The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-05-22 at 2:34am:
  What is that visor thing that data wears when he plays poker?
  
  Data said "perhaps i have evolved to the point where emotions are in my grasp". That is not possible, seeing as how individuals cannot evolve. Only populations of organisms can evolve over time, according to the laws of natural selection.
  
  As usual, when Picard announced that admiral ____ had arrived, I already began to visualize some power tripping bitch. I will say it once more, there are NO good admirals in starfleet
  
  Geordi said "they shouldn't be able to move faster than you or I". That is incorrect grammar. He should've said "faster than you or me".
  
  Lore is ever-so-cocky. I love it every time.
• From Mark on 2007-09-06 at 3:42pm:
  Problem:
  Before the Borg beam aboard the enterprise's bridge, Franklin is standing around just waiting to die (just standing in the doorway like a sore thumb). He has his hand on his phaser anticipating the Borg move though no one else shows signs of expectation.
• From JRPoole on 2008-10-03 at 6:53pm:
  As I'm reaching the end of the series, I'm realiing that for whatever reason I remember the first five seasons much better than the last two. In fact, I have very little recollection of this episode at all. I haven't yet watched the second part, but I have to say that I like it a lot.
  
  Although Data-malfunctions-or-gets-taken-over-and turns-on-the-crew plots are starting to get tired, this one is strong. Lore is a good character and deserves to be brought back here, and it seems natural that he'd be attracted to the borg. The Hugh storyline gets brought up again, which is also a good idea, and any excuse to bring back Admiral Necheyev is fine with me. She is such a power-tripping bitch and you want to hate her, but I find myself agreeing with her over Picard's handling of Hugh. The moral thing here was not necessarily the right thing. I think Picard should have fell back on Vulcan philosophy and reasoned that the good of the many (the human race and all the others the borg wish to assimilate) outweighed the good of the one (Hugh).
  
  The only thing taking away from this episode for me that this new incarnation of the borg is not nearly as scary as the original.
• From djb on 2008-12-18 at 2:16am:
  I was somewhat disappointed with this episode. The idea of bringing Hugh back was cool, and it's always good to see Lore. But this episode was flawed. First, too many redshirt deaths. I mean, the ONE non-regular on the away team dies? Come on!
  
  Also, what are the chances that out of the dozens of search teams, it should be the one comprising our principals (and the disposable redshirt) that discover the compound? Dumb.
  
  The data/emotion storyline was good. Nice laying groundwork for Generations. I also like what Troi had to say to Data about emotions, and how it later backfired.
  
  In response to Pete Miller's comments:
  
  Data is not referring to biological evolution, of which androids are incapable. He is referring to personal evolution, or personal growth (where the word "evolution" is used more loosely), which is something all humans are capable of as individuals, and something which Data is programmed to attempt. He speculates that he has personally evolved or grown to the point to where some kind of emotional programming was able to kick in. Now, perhaps one could take issue with his use of the word "evolve," but that if anything is a scriptwriter's error more than anything else.
  
  The phrase "they shouldn't be able to move faster than you or I" is indeed correct. I didn't know this myself until recently. It is short for "faster than you or I could." It only sounds incorrect because "than" sounds like a preposition, in which case the following pronouns would be oblique (becoming "me" or "him"), but in this case it is a conjunction, and the pronouns following remain nominative. This is getting kind of specific, I know, but just thought I'd set the record straight. Wikipedia has a good article on it.
  
  All in all, I tend to agree with our illustrious webmaster's rating of 4. Maybe a bonus point for good continuity.
  
• From J Reffin on 2009-08-06 at 2:54pm:
  To be fair to Picard, I don't think the Vulcan approach quite works as the plan had been to send Hugh back with a program that would wipe out the Borg Collective i.e. an act of genocide today to rid the Federation of an (apparently) implacable enemy that might (or might not) attack again at some undetermined point in the future.
  
  On the subject of admirals, I have to agree with other comments here - perhaps an example of the Peter Principle at work ?
• From Rob on 2009-09-08 at 4:43pm:
  While I agree that, as a rule, Starfleet Admirals are generally miserable old farts, I can't go along with the criticism of Admiral Nechayev in this episode for one reason: she's right. Sending Hugh back to the Borg without a virus or some means of destroying the Collective was Picard's biggest mistake as a captain. Whether or not it was the inhumane or immoral thing to do, Picard's job is to safeguard the Federation and it's citizens. If the price for doing that is destroying your greatest enemy (who the Federation is at war with...just because there hadn't been any Borg episodes or encounters for a while doesn't mean that there was peace between the Federation and the Borg), then it's well worth it. Nechayev was just making sure that if Picard had any more attacks of morality, he knew what he was supposed to do. I have no problem with that.
• From John on 2011-02-04 at 4:32am:
  The Borg *snore*
  
  Even the appearance of Lore can't save this episode. Or the next one. The one after that is pretty bad too.
  
  Just do yourself a favor and skip right to season 7, episode 4: Gambit, Part I
• From Axel on 2015-03-18 at 1:19am:
  You can agree with Nechayev about infecting the Borg, but doing so would've been completely out of character for Picard. I do like that he wrestles with the problem in hindsight during this episode, though. Still, we've seen a lot of admirals at Starfleet who don't share Picard's interpretation of what the organization stands for.
  
  The biggest flaw in this episode to me is having Picard beam down and be part of a search team while Crusher takes command of the ship. Don't get me wrong; it's great to see her take command and finally get some use for the character outside of sickbay. But wouldn't it make more sense for the ship's doctor to be ready to handle wounded members of the search parties in case they encounter dozens of hostile Borg? The whole scenario is a potential triage and yet they keep the doctor in orbit to run the ship while the captain ends up being taken hostage.
• From Mike on 2017-04-18 at 5:33am:
  "...I made four attempts to induce sexual desire by exposing myself to erotic imagery."
  
  How the hell did the TNG writers get the precise details of my evening ritual? Is there no such thing as privacy in this world?
  
  Anyway, I disagree with many reviews here. The main purpose of Starfleet isn't to safeguard the Federation. That's one of its jobs, but its primary mission is to seek out new life. It's in the opening narration, for crying out loud. What Picard and his crew encountered in TNG: I, Borg may have initially been part of the Collective, and therefore a mortal enemy of the Federation. But it became a sentient, individual life form. The crew also had good reason to believe that Hugh's individual awareness might destabilize the Collective, thus serving their purpose anyway. Nechayev, as usual, plays the role of someone who sees Starfleet purely as a defense force, and to hell with its scientific aims. But that's not what Starfleet is. Does that sometimes mean you make a decision that lets an enemy live to fight another day? Yes. Such is the nature of the Federation. This is touched on too in DS9 with Section 31's infecting of the Changelings. Oh yeah...spoiler alert.
  
  I like the continuity with TNG: I, Borg. But involving Lore took it a little too far. They should've focused on the Borg and how this affected them. Lore has always struck me as a little too villainous. They explain his emotions and his behavior, but it still just doesn't seem believable.
  
  Data, in this two-parter, seemed at first to be purely at the mercy of the emotion chip. But, having never experienced emotions and being so desperate to do so, I did find that part to be believable. Ultimately, he has to reconcile what he's doing with what he was originally programmed to be.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2008-04-02 at 9:31pm:
  This is a solid episode all the way through. I don't have much to add to this review, other than I'm glad Geordi is getting some serious screen time and character development at this point in the series.
• From wepeel on 2008-05-16 at 5:05pm:
  While tending to the Romulan in sick bay, Dr. Crusher tells Picard about her old-fashioned treatment, which involves "keep[ing] the fever down, try[ing] to let the body heal itself." However, a fever is not a sickness, it is the (human) body's way of burning out the germs/unknown entities within its system. The only way this would make sense...is if she was talking specifically about Romulan body structures (maybe they see fever as a disease), but it would be pure conjecture on the doctor's part because in "The Defector," it is hinted that very little is known about Romulan physiology.
• From thaibites on 2010-11-27 at 12:12am:
  I like most of this episode, especially the jarring, disoriented opening which launches us into a world of confusion. I love how Worf stands his ground under a lot of pressure, even though it was not the politically correct thing to do.
  The thing that ruined this episode for me was the way Geordi stupidly allows the Romulan to take him hostage AGAIN after the rock slide knocks the guy down. Think about it - this Romulan knocks Geordi out and takes him prisoner on some God forsaken planet on the edge of the neutral zone. When the rock slide knocked out the Romulan, any NORMAL person would either pick up one of the rocks and bash the guy's head in, or at least take the opportunity to take the phaser away. Geordi almost pays for his stupidity with his life. His actions are just too unbelievable. (I realize that if he did what I wanted him to do, the episode would totally change.)
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-14 at 12:36am:
  Not a favorite, but a solid episode. There was some definite drama with the confrontation with the Romulans, and parts of the Geordi/Romulan team-up. On the other hand, there was some hokiness there too, with Geordi acting rather stupid about trusting the Romulan.
  
  There was a lot of time spent on the Worf/prisoner plot, which I found surprisingly unmoving. Perhaps it is due to Worf's laconic nature – he just stands there and people talk at him. It bored me.
  
  - The reason for the Romulans breaking the neutral zone is rather opaque to me. It seems like a rather extreme action just to pick up a couple of officers.
  - The neutrino probe was one of the better bits of technobabble I've heard. It made sense to me how it was supposed to work, and seemed actually clever.
  - To wepeel: Although you are definitely correct about fever being a defense mechanism, an excessively high fever is not good, and controlling excessive fever is common practice.
  
• From Inga on 2012-01-14 at 3:23pm:
  Picard said that the Enterprise was going to escort the Romulan ship to the Neutral Zone, however, at the end of the episode, both ships are seen flying away in different directions from the planet.
• From Ggen on 2012-03-11 at 9:53pm:
  This was a rather exciting and dramatic episode, with some great "real stakes" content and considerations. The most notable points were "the first Federation/Romulan coventure" between Geordi and the Centurian, which was a pleasure to see develop and unfold. I loved how they were forced to help each other or die, a blind man propping up and led by a crippled man. But it wasn't all dire circumstances though - Geordi seemed to have also genuinely gotten through to his counterpart, made him see reason (as Picard later did with the Romulan captain).
  
  The part where the first Romulan survivor needs a transfusion from a reluctant Warf was also done well. This was a great little dilemma, and I loved how there was no predictable or happy outcome. Warf never warmed to the idea and Picard never ordered him, even though a life was at stake (and perhaps even a war) - and a life eventually lost. That's just great. I mean seriously, that's just great. Picard and Warf basically killed a man in cold blood (not quite, but still... rare enough of an event in Trek to warrant that kind of comparison).
  
  This tied well into the "brinksmanship" developments and made them rather realistic. There was no utterly villainous, singly culpable side here - the situation was not all the Romulans doing, even though they put the events in motion. As the Romulan capt. put it, Picard put territory over a man's life, ultimately leading to his death - so the Federation is itself guilty of contributing to the crisis (both sides involved, as in most real life military/political situations).
  
  - - -
  
  Detail: I liked how the Centurion's first words to his captain were "I told them nothing. I was not mistreated, but I told them nothing." The Romulan implication being that if a prisoner is alive and hasn't been tortured or beaten, then he must be a traitor or collaborator! Gotta love that Romulan military mind...
  
  Question: Interesting that Troi never approached Warf about the donor issue, and that Picard never asked her to. It would've been an obvious move with any other crew member. Funny how Warf's conflicted thoughts, feelings, and emotions are just assumed to be beyond Troi's capabilities!
• From dronkit on 2014-02-16 at 12:41pm:
  problem: Any vulcan crewman (several are seen in enterprise D) could have given blood for the romulan.
• From Daniel on 2014-07-04 at 4:27pm:
  I like this episode for its use of contrasting friend / foe interactions; the building trust between Geordi and the Romulan, and Worf's choice whether or not to donate blood to the Romulan. And I like that they have yet another opportunity to seed an alliance between Federation and Romulan, because the Romulan credits Georgi for helping him - as in other episodes where Romulans and Federation work together to overcome a crisis. One item I should point out is the gurney; they use a flatbed type of carrier - looks like a divan without legs - which they glide across the floor to carry the wounded Romulan from the transporter. I believe this is the first (and only) time the medical personnel have used a gurney. Usually, they transport the injured directly to Sick Bay.
• From lordcheeto on 2017-08-14 at 6:48am:
  Problem: it makes sense for Troi to be able to sense emotions from the occupants of nearby ships, but the Romulan ship was 6 hours away.
  
  I found Riker to be annoying in this episode.
  Raising his voice to O'Brien and the Captain.
• From oh bummer on 2021-07-23 at 10:07am:
  The moment when Picard tells the Romulan "He's dead" is so legendary. Love that interaction!

No fan commentary yet.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From wartorn on 2011-08-18 at 2:40am:
  I want to explore a few interesting things mentioned in the review. To start with, were the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki "much less destructive and much more appropriate than the Metreon Cascade?" Were the two wars "quite a bit different?" Well, there really isn't enough information in this episode about the Talaxian conflict to determine for sure, but there may be more similarities than differences.
  
  There are a few things to consider here, the first being the raw numbers. Neelix mentions that more than 300,000 were killed by the Cascade. The combined total from both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were roughly 250,000. So, going by the numbers alone, the Cascade did more damage, but the atomic bombings were in the same order of magnitude. It's not like comparing apples to oranges... maybe like comparing oranges and tangerines.
  
  Of course one has to take into account the environmental damage. The Cascade completely changed the atmosphere and climate of the colonized moon, leaving a poisonous cloud that lingered for at least 15 years. The atomic bombings affected the quality of the air, impaired agriculture, and created a long-term drinking water problem in the area. Significant, but not quite the same as a full-out nuclear winter.
  
  So here is another interesting question: were the U.S. atomic bombings of Japanese cities "more appropriate" than the deployment of the Cascade? It is really quite impossible to determine, but perhaps not... Although Jetrel's side was described as the "invaders," we don't know what circumstances precipitated the occupation. Indeed, Neelix explains that he thought his side's reasons for going to war in the first place were unjust, "not worth dying for," which makes one wonder about the supposed "invasion" they suffered as a consequence. We learn also that the "invasion" was actually an unconditional surrender, precipitated by the deployment of the Metreonic Cascade.
  
  There is also the matter of Jetrel's explanation for targeting civilian populations as opposed to military or deserted targets - "the full force of the weapon had to be demonstrated." We're not told explicitly why, but presumably to cause surrender and immediately end hostilities.
  
  All of this is pretty much a point by point description of the circumstances around the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It's quite possible that the Talaxian side was an aggressor, as Japan was, (hence Neelix' noble/cowardly draft dodging), and it's quite possible that the subsequent "invasion" by Jetrel's people was more like the U.S. occupation of Japan.
  
  All of this makes the episode even more poignant and fascinating. It's my personal opinion that America has long since thoroughly wiped the entire unpleasant episode from its collective memory. There is really very little remorse felt about it. It was necessary, it happened, it stopped the war, it helped stop Hitler, end of story. Of course, Japan never forgot it, and there remain deep sensitivities about what happened. Perhaps the difference in perspective is best demonstrated by Japan's censoring of the American action rpg game Fallout 3. Their objections were about a side-quest in which you explode a nuclear bomb in the middle of a city, and also about one of the regular weapons available to the player: a tactical nuclear weapon called "Fat Boy" - the same name given to the plutonium bomb dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.
  
  Perhaps we've put it all behind us a bit prematurely? This Voyager episode recalls our attention to those tragic events.
  
  - - -
  
  Most of the focus of the episode is actually on the question of the role of science, with Jetrel portraying a classic Ellulian technocratic scientist. At one point he presents an argument that usually goes unstated, but is very present in the modern world: "If it can be done, it must be done. Science is bigger than man, technological development is intricately tied with the search for truth and knowledge, and thus any scientific pursuit has a kind of intrinsic value. It is wrong, and in any case impossible, to try and control it."
  
  The way Jetrel states it, and the way Neelix responds to it, one is a bit torn and sees both sides of the picture. Good work on the part of the show's producers. The fact is, this is not a nutty, fringe mad scientist idea, and not something that is obviously true, but something humanity has been battling with for at least several hundred years. We've been wrestling with this question of science, technology, and its role and purpose internally, as individuals, in academia and in philosophic texts, and in various political arenas.
  
  Regrettably, I think Jetrel (and the Ellulian point of view he represents) is right about one thing: no matter what we think of it, no matter the moral arguments we bring to the table, no matter how guilty or righteous people feel about what they're doing, technological development is not really something we *do* - it's more like something that happens to us, more like an evolutionary process that we have little real direction over. "One discovery leads inevitably to the next." It's difficult to really argue with this reasoning, when you consider the history and sociology of science/technology.
  
  When scientific discoveries are made and technological innovations are born, no one can possibly foresee where they will lead eventually. It's really a much more complicated problem than the obvious questions of something like the Manhattan Project or human cloning. These things *seep* into society one tiny step at a time (linked with undeniable conveniences and amenities, outright improvements even, lifesaving advances in medicine, etc...) - by the time some kind of danger or threat or controversy is recognized, it is already here, it's already on the way down.
  
  There is some room for human agency, of course, but it has its limits. These things engender their own societal responses - for instance, 1) there are test ban treaties, 2) ozone depleting compounds are made illegal, and phased out, and so on. But we must admit to ourselves that our ability to truly understand and respond to what we ourselves create... is limited.
  
  To quote Jetrel, science is indeed much bigger than man, but this is something that should give us pause rather than glee. It would seem as if something has gone wrong, has gone quite thoroughly backwards. What started as a human project, something we do, engage in, for the sake of both our innate curiosity and our desire to improve our lives, has turned into something we really can't not do, something we serve, and worship, unknowingly, to ends and consequences we cannot possibly foresee.
  
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-22 at 4:22pm:
  I enjoyed the comment bt wartorn on this episode, and I agree with much of it. I believe however that there is clear and convincing evidence that the attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not justified, and was actually an atrocity and a war crime.
  
  I say this despite the fact that my father served in WWII, much to my pride. I admired my father's service and I do not say this to denigrate the honorable service our soldiers gave in WWII.
  
  However, on the subject of the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, history ie very clear. The Japanese emporer Hiro Hito had already transmitted his intention to unconditionally surrender to Allied forces prior to the American decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, much to our shame.
  
  Unfortunately, he issued his decision through the Soviet ambassador. The Soviets intentionally failed to transmit the message on to the Americans because they wanted the nuclear bomb to be deployed in combat as a live test to the weapon. The Soviets had spies at Alamagordo and were watching the Americans with great interest. They certainly did not want the Japanese offer of surrender to succeed.
  
  Nonetheless, we had many advisors to Pres. Truman, including Oppemheimer himself, who urged the President to not drop the bomb on the Japanese people. We had all of the intelligence we needed to know that dropping the bomb on Japan would accomplish nothing militarily.
  
  In this respect the events of Americans dropping the nuclear bomb is hauntingly similar to the Metroen Cascade described in this episode.
• From Rick on 2012-12-26 at 11:13pm:
  I urge people reading the above post not to take it as the factual information that it purports to be. The majority view is that there was no surrender. People like the above poster are certainly free to argue to the contrary but to present that argument as the clear truth is reckless at best and disingenuous at worst.
  
  Aside from that, do you really think that if Japan was close to surrendering before the first bomb, they would wait for a second?
• From Mike on 2017-07-26 at 1:32am:
  Ethan Phillips said that he watched the first season of Voyager as it was airing and then didn't really watch it after that. He didn't say why (that I know of) but one wonders if he figured this was a good way to remember his character on screen. It's certainly one of the better, if not the best, Neelix episode in the series.
  
  James Sloyan, who plays Jetrel, is one of the better recurring guest stars in all of Star Trek. He plays Admiral Jarok in TNG: The Defector as well as future Alexander Rozhenko in TNG: Firstborn. He was also the Bajoran scientist Dr. Mora, who "discovered" and experimented with Odo, in a couple DS9 episodes.
  
  I agree the parallels with the atomic bomb dropping are a bit heavy handed. But, it raises that question people have discussed since the atomic bomb's invention, and even before with the invention of poison gas used in WW1: is it desirable, or even possible, to "cordon off" a branch of scientific knowledge because you're afraid of where it might lead? The implication that someone else would have invented the weapon eventually, and the reasoning that you do the research regardless of how some wish to apply it, were notions that added some depth to the issue.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

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

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-07-26 at 8:08am:
  - As part of his odd behavior, Picard's replica reports for his physical one month early. Later, Dr. Crusher says the test results are identical to last year's physical. Why would the test results be identical? The aliens constructed the replica by scanning Picard, a Picard who was eleven months older than the last physical. Shouldn't the tests show that change?
  - At the end of the episode, Picard manages to communicate his desires to the bridge crew with a single look. With one glance he tells Riker that he wants the aliens imprisoned. It is what should be expected from the bridge crew of the flagship of the Federation. After all, these are the best of the best. So why haven't we seen this type of working together before?
  - The aliens seem genuinely surprised by Picard's anger over his kidnapping. When Picard calls kidnapping an immoral assault, the aliens merely respond that the whole concept of morality ia an interesting human characteristic. Yet, earlier in the episode, when Tholl asserted that they hadn't been mistreated, the cadet immediately responds, "We've been kidnapped! Locked in a room. You don't think that's mistreatment?" This makes sense until you realize that the cadet is one of the aliens. Evidently the aliens understand the mistreatment of kidnapping, because they said so through the cadet. So why do they play dumb at the end of the show?
• From JRPoole on 2008-04-10 at 9:40pm:
  The premise of this episode--sentient beings of different backgrounds and talents being brought kidnapped for psychological experiments--is cliched, both in the Star Trek franchise and sci fi as a whole. As mentioned above, the aliens responsible for the kidnapping are moronic at best. The other aliens, especially the Chalna, are also rather broadly drawn, though I'll admit they do look cool.
  
  The only thing keeping this from being a 1 is that the fake-Picard plot on the Enterprise is entertaining, and the end is genuinely funny.
• From Ggen on 2012-03-23 at 10:25pm:
  This is a pretty good episode with a handful of flaws and confusions... The first thing that comes to mind is the incomprehensibility of the Pulsar diversion and the resultant mutiny. I like the idea of a Picard replicant, and I likewise dig the idea of a mutiny on the Enterprise... but why in the world did the clone take the ship dangerously close to the Pulsar? For seemingly no reason?
  
  I may have answered my own question just now. I guess Picard's replicant was just an extension of the "authority experiments" carried out by the alien race... I think this could've been made more clear...
  
  Beside that, the ending was just a tad too cheesy. I mean, this supposedly advanced and exotic species, with no conception of morality or authority, suddenly "learns" all these lessons when Picard traps them in a forcefield? Picard practically grabs their ear like an irritated taskmaster, and they plead like children... Its a bit too extreme and too silly a reversal. (On the other hand, I like how the crew communicated non-verbally to set the snare).
  
  Another small thing I liked was the Beverly dinner scene. Chock full of subtle tensions, willingnesses, and reluctances, as well as the slightly bizarre disinhibition and detachment of the replicant.
  
  So, kind of strange and imperfect, but a pretty good 'sode, all in all.
  
• From Dys on 2012-07-22 at 12:02am:
  Crew members have no problem playing poker with Deanna Troi and her empathic capacity? It must be difficult to bluff.
• From Mike on 2017-04-19 at 3:55am:
  I think what bothered me most about this episode is that Fake Picard ordered ales for everyone in Ten Forward, but obviously doesn't have to pay for a single damn one of them because it's the 24th Century. So what's the point? Is he giving everyone permission to have an ale, a drink that's normally rationed? That's never made clear. If not, it's an empty gesture and everyone should be thanking the bartender and his replicator.
  
  All of this is to say that obviously I didn't find this episode very memorable overall. It was an interesting premise and it had some promise at first. But it just dragged on and ultimately led nowhere. Too much time was spent on Fake Picard's odd behavior, and on having the four "prisoners" accuse each other, all finally leading to somewhat buffoonish aliens conducting a study in power...not rewarding enough

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Rob on 2008-05-01 at 11:24pm:
  About the possible conundrum's caused by this and other "past history" episodes: There is a theory I read re: quantum-particle mechanics related to possible time travel that goes something like this (assuming for a second you could actually time travel to the past at all) - that it would not be possible to alter history (in 'real time' from your persepective) even if you went back in time to change something (like killing your own grandfather before your parent's birth, for instance) because the effects cannot occur until after the moment when the traveler left for the past. Now whether you would become a condundrum (still existing even though your parents would disappear from history) or whether you'd just vanish at that instant is another argument all together.
  
  In other words, these Borg and all information pertaining to them could not exist in the past until after Picard and the Enterprise-E followed the Borg back in time and returned. Until that moment, nothing that occurred in this episode could have been recorded as having happened (during the time frame of Best of Both Worlds for example) however, once the Ent-E returned, a look through their historical database would suddenly reveal this information even though no one would have seen it before because it wasn't until this point that it 'actually' occurred. The effects of the Enterprise/Borg's influence in the past could not be noted until the point when the actors in the past returned to a point in time after they originally left for the past.
  
  It's headache inducing and esoteric and I still don't quite grasp how all of this would work practically in the 'real world' (math is my weak point) but the theory could explain away why no one would have known about this episode's details until far into the future (after ST: First Contact and the return of the Ent-E to a point after they left for the past).
  
  Hopefully this makes just enough sense that you can see my point!
• From EvanT on 2011-06-24 at 7:55pm:
  You could assume that all the materials from the sphere and the computers from the outpost were used to augment that shuttle the Borg used (too convenient, granted, but plausible)
  
  However, what I consider far more interesting is how this episode changes the character of Q. There you have humanity in the 24th century, oblivious of a cybernetic threat that has just discovered the existence of Earth (or is about to), and Q comes along and conveniently sends the Enterprise-D to get a glimpse of the Borg. Q doesn't look as obnoxious as he did when "Q Who?" originally aired, does he (and Picard's suspicions about Q's intent get validated after all)
  
  I DID hate the thing where the nanoprobes were susceptible to O-radiation. If a 22nd century doctor could discover this, I'd imagine Dr. Crusher or the Doctor would have known about this as well (these WERE 24th century drones, after all).
• From Mitchell on 2013-10-19 at 12:08am:
  I love the score in this particular episode, the music is just brilliant.
• From Roger on 2015-07-23 at 5:58pm:
  Yes, it was an entertaining episode, but as Kethinov observed it really messed up continuity.
  
  First off, it seems that Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-E did a really lousy job of cleaning up after the destruction of the Borg sphere in ST VIII. Pretty sloppy work, considering all the concern about preserving the time line in the movie.
  
  Next issue: so the debris from the sphere is able to make it through re-entry, crash in the arctic with some intact borg, flash frozen and ready to be revived? Since when are the Borg able to re-animate themselves - this never happened in either TNG or First Contact.
  
  These problems could have been avoided by better writing...say some Borg sphere debris is discovered floating in space, gets brought aboard for study and some nanites manage to infect a human who then starts the assimilation ball rolling...maybe not as dramatic though.
  
  The rate of assimilation seems to be inconsistent with the movie. Ensign Hawk got assimilated pretty quick (a matter of minutes) in the deflector dish scene.
  
  A minor point was that Reed and Archer got more phase pistol shots aboard the Borg shop, whereas on Enterprise security got fewer before the Borg adapted.
  
  Well, at least the transporter worked well in this episode. Why don't they use it more? Maybe we need a dramatic transporter malfunction with a 'red shirt' to make the technology look a little more risky...
  
• From Urdomen on 2022-03-10 at 9:10pm:
  The beginning of the episode with the research team in the Arctic circle encountering a strange, alien life form that defies known scientific limits, wakes up and starts attacking the researchers, seems to me like a homage to The Thing (from Another World).
  Would have loved to see Borg nanoprobes react to a piece of hot wire.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-03-31 at 9:38pm:
  I would give this episode a higher rating (7) because of the great Picard/Wesley interactions. It certainly has continuity with respect to the earlier episode focusing on them. It was quite touching to see Wesley open up to Picard and reveal how much he looks up to him. Picard's comment "I've always been proud of you" almost made me cry. The tear jerker son/father relationship between Picard and Wesley definitely gives this episode a better rating than 5.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-05-08 at 5:53pm:
  Major problem:
  When they first reach the cave in this episode, they start talking about the possibility of it being a natural formation. However, there are clearly steps inside the cave, right at the entrance. How could they not notice? These are scientifically trained people too.
  
• From DSOmo on 2007-08-19 at 8:49pm:
  - Riker exposes the crew to almost lethal radiation by wrapping the shields around the barge. He says he does this to protect the barge from the asteroids. But the Enterprise doesn't reach the asteroid belt until the end of the show. Why not tow the barge until it reaches the asteroids and then extend the shields?
  - Isn't it unbelievable that the main computer can count down, to the second, when lethal exposure will occur? Is there really some magic length of time when, one second earlier, you will live although you may need treatment, but one second later, you will become ill with no hope of recovery? And is this time interval exactly the same for every member of the crew?
  - After the shuttle crash, Picard makes an arrow from scrap metal and places it on the ground. He says that the arrow will let rescuers know that they've headed for the mountains. When they start walking away from the craft, they aren't lined up with the arrow! In fact, are a good distance off.
• From Mark McC on 2008-12-27 at 12:39pm:
  They really should have made the asteroid belt a bit trickier to navigate. When the Enterprise finally arrives, there's a few very small asteroids floating slowly about and the ships sail through in a perfectly straight line! If it was that simple to traverse, they could have released the derelict at any time, letting inertia and the sun's gravitational pull do the rest.
  
  A very clear case of one strand of the episode being unrealistically stretched out in order to allow time for some character development in the other strand. The Wesley/Picard bits are excellent, but I wish they'd thought of a better sub-plot to keep the Enterprise out of action while they bonded.
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-20 at 2:49am:
  The main plot with Wesley is reasonable, but not great. Wesley really isn't a bad character if you ignore those "Wesley saves the ship" episodes. The secondary plot about the radioactive ship is totally pointless filler. If they have to have filler, why must the solution be "we need to boost power above 100% in order to escape terrible danger at the last second" yet again?
  - I totally agree with DSOmo's first two comments. It just doesn't make sense to talk about "lethal radiation exposure in 5 seconds" as if it were a well-defined binary concept like "warp core breach in 5 seconds."
  
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-09-30 at 9:39pm:
  Dirgo was certainly the most annoying guest character I have seen in TNG so far. Also, Picard's handling of him was spineless. He shows him far more deference and respect than he deserves. In fact I was aching for him to die. If this was DS9, Kira would have killed him in the first 5 minutes. When he finally got killed I shouted "Yes!!!!".
• From nokko on 2013-01-06 at 3:23pm:
  There were several factual errors in this episode that really gnawed on me. Just a couple of them to name a few:
  
  Why did they not give the barge a nudge to allow the momentum to move it forward toward the star, instead of getting a hazardous dose of radiation while slowly tugging it behind them? That was really idiotic if you ask me, but then again, if in the world of Star Trek when you're minutes away from lethal dose, you'll be absolutely fine (not, for example vomiting blood or unconcious) if you manage to clear the area before the time is up, why bother?
  
  Asteroid belts (at least our own) are actually sparse, and not dense at all. You don't have to manouver carefully amidst the asteroids, as it would an astronomical coincindence to hit one accidentally. Granted, we don't know much about the belts of distant star systems. Still, it sucks as a popular assumption.
• From Chris on 2020-03-27 at 1:57am:
  This episode does not make a lot of sense to me at all. Some garbage scow gravitationally captured by a planet and is now under threat of radiation. Whaaa?!?
  
  I'm pretty sure there is no radiation more dangerous than that from a star. I've never understood how planets ('M' class) or starships can be at risk from any form of radiation in space.
  
  EThe first time, it was in TOS when Kirk bluffs the Romulans that when they use their 'corbamite' device, the space where they were was to be avoided for the next four solar years.
  
  Now, on to my rant...!
  God, I hate Wesley Crusher... this is one of the most vomit-inducing episode in the show! I know that Wil Wheaton hates him too which somehow makes me tolerate his snotty bull-s__ and just plain stomach-churning character easier.
  
  His nose is so far up Picard's ass that if he made a sharp turn it would break.
  I can't imagine how the writers thought he was a good character to have as a major one!
  
  I have only tolerated any episode he is in as long as he isn't the center of attention but otherwise, I just want to shoot myself as soon as I see him! It might have been cool if in the midst of his idiocy he was absorbed by the Borg instead of Picard.
  I wish Worf would have killed him in the most horrible manner!
  
  Thank you for your support! ;-)

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

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

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Tallifer on 2011-05-12 at 12:18am:
  <sigh> I hate episodes wherein the cast have to walk around in old-people make-up: they all look so fake.
  
  At first I was terribly disappointed with most of the endings given to the characters (except for Tuvok's brilliant madness: that should have stayed), but I suppose since they never really happened we can hope that something more interesting happens in the next thirty years.
  
  Seven and Nine and Chakotay: in some ways true to life: it would have been too much of a fairytale for the Doctor or Eejeb to win her.
  
  Star Fleet looks so tired and boring in those new monochrome uniforms.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From 2 of 14 on 2009-10-22 at 2:49pm:
  Perhaps the Malon simply travel this far out of their territory to find suitably uninhabited areas in which to dump their lethal cargo. Fesek did actually tell Torres she had no idea how much effort the Malon went through to locate suitable locations for their toxic waste. Sort of like an Earth sea vessel travelling into the ocean zone of another nation to illegally dump waste.
• From Gul Darhe'el on 2012-04-04 at 2:25pm:
  One of the best aspects of TNG, DS9, and Voyager is getting to watch the characters grow and change throughout the series. The character growth aspect holds true for every character in these series, except one -- Torres. Here we are in Season 5 and she is still the immature, volatile, half Klingon from Season 1. Running holodeck programs with the safety protocols off, breaking the doctors camera, etc. I know the writers wanted to get as much mileage as possible out of her anger, but unfortunately they never let her character grow beyond a spontaneous tantrum thrower who just happens to be a brilliant engineer.
• From onlinebroker on 2012-04-10 at 3:03pm:
  2 of 14, your explanation would be good, if that same malon hadn't told Torres that he's a sculpturer in his "dayjob", so it makes no sense that they would have travelled 10 years.
  He also said that his lifespan would be cut in half, so it makes even less sense, that these trips would take even a few years.
• From Hugo on 2015-01-18 at 8:55pm:
  The long range scan detects massive amounts of technobabble ahead!!!
  I think there are loads of problems in this episode (in addition to Malon and the distance), and the story did not engage me. I do appreciate the look into the Malon's society though.
  * I don't buy that they have some much problem finding a place to dump the waste, even in ST the galaxy is not that densely populated, and in the end they are throwing the freighter into a star, which seems to be ok - radiation/pollution-wise
  * Why not send the doctor to the ship? He would have no problems with the radiation or breating.
  * it is odd that the physiology of Malon, Neelix and humans is so close that they can use the same medication without any problems
  * I got annoyed when B'Elanna tried to reason with the bad guy in the end, while the clock was ticking...
• From Mike on 2017-06-09 at 11:07pm:
  I have to agree, Gul Darhe'el. I don't know if it was the writers intention for Torres' character or if they just didn't see any potential with Dawson, or if they were just too focused on other characters. But by this season, Torres had long become very irritating to watch. Her dealings with Fesek in this one are especially annoying because it's almost as if they are wanting the audience to tire of her baseless hostility.
  
  But, speaking of Fesek, it was a pleasure once again to see Ron Canada. He was great in TNG: The Masterpiece Society, and was truly excellent in DS9: Rules of Engagement as the Klingon advocate accusing Worf. And I agree that he gives us an interesting look at the Malon beyond what we've seen so far. They have good reasons, in their minds, for doing what they do. Some are purely profit-driven, like Emck in VOY: Night, while Fesek is doing this because he believes it's worthwhile.
  
  onlinebroker, he says he only sculpts half the year, and the rest he spends aboard the waste disposal freighter. All during this episode, I couldn't help but think of people working oil drills in Alaska, or fishing for king crab. High paying jobs that only require a few months labor each year, but extremely hazardous with a high burnout/injury or even death rate.
• From QuasiGiani on 2017-08-28 at 1:39pm:
  Pretty good episode. And lots of good critiques.
  
  Loved the unacknowledged (between them and also here!) jokes in the 7Of9 and Tuvok scene... 7Of9, (after offering-up plan "C") asserts she will furthermore start ~"factoring in Janeway's 'luck' into her calculations"... both of them deadpan... and the deadpan continues as Tuvok then just before leaving asks if ~"there is a plan 'D'"...

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-10-06 at 7:09am:
  - As the Enterprise warps toward Devidia II, Geordi tells Guinan about finding Data's head in a cave on Earth. Guinan replies, "That's why the Enterprise is being sent back to Earth." The Enterprise has already been to Earth. It is on its way to another planet when she makes this comment.
  - When Guinan asks Picard if he is going on the away team mission, he replies that it is standard Starfleet policy for him not to go on away team missions. Starfleet policy must have changed. It is Riker, not Starfleet, who has made a unilateral decision that captains should not go on away teams.
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-31 at 3:45am:
  I liked Data's encounter with 19th century Earth. It plays out nicely. I also liked the mystery of Data's head, and the weird encounters with the phase discriminator. The one negative for me was that I felt everyone's reactions to Data's death were overacted.
  - The ante seemed rather large compared to the size of Data's stakes. Doesn't give him much room to make decisions and use his poker skill. Was he fortunate, or did he cheat?
  
• From Cal on 2017-02-24 at 11:04am:
  Starfleet had had the no captains on away missions rule for quite some time. Riker just enforced it more.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From carsonist on 2009-01-24 at 11:44pm:
  I'm amazed this only got a 4. Some good drama, and the election of a new Space-Pope is hardly "zero plot development". In hindsight, it may seem obvious that Kai Winn will be elected, but it's an enormous change for those watching the episodes in order.
  
  The episode had me believing that Bareil had been a collaborator, in the sense of sacrificing the few for the benefit of the many. The double turnaround made for some good emotional responses from Kira.
• From Tallifer on 2011-03-20 at 10:06am:
  10/10
  
  The religious politics combine with the social repercussions and aftermath of an occupation. This story was consistently exciting through every minute.
  
  Plus we get to see some more hotness from Keera Narees.
• From Bernard on 2011-10-22 at 6:43pm:
  Another strong outing involving Bajoran politics!
  
  This is a well constructed episode with good performances from Kira, Winn and Bareil.
  
  I'd give it an 8.
• From Discordius on 2011-11-09 at 7:28am:
  In context of the political development of Bajor the plot develops not zero but close to 100%! Also, the recent history of Bajor is well integrated with a very tough decision: is it justified to let a small number of people die so that much more can live? Indeed, it could be expected that Vedek Winn eventually prevails in the Kai competition. However, it was a surprise that Kai Opaka was the "collaborator" and not Bareil. His relationship with Kira: her doubts and inner conflict are well acted. A really good episode, deserving rating 8.
• From ChristopherA on 2020-07-20 at 11:51pm:
  I could see how you might find this slow but I found it full of tension and felt that the plot developed at an adequate pace the whole way through, making it a solid episode. Not the most thrilling, but it raised a good moral question and developed some interesting religious politics on Bajor.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Raza on 2008-03-13 at 9:34pm:
  I truly like this episode and enjoy reading your reviews. A point of clarification on this episode review. I just watched it and it was actually Paris who said the hilarious line about tracking a mouse and not Tuvok.
• From thaibites on 2014-08-22 at 2:55am:
  I liked this one, but I was hoping for something more dark and sinister. It turned into a morality play with Janeway giving a big speech about why people need to show compassion to hurt and vulnerable creatures even if they're your enemy. Thank goodness Seven wasn't buying any of it! Janeway's monolog reeks of hypocrisy. She talks about spending months trying to kill Cardassians years ago. Then, one day, they heard an injured one moaning, so they risked their lives to save him. What!?! That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! So, it's OK to kill them if they're healthy, but if they're injured you have to save them? Just ridiculous....
  The best part of this episode was Seven basically giving Janeway the finger. It was nice to see Voyager finally grow some testicles for once.
• From pbench on 2015-09-09 at 5:04am:
  love the site and the format and the opportunity to bounce this stuff around. but i must say...
  
  i find it funny that people are so staunchly in support of seven's decision...oh well, i suppose this is typical of the gung-ho american attitude about war and violence, which reeks of ignorance of the actual complexities, suffering, and cruelty of war and treats everything like a videogame. while every viewer has a right to side with any character, i think the show actually deliberately left it far more open-ended than folks are seeming to indicate (that she actually saved the lives of the crew--many times they have wiggled their way out of similar situations, there's no telling what would have happened, esp. deus ex machina wise).
  
  anyway there are more than puerile moralistic reasons to have mercy on an "enemy", and if you can't understand them, i would fear to be around you in a moment of crisis indeed--mentalities such as these have led to some of the ugliest moments in human history. besides potentially serving to create a basis for future diplomacy, there are other reasons to be merciful to a combatant (as shown in the captain's decision to extract information from the hirogen they rescued in the first place).
  
  and then there's, you know, the actual worth of life in and of itself--we recoil in horror at the enemy character who is heedless of a protagonist's whole lifeworld, their family, their connection to their community, their right to LIVE above all else...and for an enemy character we just drop it? scifi fail. this is not an abstract idealism: it is actually the opposite. it is actually the "24"-style argument--the ticking-time bomb that justifies our torture of the terrorist--that is the outlier. THAT is the scenario that is trotted out time and again to justify not defensive, but actually OFFensive and proactively violent systems of control in the real world. THAT is the argument that only 1% of the time is every actually used in earnest, while the rest of the time it couches situations of domiantion, colonialism, and obliteration as acts of 'defense', cleverly framed with that word we all grew so fond of back in 2003..."pre-emptive". pretty soon you forget where the enemy came from and you also forget that you helped CREATE them based on your own seemingly "uncompromising" and "flawless" military logic. woops, just like the downfall of every empire the world has ever known...
  
  operating by a different logic is not naive, it is actually about survival: both in not making rash decisions as well as in not rotting out the core of our beings. if sci-fi is to mean anything it is to show us this, not to reinforce the jingoism that you can get anywhere else in any other media. when it does this it fails and we fail.
  
  similarly, the commentator who said that it "makes no sense" that a person would be treated differently on the battlefield vs. in a recovery or medical situation has apparently never heard of the hippocratic oath, something which voyager itself has covered w/ the doctor in past episodes. again, there are reasons above the purely abstract to believe in a universal right to treatment and care, precisely because differentiating between 'kinds' of patients is a losing project: just like trying to argue that only "certain" workers should have rights, or that "certain" races should (both things that have actually happened historically). always doomed to failure not only because they are narrow-minded, but because they inherently create a premise for a concept of private selection and determination of what in actual fact is and should be a public, and unconditional right. just the kind of situation that's ripe for being abused and taken advantage of! and as ever, that very 'right to discern' ends up leading to...you guessed it, atrocities. we then give credence to the idea that not that we'll learn our history lesson here either...
  
  it is this very dichotomy between the 'savage' enemy and the 'moral' protagonists that star trek, as a show, has almost always been about combating, even in its own, flawed way. i say flawed because it becomes clear over the series how much the federation and all of its flagship crews that we follow are much more the 'pseudo-benevolent empire' than actual protectors of the downtrodden: they frequently invoke the Prime Directive then "must" intervene, and ultimately are obsessed with their own higher morality as a species, something DS9 thankfully was an antidote to, showing that only Earth was a (fragile) paradise, while the rest of the galaxy remained cutthroat, even in Federation hands.
  
  Further, many, many episodes in TNG, DS9, and indeed this Voyager episode itself, crawl towards the very fascinating and necessary conversation around violence, rights, sentience, etc., but many times (and I wish I could go through all the examples here...a project some day perhaps) the script all but falls short, setting up captains like Picard, Sisko, and Janeway to inevitably adopt a kind of arbitrary purist position: "even though this is ineffective/short-sighted/tactically wrong, we must do this." It sets up viewers for this no-win situation in which it appears that plot-wise, the logical choice would have been the less forgiving one. And while occasionally that ambiguity is warranted, in situations like these it is, once again, more than an abstract moral position: the script could have shown the captain's wisdom, that one must not qualitatively mimic that which you seek to fight (this is not a paean about nonviolence, it is about things larger than that, even in situations of combat. think of moments of conflict in world history and tell me this isn't true).
  
  this way of thinking both internally transforms the way you conduct yourself as well as externally shapes your ultimate goals. for it is a continuum between Federation and Borg, Federation and Dominion, not parallel lines...and the slippery slope, as Star Trek and all good scifi is fond of reminding us, is steep indeed--all these communities came from somewhere and made their little compromises along the way that got them to that point.
  
  anyway, once again, still enjoying the series and love the site. thanks for the opportunity to share. peace.
• From Mike on 2017-05-29 at 6:54pm:
  You raise some good points, pbench. And I don't necessarily share the views of the other reviewers that Janeway was naive or stupid here. She was dealing with this situation as a Starfleet officer. But that's the problem. I think Seven is obviously more suited to understand this situation than Janeway. The Borg and the Hirogen are very similar. They are amoral, caring only about assimilation for the former, finishing the hunt for the latter. Diplomacy, honor, the sanctity of life and respect for the rights of the enemy simply are not concepts that are part of their cultures. Seven understands that the Hirogen will not relent until they have what they want, and that's the only outcome they are prepared to accept.
  
  There's a flip side though. Janeway is correct in the sense that she has to preserve a command structure and can't simply allow Seven to do whatever the hell she wants when she wants, lock out the bridge's controls to boot. That is a threat to the ship, one that Janeway can't tolerate. And of course, Seven falls back on the tired old line that the crew is forcing her to compromise her individuality after encouraging her to be more human, when that's not what's going on at all. That's when I find the character most annoying.
  
  So while this was a thrilling episode overall, I'm not real happy about how things are left for either Janeway or Seven as characters.
• From lumzi on 2017-07-08 at 5:47pm:
  Anyone getting shades of MK with these Hirogen guys ("flawless kill")? They even remind me of the MK Ninja's (Scorpion, Sub-Zero etc).
  
  For that matter that Chakotay episode, "Nemesis," features enemies that remind of the Predators (you know, like in that old Arnie movie and more recent games, movies etc).
• From Turbo on 2020-06-22 at 7:49am:
  One of the better examples of why Janeway keeps making me facepalm. Getting Voyager stranded in the Delta Quadrant in the first place in order to help a species with thousands of members? Debateable, but understandable. But it's times like these when Janeway just completely abandons her vow to always consider the crew's safe return first, and puts everyone's lives on the line in order to prove some luke warm moral apostle point about a third party. Seven rightfully disagrees with Janeway, and then disobeys the captain to resolve a threat to everyone's lives, and then actually gets ragged on despite Janeway never actually presenting even a glimmer of a plan to get out of a fight against an overwhelming force alive. Janeway claims to Seven that "you didn't know the fight was hopeless", when in fact there is never a second that would suggest otherwise. Her way to tackle odds stacked against her seems to be to simply wing it and trust in her luck. No wonder she struggles to maintain the ship's hierarchy she finds so important, if her actions keep suggesting that the crew can't put their lives in her hands.
  
  On a side note I don't disagree with the decision to revoke Seven's access privileges. I'm wondering why she got them in the first place considering her continued conflicts in integration. What I disagree with is blind trust in an irratically acting captain.

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• From zook on 2009-06-07 at 4:36am:
  Shran is played by Jeffrey Combs, who also played the Vorta Weyoun in DS9.

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• From Ross on 2020-08-26 at 2:11am:
  I was actually surprise by this show. The trailer fooled me into thinking I'd hate it or maybe I went into it with such low expectations that all opinion of it could only go up.
  
  After the missed opportunity in Discovery and the dreadful misstep with Picard -- Just give us a new generation set in the 25th century already -- well, this show turned out to be the better of the three. Not a high bar to reach, certainly, but I didn't expect that the creative team behind it would have a solid appreciation of not only the larger universe of Star Trek, but (as you mentioned) it has respect enough for the old shows aesthetics too. I also liked the Andorians in the second episode. Can't have enough of them.
  
  Mind you, it could tone down some of its goofier humour though, (not every scene needs to get a laugh or chuckle out of its viewers) so I will give it a three out of five for the time being. It's got a bit of promise and I hope they improve upon a good foundation.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Steve on 2009-04-17 at 2:29pm:
  Best feature: a great performance by Frank Gorshin,an excellent actor and impressionist who was also the Riddler on the original Batman series.
• From John bernhardt on 2010-01-08 at 9:33pm:
  What made Original Star Trek episodes so entertaining was that most episodes even the weaker and average episodes had some memorable scenes, in this episode it is the dramatic auto destruct sequence
• From rpeh on 2010-07-16 at 10:00pm:
  One problem: the shuttle "reported stolen from Starbase 4 two weeks ago" has NCC 1701/7 (ie, the Galileo) on its side. Why would an Enterprise shuttle have been stolen from Starbase 4?
  
  The camerawork focusing in on the eyes during the self-destruct sequence is the most obvious example of Gene Roddenberry's "western in space" view of the series. Remember the final duel in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, released just a couple of years before?
• From Chris on 2011-06-17 at 10:27pm:
  Just saw this episode the other night. The enhanced version deletes the WWII footage.
• From Kethinov on 2012-01-17 at 1:44am:
  Chris, that's not correct. The footage is still there. Examine the chase scene intercut with the fire.
• From sherry on 2012-02-26 at 7:21pm:
  This one seems we can make a continuation of this show,,,,
  I have been working on it a bit,,,,,
  
  I call it the last Battlefield continuation
  
  I started to make a doll I painted her black and pink,,, same color with her hair,,,, I've been doing this for a little while,,, pink and black boots ,,,, I sew her a uniform,,,, I also made a flag for the cheron,,,, and a flag,,, and even symbol,,,,, and I'm trying to make a language as well,,,,, this is a lot of work,,,, I'm trying to pretend they all went underground,,, and that there was only 30 of them while,,,,, I would say that's a pretty good start,,,,, I also have a main character,,, then I'm working on,,,,
  if anybody's interested,,, go to space trek,,, this is where I'm leaving it,,,, they can contact me at ,,sherry63@telus.net,,, anybody's interested,,,,,
  
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2012-03-22 at 3:50am:
  The episode inspires a lot of conversation, but it can't escape the black hole of mediocrity that is the third season. I started to realize this once I saw the lame sequence with the "invisible" ship. Sure, there's some substantial commentary about race relations, but at times it feels heavyhanded. I want to like this episode more than I actually do.
• From warp factor 10,1 on 2012-08-14 at 10:50pm:
  They must have freaked out every time they looked in a mirror.
  
  I also wonder what would happen if they intermarried. I'm white and Mrs. Warp factor is black (actually I'm a sort of pink colour and my wife is dark brown), our son, Master Warp factor, has a skin colour somewhere between the two of us. What would hapen with them? Would the two halves, each black with white, produce an all over grey or would they have four vertical stripes? In a few generations they could end up looking like walking bar codes. The checkouts at Walmart would be thrown into total confusion. Alternatively perhaps they could end up like chess boards.
  
  Despite all this foolishness, and it not being a brilliant episode, in many ways it is indicative of the way Star Trek was a force for good when it was made.
• From jeffenator 98 on 2014-10-30 at 5:10pm:
  This is one of the episodes when the Enterprise flew faster than warp 9.
• From Wes on 2016-04-30 at 1:15am:
  One to add to the "Problems" category:
  
  Kirk says that Cheron is in the "south" part of the galaxy. What is South in space?
• From Chris on 2018-08-08 at 3:27am:
  None of this episode makes any sense! South part of the galaxy... All kinds of nonsense! I understand the point they're trying ot make, and it's actually pretty good!
  
  But come'on man! Throw us a bone!
  
  50,000yrs chasing some clown? I understrand if they threw in some E=MC2 stuff, but they didn't and of course, to an 11yr old it didn't matter!
  You know? I'm pretty sure that to most adults in the day, it was meaningless as well!!!
  
  It still bugs me how they threw around time like the did! The Fabrini, the 500+ year war on Anon... I dunno, it bugs the percentages... (where did I hear that?!? ;-)
  

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• From DH on 2008-02-29 at 11:47am:
  I like Voyager, but this beaming through shields annoys me everytime!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Remco on 2008-12-01 at 9:16pm:
  This was a fantastic episode throughout. I really liked Odo and Jadzia at the end talking about what happened that day. Jadzia and Odo now have a real bond. Odo knows what it is to be a humanoid (and probably kept some of that love from Curzon), and Jadzia remembers being liquid and the joy of pestering Quark. :)
  
  One minor quibble I have is that it wasn't two hours long. Some of those host scenes were way too short. But this isn't the kind of story that lends itself to a cliffhanger, which seems to be a prerequisite for two-hour shows.
• From Shamin Asaikar on 2012-04-16 at 6:17pm:
  Just a question. Considering Joran's memories are allowed to re-surface in Equilibrium (Season 3, ep4), shouldn't he have found a personification too?
  
• From Kenneth on 2014-04-12 at 7:35pm:
  Great episode but leeta being involved in the ceremony as one of jadzias closest friends felt really forced. Quark steals the show again. Shimerman may be the best actor on the show.
• From Dubhan on 2014-07-26 at 5:49am:
  And of course, one of the great things about this episode is, as usual, Rene Auberjonois. He's always great as Odo, but as Curzon Odo he really gets to shine in a more emotive role than usual. His performances are always so fluid (pun intended) that you never see him "acting". I wish you could say the same about Nana Visitor.
• From Shani on 2014-09-27 at 4:01am:
  Why did Jadzia not remember that Curzon was in love with her? I understand that she didn't have his memories when he was joined to Odo but prior to that shouldn't she have known the real reason she was dismissed from the program?
• From Ravenlord on 2015-09-26 at 6:27am:
  Rom losing his shit at Quark is one of my favorite moments for that character.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-12-16 at 3:24pm:
  "Magnificent scoundrel" -- perhaps foreshadowing for the later episode "The Magnificent Ferengi"?
  
  Curzodo was something to behold! It's always fun to see the actors get to act out of character. It was fascinating watching Sisko coach Jadzia on how to stand up to Curzon. It's interesting thinking about Dax's former hosts as metaphors for a person's different "sides," so to speak.
  
  Rom standing up to Quark was wonderful. Such a payoff after seeing him be such a doormat for nearly three seasons now.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Thomas on 2009-08-03 at 9:33am:
  I found it a bit disturbing and inconsistant with the other series that the Vulcans here have such a barbarous and illogical ritual. i mean fighting to death for a woman.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-03-31 at 8:12pm:
  I just watched this on Blu-Ray last night. I have a few nitpicks.
  
  There's a pretty nice new part that was added. When the Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down, it now cuts to a far away shot of the temple. It looks pretty nice. The problem is that when Spock beams back up, they cut to the shot again, but it does not show the wedding party standing inside it, even though they were standing near Spock as he beemed back up.
  
  Also, when Spock's future wife appears on the view screen, she starts talking to him ("something something never parted"). I just would like to know where the echo is coming from. She sounds like she has supernatural powers!
  
  There's also a lot of unnecessary stunt doubles used in the slow moving combat scenes. I'm pretty sure Nimoy and Shatner had the skills to wield plastic sticks.
  
  Otherwise, this is a pretty good episode.
  
  
• From John on 2011-02-18 at 5:20am:
  This is a funny episode: I love it, but there are a lot of things about it that tick me off:
  
  1. Why does T'Pau have such a strong accent, while no other Vulcan ever presented has an accent? I realize that this is the first "Vulcan" episode of all time, but still. Her accent is annoying and unnecessary.
  
  2. What's up with the constant use of "thee"?
  
  3. I would have liked to see Spock take T'Pring as his wife anyway, just to wreck her plans. Logical or not, as far as he knew, she forced him to kill his best friend and captain. In a short time he can divorce her, and make her look like a fool. Seems like justice to me. Of course, Spock would never do this -- revenge is illogical -- but it would be entertaining nonetheless.
• From Robert Koenn on 2011-03-24 at 5:11pm:
  This was another favorite overall episode from the Trek universe for me. And that partially makes sense as two of my favorites were written by acclaimed scifi writers, this one by Theodore Sturgeon. It was quite interesting to learn more of the Vulcan culture. I didn't find the "illogic" of this violent death match for a woman to be out of place. As was stated, Vulcan suppress their emotions, they are not genetically non-emotional. So at that point in time when the Pon-far occurs this pent up strain is released resulting in years of suppression getting out into the open. And for a Vulcan this is not only personally devastating but embarrassing as well. I also found the effects quite good for the budget and time period they filmed this episode. Finally it went quite a ways in developing the Kirk/Spock/McCoy relationship.
• From Wes on 2011-04-19 at 8:08pm:
  I too really appreciated the development of the Kirk/Spock/McCoy relationship.
  
  I also thought the addition of one or two of the little "extra" scenes was great. The one that stands out to me is the little back and forth between Sulu and Chekov when they ask the other if they think they'll make another course change. Those types of little scenes really added to TNG, DS9 and Voyager for me. It helps you see other sides of characters. It adds more of a human element. The first season of TOS really lacked those types of scenes. I'm really glad the writers decided to add this. I hope it continues.
  
  Overall, I enjoyed how this episode seemed to really take a big step forward from the first season. Well done. This is what Star Trek is made of and I am beginning to see why people enjoyed TOS. After only watching the first season, I wondered what was so great about TOS, especially in comparison to the other series.
• From steve on 2012-07-08 at 8:40am:
  One nitpick. How is it that Kirk and McCoy didn.t know about ponfarr until Spock tells Kirk. In Managerie,its stated that the events on Talos IV took place 13 yrs previously,and this episode takes place about 1 yr later so 14 yrs at least have gone by with Spock on the Enterprise. Given that ponfarr occurs every 7 yrs Spock would have gone thru 2 under Pike . No medical records, no Captains logs of them were made, two unscheduled trips to Vulcan are made but ponfarr is not known? Just asking.
• From Strider on 2012-07-27 at 7:29am:
  I've also wondered why this seems to be Spock's first pon farr. Actually, I have a lot of questions about pon farr.
  
  Pon farr happens every 7 years to mates who are bonded, right? So, Sarek, for example, would not have experienced it, because he didn't have a bond mate...as evidenced by his being able to marry Amanda.
  
  But Vulcans can still have sex if they are strongly enough attracted to someone, right? I mean, they don't have to wait 7 years--I think one of the writers said as much. Pon farr is not regular sex; it's the drive toward the bond mate...right?
  
  Someone (somewhere) said they found it unbelievable that Spock suddenly gets over the blood fever when he realizes he's killed Kirk. I didn't have a problem with that--he goes through the ritual of "marriage or battle," his body must release the hormonal tension one way or the other, and he ended up doing it through battle. Makes total sense to me.
  
  I didn't have a problem with T'Pau's use of extremely formal archaic language--this is a very formal, ritualized occasion, and such things often use formal and archaic language. It did bug me that Vulcans seem to use "thee" when they should properly say, "thou," but I'm assuming they're not actually speaking Elizabethan English.
  
  Some of the TOS novels seem to indicate that if you're away from your bond mate when you hit that 7 years, you can relieve the pressure with someone else. So...when Christine comes into Spock's room and he's nice to her and asks her to make him some soup, did he just feel bad that he had been a jerk to her earlier, or was he coming on to her? He reached out and touched her cheek, but then quickly put his hand behind his back. Was he trying to keep his hands off her because he just needed "it" so bad, rather than T'Pring specifically? Frankly, I think she'd have helped him out and the whole fake-Kirk-death thing could have been avoided.
  
  
  
  
• From Alan Feldman on 2013-03-06 at 8:28am:
  AMOK TIME
  
  Has its fun scenes. Here are my comments:
  
  While parents wanting to choose their children's mates, and children wanting to choose their own mates themselves are both understandable, the rituals here are silly and the fight to the death, barbaric. Even animals often size each other up to see if a fight would be pointless.
  
  People complain about sexism in Star Trek, but I've never heard it mentioned with regard to this episode. Check out this dialog:
  
  T'PAU: He will have to fight for her. It is her right. T'Pring, thee has chosen the kal-if-fee, the challenge. Thee are prepared to become the property of the victor?
  
  T'PRING: I am prepared.
  
  And a short time later:
  
  T'PAU: Here begins the act of combat for possession of the woman, T'Pring.
  
  Property? Possession? On the other hand, if Spock hadn't freed her, she'd get his name and property -- and instant estrangement! And Stonn.
  
  So when does the clean-up crew come around to clean the soup off the wall outside Spock's quarters? You really want to do it before it dries on.
  
  I'm okay with T'Pau's accent; however, the misuse of 'thee' and such is a little annoying.
  
  What's with the humongous nose mask on the guy with the big blade? How do you breathe with that thing on?
  
  Continuity error: At 29:27 Spock starts walking toward the gong. Once Spock is almost there, T'Pring begins walking and makes it about half way there. Then in the very next shot she's standing still, near Stonn again. She starts off toward the gong again and gets there a little too fast. I'll chalk this up to a screw-up they didn't have the time or resources to fix.
  
  Look at Kirk's pose when T'Pring is about to choose him (32:29). Words escape me.
  
  Pretty amazing timing for the neural paralyzer to kick in just before Spock's choking Kirk would have really killed him. Let's see: how many times does Kirk "die"? Here, in "The Enterprise Incident", and mistakenly declared dead in "The Tholian Web" and "Space Seed". And he "partly died" in "Return to Tomorrow".
  
  Yep, pretty good logic on the part of T'Pring. And she had to have thought it up right on the spot, as she didn't know until then that Kirk, an "out-worlder", would be there. Pretty good! But what if Kirk had declined? It would have been tough luck, and Stonn would have had to fight. But that was her starting point anyway. Oh, and this also explains why Stonn was surprised by her choice of champion, which added a nice twist. In the end, she and Stonn lucked out big time.
  
  In the remastered version we see our heroes walking across a huge arch with a Vulcan city in the background. I'm sorry, but it just looks out of place. It's a totally different look. Switching to and from this scene almost looks someone's changing channels. There is also a lack of continuity in their walking. And why would they beam down so far from the temple in the first place?
  
  Near the end, Uhura relays Admiral Komack's approval of T'Pau's request to divert to Vulcan. Sorry if I missed it, but I don't recall her ever making such a request.
  
  AEF, aka betaneptune
• From Tooms on 2013-09-14 at 8:50pm:
  Great episode. Warp 8 isn't new, though. The Enterprise went to warp 8 during the space chase in Arena (season 1).
• From Scott Hearon on 2014-04-05 at 2:42pm:
  Really good episode. I gave it a 7/10.
  
  I had some of the same unresolved questions and nitpicks that the other commenters here have, mostly concerning the Enterprise crew not knowing anything about pon farr. Surely they would have had some indication from the past. Secret or not, would it not have been "logical" for Spock or some other Vulcan to inform the Federation of a ritual that would possibly endanger the crew? Especially when a Vulcan is in a position of power such as First Officer?
  
  And yes, the fight sequence, as with all of the others I've seen on TOS, was pretty laughable. Based on what we know of Spock's strength, added to his blood rage and a climate that was inhospitable to Kirk, Spock most likely would have mopped the floor with poor ol' Jim in a matter of seconds, long before McCoy can enact the ruse that saved him.
  
  Still, there's a ton to admire and be entertained by in this episode. Being the first episode to focus so heavily on not just Spock but his home culture is fascinating, and handled quite well. It shows just how effective it can be to have a character fall out of type temporarily. Unlike Star Trek Into Darkness, throughout which Spock was a virtual emotional wreck, this episode of TOS gets it right. Have Spock a slave to his emotions for a single story, and then return to his usual, logical self.
  
  Odd to see Chekhov added without any mention of exactly why he's part of the crew now. Even a slight recognition of this new crew member would have been a nice little touch.
• From jd _juggler on 2015-04-01 at 6:02am:
  This is indeed a good episode for the relationship of the three principles. In the turbo lift, Spock asks for McCoy to be his guest at the ceremony, basically saying that McCoy is one of his closest friends. The doctor's short response says volumes: "It would be an honor, sir." Never in the entire series did McCoy show that kind of formal respect to Spock.
  
  I agree with an earlier commenter that Spock should have been able to easily defeat Kirk, but let's face it: Spock did not want to kill Kirk, no matter what kind of altered state Spock was in.
  
  As to Pon Farr, it is absurd to suppose it would have remained a mystery to men from earth. Vulcans were known to earth men for at least 150 years (recall that in "metamorphosis" zephram cochrane recognized Spock as a Vulcan). Spock himself was the product of a "mixed marriage". And stories about sexual practices tend to spread.
  
  And here's something else to think about; Spock has obviously gone through this before. Wouldn't he know when this strange thing is happening to him sufficiently in advance, so he could make the proper arrangements to be on his home planet? And why didn't this whole t'pring thing happen seven years earlier, at which time Spock was already an adult, and serving aboard the enterprise?
  
  That said, this is still a very good episode. Certainly among the top ten, and maybe among the top five.
• From Emil on 2016-01-22 at 9:31am:
  I have not seen that many ST:TOS episodes but I had to see this one because of T'Pau, one of my favorite ST character (the others being Q and Wynn Adami). I have read many comments on T'Pau's "heavy" accent and her "awkward" use of archaic pronouns. I personally have no problems at all with these. The heavy accent was perhaps inevitable as the actor who played the part was from Austria-Hungary (Celia Lovsky). Her German accent was quite obvious. I think this was quite apt, actually as T'Pau is supposed to be an ancient Vulcan. It's like an old Chinese woman from China who speaks English with a heavy Chinese accent. The use of the archaic pronouns could be because we see T'Pau presiding over an ancient ritual. The occasion may have necessitated the manner of speaking. When we see a younger T'Pau in ST Enterprise, she had no such accent and neither did she use archaic pronouns so the original T'Pau's doing so may indeed be due to age and the occasion.
• From Chris on 2018-08-31 at 4:36am:
  As always... late, by years! To the debate!
  
  This episode is kinda cool but could have been better in a hundred ways?
  
  - Pon Farr should have been spaced better to make it logical.
  - Why no mention of how Spock's dad ended up with a human wife? A little TOO Pon Farr for me! Or maybe Too Pon Nearr...
  - Why would they throw Chapel under the bus and break her heart after all the tender and loving dialog between the two? Straight up hurtful!
  - Her logic was hardly flawless and made little sense! With Kirk accidentally appearing or not!!!
  - Why wouldn't T'Pring give the LOGICAL option of advising Kirk the fight was to the death?!?
  - Spock is living in an Earth ship with their O2 levels and general temps. Yes, he warms his cabin but it he is hardly acclimatized to Vulcun and he is also in a depleted state... unlike Kirk! Kirk should have wailed on him!
  
  Ok, 6 ways...
  
  I have no other problems with this episode... :-)
  
  I dug the dialog etc, and loved Kirk throwing all in for his friend!
  Awesome!
  
  

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• From Corporal Crust on 2007-03-24 at 3:19pm:
  Fun episode. However, what makes this episode interesting is also what makes it flawed. There are so many things going on script-wise that the episode never has time to "breathe" properly. We have holograms, folds, ferengi's, troi, impressions, shields, etc. The writers just have too much going on. The idea is cool, and true to trek. It just needed a little more polishing.
• From Dstyle on 2015-08-01 at 1:26am:
  So wait, are Barclay and Troi a package deal or something? We can't have one without the other because of some obscure contractual clause with TNG? I thought for sure this was going to be just a Barclay episode, but sure enough he crashes Troi's beach vacation to drag her into the episode too! (Also: boobs!)
  
  I love how the Ferengi "brace for impact" by cowering on the floor.

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• From EvanT on 2011-06-24 at 8:51pm:
  I think it's fair to say that Vulcans already had warp travel during the Awakening. After all this is the time that the Romulans leave Vulcan ("those that marched beneath the raptor's wings"?) and obviously they didn't reach Romulus on sub-light speeds.
  
  It's reasonable to assume that Vulcans suspended their deep space exploration until they could rebuild and 1500 years is what? 30 something generations? (perhaps less) It's not that much time to rebuild a society and restructure it around an entirely new philosophy, working out the problems as they went. And I DO believe that the general tone in Star Trek is that Vulcans take things slow and don't rush (similar to D&D elves) simply because they can afford it due to their lifespans.
• From Mitch89 on 2013-01-04 at 11:38am:
  The parallels to the DS9 two parter "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost" is astounding, right down to the actor playing the crazy power hungry leader trying to take control of everything!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

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

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Docfan on 2011-09-07 at 7:32am:
  I can't get enough Doctor stuff, and this episode does a mighty fine job (the actual swarm stuff is pretty much secondary to me... I'll admit I can't give this episode an objective review b/c I'm just too fond of the doc).
  
  Absolutely love the role reversal where the Doctor becomes the anxious patient, and Torres becomes the insensitive "doctor-engineer."
  
  Seeing the Zimmerman program in action is interesting stuff as well - a holographic program of the original creator of the holographic program. Kind of neat and a bit amusing. "Relationships with the crew?! Relationships with...women? Do they find you attractive?"
  
  The Doc getting an acute version of Alzheimer's is also interesting... simultaneously entertaining and sad. "He's a sick man. This is where sick people come." Great to watch Kes' concern for and attachment to the Doc.
  
  I also love the ending. A bit of an ambiguity about whether or not he's just lost the bulk of his memories. Roll credits. Run doc's operatic singing alpha one.
  
  
  
  
• From Docfan on 2011-09-09 at 4:05am:
  I forgot to mention something else:
  
  In a really neat twist, this episode puts in question the value and even the virtue, the moral status of what has so far gone absolutely unquestioned: the doctor's growth as a kind of proto-person, or "honorary human."
  
  Many of us cheered for the Doc when he stepped outside of the confines of his programming and began to think of himself as a sentient entity, as a lifeform. This was a very compelling development to observe, both for the audience and for the Voyager crew, who were mostly supportive (for instance, Paris and Kes coached him in the matters of love in "Voyager: Life signs.")
  
  All of this is turned on its head in a single moment, when the diagnostic program proclaims its diagnosis: "on too long and doing too much." Evidently, the Doctor was meant to be off during his off hours, and sticking to medicine during his on hours. The result of his becoming a "person," so to speak, is that he can no longer be an emergency medical hologram, which is downright irresponsible, and endangers the entire crew.
  
  This is a really great twist to the doctor's existential dilemmas, and puts his entire history on Voyager (thus far) in a different perspective.
  
  One thing I just thought of: at one point Kes argued that his personal activities and explorations made him a better doctor. That is probably true. What's more, his functions on the ship have occasionally gone beyond medical, i.e. the counter-insurgent/military psychologist role he played in "Voyager: Basics." If he didn't have all that previous life experience, it's questionable whether he would've been motivated, willing, or able to help save the ship, either through his own acts or by guiding and encouraging Suder.
  
  So, it's interesting to see all of this put in a zero sum, either/or perspective for a moment, but it is equally relieving to see this problem go away, at least temporarily, as the Doc receives a successful "neural net graft" from his lookalike diagnostic program.
  
  Here is one "reset switch" I'm more than happy to see.
• From TheAnt on 2013-10-31 at 6:49pm:
  Trilobytes and fragmented terabytes
  
  I give this one a '6' since it leaves a number of loose ends and half made starts in various directions that are left high and dry on the beach.
  One example is why the warp drive were on the blink. And how the heck did they fail to note the attached trilobite ship when they were close enough to transport one of the crew out and to sickbay?
  Else from that I like Kes rescuing the Doc, and have his matrix - or "fragmented hard drive disk" - de-fragmented and restored.
  
  but the two sets of storylines do not mix well.
  In fact it is hard to say which one is the subplot in this episode.
  
  However it is not just one of the trilobite ships that gets blown up, but all that have attached themselves to Voyagers hull.
  So when Kethinov say 'one' I guess it might be a case of seeing the episode quite some time before writing the review. Or that he suffers the same condition as the Doc! =)
  
  As I understood it, Cpt Janeway's description of the aliens were correct. The swarm were bullies, and not used to meeting the kind of organised resistance which the crew of Voyager met them with. (And it might have been most of their boarding crew that got shot and transported out.)
  So with the risk of growing Tuvok ears I'd say that with that perspective the withdrawal of the swarm of trilobite ships were logical.
• From Rick on 2017-04-28 at 3:36pm:
  So much for holographic rights. To save their friend the crew murders another hologram that has the same matrix and capabilities as the doctor. Kes is quite the hypocrite.
• From Mike on 2017-07-26 at 1:01am:
  I heard Robert Picardo in an interview or convention panel or something, talking about the dying alien on the bed in sickbay in this episode. The alien's white facepaint combined with the green bags under his eyes and his red hair gave him a Bozo-the-Clown-like appearance. The shots of him and the Doctor were composed in such a way that the audience wouldn't look at the alien too long and think, "that's Bozo the Clown!" in the midst of this dramatic moment.
  
  The episode overall was a pretty good one. The Swarm were an interesting concept for an alien species, something that ST:VOY generally did a good job with whatever people think of the series. They were defeated a little too easily considering they were introduced as this very ominous species.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Benjamin Baxter on 2008-07-15 at 8:18pm:
  Problem: Sometimes when Nog walks, he's limping with the wrong leg. At least, that's what it looks like it.
• From Remco on 2009-07-25 at 11:13pm:
  I didn't get the impression that this episode was about holodiction. The prolonged holodeck time only had a positive influence on Nog. If we've seen anything before, it's 7 years of counseling sessions with Deanna Troi. I thought this was a fresh spin on both holo-issues and psychological counseling.
• From S. Egil on 2009-08-20 at 5:32pm:
  Regarding the problem of veterans' post-traumatic stress syndrome, the writers get many things right in this episode. Listen to Nog's breakthrough confession to Vic about his battle revelation that he too, though young and eager, was mortal and vulnerable. Combat veterans will certainly find much truth in this. The play of Nog's mortality against Vic's supposed (hollow)immortality makes for an interesting and subtle story. But why weren't the other crew members, most of whom had seen grueling combat themselves, more skillful and empathetic in helping Nog?
• From rpeh on 2010-08-04 at 8:18pm:
  One minor problem: in the scene just after Nog moves into the Holosuite, and the staff are discussing Bashir's programs, Ezri's collar insignia changes. It starts as a Lt. JG but with the black pip to the right, then it cuts away to Jake. When it cuts back again, the pips are the right way round.
  
  Having demonstrated my amazing powers of observation, the episode falls a bit flat. I agree that Ezri would have been a better choice for counsellor, but they did kind of explain that when Nog told her that all he'd done was talk to people about his feelings.
  
  I'll give it a 4.
• From Krs321 on 2011-10-04 at 12:22pm:
  Have to disagree with this review and your opinion of Vic in general.
  
  1. This episode isn't about Vic and his trivial holographic life. It's about PTSD and Nog. The fact that Nog could escape to a literal fantasy world is what makes the episode.
  
  2. Vic is the, what, 3rd sentient Hologram now? Shouldn't Starfleet be flipping out and studying this phenomenon?
  
  3. Vic is a better counselor than Ezri. Honestly, they should've introduced Vic a long time ago. He's more interesting than Jadzia or Ezri. They just need to spend less time showing him sing.
• From Omcn on 2012-01-10 at 12:48pm:
  
  This is one of my fav. ep. in the season if not the entire series. This is a classic example of how Trek has an excellent way of pointing out the flaws in modern (and apparently for centuries to come) treatment to mental illness. Does Ezri show off her stuff? No. Why not? Cause with a problem like this it needs to be handled in an extreme way and the holosuite is the perfect place with Vic the perfect hollow character. I think that the way Nog reacts to doctors telling him the pain he feels is "all in his head" is very believable. I love that as soon as Nog reacts violently Ezri is ready to end the experiment of allowing Nog to let things run its course in the hollowsuite, that is so realistic. Vic (not a "trained" counselor) knows better and stops her from removing him. A violent outburst is often a show of the road to recovery and modern (as well as in the future) always view violence as a negative progression of mental illness. This ep. rounds out nicely with Nog finding his purpose again, not as a soldier but as a businessmen which again fits in with his character nicely. I love this ep. for the commentary on mental illness and in dealing with physical impairment.
  
• From Harrison on 2012-08-29 at 1:58am:
  Watching a self-absorbed depressed Ferengi adolescent mope around a holosuite isn't my idea of good TV drama.
  
  Blech.
• From Esper on 2014-04-04 at 7:48pm:
  I think this was a magnificent episode.
  The episode handled PTSD suffering and healing process perfectly and the whole ride made Nog's character more alive and likable persona whom you can relate with.
  
  I also liked Vic a lot considering he is entirely made by Bashir's genetically enhanced doctor brain, so no wonder he knows a thing or two how to handle PTSD patients.
  All and all I give this episode 9/10. The duo brought both of them both alive, each in unique way.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Remco on 2009-05-06 at 3:24pm:
  I thought this was a very gripping episode. The first part was a bit like a good ER disaster episode: you never see the disaster itself, but you see the bodies coming in. You know it's right around the corner. And then Jake got caught in the cross-fire. Without military training, he panics of course, and he feels that makes him a coward. But as we saw in the first part, not even soldiers are able to cope with battle. In the final battle, when running was not an option, Jake fought instinctively. It was not out of some sense of heroism. It was just survival.
  
  I absolutely believe in Jake's assertion that the line between heroism and cowardice is very thin. I hope I never have to find out where I stand.
• From Christopher Wright on 2011-12-06 at 12:25am:
  This episode may have its moments where the emotions seem a little forced, but overall a rewarding episode. It was nice to see Jake showing some maturity to balance out his naive enthusiasm. One of my favorite themes in narratives is redemption and how we are not defined by our past. We have all done things we regret or even find downright disgusting, but we should always have the chance to redeem ourselves. Jake at first tries to justify his cowardice, but as the soldier Jake meets after the shelling reminds him (and us), life doesn't work that way. It is only in humility and being honest with oneself that redemption can begin its work. The episode leaves us with some hope for Jake and even the soldier who shot himself to avoid fighting.
  
  I love these reviews - they are an excellent companion to the series, especially for someone like me who is experiencing DS9 for the first time.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Dstyle on 2015-10-08 at 4:03am:
  An oddly placed episode, considering the urgency of their Xindi mission. I agree that it would have been better suited for the first or second season.
  
  I too liked Reed's "shoot the hostage" trick, but I think they screwed the whole thing up by making the victim T'Pol. As soon as I saw her flailing ineffectively as the cowboy held her at gun point the whole thing lost all believably. C'mon, T'Pol, you're like four times stronger than that guy, trained in crazy-effective Vulcan martial arts, and can knock him unconscious simply by pinching his neck. Maybe stay cool instead of flailing about and you'll remember you're not just a helpless sexpot. Seriously, any other person on this mission would have worked better in that scene. Hell, use one of the nameless female military people if you need it to be a "damsel in distress" situation. But not T'Pol. She should be cool, calm, and kicking cowboy butt.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Krs321 on 2012-03-13 at 2:26pm:
  How is it a problem that Worf used an escape pod 200+ years after T'Pol made that statement?
• From CeeBee on 2013-12-21 at 7:52pm:
  In the Augment-trilogy in season 4 Archer uses an escape pod on the Klingon ship as well.
• From Hugo on 2017-02-13 at 7:49am:
  I liked this ep, nice tension and character development. I think the captain should have invited the Klingons for a victory feast in the final scene... Too bad we didn't get a chance to see the braced shuttlepod, I'd be curious what that looked like.
  
  Nice comment in reference to Voyager in the beginning - where Reed comments that they shouldn't lose the shuttle...

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Frankie on 2015-02-06 at 9:08pm:
  As ridiculous as this episode is, I still find it hard to dislike. It was an interesting change to see Spock, Sulu, and Uhura on a mission. But for me, the Kzinti were the absolute best part of the episode, especially with their revulsion to vegetarianism, which produced several cheesy yet memorable lines: "The human… he's too alien. He makes me taste yellow root crushed between flat teeth."

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-09-02 at 7:26pm:
  When the episode opens, Geordi flies through space in a shuttle. Geordi asks the computer how long until he reaches his destination. The computer replies three hours. How long would it take for the Enterprise to fly over at warp 7 and drop him off? Why travel three, or six, or nine hours in a subwarp shuttle, when the Enterprise could have you there in a matter of minutes? It is a plot device to separate a character from the Enterprise or force a group of characters to be together for extended time.
• From JRPoole on 2008-06-27 at 1:42am:
  I am also quite fond of this episode for the reasons mentioned above. The Manchurian Candidate-esque plot is interesting, and the continuity with past Klingon soap opera episodes is great. My only quibble is that the reset button gets pushed with regards to LaForge's brainwashing aftermath. I find it a tad unbelievable that a Star Fleet officer who was brainwashed into nearly killing a Klingon governor can simply go back to duty after a few counseling sessions. But then again, how many times has Data malfunctioned and nearly killed everyone?
  
  Poor Geordi. He's almost as tragic as Beverly. The only time he has any luck with the ladies is when an evolving alien endows him with artificial confidence. His dream woman shows up and busts him for fantasizing about her on the holodeck. He transforms into an alien species through a process which killed several of his friends. And now he gets brainwashed by the Romulans. Picard goes to Risa, gets laid, and has an adventure. Geordi doesn't even get to set foot on the planet.
• From DIo on 2009-01-05 at 12:34am:
  I wasn't as impressed by this episode. The opening scene was enjoyable, Levar Burton is great. However, I found Geordi's disconnection/clueless routine to be a little frustrating. Why did the Romulans have to subject him to horrors in order to 'brainwash' him? Why can't they just directly feed orders to his brain?
  
  I also didn't enjoy the frequent cuts to the purple/green visor view: once is enough, we know they are watching. I did enjoy Picard's Klingon cursing though! Overall, a below average episode for me. For Geordi, I prefer Booby Trap, Galaxy's Child or Aquiel a lot more.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-02-10 at 8:30pm:
  The Romulans in this episode are scary, cold-blooded, deceptive, intelligent, and dark. It should be used as the bible for designing all Romulans in future TV shows and movies.
  
  And yes, they should always have hair.
• From Nick Counts on 2011-02-24 at 4:05am:
  The scene where Geordi and Data investigate the phaser rifle horrifies the engineer in me. Does anything about live firing an energy weapon within feet of the warp core seem safe? Not to mention the conspicuous lack of safety barriers or precautions for personnel. I know they try not to build sets unless absolutely necessary, but it still makes me cringe to watch.
• From Bob on 2012-05-08 at 8:20pm:
  This is one of my favorite Star Trek TNG episodes.
• From Mike Chambers on 2013-11-16 at 4:42am:
  This episode never did much for me. Since when does just forcing people to see really horrible things for a few days make them forget what happened, kill friends without question, and think they were on a peaceful vacation with exquisitely detailed memories of it? Too much suspension of disbelief required for me.
  
  I'd give this one a 3 or 4. Kethinov gives this one a 7 and The Drumhead a 1? Wow, really have to disagree with those two ratings!
• From Axel on 2015-03-30 at 5:16am:
  Yeah, the phaser rifle test fire in main engineering messed with me as well. A shuttle bay would've been a better place to test something like that.
  
  As for Geordi's brainwashing, they just showed the part where the Romulans are demonstrating how they can control what he sees, measure his responses, and send information to his brain. I'm sure they did more than just show LaForge a few terrifying images in order to complete the process. It likely would've taken days to reprogram his brain.
  
  This is probably the best La Forge episode, overall. The plot, his acting, etc. It all comes together well, and is nicely woven in with Worf's arc and an intriguing Klingon-Romulan storyline too.
  
  
• From Dstyle on 2015-06-14 at 7:33pm:
  I'm a sucker for episodes that show Data confidently taking charge and taking command. He's always such a naive Pinocchio figure that I often forget that he's second-in-line behind Riker in the command structure, and the scene where he confidently ordered Worf to detain Geordi was, for some reason, really cool to me.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-06-09 at 7:52am:
  - Why does the Enterprise just hang in space waiting for Picard to return in the shuttle? Why doesn't the Enterprise warp over to get him? It can travel much faster than a shuttle, and as it turns out, speed is of the essence. As soon as Picard reaches the bridge, he sets a course for the Neutral Zone at warp 8!
  - When Offenhouse wanders onto the bridge, Riker orders Security to have him removed. The Security guys do rush over and grab him, but then they get mesmerized by the decloaking Romulan ship. What kind of military discipline is this?
  - While Riker is talking to the recently thawed humans, Picard pages him. Riker gets up from his chair, walks over to a companel, touches it, and responds. Riker is notorious for not touching anything when it comes to communications. And why would he get up and walk over to a companel when he could just slap his chest? Obviously it is a plot contrivance to allow Offenhouse to see how they work so that later in the episode he can bother Picard.
• From carsonist on 2009-03-28 at 2:14pm:
  I was proud of myself for recognizing that the Romulan you see on the left is the actor who later plays Gul Dukat. He still has the same speech patterns.
  
  In all, a good episode.
• From onlinebroker on 2009-09-21 at 10:39am:
  Best episode in season 1, but the end feels a bit weird. So the romulans didnt destroy the outpost, who did? Nobody cares and they just leave? Weird.
• From thaibites on 2009-12-03 at 4:05am:
  BORING...we needed less losers from the past and more Romulans.
• From Roland on 2010-04-16 at 9:42pm:
  This episode, IMO, sets the stage for the introduction of the Borg
• From rpeh on 2010-06-20 at 8:58pm:
  One of the most overrated episodes. The whole thing is so rushed, you have to assume it was originally intended to be a two-parter and got cut down later on. Beyond comic relief, the frozen humans offer nothing and the only purpose of the Romulans is to come out with that awful "we're back" line.
  
  In brief: the humans serve no real purpose; the Romulans serve no real purpose... so what is the purpose of this episode?
• From Bernard on 2010-06-21 at 6:36pm:
  I agree completely with rpeh. This episode is decidedly average. There is some talk of the palpable tension when the Romulans make their appearance? Well someone must have forgotten to tell me about it because there is little tension in this episode about 21st century humans trying to deal with waking up 300 years later. While that is an interesting premise it it very rushed and wasted on this episode. As is the reintroduction of the Romulans. They do not threaten, or hint at aggression. There simply is no 'game of chess'. They simply appear near the end to huge hype and there is no payoff at all.
  
  Overall I would say the fan rating of 6.5 is a pretty good indicator, I'd give it a 5 or 6.
• From linearA on 2010-09-03 at 4:58am:
  I was bothered by the preachy talk about how people in the 24th century no longer fear death. Still, I was able to overlook the episode's shortcomings, and I consider this the first top-notch episode.
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-28 at 3:49am:
  I don't rate this episode very highly, but it did have its moments. When I first watched this episode, and saw the huge new Warbird uncloak in front of the Enterprise, I thought it was pretty cool. The Romulan plot had some definite suspense. But most of the episode was dedicated to the cryogenics plot, which totally clashed with the Romulan plot; the suspense was broken up by silly 20th century antics. Also, the suspense is something of an unfulfilled promise. Of course it sounds interesting to say "The Romulans disappeared mysteriously, nobody has seen them for 50 years, and now they are back!" It sounds like a teaser to make you watch a TV show. But when nothing interesting is really ever made of the premise, it is hard to give it any brownie points.
  
  Some of the 24th-20th century clashes are interesting as far as how they develop and explain the Star Trek universe. Picard's statement about how the purpose of life in the 24th century is self-improvement, not survival or making money, is particularly memorable to me. But primarily the screen time was spent with the 20th century humans annoying the Enterprise crew, which I didn't find entertaining.
  
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-20 at 3:17pm:
  This episode fleshes out one of the main themes of TNG: the idea that life is no longer about acquisition of material wealth, power, fame, or any of the other external status symbols that we strive for, but is instead about internal things: Intellectual, artistic and spiritual pursuits.
  
  That is, as long as the pursuits are not in the form of organized religion, which is generally panned by TNG. But I digress.
  
  The idea that the Federation manages without a concept of currency is commonly expressed in TNG, as it is here. This seems rather preposterous, frankly. Currency is required for any kind of reasonable economy, and in places like Utopia Plenetia we see huge works going on. How is this managed? How does the Federation manage to obtain valuable commodities like dylithium from other races without some form of currency? In Voyager where the crew is frequently running short on stuff, they resort to barter, a rather inefficient way of organizing economic transactions.
  
  The Ferengi certainly have a currency in the form of gold-pressed latinum, but this is a symbol of how they are less evolved.
• From Helium on 2012-02-19 at 5:46am:
  I think the next time I get a sales pitch from my ISP attempting to sign me onto a TV contract I will quote Data "That particular form of entertainment [will
  
  become] extinct in the year 2040". I really hope he is right. I hope on demand video and OLED screens 3D or whatever is coming will evolve to make TV (and pushing ADS 24/7) completely obsolete. I also hope that our species does in fact survive the 21st century. I often think that with so many Offenhouses, perhaps we will evolve into the Ferangi or perhaps even the Borg (although that would take much longer than a mere 300 years).
  
  Anyhow I am getting slightly off topic. I LOVE this episode. There is so much to ponder. So many reasons to fall in love (again) with the United Federation of Planets. It makes me want to raise the flag, go to Starfleet Academy and put on a tight fitting jump suit. Alas I will not live that long however, after viewing this episode one can only hope we live up to our potential as a species. Let us all prove to Riker we can indeed survive the 21st century.
• From doulos23 on 2013-12-24 at 6:32am:
  I believe at the core of whether this episode is liked or not has a lot to do with one's personal agreement with the Roddenberry-ian philosophies or not. It is no secret that Gene's vision was of a techno socialist Utopia. It is an easier pill to swallow the pedantic lecturing of so-called "unevolved" selfish 20 Century man if one agrees with the "promise" of such a future - and one is forgiving of Anvilicious programming. I love Trek, but caricatures are straw men no matter your personal worldview.
• From Amine on 2015-05-15 at 2:00pm:
  What's with the judgment of cryonics? What a condescending reaction they all had, especially Riker with "no redeeming qualities"... how dehumanizing! There is a contradiction in them doing medicine at all and then scorning people for staying alive in this way. And Picard essentially wanted Data to murder those people in the beginning of the episode. Bizarre.
• From tigertooth on 2017-03-18 at 5:41am:
  As others have indicated, I felt the two plot strands didn't mesh together well and neither was very satisfying. We spend most of our time with the unfrozen people, but then never really resolve their plot. Instead the climax goes to the Romulan plot, but given the fact that the destroyed colonies are never mentioned again, that's unsatisfying as well.
  
  There were elements in both plots that could have been developed better and made into good episodes (probably separate episodes), but as it is, this is kind of a mess. Not terrible by any means -- probably in the top half of 1st season episodes -- but not that good.
• From Mike on 2017-03-29 at 4:43am:
  Riker: "It's a pity we can't take them ourselves. Having them on board is like a visit from the past."
  
  Picard: "That would take us in the wrong direction. Our mission is to go forward..."
  
  This is an odd thing to hear Picard say when you realize, after watching the entire series, that he almost became an archaeologist and it's still his main hobby.
  
  What is believable though is the behavior of the 20th century humans. My favorite is Offenhouse, only because he represents so many of the things you hope humanity will indeed eventually move away from as imagined by Star Trek.
  
  The impending encounter with the Romulans looms over this episode nicely, building tension that doesn't disappoint. Best of the first season by far.
• From Axel on 2018-06-13 at 12:08am:
  Re: Jeff Browning
  
  Currency and exchange are based on the idea that you have a scarce amount of one resource or product, and abundance of another. While this includes luxury items, its foundation is necessities: clothing, food, shelter, energy, medicine, etc. All economic models are based on the notion that these items are scarce, finite, and require labor to obtain.
  
  In the future Earth (though not all of the Federation), the idea is that there no longer is scarcity when it comes to necessities. Food and clothing can be replicated. Energy is presumably all drawn from renewable sources. Technology has made medicine, transportation, communication, and shelter all readily available. Automation has replaced human labor in many areas.
  
  If all necessities are taken care of and nobody risks going cold or starving, then what will people do with their time? Will they sit around, lazily mooching from their Eden, growing fat, dumb and happy? H.G. Wells "Time Machine" believed so, which is why you had some humans eventually evolving into the Eloi. Star Trek believes something different. It imagines that, free of the pressure to compete for resources or hoard wealth, people will pursue those interests and goals they otherwise would have: history, art, music, science, etc. As we see from the Picard and Sisko families, some people like to live the old fashioned way, resulting in restaurants and wine that everybody enjoys. Others want to explore the galaxy...hence Starfleet. The collective goals and ambitions of humanity benefit the entire civilization. Is it lofty? Perhaps...but then again, it's not hard to imagine replication technology, automated labor, and renewable energy eventually providing many of our needs even within sight of our own time. And how many people are stuck in jobs they hate because the job market doesn't reward them them for doing what they've always wanted? Would those people honestly sit around and watch TV all day, if they didn't have to work? Perhaps some would...but I do believe enough would pursue something that you could base a civilization on it.
  
  I know I'm going off on a tangent here, but I get the idea that's what this episode is trying to say. The 20th century human Offenhouse can't contemplate how this new economy works, and Picard tries to offer him a summary of the path he can take. It's the Roddenberry vision: a future where every kid learns how to read, none go hungry, and there's no need for money. It's either that, or we end up like the Ferengi :)
• From C on 2019-01-13 at 10:16pm:
  Wonderful episode.
  
  It’s interesting that some commenters here apparently have less trouble suspending disbelief related to the speed of light than the necessity of currency.
  
  Highlights why this episode is so good. Humans have a long way to go before we’ll be starfleet material.
• From jeffenator98 on 2019-07-19 at 5:26pm:
  An average episode at best. 5/10

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Vlad on 2006-04-02 at 3:04am:
  I find it very interesting that DS9 is being called "the most human Star Trek series" even though that the regular cast features the least human characters. This applies here too. This episode is one of the most human episodes of TNG and the amazing thing is that the humanity comes from a creature who is as far from human as it gets.
  
  The Dowwd's dilemma is something, which I think many of us have had to deal with one way or another: How far would you go for the woman you love? Superbeing or not, love makes us do what we never thought we would.
  
  Am I giving him absolution? Absolutely not! Genocide is the worst imaginable crime. Like Picard said: "We are not qualified to be your judges!" But if you ask me if I would do the same if I were in his place... Why do I identify with this being, more so than with any other character I've seen on Star Trek? Why does his pain move my insides so deeply?
  
  This episode is a personal favourite of mine so I give it 10 out of 10! Call me biased if you wish!
  
• From DSOmo on 2007-07-06 at 7:36pm:
  - Kevin perceives Troi is sensing he may not be human from the Enterprise, so he sends music to confuse her. He creates a warship that attacks and retreats from the Enterprise. He is able to control the warship's acceleration to maintain a constant distance from the Enterprise. Kevin destroyed an entire race, wherever they happened to be in the galaxy. Yet every time an away team beams down to Rana IV, Kevin acts surprised. How can Kevin be surprised by the presence of the Enterprise? He could sense the Husnak throughout the galaxy, surely he could sense the Enterprise in orbit around his planet.
  - An instant after Kevin begins to "transport" himself to Troi's quarters, Geordi turns and looks at the turbolift. This is before Kevin fully disappears. How did Geordi know that Kevin would use that particular turbolift?
• From Evan on 2008-05-26 at 1:54pm:
  I agree with JRPoole... I also suspect the arm sling at the end is a bluff. As for the comment about the universal translator, it's just using the same implant as the communicator.
  
  I also like to think that Picard doesn't think he's calling Liko's bluff, but is actually willing to die.
• From Wes on 2011-03-24 at 5:50pm:
  There were some things about this episode that seemed quite familiar after watching TOS The Man Trap. What do you think? Kethinov?
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-04 at 2:17pm:
  I've always liked this episode. However, along the lines of what DSOmo was noticing, Uxbridge seems to be some sort of idiot-savant superbeing. How the heck can his power manage to find and kill every Husnock, when he has such a difficult time even keeping track of the Enterprise?
  
  
• From Ggen on 2012-03-08 at 10:22pm:
  If it wasn't for the dramatic epic revelation at the very end, this episode would've been quite thoroughly lost... but the ending redeems it to a considerable degree.
  
  The premise with the music box and infectious telepathic tune starts off rather neat and eerily mysterious, but ends up being a bit over the top and somewhat silly.
  
  One thing I did like was how something like 1/2 way through the episode, you still really have no clue what the heck's going on. Everything's up in the air and it's not at all clear which way things are going to go. We know things are not as they seem, but what's actually up is quite a mystery.
  
  The way this is actually resolved and revealed is both a bit disappointing but, at the very very end, at least partially redeeming. The long-winded exposition seems sort of lame, just a poor way to resolve all the building tension...
  
  Thankfully we have this rather unexpected revelation: "All Husnock. Everywhere."
  
  That brings the whole matter to a whole new level, a different order of magnitude. As Picard says, "We don't even have the legal definitions to fit this crime" (something to that effect). In short, ep. is a mixed bag, redeemed by taking its premise to a rather extreme conclusion.
• From Dominic on 2012-10-29 at 5:00am:
  I completely agree with the fact that this seemed like a really stupid episode until the ending.

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• From JRPoole on 2008-11-17 at 5:11pm:
  I cringed at the thought of this episode because I'm generally anti-Ferengi. At their best, they're little more than comic relief. At their worst, they're silly and borderline offensive.
  
  This, however, is pretty solid. Yes, it's mostly aimed at laughs. Yes, the Ferengi are what they are. But this is done pretty well, and we get good character development of Rom, Quark, and the Ferengi at large. On top of that, it's entertaining from top to bottom, so it all falls together well.
• From Bernard on 2009-11-25 at 11:17pm:
  Excellent episode! One of the strongest of season one, though that really isn't saying much.
  
  Ferengi lore is started in earnest during this episode and remains throughout the seven seasons. I for one enjoy what you might call the 'Ferengi story arc'.
  
  Two important recurring characters get a good grounding here. One is the Nagus, delightfully played by Wallace Shawn. The other is Rom, who despite earlier appearances gets more to do here.
  
  Surprised to see the fan average below your score here, but many do not like the ferengi storylines. I'd give it a solid 7.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-18 at 1:39pm:
  I thoroughly enjoyed this one, not the least because of the great contribution of Wallace Shawn, the exceptional character actor who plays the Grand Nagus. (Shawn is possibly best known for his role as Vizzini in the Rob Reiner film "Princess Bride", but he has a long list of credits to his name. See the IMDB database for more information.)
  
  One comment on the idea that the Ferengi represent American capitalism. Having traveled extensively, I find the Ferengi more like the capitalism in places like Hong Kong or Singapore than the US. The fact that the Ferengi despise trade unions for example, and their extremely repressive attitude towards women are certainly not typical of the US. However, I see the point. I think Star Trek in general tries to portray the Federation as a more evolved version of the USA, absent the drive for wealth and status (although this analogy breaks down at times). Thus, the Federation is a symbol of our aspirations, while the Ferengi are perhaps symbolic of our dark side.
  
  At any rate, I generally enjoy episodes where the Ferengi's are heavily involved. (I find the relationship between Quark and Odo as rich and fulfilling as any in Star Trek, including that between Bones and Spock, or between Geordi and Data.)

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• From Harrison on 2013-02-18 at 2:51am:
  This fine episode boasts what is probably the signature performance by Andrew J. Robinson, as Garak.

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• From JRPoole on 2009-06-09 at 6:54pm:
  Good episode. I don't have much of a comment except to say that O'brien makes one ugly Klingon.
  
• From Jaap on 2010-09-21 at 7:27pm:
  There is a problem: how come Gowron and a lot of other Klingons did not recognise Worf?
• From Christopher Wright on 2011-12-05 at 5:35pm:
  So if Odo is a solid now, does that mean a Changling can harm and kill him? I guess it does because Odo would have killed had the Changling attacking him not been killed. If Odo isn't considered a Changling anymore then why did the fake general hold him back and let the others in the room (other than it being a plot device)?
  Overall, a great episode, and I love the new Dukat with his Bird of Prey. The consistency of writing in the characters so far has been amazing, considering all the different writers and directors. By the way, I am just now, in late 2011, seeing DS9 for the first time via Netflix.
• From Selador on 2013-04-24 at 8:10pm:
  This is not a good episode - it's full of problems, is completely unrealistic and the actual story is lame. One problem was that the Klingons didn't seem to notice that the DS9 crew didn't speak Klingon (except for Worf but he didn't say much). I undertand that the Universal Translator would translate their English into Klingon but doesn't answer the problem for two reason: 1. They would still know that they're speaking a different language because of mouth shapes ect. 2. They actually say some Klingon words... then switch to English.
  
  Another problem was how easy the crew got into the Kingon base. If their intelligence and epionage skills are that good then how did they not know of the Klingon plot to attack Romulus and the countless other things that they don't know?
  
  Also the whole Odo being down thing is getting really old. It's about the fifth time he's told Sisko that he's not up to the job for various reasons.
  
  A really annoying episode and it didn't even include Major Kira.
• From L on 2013-07-25 at 11:24am:
  The exposition in the opening scene was really forced and obvious.
  But when this happened,
  - "Tough assignment. Who are they sending?"
  - "Me."
  all was forgiven.
  
  They really over-did Jake's teeth.
  Must have been an in-joke among the crew or something.
  
  
  
• From L on 2013-07-25 at 12:03pm:
  (whoops, wrong Sisko. *Benjamin's* teeth.)

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• From Bob on 2009-05-17 at 11:18pm:
  I thought the ethics displayed in this episode were sound. They also did a very good job explaining why they made the decision that they did. I agree with most of your star trek episode reviews, but this was an excellent episode, deserving of a much higher score than a 1. I think you might need to watch it again. You forgot to note in the your Factoids that majority of all technologically advanced planets have a single dominant species. This fact along with the facts that the Valakian "plague" is a genetic defect and the Menk are undergoing an intellectual awakening is proof enough that Archer made the right decision. Humans have no right to influence the evolution of life on that planet.
• From Daniel Baldwin on 2009-08-09 at 8:58pm:
  No no no! The episode was well written and acted, but morally it's terrible. They don't show us the consequences of this decision, do they? I wonder why? I suggest that people watch Babylon 5 "Confessions and Lamentations" instead.
• From ive on 2009-12-06 at 10:25pm:
  ethics are perfect in this episode.
  compassion clouded your judgement as well.
  my rating - 6.9
• From carsonist on 2010-05-03 at 1:48am:
  I like this episode. An episode can be good even if the last five minutes include a decision you don't like. I think it's a bit extreme to rate it so low just because of one thing.
  
  Also, Phlox isn't making any decision for the Menk, he just realized that they could end up the dominant species of the planet, and if he interferes, they'll never have that chance. This episode is a perfect example of the Prime Directive, except the part where they gave out the lesser medicine.
• From Tallifer on 2011-05-07 at 10:03am:
  I am amazed that some people think it is morally acceptable to withhold the knowledge of a cure from a dying race. (And if the Mink are evolving so wonderfully, surely in a few generations they will assert themselves.)
  
  I did give this episode one point however for the very entertaining observations of the doctor.
• From rick on 2012-10-19 at 10:20pm:
  This episode should be a 0. Well acted, good premise, worst ethical decision I could possibly imagine. Strip away all this science fiction garbage (and aura of a supposedly higher moral standard) and what are we left with? We are left with genocide and that what Phlox/Archer did, pure and simple.
  
  God forbid we would "interfere" (read: save) with a species before they developed warp technology. I love how everyone seems to just accept that premise without thinking about how arbitrary and ridiculous it is. This whole seeming right to develop naturally without interference from other species is quite suspect.
  
  According to the ethics of this episode, we should all just kill ourselves so that we do not affect the natural evolution of the universe. Which brings me to another point. Why are we not a part of the "natural" evolution of the universe. If a virus is killing off a species why is our interference to save the species different than the virus killing it?
• From Zorak on 2016-09-21 at 11:38am:
  I 100% agree with your review (if not your score). I really enjoyed the episode up until the absolutely ridiculous conclusion. The character development for Phlox was great, the scenes were well done, and everything was shaping up to be another good episode.
  
  Then they ruined it. Even if one were to agree with the ethics (which I certainly don't), it was a completely uncalled for direction for the episode to take. I thought maybe they were going to find out that the Menk (which frankly sounds lie an insulting name for a species) were indeed being mistreated in some way or that the Menk were causing the disease and sharing that knowledge would lead to genocide.
  
  What I was not expecting was for them to decide that this unique culture of two evolving coexisting species should not be saved in favor of a more "normal" evolution where one species outlives the other, all for the sake of fan service to the prime directive. It was a completely ridiculous and unwarranted conclusion based solely on speculation.

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• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-05-28 at 4:08am:
  This epidode is okay if you don't take it seriously.
  
  Strange things:
  -There's a very distracting crewmember in the background during the opening scene on the ship. He's on the left side of the screen, dressed in a blue uniform, and Uhura is on the right side. He's smiling and looking into the camera. He looks like a superimposed image of Bashir from Deep Space Nine.
  
  -During the crews initial beamdown, there's a drive-bye shooting. One of the gangsters on the sidewalk gets shot and falls into some boxes. When the shooting stops, McCoy walks directly to Kirk and pronounces the gangster dead, but he never even examines him, or even looks at him from afar.
  
  -Watch closley when the gangster is playing pool. He's hitting random balls, but not the cue ball. (maybe there's a variation I don't know about)
  
  -I beleive we see the crew get taken hostage five times.
• From Mosh on 2012-07-15 at 12:18am:
  Being a complete Star Trek beginner going through this for the first time, there are a couple things I've been wondering about since the beginning.
  
  Up until this episode I assumed the 6 spots in the transporter room and the surrounding equipment were an integral part of the transporting process, and therefore you either had to beam to or from one of them.
  
  Now that it's been established that they are able to beam a person from one spot to another on the planet, my assumption would seem to be incorrect. I mean, if you can beam someone from anywhere to anywhere (within range), why have a room for it at all? Is it meant to be just a designated loading and unloading zone? Are those just arbitrarily designated spots with the coordinates set as default? Is this just a continuity error?
  
  I'm guessing all possible questions about this have been raised in the last several decades, but I'm too wary of spoilers to go to any other Trek sites.
• From koolaid62 on 2013-03-14 at 9:05pm:
  What bothered me (even years ago when I was a kid) was that they were fighting for domination of the planet and the gangs are supposedly replacing governments but you could drive from one territory to another in minutes and their individual headquarters consisted of 2 lackeys outside, 2 inside, one moll , one desk and one phone. At that rate you would need several thousand gangs to dominate the planet, culturally speaking. Yes, I know I'm nitpicking and didn't grasp the concept of budgetary restrictions !
• From Alan Feldman on 2014-03-30 at 11:29pm:
  "A Piece of the Action"
  
  A more or less fun episode. But it gets a little tiring with our heroes getting recaptured again and again. Also, Shatner's gangster voice gets a little annoying after a while. It's not very good.
  
  What makes this episode, of course, is the comedic value of the clash of cultures. In particular, Spock and Scotty's cluelessness about the gangster culture, and esp. their language, is pretty funny. The story itself is ridiculous (esp. the Fizzbin bit -- I mean, really), leaving only the comedy to make it worth watching. And I believe it was intended as such. Kirk's last line pretty much proves that.
  
  So Sigma Iotia II has been like this for 100 years straight? No scientific or technical progress in all that time? It's a silly story, so no biggie. Just wanted to point that out.
  
  When Kirk first drives the car, you just _know_ it's going to go in reverse. But it's funny anyway! I guess this is a gag that just always delivers.
  
  Notice that Oxmyx is actually spelled Okmyx (see the poster in Krako's office), but pronounced ox-mix. Perhaps just another spelling quirk of English -- Iotian English, anyway.
  
  I can't believe they're pointing machine guns at an infant, and shortly thereafter, a boy -- especially when Kirk does it! I find it rather disturbing just seeing that.
  
  So Bones might have left a communicator on the planet. So what? The Iotians don't have the tools to copy it. They don't even have the tools to make the tools to make the tools. They're in the equivalent of the 1920s! Do you think humans in _our_ 1920s could copy a modern circuit board, let alone a smartphone, if they came upon one? I think not! And here we're talking about something far more advanced than a smartphone: the transtator (whatever that is)! Being "bright and imitative" is just not going to be enough. The worst the Iotians could do is make crank phone calls to passing space ships -- that is, until the battery dies.
  
  Don't Kirk and Spock look outrageous in gangster clothes?!
  
  AEF, aka betaneptune
• From jd_juggler on 2015-03-25 at 3:02pm:
  This was the only episode that ended with a freeze frame.
  
  The actor who played the gangster gunned down (who fell ino the boxes) was Jay Jones, a stuntman and occasional ill-fated "redshirt" in ither episodes. He was blown up in "the apple" (and was severely injured in real life for that stunt), and he played Crewman Jackson, who was beamed up dead in Catspaw.
  
  When playing "Fizbinn", the gangster gets a pair of jacks, and supposes a third jack would be a good thing. Kirk says no, then he would have a sralk, and would be disqualified. But the gangsters next card IS a jack, and Kirk says "how lucky you are! How wonderful for you!"
  
  Another reviewer pointed out how annoying kirks "gangster" voice was. I quite agree. But Spock's attempts to act like a gang were hilarious. ("I would advise yas to keep dialing"). Scotty had a few amusing moments trying to act like a gangster as well.
  
  The boy who approached Kirk and Spock suggested that the entrance to Oxmyx's headquarters was being watched from several windows, which would render a direct assault suicudal. The boy cleverly allows Kirk and Spock to get close to the two guards without raising suspicion. However, to do this, the boy makes a loud and very visible demonstration himself, which, although not likely to be viewed as a viable threat itself, would surely have gotten the attention of anyone keeping an eye on the entrance to Oxmyx's headquarters (unless the kid was lying, although it is reasonable to suppose that the biggest "boss" on the planet would have better security than two inept goons standing outside his building).
  
  For his trouble, the kid wanted "a piece of the action", and he certainly lived up to his side of the bargain. But he got nothing. "Action" means money.
  
  It seems to me that the ship's sensors, in the hands of a competent crew, would know when the landing party had been captured, confined, held at gunpoint, or had their phasers and/or communicators taken from them. In another episode, Kirk brags that ship's sensors could locate a matchstick on a planet, so how hard could it be to locate a phaser or a communicator, then just beam them up?
  
  The Horizon, which visited the planet 100 years earlier, surely must have impressed the Iotians with its advanced technology, and Oxmyx even acknowledged that there must have been further improvements made during the intervening century. Thus, it would seem rather foolhardy to take an officer of the federation hostage.
  
  How exactly will the "fed's" 40% "cut" be calculated? And how can Kirk promise that the "Feds" will be coming back every year? And if in fact the federation does NOT come back every year, what's to prevent the planet from falling back into its former bad habits? Bela is now officially 2nd in command on the planet, but he and Oxmyx are longtime adversaries. Wouldn't bela be motivated to assassinate Oxmyx, making it look like an accident, so that he (Bela) could assume overall leadership of the planet, which is what he's wanted all along? Didn't Kirk and co. just make such course of action a whole lot easier for Bela?
  
  Despite all the above quibbles (and believe me, I could go on), I rate this as a very good episode overall. Among the top ten, I'd say.
• From Chris on 2018-03-15 at 5:33pm:
  Aside from all the gripes about this episode with Fizbin, crazy pool rules, cuts, and technological advancements etc... one thing that bugged me about this episode is the loss of the Horizon with its message back to the Feds.
  Even if the message was sent by conventional radio, the Feds had established FTL capabilities and you'd think that someone investigating the loss of a Survey vessel (even 50 yrs later!), cruising in the direction of Sigma Iotia II, would have intercepted the transmission long before it had reached Earth!
  
  Like most folks though, I like the episode but wish they'd have paid more attention to details of timing and history, which also doesn't really jibe with the Cochran episode... I think. I'm guessing they were making things up as they went! Hmmm, unusual for TV! ;-)
• From Chris Long on 2018-08-16 at 3:02am:
  I had another thought that would have been hilarious to follow up on!
  
  In DS9 or TNG, the Feds come across the Iotians who truly did dissect the advanced technology and grow to be a nuisance, if not a full blown enemy! Well, maybe not full blown...
  
  Love the cars in this episode every time I watch!!!

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• From Corporal Crust on 2007-03-23 at 10:20pm:
  A great episode. A great script. Perfect use of the doctor. Yes, it was an alien of the week episode and yes he did "do harm" to get the system to change. These are minor quams. However I believe the issue of the doctors morals was a great one to explore. Last time the doctor did harm was when his ethical subroutine was disabled. This time the harm was done under his own will. This shows his growth and his need to handle tough decisions responsibly....on a side note, Gar looks like a reject from the cats musical.
• From jaylong on 2007-04-30 at 6:06pm:
  And why is it that I see so many fat aliens wearing metallic spandex. But yeah, still a good episode.
• From Dstyle on 2015-07-31 at 2:57pm:
  Aw man, Jim O'Heir (Jerry from Parks and Rec) was the cuckold whose wife had run off with Gar! Geez, poor guy can't catch a break anywhere!
• From Mike on 2017-06-27 at 12:08am:
  Captain Kathryn "The Gloves Are Off" Janeway's style of situation handling seems to have rubbed off on the crew. The Doctor makes Chellick a patient in his own hospital. Tuvok considers a forced mindmeld with Gar, and Neelix even gives Gar food poisoning to extract information. You may not approve of their actions, but no denying that this crew has clearly had enough of being slapped around in the Delta Quadrant.
  
  Since we never really see any authority figure higher than Chellick, it's hard to say exactly how much of this is in his hands and how much he is contracted to provide. But even as I spent most of the episode cheering the Doctor's secret efforts to care for the Level Red patients, I have to admit his actions toward Chellick caught me a little off guard...and showed how desperate he was to fight this system.

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• From Pete Miller on 2006-04-22 at 11:55pm:
  I don't see it as much a slap in the face of conservatism as a slap in the face of reason. All the arguments for preserving their "society" are flawed. The enterprise had to interfere, or else the colony would have been wiped out. So THAT wouldn't have helped them, to just fly away. And you can't just make the people stay on the colony if they don't want to. They have their basic human rights to choose freely, and who's to say that their path is not the right one for their society? The idea that the prime directive of the federation would support the abandonment of their "society" because it might "upset the balance" warrants a reexamination of the prime directive. Just what is the prime directive supposed to protect if not human rights?
• From DSOmo on 2007-09-25 at 4:08am:
  - Geordi comments to Hannah Bates, "I haven't had any sleep in so long my eyelids feel like I have lead weights attached to them." Isn't this a rather odd statement for Geordi to make? First of all, Geordi is blind. Second, Geordi's visor pumps the information directly into his brain through little attachments near his temples. It doesn't matter whether his eyes are open or closed!
  - I have read, the creators spelled the name of the actor who played Aaron Conor wrong when this episode first aired. In the credits he was listed as "John Synder." All subsequent reruns list the actor correctly as "John Snyder."
• From djb on 2008-04-04 at 6:41pm:
  I thought this was a great episode for many reasons.
  
  This episode is really a human-centered drama with a sci-fi backdrop, much like the series in general, to a certain extent. Fundamental questions about humanity are well-explored, and all of them come down to the basic concept of discovering what it means to be human, a discovery I don't think will ever end.
  
  This colony and its founders have worked so hard to create a utopia, a perfect island amid the chaos of the universe, and this episode makes a very good case that this kind of endeavor is ultimately quixotic and unrealistic. To a large extent, the inhabitants of this colony have forgotten what it means to be human: it's true that the elimination of suffering is a noble undertaking, but at what cost? The drive to explore the unknown, the uncertainty about life, the challenges and struggles and setbacks that define and shape our existence, are all lost, and in my opinion, all but destroy the essence of the human experience. These people have become, for most intents and purposes, automatons.
  
  What's more, the society is so rigidly planned that it's more delicate than a snowflake! The loss of just a small percentage of the population will supposedly upend their entire existence? Clearly, the founders of this colony didn't seem to regard adaptability as a very important aspect of their perfect humans.
  
  This episode hearkened back to two other episodes that dealt with very similar scenarios: The Ensigns of Command and First Contact. The similarity with the former is obvious. A small human colony on a planet is in danger, and might need to evacuate. They are so attached to their way of life that some would choose a losing fight, or in this case, a devastating earthquake. Either way you're dealing with people so set in their ways that they'd choose the possibility of death over having to redefine their existence in a different setting.
  
  The similarities to First Contact mainly lie in the character of Hannah, who, like Mirasta in First contact, is a brilliant scientist who has always desired something more. It was clear to me pretty early on that Hannah would want to leave the colony. Also, as in First Contact, there is an almost comically overdone opposition: first in Krola (who attempts to martyr himself to prevent his planet from making contact with aliens) and now in Martin, whose short-sightedness is appalling.
  
  I don't mind these similarities at all; while it's true that in the setting of space exploration, one will find innumerable different situations, it's also true that a few similar themes will crop up from time to time. Permutations, if you will.
  
  The only thing I didn't like at all was Picard's take on it at the end. This is either poor writing, or Picard acting strangely. His acting as if it were a Prime Directive issue is simply not correct.
  
  Aside from that, I liked the little plot of Troi's tryst with the colony's leader; you can see her mixed feelings about it very well. Those Betazoid all-black irises are intense! I also liked that while there were numerous subplots, all of them were integral parts of the central plot.
  
  One aspect of this show and many other sci-fi shows that I don't like is the mechanistic take on consciousness. This series doesn't do it nearly quite as much as many others, and there are a few examples where it breaks out of that paradigm a bit and explores the possibility that maybe, just maybe, there is more to a human than the sum of his/her DNA and upbringing. The soul, perhaps? I think this episode hinted at that subtly but nicely.
  
  So, good show.
• From Neil on 2009-10-13 at 7:29am:
  What ruined the whole episode for me was the protestations that losing 20 people would destroy a colony of thousands. It's patently absurd, that this 'designer' colony would be constructed so rigidly - are we to assume that a small meteorite that punctured the shield and killed 5 people would cause a catastrophe as well?
  
  The original architects would have included *some* flexibility in people's choice of jobs and allowed them to cross-train just in case.
• From curt on 2010-04-05 at 3:26pm:
  Well I do enjoy reading you reviews, i just wonder if you even like the show at all? I have no problem with that or anything, but I think your way to hard in your reviews.
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-30 at 3:52am:
  An OK episode, but certainly not the best of its type. I wasn't that impressed with the dilemma of the colonists. They keep insisting they cannot survive change. But that is what all cultures say when they are afraid of change! Who knows what would really happen to them. And as others have commented, it doesn't make any difference, the Enterprise had no real choice about what to do.
  
  In response to problems: I thought that Geordi said he was improving the efficiency by 300%. This doesn't violate the laws of physics, it simply means quadrupling the efficiency. Consider a modern car, whose fuel efficiency is measured in km/L. Say you have an old car which gets 5 km/L. Then you upgrade it to get 20 km/L. That is a 300% increase in efficiency.
  
• From Patrick on 2012-01-01 at 6:49pm:
  Magnificent concept, only slightly less magnificent story-writing, barely competent execution in script and filming. Too bad. And that scene with the Chopin playing in the background as Troi and what's-his-name decide to taste forbidden fruit--UGH.
  
  So much promise I wish someone would rewrite and re-film; yes, still using the Chopin prelude (what a great idea that was).
• From Keefaz on 2017-01-12 at 9:25pm:
  Some of the worst dialogue so far.
• From Mike on 2017-03-30 at 7:10am:
  I thought they were going to convince Hannah at the end there, but she stood her ground. I actually thought her scenes with Geordi were some of the best parts of the episode. Having her claim fake damage to the biosphere in order to get the colony to leave was a nice twist as well. Geordi and the Enterprise present her with a dilemma she's never had to face. Ever the scientist, she opts to leave. Her sabotage is a pretty extreme action, but then again she was bred to be a physicist, not a decision-maker.
  
  As for Picard, I agree his reflections at the end are an odd way to wrap this up. There's no conflict with the Prime Directive here. And I thought Picard was the guy who shows some flexibility in applying it anyway, rather than being dogmatic about it.
  
  Since the Eugenics Wars are part of this Star Trek timeline/universe, it may have been interesting to end it by making reference to the dangers of selective breeding and genetic manipulation. You'd think people in the 24th century would be influenced by that, and after Picard's initial reaction to their society, I thought that's the direction it was going. That way, it ends with questions about whether such a society is possible or desirable, not whether ending its isolation and taking a few people away from it will be ruinous.

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• From djb on 2009-02-28 at 3:31am:
  This episode was supremely well-written and well-acted. Garak is a great character; it's good to learn more about him. Also great to get some more depth to Quark's character. Also, this episode seemed to go on much longer than 42 minutes, in a good way. I love it when I get so interested and involved with a story that I lose proper sense of time!
  
  I give it a 9.
• From Mark McC on 2009-04-27 at 3:45am:
  I really disliked this one. It's yet another case of "let's write an episode where x falls in love". Trek handles romance so much better when it does it low-key and over a longer time, such as the mostly unspoken romance between Picard and Crusher, or even Odo's feelings for Kira.
  
  Even episodes that do have characters falling head-over-heels in love with the alien of the week usually aren't as full of painfully overlong embraces and clichéd pulp fiction dialogue as this one. Much as I like Quark as a character and think Armin Shimerman does a great job playing him, I just didn't get a sense of any real spark between him and the Cardassian guest star.
  
  As with a lot of episodes in this season the presence of Garak makes up for the failings of the main story.
• From Bernard on 2011-03-29 at 12:39pm:
  I really enjoyed this episode and that's no small thanks to the talents of Armin Shimerman and Andrew J. Robinson plus the writing of their respective characters.
  
  In the hosts review the finger is pointed at how acceptable it is for Quark to forget about profit.. well there are many examples of this over the series. That is the beauty of the character, that if you burrow down deep enough beneath the surface there is quite an un-ferengi like person. Take his actions during the occupation for example, not mercenary but almost charitable. He does it again during the dominion occupation of the station in season six. what I'm trying to say is that he is complex and it is no more ridiculous than any 'lover of the week' storyline that Trek gives us.
• From Abigail on 2019-09-25 at 9:34pm:
  I found it odd that Garak killed someone at the end, and we just all rolled along without worrying about it. It's okay to just kill someone??? Am I supposed to assume that no one knows that happened? Wouldn't an alarm go off with him having fired a phaser on kill? Or, if nothing else, the Cardassians would notice that one of their officers was missing, never to be seen again?
  
  I also felt like Garak had a pretty abrupt change of heart from wanting to do whatever it took to be removed from exile to wanting to do what's best for Cardassia because Cardassia is his "true love". It wasn't the most believable shift.
  
  Besides that, I really liked the episode. Good storyline, great character development for Garak and Quark both.

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• From MJ on 2011-02-13 at 12:30pm:
  DS9 was ahead of its time, really. The '90's were a time of peace, so the topics the series grappled with-the horrors and stresses of war, injuries in combat, and losing comrades-were incomprehensible to most Western viewers. Since 9/11 and the Iraq War, these issues have been thrust into public discourse, at least more so than they were in the recent past. This makes it very interesting to go back and watch DS9 episodes like the Siege of AAR-558.
  
  The episode gets a lot of things right, and is surprisingly realistic given the time period in which it was produced. I agree that Nog's loss of a leg is not the same in the future as it would be today, although I do think the injury is at least more relevant to the viewer this way. The real beauty of this episode is the changing Nog. Nog has always been pretty gung-ho about joining Starfleet, but this will shake him to the core. Nog is actually one of my favorite characters for the same reasons Worf was in TNG: the first of his kind to join Starfleet, somewhat scorned by his people for doing so, and the issues he faces along the way.
  
  On another note, I really enjoyed the lighting of this episode. I notice things like this because of my profession, and providing lighting in an environment that is supposed to look dark can be challenging, but I really thought they did a great job with this set.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Tallifer on 2011-05-10 at 10:10am:
  This episode was well done: it handled the questions of guilt, injustice, capital punishment, restitution and revenge, the rights of victims and convicts.
  
  Just as it is obvious to the reviewer that Eeko should not have been executed, it is equally obvious to me that he was justly executed: and the episode presented both cases fairly. Imagine being that family sitting there, exposed in front of a crowd of strangers and being pressured to forgo the justice previously granted them.
• From conor on 2012-05-23 at 12:40am:
  "This is a Federation starship, not the barge of the dead." doesn't this count for "I'm a doctor, not a (blah)" style lines, which McCoy was famous for.
  because you have used this example close to this before

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• From Pete Miller on 2006-07-09 at 9:25pm:
  This was an awful episode. First of all, the moral "dilemma" was ridiculous. Are we to say that every time we make a decision such as deciding to move to another part of the country we are killing thousands of people who never got the chance to live? Or every time you use a condom you're killing hundreds of people? The whole idea is just stupid and annoying. And I agree about the farming scene at the end. That was very cheesy. This episode felt like a poorly done TNG episode stuck in the middle of DS9.
• From John DC on 2011-01-15 at 1:04am:
  This really was just awful. I don't know exactly why I hated it so much, but I did. Perhaps it's because it's a reset-button filler episode in the middle of the Dominion War story arc. Strange thing is, it's filler, but it obviously wasn't cheap to produce either.
• From Mario on 2012-04-23 at 7:44pm:
  This doesn't make any sense at all. How can they "change" anything that has not happened yet? The present part (or the future from our perspective) only happenes once. Either they travel through time or not. If their descendants are there, that means they did and it already happened and nobody can change that - whatever happened, happened. If they don't, their descendant should never exist at all - not exist and then cease to exist.
  Haven't they watched LOST? I know it aired a few years later, but with time travel, apparently, everything is possible...
• From GregVB on 2012-08-17 at 3:45pm:
  First time commenting.
  
  For me this is the best episode so far of DS9. I actually think its very interesting that this got a 5 from the host, all the comments are negative, yet...yet... this has almost twice as many 10 votes as any other.
  
  I believe this episode represents the difference in the hard core Trek fans, and the sci-fi fans. Yes the story has some time travel issues, no great continuity, but for me, you have to suspend disbelief to believe in time travel anyway (or aliens, warp speed, etc...).
  
  For me this represents some of the best character development i have seen so far. An earlier comment stated that this was like a bad TNG episode, and I agree that it does feel very much like a communal "TNG:Inner Light".
  
  Another said it was filler. So was "Inner Light", "Tapestry", and "Family". These are only episodes I have given a 10, along with the TOS movie "Undiscovered Country". For me its a nine, and like I said earlier, the best episode (so far) of my DS9 watching.
• From Bernard on 2012-08-19 at 10:23am:
  Response to GregVB mainly here.
  
  Firstly, I wouldn't put much faith in the fan rating scores for DS9 as I think our webmaster has suffered some sabotage in that area. Just take a look at the season 7 scores - all the zeroes that have been recorded go way above what you would normally expect. I have already mentioned this in another review response and I believe the same has happened to this episode except 10's and 9's being registered.
  
  You have mentioned that dreaded word... filler. I hate that word used in relation to Star Trek episodes. Star Trek, in the main, is not a serial. It consists of mostly stand alone episodes, although DS9 did write longer reaching story arcs.
  This means, to me, that you cannot have 'filler'. You can have poor episodes that do not reach many levels but since any episode of Star Trek on any given week could be a stand alone episode then we cannot really band around the word 'filler'. So in this respect I agree with GregVB. The majority of TNG is 'filler', you have to accept that it is merely the stand alone nature of Star Trek.
  
  As for this episode.
  I would rate it fairly highly actually. Probably an 8. The only reason it does not score higher is because of the slightly contrived and forced plot points and also because the episode loses my interest at points.
  There are strong performances that really carry the episode though. In particular Rene Auberjonois and Nana Visitor but also the guest cast, Colm Meaney and Avery Brooks.
  
  Overall, if this episode had been slightly less contrived and slightly more polished it would be up there as one of the best DS9 episodes.
  
  
• From Inga on 2013-02-05 at 7:51pm:
  Oh, Dax, after five years on Star Trek you still think that going through some weird energy barriers is a good idea...
  
  Also, if they actually stayed and got thrown back in time, wouldn't they have lived differently anyway? They have the knowledge the original crew didn't have. There's a possibility a great deal of those 8000 people would seize to exist just because they'd be replaced with different offsprings. Well, taking into account that anything would change at all, since this theory does sound silly... It would've made quite a temporal paradox as well.
  
  
• From Xavier on 2013-06-01 at 4:15pm:
  This episode is offensive. Not just we going into Time Trek again, but in such an idiotic way it annoyes me. Everything is "okay", til Dax discovers it is a ploy from "new" Dax and the time travel will not produce a duplicate. Was a wasted potential in a different way made by the reviewer... Let´s imagine they actually had this Quantum duplication happening. Instead of a bunch of BS about the "needs of many", we would see them IN THE PAST. And wondering if the "new" Dax would have lied to them, thinking he did. Maybe they, after a few years in the hardships of the colony, finally realized they weren´t lied by him, the quantum duplication actually happened. But we just see this episode from their point of view, the duplicates we will never see again.
  
  About they have seen already the colony and it changed the timeline already, well, is not the first time Time Trek happens to have contact with a timeline and had no effect whatsoever, so it doesn´t matter so much. Time Trek is a pathetic concept by itself, but if you´re going that way, at least make something less contrived than telling the same story all over again. And really, rset button stories deserve nothing less than a zero. I want Star Trek. When they derived from it to do a Reset Button, is pretty much fanfiction made by the current hired writer, and that is ofensive.
• From Mandeponium on 2013-09-06 at 3:07pm:
  I agree, Xavier, downright offensive, for several reasons. I can't believe O'Brien, after watching some kids play, has a change of heart. He is being completely disloyal to Keiko, Molly, and Yoshi. I suppose he's thinking, "You know, I guess I could f*** that ensign from Engineering after all."
  
  The Quantum Duplicate plan disturbed me too. Why does no one think to ask, "But which version of the Defiant will "I" be on? I don't want to be the one stranded on the planet while my duplicate gets to go home."
  
  They could have done something like TNG's "Yesterday's Enterprise" and made the story about sacrifice: The 8000 sacrificing themselves for their ancestors. Instead Sisko and Friends decide to throw themselves away for a population that shouldn't even exist. Someone has to make a sacrifice here and it's pretty clear who (you know, for the show to continue).
  
  But then O'Brien lets his emotions get the best of him and the writers get to eat their cake and have it too. Make the "right" choice and feel good about it, but still press the Reset Button.
  
  I would give it a 0 if not for the absolutely beautiful exchanges between Kira and Old-Odo.
  
  
  So 1.
• From Axel on 2015-05-23 at 3:52pm:
  An average episode. The main moral dilemma doesn't bother me as much as other reviewers. Yes, it's ridiculous for us to go through life second-guessing every decision and relationship based on the hypothetical offspring we're stopping from being born. This episode is different though: those offspring aren't hypothetical, they are real. It's harder to make that decision when there is flesh and blood in front of you, and I think that's all the episode was trying to point out.
  
  I do agree it's not the same as killing, though. This isn't murder or genocide, so evaluating the morality of one's actions on that basis is pretty ridiculous. It's more a matter of denying them the chance to exist given they already do. These kinds of temporal problems only happen in the Star Trek universe. It's interesting to think about, but that's about it.
  
  What bugs me most about this episode is Yedrin Dax's ridiculous plan. It doesn't make any sense at all, even before they found out it was a hoax. Using the barrier to create a second ship that crashes, consigning that Kira to die and forcing that crew to go through the same anguish runs into the same moral problems that the crew ends up facing anyway when they find out the plan wasn't going to work. There's also the question of how they would ensure that crash plays out exactly like the original did, as the main review points out the timeline has already been altered as well.
  
  Interesting, but not completely flushed out by the writers. Good acting though.
• From James T Quark on 2016-02-29 at 3:46am:
  This episode is much better than most people give it credit for. If you delve too deeply into the whole time issue, you'll drive yourself crazy. With Star Trek, often we have to suspend our criticism over reality and just enjoy the episode. This is one of those cases as it is truly a good story, if you don't start trying to unravel the issue of them affecting their own future by knowing their descendents survive as well as their own fates. Just sit back and enjoy a good story. LLAP
• From Zorak on 2016-06-11 at 6:19am:
  So much negativity towards this episode. I don't get it. Sure it got the slightest bit cheesy and over the top by the end, but so what? It was a great episode. One of my favorites. This is how drama on Star Trek should be. I also want to add that I love every scene with Rene Auberjonois. I don't mean in this episode (although he was great in it). I mean every scene in DS9. Odo is just the best.
• From Jan on 2019-02-28 at 7:48pm:
  This episode doesn't make a lot of sense:
  
  First of all, despite the crew of various Trek episodes trying to leave the past "intact", there are also many suggestions that there are "alternate timelines", or even different branches of said timelines.
  Though it isn't explored often, there are certain examples in TNG (like Yesterday's Enterprise), but also the so-called "Kelvin Timeline".
  
  This means that whenever something has been changed in the past, a new branch of the same timeline is created reflecting that change, but all events from the "unchanged timeline" don't suddenly cease to exist as if they never happened.
  
  If it WAS the case, then Sela would have never have been able to exist.
  Or even "Old Spock" in the Kelvin-verse movies, since Quinto-Spock can never become the same "Old Spock" even if he wanted to.
  
  Writers however just do as they please. This episode they're basically telling us that alternate timelines cease to exist, or don't exist in the first place. But that creates the paradox that these 8000 people couldn't possibly exist since the Defiant never went back in time and didn't crashland.
  
  So this episode doesn't make sense in my opinion. It tries too hard to make us feel for these people on a false premise.
  
  Just my two cents

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• From Azalea Jane on 2021-08-06 at 9:47pm:
  I wouldn't take the potential ramifications of this show too seriously. I'm pretty sure the whole "ascension" thing was a gag that isn't supposed to make any canonical statements about how religions work in the Star Trek universe.
  
  Agreed it's weird about the replicators. Maybe Starfleet is so rank-and-file that they use yummier food as a perk of being promoted? Perhaps to encourage better behavior? I dunno. Interesting question.
  
  I thought the joke was that people mostly use the holodeck to go to the bathroom, but obviously sex makes more sense. ???? I wonder why the holodeck doesn't just dematerialize the [bleep]?
  
  "Computer, hit it."
  
  "Hitting it."

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Remco on 2009-02-14 at 2:41am:
  Now we've had two Star Trek shows failing to address the issue of euthanasia acceptably, and that only mere weeks apart. Voyager's Tuvix was a lot more disturbing than this, even though in this episode someone is euthanizing on a massive scale. The difference is that it is voluntary.
  
  "What is the point of prolonging life when life is always painful and there is no hope of a cure?"
  
  This is exactly the discussion with euthanasia. Are we supposed to allow the voluntary killing of loads of people who are incurably suffering? Should we instead allow them to suffer? It's a bit of a stalemate. No argument is going to change anyone's mind. But you could still present the arguments nicely.
  
  The thing that saves this episode, is that there is at least some productive opposition to the euthanization. Bashir doesn't agree with the status quo, so he tries to find a cure.
  
  The big problem with "Tuvix" was the lack of differing opinions. In "The Quickening" we can see the moral ambiguity shine through the characters' opinions, even if it doesn't shine as bright as it could have.
  
  I'd rate it a 4. Missed opportunity, but not offensively so.
• From John on 2011-09-20 at 11:02pm:
  One thing I liked about this episode is that we get to see some growth in the relationship between Julian and Dax -- the days of him pining for her, and of her constantly teasing him, are largely in the past at this point.
  
  I didn't mind that the aliens (once again) looked exactly like humans -- I guess I've just gotten so used to the fact that they can't all be Cardassians or Ferengi.
  
  I do, however, agree that this episode would have been much more interesting if the morality of euthanasia were explored more.
  
  6/10
• From hugo on 2012-06-12 at 10:40am:
  I gave this a 7, the story was a tad flat, but I liked the direction, the acting, the light and the sets. The matte paintings are gorgeous, and I loved those giant round buildings.
• From Gaius Gracchua on 2021-12-27 at 4:18pm:
  This actually isn't pure filler. The Quickening comes up in S7E16 "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" as the purpose behind Bashir giving his medical presentation.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JR on 2012-06-12 at 6:25am:
  I've never considered myself a trekkie by any means, but I always liked TNG re-runs and the movies, and watched Enterprise when it aired. With netflix carrying all the shows, I have really caught up and just have the rest of DS9 and Voyager to finish.
  
  So, even though I never really thought of myself as a trekkie, I've seen a lot of it and the Eugenics war timeline given in this episode seems really screwy compared to the rest of Trek.
  "The admiral: "200 years ago we tried to improve the species through DNA resequencing. And what did we get for our troubles? The Eugenics wars. For every Julian Bashir that can be created there's a Khan Singh waiting in the wings."
  
  As soon as I heard that line my mind started crunching numbers. The admiral is saying that the Eugenics Wars happened in the mid 22nd century. However, I thought the Eugenics wars were time stamped by TOS to be in the near future of the 1960's, meaning around the 1990's. I took it to mean that genetic experiments during the then present day 1960's would lead to 20-30 year old superhumans that took over the world in the 90's before being deposed. That was before WWIII of the mid 21st century.
  
  Any ideas on this? Just an error and the admiral should have said 400 years? I figure the writers did not want to confuse the non-trekkie audience by keeping the Eugenics wars in the 1990's since that would have put it in the "present/past" when this was made in 1997.
• From Hugo on 2012-09-08 at 9:35pm:
  JR - this was was a screw-up by the writers - there is a comment by Ron Moore quoted on Memory Alpha.
• From Selador on 2013-06-11 at 11:01pm:
  I have a feeling a certain someone has a problem with this episode since the 16 zero fan ratings doesn't really make sense otherwise. Was there no way to implement a one vote per ISP voting system?
  
  A fantastic episode and classic trek - a great sci-fi moral conundrum, excellent characterisation and a nice sub-plot. Also wonderful moments of humour. Gets a 9 from me.
• From Kethinov on 2013-06-12 at 4:56am:
  I do some filtering to prevent multiple voting. But there's nothing I can do about someone with access to 16 different computers on 16 different IPs.
  
  If you like, I can start taking credit card and passport info before accepting a vote. ;)
• From Ant on 2013-09-12 at 10:03pm:
  This one is a filler if I ever seen one where DS9 go cheap soap opera. One of the few episodes where I strongly disagree with Kethinov.
  
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-11-18 at 10:44pm:
  Great cameo from Robert Picardo as Dr. Zimmerman/EMH, great Rom B-plot. And Alexander Siddig absolutely knocks this one out of the park, such pathos in the scene where he breaks down in anger at his parents for giving up on him, and the response from Fadwa El Guindi tops it off.