps this rule (which may not even be a rule) doesn't apply to him.
• From Rick on 2014-04-01 at 5:09am:
  To the reviewer: yes of course the enterprise can measure visible light, its called the view screen (which is presumably fed by external cameras). I think when spock references "sensors" he is not including the view screen because obviously they are looking right at it.
• From Kethinov on 2014-04-01 at 5:46am:
  Rick, the point was it's pretty ridiculous to assume that the sensors can't measure visible light.
• From jd_juggler on 2015-04-19 at 6:46am:
  This is a typical low-budget third season episode. Not horrible, but well below average. Rather convenient, isn't it, that McCoy's hand passes through a man's body, and a table, but nobody's feet pass through the floor? Also, neither Uhura not Scotty mentioned that they could see through the captain, a rather important detail, I would think. It is also curious that Kirk's oxygen was running out - yet in TNG we learn that Scotty was trapped for decades in a "pattern buffer", apparently without needing oxygen at all. Also, just before Uhura saw the "ghost" captain, she was doubled over in pain - a symptom she appararently never discussed with the doctor. She seemed physically fine when she ran into McCoy in the hall, and aside from an apparent hallucination, she was nothing like checkov, the lab technician who attacked McCoy, and the crewman who flipped out in engineering, all of whom were completely out if their minds. So why was Uhura admitted to sick bay?
  
• From thaibites on 2015-07-30 at 7:03pm:
  This episode fails for me because of Bones. His treatment of Spock is absolutely ludicrous. He's just over the top, and Spock should've beaten the living crap out of him. But that's the whole problem with Bones always needling Spock - he knows Spock won't kick his ass. Bones takes advantage of this because he is a bully and a gutless coward.
  
  I grew up with TOS and remember not liking Bones' miserable, whining, bitch-boy attitude, and this episode makes me dislike him even more. Bones and Pulaski can both sod off!
• From Rick on 2017-02-17 at 3:05am:
  Kethinov: Yes, I get that. I just think when conversing on the bridge where time is of the essence, Spock need not tell Kirk that "every sensor other than the visible light which you can clearly see in the viewscreen cannot detect what is out there." I think we all understood what was going on.
  
  Hate to say it, but I think you missed this one again. The crew of the Defiant fell prey to the same space sickness that the crew of the Enterprise began to experience. We dont know why they stayed in that space for so long for the effects to happen, but it is a safe bet that it was to investigate the strange dimensional phenomena.
• From Chris on 2018-03-25 at 7:34pm:
  I'm in complete agreement with thaibites on McCoy. Bones should've been thrown in the brig for insubordination. Then Kirk should've kicked his ass once he was saved...
  
  Shatner gives another emotional speech similar though not as stirring as his in 'Return to Tomorrow'. I really liked the speech and one would expect that Bones would've followed his beloved hero's orders and obeyed Spock without question! Instead, he goes back to his whiny needling and should have been phasered into that other universe!!!
  
  Other than my gripes about McCoy the episode is great! He really ruined it though and makes it hard to sit through...
  
• From Michael Plunkett on 2019-10-21 at 3:25am:
  Spock lied to Kirk at end of episode????
  Spock was not human enough to lie and to lie to the captain would be a violation of his personal moral code and Star Flight regulation.
  How can Spock lie to Capitan Kirk????

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From 7 Of 14 on 2008-09-17 at 10:47am:
  An overall very enjoyable episode, but a few things just niggle away slightly:
  
  - OK, so Jo'Bril (the "dead" Takaran shuttle pilot) somehow finds a way to release himself from inside the morgue chamber, finds his clothes, leaves sickbay without being seen, makes his way to the science lab without being seen (‘dead Takaran walking!’), kills Dr Reyga the Ferengi, makes his way back to the morgue via sickbay and seals himself back in for another nap. Perhaps he did it during the midnight shift when zombies are free to move around unchallenged.
  
  - Later he again does this trick but also manages to beat Dr Crusher to a shuttlebay without being seen, gets to the shuttlecraft without being seen and gains access to the shuttle to hide inside the storage compartment.
  
  - Yes, it was great seeing Dr Crusher literally blow a hole in Jo'Bril, but then she totally disintegrates him thereby destroying the key evidence needed to prove her side of the story. We have the missing body of an alien already pronounced dead, an unauthorised autopsy on a Ferengi, a negative result from the Ferengi autopsy and a medical officer who has made unapproved use of a shuttlecraft. Perhaps Dr Crusher might have some problems proving what really happened? Still, I guess would I believe her.
  
  Perhaps all this is being a bit too picky; I still really liked the episode but just wanted to mention these little observations.
  
• From JRPoole on 2008-09-23 at 11:20pm:
  This is another strong episode. Finally Beverly gets an episode that doesn't focus on her sorrow. The science is interesting, as are the guest aliens, and the whole package works well.
  
  Some notes:
  Poor Nurse Ogawa. She's spent the past five years healing people's boo boos in the background and having things explained to her so the audience can follow the sickbaby technobabble. Finally she gets something to do here, even if it's clearly as a sidekick to Beverly
  
  It seems very common for Vulcans and humans to marry and mate. It was a big deal in Spock's day, but here it's just presented as nothing unusual. What must love and sex be like in a relatonship like this? What about the Pon Farr?
  
  Troi is largely absent from this one, no doubt because her empathic abilities would have complicated the plot--she'd know that the other scientists were't lying.
• From Mark McC on 2009-02-11 at 9:58am:
  I have to disagree on this one. When the best thing about a TNG episode is the Ferengi, something is off. The basic premise of the episode is OK, but the implementation is terrible.
  
  There's the already mentioned idea of a dead alien releasing himself from the morgue (is accidental diagnosis of death so common in the the future that they have emergency release buttons on the inside of freezer drawers?) and wandering around the ship without anyone noticing.
  
  How do the events at the end of the episode vindicate Crusher? She vaporised his body, so she ends up with absolutely no proof he was the murderer. In fact, the hijacking of a shuttle and blaming the murder on an dead alien whose body mysteriously vanishes puts her in an even more dubious position, and I doubt the Ferengi are going to accept the entire story based solely on her word.
  
  Again, we see that Worf is utterly incompetent as head of security. After Crusher resigns her position, the computer in sickbay locks her out of accessing an autopsy report that she herself wrote. That's what would be expected if an unauthorised person tried to access it, no problem there.
  
  Yet she can still walk straight into the shuttlebay and fly off in a shuttle without any problems. Not only that, but she is able to override the ship's command and control functions to prevent Worf from forcing the shuttle to return to the Enterprise. If the security on a few files in sickbay is better locked-down than the shuttlebay launch controls and the ship's command and control functions, then Worf really really should be demoted by now.
  
  Who ends up with the technology? I'd assume that the Ferengi would lay claim to it and start selling to the highest bidder. Instead it seems that, in a very uncharacteristic moment of generosity, they allow everyone else to use the technology for free, as Geordi seems to have access to it in later episodes. This makes the entire episode a bit pointless. Why go to all the trouble of murdering someone just to steal something that's going to be given away freely anyhow?
  
  In all, an interesting premise and a surprisingly good Ferengi character, but one of those episodes where the logic is so poor the whole thing quickly stops making any kind of sense.
• From Albert on 2009-07-07 at 5:45pm:
  I just watched this episode, maybe for the first time, I didn't remember it at all. It's rare that an episode stands out with such bad writing and directing, I wonder what happened here.
  
  Even the characters don't make sense, why would Crusher facilitate a scientific meeting that had nothing to do with medical research? Why would Picard barely react to Crusher's insubordination, and why would Riker pop up out of nowhere to tell her to "lay low"? Did a child win a contest where the prize was to write an episode of TNG?
  
  The only person who was apparently in-character was Guinan, and even she was totally ham-fisted. "But I don't play tennis!" Then the two point to each other, start to laugh, and we go out on a freeze-frame.
  
  I'd really like to know the story behind this episode, it even seems like the actors are doing a dry run-through, it's missing so many elements of a normal TNG episode.
• From thaibites on 2012-09-24 at 11:35pm:
  I really enjoyed this episode until it was over and I started to think about it. I wholeheartedly agree with 7 of 14's comments above. I couldn't have said it better myself.
  This episode reminds me of X-files where major aspects of the story are never explained. This was produced in 1993, so maybe the writers were trying to jump on the X-files bandwagon, which is a shame. I always thought Chris Carter was a lazy jerk-off that had no respect for his audience.
• From Quando on 2014-08-22 at 1:27am:
  Ugh. Hated this episode. It was like Murder She Wrote in space.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2009-02-24 at 4:38am:
  This episode should have won an Emmy or a Hugo for art direction; the ship is a cool idea and it's rendered beautifully. It's done so well I don't really mind the technical problems.
  
  
• From JRPoole on 2009-02-25 at 4:58pm:
  I wanted to add that the only problem I have with this episode is timing. The proverbial shit just hit the fan in the Delta Quadrant and the dominion pretty much destroyed the Tal Shi'ar (sp?) and the Obsidian Order. They alsod made it clear that the Federation and the Klingons were next. I find it a little hard to believe that Sisko would make a journey like this one with all this going on.
  
  The ship itself is awesome. I don't really mind the technical problems. We can rationalize that the lumber was for unexposed parts of the ship, and it might even be that the ship itself wasn't blasted into space or designed to return to Bajor through the atmosphere. Sisko seems obsesses with recreating it exactly, and it seems that the ship is already in space when he boards it. Perhaps the ancient Bajorans had rocket technology and assembled the ship in orbit somehow. Regardless, this is still a good episode, one of the most memorable stand-alone episodes in DS9, perhaps in all of Trek.
• From djb on 2009-10-28 at 6:59am:
  I liked this episode too, though it seems strange that an "ancient" Bajoran solar sailing ship would be sophisticated enough to be ... IN SPACE, yet not have an onboard computer navigation system. Kind of backwards.
  
  Anyway, I'm mainly commenting to complain about the spoiler you put in your review, about the future between Sisko and Yates. I did not know about this, as I am watching the episodes in order and have not seen much of DS9 at all before watching it now. I prefer to let the show unfold at its own pace and not know what happens later. Naturally a few spoilers are almost inevitable, but this was a big one and was unnecessary in my opinion. I enjoy reading reviews on your site, but will stop if you continue to put spoilers like that in.
• From Kethinov on 2009-10-28 at 10:40am:
  Sorry. :(
  
  You will see a few more here and there but they are rare and accidental. I've been working to strip them out.
  
  Be advised that comments posted on reviews will not be held to the same standard.
• From rpeh on 2010-07-29 at 8:30pm:
  The first time I watched this episode it really annoyed me. Second time around.... it annoys me a bit less.
  
  The technical problems with the solar sail make the whole idea cringe-worthy. Rigging? Rigging was for sailors to climb, not to adjust sails with! The sail is nowhere near large enough and far too complex. Compare to the more sensible description of a sail used for manned transport in The Mote in God's Eye (book) where the sail is roughly as large as a moon. More, you don't just gain propulsion from light, you gain it from the solar wind - and you can't tack against it. It's like this whole script was written by somebody who had heard the phrase but never got beyond that. You can even hear the "wind" rippling the sails in the exterior shots, and the "fireworks" in space at the end. Good grief!
  
  On the sail ship, they consult paper charts. This is in a series where huge storms appear with no warning just about anywhere, yet the charts are treated as accurate. Jake refers to losing the "jib and port mailsail". Just.... look that up so I don't have to describe how wrong it is. I could honestly write about another 1000 words about the technical problems here.
  
  The timing, as another poster mentioned, is just awful! From full-on, 100% action we get to an episode where the characters have to fill time by mentioning there's no sound, not even an engine! You can almost hear the gears on the DS9 engine grinding as the change-down occurs.
  
  Second time around, the timing issue didn't matter as much, but it made me watch the B-plot more, and... it doesn't really exist. A few scenes with no real character development.
  
  The technical issues are almost inexcusable! We *know* how to make solar sails, so the details can be accurate for once! The other plot details are inconsequential. But... somehow I quite like this episode. If this had been a TNG show, there'd have been loads of preaching nonsense. In this show, it just happened. I'll give it a 5.
  
  Okay... I'll stop ranting now.
• From Popescu on 2010-08-24 at 11:03pm:
  People, please stop whining about this episode, especially about the science behind it.
  
  I've just watched the special features released for each season of DS9 and the guy who created the solar sailing ship described these issues and why he choose to make it that way. He was aware of the things you are posting about here.
• From John on 2011-09-13 at 11:13pm:
  blah blah blah the science is all wrong blah blah blah WHO CARES!?
  
  This is a delightful and very well-done character-driven episode focusing on Ben and Jake Sisko. I have always loved the way the writers dealt with the Sisko family relationships, and the way Avery Brooks and Cirroc Lofton (and later Brock Peters too) portrayed it. I realize that some folks don't particularly care for the Jake character, but I've always liked him. His presence helps add depth to the otherwise straight-up badass Sisko. Don't get me wrong -- I love badass Sisko -- but it's nice to know that's not all that he is.
  
  This episode isn't about the science of solar sailing, it's about bonding between father and son. If you can watch it with that in mind, and ignore the "bad science", you'll actually enjoy it quite a bit.
• From Shaa on 2012-04-07 at 9:18pm:
  But, and please bear with me, what about the freaking sails? Why were they necessary? According to Newton, without friction, that ship would go just fine without a need for sails. Also, when they jumped into Warp, they should've stayed at that speed. The sails wouldn't have slowed them down, there would be no friction causing resistance in the sails to slow the ship down. They should've flown forever. Also, how would the ancient Bajorins have taken off??? No motor, just sails, how would they achieve any sort of upward motion? I am so confused! Am I not understanding some underlying concept here. Because based on my high school knowledge of physics, this doesn't make sense.
• From Lt. Fitz on 2012-06-26 at 12:10am:
  I've noticed a few times in Trek when an engine goes out or power is lost, space vehicles slow down. It's hard for my mind get past this, but I just have to accept that it's the physics in the Trek universe. Space has friction.
  
  I really loved this episode. I said to myself as soon as it was over, "This was a great character-driven episode, not a great sci fi episode."
• From Gul Ranek on 2012-12-26 at 11:17am:
  The solar sail is actually based in real world science - the Sun emits a stream of particles (mostly electrons and protons) which could actually propel a craft. See more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail
  
  This was a decent character episode, and I agree that it was a bit out of place compared to the events of the previous two episodes, but so are the next three episodes before the season finale, I guess.
  
  While I love every appearance of Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo is simply brilliant in the role), I was surprised when the Cardassian government threw a firework display and so openly congratulated Bajor on their accomplishment. I expected for Dukat to have the lightship towed back to DS9, saying that it violated Cardassian space, or something to that extent.
• From Dstyle on 2013-10-24 at 6:32pm:
  I don't want to jump on the "bad science" bandwagon, but... the solar ship jumps to warp, faster than the speed of light, and somehow Jake and Sisko DON'T end up splattered to bits all over the back of the ship? So I guess the ancient Bajorans didn't have the technology to create an artificial gravity net, but they somehow had inertial dampeners?
• From Dubhan on 2014-07-20 at 4:55am:
  What? No mention of the fact that this is the episode where Sisko "grew the beard!?"

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-05-21 at 11:54pm:
  I LOVE IT when they show the shift changes, and imply that data just mans the ship at night since he doesnt need sleep. That was cool when riker and the first shift people came to relieve him
  
  I have always disliked Star Trek's extremely blatant disrespect for religion. Every so often they make an episode like this that is poorly disguised, and is a slap in the face of organized religion, reducing it to the "opiate of the masses" concept. But then again, I'm glad that the writers are not straying from Roddenberry's beliefs, even if I do disagree with them.
  
  All in all, an okay episode.
  
  Problem: There's no way in hell that blood on a hundreds of years old dagger still retains its nucleic acid conformity. The base pairs would have disassociated long before. Sorry, nice try, but you can't fool a biochemistry major.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-06-04 at 2:01am:
  Rightful Heir is a better than average episode. We get to see a spiritual location of the Klingon Empire, although the outside shots of the monastery look fake. We get to learn more about Khaless, a figure mentioned for several more years on TNG and DS9. The plot moves at a nice pace and Gowron is excellent, as always.
  
  Good episode - 7
• From Guv on 2008-07-29 at 2:12am:
  I have never respected Gowron nor disrespected Worf as much as this in any prior episode. Worf is far too quick to believe in spiritualistic nonsense. I cannot believe the writers made Worf appear "skeptical" in the eyes of other Klingons, because he was obviously quite ready to believe.
  
  Even though he represents the spirit of the Empire, I do not believe it is an honorable solution: they all believe in a lie. How is that honorable?
  
  A memorable episode, but disappointing in its philosophy. I'd give it a 6/10.
• From Remco on 2008-08-13 at 1:34am:
  In contrast to other reviewers, I find this episode to be highly respectful towards religion. It is not a parody of Christianity. It represents a realistic view of religion.
  
  If you don't think TNG plays it "straight" with the beliefs of Worf and the Klingon race, then I don't know how any episode could do justice to religion and the effect it has on people.
  
  You must realize that this episode says nothing about whether the Klingon religion is "false" or "true". That answer is just not given. We only know that many people believe that Khaless will once return.
  
  The people won't believe in a lie, because the people are being told the whole truth. Every Klingon will know that their new emperor is a clone of Khaless, but also the rightful heir. There is nothing a lie about that. It's just the way the prophecy turned out.
  
  Whether they choose to believe he is the real messiah, well, that's up to them. Just like with Jesus. The Jewish are also still waiting for the real messiah.
  
  I can't think of this episode other than very very good. It doesn't try to answer the question whether "God" exists, which really isn't that important. It just takes a look at the human (well, Klingon) side of religion.
  
  I am an atheist, but still I think Jesus would be proud of this episode. If only he could be cloned...
• From JRPoole on 2008-09-29 at 9:42pm:
  Gowron is the shit. I love his adamant denial that this is the real Kahless, and I love his bow at the end when he realizes its best for the empire. Top notch stuff. Can you imagine the kind of shit-storm that would ensue if Catholic Church cloned Jesus from the shroud of Turin?
• From Jamie on 2010-06-25 at 1:22pm:
  What's the only thing worse than a Klingon? Two Klingon's "talking" for 40 minutes.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Remco on 2008-11-30 at 5:29pm:
  I really liked the episode, but I find the conclusion to be somewhat lacking. After Janeway's threat in the previous episode, I didn't expect Voyager to just fly away after this. They killed one of their crew after all! The episode wouldn't have ended like this if for example Paris was killed.
  
  I find the Vidiians and their problem intriguing. I would like to see more of them. After two episodes, we've only seen two "harvester scientists", which is slightly one-sided. ;) But there's surely enough characterization there for another episode.
  
  Another reviewer (Jammer) had a nice observation:
  
  "The scene where human-B'Elanna reveals all of this to Paris is very absorbing (until Paris' extremely stupid line, "I guess you finally got your wish," upon which B'Elanna should have promptly strangled him)."
  
  :)
• From faced on 2011-08-19 at 8:28am:
  I don't know what was more of a remarkable scene, seeing a fully Klingon Torres, or seeing a fully human Torres, vulnerable and scared and conciliatory : ) This was a really fantastic idea for an episode and it was well-executed.
• From Damien Bradley on 2016-12-28 at 12:43am:
  I'm not normally a Torres fan, for whatever reason, but I liked what they did with her here. I liked the concept of two conflicting aspects of a person being embodied and able to speak and argue with each other. Very existential. One of them died. Which is the real Torres? Good acting on Dawson's part.
  
  It occurred to me watching this that Klingons might not feel fear the way humans do. That's why they're so bold; they're literally fearless. So B'Elanna, at least to a degree, isn't used to feeling fear. When she finally does as a full human, she's incapacitated, and Tom has to point out that for humans, courage is feeling fear and acting despite it. To me this means humans almost have an advantage over Klingons in this way: They experience fear and learn to overcome it!
  
  I liked the consistency in Tom's character. I think despite his attempts at a bad boy persona, he actually cares. He tries to be comforting to people, sometimes succeeds, but often comes from a place of reasoning with them somehow rather than empathizing. There's a time for each of those, and he doesn't always know the difference.
  
  I wish they had thought to save that nice Talaxian who helped them. Or anyone else there, for that matter. The Vidiians were enslaving and murdering people. I feel for them, but the phage doesn't excuse their behavior. And the redshirt death was disappointing.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Mike C on 2020-02-02 at 7:12am:
  It's not horrible, but the writing and script is not great so far. It's better than Discovery, but all I want is a return to the classic episodic, alien-of-the-week format that Star Trek is known for. I also want less dramatic fluff/filler.
  
  I suppose streaming has killed that format, though. The media corporations are addicted to producing binge-watching material now. If everything in an episode is tidily wrapped up in 45-60 minutes, there's less incentive for the viewer to immediately watch the next episode.
  
  It would also be nice for there to be a more overall hopeful feeling to it, rather than constant conflict. That's why I loved Star Trek while growing up. There was always some kind of conflict, but it also always wrapped up in a way that filled me with optimism and faith. That doesn't seem to exist in modern Trek. It's all bad, all the time.
  
  Oh, and there's way too much verbal exposition so far. That's one of the hallmarks of lazy/inept writers.
  
  Rating: Meh/10

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From technobabble on 2010-11-26 at 8:27am:
  After much lamenting of kethinov about human looking aliens with minonr cosmetic or no visual differences at all finally we get a reptilian hissing barbarian! It may look like a fake guy in a foam suit to our CGI spoiled minds 40 yrs later but dammit in 1967 TV this was hot!
  
  I enjoyed the Gorn hissing & chuckling to himself while he laid traps, his slow but unrelenting brutishness & this ep was also originally penned by the great scifi writer Frederic Brown.
  
  The enduring theme of this simple combat piece was you may encounter enemies whom you may want to hate & destroy in anger & revenge but even they may have legitimate reasons behind their violence.
  
  The metrons were portrayed by an androgynous girly dude but after 1500 yrs alive I would consider primitive sexual appearances rather pointless as well...lol.
  
  Factoid: Both Shatner & Nimoy suffered for years from tinnitus (chronic ringing of the ears) from pyrotechnics explosions that went off next to them in the Cestus III scenes.
• From Ryan on 2012-06-14 at 7:11am:
  I used to agree with your opinion that there are too many all powerful beings on TOS. Then I remembered Who Watches the Watchers and I changed my mind. Picard's line is something like, "any sufficiently advanced race would seem all powerful." In this context, I think all of the supposedly all powerful beings are well used in TOS. It stands to reason that there are many races that are far more advanced than we are, and using Picard's logic, they would appear to be all powerful. Therefore, I dont think the multitude of "all powerful beings" on TOS is misplaced in the Star Trek Universe. What do you think?
• From ChristopherA on 2012-07-12 at 12:41pm:
  I loved this episode when I was a kid. Watching it again as an adult, the execution of the episode seems more awkward than I remembered, but it is still a classic.
  - The sluggishness of the Gorn doesn't bother me. The concept is that the Gorn has much greater strength and toughness, the human much greater speed.
  - You are right that the scene where the Gorn removes the rock from Kirk, letting him escape, is quite strange to watch. Maybe the Gorn made a mistake in the heat of battle because he instinctively assumed his foe could remove the rock at any time and was just going to use it as a trick of some sort.
  - Kirk’s final solution is cool. But we've seen the Gorn survive being buried under a falling rock that must weigh several tons, and keep going. I found it somewhat challenging to believe that a creature with such comic-book toughness could be killed by Kirk’s silly improvised weapon, at a distance, while Kirk's fragile human body, at point blank range to the explosion, is unharmed. As you mention, those materials must have been just perfect for the job.
  - Although it seems a shame we learn so little about the Gorn, I believe this may be necessary. At the end of the story, much of the force of Kirk’s morality is his decision to spare an opponent he knows little about and who has repeatedly tried to kill him. If the audience had been given enough back story to already be sympathetic to the Gorn, that scene would lose much of its effect.
  - The Gorn seem to be rather ineffective at the art of war. They trick the Enterprise crew into beaming down into a trap. But the trap is pathetic, just a weak, ineffective mortar barrage that does little more than scare the landing party. Kirk then responds with a Federation mortar of enormous power. If the Gorn had an equivalent weapon – or even taken the Federation weapon when they destroyed the colony earlier – or laid a booby trap, or just done anything effective – Kirk would have been killed. Then again, the Enterprise really should have been able to detect that Cestus III was destroyed before Kirk beamed down. It seems they really wanted to film a scene of Kirk beaming down to a destroyed base while bracketed with explosions, whether it made sense or not. And it was a pretty cool scene!
  
• From warpfactor 10.1 on 2012-09-12 at 11:05pm:
  Why has Sulu got that ridiculous slick of hair on his forehead? What is he thinking? Even when the Enterprise is in danger of imminent destruction he continues with his absurd new look.
  
  I'd like to see the Metrons take on the Providers from 'Gamesters of Triskilion'. See how they like it.
  
  Having said all that it's a great episode and just shows how better things were before CGI. Nothing ever looks quite right to me with CGI.
  
  Once again the deaths of hundreds of people seems to be no big deal. Couldn't the gorn (gorns?) have tried explaining to the outpost that they were trespassing before wiping them out? I certainly wouldn't be falling over myself to invite them into the Federation.
• From zerothis on 2012-09-22 at 3:52am:
  Problem: Or rather just odd. The Metrons are remarkably adept at covering, dramatizing, and producing steady in focus shots of live events with multiple 2D invisible cameras.
  
  The Metron's "Does my appearance surprise you captain" could have answered:
  "Well no, not really. most aliens I've meet lately look a lot like humans and some of them look like kids"
• From Alan Feldman on 2013-02-12 at 5:22am:
  ARENA
  
  I'm a little puzzled by the Metrons' rationale for all this. Instead of letting our heroes and the Gorns fight it out for themselves, the Metrons have the captains fight it out man-to-Gorn, and they will destroy the ship of the loser. Either way there will be death and destruction. The only differences are that 1) the death and destruction will be on only one of the two sides, and 2) we get a show out of it. How is their option any more civilized? Well, maybe there will be a little less death and destruction their way, and perhaps quicker, more merciful deaths. Still.
  
  Contrast this to what the Organians did in "Errand of Mercy".
  
  Why didn't the Gorns put up a NO TRESSPASSING sign? Why didn't they go to Cestus III and say, "Uh, excuse me? This is our place. Would you kindly pack up your stuff and leave?" Or, they could have charged rent!
  
  It must have taken a considerable amount of time to set up Cestus III. Where were the Gorns then?
  
  When Kirk launches the blue grenade, he aims it to his left while Kelowitz says the enemy is to his right, or did I miss something? Maybe the launcher puts a wicked spin on the blue ball? Regardless, it looked and sounded pretty cool when it went off! The (unexploded) blue balls looked pretty cool, too.
  
  How did the ships transport their crews up when they were at an extreme distance from Cestus III? I really didn't like this.
  
  Spock is on his respect-for-sentient-life kick again. Kirk is right. You don't let murderers walk free just because it won't raise the dead.
  
  I don't know why, but the Gorn works as a scary opponent for me. Maybe it's the "sneering, growling, hissing" noises he makes. Whatever it is, I think he looks pretty cool. Oh, I love the expression he makes when the big boulder is about to clobber him! Speaking of the big boulder, how did Kirk aim it so accurately?
  
  AEF, a.k.a. betaneptune
• From DK on 2013-04-24 at 12:03am:
  I'm not certain I understand the motives of the Metrones.  It sounded like to me their goal was to stop interference.  I assume this means alien interference with the Metrones; either from the Federation or the Gorn.  I can think of several ways better than the one they chose to accomplish this goal but really, how was anybody interfering with the Metrones in the first place?  Had the Metrones simply let the two ships fly on by nobody would have interfered with them.  And, if their was a goal to teach some sort of lesson, what was the lesson learned by a personal battle followed by the destruction of one or the other of the ships?  And, of there was no lesson; just a 'less large' version of the ship to ship battle that was going on then the Metrones don't have much moral authority to begin with.  I didn't explain myself very well but I just don't understand where the Metrones were coming from.
  But, never mind; this episode is a cult classic.  You could put a picture of the rubber-suited Gorn right next to a Tribble or the Enterprise herself as an icon of the TOS franchise.
  As with 'The Galileo Seven' Star Trek really needed to make their rocks heavier; at least heavy enough to keep from wiggling when touched.  A light breeze would have sent them flying!
• From Scott Hearon on 2014-03-21 at 12:23pm:
  I agree with nearly all of Kethinov's opinions here. Like many of these early episodes, this one had some strong elements, but also several missteps and missed opportunities.
  
  The look of the Gorn is goofy, to be sure, but I was willing to overlook that due to the effects and budget of the time. Once he starts moving and fighting, though, I had to laugh. How do these creatures react during a space duel between ships? Just pray that they don't have to make a fast turn? Pretty poorly thought out, that little detail.
  
  And once again, the godlike beings. This is now back-to-back episodes that feature such beings. Boring. Having one unimaginably powerful race of creatures as part of the mythos is very intriguing. When you start having two, three, and more, it starts to get dull. It's also a very weak plot device.
  
  Once again, though, a strength is seeing how Spock's reactions contrast with his very reactionary shipmates.
• From themadworld on 2014-05-21 at 5:28am:
  I'm not fond of this one. There's plenty of good ideas, particularly the idea that the Gorn weren't in the wrong, but the arrival of the Metrons (aka, superior beings #473) really ruined for me.
• From Jim Potter on 2017-09-28 at 8:59pm:
  This classic episode is much more than filler, although the crew watching TV is a bit lame, there should have been another story thread on the ship, perhaps inadvertently caused by the Metrons, involving a 'ticking clock' situation to ramp up the tension even more.
  
  This episode is based on a classic short story by Frederick Brown. SPOILERS In that story, the 'Godlike' aliens realise that the two races will fight a long war and destroy each other. By intervening at least one race will survive. In the story, the human wins and has his memories of the Arena erased, The enemy ships all blow up and their race is extinguished, but the humans don't know why. There is a talking lizard in the story, but it is not the enemy.
  
  The Star Trek version improves on the original story by allowing Kirk to force the Metrons to allow a different outcome.
  
  That the all-powerful Metrons are portrayed by an apparently physically weak androgynous figure is a great move. (even if Trek does it too often).
  
  Kirk referring to the planet as an asteroid is a throwback to the original story which was set on an asteroid and may have been a production error...
  
  The opening battle was an excellent dramatic move, especially while the real war in Vietnam was unfolding nightly on the news.
• From Chris on 2018-01-30 at 1:26am:
  I grew up in Trinidad and Tobago and as kids, we made bamboo cannons all the time! They were awesome and could hurl tennis balls 100yds at least!
  
  Look them up on TouTube.
  
  Either way... there are a lot of problems with this episode aside from those mentioned!
  
  My biggest...
  
  "Mercy is an 'Advanced Quality'"?!?!? Is this idiot serious?
  
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From rhea on 2008-04-27 at 8:55pm:
  It is hard to find things to criticize about this episode. The plot is for once entirely believable. The story unfolds gradually, which adds just the right amount of suspense. A wonderful spy story - a blend of suspense, humor and action - yet not lacking in depth, because unlike many action based spy stories it does deal with the emotional implications that such missions often must include (for Spock and the Romulan Commander).
  
  For once it is not Kirk who gets the girl. There is a beautifully subtle yet captivating eroticism to Spock's encounter with the commander, which is very sensual and essentially mind-based, as opposed to Kirk's usually very physical approach. And it's all the better for it. As a result the short exchange between the two in the end of the episode is very touching and very believable (much more believable than many of Kirk's supposed "true loves"). The not-yet love affair ends not in hatred, but in an honest acknowledgement of something that might very well have been were it not for the circumstances.
  
  Kirk is again in con man mode, something I always love to watch. Both Kirk and Spock seem to have a remarkable talent for espionage and acting, it is a joy to watch them lay the trap. And even McCoy and Scotty get a little screentime. An outstanding episode indeed.
  
• From Rising Isis on 2012-07-08 at 6:44am:
  I came to know Star Trek TOS and instantly became a Trekkie as a child. Because of the blessing of the Internet, I am reconnecting with what feels like old friends, by endeavoring to methodically watch all the episodes of all three seasons. The Enterprise Incident is one I must have missed.
  
  Perhaps it's as a result of reviewing the Star Trek storybook now through the eyes, heart, mind and physicality of adult experience. But what I find to be the most memorable episodes are those that deliver a relationship story with universal themes of love and intimacy that touch my soul with a lasting impression. In this episode, yes, there is the intrigue of espionage. But what I find most intriguing is the character development of genuine admiration, cultural kinship and intellectually seductive intimacy between Spock and the Romulan Commander.
  
  Plus, I knew the taciturn Mr. Spock truly has a gift with words worth listening to when he does speak. But I did not know that Spock was such a deft Mack Daddy with a mind blowing rap for a lady! I agree with Rhea that their interaction displayed "beautifully subtle yet captivating eroticism." As a nerd myself, I found their encounter, intellectual exchange and sensual touching of the hands to be hot!
  
  Very importantly, Spock skillfully navigated his espionage role in what turned out to be a mind field of intimate deception with his principles intact. When you look back, he remained a truthful gentleman through it all. This made Spock's final assurance to the Commander, when she was in doubt, that their encounter deeply touched him in a meaningful way which he would never forget believable, tender and loving. Consequently, he provided a means whereby the Commander could look back in review fondly, and he supported her ability to go forth with her dignity intact. This made Spock's closing presentation to the Commander in the finale a generous, healing and honorable act of compassion.
  
  The writers did real good here, in my opinion. The role for Spock is an outstanding character study on a high-caliber balance of duty, personal integrity and respectful relationship intimacy. This episode left this audience member with an unforgettable impression and a warm place in my heart, indeed!
• From Alan Feldman on 2012-11-18 at 6:42pm:
  The Enterprise Incident
  
  Definitely a fun episode, but it does have some problems. It was indeed well executed, and starts out great, but then goes down to only good.
  
  The Romulan commander always sound a little nervous, no? Maybe it's just me.
  
  During the meeting in the briefing room, after being asked how the Romulans could so easily sneak up on them, Spock says, "I believe the Romulans have developed a cloaking device". But we, and the entire crew, already knew that from "Balance of Terror", two seasons back. On top of that, Star Fleet knew, too. They were the ones who initiated the plan!
  
  How did Star Fleet know that there was enough of a chance to pull this off to be worth taking such a big risk? To have Spock all but seduce the Commander (and to know her gender!), to find the device, get past the guards (all two of them), quickly remove the device, know it was light enough to carry, get back to the ship with it, install it on the Enterprise in only a few minutes and know it would work, seems like a rather unlikely sequence of events to me.
  
  And this gives the Romulans a good excuse to start a war -- based on "Balance of Terror", anyway.
  
  Why did the Romulans wait for Spock to recite his "statement" before attacking? They could have destroyed the Enterprise and then done the statement bit.
  
  Why were the ships of Klingon design? I read that it was because the designer of the Romulan "bird of prey" ship got pissed off about something and destroyed all the models!
  
  AEF
• From Scott Hearon on 2014-04-11 at 1:19am:
  I thought this was a great episode. Although it did become clear, even before the big reveal, that Kirk and Spock were playing at something, it really wasn't clear exactly what it was. This kept me thoroughly interested.
  
  When we DID learn that it was all a ploy to steal the cloaking device, we then had the interesting interactions between Spock and the Romulan commander (I love the fact that it was a woman - I'm guessing that was a bit progressive for the 1960s).
  
  Like most of the very best episodes that I've seen, this one features an antagonist who is fleshed out much more clearly than the many 1-dimensional villains that we've had to deal with. The mutual respect offered between the commander and Spock and Kirk is extremely satisfying.
  
  Great episode, no doubt.
• From jd_juggler on 2015-03-23 at 11:56pm:
  I will admit that this was one of the better episodes, but it did have its problems. As someone here already wondered, how did they know that the romulan captain was a woman? If they didn't, what was the plan?
  
  In the deadly years, we are told that romulans do not accept surrender, and we are led to believe that the enterprise and its crew would be completely destroyed. But in this episode, apparently the capture of the enterprise intact would have a great career move for the romulan captain. In addition, she seemed sincere in her offer to spare the lives of the crew of the enterprise. Was she lying? Surely she couldn't have expected Spock to be her ally (and more) if the enterprise crew was put to death.
  
  This episode makes it clear that Spock CAN tell a lie; speaking of Kirk, Spock said: "he is not sane".
  
  Again, someone already mentioned this, but it bears repeating: the enterprise plan required the assumption that the cloaking device was portable, and could be carried by one man. More importantly is the assumption that Scotty could figure out how to install it so that it could work for the enterprise. "Mr. Scott, even though this is alien technology, developed completely independently of earth technology (and most likely independent of ANY technology known to ANY member of the federation, we expect you not only to figure out how it works, but also to make it work for the enterprise in what might be a matter of minutes. If you can't, then probably you and everyone else on this ship will die. No pressure."
  
  Wouldn't the romulan ship have its shields up, so that the transporter wouldn't work to beam Spock off the ship? And when the romulan captain grabbed Spock when she realized he was being beamed off the ship, what did she THINK would happen? Either she would become a captive (if the enterprise escaped) or she would be killed (if the enterprise was destroyed). For that matter, why hadn't romulans already taken over the enterprise, ejecting all members of the crew from the bridge, engineering, auxiliary control, and anywhere else they could regain control of the ship ?
• From Chris on 2019-01-13 at 12:34am:
  Most of these comments are spot on so I need not rehash my take of the episode... much.
  
  My biggest complaint is Kirk, as a Romulan, still had his hair quaffed like Kirk, and not like a Romulan at all. His hair should've been dyed black and combed down etc. etc...
  
  He looked stupid IMO.
  
  I would surmise that Starfleet had actionable intel on the cloaking device to make the mission worthwhile in the first place.
  
  To risk a starship and its crew for this without rock-solid knowledge of the device they intend to steal, would obviously be insane.
  
  I imagine that the Romulan intelligence services were thoroughly thrashed after the Enterprise got away and lots of spy suspects were executed or sent to gulags for the fun of it.
  
  Obviously, this device is a massive refinement of the one in Balance of Terror. It does not consume massive amounts of energy and is capable of cloaking huge ships like Klingon Birds of Prey instead of those puny little Warbirds with their massive weapons.
  
  The Romulans were far more magnanimous than Kirk and his crew as far as negotiations went. They offered (sacrificed) two of their crew for no good reason and that made me cringe even as a child. Then suddenly Scott declares that they are no longer hostage exchange pawns but are now prisoners to be sent to the brig. These two guys have done nothing! I dunno, it just bugs me.
  
  The Romulans should have just blown the enterprise out of the sky.
  
  As an adult, the notion of a part of space to be avoided for the 'Next, however many, Solar Years' due to Corbamite contamination seems beyond preposterous. We know that Space is a VERY deadly place, to begin with! That Corbomite stuff must be some seriously bad radioactive Juju!
• From Alan Feldman on 2022-08-26 at 12:46am:
  Round 2: Starfleet sticks it to Kirk yet again: KIRK: That's what this whole masquerade was about. To keep the Enterprise and the Federation off the hook.
  
  Yes, it's very accommodating of Kirk to take 100% of the risk. But it does make for a great opening, with Kirk going mad and such. Only works once, though. Perhaps the all-time winner of the scene to spoil.
  
  And this isn't the only time Starfleet was dick-ish: A Taste of Armageddon (the dick-ish diplomat), The Alternative Factor (for not giving Kirk any reinforcements), Amok Time, The Ultimate Computer (for the stupid idea of insisting most of Kirk's crew leave the _Enterprise_), For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky, The Way to Eden (for one Tongo Rad's father being in high places), Turnabout Intruder (for not allowing women to be starship commanders).
  
  I like the way Tal talks.
  
  Joanne Linville is a most welcome guest star.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From EKH on 2007-12-05 at 7:32am:
  So why did they rematerialize Omega?
• From Thomas on 2009-10-08 at 10:35pm:
  Wasn't that a bit unfair to the species which is doomed after their meeting with Voyager?
• From packman_jon on 2012-07-06 at 4:32am:
  Not the most entertaining, but this episode brings up a few thoughts, like the practical application of the Prime Directive. I don't get why the episode is getting a lot of low ratings - it's a fairly decent one
• From TheAnt on 2013-09-25 at 11:14pm:
  If you who read this have a 101 on science, or do wish that a story should be made believable as the actors at least appear to talk about actual science.
  Then ... stay clear of this episode and pretend it never happened.
  
  To hear the recurring term 'molecule' is annoying, since what it is referred to either have to be one elementary particle - or a super heavy element.
  
  Sp sadly it is one of the episodes where using the wrong term make me bite my nails up to my elbows.
  A 'molecule' is a compound of two or several elements. As such it could provide chemical energy - which falls far short of nuclear energy.
  
  This is completely inconsistent with the claims
  
  of the Borg who are said to have studied one Omega for a trillionth of a nanosecond. The short lifetime suggest Omega is either a super heavy element or one rare elementary particle.
  
  Then the storytelling make an even deeper plunge into pure nonsense when we get to learn that Omega were a primary source of energy for the Big bang. Matter in any form, elementary particles, super heavy element even less molecules cannot exist before the Big bang, so how the heck could Omega have been powering it?
  
  Sadly it's just one example where the scriptwriters failed to come up with a believable story, and just a short reading on some wild speculations in theoretical physics could have provided some really good alternatives to use.
  Such as 'quagma' which is a quark-gluon plasma which could have such dangerous properties as is described here.
  
  
  
• From L on 2013-12-29 at 1:54am:
  If it existed for a fraction of a second and then obliterated the research station where it was discovered, how do they know what was responsible, as surely all the data of the experiment would have been destroyed? There would have been absolutely nothing to indicate what was responsible, it may as well have been spontaneous combustion or act of god.
  I suppose this means experimental data records are streamed live to remote servers, and they are capable of recording things that happen in fractions of fractions of a second.
  
  And one trillionth of a nano-second is not 'stabilised' by any stretch of the imagination.
  Unless they want us to believe its 'natural' existence is even less than that.
  Really just an excuse for a cool line that shows how insane this 'molecule' is, nevermind the logic.
  
  Whatever, I guess it's a fun premise for an episode, if implausible.
  
• From L on 2013-12-29 at 2:56am:
  This made me interested in how we detect short-lived particles, so my lack of knowledge about this subject may have led to misguided incredulity on some details.
  
  http://www.phy.duke.edu/~kolena/modern/roesle.html
  
  "Almost all known particles are unstable, from the neutron with an average lifetime of fifteen minutes to the pi meson which lasts less than a tenth of a microsecond. There is strong experimental evidence, however, that there are many more particles that have lifetimes of less than ten to the minus twenty-third seconds. These particles are called resonance particles because of one of the methods used to detect their presence. Their average lifetimes are so short that normal methods, such as bubble chambers, can not be used to detect them.
  
  Particles are usually detected by using some means of making them leave trails in some medium. Particles in bubble chambers leave bubbles in a superheated liquid, particles in cloud chambers leave trails of fog in supercooled gas, and particles in spark chambers leave a trail of sparks behind them between electrically charged plates. However, a particle lasting less than an attosecond will move less than a third of a nanometer, even when traveling at nearly the speed of light. Most resonance particles have lives much shorter than a whole attosecond. That distance is much too small to cause any trail or spark to form in any particle detector.
  
  A resonance particle can be detected in particle decays when the sum of the energies of some of the resulting particles tend towards certain values. When the total energy (meaning kinetic energy as well as rest mass energy) of a group of resulting particles tends to be a certain value, it is said to be because the result of the decay producing those particles actually produced an ultra-short-lived particle, which then broke down into those more long-lived particles. Their total energy adds up to the energy of the intermediate particle, which is constant."
• From Mike on 2017-05-30 at 12:29am:
  The physics and the reference to Omega being a "molecule" are excusable to me. Then again, I'm a doctor, not a physicist. And by doctor, I mean my character in the Star Wars online game was a Jedi healer :)
  
  Anyway, what bugs me most about this is that it focuses too much on Seven's near-worship of the particle and less on the aliens who were working to synthesize it in the first place. We don't know much about them and we're robbed of the chance for any more interaction beyond Seven's sickbay scene with the lead scientist. Their wounded are returned and they quietly exit the stage.
  
  Wouldn't they just try this whole thing all over again? Probably. Was an agreement reached with them that they'd abandon their research? Doubtful, given how things ended. Did they have any further grievance with the Federation for swooping in and destroying what was apparently going to be their sole energy source? Did they forgive Voyager for that or are they at war? Does Janeway ever try to inform Starfleet that there is a species which has successfully synthesized something considered so dangerous by the Federation that destroying it was to trump any starship's deep space mission?
  
  All of these questions are unanswered and it drove me nuts about this episode. But, I guess it's cool that Seven had some kind of spiritual moment of clarity. So while the premise is intriguing, the loose ends are too much for me to call this one of the best.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From a2a.com on 2011-09-06 at 11:00pm:
  I thought this two-parter was outright excellent, and I don't think there were any real problems, shortcomings, or missed opportunities. A truly epic and excellent two episodes.
  
  One thing I wanted to mention is the abundance of great one-liners. I second the "I'm a doctor, not a counter insurgent" mention. I would also nominate:
  
  - Culluh: "What *is* it with the women in the alpha quadrant?"
  
  - Doctor: "One holographic program and one psychopath may not be a match for the Kazon, but it will have to do."
  
  - Suder: "Yes, there is a logical use for violence... for everyone else. With me, once it starts..."
  
  - Seska: "You were more talented at deception than you led me to believe." Doctor: "I was inspired by the presence of a master."
  
  - Neelix: "The others are trying to figure out what to make of us - in a matter of speaking! Not in a culinary sense - I hope..."
  
  What else can I mention here that wasn't covered in the review?
  
  One mini-problem is that the ship's computer seemed all too cooperative with the Kazon. Shouldn't Voyager be a little harder to hijack than that? I mean, it just accepts the command to no longer respond to Starfleet crew-members?! This is only a mini-problem because Seska is an engineer, and so hypothetically she could've disabled some kind of protections off-screen (and the producers were trying to cram so much into these episodes that they had to abbreviate).
  
  Here's another thing: both Paris, one of the best starfleet pilots around, and Janeway, an experienced captain, were visibly nervous about landing Voyager in a previous episode - and that's under good conditions, and with plenty of experience flying the thing (and one assumes landing simulations, etc, in the academy). Here comes Culluh, gets behind the wheel, and lands the thing on a seismically active planet, as if he's been doing it all his life. Presumably Seska coached him beforehand, but she's not a pilot either. Maybe it's just not such a big deal to land these starships, and everyone makes too big a deal of it.
  
  Here's another curiosity (not really a problem, just a curiosity): how come Tuvak is so warlike and dismissive towards the "savages" and Chakotay is the peacemaker? Despite the circumstances, doesn't this still qualify as one of those ever-delicate "first contact" situations? And aren't Vulcans supposed to have an advanced appreciation for *all* life? Contrast Tuvak's reactions in this episode with Spock's reactions towards the much bigger, much deadlier, much more menacing "savages" in "TOS: The Galileo Seven."
  Perhaps the key difference is that Tuvak is the chief of security, and Spock was a science officer.
• From Delmere on 2012-06-11 at 6:24pm:
  The dialog is unusually pedestrian. Anti-climatically resolves Basic part 1.
• From Rick on 2013-07-10 at 3:28am:
  Couldve been a really good episode if they came up with a reasonable premise for Voyager going after the Kazon. Going after some kid that happens to have Chekotays DNA? really? What if Seska held a gun to her own head? or to a Kazon kid's head? should they go after them then
  
  ridiculous
• From zook on 2013-12-21 at 3:51am:
  Tiny problem: when asked for the crew complement, the computer lists 89 Kazon and 1 Betazoid, but forgets the Cardassian Seska and the Cardassian-Kazon baby. And we had just seen them! One may try to rationalize this by saying that maybe Seska and baby were not part of the crew. But it doesn't work, because the Kazon and Betazoid were not part of the same crew, either.
• From The Emergency Obumpresidential Hologram on 2022-02-10 at 3:59pm:
  One small problem:
  
  Isn't it kind of hot near a river of molten lava? Especially on a stone that is in the river?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Timmorn on 2011-04-26 at 8:47pm:
  No Problems?
  What about the inhabitants of the void?
  
  Where do they come from if there is nothing in this region?
  From what ressources do they build their ships?
  Where do they get their energy from and what do they themselves consume?
• From Rick on 2013-01-07 at 6:08am:
  "History has shown us time and time again that conservative viewpoints are often self serving more than they are interested in serving the greater good."
  
  Wow, thats a bold one. Maybe the word "sometimes" would work better than often there. Often sure does imply that if you are a conservative than you more likely than not are a duplicitous, self-serving asshole who doesnt care about the greater good (like the character in this episode). History has also shown that progressive viewpoints "often" have many unintended negative consequences that far outweigh the potential good.
• From Adam on 2013-03-02 at 11:58pm:
  Problem: Why would the lights in the holodeck simulation go out as well? Makes no sense.
• From Bronn on 2013-11-16 at 10:33pm:
  Adam nailed a big problem with this. Either the power supply for the holodecks is completely independent and incompatible with the rest of the ship, in which case the lights shouldn't stop working, or else it's not, in which case the lights should go off, and all projections in the room should shut down. I mean, the holodeck does NOTHING but create light projections, so why would the lights stop working while the holographic environment remains? It's so idiotic that Tom can use a holographic flashlight while there's no power for regular lightning. HOLOGRAMS ARE LIGHT, WRITERS!
  
  Oh, but apparently the holodeck energy isn't incompatible with the rest of the ship, since Tom can reroute power to emergency subsystems from the holodeck. It's all...so...idiotic...it made me literally facepalm.
• From L on 2014-04-17 at 8:44am:
  Star fleet practice capital punishment by hanging?
  Or was she joking when she said they could all be hung for mutiny?
• From attractionmagnetical on 2015-04-24 at 2:23am:
  If the aliens who lived in the void evolved to "exist in complete darkness" without any natural radiation sources and whatnot... why do they have eyes?
• From Mike on 2017-05-31 at 1:03am:
  This one's got it all: eerily dark space, fascinating aliens, benevolent mutiny, and a funny holodeck spoof of the kind of 1950s sci-fi that eventually gave us Star Trek.
  
  The resolution of Janeway's crisis isn't the kind of thing I could see happening on any other series, but I do think it was interesting having her spiral into remorse over her decision. As if all the time in this void has left her alone with her thoughts on it for the first time.
  
  As for the void aliens: you make a good point, attractionmagnetical. They wouldn't need eyes if they evolved in total darkness. Then again, maybe they moved into the void long ago and had evolved eyes before that. And, maybe they live entirely aboard those vessels, which provide everything they need. Regardless of the problem areas, I think they're a fascinating species.
  
  And this dilemma, to me, was Trek doing an environmental theme the right way as opposed to TNG: Force of Nature. Emck was a good character, although very short-sighted. After the briefing on Voyager, he was the only member of his species who understood how the to purify and recycle antimatter waste. The technology may have rendered his current business useless, but he could've made a killing as the foremost expert on the new technology among his people. Bad move, dude.
  
  Great ending, too. Nicely shot with fitting music and a good moment on the bridge with everyone thankful to have come through the void and back on track.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

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

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Dave on 2007-07-17 at 10:36am:
  Just a minor detail. Surely when Captain Cusack tells the crew when her ship left to go exploring deep space eight years ago, they would have looked it up and realised that the time differential much earlier than they did. Doesn't spoil what was a great episode, however. Just a niggle.
• From Christopher Wright on 2012-01-21 at 10:51pm:
  I agree with the previous comment about the lack of record of the vessel, but the writers might have been making fun of their own plot hole with all the complaints about how the federation keeps such precise records on everything. Perhaps they are so full of records and logs that sometimes things get lost. Maybe the vessel that crashed had a typo on one of its records. It does seem to be quite a big plot hole though.
• From Damien Bradley on 2013-02-25 at 5:57am:
  Just a little nitpicky thing: one month isn't an anniversary. You could call it a "one-twelfth year anniversary," I suppose ...
• From Axel on 2015-05-24 at 7:14pm:
  One of the most amusing things to me about DS9 is all the subtle digs that O'Brien makes at his time aboard the Enterprise. In a previous episode he mentioned how bored he was as a transporter chief there, and I think when Sisko was promoted, O'Brien hailed him as the finest captain in Starfleet :) In this episode, he takes a swat at ship's counselors. It's hard to ignore the possibility that the writers, or simply the O'Brien character, had Troi in mind during that whole segment perhaps hinting at the character's uselessness in many cases. Or maybe it's just my imagination. Either way, it was funny to me.
  
  This one turned out to be better than I thought it would be at the start. Some depth given to all the characters in this episode, both on the Defiant and back on DS9 with the Quark/Odo relationship.
  
  
• From ChristopherA on 2021-04-17 at 12:18pm:
  My wife found Captain Cusack's neediness really annoying and couldn’t stand her. I didn't think she was quite that bad but still had little interest or empathy for her and didn't really care much about the plot. The resolution was clever but, as other commentators have pointed out, it didn't make any sense they wouldn't have already figured that out.
  
  The plot with Odo and Quark felt odd and made me realize how little we understand the stakes of the “game” that Odo and Quark had been playing during the show. This episode seems to say that we should feel good that Odo decided to be kind and allow Quark to break the law with impunity, implying the laws Quark is breaking are basically meaningless. Is that really true? What laws are these anyways? Is the Federation in the habit of making things illegal just because they're a bunch of controlling killjoys? Are these regulations Bajoran tariffs and Odo is basically giving Quark a free gift from the Bajoran treasury? Is he smuggling dangerous goods and some random person we know nothing about is going to get blown up in order to make Quark happy? It just seemed odd that a lawman would not only let Quark off the hook, but would intentionally let the crime be committed. For the morality of this show to make sense you have to assume that the laws Quark is breaking are mostly petty bureaucratic nonsense, but it would be less disquieting if they would actually come out and say so.
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From -_Name_- on 2013-06-16 at 9:51pm:
  * The Suliban superstructure was cool.
  * The "freaky room" was cool.
  * The "inappropriate decontamination" scene was outrageous... I'm not sure it was really inappropriate, but it was definitely gratuitous... I got the sense it was another quick and dirty way for the writers to try and distinguish this series from the rest of Trek, and to make it a bit more cinematic and less TV-like... Completely agree that it was gratuitous, but doesn't really detract either...
  
  - - -
  
  The various tensions between T'Pol and Archer (and Trip) are cool. Turns out this is going to be a lynchpin of the next few episodes, if not the entire series...
  
  One thing that bugged me was the Klingon's relative amicability towards Archer and Trip... I mean, as far as he was concerned he was being transferred from one set of captors (who restrained, drugged and interrogated him) to a previous set of captors (who first shot him in the chest, then restrained him)... Archer+Trip turned their back on him a number of times and being a proper Klingon, with no real reason to trust them, it was weird how docile and accommodating he was.
• From Edward on 2014-04-09 at 9:14am:
  Maybe because of the "temporal war" the course of events has been altered, thus averting disaster on first contact with the Klingons.
  
  The decontamination scene did feel weird. Still, there are worse things to see in the world than a close-up of Jolene Blalock...
  
  All in all, it was a promising episode.
• From Hugo on 2016-11-23 at 3:57pm:
  Is it just me that had a hard time separating trip and reed?
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-07-24 at 10:31pm:
  Glad to see others were squicked out by the decontamination scene. There were little shots in there that were definitely just PG porn. Blatant pandering. I do enjoy it when sex or sexiness is handled tastefully in Trek, but this ain't it. To me it feels so inappropriate because they're sexualizing a scene that isn't--and shouldn't be--sexualized at all. Going for arousal in an unsexy context. If it were an actual sex or foreplay scene, it would have hit way differently.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Dstyle on 2015-09-16 at 1:00pm:
  The dashing Starfleet officer, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with a reptilian alien in a desert landscape: seems like a pretty clear homage to Kirk fighting the Gorn.
• From Nick on 2017-06-03 at 6:50am:
  I don't believe T'Pol (or Archer) specify units for the temperature readings. Furthermore, I submit that their dialog suggests a centigrade measurement:
  
  T'POL: At night, it can drop to five or even ten degrees below zero.
  ARCHER: Doesn't sound so bad.
  
  -5C is tolerable and certainly survivable (about 20F). I'd say that "doesn't sound so bad" given the circumstances. I would not say that about -5F.
  
  Which means that the planet will exceed 300F using the day!!! That is certainly cause for alarm!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2008-12-26 at 6:05pm:
  This two-parter is perhaps the best DS9 offering to this point. Good stuff.
• From JJ on 2010-08-03 at 6:20pm:
  There is a problem here: the Zeppelite ship canrun at warp 9,8.
• From John on 2011-01-08 at 6:54am:
  I love Sisko's speech: "The Problem is Earth..." I love what he says, and I love the way he makes Kira shut up. Kira needs to shut up more often in my opinion.
  
  Here we see the emergence of Sisko as a total badass -- fantastic.
• From Bernard on 2011-04-05 at 2:58pm:
  Solid episode that finishes off the set up from the first part nicely. Unfortunately it doesn't do much more than that.
  
  I too enjoy Sisko's 'the problem with Earth' speech, I also enjoy Dukat who has been a joy throughout both parts.
  
  "What's that phrase? 'Shoot to kill'?"
  
  The Maquis, are an excellent addition to the Star Trek universe and stories will make very good use of them over the next few seasons.
• From Hugo on 2011-11-12 at 10:35pm:
  Not too fond of Avery Brooks' acting in this two-parter, and he is totally outplayed by Dukat. Sisko just comes out as a whiny, grumpy tight-ass.
• From Hugo on 2011-11-12 at 11:10pm:
  I also like that Dukat comes out as not only a villain, and it nuances the image of the Cardassians. On the space battle - it was ok, but felt a bit like a computer game at times...
• From Matt on 2012-06-10 at 8:00am:
  Did anyone catch Hudson's Shatner-esque delivery of the heading towards the end of the episode?
• From Bronn on 2013-07-05 at 6:01pm:
  This was an excellent two part episode and represents the very best of DS9-there's a very complicated issue here and you can sympathize with all sides, even with what Dukat is trying to accomplish. But the Maquis storyline always bugged me because if you're setting up something complicated, it deserves a good resolution.
  
  Obviously you can't resolve the Maquis storyline here because it's still setting up Voyager. But it fails to reach a real resolution at any point. After taking direct action here to stop the Maquis, blowing up some of their ships, Sisko and the DS9 crew are largely going to ignore the Maquis for the next few years, save for a couple of episodes per season. They're more concerned with the Dominion. In the end the Maquis is going to be gobsmacked completely off screen by the Dominion. It's this loose thread that's dangling for a long time that never was completely pulled into place, so it got lopped off when they ran out of stories to do with it.
  
  I feel that Federation leadership takes a bit of unjust blame here. There's degrees to which I can understand them being out of touch, but they're dealt a rough hand. First they finally managed to sign the peace treaty with the Cardassians and setting up a DMZ. This was apparently a fair enough deal with both sides having to concede colonies. They tried to relocate their citizens, but those people refused to move and said they're rather live under Cardassian rule than give up their land. So they leave them...and then they blame the Federation when the Cardassians treat them like crap in attempt to make them give up their lands. Then the Federation is stuck in a position where they either have to go to war, or attempt to police their citizens who start their own shooting war. The Federation breaking a peace treaty with the Cardassians would open a whole new can of worms for them because of their treaties with the Romulans and whatever tenuous agreements they had with the Tholians.
  
  What I wanted to come out of this, at some point, was Starfleet policy to retain some clarity. Either they would go to war to protect their citizens, or they would disavow responsibility for them completely and tell the Cardassians to use their own discretion in dealing with the Maquis. We never got a real resolution to the Maquis situation on Voyager either, since the fact that there were Maquis crew members there mattered for maybe 4 episodes.
• From bodner on 2014-02-14 at 5:59pm:
  @John
  I thought Kira's speech to Sisko was way more brave, to school her superior officer about Cardassians like that.
  Siskos speech to her was most cowardly, he should have said that to the admiral not someone who agrees anyway.