The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-08-05 at 11:35pm:
  - After the first away team visits the colony, the leader of the Coalition tells a subordinate to find out everything "there is to know about the starship Enterprise." Evidently his search turned up the fact that Tasha Yar left the colony many years ago, joined Starfleet, and eventually served on the Enterprise, because, a short time later, he produces Ishara Yar and offers her services to Picard. Yet, earlier, Picard says that the colony severed relationships with the Federation fifteen years ago, and Data indicates the last contact came six years ago, when the Potemkin orbited Turkana IV. Also, Riker claims that the colony hasn't maintained reliable communications since the government fell apart fifteen years ago. Here is a colony, isolated from the Federation for at least six years, and the leader of the Coalition manages to extract a personnel list for a ship that wasn't even in service during the last contact? To explain this, the writers have Dr. Crusher say, "All [the leader] had to do was to search through their data base on Starfleet to find Tasha's name." Is it Starfleet's policy to continue to supply detailed information on crew rosters to colonies that no longer have relations with the Federation? Since the Federation has enemies, isn't it doubtful that Starfleet would leave this type of information floating around?
  - Ishara feigns an interest in joining Starfleet. Wesley's efforts to get into Starfleet seemed to indicate that only the best and brightest could get into Starfleet. Ishara has grown up in a colony in turmoil. Is it likely her education has prepared her for Starfleet Academy? And what about Tasha? Wouldn't she have had the same problems?
  - On the planet, the members of the Coalition, both male and female, wear the same type of loose-fitting, functional outfit. Yet once Ishara gets to the Enterprise, the crew makes all haste to get her changed into this really tight body suit. No one else in Star Trek - aside from Troi and Seven of Nine from Voyager - has to wear this type of outfit. Why does Ishara? Seems a bit sexist, doesn't it? At least the crew made sure that Ishara's little belt and holster for her phaser were color-coordinated with her outfit ;)
  - At one point in the episode, Geordi talks about the location of the hostages. A blinking dot indicates where the hostages are held. Geordi then suggests that they use the phaser to bore a hole in the granite and transport an away team into a storage area. When Geordi points to the storage area on the display, he indicates a spot on the other side of the city, nowhere near the hostages!
  - Of course, the larger question here is: Why send an away team down at all? Why didn't the Enterprise just bore a hole down to the hostages and beam them up?
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-14 at 3:26am:
  In response to DSOmo:
  - It would be consistent with Star Trek philosophy for Star Fleet to be looking for the most exceptional individuals, not the necessarily the best educated. After all, they want to have officers from a wide variety of cultures and races, not just Vulcan Science Academy graduates. I imagine Tasha would have needed a period of intense eductional training to get her up to speed, but that episode with the children learning calculus suggests they have advanced educational techniques. Still, to have learned so much, gone through Starfleet Academy, and risen to be security chief on the Federation flagship, she must have been pretty hot stuff!
  - Presumably they couldn't bore down to free the hostages because that would require them to bore through the complex, which they would not be willing to do. They could only bore down to a point on the exterior of the base, beam in, then work inwards.
  
  The positive side of this episode was that I found Ishara's story interesting and was wondering throughout the episode exactly how she would betray them and to what extent. But there wasn't much substance to the episode, and it I got tired of all the scenes with her and the crew after a while. And the way that the crew acted totally blindsided by her betrayal didn't make much sense. The episode would have had the same plot, but been more logical, had they known she would betray them, had no choice but to work with her, hoped that she would "turn to the light side", and been disappointed that she didn't.
  
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-02 at 6:17pm:
  Regarding DSOmo's comment on Ishara's change in dress, it is interesting to me that TNG is no different from other Star Trek series in exploiting the physical attributes of extremely attractive women. Beth Toussaint who played Ishara Yar was certainly one of these. The use of a tight, form-fitting "onesie" as I have heard it referred to is definitely a feature of both TNG (with Troi) and Voyager (with Seven). Ishara's well-coordinated onesie is simply along the same vein. Certainly, the camera spends lots of time on Ishara's attractive body during this episode. I believe DSOmo is entirely accurate that the creators of the episode are pandering here. (Not that that made it any less enjoyable.)
• From Jamie on 2018-09-29 at 1:33am:
  Regarding the all-revealing guest-of-the-week jump-suit being sexist, I have one word to debunk: Transfigurations.
• From oh great president! on 2021-07-30 at 8:57am:
  That doesn't debunk it, that reaffirms it! The guest in transfigurations also wore a onesie and was very attractive!
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-09-06 at 7:07am:
  Yes, DSOmo, it's sexist. Or at least, it's a symptom of overall societal (and Hollywood) sexism. Excessive and inappropriate pandering to horny straight dudes. It's the same with Troi, Seven, and T'Pol. (DS9 seems mercifully spared from this trope in the main cast.) I'm permanently salty about all of these women's objectifying outfits and how it undermines the seriousness of their characters. As DSOmo also points out in his comment on "Chain of Command", finally seeing Troi in a real uniform is an incredible relief, and it makes me grieve for how long she was overtly objectified up to then with her outfits (as if her character wasn't already constantly poorly handled). It'd be different if we routinely saw people of different body shapes, ages, and genders wearing similar catsuits, but they're almost all young, very fit and thin, and usually female (John Doe from Transfigurations being a worthy exception with gender). Even as someone *very* attracted to the female form in all its wonderful variations, I get quite put off by outfits like Ishara's here. In these cases my feminist brain outweighs my lesbian brain, lol.
  
  (I'll grant the in-universe possibility that Ishara welcomed a change of clothes, and chose a form-fitting outfit because she wanted to. Hell, if I had her body, I'd wear that shit too! That's valid and realistic, of course. But at the end of the day, outfits are real-world production choices made by TBTB, most of whom are men.)
  
  This episode drags a bit, but I feel it redeems itself somewhat by the end. Even though, having seen all of TNG before, I knew that Ishara was going to betray the crew, I still found it emotionally engaging. I like the point of how everyone is still so grieved about Tasha and _wants_ Ishara to be like her sister, that they are totally blindsided by her not being like her sister at all. Even Data is caught unawares. It's sad, and quite realistic.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Azalea Jane on 2021-08-05 at 9:24pm:
  D. Jurati, being candid: "Anyone else think the 'Way of Absolute Candor' sounds potentially annoying?"
  
  OMG. It took me a second, but then I burst out laughing. Personally, I think absolute candor sounds like a fantastic idea, in theory.
  
  I knew Seven of Nine was in this series, but I didn't know when or how she would show up. I haven't even watched the seasons of Voyager she's in, but her appearance was still an amazing and gratifying moment.
• From JD on 2021-09-06 at 1:52pm:
  I didn't notice it when I first watched it when it came out - Soji's little data-style head bobbing tick!
  
  It was so obvious now I was looking for it! When she's walking through the cube with Narek... and its really obviously reminiscent of data.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From rhea on 2008-04-27 at 4:16pm:
  just a polite request: could you maybe give it a rest with the pacing? People in the 60s weren't as used to sensual overload as we are today. Just because an episode seems slow to a person who is used 20 cuts per minute does not mean it is bad - I keep thinking that the fault, if you will, is the audience's. I wish things like intelligent detail, good dialog, character revelations or daring experiments (for the time, acknoledging that this is a classic/cult show) would count more in your reviews.
• From tyrannorustus on 2008-07-08 at 7:18am:
  I'm currently working my way through TOS with your reviews and for the most part find myself in agreement, though I disagree on your comments concerning the pace of the episode. What makes preceding episodes so agonizingly slow paced is the fact that the viewer clued in at least 20 minutes ahead of the crew (e.g. "The Man Trap" and "Charlie X"), making the reaction shots of Kirk's pensiveness and Spock's eyebrow furrowing nearly insufferable. This episode doesn't have that same feel because the viewer is learning along with the crew. For example, there is no obvious music cue to let the viewer know too early that Adams is up to no good. While I don't agree with the previous poster that people in the 60s weren't used to visual over-stimulation (This is the decade that brought us "2001" and "Lawrence of Arabia" after all) I agree that criticizing the show on pacing is inappropriate. Every scene contributes to moving the plot forward and the dramatic build up is very well done. In particular, the parallel climax of Spock's mindmeld with Gelder and Adams' assault on Kirk's mind is well done. A very good episode from the early days of the show.
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-10 at 8:04pm:
  I basically liked the episode. Dr. Adams does a good job of being a creepy sociopathic sadist. My only complaint is that it is excessively foolish of him to lock Kirk and Noel in a room with such an obvious escape route. But at least his behavior is consistent – he let Van Gelder get away too!
  
  As far as the question of Adams motives, it is true that they don't reveal much to us, which is too bad. But what we do see of his personality seems internally consistent to me. Here was my impression of Dr. Adams:
  
  Dr. Adams has always been an egotistical, sadistic sociopath. He has probably covered up many crimes, and took up penology in the same way that, in other TV stories, an arsonist might take up firefighting. He wrote some good papers and used his manipulative charm to trick the well-meaning but stupid Federation bureaucracy into giving him a penal colony where he could be all powerful. And it worked, until Van Gelder escaped. Being an egotist, he assumed he could bluff Kirk into leaving him alone with Van Gelder, just like he bluffed all the other Federation officials. But when he finds it didn't work and realizes Kirk and Noel have figured out what is up, he can't resist the perfect setup for a little sadism. Then he locks up Kirk and Noel and tries to figure out what to do. Given what we see of Van Gelder, it is clear that while the neutralizer is pretty impressive in the short term at making post-hynotic suggestions, it is far less effective in the long term. He can't just wipe Kirk's mind and let him return to the ship – without constant re-use of the neutralizer, Kirk is bound to recover his memory. Adams knows he is in big trouble, but his ego tells him there must be a way to regain command of the situation. It fits his sadistic style to try to turn the neutralizer on full bore and try to torment Kirk until he can break him down completely. Hard to know what exactly he was thinking, since the plan doesn't get too far. Perhaps it involves brainwashing Kirk into "loving" Dr. Adams and working with him. Perhaps he hopes to drive Kirk insane so the crew will leave him at the penal colony.
  
• From Mike Meares on 2012-02-25 at 2:56am:
  This was a very good episode and a good review by Kethinov. Although I agree with the remarks by CAlexander.
  
  I did notice a couple of minor problems with this episode.
  
  The box that is beamed aboard from the Tantalus Penal Colony and the one Dr. Marcus Van Gelder is hiding in is labeled Classified Material - Do Not Open. But the box is clearly unlocked and Van Gelder opens it from the inside with ease. Would the Tantalus Colony really send off Classified Material without checking to see if it is locked down properly?
  
  When Van Gelder reaches the Enterprise bridge, he attacks and knocks out a security guard. Even after Van Gelder is subdued by Kirk and Spock, Dr. McCoy makes no effort to check and see if the security guard is all right.
  
  When Spock does the mind meld on Van Gelder there is a slight problem. Van Gelder is in great pain but at no point does Spock show any signs of pain himself. Strangly this is in direct contridiction to Spock's mind meld with the Horta in "The Devil in the Dark." Spock took on the pain the Horta was feeling, why doesn't Spock take on the pain Van Gelder felt?
  
  This has gotten me thinking too. Would the vulcans have developed a technic whereby you take on the feelings of others? Especially since the Vulcans work so hard to suppress their own emotions?
  
  All in all though "Dagger of the Mind" was pretty good. The acting by Morgan Woodward and James Gregory were really good. I think it would have been a nice touch to show a painfree Van Gelder at the end of the episode. Woodward did such a great job showing the pain Van Gelder went though, it would have been wonderful to see Val Gelder "healed."
  
  I also liked the build up in this one too. The story kept you guessing for a long time. However, I do think they could have made it last longer. When Kirk and Helen are first introduced to the neural neutralizer there is a tech operator in the room. After Kirk leaves the tech operator begins to tell the patient in the chair that if he tries to remember any part of the discussion he will feel teribble pain. I think that gave away the plot way to early.
  
  I wasn't crazy about the "romance" angle thrown into the story. How many ex girl friends does Kirk really need? However, I did enjoy how they handled this one. At first you can actually feel how upset Kirk is about the whole ordel of working with a woman that he had some contact with outside the ship. It was a different approach than they normally did or since and one that was very refreshing.
  
  And I said it before and I will say it again: I love having two people man the transporter room. I wish they had kept that up.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• From Schreck on 2013-05-23 at 8:35pm:
  I wonder how many episodes of TOS had to do with insanity of some kind. It seems it is where the writers keep going to it with almost always negative results…I give it a 6.25 and my brother a 7.25
• From Alan Feldman on 2014-05-31 at 4:53am:
  DAGGER OF THE MIND
  
  Morgan Woodward is awesome in this episode. He said playing Van Gelder was the most physically and emotionally exhausting acting job of his career. Also, it took 3 weeks for him to return to normal after playing the role, during which he was anti-social.
  
  Re your comment about seeing a normal Van Gelder at the end, what would bring him back to normal? Can the machine be used to undo the damage?
  
  If the machine empties your mind, and Kirk had a dose at full blast -- twice, even! -- how could he have any mind left? He'd be a vegetable. At the end, Noel says it wasn't set high enough to kill when Adams was there. So why didn't it kill Kirk?
  
  Whenever the power is out, the emergency lights are awfully bright!
  
  OK, when the force field is down, Spock says, "Get some security people and follow me down." Why aren't the security people _already_ there? Moreover, why don't they have "security people" there 24x7? Seems like a no-brainer.
  
  To Mike Meares:
  
  Helen was not an ex-girlfriend. There was just that single incident at the Christmas party, and it's not clear at all exactly what happened.
  
  Kirk had four ex-girlfriends:
  
  Ruth in Shore Leave
  Areel Shaw in Court Martial
  Janet Wallace in The Deadly Years
  Janice Lester in Turnabout Intruder
  
  If I missed any, please do tell.
  
  Hey, Helen _Noel_ at a _Christmas_ party. Coincidence?
  
  AEF, aka betaneptune
• From gee on 2014-12-06 at 2:05pm:
  There is a glaring continuity error regarding the security screen of the penal colony. Selected script excerpts below.
  
  Berkeley: energize
  Kirk: having trouble, gentlemen?
  Berkeley: I just don't understand the problem, sir
  Kirk: you're beaming cargo down to a penal colony, Mr. Berkeley
  Berkeley: Their security force field, sir.
  
  Kirk: ...might lead to the power supply, short-circuited, it would cut off the
  
  security force field
  
  Dr. Noel turns off the master power switch
  
  security guard turns it back on, after a struggle with Noel
  
  Noel kicks him into high voltage circuit, killing him
  
  Berkeley: Mr Spock, force-field is gone, I can send you right to the source of
  
  the interruption
  Spock: get some security people and follow me down
  
  Noel escapes back through conduits
  Mr Spock beams down, turns off 4 switches next to "Security Screen" and lights
  
  go off
  Spock "Enterprise, this is Spock, force-field has been eliminated"
  Spock flips another switch (apparently the same master voltage switch) which
  
  re-enables power to the mind chamber
  
• From Zita Carno on 2018-08-09 at 2:50pm:
  A lot of credit has to go to Dr. McCoy who, for all that he called himself "an old country doctor", was light-years ahead of everyone else. He was the one who pushed the reluctant Spock with the urgent "Will it work---or not?" Spock actually performed a quieter version of a powerful Vulcan mind-fusion, coupled with telepathic hypnosis, in which he delivered two suggestions in a half-whisper---one of well-being and relaxation, the other of weightless suspension. Van Gelder was not in any pain at the time, having been pumped full of tranquilizers, and the combination exerted a calming effect on his mind so he was able to describe his ordeal. And this was not the last time Spock would use this particular technique; it was a lifesaver in many instances.
• From Chris Long on 2018-12-10 at 1:40am:
  This episode was really awesome in some parts and truly inconsistent in others...
  The force field inconsistencies go even further than others observed! At the start, they had no problems communicating with the ship back and forth but couldn't send cargo. Then once Kirk and Noel are on the planet, the force field prevents commo. minor, perhaps, but still bugged me.
  Why prevent Lethe from joining the toast? And why the stupid toast anyway? It seems to me as I think back to the 60s, that people on TV were toasting all the time! Perhaps that is why but today it seems unnecessary and stupid.
  As far as Spock's melding compared to the Horta, in this case, he completely calms Van Gelder from the get-go. He couldn't do that with the Horta.
  I agree that Morgan Woodward's acting was awesome and he should have gotten an Emmy for it. Very emotional to watch. Maybe he did!
  Noel, planting the hunger notion should have been enough for her to know she was playing with fire by trying to plant all the Christmas BS in his mind afterward.
  I agree that it would have been a much better conclusion to see Van Gelder sane and well.
  Maybe also not destroy the machine. It did work and surely could be modified to have safeguards in place. Perhaps a set-up where two people are required to activate it so that no one person can get evil with it.
  And why were the security forces in the place on board with the obvious insanity? I suppose Adams could have used one of the insane criminals to pin a guard in the chair one by one until they were all in with the madness.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From John Bernhardt on 2010-01-12 at 5:44pm:
  This was the first episode produced after the two pilots.
• From Paul Loudon on 2010-10-01 at 2:22pm:
  Uhura is in a yellow uniform because it is only the third episode ever filmed, her first appearance and hence they were still working these finer points out.
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-11 at 4:13pm:
  I thought this was a solid episode, though certainly not perfect.
  
  - I thought Balok's behavior was strange too, but I interpret it differently. His ship was never really disabled. He was essentially a superbeing who was testing the crew. Superior races in Star Trek consistently have very picky opinions about what makes a lesser race worthy of contact. So I believe he was testing them to see if they "had evolved to a point" where they were worthy of a cultural exchange.
  - I agree that Balok's acting is way over the top. But I don't mind, it is part of the charm. Except that his repetitiousness gets monotonous after a while.
  - I agree that some of the scenes are stretched too long. On the other hand, it can be nice to see a show with a slower pace once in a while. After all, it is still a lot faster paced than real life.
  - My main complaint has always been that I was quite unimpressed with Kirk's bluff. Everyone acts like it is this daring poker bluff, but to me it sounds more like a caricature of a bluff. It is the sort of bluff I might create if I was writing a story about how great Kirk is at bluffing, but had no creativity myself to come up with a clever bluff, so instead I just write that Kirk says something ridiculous and the enemy believes it, "proving" that Kirk is a great bluffer. The bluff is ridiculous; his delivery is good, but not that good. Fortunately, the story doesn't depend on Balok believing the bluff; I assume he didn't, but just pretended that he did as part of the test.
  - I like the bantering between Kirk and McCoy. Except for the complaints about having a female yeoman – what is that all about?
  - Science Note: The cube is 107 meters on a side and 11000 metric tons. But Scotty says the cube is solid. That would make the density of the cube extremely low, around 1% of the density of water, so it is made of something very lightweight.
  
• From Mike Meares on 2012-02-26 at 3:03am:
  I thought this was a great episode! Maybe not perfect but is anything really perfect? I thought the Corbomite Maneuver was one of the best episodes from the first year!
  
  And considering it was only the third episode filmed in the series the execution was pretty darn good.
  
  What I thought was flawed was Kethinov’s review.
  
  The Corbomite Maneuver was taut, tense and dramatic and it keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. What Kethinov calls the “incredibly slow pace” was actually what I loved most about this episode. You can almost feel the tension the crew is feeling as you are watching it. I always enjoyed it when Kirk and McCoy butted heads and their heated exchange in this episode is really good. You can even see the sweat on the crew’s faces which made it all the more realistic.
  
  When Kethinov complains about the pacing I can almost hear Bailey saying, “I don’t understand this. Spock’s wasting time. Everybody else just sitting around. Somebody’s got to do something!” The feeling Kethinov gets from watching the episode is exactly what the crew is feeling. And that is what good drama is all about.
  
  Granted the corny figure of Balok leaves a lot to be desired, but look at the shoestring budget the network had them on. Cut them some slack please. A chessy sci-fi radio show from the 50’s probably had a bigger budget.
  
  And as for Balok’s motives I totally agree with Calexander here. Balok was from an advanced race and the whole thing was a test to see how the Enterprise would respond. Did we really believe that Balok would destroy the Enterprise at the end of the ten minutes? I thought so at the time but looking back I can now see he had no intention of ever doing that. When he allowed the Enterprise to “supposedly” disable his ship this again was another test. If the Enterprise left him to die on his own then he knew this was not a race Balok’s people wanted to have any contact with.
  
  Fortunately, the writers had the Enterprise, or more correctly James Kirk, make the right choice. That of placing the safety of alien life above the safety of his own life. This kind of moral is what DID SET ( past tense!!!! ) Star Trek above all other science fiction films and TV. And why I enjoyed the first two seasons of Star Trek ( and a couple of the Star Trek movies )so much.
  
  As for the bluff, I loved it. I still do. I still crack up every time I hear Spock say, “A very interesting game, this poker.”
  
  And I always wondered if McCoy ever did teach Spock to play poker? LOL.
  
  As for Kirk’s complains about the female yeoman, I think he was just venting to McCoy about Rand “hovering” over him like a mother. Which brings me to my only complaint of this episode, and really it is a complaint of the series as a whole. And that is the role of the yeoman was always played by a woman. I felt this was sexiest. I think you will find in the U.S Navy over half the yeomen are exactly that MEN! Nowhere that I have ever seen has there ever been a male yeoman in Star Trek and I think it is a weakness of the series as a whole.
  
  All in all a thoroughly enjoyable episode and one I would highly recommend to anyone starting out watching Star Trek!
• From Alan Feldman on 2012-09-23 at 6:17pm:
  The Corbomite Maneuver
  
  Terrible story, but with some fun moments here and there.
  
  In short, the main problem with this episode is that Balok is incredibly cruel and unreasonable -- and that this is somehow justified by the claim that he was only "testing" the Enterprise crew, albeit with faulty logic, to determine their "true intentions".
  
  Re Kethinov's review: I mostly agree with it, but I think that his final paragraph goes too easy on the episode.
  
  >----o----<
  
  On to the story:
  
  The Enterprise is minding its own business when a "space buoy" chases our heroes down and holds them trapped for what will be 18 hours. (What did they do during that 18 hours?)
  
  OK, they convene in the briefing room. Uhura looks like she's sitting through a long, really boring class. And Sulu has his head down on the table! Were they in that briefing room the entire 18 hours?
  
  I like this dialogue:
  
  [In the briefing room]
  
  KIRK: Anything further, gentlemen?
  SPOCK: I believe it adds up to either one of two possibilities. First, a space buoy of some kind.
  KIRK: Second?
  SPOCK: Flypaper.
  KIRK: And you don't recommend sticking around.
  SPOCK: Negative. It would make us appear too weak.
  KIRK: It's time for action, gentlemen. Mister Bailey . . .
  
  So it took 18 hours to get to this point?
  
  OK. Kirk finally decides it's time for action. He decides to try to get away from the thing in a spiral course. So Balok tightens his grip on the ship and then has his "space buoy" bombard the Enterprise with deadly radiation. Kirk recklessly waits until near-lethal levels are reached and then finally fires phasers to destroy it. (Just what exactly was he waiting for? I found myself screaming at him, "Fire the phasers already!") And then Balok has the chutzpah to complain!
  
  "Having ignored a warning buoy, and having then destroyed it, has demonstrated your intention is not peaceful."
  
  What? Acting in self-preservation somehow demonstrates hostility?
  
  OK, after destroying the cube, the Enterprise goes forward.
  
  Then the giant flagship Fesarius puts a tractor beam on them, takes control of the ship, gives them 10 minutes to pray or what, after which they will be destroyed. The Enterprise ejects a recorder marker but Balok destroys it. Bailey loses it. Then the bluff trick. But what if Kirk hadn't made the bluff? What would Balok have done? Destroy them? Probably not. But the Enterprise crew didn't know that! That leaves, "Ha ha, just joking!" Seems pretty damn cruel to me. And couldn't they have dispatched a "subspace" message instead?
  
  Then more crap from Balok with the small tow ship and such. And Kirk nearly ruins his ship to pull free. This scene goes on for too long. And somehow the Captain knows the "maximum temperature" is way off. OK, maybe there is a huge safety factor implicit in the "maximum temperature. Nonetheless, we have Kirk being totally reckless again.
  
  Now, after all this crap Balok put them through, Kirk is supposed to respond favorably to a distress call? This is all some kind of test? Test of what? To see how much crap they'll put up with and still respond to a distress call?
  
  It's like you and your comrades are POW's of a ruthless enemy. You've been horribly mistreated. Then you are forced at gunpoint to line up against a wall, face the wall, after which you are told you are to be shot. Then the soldiers lay down their guns, pick up some cameras, and shoot photos of them. This is effectively what Balok did to the crew of the Enterprise. Would you want friends like this?
  
  And how about testing Balok? Is his behavior somehow acceptable? NO! It's cruel. Pure and simple. I mean, why can't we test _him_ for _his_ intentions? What would _you_ conclude from his behavior? Granted, it was the Enterprise that was trespassing, but the crew had no reason to believe that. And once Balok confronted them with the spinning cube, he proved that _he_ was the one who had hostile intentions and was being totally unreasonable, to boot!
  
  There's too quick a resolution too late in the show. It feels like a cheat. Similar to a "deus ex machina", though I'm not sure whether this is really the same thing or not. Regardless -- I mean, really: Balok: "It was a pleasure testing you." . . . Kirk: "I see." That's it? And that, all of a sudden, makes everything hunky-dory? Couldn't Balok at least have apologized: "Sorry, gentlemen, for scaring you half to death and nearly destroying you and your ship, but it was 'only a test', and I got a real kick out of it." Yeah.
  
  It's annoying enough having a sudden last-minute out-of-nowhere save like this, but to help someone who put you through such hell for no good reason? Hell, on that note I'd think an alien with this much power need not fear the Enterprise in the first place.
  
  And then they leave Bailey behind! Who's to say Balok won't put him through hell just like he did the Enterprise and crew? How do they know that Balok will ever let Bailey return? And what about the cuisine?!
  
  Would _you_ want to hang out with this Balok dude?
  
  >----o----<
  
  A few short points:
  
  Bailey reports that the buoy is 1593 meters distant. That's about a mile! It's clearly a lot closer than that. (I only have the re-mastered version, unfortunately. So I don't know if it's the same in the original.) And based on the ship being 289 m long and the spinning cube being 107 m on a side, the scale of everything is _way off_ anyway.
  
  It's funny when Janice places the napkin on Kirk's lap. How could Grace Lee Whitney do that with a straight face? Now that's acting!
  
  Spock says that Balok is "in some manner reminiscent of [his] father". Say what? Totally absurd. Please. This must have been some desperate "filler" material.
  
  Uhura says "hailing frequencies open" some seven times, and practically nothing else until the end when she tells us about Balok's "distress signal".
  
  About that shot of Sulu turning around at about 7m20s: Is this the same shot seen in many other episodes?
  
  Rand with the coffee: Nice random element to throw in. Nice contrast to the gravity of the situation.
  
  This Balok dude is really into curtains, no? His "ship" doesn't look much like a ship. It looks like a curtain store. Must be a budget-saving device.
  
  Which ship was which? When I first saw this episode literally decades ago I thought the small ship was not manned by Balok. Balok stayed on the big ship, safe from any possible Corbomite device and thereby thwarting Kirk's bluff! But as I watch it now it looks like he _was_ on the little tow ship. So what was the point of that? And why does he have the big ship?
  
  Memory Alpha has a page about the Fesarius: http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Fesarius. Among other things, it explains that the special effects to make the large ship was so difficult that it held up the episode, resulting in it being the tenth to be shown.
  
  Balok says he thought his distress signal was "quite clever". In isolation it _was_ clever, as the distress call was aimed at "the mother ship", and likely not strong enough to be heard (though I'm not sure how you could determine these things). But this is not a dude deserving rescue.
  
  Spock was clearly unhappy about not finding a solution to the problem. Is this not emotion?
  
  Boy, it didn't take long for Scotty to evaluate the engines!
  
  >----o----<
  
  On the bright side:
  
  o Yeoman Rand serving greens to Kirk.
  o The look of evil Balok.
  o Spock, Bailey, and Sulu in the adrenaline-gland scene.
  o The hilarity of the briefing-room scene.
  o The chess and poker bit. Spock: "A very interesting game, this poker."
  o Yeoman Rand serving coffee.
  
  >----o----<
  
  On readers' comments:
  
  John Bernhardt pointed out that this was the 1st post-pilot production. Quite believable, as Spock is still using his "loud voice" from time to time (and complains about Bailey raising his!). He clearly still has at least some of the mannerisms of "early Spock" from the pilot episodes, though to a lesser degree.
  
  I agree with CAlexander about Kirk's bluff being not that good and such.
  
  A similar Corbomite bluff was used in "The Deadly Years", but was better-played and more believable as a severe-overkill self-destruct mechanism, as opposed to the "reverse reaction" mechanism we see here.
  
  Re Mike Meares' comments:
  
  There's "keeping you on the edge of your seat", and there's "let's get on with it already". I found this episode to be more of the latter.
  
  Why should one place the safety of alien life above one's own? (And this goes double for such a cruel alien.) Behavior like that would quickly doom a species to extinction.
  
  AEF
• From Strider on 2012-10-06 at 6:01am:
  This is one of my favorite episodes, and I watch it frequently, all the way up to the last segment with Balok. I always turn it off when they're going into the transporter. I actually love Clint Howard as an actor, but I hate that last segment.
  
  But up to that, I think it's one of the best episodes in the series. Kirk completely owns this episode. He's human enough to be anxious about the fate of his ship and crew, but he's the one that comes up with all the solutions. Even Spock is ashamed that he can't come up with any logical solutions. And for once, they get out not because some all-powerful entity decides to let them go, but because Kirk is ingenious and courageous. The crew is in awe of him; you can see it on the faces of everyone on the bridge from Spock to Sulu.
  
  I never found the pacing slow. I, too, found that it built tension throughout the episode. When they counted down the 10 minutes and then they didn't die, that was a huge moment! You can't create moments like that without investing some time in it.
• From Dos Flores on 2012-12-28 at 5:36am:
  Oh dear. I was nodding along with each of your episodes reviews and ratings, right up to this one - one of my favorite!
  I thought the pacing, really quite different from typical original series fare, was one of its selling points. Was Balok's behavior and response over-the-top theatrical in its Booming Menace and Evil? Well, yes! Because it *was* an act, one-dimensional and heavy-handed, designed precisely to be unreasonable, in order to put them through a dramatic wringer, psychologically, and see how they'd react under duress. And the disabled ship may have been, as someone suggested, a poor way to test their altruism, considering what he had just put them through, but it was a great way to test their level of aggression or vindictiveness, precisely BECAUSE of what he had just put them through. There was a third option, after all, besides either aiding or not aiding a helpless and disabled enemy vessel... what would a Klingon commander have done in that exact situation, for example?
  This episode was also some of Shatner's most restrained acting, and it's a nice reminder of the fact that, when ego and diet pills weren't making him, well, Shatner, he really *could* act. I liked this completely grown-up Captain Kirk, and can actually see him with some emotional weight on him in that command chair. His interactions with McCoy, including quietly snarling at him under pressure, feel real, as do his frustrated attempts to get through to an obviously overmatched bridge crew member. ("Promoted too fast"... uhm, ya think?) He certainly would have made my short list of people to maroon with a strange alien...
  
  And more! The scenes between Spock and Kirk this early in the series are a huge selling point for the episode, laying such fine groundwork for what is already being shaded as a deep connection. When Kirk, stressed out by the unreasonable countdown to destruction, verbally cuts at Spock for not having a magic-bullet solution, Nimoy just nails the response. You can see his sense of having personally failed the Captain, and it hurts. Plot holes? For sure. But no more than I think are typical for the series overall, and with some nice tension and pacing for distraction!
• From Schreck on 2013-05-23 at 9:08pm:
  A very early episode that is very slow moving, but offers a few nice moments that clearly show where the crew and Kirk will be going in the future…plus we get Clint Howard!!! I give it a 7 and my brother a 6.25
• From CAlexander on 2013-09-03 at 10:07pm:
  There has been some discussion about whether Balok’s behavior is reasonable or unreasonable, but I would like to point out that our judgment of Balok’s behavior makes no difference to the episode. We have to keep in mind what Kirk’s mission is. Kirk’s mission is to establish peaceful relations with Balok’s people. If Balok’s culture considers it appropriate to put strangers in mortal danger as a test of character, it isn’t Kirk’s job to tell them that their cultural customs suck. How does it benefit the Federation to needlessly antagonize foreign cultures by denigrating their value systems as inferior to that of the Federation? Kirk’s job is to suck it up, smile, and make good relations with the strange representative of an extremely powerful and dangerous foreign government.
• From Alan Feldman on 2013-11-17 at 2:42am:
  To Dos Flores:
  
  Regardless of whether this was a great way to test Kirk and crew (and I claim it wasn't), how can you possibly justify such cruelty? You seem to have absolutely no concern for the well being of our heroes. Take the radiation attack, for example. Even though it did not kill them then right there and then, it must have surely caused numerous cases of radiation sickness. (Realistically, it would have. Well, I suppose it turns on just what Spock meant by "tolerance level" and "lethal zone". It's not like everyone would instantaneously drop dead at any point, but having entered the "lethal zone" it seems to me that many should have gotten radiation sickness and cancer and what not. Hey, just for the test, right?) And the Enterprise might have easily been destroyed at some point. A lot of wear and tear, at least. These things are somehow insignificant and justified?
  
  To Dos Flores and CAlexander:
  
  What would you have thought if Captain Kirk and crew did all this to a technologically inferior culture who were just minding their own business, just like the Enterprise was? What if either of them did it to you? And if you have children, them? Your kids getting radiation sickness? Just for the test, eh?
  
  This was like an elephant testing the intentions of a mouse.
  
  To CAlexander:
  
  Balok was way beyond unreasonable. He was evil, pure and simple. And he deserved zero good will, irrespective of anything else. Severe punishment would be appropriate. He bombarded the Enterprise with lethal radiation for crying out loud! That's pretty damn hostile, if you ask me.
  
  What about the Axis powers? Would you have tried to establish peaceful relations with them? Hmmm. Someone tried with one of them. It didn't turn out too well. So you would say that maybe they were just testing us? That our job was to suck it up and let the Axis powers have their way?
  
  Kirk frequently denigrated alien cultures' customs. He also did something about it! Here's a list.
  
  Romulans and Klingons in any episode they appear in.
  
  Balance of Terror
  The Return of the Archons
  Space Seed (well, the culture of Kahn and his crew)
  A Taste of Armageddon
  Who Mourns for Adonais?
  The Apple
  I, Mudd (the androids' culture)
  The Gamesters of Triskelion
  A Piece of the Action
  Patterns of Force
  By Any Other Name
  The Omega Glory
  Spock's Brain
  For the World Is Hollow
  Plato's Stepchildren
  Wink of an Eye
  The Empath
  The Cloud Minders
  The Savage Curtain
  
  In all these episodes he not only judged and disapproved of the alien cultures; when he could, he put things right, as he should have. And the Federation had no problem with it, to boot.
  
  AEF, a.k.a. betaneptune
• From Rick on 2014-08-26 at 5:03pm:
  At Alan Feldman:
  
  I dont think you understand the way that "superior" beings are portrayed on Star Trek. From the view of the inferior beings (in this case humans) their actions may seem cruel but that does not make them cruel by their standards (presumably because we cannot understand their standards). Q is a great example of this. Heck, the Federation is a great example of this! Dont you think the prime directive seems extremely cruel to the inferior beings that it negatively affects?
  
  Anyway, Balok's portrayal is very consistent with the portrayal of superior beings on Star Trek, and therefore shouldnt be considered a negative to this episode in particular.
• From Alan Feldman on 2014-09-14 at 9:50pm:
  At Rick:
  
  "I dont think you understand the way that "superior" beings are portrayed on Star Trek. From the view of the inferior beings (in this case humans) their actions may seem cruel but that does not make them cruel by their standards (presumably because we cannot understand their standards)."
  
  Sorry, I don't buy your explanation. It's a cop-out. Cruel is cruel.
  
  I think you used the last occurrence of the word _cruel_ above to mean immoral. Regardless, I find Balok to be both cruel and immoral.
  
  Now, morality is a slippery term, and I don't want to get into an extended philosophical discussion here, but I think the following is beyond question:
  
  Balok was cruel, hostile, highly unreasonable, and hypocritical.
  
  So what bothers me so much is how all this was just hunky dory in the end, and how this testing was somehow legitimate and justifiable. Imagine if our heroes did the same to some inferior race or species.
  
  What Balok did was awful and he deserves jail, not friends. And why should we go by his standards, anyway? Criminals and psychopaths have their own standards. Would you give _them_ a pass? What's not to understand?
  
  "Q is a great example of this."
  
  I know next to nothing about Q. I have seen probably not more than one or two episodes of each of the spin-offs. I care primarily about Star Trek TOS. The rest is of little or no interest to me. Even the Star Trek TOS movies don't interest me as much as the TOS TV show. Q and such is not Star Trek to me.
  
  As far as being inferior: In this case it's just a matter of technology. It's not like a human compared to a worm or a single-cell organism.
  
  "Heck, the Federation is a great example of this! Dont you think the prime directive seems extremely cruel to the inferior beings that it negatively affects?"
  
  Re the Prime Directive:
  
  Even D.C. Fontana, when asked about it said, "You mean the one Kirk violated all the time?" [Ref. http://youtu.be/ZtEBNNkouck starting at 2:34.]
  
  There are approximately 11 episodes where the Prime Directive might apply. In only eight of them is it mentioned explicitly (Archons, Apple, Piece of Action, Private Little War, Patterns, Omega, Bread, and Hollow). In almost all of them, Kirk interferes. In fact, Spock asks Kirk in many of these episodes if they had violated (or should violate) the Prime Directive, with Kirk always making up some answer that may or may not pass muster. In a few he tried to undo damage that was already done by others. The Directive was taken most seriously, regardless of consequences to our heroes, in "A Private Little War," and most especially in "Bread and Circuses."
  
  So where's the damage? [Perhaps you're thinking of the one TNG episode I actually saw in its entirety, in which Picard refuses to interfere, even though the civilization in question was doomed to extinction without some outside help. But this is the TOS forum.]
  
  "Anyway, Balok's portrayal is very consistent with the portrayal of superior beings on Star Trek, and therefore shouldnt be considered a negative to this episode in particular."
  
  The closest I can see to Balok in TOS are the Melkotians and the Vians. But the Melkotians had some justification because they made it crystal clear to Kirk right at the outset that the Enterprise was trespassing and should promptly go away. Balok had no justification whatsoever. He was hostile from the outset. The Vians were also pretty bad, but at least they weren't rescued or befriended in the end. Oh, the Metrons also did some testing -- a rather complicated morality case I choose not analyze at this time.
  
  In TOS, each case of "superior beings" is different. I don't see how you can classify them so narrowly. Trelane was immature, a hypocrite and a psychopath. Gorgan was power-hungry. Apollo was overly egotistical and selfish. The Salt Monster, the fog creature in "Obsession," the huge "cell" in "The Immunity Syndrome," and the ravioli monsters were basically just dangerous animals. The Organians were peaceful and super powerful. The entity in "Day of the Dove" was pretty much evil, don't you think? Sargon was good, Felicia teetered, and Hannock was evil. Jack the Ripper in "Wolf in the Fold" was pure psychopath. I'll skip the rest. All the evil beings were either destroyed, incapacitated, or taken away by others, the exception being Balok.
  
  What bothers me the most in this episode is Kirk's rescue attempt and befriending of such a contemptible person. That is contrary to what he did with every other evil entity in the show.
  
• From Rick on 2015-02-27 at 7:41pm:
  " [Perhaps you're thinking of the one TNG episode I actually saw in its entirety, in which Picard refuses to interfere, even though the civilization in question was doomed to extinction without some outside help. But this is the TOS forum.]"
  
  Actually there are multiple episodes in TNG where the Enterprise lets a species go extinct. Additionally, in "The Last Outpost" Riker specifically states that the Federation has let numerous races go extinct even though they could have intervened to save them. I imagine if those people that were needlessly killed knew the Federation couldve saved them they mightve thought it was a tad cruel.
• From thaibites on 2015-09-30 at 8:08pm:
  The best thing about this episode is creepy, little Clint Howard. If you didn't grow up with this episode, you will never understand. I love when he laughs and drinks Tranya - it's so fake, it's awesome! Clint should've gotten and Emmy for this. Love those wacky teeth, too.
  
  I need some Tranya...
• From Alan Feldman on 2015-11-14 at 3:47am:
  Yet more on "The Corbomite Maneuver".
  
  In reply to Rick on 2015-02-27 at 7:41pm:
  
  Letting a civilization needlessly go extinct _is_ cruel. And it makes no sense, to boot.
  
  Yet another strike against TNG.
  
  >----o----<
  
  On my list of Prime Directive episodes, a few should be removed, like "Space Seed" and "By Any Other Name". Maybe one could make a case for non-interference in a few of them of the ones still on the list. But I think blind unthinking adherence to it, as if it were perfectly constructed by lawmakers of infallible wisdom, is foolhardy.
  
  AEF
• From CAlexander on 2017-04-09 at 3:06pm:
  To Alan: The Klingons (like the Axis, etc.) are a good example. They did far, far, far, far worse things than Balok, but the Federation still made peace with them by TNG, even though they were unrepentent. And it is easy to see why – as per Yesterday’s Enterprise, if they hadn’t, the Federation would have been conquered. The Federation is quite capable of engaging in diplomacy with violent cultures when it is in its own best interests. While Kirk certainly loved interfering with alien cultures when he got a chance, but they were different situations for many reasons I’d love to discuss but don’t want to spend the space on, but generally involving foes either still actively threatening the Federation or actively continuing to engage in reprehensible conduct or Kirk being in a position of power, none of which was the case with Balok.
  However, thinking more on this I believe I may have missed something important here. If I recall, the setup was that the Enterprise was on a mission to invade First Federation space to establish contact, and ignored express warnings to not to enter. If interstellar law works like international law on Earth, the First Federation would be well within its right to destroy the Enterprise (remember the Soviet Union shot down U2 spy planes that weren’t even armed, the Enterprise could have reduced the First Federation planets to radioactive slag if unopposed). The Enterprise must have known they were risking a war by entering, and after discovering Balok incredible power, they must have been overjoyed by the end that he wasn’t going to retaliate and that, in fact, they had succeeded on their mission with far less loss of life than they may have anticipated.
  
• From Alan Feldman on 2017-07-08 at 6:41pm:
  To CAlexander:
  
  Well, the Enterprise did not know it was intruding on anyone's territory. The cube came out of nowhere and held them "still" for 18 hours. The Enterprise was minding its own business -- mapping uncharted regions of the galaxy. Hardly a crime! (I put "still" in quotation marks, as Star Trek's concept of motion is pre-Newtonian physics. I could go on, "but I digress.") As for the U-2 spy plane, they knew they were flying over the Soviet Union. Kirk et al. knew nothing. It's one thing to negotiate. It's another to walk into the lion's den.
  
  TNG is not TOS. I don't know what "Yesterday's Enterprise" is. I guess that's an episode of TNG. Not relevant in my book.
  
  And when Balok faked the distress call, what if it were a trap? That's not exactly an invitation for negotiation! Clearly not a good-faith gesture!!!
  
  C'mon. I seriously doubt the Enterprise was even the slightest threat to the First Foundation. In fact, Balok himself said so! So why bother with the test? Especially given how cruel it was.
  
  Again, would you sanction the Enterprise doing the same things to an inferior civilization? Really?
  
  Again, Balok was hypocritical in that it was okay for him to test our heroes, but not the other way around. Why should Kirk and company trust Balok without testing _him_? In fact, it was Balok who was _clearly_ (no test needed!) showing hostile intentions. If anything . . . cripes, we're talking hypocrisy of the first order. Sorry, but this is not a situation amenable to negotiation.
  
  Retaliate for what? Self-defense?
  
  I don't think I can explain it any better.
• From Chris Long on 2018-12-10 at 2:21am:
  Shy does a kid this young with obviously rich parents have so many filling?!?!?
  
  I guess the 'rich parents' is the key...
  
  Christ! the boy was messed up before he started and still scores H-Wood roles?
  Please try not to tell me it was because he was "SUPER TALENTED!!!", because he wasn't and I, being much better looking would've been a million more times charming. Just sayin'... and my teeth wouldn't have been an embarrassment in later years!
  
  ... but I'm not bitter.
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-08-17 at 3:29am:
  I REALLY enjoy these types of episodes, where a lifetime of experiences is transferred to someone's memory (like TNG "The Inner Light"). This episode was extremely powerful, and really is one of Voyager's better offerings in my opinion. Very Star Trekish!
• From Dejan on 2007-12-07 at 12:09pm:
  Great clothes in this one for Voyager crew (Harry and Tom).
• From attractionmagnetical on 2015-03-15 at 10:18pm:
  One wonders why the older woman didn't try to establish more of a friendship with someone else (for example, the young woman who accepts the memories at the end) and transfer the memories more directly, having gained that person's confidence (so as to avoid any backlash from authority figures). Surely there have been opportunities over the course of her life to share these experiences without risking her safety. Or, even, why didn't she just approach Torres directly and ask to share her memories so that she wouldn't go and get any other authority figures involved? Doing this secretly only risked dragging in lots of people to suppress the knowledge. (I know, I know, this didn't happen because then we would lose a lot of the drama. Still, it feels cheap.)
  
  Also, there's a point where Janeway is discussing some plans, and Tuvok finishes her sentence for her. She responds by saying something like, "I wonder when was the last time I actually surprised you" -- presumably referencing the fact that he knows her so well. Except he just said something to that effect two episodes ago (in "The Swarm") in response to her announcing her plans to go straight through the aliens' space against their wishes! Not sure how much time elapsed in-Universe, but it seems like she has a pretty short memory.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From jaylong on 2007-10-09 at 4:12am:
  not really a review. but for people who stumble upon this, how do you guys feel about these two episodes being chosen to be remastered and released into the theatre?
  
  i really think they could have chosen a better two episodes, but i'm down.
  
  here's the info if you've been under a rock;
  
  http://www.fathomevents.com//details.aspx?eventid=685
  
  "An in-theatre exclusive greeting from creator Gene Roddenberry’s son, Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry is included, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at how the episodes were digitally re-mastered from the original negatives – including the reinvention of the old TV show special effects using new CGI animation, and the orchestral re-recording of the show’s theme music."
  
  Nice, new CG? I hope Jar Jar isn't in it...
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2007-10-12 at 2:55pm:
  Yeah, I can't wait to see this episode in the theatre. I kind of wish they would show a couple of other epidoes instead, but this episode is still classic.
• From rhea on 2008-04-27 at 5:37pm:
  Not a full review, just two additions to yours, which I agree with, especially when it comes to the blatant absurdities. Overall, I still enjoyed the episode very much for the thorough character portraits it gave us.
  - an additonal problem: I do not understand how Spock could get off the hook this easily. This is a military organisation, and insubordination is a major crime, whatever the reason. Now, if a commanding officer is unable to perform his duty, then mutiny should of course be accepted, but compassion is usually not a reason for the military to spare someone a court martial and/or punish them. Not credible, now way.
  - an additional highlight: Kirk. This is one of the very very few times we see Kirk in full military commander mode: calm, cool, deadly, convicting a friend to death because this is what his duty demands of him. Usually, he is all buddy with his crew and very angry/emotional or con-manish with his enemies, but hardly ever the hardass officer who can send a man to his death if he has to. Now we know why he got command of a vessel with 400+ crewmembers. It's powerful, and very well acted out by Shatner.
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-15 at 6:04pm:
  I love the Cage, but to the extent that the Menagerie is considered separately from the Cage, I am not fond of it. I find it to be a rather forced framing device to re-show the Cage. Everything about the trial is artificial. In particular, the concept that Spock risks the only remaining death penalty on the books is just ridiculous, a totally unnecessary attempt to pump up the drama. Really, Spock risking his career would be quite bad enough.
• From menagerie on 2011-08-21 at 7:25pm:
  I agree that the second part largely lacked plot or original exposition, and at times made me feel as if I was re-watching "The Cage." But I disagree that any of it is very absurd or particularly annoying.
  
  I don't think it's fair to criticize the episode for "misdirecting" the audience. Something like 25 - 50% of all of Star Trek seems to be "misdirection" - arguably, that's the best part. In any case, it's almost universally used towards good dramatic effect, and this episode really isn't any different.
  
  First of, the trial and it's semi-absurdity is explained quite well by the context and the Talosian involvement, including of course the fabricated commodore. And Kirk was going along with it and glossing over its absurdity because he was captivated by the story and wanted to know the truth.
  
  There's some question about whether it was necessary in the first place, but to give the show credit, Kirk asks that question outright! And it does make a certain amount of sense. Would Kirk otherwise disobey Starfleet orders, risk court martial (and even execution), to assist Spock in helping Pike? Someone he deeply respects, for sure, but has almost no personal history with? To clinch the whole matter, we have to remember that Pike was initially opposed to the whole thing! The trial and the recap was as much to convince Pike as to convince Kirk as to convince us, the audience. In my eyes, it makes sense, and is done well (although I do agree that the sheer amount of reused footage starts to feel a bit contrived and was perhaps a bit much).
  
  So we are left with the final criticism. Why the travel and communication ban? Why enforce it with the death penalty? I think it makes sense if you consider it. There's more than just the face-value reasons, the threat of Humanity developing "the power of illusion" and meeting the same fate as the Talosians.
  
  Consider also the sheer power represented by the Talosians. A handful of these folks (perhaps even one) took complete control of a Starfleet flagship, and outmaneuvered its entire crew, its first officer, and its captain. Even at the very end, after Pike escaped from his menagerie, he had no way to get back onto the ship. They were completely at the mercy of the Talosians - the only card they had to play was committing suicide.
  
  It's safe to guess that this is the most powerful species Starfleet has ever encountered. Sure they proved "too intelligent to kill for no reason," and quite reasonable and benevolent even, but wouldn't it be prudent to stay clear of something so completely out of your league? Especially when they have a history of treating humans as we treat "lower" animals? And even if they were benevolent, what if some renegade captain, or crazed scientist, or even a random stowaway or something learned how to replicate their powers? The threat would potentially be worse than a WMD going on the black market.
  
  Compound all that with the one explicitly suggested reason, the hypothetical danger of "the Keeper's" prophecy - that we would all become as helpless and on the verge of extinction as they - and the draconian ban begins to make some sense.
  
  Facing something of nearly limitless power, something they could not even begin to understand or control, in the hands of mysterious beings on a mysterious planet, fleet command decided to, for the time being, just strike the whole matter from the record, classify the whole thing - so no one gets either too freaked out or too curious - delete Talos from the map, and forbid all contact. It shows prudence, and it makes some sense.
  
  So, in conclusion, I think this two-parter is fantastic - I concur with the reviewers compliments, and even disagree with some of his critiques.
• From Wiley Hyena on 2012-05-12 at 4:38pm:
  This is one of the site's most inaccurate review ratings. Menagerie II is one of the best, if not the best, episodes in all of Star Trek. The reunion of Pike and the girl, beginning with Pike's wish to go, is great drama.
• From Schreck on 2013-05-23 at 10:17pm:
  I did not like the second part nearly as much as the first…it could have something to do with the constant rehashing of The Cage…I give it a 6.25 and my brother a 7…Our average ratings for the two parts are a 6.63 for myself and a 6.75 for my brother
• From Stewart Snider on 2019-03-05 at 11:11pm:
  I was around when this aired in 1966. At age 12, I was puzzled where the old footage came from. It wasn't public knowledge then that The Cage was the original passed-on pilot, so I just assumed they shot it for this episode. This didn't look like a 13-years-older Enterprise and it didn't make sense for Spock to be emotional. These, along with all the other plot problems mentioned here still did not keep me from being mesmerized by the other-worldliness of this episode. Kirk's final look at the Talosian Keeper conveyed how I felt.
  
  One thing I haven't seen mentioned here: I think the actors knew there were huge problems with most of the stories, and just took it on themselves to make their performances so good that viewers would want to watch anyway. I'm in awe of them, for this reason. Even though I think Shatner is a narcissistic ass.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-05-07 at 3:03am:
  I agree. How did two klingon birds of prey disable the enterprise immediately and then proceed to board it and commandeer it so easily? That was ridiculous. I hate the ferengi so much.
• From DSOmo on 2007-10-12 at 7:58am:
  - Once again, the creators use the "just switch the DNA with the transporter so everything will be ok" plot trick to fix the problem of changing the crew back to adults. At least the creators are consistent. This is basically the same solution they used to resolve a crisis in "Unnatural Selection." (see "Unnatural Selection" Fan Commentary for more information on this subject.)
  - When asked by the Ferengi captain how many people are on board the Enterprise, Riker replies, "One thousand fourteen" (1,014). During the episode "Remember Me," Data claims there are 1,014 people on the Enterprise at that point. What are the chances - given transfers, promotions, childbirth, etc. - that there would be exactly the same number aboard the Enterprise during both these shows?
  - Worf needs to get back to the phaser practice range. When two Ferengi materialize on the bridge, Worf fires a shot and misses! The Ferengi can't be more than twenty feet away, and the chief of Security of the Enterprise misses?
  - When Picard first attempts to access the main computer from a school terminal, the top of the screen reads, "Classroom 7." When Picard meets with Riker, he asks Riker to turn on the computer in "schoolroom 8."
• From djb on 2008-05-27 at 8:29am:
  This episode was fun, though it brings up two rather sticky subjects (aside from obvious ones, like, how their clothes shrunk and Picard magically had hair).
  
  One is how easily the Enterprise, the flagship of the Federation, was captured. By those god-awful Ferengi, no less. I mean, it's certainly possible for the ship to be captured, but I'd expect it to maybe be a bit more of a struggle. It was a cakewalk! And, wouldn't there be security measures, like some kind of automatic lockdown if the shields fail? Or something? I mean, come on. It could have been epic.
  
  The other is the "age reversal" problem, which was also an issue in "Unnatural Selection." If a transporter can accidentally convert adults into children, couldn't it be configured to do it intentionally? Wouldn't that basically make the transporter an immortality machine? Wouldn't that mean that anyone, once their bodies have aged past 50 or 60, or whenever, could just enter the transporter, be reverted to children (with adult minds) and live another several decades with a younger body, and repeat ad infinitum? Maybe it could be configured to revert someone to, say, 29, instead of 12, and then people could go in for an "age-reverting" every 5 or 10 years without going all the way back to 12? The social, economic, and medical ramifications are ludicrous. Talk about messing with nature!
  
  I thought the casting of young Guinan and young Ro were excellent; it happens that the actress who played young Guinan also played a young version of the character Whoopi Goldberg played in "Sister Act." Keiko didn't really look like herself, but it's hard to tell with aging. Also notice that young Picard's accent is just slightly different from regular Picard's? Hmmm.
  
  Some episodes, though, have "priceless" moments that are somewhat incidental but memorable. "Schisms" had Data's poetry, which was genius. This one's priceless moment is Riker feeding the Ferengi complete nonsense about the computer. Bilateral kelilactirals... Heisenfram terminals! Wonderful touch.
• From JRPoole on 2008-09-11 at 4:08am:
  Ughh. This is perhaps the most ridiculous episode of the Next Generation. The O'Brien/Keiko stuff was creepy and interesting, but Colm Meany didn't act it very well, probably because the plot was dumb he couldn't take it seriously.
  
  On top of all this idiotic mess with the children, we have another incredibly stupid Ferengi episode. The Ferengi are the Jar Jar Binks of TNG and an embarrassing black eye on the series. They become more believable in DS9, but here they are always bad news. It's already been documented that children are a bad idea on Trek, and the combination of the two here is dreadful.
  
  Thank God the writers didn't go ahead and make this episode inarguably canonical by leaving Ro as a child. Therefore, I move that this episode be struck from the canon, as nothing significant arises from it, it's thankfully never mentioned again, the science is ludicrous, and the whole package is utter shite.
• From The Crytter on 2009-06-07 at 2:50pm:
  A hugely fun episode. I enjoyed it but for a few niggling details.....
  
  1) A case of mistaken identity:
  
  The Klingon Bird's of Prey are identified as "B'rel" class.
  
  The B'rel class Bird of Prey is well known to be a scout vessel, approximately 90 meters long and 130 metres wide. Whats more, the B'rel class has only a crew of 12, and could not carry very many troops in addition.
  
  The Birds of Prey that attack the Enterprise are clearly at least as wide as the Enterprise herself (467 metres). And they can cleary carry enough troops between them to overwhelm to Enterprise crew. These vessels are clearly of the "K'Vort" class cruiser variant of the Bird of Prey!
  
  2) Has Commander Riker become a wimp???
  
  2 vs 1 or not, the supposedly state-of-the-art Galaxy class Flagship-of-the-federation USS Enterprise goes down with barely a whimper! It fires just one shot in retaliation. Absolutely pathetic! Commander Riker is usually fairly gung-ho, and pretty handy in a fight. But here he simply lets the Enterprise take several minutes of pummeling before he orders Mr Worf to return fire, and even then with only a single phaser burst! With his hesitation and poor response to the attack, he basically gifts the Enterprise to the Ferengi!
  
  Commander Riker should have ordered Mr Worf to return fire as soon as they were attacked, and then concentrated fire on one of the Birds of Prey. The Enterprise is powerful enough to disable a K'Vort class cruiser in fairly short order with sustained fire, and once one was out of action the Ferengi crew of the other would no doubt have decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and retreated.
  
  So in short, the Enterprise seriously needs it's ship recognition files updating, and should have won the fight with it's attackers. This, of course, means that this whole episode should never have taken place.
  
  A shame really, considering the episode as a whole is such good fun! Enough fun, that i'll forgive the writers for the irritating errors.
• From rpeh on 2010-06-14 at 10:33pm:
  You lot take this far too seriously.
  
  Yes, the science is rubbish. Yes, the ship was taken over too easily. Yes, there are other problems.
  
  But this episode is fun! The young versions do a brilliant job, young Guinan especially, and as long as you watch it all when you're in a good mood, it's a funny episode.
  
  Sheesh! Some people would even take Trouble with Tribbles seriously!
• From baron on 2010-12-03 at 6:30pm:
  Riker didn't attack the ships because they were klingon ships. He didn't raised the shields because he would have had no reason to and that would be seen as a hostile gesture. He had no way of knowing that they were ferengi. He would have at least tried to hail them before he started firing. He wouldn't want to risk starting a war by firing at them first for no reason. Unfortunately, they had already attacked and disabled the enterprises sheilds at that point.
• From Quando on 2011-08-25 at 12:40am:
  The absolute best part of this episode was when the Ferengi caught little kid Picard calling Riker "Number One". The Ferengi looks at kid Picard kind of funny, and Picard quickly says "he's my number one Dad!" and gives Riker a big hug. My kids laughed about this for days.
  
  Also, what happened to the rest of the 1,014 people on the ship? The only people to try to do anything to stop the Ferengi are the people on the bridge and some little kids. Meanwhile several hundred fully-trained starfleet officers are sitting quietly somewhere twiddling their thumbs.
• From Wes on 2012-03-22 at 1:27pm:
  This marks the last episode the O'briens are on TNG. The next time we see Chief O'brien is on DS9 in Emissary.
• From railohio on 2014-07-22 at 2:33am:
  Overall I found the episode enjoyable, however there is one continueing point involving the Ferengi that I need to meet
  The bridge crew spends so much time spilling out statuses and sensor readings during the battle, that they only manage to actually fire once. Once!! If they really wanted to win, they would disable the enemy as quickly as possible (or at least try to) and worry about the damages and casualties after. They would avoid even more casualties in the process.
  
  Another thing I found a bit funny actually was during the shuttle mishap. While the shuttle is experiencing "turbulance," the shuttle does not seem to move at all, and it appears they are just dancing in there chairs. Quite entertaining if you catch it
• From Mike on 2017-04-17 at 3:19am:
  Whatever you think of this episode, you have to agree that the kid actors really nailed their performances. All four of them were great! Their scenes were the best parts of this episode: Guinan and Ro's interaction, The O'Briens' awkward time together, and young Picard's dealings with the crew.
  
  As for the Ferengi taking over the ship, I think this episode is mostly just for laughs. After all, whatever cunning the Ferengi may have had in their initial capture of the Enterprise was clearly used up and the crew was able to outsmart them with comical ease. You just can't take the Ferengi seriously in TNG, and the idea of involving them in an episode where some crew members are transformed into children seems to fit nicely.
  
  From a canon point of view, I can see why this episode pisses off some fans. Maybe we can just agree that this was a facepalm moment for Worf and his security team, after which they ran numerous drills to make sure they'd never be humiliated by losing the flagship to a gang of Ferengi ever again.
• From Chris on 2018-02-17 at 4:06am:
  Without looking at the episode... whatever... more stupid than Kirk and the boys getting old!
  
  Please!!!
• From Chris on 2018-02-23 at 10:21pm:
  I must've been in a foul mood when I posted my irritation of this episode without watching it.
  Sometimes I just forget that this is, after all, not science, but science-FICTION!
  
  If one cannot tolerate a bit of whimsy now and then, then one needs to re-adjust their attitude maybe...
  
  Anyway, I did notice that they did make a half-assed attempt with the costuming on Ro and Guinan only...
  Riker's gibberish was awesome but it would have been funny if somehow he could have squeezed in, as a shout out to Kirk, something about Fizzbin! ;-)
  
  The interaction between Keiko and Miles was pretty poignant, I think.
• From Chris on 2019-08-01 at 1:54am:
  One last... comment. I think it might have been cool if Keiko's daughter recognized her for who she was regardless of how she looked! Miles would have freaked out and there would have been much less drama between them but the drama could then have been taken in ANY direction from there!
  Could've been more fun?
  Is it fun, funner, funnest?
  Is it dead, deader, deadest?
  
  These are questions that torment me...
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-08-02 at 6:36pm:
  Janeaway is a fucking idiot for wanting to land the ship. Let's see, how many times did the enterprise land? Oh! 1 time, when it was destroyed. She's already going for a second attempt in one season. It was completely unneccesary and a complete lack of judgement on her part. Putting the ENTIRE crew at risk to maybe land and help Chakotay. Why didn't they just replicate another shuttlecraft ;) They did it so many times in the series, seeing as they started out with 2.
  
  But yeah, Janeaway is a stupid dumbass. I put the ship landing thing in the same category as Sisko using the Defiant every time he wanted to leave the station. Completely unneccesary.
• From Remco on 2009-01-14 at 11:33pm:
  When Kes was pissed at the Doctor and said she wished that the he could feel pain for once, I said to myself: "well, he has, in Projections". It's a waste that he didn't mention this. It was only 6 episodes (weeks?) ago.
• From Penguinphysics on 2013-01-17 at 5:46am:
  I realize that this is a really small nitpick, but the use of the word DAMPENERS is not correct. When the inertial momentum of the vessel is compensated for, this is DAMPING, which is an absorption of energy (usually in relation to oscillations). A DAMPENER would be something like a shower or hose. A seriously insignificant nit to pick but since the technical advisors work so hard on other things it would seem that they could keep this consistent.
• From Inga on 2013-07-30 at 9:54am:
  Pete Miller - Voyager is a new kind of ship, maybe it's easier and safer to land it, so the decision is not necessarily stupid.
• From Azalea Jane on 2024-01-25 at 8:53pm:
  Yeah, this ep was... kind of WTF. It's especially cringe if you know about how the supposedly Native American consultant they had for Voyager was a phony. But cultural insensitivity aside, it's kind of astonishing to imagine that a bunch of extremely Earth-specific things would be localized to this tiny region of the other side of the galaxy. Well... maybe not "a bunch", but between this and "The 37s", it's really pushing, even for Star Trek.
  
  One little detail I liked was how without his communicator, Chakotay couldn't understand the aliens until they gave him their own UT. Kes adding a couple hours to the Doctor's illness program was fantastic. I love Kes.
  
  This show has a lot of potential, and a lot of great moments so far, but it so badly wants to be TNG that it isn't finding an identity of its own.
  
  Voyager is designed with landing capability, so the previous commenter's complaints about it landing are invalid. (What IS a valid complaint is how imbalanced it looks when it's on the ground, like it's about to tip over.)

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2007-01-02 at 9:05pm:
  This episode kind of reminded me of DS9: Whispers. The convincing conspiracy theories demonstrates how evidence can be arranged to support all kinds of wild theories, and that correlation does not necessarily mean causation. It also makes fun of a lot of current conspiracy theories that violate Occam's Razor to a ridiculous extent.
• From Thoms on 2008-03-12 at 12:57pm:
  I like Voyager, but why don't they wear more casual clothes when the eat, have dinner or are in own quarters. Like Riker on TNG or Sisko.
• From a2a.com on 2011-12-27 at 5:34am:
  You know, I think it takes a current or former conspiracy theorist to fully appreciate this episode. I think it did quite a spectacular job and has several important lessons, among them: good and plentiful data does not necessarily mean good information, and even good information does not always translate to actionable knowledge. Our brains loathe chaos, yet the natural and socio-political world is inherently chaotic. Its easy for us to find patterns where none exist. And find solutions and false answers to questions that may ultimately be too complex or bizarre to even begin to answer.
  
  I love how at the end we're left wondering...What *was* that 'tracking beam' that Seven found? Some kind of astrometric lab artifact? Or something more bizarre?
• From Rick on 2013-04-09 at 4:09am:
  This episode is awful and an abomination of logical reasoning.
  
  I went to the grocery store today. Was I picking up food to eat, or establishing channels to monopolize the local food supply to gain power?
  
  Simply adding or and then a random conclusion to explain simple behavior is shown in this episode to be compelling reasoning. After all, it pretty much convinced the top two officers.
• From OmicronThetaDeltaPhi on 2014-01-23 at 9:39pm:
  One amusing nitpick: When Janeway tried to regain Seven's trust, she said "Stardate 52840 - the captain orders Seven to study her parent's journals...". Clearly the writers mixed up the events of "11:59" and "Dark Frontier".
  
  I suppose we could argue that it was Janeway who made the error, but there is no way Seven - in full-paranoid-mode - would have trusted her after such an inconsistency.
  
  And to Rick:
  
  The fact that you deny your quest of world domination, is evidence enough that these suspicions are true ;-)
• From Mike on 2017-06-15 at 11:20pm:
  I did like Tash's catapult, and the episode was intriguing until Seven went all tinfoil hat and laid out wildly speculative theories to both Chakotay and Janeway, apparently within mere hours of each other.
  
  Lost in all that, though, was one question: what was that tractor beam in the middle of the explosion of the Caretaker Array? That's never sufficiently answered. It's never even made clear that it's the same technology that eventually wound up with Tash. You could assume something survived the explosion and he eventually got his hands on it, but that doesn't make clear what the tractor beam was. Kind of an unsolved mystery of the episode, I guess.
• From The Emergency Obumpresidential Hologram on 2022-03-02 at 8:39am:
  This episode could have been good, but I agree with Rick, Sevens reasoning was random, she badly needs logic lessons from Tuvok.
  And even worse that Janeway and Chucky immediately fall for it and betray each other to the point they start wearing weapons!
  Add to all of it that Sevens information was at times flat out wrong, like when she talked about the Chakotay-Seska child plot, which wasnt even his child in the end.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JemHadar359 on 2008-04-08 at 3:55am:
  I'm not sure off the top of my head, but wasn't the teaser for "Scorpion Part I" shorter?
• From Nicholas on 2009-01-18 at 1:21am:
  I found one thing puzzling.
  
  Apparently Seven has this Borg implant that causes her to shut down whenever she is about to experience higher emotions. As this has never been noticed before, is the breakup with her holographic toyboy more emotional for her than ANYTHING she has experienced over the last three and a half years, including Icheb nearly sacrificing himself for her, One, John Kelly, all her mother-daughter moments with Janeway, memories of her parents and so forth?
• From g@g on 2012-01-28 at 8:58am:
  You know what, this episode rocked. Somehow I didn't feel totally let down by the "anticlimax." The episode is called "Human Error," afterall. All things cannot end well, and people can't always make the right courageous, well-balanced decisions. Human beings, even ex-borg, don't progress linearly - there are a lot of steps backward, and the end is rarely certain or even clear.
  
  Anyway, I'm rambling, but I second the reviewer about the most memorable piano scene and the other good qualities, and disagree about the ending being thoroughly lousy (especially in hindsight, having scene where this all leads in the season finale).
• From Dstyle on 2015-08-07 at 8:41pm:
  I agree with the previous comment: to consider the ending to be a disappointing "anti-climax" misses the point of the ending. It's easy to take emotional risks when you have nothing on the line; it is far more human to be nervous and guarded in real life. We saw this once already in this episode, when Seven socialized and gave a toast at the holographic baby shower, yet made a weak excuse to miss the real one.
  
  I found the ending to be highly relatable: how many times, as a young teenager dealing with new and confusing emotions, did I imagine scenarios where I would approach my love interest boldly and confidently, only to waver in real life and avoid the encounter entirely? I imagine anyone who was a teenager had similar experiences. This is Seven's middle school dance, except she's at the dance with adults who all already know how to navigate these types of situations.
• From McCoy on 2017-11-10 at 8:52am:
  It wasn't anti-climax. It was true and totally in-character for Seven (in time she became my favourite character). I have a social phobia diagnosed and I know, what I'm talking. This episode was about me and all people suffering similar problems. "Happy end" would be out of place here.
• From Lloyd on 2017-12-31 at 4:26pm:
  I agree with the anti climax was horrendous.. but i still loved this episode..!
  I really have no idea why the writers decided to do that - not further this storyline.
  Some storylines benefit from leaving it open ended - the desire to see more are what make some epsiodes great. But not this one! Being left wanting more is infuriating and completely unsatisfying.
• From Graham Bessellieu on 2019-09-08 at 3:12am:
  This is an excellent and essential episode for Seven of Nine's character development! The romance with Chakotay is captivating and endearing.
  
  While I agree that it leaves the viewer hoping for her to break through that final barrier, perhaps it just goes to show how difficult it is to break the habits of her programming.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-11-06 at 2:49am:
  That holodeck program is the most inane thing I have ever seen. Naomi seems way too old to be entertained by such nonsense, and I frankly felt insulted being subjected to watching it. I kept jumping every time it came on in case my roommate was about to come in.
• From Vincent on 2011-10-05 at 11:25pm:
  I find it odd that the shuttle crew were running out of air on an M class planet. The away teams sent out to rescue them were able to breathe the atmosphere without aid, so why couldn't the Paris or Tuvok find a way to ventilate air between the interior and exterior of the of the shuttle?
  
  Placing the manufactured danger to the shuttle crew aside, I thought this was an enjoyable exploration of the way different people prepare for their own death (the shuttle crew), handle the death of family (Neelix), and the ethics of censuring the truth from a child.
• From Jadzia Guinan Smith on 2015-06-15 at 5:27pm:
  Wait, they had Holographic entertainment when Janeway was a kid? She's in her early-mid 40s in the 2370s, which means this stuff had to be around in the 2340s. But wasn’t it established, in TNG: Encounter at Farpoint, that this was brand new technology during that time (circa 2360s)? I seem to recall Riker seeing the newfangled programs (which he had vaguely heard about) for the first time when he came aboard the Enterprise. Anyway, totally boring episode, aside from Naomi expressing her fear of the “Borg Lady” and trying to fake out Neelix with “I am borg”....
• From Dstyle on 2015-06-20 at 3:52pm:
  I actually really liked this episode a lot. Perhaps it's because I lost a close family member when I was young and just became a father myself, but I got a bit misty several times while watching this.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Zorak on 2016-09-22 at 10:31pm:
  I have to disagree about the morality of Archers actions. First off, the hunters were very good to them and Archer could have easily gotten them killed with his actions. Second, he never even tried to reason with the hunters or explain his position. He just up and decided these people and their cultural practices are evil and wrong and going behind their backs and sabotaging them was the only answer.
  
  Sloppy writing and another poorly done morality play in my opinion.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-06-06 at 1:46am:
  Whith the Borg powerful once again under Lore, what do they have to show for it? They have only one ship protecting thier leader, which gets fried by the sun. On the ground, they have a large gang of Borg living inside a building. Where is the army of Borg that assimilate whole planets?
  
  
• From TashaFan on 2008-10-31 at 7:41am:
  One thing that bothered me about the premise is, if the Borg assimilate individuals, every one of those individuals lived a whole life as an individual with a sense of self. So why would Hugh developing a sense of self for a few days be so disruptive to the collective or even to a single cube?
• From Zaphod on 2011-04-14 at 12:59pm:
  How can Data feel the urge to develop emotions if he doesn't already have emotions? How can he show signs of withdrawal without emotions? He doesn't have unpleasant feelings so what's the problem? Physical symptoms? Again, why would he even bother if these symptoms don't lead to negative emotions?
  Why would he want to befriend anyone without emotions?
  How can a character as badly written as Data be part of a TV show? A lot of questions and no good answers. ^^
• From ElGuapo on 2011-11-30 at 9:30pm:
  Problem: When Geordi is strapped down to the table, you see him move his hand almost completely out of the restraint with ease. He slips it back in as if nothing happened.
  
  A decent episode. It's good to see Hugh return, and I've always liked the Lore episodes.
• From dan on 2012-04-20 at 4:07am:
  I loved this episode (both parts). It might not have been the deepest plot, but it was exciting in a way few Trek episodes are. Great continuity with Hugh, and Dr. Crusher using the metaphasic shield. The scenes with Geordi and Data were quite intense. Also loved seeing Data take out Lore one and for all.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From adam on 2010-09-27 at 6:57am:
  Trying to be Ripley from Alien..? Interesting. Didn't realize how buff Janeway was.
• From Inga on 2013-09-03 at 4:35pm:
  @adam that's exactly what I thought! :)
• From Hugo Ahlenius on 2013-10-30 at 12:36pm:
  Something that doesn't make sense - they are growing a lot, but out of what? They would need to harvest matter out of somewhere (proteins/atoms etc)...
• From thaibites on 2014-03-12 at 1:46am:
  OK, here's one more for you. When the creatures emerged from a victim, they made a sound like a buzzing fly. They had no wings, so how could they make that sound? (I guess if you can magically hover in air, you can make any sound you want.)
  I liked this episode a lot. Good action and suspense - Janeway was a badass bitch!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From technobabble on 2010-11-23 at 12:03am:
  I enjoyed this episode very much as well, lighthearted romp in a pastoral backdrop after a tense space battle.
  
  Only explanation for Kirk's Finegan reaction after McCoy's death is the fantasy world's hallucinations may had an affect on psychologically distracting the crew. Like Sulu shooting the firearm and fascinated with it without being cautious.
  
  
  
  
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-23 at 5:24pm:
  The main plot is effective if you accept the premises. Not an episode of great significance, but memorable.
  
  - The episode is sort of a variant of the Naked Time, revealing the hidden fantasies of the characters.
  - I came to the same conclusions as the previous comment. The crew acts irrationally from the very beginning, paying little attention to the peculiar inconsistencies of the planet. Everyone acts like they are intoxicated by the visions they see. The show seems to imply that this is a normal part of being a humor episode, but if you want to look at things logically, it makes a lot more sense if you assume that the planet can influence minds as well as read them.
  
• From Mike Meares on 2012-04-10 at 7:44am:
  A highly entertaining episode of Star Trek, which I thoughly enjoy. And still enjoy watching it, despite the many, many, many flaws in the script.
  
  I loved the concept of the show. And much like the Enterprise crew I become mesmerized by what I am seeing appearing right before my eyes.
  
  But if we take a step back and look at this episode "logically" it is really a very weak story, filled with a lot of mistakes.
  
  I rate this episode a six because of it's entertaining value. But it could have been produced much better.
  
  Over the years some of the writers have admitted that this episode, as well as many other episodes, went though so many re-writes that the flow of the story suffered greatly. It is said Roddenberry was re-writing scenes as they were actually being shot. Not sure how true that is, but it would explain some of the problems in the story.
  
  The biggest problem in the script is the death of Dr. McCoy. The story explains that this race is so advanced that it can "repair" or bring someone back to life who is stabbed to death in the chest! REALLY? And we are suppose to beleive this just because they say so! I am sorry the explaination leaves something to be desired!
  
  And while we are on the subject, this knowledge is something the Federation is not really interested in? Give me a break please! No one seems to care that this race can actually bring back the dead! I get more reaction from somebody when I show I can open a bag of bagels.
  
  To make matters worse, this "advanced" race doesn't realize that the crew of the Enterprise doesn't understand what is going on the whole time! You have to ask yourself: why doesn't this advanced race show themselves after McCoy's death? Instead they "sneak" away McCoy's body without explaining to the rest of the crew what they are doing! The race continues with their illusions even though it is clear to a two year old human ( we must assume their two year olds are smarter than our two year olds! ) that at that point the crew of the Enterprise had abosolutely no idea what the hell was going on around them.
  
  And the crew's communications were interferred with because of transmissions of this "advanced race". Even the transporter power aboard the Enterprise. REALLY? And this "advanced race" doesn't realize this at all? You have got to be kidding me?
  
  Spock even says that the power was so strong that he reasoned that they only enough energy to beam down one more person before they lost the use of the transporter. Gee how lucky for them. I ain't buying it.
  
  And as Spock is beaming down Sulu makes a staement that I am still scratching my head about. Sulu says, "Someone beaming down from the BRIDGE." Oh really? And how does Sulu know where the person is beaming down from? Spock could be beaming down from the Sick Bay for all Sulu knows. Correct me if I am wrong, but if you saw someone beaming down wouldn't you just assume they are beaming down from the.... eh.... oh I don't know.... THE TRANSPORTER ROOM!
  
  All of these mistakes are due to the writing and should have been corrected before fliming. And they are all weak plot devices used to make the story workable, but they are just not every creative.
  
  Everytime I watch this episode I have to ignore these aspects of the story or else I can't enjoy the show.
  
  It is very odd but this episode can be summed up in three words. Enjoyable but flawed!
  
  
  
  
• From Scott Hearon on 2014-03-05 at 11:48pm:
  Just watched this episode, and I agree with much of what "Kethinov" has to say. It gets annoying to see the downed crew members give Spock so much flack. It was a bit overdone (presumably in the name of selling this particular element of the episode), but I liked the basic premise and dynamic.
  
  Yeah, that ambassador was a real jag-off. Could have been much less heavy-handed with that character.
  
  The choice of giant, hairy primitives seems odd. I can't help but think that this was a bit of dumbing down, possibly by the network, so things didn't get too (gasp!)...intelligent or creative!!
  
  Overall, though, it's a decent enough episode. Nice job touching up the visuals, too. What year did they do that, anyway? They look damn good.
• From Yonagonaf on 2016-04-23 at 7:07pm:
  There is a word in the sentence “The yeoman's broken uniform was broken on the wrong side after she changed back into it after taking off the Medieval dress.” that needs to be changed.
  
  The word “broken” is incorrect.
  
  The words “torn” or “ripped” are used when describing damage done to material.
  
  In this case a uniform.
  
• From Kelly on 2017-08-17 at 11:15am:
  A very fun and scenic episode, that is not really deep, but simply meant to be a getaway fantasy episode. Just watched it 2 times in a row, over the last few days, but found several small but still irking mistakes!
  On a planet with supposedly no life or animals or bugs, a few close ups show flies around the faces of characters, especially the scene with Ruth.
  There are tree stumps, and logs on the ground that are obviouly chainsaw cut.
  The grass is freshly cut and there are even trails leading around, and one thing no one seems to ever catch, a BUILDING in one scene with Kirk and Spock walking around the glade. Look again its a hut that appears to have a natural look made from maybe logs and plant material, but none the less an actual building. I Know the crew was all excited, but no one saw any of this??
  Most likely obvious mistakes, but could have been better hidden!
  
• From Jake on 2019-11-23 at 2:04am:
  I think some take this episode a bit too seriously. But if you watch the show closely you can catch all sorts of little things. Like the chain on the tiger's paw. Or that the strafing plane is one time a Navy Corsair, and then suddenly a Japanese Zero. Or the changing dress tear. But this, like many others, just needs to be watched for entertainment which it did provide.

No fan commentary yet.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From djb on 2008-12-19 at 9:45am:
  I'm coming to LOVE the character of Vedek Winn. Not because she's likable, rather the opposite. She's superbly acted and written, so much so that every time I see her I literally want to reach into the screen and rip her throat out. Excellent!
  
  Other than that, I'd agree with Kethinov... not a whole lot more to this ep than building up to some hopefully momentous conclusion, which I haven't watched yet.
  
  Also nice to see good character development for Kira, and nice to see how much Kira and Sisko have grown close over the previous year. Also cool to see Odo and Quark (gasp!) working together? Neat orb sequence too.
  
  A solid 5.
• From Bernard on 2010-02-08 at 1:18am:
  This episode is unneccessarily drawn out to the extent that it almost ruins the gathering pace of plot created by the climax of season one and homecoming. Solid 5, but should have been so much better! If only they had dared to concentrate more on the Bajoran politics and less on our heroes doing boring things such as rescue missions.
  
  Which just reminds me, exactly what is our good Doctor ordered to do when he finds Kira? Slap a com badge on her and call for transport. What does he actually do? Starts treating her wounds! Fortunately this kind of gaffe is actually IN character for him.

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• From Remco on 2009-02-05 at 3:29pm:
  This was a pretty boring episode. It's a shame, because I don't think the premise is necessarily ridiculous.
  
  Some coincidence it is, that I just saw "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" in the cinema a few days ago. The premise is very similar. Benjamin is born with all the signs of old age, and then he grows younger. This episode's idea must have come from the same book as the film is inspired by.
  
  One thing that differs between the film and this episode, is that the film is much more interesting. It focuses on the lives of two people: one growing younger and one growing older. The episode instead doesn't do very much with the premise. We don't get to see what it is like growing younger. Instead, we have a mystery plot regarding some monster, Tuvok babysitting, and some diplomatic discussions on Voyager.
  
  The final moments between Tressa and Tuvok make the episode a lot better than it should have been.
• From JRPoole on 2009-03-23 at 2:54pm:
  If you overlook the presence of children, which is almost always a bad idea on Star Trek, and the utterly ridiculous plot twist with the reverse aging process, this is pretty solid. As is, it's pretty wretched. I give it a 3.
• From thaibites on 2013-11-17 at 7:16am:
  They should've had Jonathan Winters on this one.
  Nanoo, nanoo.

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• From Dstyle on 2015-08-05 at 9:42pm:
  Despite possessing the complete technical knowledge of the Borg Collective, the aliens of the week decide to make Seven of Nine their new Efficiency Officer. Geez, if you're going to criminally underutilize her, why not just put her in charge of handing out paper towels in the bathroom?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete on 2011-01-11 at 12:55am:
  Hmmm...Major Hayes was killed in a similar manner as the character Dobby was killed in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Did J.K. Rowling plagiarize from the great Brannon Braga? We will never know!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-06-17 at 6:07am:
  - When the Enterprise reaches Solari V, Worf reports laser activity. Picard immediately tells the inhabitants of the planet that they must stop fighting or the Enterprise will leave. He says that he will not endanger his ship. Evidently Picard is simply bluffing because, in the episode just before this one, he and the bridge crew were joking about spaceships attacking them with only lasers ("The Outrageous Okona").
  - Riva's chorus' death is very spectacular but not expected for a laser weapon. Normally lasers only burn holes in stuff. Do the inhabitants of Solari V have some sort of special laser? If they do, maybe that is why Picard was worried about his ship ;)
  - After the death of Riva's chorus, Picard meets with Riva in the observation lounge. During their conversation, Picard tries to convince Riva to help the factions on Solari V. Riva refuses and storms out of the room. The observation lounge is on deck 1, just behind the main bridge. The only way to his quarters is via turbolift. Because riders must speak their destination on a turbolift, Riva isn't exactly equipped to wander around the Enterprise by himself!
  - Both times, just before they beam down to Solari V, Riker sets his phaser on stun by pointing the phaser directly at his stomach and then manipulating the control. Doesn't this seem like an unsafe practice?
• From thaibites on 2010-01-20 at 4:10pm:
  Another touchy-feely, 2nd season episode designed to get those ladies watching. YUCK!
  Does season 2 ever get good?
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-23 at 2:16pm:
  A good episode, the idea of the chorus was pretty cool.
  
  In response to previous points:
  - While it may be possible Riva could have learned how to speak, using the chorus is so much more effective that he probably never learned how to do so.
  - Lipreading is difficult and inaccurate compared to sign language. Data was being helpful by signing to Riva.
  New points:
  - Adding to the points about the phasers, it is interesting how each time they beam down, they set the phasers on stun, put them in their holsters, beam down, then immediately draw their phasers. Maybe they want to look nonthreatening during the beam down process?
  - A convention of Star Trek is that language barriers are ignored, everyone can speak English. Occasional references are made to the universal translator being somehow responsible for this. This episode sort of breaks that convention, suddenly Picard actually has to deal with the concept of being unable to understand Riva's language. Apparently the universal translator doesn't work on sign language! But if the universal translator doesn't work on visual communication, then Riva wouldn't be able to read lips unless he really did know the language being spoken. Just an interesting point.
  
• From CasualLamb on 2021-04-30 at 10:07pm:
  Gotta say, my man Riker’s looking particularly dapper this episode.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-07-20 at 9:28pm:
  Overall this time I think I enjoyed this episode more than previous times.
  
  I didn't like Troi calling out Worf's emotions in front of others. That's not cool. People's emotions are their own business if they don't make it anyone else's problem. She could have invited him to speak his mind, at most.
  
  I liked the blind man and the deaf man meeting. Geordi talking about his blindness and his VISOR: "They're both a part of me and I really like who I am, so there's no reason to resent either one." - Awesome quote. The phrase "I really like who I am" has stuck with me since I first heard it. #goals?
  
  I wonder what's in it for Riva's chorus? I mean... they're people with their own lives, friends, families, and interests, right? Do people have to work to live on their planet? Is the chorus well-compensated? Do they get time off? Are there substitutes? Do they get sick? They only seem to exist to serve Riva and his family --- consigned by birth into servitude. Maybe their species doesn't mind that sort of thing? Maybe the chorus members actively enjoy(ed) it? I hope so.
  
  The chorus dying suddenly is a nice twist the first time you see it. We get to know them a little bit, maybe even care about them, and then BLAM! They're gone and Riva is nerfed. He's suddenly out of control. I do like the resolution, even if (a la Trek) it's rushed. There isn't always a silver lining or a creative solution, but I liked the solution here. Reminds me how I think it's tragic that sign language typically isn't taught in grade school.
  
  In response to grumpy Mr. thaibites up there: Trek fandom has always included women. Women have always been part of its production, writing, and vision. It was a woman, Lucielle Ball, who saved Trek from cancellation before it was even aired, overriding an all-male board. (Not the only time it was almost canceled, but the first.) Also, "touchy-feely" plotlines (which can be enjoyed by any gender) are an intrinsic part of Star Trek. Deal with it ????

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• From DSOmo on 2007-07-02 at 12:55am:
  When Wesley gets his experiment (the antimatter) out of its storage bin, he is very careful. Later, when he and Geordi place it in the warp engines, Geordi urges caution. Yet, when Wesley beams it over to the Hathaway, he beams it onto a small tabletop. Since the container is round, it rolls to a resting place (it is a nice effect). If this thing is so unstable, why beam it onto a tabletop and take the chance it will roll off?
• From JRPoole on 2008-02-20 at 3:50pm:
  This is a solid episode, but not one of my favorites. Aside from Worf's perplexing ability to fake out the Ferengi sensors--why hasn't he been doing this all along to every body the Enterprise meets in battle?--there aren't many real problems. But something just isn't right here for me.
  
  Maybe it's just my predisposition to turn up my nose at any Ferengi episode, but the Ferengi presence here seems rushed. I know they're driven by profit, but I don't really buy their willingness to potentially start a war over the Hathaway. Again, maybe that's just my anti-Ferengi bias. I've always thought them to be a silly, over-drawn, stereotypical species, and here is one of the worst offenses this side of their initial appearance.
  
  I love the sub-plot with the Stratagema game. I find the finger-interface and the game display to be ridiculous, though.
• From KStrock on 2009-01-24 at 11:55pm:
  Starfleet doesn't conduct military routine exercises? What about Section 31's activities? I find that hard to believe given the (fairly recent) wars with the Klingon Empire and the brutal war with the Romulans that lead to the establishment of the Neutral Zone.
  
  Also, I find Picard and Riker's distaste for the whole exercise as "unnecessary for an officer's makeup" bit out of character. Both men surely would see value in having their crews trained for battle stress.
• From Yaspaa on 2010-05-07 at 10:42pm:
  I wasn't keen on Pulaski at the time. On watching the episode now (after not watching an episode in 9ish years) she is, dare I say, a better more enjoyable character to watch. Both Pulaski and Crusher have the old hippocratical oath
  caring tendencies. Pulaski is more abrasive however, making her more interesting, purely due to the friction her personality can generate.
• From THoyt on 2011-04-12 at 9:09pm:
  The Ferengi attacked and gave Picard "10 of your minutes" to surrender the Hathaway. The Hathaway had no real weapons to speak of, and the crossover relays between the Enterprise's real weapons systems and simulation systems were "fused", rendering them unable to fight back against the Ferengi. How did they manage in 10 minutes to have 4 very real photon torpedos ready to fire at the Hathaway? And if indeed they were able to get weapons online, why not just fight the Ferengi and send them running?
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-18 at 2:39pm:
  - I pretty much liked the plot about Riker getting his own command, picking the best crew, and cheating like heck to try to beat the Enterprise.
  - I was guessing from the start that the battle would be broken up by a real enemy. Maybe because that was exactly the premise of an old scenario from Star Fleet Battles (a Star Trek wargame). I wonder if the writer of this episode read that scenario.
  - The subplot with Data was sort of peculiar. Pulaski wants to bring Kolrami down a peg, and she assumes that since Data is a Deus Ex Machina who can do anything, he's bound to win. When Kolrami wins, she thinks the plot just isn't supposed to be written that way.
  - It is remarkable about how petty everyone is towards Kolrami beating Data. Nobody is impressed by his incredible accomplishment. They just want to wipe that smirk off his face. When Data can't win, but manages to upset Kolrami, everyone cheers.
  - As KStrock mentions, it is very hard to believe the comments about the crew not needing to practice war maneuvers because Starfleet is not a military organization. Of course it is! I'll assume that Picard was really just being diplomatic, what he really thought initially was that the specific test Kolrami planned, spending a great deal of time preparing for a brief, totally uneven matchup, was stupid and a waste of time.
  - In response to THoyt: It was established in the first Ferengi appearance that they have starships equal in power to Federation starships. The Ferengi made what was effectively a sneak attack on the Enterprise, and the Enterprise shields "can't take another hit" and the weapons are scrambled. Presumably 10 minutes was enough to get a few torpedoes online, but not enough time to give the Enterprise a reasonable fighting chance against the Ferengi.
  - I agree that Worf's ability to fake out the Ferengi was hard to believe, not a very satisfactory conclusion to the problem. But then again, those TNG Ferengi are so stupid, maybe they don't know how to read their own instrument panels properly.
  
• From g@g on 2012-03-03 at 2:10am:
  Agree about the main technical problem.
  
  Otherwise, plenty of good stuff in here. The strategist was a pretty neat and memorable guest character. Also, Warf has an especially great and useful role to play (again, just like in Emissary) and some good lines to go with it(Data: "That would be unfortunate." Warf: "*Very* unfortunate. We will be dead").
  
  Data's little crisis of confidence subplot was great... I loved Picard's reaction to having to "handhold an android," and likewise Data's reaction to Picard. Also, it was great to see Pulaski finally come around a bit towards Data and "anthropomorphize" him like everyone else - what I really mean is show him some understanding, compassion even.
  
  Besides the main tech. problem, my other questions would be:
  
  1) Data's tactic of playing for a draw seems a bit obvious to have such devastating consequences on a grandmaster. But he's Data, so maybe it was the semi-obvious tactic combined with his mad processing powers.
  
  2) Shouldn't the Ferengi's brazenly firing on the Enterprise have some kind of serious longterm consequences?

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• From Rob on 2008-04-27 at 1:46am:
  I love how Ezri's analysis takes in all of Worf's history and, in effect, all of the history of the Klingon Empire. Not in only DS9, but all the way back to the third season of TNG and Duras' involvement in the High Council. Fantastic long-term continuity...!
  
  
• From Pemmer Harge on 2010-03-22 at 11:56pm:
  The best episode of the Final Chapter by quite some distance. Most of the others are at least good, but this one is just better written and more intelligent.

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• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2008-07-24 at 5:23pm:
  The leader of the planet had his wife murdered right in front of him. Why does he not show any remorse?
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-05-17 at 3:19am:
  I found something odd. Remember when the administrator who was possessed by Jack the Ripper dies while trying to flee the room? Watch closely what McCoy and Scottie do with the body. They pick it up and place it in a chair at the table. Since when is this the procedure when someone dies aboard the ship. Why would they pick up a corpse and seat him at the table with everyone else?
  
  Well, the obvious reason is that the director of the episode needed his body to remain in the room because it was going to be reanimated later on. I guess they didn't want to bother having him walk all the way back to the room from the sick bay morgue, where he should have been.
• From rpeh on 2010-07-13 at 12:54pm:
  The episode starts well and is interesting and suspenseful... right up until the Jack the Ripper connection is made. It turns what could have been a decent story into a stupid one.
• From Wiley Hyena on 2012-05-14 at 6:12pm:
  Reviewer missed the mark here. The suspence of the revelation of Hengist was very good. Some continuity problems, but those are standard fare in TOS and usually forgivable. Give this episode a 6. Entertaining.
• From Harrison on 2012-09-04 at 8:53am:
  A turkey to be sure, but a titillating one, and darn funny in spots. John Fielder is incredibly funny and the tranquilized immortal serial killer, chanting "with a groggy smile "Die! Die! Everyone is going to Die!"
• From Troy on 2013-01-14 at 5:15am:
  Although I was worried about the killing of Mr. Hengist at the end there, I believe it was justified by the fact they declared him dead earlier in the episode. To me this implied the entity already killed this man and was basically using his lifeless body as a vessel, hence why the crew had no qualms with beaming him into space.
• From Tooms on 2013-10-12 at 9:52am:
  I agree with Troy that it was already explained why Hengist couldn't be saved. When McCoy said Hengist was dead earlier in the episode, they were shocked because although Kirk had kicked him, it wasn't anything that should kill a man. I took that to mean Hengist was long dead and reanimated by the entity, so there was no way to save him.
• From Chris Long on 2017-11-10 at 7:33pm:
  Aside from all the other problems described the main reviewer and commenters... Why didn't Kirk just have Spock beam down and mind meld with Scotty to at least get an idea of what may have happened to him?
  
  Also, the funniest line in all of TOS,
  McCoy describing a possessed person on his tranquilizer: "Well, it might take up knitting, nothing more violent than that."
  
• From Azalea Jane on 2023-08-26 at 10:21am:
  Boy, that computer voice is awkward!
  
  I'm finally bingeing my first full watch of TOS. I've definitely seen a few episodes, but not many until now. It's ... an interesting experience. Obviously the effects and sets are dated, but I can appreciate that it looked cooler at the time. The misogyny is frustrating, often to the point of being funny. Like viewing it in a museum. Overall I'm enjoying the show. I never get tired of Spock. Watching TOS is especially interesting at the moment, having just finished the second season of Strange New Worlds, which, for the uninitiated, is set on the same ship but several years earlier under Pike, giving us a lot of backstory on several TOS characters. I quite like it. The contrast between the shows is, to borrow a term: fascinating. And this is where it all started! It really says something about a show when it can spawn a fandom as huge and passionate as this one.
  
  Anyway, I watched movies 1-6 as a kid, but very little TOS for a long time. TNG was my Trek. I grew up hearing Majel Barrett's voice aboard the 1701-D, speaking like an actual person, and I'm quite amused at the same voice doing this 60s rendition of what a future computer might sound like. Stilted monotone with reverb! That's not going to get irritating to listen to for extended periods of time *at all!* The 60s were trippy, man.
  
  This plot needed a lot of massaging. The premise was good, it had a lot of good moments, but it started unraveling pretty quick. My eyes rolled into the next room at the whole "women are easier to scare" thing, and the whole conversation about Scotty having issues with women was weird and random and didn't pay off at all. (Also: he does? Since when?)
  
  It's Piglet's voice! I didn't make that connection right away, but I did notice what a distinctive voice that actor had.
  
  RIP that specialist who beamed down. I think we all knew where that was headed. (I did because I accidentally read ahead on the Memory Alpha article.) She should have been wearing red. Yay for gender diversity among redshirts, I guess? LOL.

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• From Pete Miller on 2006-04-14 at 9:01pm:
  The Bajorans. In my opinion a blatant manifestation of Israel in Star Trek. Forced off their homeland by the evil cardassians who actually have a legal claim to it. The federation is sympathetic to them, but there's nothing they can do to help even though they dislike the cardassians. It is so blatant it's almost corny. Bajorans=Jews, Cardassians=Arabs, Federation=America
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-05-07 at 11:36pm:
  The high points of this episode are the excellent dialog between Guinan and Ro. In many ways, Guinan is a better psychologist than Troi, at least from what we see on the screen. Guinan's extra screen time in this episode was fun to watch.
  
  Ro is a fresh character to bring into the mix, and a much more believable character than Wesley. The groundwork is also laid for future storylines on DS9. Nothing else regarding this episode is worth mentioning, which is why I gave it a 6.
  
• From ben on 2006-12-06 at 5:02am:
  I disagree with the notion of a Jew/Arab metaphor as the situation appears to have more in common with a post WWII Jewish reconstruction, with Germany as the Cardacians.
  
  I should point out further that while some of the continuity issues are laughable in retrospect, IMO this seminal Bejoran episode at least presented a decent human interest story having to do with the species, in contrast to nearly every Bejoran-oriented episode of DS9, in which the "epic" is unveiled. Not a clear favorite as a solitary episode, but still a solid link in the chain of events that make season 5.
• From benq on 2006-12-10 at 7:41am:
  Cardassians are not Arabs, IMO, because the story is a metaphor for a post-WWII reconstruction, where Bajor is kind of like Israel, even if the Bajorans aren't exactly like Jews.
• From DSOmo on 2007-09-05 at 5:26am:
  - Near the beginning of the show, Picard offers the admiral his aunt's cure for the common cold. The admiral replies that he doesn't have a cold, he has a Cardassian virus. Picard must have forgotten that people no longer suffer from the common cold in the twenty-fourth century. His chief medical officer, Dr. Crusher, said so in "The Battle."
  - The graphics at the beginning of the episode - showing the Enterprise arriving at Lya Station Alpha - are used once again. It is the same sequence used for Starbase 133 in "Remember Me" as well as Starbase 74 in "11001001." (See comments for "Remember Me.") Wouldn't it have made more sense just to call them all Starbase 74?
  - When Picard sees Orta's ships he realizes Orta couldn't have attacked the Federation colony. He tells the admiral that Orta's ships don't have warp capability and therefore cannot reach any other star systems. The star system he inhabits is outside Cardassian territory. Without warp drive capability, it would take his terrorists "forever" to get to a Cardassian planet and attack it. So why are the Cardassians so worried about Orta?
• From JRPoole on 2008-07-05 at 8:14pm:
  This is one of my pet episodes, mostly because Ro is an interesting character and the Bajoran storyline, one of the best Trek ever did, gets started here.
• From Mark McC on 2009-01-06 at 8:22am:
  I enjoy some aspects of this episode such as Ensign Ro's slightly rebellious attitude to authority, and the groundwork laid for future Bajoran stories.
  
  I don't like the resolution at the end. No doubt the Cardassians had scanned the Bajoran ship for life signs and found none. They'd also been tracking the Enterprise's movement for some time and Picard had flown directly from the moon where the Bajorans were encamped. The Cardassians would have had no trouble tracking the Bajorans down and killing them.
  
  Although since the Bajorans only had sub-light travel, restricting them to attacking targets within the solar system in which they were hiding, I can't understand how they managed to evade the Cardassians for so long.
  
  Some good ideas, but poorly executed.
  
  
• From J Reffin on 2009-05-11 at 6:40pm:
  The Bejora appear (in this episode at least) to be modelled on the Roma/Romany people (aka Gypsies). The dress, style and approach are also very similar to this group.
• From Mrugesh on 2009-09-14 at 12:36pm:
  Actually, I find the Bajoran situation much akin to India's due to the British occupation. Much if not most of it matches. The slavery, torture, underground movements dubbed as terrorists...
• From Yaspaa on 2010-06-08 at 11:06am:
  Picard refers to the Bajorans as Bajarans twice in this episode and I'm sure the Cardassian Gul refers to his own race as Cardacian.
• From tigertooth on 2010-10-23 at 4:26am:
  I think it's a mistake to try to look at the Bajoran/Cardassian thing as a perfect parallel to one situation in human history. The beauty is in finding various (imperfect) parallels to various situations.
  
  I think the great thing to get out of this episode is how they made the Bajorans -- the terrorists -- the more sympathetic group here.
  
  That's not to say that terrorism is a noble act. We all know it's quite the opposite. But it gives us an opportunity to see how good people could be motivated to do very bad things when they're put in very bad circumstances.
  
  I suspect this kind of treatment of terrorism could not be made post 9/11, so it's nice that TNG beat the curve on it.
  
  Another random thought (which involves a SPOILER for events that occur later in TNG): is it possible that one reason Picard embraced Ro was not only because he saw her value as an officer, but that he wanted to keep her out of the Bajoran terrorist movement? Surely after he heard Ro tell the story about witnessing her father's torture we can imagine that he would have feared that she was a prime candidate. And he was impressed by her, so that gives him all the more motivation to want to see her talents used for the proper purposes. We all know that's where she ended up (Picard failed to keep her from joining with the Bajoran terrorists), but maybe Picard was hoping to get her on the straight and narrow Federation path.
• From p@arallels on 2011-09-07 at 5:11am:
  There is a much better parallel to be made between Bajorans and Palestinians than I think any of the other examples cited (good episode, BTW). Of course, the circumstances aren't identical, but I think it's a better parallel than the others.
  
  The Palestinians were the ones expelled from their homeland almost 70 years ago, and they are the ones who live in poverty and in diaspora, many in refugee camps. The Palestinians are the ones who find themselves within the territorial borders of another sovereign state (Israel), and since their conflict is legally an "internal state matter" they have difficulties appealing for help. The Palestinians are the ones who have been forced, or at least compelled by circumstances into violence and terrorism. The Palestinians are the ones who are collectively humiliated, and have a troublesome national heritage (though of course the European Jews who founded Israel share this history as well).
  
  It's the Palestinians who find themselves in the middle, worrying about "blankets," while other relevant parties - Israel, the U.S., Turkey, Iran, Persian Gulf countries, other Arab countries, Russia, etc - operate in a world of diplomacy, politics, stratagems, addressing the issue in their own ways and for their own purposes.
  
  And finally, Israel behaves most like the Cardassians, doing everything it can to convince powerful "bystanders," like America, that its enemies are the world's enemies. I'm not sure that Israel would go so far as to carry out a false flag operation to drag someone else into their conflict and "do their dirty work for them,
  but I wouldn't be surprised if there were some historical examples of just this sort of behavior, or at least proposals for such missions that perhaps were never carried out.
  
  That's my two cents on the matter. Check your history if you strongly disagree. The Jews have their own history of exile, homelessness, and victimization, and their own real and present security issues, but Israel itself has gone berserk with a hard-line, far-right nationalist government that is aggressive, repressive, cynical, and deceptive.
  
  I wish it wasn't true (my own family is Jewish, from the same Eastern European stock that founded Israel), but this conclusion is simply undeniable if you look into it.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-22 at 8:01am:
  I don't find the comparison of Bajor with the Jews and the modern state of Israel very persuasive, personally.
  
  First of all, the Bajoran religion has pretty much nothing in common with Judaism. First of all, it's polytheistic. As the first truly monotheistic religion, I think most Jews would bristle at having their religion compared with one so obviously pagan as Bajorism. I mean, the Bajoran "prophets" are manifestly not even divine! They are limited in their location in space, for one thing. See my comment on DS9: Emmisary for more of my thoughts on the nature of the prophets or "wormhole aliens" (WHA). For whatever else you can say about it, Judaism is definitely monotheistic and the God of the Jews is (assuming you believe He exists) the God of the universe.
  
  For another thing: Judaism, like Christianity and Islam, is firmly based upon a scriptural basis, the Canon of which is very well developed and established. We see none of this in Bajorism. They have a mystery religion very similar to Greek or Roman paganism. There religion is characterized by traditional practices combined with a continuously revealed set of prophecy, similar to the Oracle of Delphi, who was of course a "prophet" (in her case of the god Apollo).
  
  I think the creators of Star Trek are too literate to ignore or miss these issues. In the end the Bajorans are simply a fictional people, with no parallels in our own history.
  
  
• From ChristopherA on 2012-07-01 at 9:21pm:
  I like the basic concept that Ensign Ro has such a gigantic chip on her shoulder that she creates the very distrust and misunderstanding that she is bitter about. She gives other people no good reason to trust her – yet the hyper-perceptive Guinan senses that if you can trust her anyway, you will find she is a good person. And, of course, this introduces the whole Bajoran/Cardassian story arc.
  - It was interesting how Ro reacts as if humans are so provincial that they couldn't conceive of a culture putting family name first. Of course, that is common with humans, at least in our time. Perhaps the point is that she is so obsessed with her persecution complex that she would rather get satisfaction resenting people for saying her name in the wrong order than tell them what the correct order is.
  - Yes, another corrupt admiral – sigh.
  - There is some weird stuff going on with the geometry of space. From the dialog in the episode, it sounds like the Cardassian border is 50 million kilometers from the moon, and thus runs right through the middle of the star system. This makes no sense, the distance is way too small. Planets would be crossing the border as they revolve around their sun. Any sensible border would be drawn through interstellar space, to make clear which star systems are on which side of the border.
  - Guinan's role on the show, aside from counseling the main characters, is to tell them when they are misjudging people and clear away mistrust. It makes me wonder, does she ever do the opposite – warn the crew about people who look friendly but are actually malevolent?
  
• From Dstyle on 2013-08-23 at 3:11pm:
  This episode does not refer to the Bajoran people as the Bajora; the Bajora is the name of the terrorist group.
• From Bruce Smith on 2023-09-13 at 2:37am:
  Wow, I just learned that the Palestinians have been “forced” into terrorism. Good Star Trek reviews and comments here, poor geopolitical analysis.

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• From FH on 2020-11-14 at 8:57pm:
  For what it's worth, I thought "V'draysh" is simply the future slang name for the "Federation", that is, a slightly shortened version of the same word if pronounced quickly and sloppily enough.

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The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Lt. Fitz on 2012-06-20 at 8:24pm:
  Horrible episode. I had to watch it like 5 times to get through it without falling asleep. Even the actors looked bored. It looked like Kirk was falling asleep in the conference room. I still don't know why they figured that putting her in a pressure cooker would solve the problem of alien possession. And, what were those pressure cookers for, anyway? They use replicators for food. Thank goodness those otherwise useless devices were put on the ship.
  
  - Kirk's intense whisper: "Pressure, Spock. Pressure." And, then: "Pressure."
  - Bones: "The pressure's dangerously high, Captain!" Good writing. Glad that he said that to remind the audience that there is a threat in this snoozer of a plot.
  - Spock: "We may tax Mr. Scott's patience, Doctor." That's OK. He's been taxing my patience the entire episode.
• From James Ingalls on 2014-11-12 at 9:55pm:
  What happened to the great screencaps in these last few episodes?
• From Kethinov on 2014-11-13 at 5:41am:
  This was the last episode I could get to before other projects unrelated to this site began consuming my time.
  
  I actually do have a complete set of new 1080p screenshots to post for the rest of TOS and all the films, but I just haven't gotten around to putting them up yet.
  
  Stay tuned, it will come! That, and a brand new completely updated design for this entire site is in the pipeline. :)
• From jd_juggler on 2015-03-22 at 3:14pm:
  Phasers are fired into the entity and Mira collapses in pain. Scotty reports to the bridge that just one more such shot would kill Mira. Kirk seems to believe this without question, without even any medical examination. Yet, having heard all this, Sulu STILL says "phasers ready for firing". At this point I usually audibly mutter at Sulu "you cold-hearted bastard!"
  
  The aliens certainly must realize that putting Mira into that pressure chamber was an attempt to destroy them. So why didn't they leave Mira's body? The inhabitants of memory alpha were all killed; how did the crew of the enterprise escape this fate?
• From Chris on 2019-01-13 at 2:13am:
  If you ask me! ... and you didn't this episode just pissed me off from start to finish with Scott's insufferable attention to Mira at the expense of everyone else!!!
  Starship Officers are allowed to act this way? EVER?!?!
  
  Aside from the absolute nonsense bitched about in the other reviews, this episode was close to vomit inducing for me!
  
  Hey! What happened to Karyn!
• From Chris on 2019-01-17 at 2:00am:
  If you ask me! ... and you didn't this episode just pissed me off from start to finish with Scott's insufferable attention to Mira at the expense of everyone else!!!
  Starship Officers are allowed to act this way? EVER?!?!
  
  Aside from the absolute nonsense bitched about in the other reviews, this episode was close to vomit inducing for me!
  
  Hey! What happened to Karyn!
• From Anan8 on 2020-10-18 at 2:03pm:
  Take it easy on the "data is easily copied" comment. I was alive in 1966 and it was not easy to copy data, nor cheap. They may not have realized that some day we would have memory sticks and online data storage. We didn't even have good copiers until the '80s. Before that we used what was called a Mimeograph machine. Loved the smell, but they were a mess.
  I never understood why the Zetarians just didn't escape the pressure chamber and move on. They easily penetrated the hull. Maybe they should have made the hull out of the material they made the pressure chamber.
  And I can't figure out why they make Scotty look like a bumbling 7th grader when he's featured in an episode with women.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From adam on 2010-09-23 at 10:24am:
  Nice little homage to characterization and visual style of Dune. Probably the best 'possession' episode in Trek, but that's not saying much...
• From Mike on 2017-07-09 at 1:36pm:
  I think TNG: Power Play was pretty good too, with solid acting by Meaney, Sirtis and Spiner. But this one was very exciting and Lien was surprisingly awesome. I say surprisingly only because no other Kes focused episode came close to giving Lien the chance to act like this, so it was cool to see.
  
  The only problem area I saw was that in the end, you have an infiltration assault on the palace involving Janeway, Chakotay, Neelix, and the alien prince. But no Starfleet security personnel? I doubt the ship's two senior leaders would charge in without at least a couple of other officers especially since they were outnumbered 2:1.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-11-06 at 2:17am:
  How is a class Y planet the "most inhospitable planet for humanoids"? At least it has a SURFACE! I mean there are plenty of planets that are solely gas giants and don't even have a solid surface. I would think that is more inhospitable than this class Y planet that simply has a bad atmosphere.
  
  The Enterprise has saucer separation; Voyager has landing sequences. Janeway lands the ship WAY too damn much. She is extremely reckless.
  
  The 'backup systems' in the environmental suits was a really cheap deus ex machina
  
  I think it would have been pretty cool if the 'silver blood' was a colony of shapeshifters that had been dispersed here by the founders (as alluded to in ds9) and had made their home in the delta quadrant. Can you imagine the possibilities if Voyager had allied with some of the shapeshifters here and brought them back with them, only to find that the Federation had been at war with the Gamma Quadrant shapeshifters when they got back? Oh well. Just the dreams of a ds9 fan...
• From TheAnt on 2013-10-12 at 6:19pm:
  Harry gets a mudbath
  
  Kethinov and Miller got it right, deuterium is not that horribly uncommon. And the planet itself only appear to be no worse than Venus.
  
  Another detail I find unbelievable is that life support appear to take such an extreme amount of energy, we've heard it in other episodes also. As much as lasers, the warp drive and what's not.
  In fact life support could only be a negligible amount compared to those systems - or to put it differently, several magnitudes less.
  And so shutting down life support as here, and in a few other episodes should not make any significant contribution.
  
  In short, you might skip this episode with extreme prejudice. Unless you're doing a study where ST loose track and derail completely.
• From L on 2013-12-29 at 6:23am:
  The basic concept would have been interesting in TOS, less so here.
• From Alex on 2014-05-19 at 12:14am:
  So Pete you wish that Voyager had brought back evidence of shapeshifters back from the delta quadrant.Personally the less Voyager had to do with a certain pile of overrated dog mess like DS9 the better,You can keep that rubbish.
• From Dstyle on 2015-06-16 at 1:58pm:
  Woah ho! Some fighting words from Alex!
  
  I don't see why we need to see the build up to the power problems: that seems too nitpicky of a complaint and would have made for boring television. Things happen off-screen and between episodes all the time. I'd much rather be dropped into the story right at the point of dramatic tension than watch all the buildup. And honestly, Voyager needs more episodes like this: it's too much like TNG v2.0, with the whole "limited resources" thing taking a backseat to holodecks and frivolous side-trips and whatnot. Voyager's hulls needs scars and dents. It was refreshing to see them running in "gray mode" for once.
  
  No, the real problem with the episode is it is poorly written. Janeway doesn't want to risk losing Chakotay by sending him down to the surface in a shuttle... so she decided to land the ship? (Seriously, writers, if you want to land the ship so badly just make it so their orbit was deteriorating and they didn't have power to correct it so they had no option. No captain in their right mind would put their entire crew at risk like that, and no officer on the bridge would ever let them) Then when the ship starts sinking into a mystery fluid on the surface, Janeway... goes to sickbay to check on Harry and Tom? C'mon Captain, your ship and everyone on it is in mortal peril: maybe you should be on the bridge trying to save them, i.e. DOING YOUR JOB.
  
  In the hands of a better writer this premise could have made for a better than average episode, but, like Voyager in a pool of silver blood, this episode sank quickly. I'd rate it a 3.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-05-22 at 3:31pm:
  I'm surprised that eric didn't take off more for their dropping of the Dosi race, never to be seen again.
• From Bernard on 2010-10-12 at 12:58pm:
  Since revisiting Season One episode 'Nagus' and thinking it was one of the strongest episodes of that season I looked forward to revisiting this one. It didn't disappoint.
  
  Simultaneously blending the exploration of more ferengi social structure, teasing out another tidbit about the dominion and creating a plot twist nicely, this episode is excellent.
  
  I love the part where Pel is revealed and Zek cries out! Brilliant stuff.
• From Wes on 2012-12-01 at 2:08pm:
  Notice in the scene above the bar where Kira returns the earring to Zek and then Quark and Pel come up, that you can see the tape on the floor marking where Kira was supposed to stand.
• From Dstyle on 2013-09-09 at 2:36am:
  There were Pakleds at Quark's! I only wish we could have overheard a bit of their conversation.
• From Dstyle on 2013-09-12 at 2:59pm:
  I feel silly now that I got so excited about seeing Pakleds at Quark's: as I continue to watch this season, I've been seeing Pakleds all over the station. Perhaps they were around the station in the first season or earlier in the second season and I just didn't notice them, but I always love seeing them: they're such a fascinating and absurd species. What are they doing at DS9? Looking for things? Things they need? Things that make them go?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Rick on 2013-07-16 at 10:36pm:
  So Seven is Tawana Brawley and Doc is Al Sharpton except he eventually shows contrition and never does it again. I think that about sums up this episode.
• From Inga on 2013-10-09 at 8:06am:
  I think the idea of this episode is an interesting concept to explore in a TV show. Sure the ending is unsettling, but it shows the subject of pre-judgement vs objectivity, which, in my opinion, fits in Star Trek quite well.
• From thaibites on 2014-08-23 at 10:56am:
  "...this episode is truly not in the spirit of Star Trek and I'm completely unfond of it."
  That's exactly why I liked it! This episode explores the darker side of our subconscious. It teaches the doctor a lesson in humbleness. And most importantly, it reinforces the previous episode where Seven is Janeway's counter balance - yin and yang. I don't know if this dynamic continues, but I hope it does. Seven is a kick-ass bitch, and Janeway needs her ass kicked sometimes. Chakotay is too nice and lame to really do it, even though he tries sometimes.
  
  Seriously, who are you to judge what the "spirit of Star Trek" really is? TOS had a lot of dark episodes, like the one where Kirk is split into his good half and bad half. Try to think of Janeway/Seven in the same way.
• From Dstyle on 2015-06-14 at 6:46pm:
  I wonder if Janeway was able to keep the cannon?
  
  Seriously, though, I thought this episode was awful. Sure the whole thing about repressed memories not being reliable was kind of interesting, but it was overshadowed by a far more troubling problem: namely, Seven effectively made a false rape accusation. The takeaway of this episode was that women should not be believed when they claim they were assaulted, because even if they themselves truly believe it happened that's still not necessarily reliable. It's a very frustrating and troubling message, for sure.
• From QuasiGiani on 2017-08-11 at 3:22am:
  Disturbing?
  
  What is disturbing here is that what they discovered about the Borg nanoprobes regenerating disproved 7 Of 9's accusations. Yet, Janeway, the doctor ...and everyone else (even among the {re}viewers here) seems to believe it did. Terrible, disturbing lack of logic. Truly not in the spirit of Star Trek and I'm completely unfond of it.
  
• From QuasiGiani on 2017-08-12 at 5:17pm:
  The comment I made was supposed to say:
  
  "What is disturbing here is that what they discovered about the Borg nanoprobes regenerating IN NO WAY DISPROVED 7 Of 9's accusations. Yet, Janeway, the doctor ...and everyone else (even among the {re}viewers here) seems to believe it did. Terrible, disturbing lack of logic. Truly not in the spirit of Star Trek and I'm completely unfond of it."
• From Pim on 2018-04-30 at 9:40pm:
  Thank you QuasiGiani for pointing out that HUGE flaw in logic. The findings of that experiment may have been consistent with Koven’s story, but in no way proved or disproved either Koven’s or Seven’s claim. All evidence up to that point was still ‘inconclusive’. This is what’s really not in the spirit of Star Trek, it’s just bad science. Other than that I’d say this episode okayish.
• From Turbo on 2020-06-22 at 7:11am:
  Unlike seemingly a lot of other viewers I actually thought the episode was done rather well. It shows that decisions have actual gravitas, that emotional preoccupation may lead to misjudgment, and that misjudgment may lead to undeserved harm to others. There are far too many instances in Voyager otherwise where high risk decisions are kept unreflected because they lead to success by sheer luck, or where harm resulting from high risk decisions is seen as collateral or glanced off entirely. It's a nice change to actually see someone doing something wrong and having to live with the guilt.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-07-05 at 6:30am:
  - Shortly after discovering that his nanites are missing, Wesley begins setting traps around the ship. In Ten-Forward he sets two traps approximately six feet apart behind the bar. Using this spacing would require thousands and thousands of traps. Does Wesley have thousands of traps to put out, or does he think the nanites like to hang out in bars? ;)
  - When the nanites start pumping poisonous gas into the main bridge, Riker and Picard leave the ready room and join in the coughing with the rest of the bridge crew. Riker then walks up to the environmental controls. The atmosphere on the bridge returns to normal. Is Riker the only person who knew how to do this? Otherwise, everyone would just have sat in their chairs and coughed until they died.
  - Given the attacks on the Enterprise by the nanites, it is difficult to believe that Picard would allow them to take over a bridge officer, especially one with the strength and intelligence of Data. (Worf is the only one who protests)
• From djb on 2007-12-21 at 10:10am:
  While the science behind the idea of two little nanites created by a student replicating themselves into something capable of taking over a starship computer leaves something to be desired, the main thing that upset me about this episode was the "neutron star" explosion at the end. The astronomy in this episode is just appalling.
  
  First of all, it should have been called a white dwarf. A neutron star is, I believe, the remnant of a single star going supernova, and is very, very dense, and therefore small. Something like 50,000 times as small as our sun, in diameter. The type of situation in this episode is where a white dwarf is accreting material from a stellar companion. The result of such accretion is a periodic supernova.
  
  Material expelled by a supernova travels fast, but not as fast as it does in this episode. It might travel up to a tenth the speed of light- about 30,000 Km per second, but that's optimistic. Given the estimation that the white dwarf and its companion are, say, a million km apart, it would take the explosion at least 33 seconds to reach as far as the other star. Also, at its brightest it would be about 5 billion times as bright as the sun, which at that immediate closeness would probably overload the ship's sensors (and shields) and instantly blind anyone looking out a window. What to speak of the effect the emanating heat and radiation would have on the ship and the crew. Marshmallows anyone?
  
  They could have at least made the supernova look something like a supernova instead of a bomb explosion superimposed on the shot.
  
  And, of course, there should be no sound to go with it, but we reality sticklers gave up the "no sound in space" argument with Star Trek a long time ago.
  
  I know it's just a show, but I figure they could have made it look at least somewhat realistic.
• From JRPoole on 2008-03-12 at 9:35pm:
  Finally a good Wesley episode. I rather like this episode; the scientist is interesting and acted fairly well, Wesley finally gets an episode in which his wunderkind aesthetic sort of falls apart, and the whole package is done well.
  
  My only beef with this episode is Picard's non-reaction to Wesley's delay in telling him about the nanites. By trying to capture them on his own when he'd already theorized they were causing the problem with the computers, he put the crew and the mission in jeopardy. Picard should have put the smack down on him then and there.
• From KStrock on 2009-01-31 at 5:30pm:
  When he comes to the bridge, Wes relieves a guy wearing the old style uniform from Seasons 1 & 2.
  
• From thaibites on 2010-09-25 at 1:32am:
  This episode could've been really good if they would've focused more on interacting with the nanites and less on the visiting scientist. I think this episode has helped me focus on why I have a problem with TNG - the episodes are more about people and their emotions and less about scifi. It's kind of like "Soap Opera Trek" instead of Star Trek. The name of the episode is "Evolution", so why concentrate so much on the doctor and so little on the nanites? The nanites are the ones who have evolved so quickly into sentient life. Most of the show should've been the nanites talking through Data, instead of the scientist talking and talking and talking...
  Another disappointing episode out of many disappointing episodes so far. I was hoping for big things from this season 3 opener.
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-29 at 7:06pm:
  This episode didn't impress me. Nothing I can pinpoint, it just seemed unsatisfying.
  
  Amazing how Federation scientists are still struggling to replicate the work of Dr. Soong, but Wesley creates a sentient life form accidentally. But then, the same thing happened with the holodeck. Apparently Federation technology has reached a point where sentience will self-generate if just given a chance.
  
• From Jeff browning on 2011-09-26 at 5:44pm:
  It is exceedingly strange that you show Problems: None. The scientific problems of the nanites are legion. Just a few:
  
  1. How they communicate with each other? Data is infected with nanites, yet they continue to communicate with the collective mind. How? Radio? Subspace? Either way, how do devices with components the size of atoms develop transmitters and receivers?
  
  2. What is the power source? Much is made on star trek concerning power, yet it ignored here? To pull off what the nanites do here would require a great deal of power.
  
  3. The nanites effectively consume much of Enterprise's computer core. The problems created by this seem minor compared to what would happen in one of our current computers.
  
  4. Evolution requires mutation. There must be a mechanism for this. Biological reproduction is sufficiently buggy to accommodate evolution. Copying a very simple device would provide no such mechanism.
  
  5. Evolution also requires a life or death struggle to weed out the fit from the unfit. There is no apparent competition among the nanites to allow for an intelligent selection process, like that provided by biological evolution.
  
  6. Somehow the nanites repair the Enterprise computer core. How? What raw materials were used? Given that the bulk of the Enterprise's computer has been converted into nanites, do they scrifice themselves to accomplish this?
• From Ggen on 2012-03-06 at 8:34am:
  Although I didn't much care for the scene in Nanites - and found their identification and targeting of the scientist unrealistic - I thought this episode was rather neat.
  
  The scientist is an interesting and somewhat complex character - he's both likeable and irritating, arrogant and, with a little help, willing to admit mistakes...and I like the way he's dressed and how he carries himself... it's all appropriately scholarly, somehow...
  
  More importantly, I like the basic premise. The idea behind the Nanites is deceptively original...the Nanites aren't just an artificial life form, but they are also *self-evolving* - self-creating, in a sense - and microscopic to boot. Any one of those on its own might not be all that interesting, but put them all together and it's sufficiently creative.
  
  - - -
  
  Not without a few problems, but with plenty of redeeming features to warrant the fan 6.
• From Ggen on 2012-03-08 at 1:18am:
  PS
  
  Problem: Early in the episode Data says "there has not been a systems-wide technological failure on a starship in 79 years..." What about the Season 2 Iconian probe-related problems on board the Yamato? Especially given the outcome, I think that would certainly qualify... Maybe Data meant "spontaneous" technological failure, without identifiable external causes?
• From Maurice Randle on 2015-12-02 at 2:31am:
  I thought this was a solid episode, but my main gripe with this particular episode is that of the nanites. I know this is an old show, so iI cut the writers some slack, but considering the current trajectory of modern science/technology, one would think that they would have implemented nanotechnology centuries before the time period of the show and that it would be much more developed than just some school science experiment, but I digress.
• From lordcheeto on 2017-08-02 at 5:36am:
  Data is no Vulcan, but it is...illogical to conclude that the nanites were intelligent because life support had been attacked.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-07-27 at 5:32pm:
  Dr. Stubbs: "I will share the feelings I wish to share." -- Full agreement. I don't like how Troi is written such that she just speaks out loud what others are feeling in front of third parties. It's one thing for her to do it one-on-one; then it's part of her job. But outside the counselor's office, people's thoughts--and feelings--are their own. Neither of the Trois seem to understand this, since with Betazoids there is no reason or way for people to hide their inner lives.
  
  Glad they didn't do like in "Home Soil" and have the universal translator create some weird-sounding voice.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Azduel on 2010-03-31 at 2:16am:
  This is one of my favourite episodes ever. A 10/10! This episode gives an in depth look at the unwavering devotion of the Vorta to the Founders. The meta exploration into the relationship of the Vorta and the Founders is brilliantly conducted through Weyoun's interaction with Odo, where Weyoun's obvious jubilation of simply being in his presence Odo is depicted. This episode further exceeds my expectations with its unorthodox delivery of insight to one of my favourite antagonist powers, the Dominion, and one of my favourite antagonist characters, Weyoun. To top off this 'magnus opus' of DS9 season 7, 'stubborn old Odo' in the end gives Weyoun what he so desperately wants, his blessing. In the end, Odo's blessing of Weyoun 6 brings meaning to his existence. Bravo!
  ...and the side story is entertaining to boot, offering much needed comic relief to the intrigue and intensity of the Odo Weyoun study.
• From MJ on 2011-03-03 at 6:33pm:
  I enjoyed everything about this episode.
  
  Jeffrey Combs has the role of a Vorta down so well it makes one wonder if he came up with the concept for the race. The smooth speaking delivery, the cautious, diplomatic language, the ability to feign sincerity in both word and expression, and unflinching devotion to the Founders...he does it all flawlessly.
  
  This episode was an interesting twist for the Weyoun character, exploring whether his (or rather, Weyoun 6) doubt of the Founders is partly due to a cloning flaw, or if, despite their cloning, the Vorta are capable of questioning their gods. It also was a nice continuation of the very complex relationship Odo has with his people.
  
  The subplot was a perfect balance to the main plot. Nog's skillful navigation of the "Great River" was hilarious and very...Ferengi-like. I guess there's a little Ferengi in all of us!
• From hugo on 2013-02-28 at 6:46pm:
  i understand it as all communication through the wormhole is cut off for the dominiom, including reinforcements.
  
  Then - how do they know that the Great Link is contaminated?
  
  Otherwise a great ep!
• From spline on 2013-09-10 at 9:45am:
  Hugo, Wayoun likely got the information from the female changeling that is on Cardassia at this time, who knows of the sickness because she is herself sick, and the extent of it due to information revealed later in the season...
• From Axel on 2015-05-17 at 7:49am:
  I enjoyed the Nog/O'Brien subplot immensely. Throughout much of TNG and DS9, the Ferengi obsession with profit has been portrayed in a negative light, and given Star Trek values, this is understandable. But here we have a situation where Ferengi skills prove highly useful, and it adds another dimension to their race. It was really imaginative on the part of the writers to add the "Material Continuum" element, giving the Ferengi some cultural depth. And, it's all done in a light and funny way that makes for an enjoyable storyline.
  
  Alongside this, we get a better glimpse of the Vorta in this episode as well. We find out about their background, about their cloning process, and about their utter reverence for the Founders. Jeffrey Combs, who seems to have been born to play the role of a Vorta, again just nails it in this episode and shows his versatility by acting as both Weyoun clones.
• From tigertooth on 2017-01-20 at 8:08pm:
  This is another episode where I feel like the average rating is rigged. Most of the user ratings are quite high... except for the fact that there's over 100 zero votes.
  
  You might think about dumping those zeros since it seems likely somebody spammed the rating.
• From Kethinov on 2017-01-21 at 7:27pm:
  There is a big update to the site coming in February and I will be doing exactly that among other things.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From L on 2014-01-26 at 4:33am:
  "But I've broken the fifth commandment again!"
  "Say ten Our Father's and call me in the morning."
  
  The fifth commandment for catholics is 'thou shalt not kill'. Oh those wacky loveable Irish.
• From Hugo on 2015-04-26 at 7:12pm:
  What a total yawn-fest (watched this while waiting for my 2 y/o to fall asleep). Found it very hard to stay awake with this, nothing there to grab my attention. I think it needed a b-story, at least.

No fan commentary yet.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-07-19 at 7:00am:
  - At the very beginning of the episode, a tired Troi shuffles into her quarters. Troi gets paged by Picard. She reponds with "Now what?," sighs, and taps her communicator. A normal reaction from a person having a long and/or bad day. However, I have read, that Troi's badge tap was merely habitual, not necessary. When Picard called for Troi, the computer immediately connected Picard to Troi's room. So, the badge tap or communicator panel touch is unnecessary. This is the "answer" to all the communicator discrepancies. Removing the badge tap creates a problem. It obliterates a person's privacy. If this is true, Picard heard Troi's "Now what?" comment. This is a prime example of why "immediate connect" will not work. It's like a telephone that rings only once and then turns on a speakerphone so you can talk to the person on the other end.
  - When Picard, Riker, and Data discuss the worm hole, Picard says it might be a "proverbial lemon." Data reacts with confusion to this statement. Yet in the episode "The Naked Now," Riker (after referring to a needle in a haystack and seeing Data's confusion) clarifies his analogy by saying, "I should have said, 'proverbial needle in a haystack.'" At this point, Data understands. Did Data lose his understanding of the word "proverbial" somewhere along the line?
  - During Ral and Troi's intimate dinner, Ral puts his fork into the bowl in front of him and then draws the fork to his mouth, the fork has NOTHING on it!
• From JRPoole on 2008-03-24 at 4:24pm:
  Up to this point in the series, the Ferengi are terrible characters. They're broadly written, over-acted, and their actions seem so stupid and self-destructive that it's hard to believe they'd be capable of this level of technological sophistication. That said, I love the plot surrounding the wormhole in this episode. It's a fascinating concept.
  
  My problem with this episoded is the subplot about Troi and the negotiator. The dialogue is straight out of a Harlequin romance novel, and it's hard to believe Troi would react this way. I found most of their scenes to be painfully embarrassing to watch. His turnaround at the end is also completely unbelievable. Uggh.
  
  Had this episode focused on the intrigue surrounding the wormhole, it would have been above average, as is, it wallows in cliche.
• From Rob on 2008-04-13 at 10:02pm:
  Unless Troi actually says "I sense (blah-blah)" re: the Ferengi (and its been too long since I've watched this episode) then I would argue that knowing someone is lying doesn't have to necessarily be because of her empathic abilities. Troi is a trained counciler and part of her job would be to parse out when a patient is holding out on her with or without an empathic awareness of the client. She could have observed the body language of the Ferengi, sensed Ral's feelings toward the Ferengi and realized they were conspiring together, or done some deductive reasoning based on past experience dealing with the Ferengi. Like I say, it's been too long since I've watched the episode but it's possible that Troi could realize the Ferengi were lying without using her Betazoid abilities. Even humans have an empathic awareness of one another based on other's facial features, actions, body language, etc. and Troi would be trained to recognize these.
• From online broker on 2009-09-26 at 9:56am:
  I really like this episode, but one has to fast forward through the troi/ral scenes, they are just mindnumbing, dreadful. But the negotiations and the ferengi are wonderful. The followup of the voyager episode just tops it off.
• From thaibites on 2010-11-27 at 12:41pm:
  Soap opera Trek:TNG marches on...YUCK!
  I need Borg.
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-14 at 1:24am:
  I have mixed feelings. The whole concept of negotiating for the wormhole was quite interesting, and the twist was clever and unexpected. On the other hand, the portrayal of Ral seems to achieve what it sets out to achieve, but I felt like I was watching a Lifetime movie about sexual predators.
  
  - This episode opens a can of worms that I think is best left closed. It acts like the concept of an empathic negotiator is a novel situation with no well-established ethics. But gosh, doesn't the Federation have an entire planet of super-telepaths (Betazed)? The Federation ought to use telepaths for every important negotiation, not to mention trials, interrogations, and many other circumstances. Even if they don't do this for some reason, you would think everyone would be paranoid at every meeting that the other side might have snuck in some telepaths, and there would be protocols to deal with that, which Ral would run afoul of. Oh well, we shouldn't think too hard about such things.
  
  
• From EvanT on 2011-06-24 at 9:33pm:
  "their actions seem so stupid and self-destructive that it's hard to believe they'd be capable of this level of technological sophistication."
  
  Apparently, even the writers of the show caught on that and had the Ferengi admit in DS9 that they buy technology (e.g. Warp Drive) They've also made a point of showing that Ferengi scientists are rare later on (though, it's odd since there's obviously a lot of profit in new inventions, though perhaps not as effortless).
  
  What I didn't care in this episode was how poorly the romance was delivered. I've seen the episode several time and the romance has never felt natural for a second. I don't mind that Troi was slightly out of character (that's the point of "coup de foudre" anyway), but it's obvious the idea is that she has the hots for this guy and tries to hold back and then gets swept up in the moment, but it comes off as if he's using the Jedi mind trick to get her to bed. It all feels...TOO rushed to be realistic.
  
  To be fair, Sirtis acts out romantic scenes a lot better later on. Was it bad directing? Just a bad day for Sirtis? Too much material cramped in too little screen time?
  
  On the bright side we got to see a pleasantly surprising appearance of Matt McCoy in Star Trek.
• From domi on 2015-07-12 at 2:30am:
  i believe Data was confused at the "lemon" part not the word "proverbial".
• From Phil on 2016-02-13 at 7:22am:
  Not that I think this episode was all that great, but I don't see the ethics argument as being particularly hypocritical. When he says "everyone does it" he is talking about using what you know about peoples' feelings, and when he says "you do it in matters of life and death" he is talking about *hiding* the fact that you are have empathic powers.
• From Mike on 2017-08-14 at 12:22am:
  I like Ral's character. He's a pretty interesting antagonist. On the one hand, he's cocky, slimy and brash. On the other hand, he's also got a good point when it comes to the use of his Betazoid empathic abilities. It's good that they show Troi at a loss when trying to differentiate between her services and his, because he's right. Of course, his methods ultimately backfire, but it doesn't take away from the fact that he presents an interesting challenge to the use of empathy in Federation dealings.
  
  I like how things play out in the end, with Ral once again attempting to subvert the Federation by making a backhanded deal with the Ferengi. Although Trio sees through it, it's a nice way to present the denouement.
• From JB on 2020-05-08 at 11:03am:
  This was a very good episode right up until the poorly written final scene. Ral's penitence here is both inexplicable and unbelievable, completely out of character.
  
  Throughout the whole episode, Ral is shown to be extremely confident, coldly calculating, and ruthless. His rebukes to Troi after she questions his ethics at dinner clearly demonstrate that he thinks her position is hypocritical and that he sees no problem with using his natural talents to their greatest effect.
  
  Then, Troi calls him out in front of everyone, betraying his trust and attempting to scuttle his successful negotiation. And suddenly he sees the error of his ways??? "I'm very grateful for what you did...it's made me take a hard look at who I am. I don't like what I see....You could help me change. You could be my conscience." Give me a break. This is one of the worst scenes in all of TNG.
• From Katie on 2020-08-19 at 7:54am:
  I think Ral is the worst side character in all of TNG. What a creepy sociopathic jackass. His scenes with Troi are so disturbing. He’s a straight-up predator and they poorly portray it as a tragic love story instead.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-08-03 at 6:42pm:
  Yeah, Ral is a total creep. I was quite disappointed that Troi fell for him so hard, though I also understand a bit of why she did. Being "out of control" when you're used to being in control can be quite exhilarating. (At least in some situations.) Falling in with people ultimately bad for us is certainly something humans are known to do.
  
  What redeems this episode for me is the scene with Ral and Riker. Ral is getting under Riker's skin, but he goes too far and tries to get Riker jealous of his relationship with Troi.
  
  "If you can bring some joy into Deanna's life, nothing would make me happier." I love Riker's and Troi's relationship. In polyamorous communities, being happy about your partners' other connections is called "compersion." Even though they're exes, they still care deeply for each other and want each other to be happy. If Riker *was* jealous, he did a good job at hiding it, because Ral seemed unsettled after that scene. Good!
  
  And the nerve of the guy to ask Troi to give up her Starfleet commission and be his personal counselor/lover. What a narcissistic douchebag. Glad Troi told him off. Glad we don't see Ral again.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Jenny on 2006-07-25 at 7:28pm:
  I largly agree with our all powerful master reviewer man here. However, I do NOT think this is a time-waster, however skill full yet random it is. I think the time loop, humour and touching memorial sequence work very well together and are very interesting. I found this surprisingly emotional, actually.The part When Janeway is strangled is really carried of well- and I did feel quite distressed. Also- the memorial scene and the stuff leading up to it was very moving- eventhough you knew the captain was really alive. ( unlike the irritating sequence in 'Resolutions' where the crew acted as if Janeway would never come back- but you knew she would anyway cos there was still another 5 seasons to do).
  All in all an enjiyable, touching episode.
• From Hugo on 2013-11-08 at 2:13am:
  Is it just me, bit I don't get what the time loops and the phage had to do with the odd alien...
  
  Also, the alien, what was he, a spirit just floating around? They could detect him on the tricorders, but only when he was active...? And this alien had no material substance at all?
• From thaibites on 2014-03-28 at 12:27pm:
  I ended up liking this episode a lot. There was a point in the middle where it got a bit too sentimental for me, but the ending really justified all the sentimentality and launched this episode into the upper echelon of Voyager episodes. Well done!
• From The Spirits of Obummer on 2022-02-14 at 8:29am:
  I was wondering, why was Janeway so skeptical all the time?
  Only a couple of episodes earlier she learned that she should just believe everything "spirits" tell her, and then they cure death ^^

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From TashaYar on 2008-09-15 at 4:38am:
  I just saw this ep again the other day... interestingly they address your objection. In the transporter room, Scotty in his dress uniform says something about rendering honors to "Lincoln" and asks who will be next, will it be Robert the Bruce. Kirk enters at this point, having overheard the remark, and replies "in that case we will render appropriate honors to him as well." For further details see "http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/Robert_the_Bruce"
• From technobabble on 2010-11-22 at 9:48pm:
  Seemed odd that the aliens did not understand the good vs evil moral dynamic of the human condition but chose to interpret it only through small bout of combat. If they could use the ship's library etc. to replicate important historical figures could they not also sift through historical analysis?
  
  Aliens seemed only interested in the brute strength of the two moral philosophies & dismissed the rest, making the story only about the contention that good & evil have to function similarly in times of war, offering the peace laurel at the wrong time can just leave you dead.
  
  Points for showing a unique alien this time, made of scalding volcanic living rock.
  
  
  
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2012-05-27 at 11:11pm:
  It's the Hunger Games! LOL The fight ends very prematurely, probably because they stuffed too much into a one hour show. They probably could have scrapped the whole "Lincoln walking around the Enterprise" bit in order to show a more complete battle on the surface. Still, it's not a bad episode. I thought the pacing was perfect, and the lava being's costume is the best costume of TOS. On the Blu-ray version, the planet's new appearance enhances the episode quite a bit. There's a part where a section of the lava planet changes to earthlike conditions, and it is now clearly seen. I'm not sure why the creature created such a large arena for everyone to fight in though (thousands of miles).
• From Warp factor 10.1 on 2012-07-19 at 11:11pm:
  I love it when superior beings abduct different species from around the galaxy to pit them against one another, as in 'Gamesters'. It's just what superior beings ought to do and why the other series aren't as good (they seem to have given it up).
  Like you, I'm puzzled by the choices for the two sides. What about Hitler, Margaret Thatcher or Dick Dastardly for the baddies?
• From Jake on 2019-01-11 at 2:11am:
  This episode further confuses the Klingon forehead issue by showing Kahles as a TOS style klingon.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Bron on 2013-11-19 at 4:56am:
  Not sure if it's a "problem" that there's multiple Ferengi in Starfleet, since they're still learning about the Alpha Quadrant-they can get some of the details wrong and be consistent.
  
  I agree with your assessment, though I think your grade is a little too generous. This is a 2 or a 3. 8472 had a lot more story potential than this, but isn't that always the case when it comes to Voyager? Setting up plots and adventures with poential and failing to realize them, that's the legacy of Voyager.
  
  I guess the idea was to do an 8472 episode without having to do SFX shots every time they were on screen, thus saving money. But then they have to recreate the whole Starfleet Academy set, you still end up doing an effects shot at some they, and in the end, they've written them completely out of character and inconsistent. I don't mind "wrapping up" the plot thread, and I don't mind that they came to a peaceful resolution, but the road toward it did not flow logically. For one, at some point, Species 8472 is going to say, "Hey, stop calling us by that Borg designation, we're called Twileans" or something to that extent.
  
  The whole subplot where they recreated Starfleet academy...that's a cool image and makes for a nice teaser, but it feels out of place in this plot. Earth shouldn't factor into this at all. There's many reasons that it's kind of silly, but from a dramatic standpoint, it makes more sense if it's only Voyager they're specifically antagonistic toward. Voyager is much more alone, vulnerable, and easily threatened by them, and it's the only ship they've interacted with. Bringing earth into it adds an element that hasn't been previously justified by the story in any way. But once earth came into it and the writers established that 8472 was AWARE of earth, they were forced into a pat TV ending where everyone shakes hands at the end, or else we would be left wondering if they were busy invading earth while we were stuck watching Janeway. If the dispute remained solely between Voyager and 8472, the threat is not only more personal, they'd have at least had the option to end on an ambiguous note. They agree on some things, maintain some disagreements, but go their separate ways for now with this potential looming threat remaining.
• From pbench on 2015-09-11 at 8:45am:
  previous poster is right. lots of potential but the same old voyager mediocrity. doesn't stop me from being addicted, but boy am i an ungrateful addict.
  
  i digress. ultimately i was shocked that they took 8472 so out of character. and then blatantly lifted from the ds9 dominion plotline??? am i wrong that these were on at the same time?? come on, two species with the exact same plan? but yeah--my take was that 8472 were higher-order beings, to the point where verbal communication itself was almost beneath them. even as they are 'practicing' to be human they just come off as very...well, human, and not at all like this grand powerful species. what are they doing hanging out in this dimension anyway?
  
  so yeah the episode was contrived. for some reason at the opener i hoped it was about chakotay's past and how he became maquis.
• From Mike on 2017-07-28 at 1:26am:
  Pon Farr night at the Vulcan Club? This has to be the result of Species 8472 misapplying some of what they learned about Vulcan culture. Otherwise, if such a place existed, no one in Starfleet HQ would get any work done, ever.
  
  This episode is kind of eerie, in a way. They are having these conversations with people who look and act like Starfleet officers, but are members of the ominous Species 8472. Since the only communication with that species was telepathically through Seven, it was a bit off-putting to hear their normal, "human" conversation. I think I liked them better when they were shrieking praying mantis apex predators in bio-ships. But, the episode, on its own, is a pretty good one.
• From Mitchell O on 2023-09-14 at 1:40pm:
  I feel like there is an additional problem that could be added to that section.
  
  During negotiations with species 8472, message in contact with Earth over four years, which isn’t true.
  
  They first made contact when the doctor travelled to the USS Prometheus, and the second when Starfleet replied later in the season.
  
  I would be very surprised if the doctor didn’t make Starfleet aware of a 8472 during his visit to the Alpha Quadrant considering the threat they pose.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-07-26 at 3:15am:
  I think your dislike for Vic Fontaine is obscuring your judgement here. If the reason for giving this a 1 was that it is filler in the middle of the dominion war, then you should have given "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" a 1 instead of a 10. This episode is extremely entertaining, and is a wonderful use of Vic's character. Obviously they couldn't have done this episode EARLIER because they invented Vic during the Dominion War arc.
  
  I especially like that this episode demonstrates that the characters still have personal lives amidst all the turmoil, and that they can still have fun. I wouldn't care for episodes 15 and on to be solely dominion war arc episodes. That would be boring, and not Star Trekish enough.
  
  Sisko's comment about black people in the sixties also shows that this episode isn't just filler. Not only does it make a point about racism in the sixties; it also shows how hypersensitive Sisko is to anything regarding racism. Great character development episode all around, and it's always fun to watch one of these holodeck malfunction episodes. I love them!
  
  Just because you didn't care for it isn't justification to give it a 1. I mean, come on. It's not THAT bad, even if you hate it.
• From Kethinov on 2006-07-26 at 6:46am:
  This episode fails to measure up to "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" in a number of ways.
  
  Firstly, it was redundant. We already have a comedy episode in the holodeck in this season. I forgave it once, and only because "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" was so unusually profound.
  
  But more importantly, this episode was inferior. The situation in this episode was a result of either holosuite error, or simple diversion, depending on how you look at it. Neither situation is a good premise for the episode. In the middle of the Dominion War, I don't want a "holodeck malfunctions" episode, and I even less want a "let's all go to Risa" episode. This episode was an excuse for slapstick comedy.
  
  Conversely, the situation in "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" was brought on by an external player (the Vulcan captain) with an arrogance problem. Sisko didn't ask for any of this, he simply faced it. And it taught him a lesson about the value of one's principles, reinforcing his seemingly weaker hand in the entire Dominion war.
  
  Ignoring the timing of this episode, yes, it deserves a higher rating. But as is so often said, timing is everything. This episode's timing was unforgivable. Such diversions are only acceptable when an episode has something truly profound to say, and guess what, everything it had to say was said better in other episodes!
  
  You speak of the crew having a personal life. Well, we're made aware of that in "Take Me Out to the Holosuite." We're also made aware of it by Vic's various cameos across the later episodes. You also speak of the episode making a statement about racism. But that was easily done better in "Far Beyond the Stars."
  
  Fnally, yes, I am fully aware of when Vic's character was created. That doesn't justify the episode's placement in the timeline and certainly doesn't invalidate my criticism that an episode like this was better suited in an early season. The episode had plenty of intrinsic value. Replace Vic with any other hologram, rebrand an early season episode, and not only is it now a good episode, it's better because it's less out of place.
  
  And that's just how it is. "Badda-Bing Badda-Bang" was filler of the worst kind. It's underserving of a zero solely because it has no technical problems. It sure would have been worth more points in an earlier season, but alas, it's smack dab in the middle of season 7. So there you have it.
• From Pete Miller on 2006-07-27 at 2:46am:
  I was very pleased that you responded to my commentary, and I'll have to say you cleared it up a bit for me. I will concede that the timing does lower the rating substantially. And you're right, some of the character development-type things are covered in other episodes, so I guess this one is dispensable in that manner as well.
  
  I still hold that it doesn't deserve a 1, because it isn't as horrible as something like "Move Along Home", but I take back what I said about your rating being based on your dislike for Vic. I see your point about the timing, but I guess it's just a matter of how important that kind of thing is to you. If you hold sequence and timing of episodes in high regards, then I guess a 1 could be appropriate. For me, however, a 5 is more like it.
  
  But thanks for the response. Always awesome to hear different viewpoints on Star Trek!!!
• From Kevin on 2009-06-07 at 2:06pm:
  One of my least favourite DS9 episodes for sure. The Vic Fontaine character was a fun novelty for one episode, but has certainly worn his welcome by this point. Now we have a whole episode about him? Also, holodeck malfuntions of any kind are so cliche. Vic Fontaine and holodeck malfunctions... guess the writers were feeling really lazy that week. (Or were simply bad writers)
• From Remco on 2009-08-01 at 3:43pm:
  I guess your enjoyment of this episode really depends on whether you like Vic. The same was true for "Take Me Out to the Holosuite". To enjoy that episode, you needed to enjoy baseball.
  
  I absolutely hated "Take Me Out", because I find watching baseball (or watching any sports) utterly boring. I skipped through most of the episode, and I wasn't entertained by all the sports movie cliches. I know that they were deliberately paying homage to such movies, but I just couldn't stand it.
  
  Because of that experience, I can completely understand your sentiment in giving this a 1 while giving "Take Me Out" a 10, even though they are essentially the same episode. That's an aspect of ratings, which makes averages meaningless. I would give this episode a 7 for being a very entertaining, if not very relevant episode. A rating I would have given "Take Me Out" if I wasn't so completely bored by it.
• From rpeh on 2010-08-05 at 11:55am:
  I think everyone is being harsh on this episode.
  
  It's true that the timing isn't ideal, I don't particularly like Vic Fontaine either, and I don't particularly like holodesk episodes, but beyond that it's probably my favourite holodesk episode.
  
  One thing you all seem to have missed is that it's *not* a holodesk malfunction - we're told that Felix designed the takeover to stop the program from getting boring. The way all the senior staff (bar Worf) get into the spirit of things for a hologram shows their spirit of friendship to great effect, and the way they resolve the situation is well-done and a lot of fun.
  
  I'm only giving this a 4, but I felt I had to speak up for this episode because of all the vitriol it's received up until now!
  
  One extra little thing. The "stirred, not shaken" point was picked up in the West Wing too, where the president points out that shaking a martini would chip the ice so Bond was really "ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it". Perhaps Bashir is a *real* man?
• From Psycroptic on 2012-07-20 at 12:41am:
  The timing was definitely not right, but it was still an extremely entertaining episode.
• From Bronn on 2013-07-29 at 6:15am:
  I actually really liked this episode. "It's Only a Paper Moon" is a personal favorite of mine because I see a lot of myself in Nog in that episode. He escapes into a fantasy world because the real world is really tough and scary, and he's faced it for the first time. But I like that it's not really a holodeck malfunction episode, because those are tired and stupid. It's just a holodeck story in which they have to solve in a holodeck manner, and nothing is at stake except for Vic Fontaine's program.
  
  I don't know where else they could have timed it, though. They wanted one last bit of fluff before they got back to the serious war plot to close out the series. The problem is that the war plot has been sitting ignored for too long-the last episode that really dealt with it was "Paper Moon"...which was also the last Vic episode. They wanted to introduce Vic as a recurring character, so it seems like he gets shoved down the audience's throat a bit. And the episode in which he introduced was a fluff episode in which they used musical numbers basically as filler, not a good way to introduce him to the audience.
  
  This episode had to take place after "Paper Moon," because that's the only episode when the audience really started to care about Vic-if at all. It would have been nice if "Paper Moon" hadn't been so recent, since it was an episode in which two non-regular cast members were at the center of the plot, which might be why some people were irritated about it. What they needed was a good stand-alone episode involving the war plot to air prior to this episode just to let the audience know that they hadn't gotten distracted. We probably could have done with "Prodigal Daughter" or "The Emperor's New Cloak" or "Chimera" and still had a solid season. If it were me, though, I'd have pushed back "Once More Into the Breach," Kor's last episode, and aired it just before this one. That was another one which didn't prominently feature the main cast members, but then you follow with this one, in which most of the main cast gets to operate together. It would have kept the war fresh, and I don't think people would have been as irritated at the war plot settling into the background for just one episode here.
• From L on 2013-08-18 at 12:16am:
  A pointless novelty episode that made me cringe.
  Not that a 'caper' genre episode was necessarily a bad thing, but I just hated it. Maybe it was just the context of it coming this late in the series, and that the one before it actually explored some interesting issues through science-fiction, as Star Trek should.
  This is just pointless indulgence in bad-taste americana.
• From spline on 2013-09-14 at 11:17am:
  This ep was great. It wouldnt work in an earlier season because we'd have had no connection to the characters. It's a simply fun ep that allows the cast to show off, combined with great music and great direction. Dont take it so seriously, and just love it for what it is!
  
  The best is yet to come!
• From mandeponium on 2014-08-03 at 12:04am:
  This was actually one of my favorites. I watch it as a farewell episode: the last fun holodeck romp before the final episodes running-up to the series finale. The end of this one gives me tingles when they are all alone in the lounge with Vic. They are still dressed up and as the camera pans over them Sisko sings "The Best Is Yet to Come."
  
  The viewer knows DS9 is almost over. This is such a hopeful episode and the second half of the season does not disappoint. They even copy the lounge scene in the last episode doing it all over again with Vic and the final farewell.
• From Axel on 2015-06-07 at 10:54pm:
  I don't see the appeal of Vic Fontaine. He was okay in "It's Only a Paper Moon" because that story served a purpose: Nog's post-injury recovery. But he's overused to the point of being annoying. It gets really bad in the finale when he takes up a ridiculous portion of the episode.
  
  This one, though, is bad for several reasons. They already had a wonderful holodeck episode in "Mr Bashir, I Presume?" So that angle's been done. The timing in the story arc is also poor as pointed out. Not everything has to be about the Dominion War, but this is just too silly. Finally, it doesn't even really feel like Star Trek. From a purely entertainment point of view, I guess it works but it's hard to ignore the context of the episode, which you have to do to enjoy it IMO.
  
  I'd give it a 2 for the acting, but it's by far the worst overall episode of the season.
• From ChristopherA on 2021-06-13 at 4:35pm:
  I really didn't much like watching this episode, and I wasn't quite sure why. There have been holosuite episodes I've liked in the past, the caper itself really isn't bad. I agree with others that the timing of the episode just didn't seem very good, while watching the series in order I was really feeling like it was time to return to the Dominion war, not to have yet another offbeat standalone episode.
  
  I agree with Axel that the episode really doesn't seem connected to Star Trek, and the episode doesn't compare that well to “Mr. Bashir, I Presume”. Somehow that episode felt like the homage was more fun, and felt like you were exploring the Star Trek characters placed in an unusual environment. Whereas this episode felt more like you were watching an ordinary miniature heist movie that just happened to feature the Star Trek actors, but could have been put on with any actors and it wouldn't have been any different. The only attempt to tie it to DS9 at all was the idea that they were coming together to do it for their friend Vic, which really didn't come across as a very dramatically interesting reason, especially since Vic is kind of a questionable character to begin with, and because the show seems unable to clearly confront the question about whether Vic is a sentient being or not. If he is sentient why are the characters so unable to perceive or acknowledge it, and if he is not sentient then the justification for the episode is pretty silly.
  
  Also, in all of the better Vic Fontaine episodes he is being used to significantly change the lives of the DS9 characters by offering them good advice or a different perspective. In this episode he seems totally pointless, he doesn't have any purpose other than to act as a MacGuffin to get the characters into a heist movie.
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Nick on 2009-03-06 at 5:25am:
  An obscure gem. The character that takes over Spock is what makes the episode. Lots of good lines between Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Dr Mulhall, and it's a cool concept for an episode as well.
  
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-06-13 at 1:58am:
  The plot moves along nicely until the last 15 minutes when they start throwing in too many twists. However, there's still a deepness to the overall story as it does a large examination of the human condition (What does it mean to feel? What does it mean to be superior?). There's also a lot of heart in the performances of all the main characters. Specifically, I enjoyed Kirk's speech in the conference room, McCoy getting irritated about beaming down, the woman starting to regret he future transfer to the android, and last but not least, Spock's performance as a casual azz hole while being possessed.
  
  Now, here's some odd stuff:
  -At the beginning, they scan the planet and call it a class M, then they go on to say it has no atmosphere because it had been blown away. How is it a class M then? Don't you need air for that classification?
  -It seems that at some points in the episode, the "soul" of the person being possessed (Kirk, Spock, etc) has to be "traded" into the sphere, and at other points in the episode, they "share" the brain with the being. It just seems like the rules are not consistent. It's kind of hard to explain.
• From Strider on 2012-06-17 at 11:27pm:
  Why does Dr. Mulhall wear red if she's an astrobiologist? Why isn't she wearing blue?
• From Troy on 2013-01-14 at 6:11am:
  Factoid: Diana Muldaur who played Doctor Ann Mulhall went on to play Miranda Jones (Also a Doctor) in TOS: Is There in Truth no Beauty and also later portrayed Doctor Pulaski in the second season of The Next Generation.
• From Jim Wilcox on 2016-08-28 at 5:22am:
  The ending is classic purification by death. Gill, who has obviously violated the Prime Directive AND proven why the Prime Directive is a vital Federation policy, dies in a hail of gunfire after confessing (making amends)his sins.
  To complete the purification, Melakon, who kills Gill, is himself assassinated by the new, younger order that will lead each world (tribe) to peace and prosperity where the lamb will lie with the lion.
  Star Trek used many age old dramatic vehicles but which were played out in space, instead on Terra Firma.
• From Chris on 2018-03-19 at 6:18pm:
  I like this episode despite its overwhelming issues and nonsense.
  I love Kirk's motivational speech!!! Wow! Gave me goosebumps! ... still does!
  
  The problems with the episode though, are innumerable!
  - I don't see how anything could evolve from being a living being to pure energy in 600,000 years... Even the Organians, who are only slightly more powerful, not requiring receptacles, took millions of years to do their evolving!
  - Why would Kirk, knowing all about the Organians, and the Tralaine's of the galaxy think that THIS alien would be impossible to exist?
  - If they could build those cubbies along with the entire chamber, and along with the ability to control the Enterprise from under 100 miles of solid rock, it strikes me that it would be child's play to build their own robots without the need to hijack real humanoids. "Hands? We don't need no stinking hands!"
  - Since Sargon was able to live in the ship, he hardly needed the special chamber to exist in and he and Felicia could have existed in vacuum cleaners for all they cared!
  - Why wouldn't Sargon take over Spock's body instead of Kirk's?
  - It would've been cooler if he did take it and Felicia took Chapell's and they made a love story with those two! MUCH COOLER!!!!
  - Then have Kirk as the evil one in the weaker body! His over-acting would've been spectacular!!!
  Anyway, the problems all seem to get so convoluted that they step on each other and one could go on forever!
  
  Even after all of this, I still love the episode!
  
  Kirk with his typical arrogance about humanity and its 'wisdom' by not killing itself (remains to be seen).
  Scotty going on about the engineering problems of building decent robots even though he's well aware of Roger Corby's adventures, or the Nomad's of the galaxy.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From CAlexander on 2011-04-06 at 1:15am:
  Given the time constraints, a rather good episode.
  
  - Mr. Scott's solution to the power drain problem is the most reasonable techno-solution I can ever remember to a Star Trek problem. Everything he says makes perfect sense given what we already know about the situation and the ship, no invented technobabble.

No fan commentary yet.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Krs321 on 2011-09-12 at 12:18am:
  Problem: The Bajorans have an orb that allows you to travel through time now? WTF?
• From Cory on 2011-11-10 at 5:08am:
  Yes, The Orb of Time was introduced in Trials And Tribble-ations. However the fact both the Bajorans and Sisko will risk altering the timeline just so Kira can figure out for sure if Dukat and her mother were lovers is the biggest problem which knocks the episode down to a 1 in my eyes
• From Armsauce on 2017-06-16 at 12:57am:
  It didn't take much for Kira to convince Sisko. There's no way he'd agree to her plan like that, at least no so easily.
• From Jan on 2019-03-18 at 7:59pm:
  I didn't think the episode was that bad, but this 'Orb of Time' is way too powerful in the wrong hands.
  
  A bit of nit-picking: As we all well know, Nerys has dark brown eyes, but 3-year-old Nerys had very lightblue/grey eyes.
  It's possible that this is one of these 'differences' between Bajorans and humans, but I don't believe that.
  I AM aware that eyecolour can change even after a child hits one-year-and-a-half, but they won't turn from light blue to dark brown.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

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

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Lennier on 2008-05-02 at 5:53am:
  In addition to Tylium, the mention of Ovions and Boray are references to the original Battlestar Galactica.