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Recap / Star Trek: The Next Generation S3E2 "The Ensigns of Command"

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Original air date: October 2, 1989

Data is about to play violin in a string quartet, but out of a sense of honesty, he warns Picard and Crusher beforehand that they won't enjoy his performance because he lacks "soul." Picard tells him that too much honesty isn't necessarily a good thing in a leader. But just as Data begins, Picard is pulled away to the bridge.

The Enterprise receives a message from the Sheliak, a rigid and merciless nonhumanoid species, insisting that all humans be removed from a planet that the Sheliak have the legal right to colonize. The Federation has no record of a colony there—there's radiation that would normally be lethal to humans—but it turns out that, about a century ago, a colony ship went off course and ended up there. After losing a third of their number, the colonists adapted to the radiation, settled in, and by now have grown to a population of more than fifteen thousand.

The crew scramble to find some way to offload that many people within the few days that the Sheliak have given them. La Forge struggles to find a way to make their transporters work in the planet's radiation, but even with transporters, they won't have enough time to beam that many people aboard. Picard tries to reason with the Sheliak but finds them committed to the exact terms of their treaty - if they find any humans on the planet when they arrive, they will eradicate them.

Meanwhile, Data journeys down to the surface to prepare the colonists for evacuation in some form or another. To his surprise, the colony's leader, Gosheven, rejects the idea of abandoning the colony that their ancestors sacrificed so much to build. But Data does find one sympathetic colonist in Ard'rian, an attractive young robotics enthusiast, who quickly takes both a professional and personal shine to the android. Data struggles to find some way to convince the colonists to save their skins, but Gosheven is simply more persuasive. Finally Ard'rian convinces Data to use Reverse Psychology , and he reasons, "Too much honesty can be a bad thing." However, even that ploy only manages to bring a handful of colonists to his side, and Goshoven crashes their meeting, assaulting Data with a tool that knocks him out with a burst of electricity.

In the ship, Picard has decided to intercept the Sheliak colony ship, but they continue insisting that the Federation obey every letter of the treaty. Picard starts studying the treaty to find some loophole to abuse, but it's 500,000 words long, so that's a big undertaking. As La Forge's transporter experiments flounder, it's their only hope. Eventually, Picard invokes a section of the treaty outlining the arbitration of disputes. As is his right, Picard nominates as arbiters the Grizzelas, who won't awaken from their hibernation for another six months. The Sheliak reluctantly agree to wait three weeks to avoid arbitration.

On the planet, Ard'rian manages to awaken Data. Goshoven's assault on him has convinced him that actions speak louder than words, so he decides to resort to extreme action. He attacks the colony's aqueduct, easily stunning all of the colony's local defenders before blowing it up with his hand phaser, showing just how defenseless the colony is to a Sheliak attack. The colonists are finally convinced that staying and fighting would be pointless suicide and agree to evacuate. Before leaving, Ard'rian tries to see if Data has any romantic feelings for her at all, but he admits that he has no feelings whatsoever.

Tropes in this episode include:

• An Aesop : Data spells it out for Gosheven when pointing to their beloved aqueduct: "This is just a thing, and things can be replaced. Lives cannot."
• Appeal to Force : Played with (it manages to avoid becoming a Logical Fallacy because of the way it's used). Data initially tries persuasion to get the colonists to agree to leave, but his efforts are stymied until Gosheven finally loses patience and shocks him unconscious. Upon waking up, Data realizes that he needs to show the colonists what their stubbornness will earn them, so he fixes his phaser and uses it to destroy the pumping station. He then explains that if one android with a phaser can cause so much trouble, thousands of Sheliak and their starships will do far worse.
• Artistic License – Law : In real life, no arbitration clause in any treaty, ever, gives one party the unilateral right to decide who the arbitrator should be, as Picard does at the end of the episode. Perhaps justified in this case, as the treaty involved truly alien beings that don’t think as humans do, or the treaty contained a list of pre-approved arbitrators. In either case, Picard's threat of arbitration has less to do with the parties involved than his willingness to exploit it as a stalling tactic, betting the Sheliak will make a concession of time to avoid an even greater delay.
• Badass Bureaucrat : Picard buys the time necessary to evacuate the colony not by fighting the Sheliak (though he's willing to if it comes to that), but by using their own treaty against them, turning the tables so effectively that the Sheliak have no choice but to acquiesce.
• Batman Gambit : Data has Ard'rian tell Gosheven about his plan to destroy the aqueduct, knowing that this will make Gosheven mount a defense, allowing Data to prove just how outmatched the colonists would be against the Sheliak.
• Beware the Nice Ones : Data tries to be diplomatic with Gosheven and others, but he repeatedly gets nowhere. Ultimately, he decides to use actions instead of words to get his point across.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality : Discussed by Picard and Troi. The Sheliak have radically different thought processes from humans, and Troi points out that in general the fact that different species can communicate with each other at all is fairly remarkable.
• Bothering by the Book : The Sheliak constantly stand on the exact wording of their very long peace treaty with the Federation, only bending when Picard finds a loophole to abuse .
• Brick Joke : As described below, Geordi, O'Brien and Wesley spend the episode trying to figure out a way to beam up the people from the planet in an attempt to speed up the evacuation and only having increasingly less mangled transported metal tubes to show for it. By the time the immediate threat has passed with the colonists having been given enough time to wait for the Federation transport ship, Geordi reports in and tells Picard that they've figured out a solution for their problem, but states that it'll take at least 15 years and 100 Federation scientists to accomplish, at which point Picard tells him to put the plan on hold for now.
• Brutal Honesty : Before the concert, Data tells Picard and Crusher up front that his co-chairs have described his playing as without feeling; Picard points out that too much honesty isn't always a good thing, especially from a commander.
• Cassandra Truth : Data faces an uphill battle trying to get the colonists to understand that the Sheliak are a dire threat.
• Comically Wordy Contract : The Sheliaks are a nonhumanoid race who thinks of humans as lesser life forms. Their language is so complex that humans can't learn it, so when writing a treaty the Sheliak insisted on an absurd level of precision to remove any possible ambiguity with the English language. The treaty is half a million words long and took 372 Federation lawyers to write.
• Curb-Stomp Battle : Data finally overcomes the colonists' pride by demonstrating that one android with a hand phaser can seriously wreck their equipment, then stating that the Sheliak are packing much bigger weapons and will blow them away from orbit without a second thought. Data: [shoots four guards] That was the stun setting. This is not. [vaporizes the water in miles of pipeline with one shot]
• Didn't See That Coming : The crew knew there were humans on the planet, but not that there are 15,253 of them, expecting a few dozen at most.
• The show keeps Data down on the planet, as with him on the ship he'd have scanned the entire treaty in a flash and solved the problem instantly.
• And on the inverse, Data alone must convince the colonists to go along with the evacuation plan as the Tau Cygna Five as the planet's atmopshere is filled with hyperonic radiation which is fatal to everyone on the ship apart from Data, since he's an android.
• Easily Swayed Population : The colonists on Tau Cygna V bounce back and forth between supporting Gosheven or Data depending on who has the upper hand.
• Picard has one when re-reading the treaty. It allows him to ask for a third party arbiter, and he immediately thinks of choosing a species currently in a months -long hibernation cycle.
• Ard'rian is annoyed by how the others claimed they'd side with Data, but then immediately shifted to Gosheven when Data was deactivated. When she surmises that words don't matter, Data realizes that all he's been doing is using words and the colonists might take better notice of actions.
• The Sheliak regard humans as lower life forms, regarding the English language as ridiculously imprecise and describing the colony on Tau Cygna V as an "infestation" to be eradicated if the Federation won't remove them, making no concessions even when it becomes clear that it physically can't be done in the time allotted. The Sheliak commander Picard meets with treats his objection to the possible massacre of over 15,000 people as an annoying outburst that proves the meeting to be a waste of time.
• Gosheven starts out biased against Data simply because he is an android, and when Data refuses to relent in trying to get the colonists to leave, Gosheven attacks him with an electrical device to "deactivate" him, blithely disregarding any objections that he could have killed Data.
• Fatal Flaw : Gosheven's pride would have resulted in the deaths of himself and over 15,000 others if Data hadn't managed to drive his point home in an undeniable fashion.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus : The section of the treaty which triggers Picard's "Eureka!" Moment reads as follows: WE CAN DO SEARCH-AND-REPLACE. COME TO THINK ABOUT IT, THAT'S WHAT THE SHELLIAC WANT TO DO WITH THE COLONY ON THE PLANET. THIS SECTION DEALS WITH THE RIGHT OF EACH PARTY TO CONFER WITH THE OTHER IN THE EVENT SOMETHING SCREWY HAPPENS WITH THE TREATY. THIS MAY TAKE THE FORM OF NORMAL EM SPECTRUM COMMUNICATION, SUBSPACE EM COMMUNICATION, FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS, TELEPHONE TAG, MESSAGES IN BOTTLES OR OTHER WATER-TIGHT FORM OF ENCLOSURE , GOSSIP, HALF-TRUTHS, OUTRIGHT LIES , OR FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS . INTERRUPTION OF TREATY COMPLIANCE SHALL NOT EXCEED ONE (1.00 X 10E0) STANDARD UFP SOLAR YEAR (EXCEPT DURING THE MONTH OF JULY). SEE TECHNICAL TA-48985.1742A-C(58945) FOR CODE INPUTS. LCARS UPDATES ON TREATY COMPLIANCE INTERRUPTIONS SHALL TAKE PLACE AT EACH STARBASE LAYOVER, OR WHEN COMMANDED BY RANKING UFP (OR OTHER DESIGNATED BODY) OFFICIALS AT STARFLEET HEADQUARTERS, 24-539 FEDERATION DRIVE, SAN FRANSISCO, CALIFORNIA, EARTH, SOL SECTOR. REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE MAY BE PLACED BY TRANSMISSION TO STANDARD STARFLEET BOOSTER STATION FOR CHANNELLING TO UFP TREATY OFFICE (SOL SECTOR).
• Hard Truth Aesop : Sometimes violence is the answer. Data doesn't convince anyone to leave until he starts shooting things.
• Hidden Depths : O'Brien can play the cello. (That's really Colm Meaney playing; he's even performed with the London Symphony Orchestra.)
• Honor Before Reason : The colonists' desire to stay and fight the Sheliak, even though their chances are nonexistent.
• I Reject Your Reality : Despite believing Data about the Sheliak threat, Gosheven proves too stubborn to accept that it's a threat that cannot be overcome or even challenged, preferring to believe that the emotionless Data is too cowardly to fight and too stubborn to accept when he's lost. It's only when Data shows the cold, hard fact of the matter that he accepts reality.
• Despite Ard'rian's preference for the rational impartiality of machines compared to humans, the mechanical Data gets nowhere until he starts shooting things, while the human Picard saves the day by out-reasoning the Sheliak.
• After praising Data's machine nature for making him impartial and rational compared to humans, Ard'rian is disheartened to realise that that same nature makes him incapable of returning her feelings , though she's amused to find that Data kissing her to improve her mood was entirely rational.
• Jerkass : Gosheven is incredibly bullheaded and arrogant, disregarding Data as nothing but a machine and trying to kill him when simply dismissing his warnings doesn't get him to leave. It isn't until Data proves how purely outmatched the colonists would be in a fight with the Sheliak that he shows some decency, accepting Data's point and proving that his people matter more to him than his pride.
• Kick the Dog : Gosheven calls Data a coward for insisting that the colonists evacuate instead of fighting the Sheliak, and when Data keeps trying to appeal to the colonists, Gosheven attacks him, neither knowing nor caring if Data would survive.
• Lack of Empathy : As the Sheliak regard humans as a lower life form (if it hadn't been for their treaty with the Federation, they'd have destroyed the colony as soon as they discovered it), the Sheliak commander doesn't consider the physical impossibility of evacuating the colonists to be of any importance; if the Enterprise can't remove them, the Sheliak will .
• Loophole Abuse : When Picard reads through the treaty himself, he finds and exploits a loophole that would delay their plans by six months. He then hangs up on them and strolls about the bridge for a minute when they call back. Riker: You enjoyed that. Picard: You're damned right.
• Not So Above It All : Picard when he gets to stick it to the Sheliak.
• Patrick Stewart Speech : Attempted by Picard with the Sheliak, but the Sheliak shuts off the transmission and viewer screen before he can get out more than a few words. He attempts it again during a meeting on their ship, but is transported back to the Enterprise. He gets them back for the interruptions in kind later on.
• Planet of Hats : The Sheliak are of the Obstructive Bureaucrat variety. They don't put any value on words that haven't already been signed and sealed in a treaty.
• Planetville : One of the series' bigger aversions—in earlier episodes, such as " Up the Long Ladder ," entire planetary populations fit in a single cargo hold, but this relatively tiny colony is a logistical nightmare to evacuate because it has fifteen times the Enterprise's crew compliment.
• Psychological Projection : Gosheven describes Data's refusal to give up on evacuating the colony as stubbornness and refusal to accept defeat, then proves (and, in fairness, admits) to have the same qualities by deactivating Data instead of continuing to debate with him.
• Reverse Psychology : One of Data's attempts to sway the colony into evacuating. Community leader Gosheven, dripping with contempt, responds with Sarcastic Clapping .
• Robosexual : Ard'rian McKenzie , the local Wrench Wench , develops a fondness for, and even shares a couple of kisses with, Data. To her disappointment, the emotionless Data is more nonplussed about this than anything.
• Running Gag : Geordi, O'Brien and Wesley get stuck with the impossible task of getting transporters to work through the planet's radiation, and Picard and Riker, taking for granted that they can fix anything, only put up the pretense of checking on them, then blithely leave.
• Same Language Dub : Gosheven's voice was dubbed over by another actor. Grainger Hines asked for his name to be removed from the credits. According to Hines, the director felt that his actual voice did not fit the character's presence that the producers envisioned for the character. They claimed that his voice sounded too much like John Wayne .
• Sarcastic Clapping : Gosheven seizes back control of his meeting after Data's use of Reverse Psychology simply by clapping sarcastically at his rhetorical device.
• Shout-Out : The title of the episode is taken from the poem "The Wants of Man" by John Quincy Adams ("Ensigns" refers to insignias, flags or symbols, not the Starfleet rank): I want the seals of power and place, The ensigns of command, Charged by the people's unbought grace, To rule my native land.
• Starfish Aliens : The Sheliak are big spangly blobs; no rubber foreheads here.
• Starfish Language : The Federation never managed to translate the Sheliak language, although the Sheliak did manage to learn many Federation languages.
• Sunk Cost Fallacy : One of the arguments Gosheven uses to try and justify staying despite the danger is that they've spent 90 years building the colony, with Gosheven's own grandfather dying to build the aqueduct and being buried on the mountain (Ard'rian's response to hearing this suggests Gosheven uses that argument frequently). After Data proves how quickly and easily the fruits of that labour can be destroyed, he points out the flaw in the argument; however impressive or costly the efforts were, the things the colonists built are only things, and unlike their lives, can be replaced.
• A Taste of Their Own Medicine : After several instances of being forcibly hung up on by the Sheliak and frantically trying to reopen communications, Picard finds the loophole that allows him to close negotiations and hang up on them, and decides to let them twist in the wind for a minute or so when they call back.
• Too Dumb to Live : The colonists who refuse to leave, particularly Goshoven, who are stubbornly determined to fight an entire alien species to keep their home, despite the fact that a) the Sheliak don't intend to meet them face-to-face and will simply scourge them from orbit and b) the Federation won't intervene to help them because the Sheliak are technically entirely in the right that they own the planet. It takes Data proving that they can't even defeat him, let alone the Sheliak, for Goshoven to get it through his thick head that he's encouraging his people to literally commit an entirely meaningless suicide.
• Translation: "Yes" : Apparently the massive treaty is this to the Sheliak, used to compensate for Federation languages being ludicrously imprecise from their perspective.
• The Voiceless : O'Brien appears in several scenes, but has no lines, only an audible grunt at one point.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human? : Part of Data's troubles on the planet come from the leader, Gosheven, having no respect for him because he's an android. Gosheven even hits Data with some kind of stun-rod, having no idea nor any apparent interest in whether he survives. Colonist: You killed him! Gosheven: I killed nothing! I merely turned off a machine.
• White Glove Test : After hanging up on the Sheliak, Picard strolls around the bridge to let the Sheliak's own hail go unanswered, checking the ship's dedication plaque for dust while meandering.
• Wrench Wench : Ard'rian, who's fascinated with anything robotic, and becomes a valuable ally to Data.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation S3E1 "Evolution"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Star Trek: The Next Generation S3E3 "The Survivors"

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The Ensigns of Command (Episode)

Stardate 43133.3 : A forgotten colony is targeted by an alien race

The reculsive Sheliak Corporate breaks its 111-year silence with the Federation to demand that Tau Cygna V , ceded to it by treaty, be cleared of a Human settlement within three days . The colony, forgotten by the Federation, was established 90 years earlier . The colonists have since tamed the desert and number more than 15 thousand people. News of the colony is doubly surprising, since the settlers had to adapt their physiology to the hyperonic radiation that bathes the planet. Because of that danger, Data is sent to announce the evacuation, but he faces opposition from the colony's leader, Gosheven , who dismisses the Sheliak threat, despite his people's growing concerns. Picard and Troi request a delay from the Sheliak, but they are as stubborn as the colonists.

Data gets nowhere in his mission, despite the help of a woman, Ard'rian , until he demonstrates the danger to the settlers by launching a frightening, if restrained, show of force. Picard congratulates Data on the creativity of his effort after achieving a victory of his own: using the Sheliak's own treaty to get the evacuation delayed.

Director Cliff Bole

Writer Melinda M. Snodgrass

Starring Patrick Stewart … Captain Jean-Luc Picard Jonathan Frakes … Commander Will Riker Brent Spiner … Lieutenant Commander Data Gates McFadden … Dr. Crusher, Beverly Marina Sirtis … Counselor Deanna Troi LeVar Burton … Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge Michael Dorn … Lieutenant Worf Wil Wheaton … Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher

Guest Starring Elleen Seeley … Ard'rian McKenzie Mark L. Taylor … Haritath Richard Allen … Kentor Colm Meaney … O'Brien Grainger Hines … Gosheven Mart McChesney … Sheliak

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Star Trek: The Next Generation

The Ensigns of Command

Cast & crew.

Colm Meaney

Chief Miles O'Brien

Eileen Seeley

Ard'rian McKenzie

Mart McChesney

Richard Allen

Mark L. Taylor

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Den of Geek

Revisiting Star Trek TNG: The Ensigns Of Command

James' weekly TNG look-back continues with a Data-heavy episode that's well worth your time...

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This review contains spoilers.

3.2 The Ensigns Of Command

Picard and Dr Crusher meet in Ten-Forward to watch Data play in his string quartet. Before he even starts, Data explains that his performance will be soulless and flat because he’s a robot. At least, that’s what the other quartet members tell him (the dicks). Picard and Crusher warn Data against being over-honest, lest he start to undermine himself. Data takes this on board and the recital starts, but it’s quickly interrupted when Picard is called to the bridge by Riker!

It transpires that the Sheliak, a non-humanoid race with a low opinion of humans, have discovered some humans on one of their planets and want the Enterprise to remove them before they settle the place in a few days. The planet is saturated with radiation that’s fatal to humans and blocks their sensors and transporter, so they send the radiation-immune Data down to the surface in a shuttle to investigate.

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Once there, he discovers a thriving colony of 15,000 people, who “adapted” to the radiation on the surface after their grandparents’ ship crashed there by accident (they keep the explanation of how they manage this suspiciously vague, to be honest. My fanon explanation is that they all just accept that they’ll die very young.) After explaining to their leader, Gosheven, that the treaty is in violation and the most sensible course of action is to evacuate, Data is kindly told they’ll take their chances with the landlords.

After being laughed out of the town square by the simple townsfolk Data bumps into Ard’rian, a woman who loves androids. Or rather, the idea of androids. In fact, she thinks androids are far better than humans and she’s eager to show Data around the colony. Feel free to make kissy noises at the screen now.

Back on the Enterprise, Riker and Picard realise that they’re facing an impossibly large evacuation task without anywhere near enough time to ferry everyone to the ship. They instruct O’Brien and La Forge to get the transporters working through the radiation. Meanwhile, Picard and Troi attempt to renegotiate with the Sheliak, who are sticklers for the agreement and keep hanging up on them.

Back on the surface, Data’s getting no traction and when he calls Riker to explain, he’s told to buck his ideas up and stop bothering the senior staff. Gosheven calls a meeting and makes a big deal of how many people died building the aqueduct that provides their life-sustaining (though irradiated) water. Data gathers a little support, and Ard’rian decides to kiss him (told you.)

After trying reverse psychology (“No, really, it’s great that you want to die for an aqueduct!”) Data calls a secret meeting of his supported, but loses the crowd when Gosheven electrocutes him. “True, he has a solid argument,” they say, “but he can’t even adapt to a little electrocution, so let’s ignore him.”

However, when Data wakes up, he decides he’s sick of talking and that actions speak louder than words. He adapts a phaser to work in the plot-device saturated atmosphere of the planet, tells Gosheven that he’s going to blow up the aqueduct and that they should stop him if they can. After cutting a swath through security, he sets his phaser to “blow up aqueduct” setting and shoots it in front of all 20 extras representing the entire 15,000-stong population of the colony. Then he points out that he’s just one robot with a glorified pistol, and that the Sheliak will probably just nuke them from orbit. That, and the sudden lack of fresh water, convinces everyone that it’s time to move house.

But things aren’t over! Picard is facing down the Sheliak ship for a possible firefight when they discover a technicality in the treaty that means they can delay the incoming settlers for months. Rather than wait, the Sheliak agree to give them the three weeks they need to get the colonists off world. Another victory for the lawyers!

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Back on the surface, Data prepares to leave and Ard’rian decides to ask whether he’s got any feelings for her. That conversation goes about as well as you’d expect. He goes back to the ship, and discovers Picard catching up with a recording of the recital. Turns out he thinks Data’s playing is actually very creative. Don’t you see? It was with you all along!

TNG WTF:  As far as TNG goes, this episode was largely free of complete craziness. Although you do spot a bit of Patrick Stewart’s Yorkshireman charm coming through when he tells Troi that all they have to attempt a treaty renegotiation is “thee and me.”

TNG LOL: O’Brien’s in this episode, playing the cello and being forced to operate the Transporter while La Forge stands by idly. I can’t help but be reminded of the “ Chief O’Brien at Work ” comics, which I think any reader of these articles will enjoy.

Mistakes and Minutiae: A new Phaser setting! For those keeping track, we now officially have Stun, Kill, Cut Through Door, Heat Up Rocks, Head Explodey and Aqueduct Demolition.

Time Until Meeting: 12:30. O’Brien gets to attend, but he isn’t allowed to speak. Later in the episode, Ard’rian tells Data he should call a meeting to present his case, and then there’s a dramatic moment where Gosheven calls a meeting… to replace misinformation with cold, hard fact. A lot of this episode involves meetings. That’s probably why it’s so good.

Captain’s Log: After this season’s middling opener, it’s a real joy to find that episode 2 is right up there with the best. Okay, they cheat a little by making it so Data-centric (but if that’s really cheating, lord knows how you’d describe the Seven/Doctor-dominated seasons of Voyager ) but even then it’s an episode that works on multiple levels. Data gets a character arc, attempting to master improvisation and creative thinking. Picard is forced to flex his diplomatic muscles. And even though the settlers face a genuinely interesting moral quandary with no easy answer, the episode does reach a philosophical conclusion: things can be replaced, lives cannot. Agree or disagree, at least they didn’t chicken out with something open-ended.

That said, the episode isn’t entirely a hit. The sub-plot about Data’s new friend going a bit too far with her positive discrimination is interesting, but doesn’t get developed enough to really land. Part of me suspects that Ard’rian thinks she’s in some kind of futuristic robotic rom-com, which, frankly, is an episode I’d like to see.

Watch or Skip? Watch. Plenty of Data.

Read James’ look-back at the previous episode, Evolution, here .

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Sheliak (Star Trek)

• View history
• 2 Culture and society
• 3 Appearances

Biology [ ]

Sheliak are described as an intelligent non-humanoid species, classification R3. They're known to colonize H class planets filled with hyperonic radiation, which is normally lethal for humanoids .

However, while they're able to thrive under this kind of radiation, they may not require it, since Humans and Betazoids have been shown to safely visit Sheliak spaceships without problems.

Unlike Humans, the Sheliak prefer to live in environments with the same temperature as that of their bodies.

Culture and society [ ]

When interacting with other races, the Sheliak can easily come across as arrogant due to their tendency to abruptly cut out communications which they consider pointless, going as far as to transport the speaker away and back to his own ship in the middle of a sentence.

According to Deanna Troi, the difficulty to deal with the Sheliak stems at least in part from how different their thoughts and conceptualizations are, which provides no mutual points of reference to facilitate communications. Even telepaths have failed to understand them.

However, despite dismissing other species as inferior and irrational, the Sheliak are not above diplomacy. In fact, because they find it extremely difficult to communicate and negotiate with other beings, the Sheliak tend to put immense value on written treaties. For instance, while the Sheliak normally would have no qualms about exterminating Humans who enter their territory, they will not do so before asking for said Humans to be relocated, as dictated by the Treaty of Armens. If the relocation doesn't take place in time, however, then the Sheliak will once again have no qualms about using lethal force.

As they cannot properly understand Human behavior, the Sheliak demand that the terms of treaties be written in the most thorough and precise way to avoid misunderstandings, which has resulted in the Treaty of Armens being over five hundred thousand words long.

Appearances [ ]

• s03e02, "The Ensigns of Command" (1989) (First appearance)
• s06e18, "Starship Mine" (1993) (Mentioned only)
• In real life, Sheliak is the name of a binary star system, more commonly known as Beta Lyrae, suggesting that the fictional Sheliak's homeworld could be located there.
• In the original script by Melinda M. Snodgrass, the Sheliak were instead named Hrathan .
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Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Ensigns of Command (Review)

This January and February, we’ll be finishing up our look at the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation and moving on to the third year of the show, both recently and lovingly remastered for high definition. Check back daily for the latest review.

The Ensigns of Command is a Data-centric script from Melinda Snodgrass, the writer responsible for The Measure of a Man . It was the first episode produced in the show’s third season, even if it was the second to air. As with so many third season episodes, The Ensigns of Command was beset by behind-the-scenes difficulties. These issues plagued the episode through all stages of production – from the script through to post-production.

It is a wonder that The Ensigns of Command turned out watchable. While it certainly can’t measure up to Snodgrass’ earlier Data-centric story, it is an intriguing character study that benefits from a focus on character and an understanding of Star Trek: The Next Generation works. While far from an exceptional or defining episode of The Next Generation , it’s a demonstration of how far the show has come that even an episode as troubled as this could look so professional and feel so satisfying.

A fun shoot…

Watching The Ensigns of Command , there’s little sense of all the trouble brewing behind the scenes – of all the compromises that were necessary to get the show to screen. Instead, the episode looks like a competently produced and skilfully executed piece of Star Trek , the kind of show that the series had spent most of the second season figuring out how to produce. It has some great ideas, a solid focus on character and a charming central performance from Brent Spiner. This would be regarded as a superior episode from either of the earlier two seasons.

However, The Ensigns of Command seems to have been a difficult episode to produce, for a number of reasons. Despite Snodgrass’ experience on the show and her role as story editor, the script for The Ensigns of Command went through a very troubled development cycle. The writer faced resistance from both the cast and the producers on her original draft of the story, and so the version that made it to screen was radically different from what she had intended .

Talk about catching on…

As with quite a few episodes of The Next Generation , Gene Roddenberry had his own guidelines for Snodgrass. Discussing the experience in the documentary Resistance is Futile , Snodgrass explains:

Being a novelist is grand, because nobody ever screws with your work or tells you to change it. But there’s something about the energy in a good writers’ room that’s just fantastic. At one point in Ensigns of Command, I had been given the directive by Gene that Data had to make love, because he was fully functional in every way. I just wanted her to have a crush. I just wanted to do Shane . There’s a little bit of Shane in that script, which is a stranger comes to town and he’s exotic and he’s interesting and she’s never met anybody like him and he’s baffled by this. And the whole thing about writing Ensigns was that I wanted to do a triptych about Data. The first one was “was he a person or property? okay, he’s a person!” Then he had to learn that command is sometime ephemeral. Sometimes it has nothing to do with the fact that you have the more logical argument. It’s who has the biggest dick. Who can swing it hard enough to get attention. And he has to learn to do that, in a very calculated way. And then Gene, who had read a bit of the outline and had seen part of it, said, “Well, you know he’s fully functional, so I don’t want her to just have a crush on him – I want him to sleep with her!”

Ironically, the romantic subplot between Data and Ard’rian never made it to screen, for a number of reasons.

Talking the people around to his perspective…

It has been suggested that it was an aspect of the script trimmed due to sudden reductions to the show’s production budget. Alternatively, Snodgrass herself suggested on the audio commentary for The Measure of a Man that it generated some resistance from Brent Spiner:

The script, as I wrote it, is not exactly what got filmed – because Brent felt I was making Data too emotional. And in fact, I was not, because I was faced with trying to have a robot seduce a woman – or, at least, go physical with a woman – and not be emotional about it. And I was very careful to write it in a way that didn’t, but Brent viewed it as too emotional. So I think there was a tension between how he was written. I was trying to keep him as a thinking machine, groping to understand.

It really does sound like Snodgrass was trapped between all these different perspectives on Data as a character, and had to navigate all of these competing demands. It’s a testament to Snodgrass that the script turned out as well as it did.

Talk about being programmed in multiple techniques…

Of course, Snodgrass has been quite candid about how The Ensigns of Command was a learning experience for her. It was the first time that her work was really radically re-written, so it’s hard to know precisely how much of Snodgrass’ original ideas (or even her original script) made it to the screen. Either way, The Ensigns of Command turned out quite well for all of its troubled scripting history. The final episode is coherent and built on an interesting premise, even if it seems that the finished script is much more compromised or watered down than the version originally proposed.

Unfortunately, the troubles with The Ensigns of Command extended beyond the scripting phase. Director Cliff Bole was informed rather late in the process that the episode’s budget had been cut by $200,000. For an episode set on an alien planet, using large sets and featuring special effects and model work, that was quite a drastic cut. It’s to the credit of Bole and all the professionals working on The Next Generation that The Ensigns of Command looks as finely polished as it does.

Picard’s cup of tea?

One suspects that the design of the Sheliak, right down to the set design for their bridge area, was driven by these production concerns. The bridge is a black space with some reflective material on the walls, while the costume for the Sheliak appears to be a black duvet cover thrown over a performer – like a more low tech version of Armus from Skin of Evil . It’s something that probably shouldn’t work as well as it does, especially in high definition. Cliff Bole does a wonderful job with the resource and time available.

That said, it is very nice to see an alien species that doesn’t look like an actor with a rubber forehead attached, and the design of the Sheliak is suitably atmospheric and vaguely discomforting. There’s a sense that these are creatures that are truly alien – that aren’t really humanoid and look a bit different from the vast majority of aliens presented on Star Trek . These aren’t creatures with two arms and two legs. They are something different .

In Sheliak starship design, it turns out black is the new black…

The trouble with The Ensigns of Command didn’t stop with a difficult script and a sudden budget reduction. Actor Grainger Hines, who plays Gosheven, was allegedly so dissatisfied with his performance that he asked for his voice to be overdubbed and his name removed from the episode’s credits. As a result, the voice heard in the final cut of the episode for the second most prominent guest star does not come from the actor visible in the role.

While the technical lip synching of the dialogue is quite impressive, it does explain why the character of Gosheven feels so detached and so generic. The product of two different performances (physical and vocal), the episode’s primary antagonist is a bit of a mess. It’s hard to blame anybody for this problem, but the composite performance is perhaps the weakest on-screen element of an otherwise strong episode.

Gosheven’s response was simply stunning…

Given all this, you’d be forgiven for assuming that the episode was a huge mess, a disastrous combination of problems producing something that is difficult to watch. Quite the opposite. The Ensigns of Command is a staggeringly professional production, with most of the problems concealed quite well. Indeed, if one didn’t know about the behind-the-scenes difficulties with Grainger Hines, the trouble with Gosheven could be written off as a weak actor in a solid episode.

Interestingly, The Ensigns of Command is very much a character-driven episode. Michael Piller would get a lot of credit for insisting that The Next Generation tell character-driven stories, and the third season represents the point at which Piller took over the writing staff. However, it’s often overlooked or forgotten that Piller didn’t step into that void until a few episodes into the season. Michael I. Wagner was still heading up the writers’ room following the departure of Maurice Hurley.

Shuttlepod people…

However, there’s a consistency of vision to the third season, assisted by the fact that two of the four episodes not overseen by Piller fit quite well with his ethos. The fact that Piller wrote Evolution helps, even if he wrote the script before being offered the post. And Snodgrass’ Ensigns of Command is a wonderfully character-driven piece of Star Trek , with Data learning important skills of command – qualities that can’t be taught in books or manuscripts.

What’s interesting is that The Ensigns of Command offers another firm rejection of Roddenberry’s utopianism, making it something of a spiritual successor to The Measure of a Man . There, Data’s refusal to submit to a risky procedure demonstrated the risks inherent in a society where everybody always agreed. Here, Snodgrass goes a step further. She makes a rather astute point that the only way that Roddenberry’s flawless humans could properly exist would be if they were robots.

The heart of the matter…

In a way, paradoxically, Data is closer to Roddenberry’s ideal than any human could ever be. He is incapable of hate or passion or greed or jealousy. He is able to put others ahead of himself. He is never burdened by sorrow, and is always functioning at peak capacity. He is innocent and optimistic and trusting. As such, there’s something interesting about his fascination with humanity – his desire to be more human and less perfect. It’s a wonderful irony at the heart of Roddenberry’s utopia. In theory, the human crew should be aspiring to be Data.

Ard’rian points this out in conversation with Data. “People can be selfish, irrational, stubborn, malicious, you name it,” she tells him. “But computers don’t have those failings.” After all, Data arrives on the colony with a perfectly constructed logical argument, one that cannot be rebuked or rejected. And yet the human settlers refuse to listen. Characteristic of twenty-fourth century humanity, they arrogantly insist that they know best – even when the data does not support their position.

Geordi’s abstract sculpting was all the rage on the Enterprise…

Like The Measure of a Man , Snodgrass suggests that this is the dark side of Roddenberry’s utopianism. There’s no sense of compromise, just a concrete belief in humanity’s own ability to persevere and endure. The views expressed by Gosheven are romantic and idealistic, perfectly in fitting with the subtext of episodes like The Last Outpost and Lonely Among Us . Humanity is the best and the brightest. It can overcome any obstacle. All other viewpoints are inferior.

To Snodgrass, and in keeping with her Shane analogy, Data is the perpetual outsider. He exists beyond humanity, looking inwards. And he challenges that view. When Data butts heads with Gosheven’s romanticism, there’s no question that Data is correct; just as he was correct when he resisted Maddox’s arrogance in The Measure of a Man . Data is an objective observer of humanity, somebody with a more rational perspective. His innocence and optimism provides the perfect vehicle to explore the darker side of Roddenberry’s utopianism, by playing it against Data’s objective outlook.

Being diplomatic…

At the same time, Snodgrass picks up quite well on one of the themes that was hinted at in The Measure of a Man . There’s a question about how close Data is to humanity, and just how much humanity the supporting characters (and the audience) are reading into him. Are we anthropomorphising Data? Are we projecting our own feelings on to Data? Or is he really more human than even he realises?

Ard’rian seems to believe that Data might have an attraction towards her, drawing from various evidence in the episode. “I guess what I really want to know is, do you have any feelings for me?” she asks. Data responds, “I have no feelings of any kind.” Ard’rian concedes, “No, of course you don’t.” We’re never entirely sure that she is convinced of this. After all, it’s a question that can’t ever by completely resolved.

A chip off the old forearm…

Even Picard himself weighs in on the matter at the end of the episode. “Your performance shows feeling,” he suggests, after reviewing a recording of Data playing violin. “As I have recently reminded others, sir, I have no feeling,” Data insists. Much like Ard’rian, there’s a sense that Picard doesn’t completely believe Data’s assertion. “It’s hard to believe,” he tells his officer. “Your playing is quite beautiful.”

He presses the issue, after Data insists that all he has done is to mimic two well-regarded composers. “Is there nothing of Data in what I’m hearing?” Picard ponders. “You see, you chose the violinists. Heifetz and Bronken have radically different styles, different techniques, yet you combined them successfully.” It’s easy to be swept up in the romance of that, and to assume that Data is far more creative than he would concede. Improvisation is a very human trait, and one he demonstrated at the colony.

Making music, sweet music…

However, it’s possible to argue that Data could simply have manufactured a computer algorithm to combine and harmonise those two different approaches to the same piece of music. Algorithmic composition is a technique that currently exists, mathematically generating music, so it’s not too hard to believe that Data could have blended those two styles within the confines of his programming.

So it’s hard to decide if Data’s actions are honest-to-goodness improvisation, a sign that he is much closer to humanity than he realises, or if they are simply the result of a sufficiently advanced computer process that can emulate more organic improvisation. Of course, it’s reasonable to argue that the difference is elementary, and Snodgrass revisits the idea from The Measure of a Man that it’s simply impossible to know how much of Data’s humanity radiates from himself, and how much is projected on to him by the other characters and the audience.

Keeping the Enterprise crew in the dark…

The Ensigns of Command also features a nice little subplot involving Picard and the rest of the crew trying to protect the colony for the advancing Sheliak. The Ensigns of Command has the crew tackling this problem in a manner that fits quite well with The Next Generation . While Kirk’s Enterprise would likely have engaged in a game of brinksmanship with the Sheliak colony ship, but The Ensigns of Command instead focuses on the diplomatic problem.

The Next Generation is typically strongest when it plays to Picard’s strengths – as a negotiator or a diplomat. This has been quite clear in the past. The strongest aspect of The Neutral Zone was the way that it contrasted Picard’s style with that of Kirk in Balance of Terror . There were lots of scenes of the crew talking and debating and discussing amongst themselves, as Picard solicited the opinions and advice of the crew around him.

Data’s really fallen for her…

Here, Picard is faced with a decidedly intellectual problem, rather than a physical one. Certainly, engaging the Sheliak in combat would spark an interstellar war. So Picard and his crew find themselves navigating a legal document that was drafted by “three hundred and seventy two legal experts” , with time quickly running out. “The treaty is five hundred thousand words,” we’re told. “The length was to accommodate the Sheliak. They consider our language irrational, and demanded this level of complexity to avoid any future misunderstandings.”

There are several interesting tangents here that are never really explored. The most obvious is the readiness with which the Federation is willing to accede to the Sheliak demands, even with the discovery of the colony. The prospect of co-habitation or peaceful compromise is never really discussed – most likely because the Sheliak would never agree to any peaceful resolution that would satisfy the colonists. Still, there’s something very fascinating about the readiness with which Starfleet is willing to relocate the colonists to satisfy the approaching Sheliak.

Strange new life forms…

In a way, this can’t help but foreshadow the way the Federation would deal with the De-Militarised Zone in the show’s final season – surrendering human colonies to the Cardassians in pursuit of a lasting peace. It’s a rather weighty ethical issue – at what point does the obligation to the greater good (galactic peace) justify selling the colonists down the river? At what point does it become justified to sacrifice somebody else’s home in order to secure a fragile peace?

The Ensigns of Command doesn’t really deal with that issue. It’s not particularly interested in the political framework for all this or moral balance of rights. It accepts the Federation’s decision to uphold the treaty and uproot the colonists at face value. While Picard tries to find a bloodless solution to the crisis, there’s little indication that the Federation is too bothered by all of this. The most they do is offer their  “profuse” apologies when they can’t dispatch another vessel to assist with the evacuation.

A strange stranger…

This balance of rights is an issue that The Next Generation would return to in its seventh season, with episodes like Journey’s End and Pre-Emptive Strike being a lot more cynical about the Federation’s moral authority than anything we see in The Ensigns of Command . At this point in time, the show’s universe was not sufficiently developed to support such a probing ethical exploration of the issue at hand.

Similarly, The Ensigns of Command also alludes to the intricacies of language necessary to negotiate a treaty with an alien intelligence. Troi discusses the difficulties that such negotiation must pose with an alien organism, and it’s suggested that the Sheliak might even think in a way that makes communication with mankind difficult. It’s not anything that The Ensigns of Command has room to explore, but it’s a bold concept. Indeed, the show would revisit the theme in Darmok .

Quite a catch…

Still, the treaty does provide Picard with a chance to play up his diplomatic skills. It’s a testament to Picard as a character and Patrick Stewart as an actor that The Ensigns of Command manages to turn his exploitation of a diplomatic loophole into a major victory. “Get me that treaty,” Picard insists. “They’ve been beating us over the head with it for three days. Let’s see if we can’t find something in it that we can turn to our own advantage.”

So when Picard does manage to find a suitably exploitable sub-clause, the moment feels like a huge accomplishment. The sight of Picard wiping the dust from the dedication plaque while ignoring the Sheliak hails ranks with the murder of future! Picard in Time Squared as on of the character’s most bad-ass moments to date. It’s a moment that really says a lot about the outlook and the stakes of The Next Generation , and one which plays the show’s strengths.

World’s apart…

(It’s also worth noting that the high definition remaster of the show makes the text of the treaty particularly visible to astute audience members. “We can do search-and-replace,” the important sub-clause of the treat, visible on the monitor, reads. “Come to think about it, that’s what the Sheliak want to do with the colony on the planet.” Luckily, Picard can exploit a loophole inserted “in the event something screwy happens with the treaty.” )

Indeed, The Ensigns of Command actually turned out quite well, despite all the pressure behind the scenes. Snodgrass is still one of the stronger writers on the show, despite Up the Long Ladder , and the production team have reached the point where they can execute even a troubled script with a level of endearing professionalism. Not all the behind-the-scenes stories are heart-breaking either, with the entourage of the Dalai Lama visiting the set during the shooting of the episode .

If this is what a troubled episode of The Next Generation looks like, then the future of the show is very bright indeed.

Read our reviews of the third season of  Star Trek: The Next Generation :

• Supplemental: (DC Comics, 1989) #1-2 – Return to Raimon/Murder, Most Foul
• Supplemental: The Ensigns of Command by Melinda Snodgrass
• The Survivors
• Who Watches the Watchers?
• Supplemental: Star Trek (DC Comics, 1989) #19 – Once a Hero…
• Supplemental: (DC Comics, 1989) #19 – The Lesson
• Supplemental: The Romulan Way by Diane Duane and Peter Morwood
• The Vengeance Factor
• Supplemental: The Sky’s the Limit – Suicide Note by Geoff Trowbridge
• The High Ground
• Supplemental: (DC Comics) Annual #1 – The Gift
• Supplemental: I, Q by John DeLancie and Peter David
• A Matter of Perspective
• Supplemental: The Lost Era – Well of Souls by Ilsa J. Bick
• Supplemental: The Last Generation
• Supplemental: Q-Squared by Peter David
• The Offspring
• Supplemental: Phase II (1978) – Kitumba, Parts I & II
• Captain’s Holiday
• Hollow Pursuits
• The Most Toys
• Supplemental: Sarek by A.C. Crispin
• Supplemental: Imzadi by Peter David
• Supplemental: Star Trek/X-Men: Star TreX
• Supplemental: (DC Comics, 1989) #47-50 – The Worst of Both Worlds
• Supplemental: Vendetta by Peter David

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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode Guide - Season 3

Now we’re rolling! The apex of televised Star Trek begins at around episode 7 of The Next Generation’s third season when this program became the first-ever “must-see TV” in syndication. High concept episodes like “Yesterday’s Enterprise” are paeans to the fans and sci-fi hardcores, whereas stories like “The Offsping” show TNG’s maturity into mainstream-audience viewing – a rarity for science-fiction shows in those days before the genre geeks took over entertainment.

And the whole thing culminates in “Best of Both Worlds,” a triumph of an episode habitually ranked among all sorts of “Top TV episodes” listings, Star Trek-themed or no that ultimately spawned the fantastic Star Trek: First Contact. (The best ST film, for STG’s money…)

1. Evolution – Acting ensign Wesley Crusher screws up (sigh) by unleashing a swarm of sentient nanites into the Enterprise; a war for control of the ship ensues. A really small-scale war, but still Good news: This would be the last weak script to begin a TNG season. **

2. The Ensigns of Command – Data must convince a third-generation Federation colony to evacuate their planet before the aggressive Sheliak move in. Picard’s outsmarting of the would-be new tenants in the last act is nearly worth the price of admission. ***

3. The Survivors – 10,998 of a Federation colony of 11,000 have been killed, their planet made essentially uninhabitable. So how are the two humans left able to survive, living in a pristine house? **

4. Who Watches the Watchers – See, Federation types? This is what you get for spying on “primitive” cultures Prime Directive violations all over the place (well, that and Star Trek: Insurrection). In this episode, a Bronze Age-type stumbles upon Federation observers and becomes convinced that Captain Picard is a god. (You mean he’s not?) **

5. The Bonding – On an away mission, Lt. Worf gets a Red Shirt killed. An entity attempts to comfort the Red Shirt’s young son by creating an image of his mother who offers to live with him on the uninhabited planet. The boy ultimately decides Worf is cooler, stays on the Enterprise, and disappears by the next episode. **

6. Booby Trap – Any episode of any ST series in which a character falls in love with a Holodeck character (I’m looking at you, Harry Kim) is stupid. The icky vibe Geordi LaForge gives off in this one only makes it worse. 0

7. The Enemy – As though in karmic payback for “Booby Trap”, LaForge gets to spend most of this episode on a fairly inhospitable planet with an irritable Romulan in the Star Trek version of “Enemy Mine”. ***

8. The Price – Four parties (for the record, it’s the Federation, Caldonians, Chrysalians and Ferengi) board the Enterprise so as to begin bidding and negotiations with a group offering to sell the rights to a wormhole which leads into the Gamma Quadrant. Ultimately, it is revealed that at least two of the parties haven’t played fair and that the wormhole is worthless anyway. Also, Troi falls in love but nobody cares. ***

9. The Vengeance Factor – As Picard attempts to solve the problems of the fractured Acamarian society, Riker gets the hots for an assassin and then ties on a good buzz in Ten Forward. *

10. The Defector – A low-ranking Romulan officer gets a conscience and defects to the Federation. And when fellow Romulans seek to double-cross the double-crosser, well, Picard proves too freakin’ clever for them. ***

11. The Hunted – The Enterprise is dispatched to Angosia, a planet being considered for United Federation of Planets membership. Things on Angosia aren’t as hunky-dory as the planet’s leader, who bears a strong resemblance to Zefrim Cochrane, makes it seem – particularly a pesky bunch of genetically-altered soldiers who demand, you know, rights and stuff. ***

12. The High Ground – A terrorist group whose members are slowly dying thanks to their own weaponry kidnaps Dr. Crusher for medical assistance; later they bag Picard himself in a bid to get Federation mediation for their planetary conflict. A science-fiction comment on terrorism and censorship. ***

13. Déjà Q – When is Q not Q? When the Q Continuum strips him of his power and leaves him for Picard and the Enterprise crew to deal with. A decent episode, but Q without powers isn’t nearly as much fun as Q with powers…***

14. A Matter of Perspective – As it turns out, the holodeck can be useful. Picard gets to play defense attorney again when Riker is accused of a murder he (naturally) didn’t commit; the Captain and Data employ the holodeck to help reconstruct events and crack the case. ****

15. Yesterday's Enterprise – A classic that not only thrilled and amazed Star Trek fans, but helped show American TV what that wacky continuity thing could do. The long-since destroyed Enterprise “C” emerges from a rim in space, thereby changing history. In a (televisual) instant, the familiar Enterprise “D” morphs into a warship, fighting a losing war with the Klingon Empire. Guinan, who senses that Lt. Yar should not exist at all and yet is somehow key to winning the war, convinces Picard that the Enterprise C must be sent back through time to *lose* a battle while assisting the Klingons, an act of heroism that thaws relations between Klingons and Federation. Excellent stuff. *****

16. The Offspring – Lt. Data creates an android which he thinks of as a Data. Well funnier and far less nauseating than the idea sounds on paper. And the meeting between Riker and Data’s “daughter” Lal is one of the single best scenes of season 3. ****

17. Sins of the Father – In an attempt to clear his father’s name after the Klingon High Council’s accusations of complicity with the Romulans, Worf, along with Picard, appears before a tribunal to plead the case. This episode introduces Worf’s brother Kurn and the devious House of Duras, who’d make it all the way to Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Generations, respectively. ****

18. Allegiance – Aliens replace Picard with a doppleganger while placing the real Picard in an (almost) inescapable trap along with three others, each of a different species. After Picard deduces everything, he delivers a swell comeuppance to the captors. ****

19. Captain's Holiday – As though not badass enough already, Picard becomes a 24th-century Indiana Jones while ostensibly enjoying some R&R. Mix in Ferengi and time-travelers to make one dandy romp of an episode. ****

20. Tin Man – What appears to be the transportation of a friend of Troi’s to a simple first-contact mission gets complex quickly when Romulans appear on the scene and a nearby star gets set to go supernova. ***

21. Hollow Pursuits – This introduction of the perpetually nervous fan favorite Lt. Reginal Barclay features the former “Howling Mad” Murdock having to get a grip and assist the Enterprise with its mysterious technical difficulties. ***

22. The Most Toys – A dude named Kivas Fajo, perhaps in an attempt to make Comic Book Guy of The Simpsons jealous, swipes Data off the Enterprise bridge so as to add the android to his “collection.” ***

23. Sarek – Spock’s father, a staple of the Star Trek mythos since at least Star Trek III, shows up on the Enterprise in rough shape, as he’s suffering from a terminal disease. Picard assists the Vulcan in his ambassadorial mediation. ***

24. Ménage à Troi – Star Trek Guide doesn’t know what’s more execrable about the tile of this one: The feeble attempt at a very bad pun or the sheer misleading of its implication. In any case, “Meange” is quite a funny episode featuring Ferengi kidnapping Riker, Troi and Troi’s mother. Wesley (!) discovers where they’re being held and Picard must act as though Lwaxana is his lover, threatening to destroy the Ferengi ship in a jealous rage. It almost enough to forgive the stupid title. ****

25. Transfigurations – In another “more than he seems” plotline, the Enterprise finds a human-looking guy with fantastic powers – and some enemies. **

26. The Best of Both Worlds, Part I – “We have engaged the Borg.” In case you’ve never heard it before, here it is: The height of Borg badassery, with concomitant awesome performances by all characters up to and including guest first officer Commander Shelby. The Enterprise comes face to face with a Borg vessel that has assimilated an entire Federation colony, only for the Borg demand that Picard come aboard. Picard is then assimilated, to be used as an information-providing tool to conquer Federation worlds from Earth on down. Now captaining the Enterprise, Riker reckons the Enterprise can destroy the Borg cube with Picard – now dubbed Locutus – aboard. He gives Lt. Worf the command: “Fire!” *****

Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series)

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The Ensigns of Command Stardate: 43133.3 Original Airdate: 2 Oct, 1989

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Editorial Reviews

Even as Data tries to reason with the colonists, Picard goes head-to-head with the top Sheliak, debating the finer legal points of the treaty in an effort to buy time. Brent Spiner makes the most of the kiss Data receives from a human woman who falls for him--though the android still doesn't understand what sex is all about. There's some nice chess-move-style plotting, with strong performances by the Enterprise crew and some stilted performances by the planet colonists. --Marshall Fine

From the Back Cover

Data (Brent Spiner) takes a shuttle to the planet to lead evacuation procedures and discovers that the human population totals 15,000! Realizing that evacuation will take weeks, Picard asks the Sheliak for more time, and is refused. Now Data is the only thing standing between the colonists and their certain extinction.

Product details

• Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.32 x 4.19 x 1.12 inches; 6.13 ounces
• Director ‏ : ‎ Beaumont, Gabrielle, Becker, Robert, Bole, Cliff, Bond, Timothy, Burton, LeVar
• Release date ‏ : ‎ May 31, 1995
• Date First Available ‏ : ‎ October 25, 2006
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Burton, LeVar, McFadden, Gates
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Paramount
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 6303359132

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Starship Mine (episode)

• View history
• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 1.6 Act Five
• 2 Memorable quotes
• 3.1 Production history
• 3.2 Story and script
• 3.3 Production
• 3.4 Sets, props, and costumes
• 3.5 Continuity
• 3.6 Reception
• 3.7 Video and DVD releases
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Also starring
• 4.3 Guest stars
• 4.4 Co-star
• 4.5 Uncredited co-stars
• 4.6 Stunt doubles
• 4.7 Stand-ins
• 4.8 References
• 4.9 External links

Summary [ ]

The USS Enterprise -D is at the Remmler Array where they are scheduled for a baryon sweep , a maintenance cycle that removes large amounts of radiation that builds up in the hulls of starships that travel for extended periods at warp . The sweep is lethal to any organic matter, so there is a flurry of activity as the entire ship is being evacuated prior to the sweep, and various last-minute problems (such as slow progress on Decks 7 and 8 and a lack of stasis units for Dr. Crusher 's living tissue samples) are being quickly addressed. Captain Picard is less than enthusiastic over the visit, as he has to meet with Commander Calvin "Hutch" Hutchinson , a Starfleet officer known for his gift of gab. Coincidentally, Data is studying the concept of " small talk ", and during their turbolift ride to the bridge , Data tries to break the silence this way; Picard recommends that Data study Hutchinson so as to learn from an expert on the subject.

Arriving on the bridge, Picard is met by both La Forge and Worf , speaking simultaneously. Worf reports that Picard must give his authorization to disable command functions during the sweep. Then La Forge informs Picard that he needs to install additional field diverters to protect the primary systems on board, such as the computer core and the bridge. He needs the equipment because the amount of radiation in the hull is so high (due to five years of the Enterprise 's high amount of warp use–double the average) that the baryon sweep may be more intense than normal. Picard agrees and instructs the ship's computer to shut down the primary systems in 30 minutes, allowing enough time for the diverters to be installed first. Worf then asks permission to be excused from Hutchinson's reception. When La Forge witnesses Picard agree to Worf's request, he attempts to do the same only to be denied because Picard can't excuse all of the senior staff, and Worf asked first and thus beat him to it. Picard then goes to his ready room to confirm the time of the sweep to Orton , the station administrator, and takes one last look around the bridge. He then sees a crew walking onto the bridge to install some equipment. Assuming that was the crew that La Forge ordered, he thinks nothing of it and transports to Hutchinson's reception at the Arkaria Base .

Act One [ ]

Data observing and imitating Hutchinson's expressions

True to form, Hutchinson greets each member of the crew and talks about Arkarian horn fowl mating habits, weather conditions, and horseback riding with little interaction from them. Data, following Picard's advice, is studying Hutchinson from afar: mimicking his hand movements and facial expressions. Briefly practicing on Crusher and Riker , he appears to be over-doing it, but Riker is quite amused. Picard hears about the horseback riding from Hutchinson and sees a way to escape from the meeting – the damp weather and isolation on the trails sounds perfect – and returns to the Enterprise to get his saddle .

The baryon sweep passes through the warp nacelles

After retrieving his saddle, Picard walks to the transporter room with minutes before the sweep is to occur, but stops when he notices an open ODN junction with a severed ODN line. He encounters Devor , who says he is performing last minute maintenance to the systems before the baryon sweep begins. Picard agrees to let Devor get back to his work and starts to walk away. Devor attempts to attack Picard from behind with a laser welder , but Picard knocks him to the floor with his saddle and then disables him with a Vulcan nerve pinch .

Picard uses the Vulcan nerve pinch on Devor

Picard then runs to the transporter room with 30 seconds to spare before the main computer shuts down the primary systems. Picard then sees several other people on the ship, but successfully hides from them in order to escape. Meanwhile, the baryon sweep has begun, starting at the warp nacelles . He enters the transporter room and activates the transporter console for beam down, but he is too late and it immediately shuts down once he stands on the transporter pad . He is now trapped on the Enterprise .

Act Two [ ]

Data is continuing his small talk on Orton, still with little success while Hutchinson talks to Riker. After a little bit of maneuvering, he introduces Hutchinson to Data, who has been practicing Hutchinson's technique and is now ready to engage Hutchinson himself in conversation. They hit it off immediately.

Picard drags Devor to sickbay , opening the deactivated doors with an emergency hand actuator , and asks him what he is doing on his ship, threatening him with a phaser , and then the laser welder when Devor tells him that his phaser would not work from the intense plasma field the baryon sweep generates. Devor refuses to help him; after all, Picard won't kill him because he is a Starfleet officer. Picard instead knocks him out with a hypospray . Picard takes Devor's communicator to listen in on the intruders' communications. Picard walks through the Enterprise where he is captured by Kiros while he is trying to open an access hatch in a turbolift and is taken to main engineering .

At Arkaria Base, Riker and Deanna Troi watch with fascination as Hutchinson and Data continue to talk: Hutchinson is a pro, but Data is a fast learner with inhuman patience. Just then, La Forge notices through his VISOR that there are unusual energy readings underneath a reception table and asks a member of the staff if he can take a look at it. The staff member tells him there's nothing to worry about, telling him it is likely a malfunctioning heating element. During this, Riker is wondering why the staff is trying to move La Forge away from the table. Orton then pulls out a disruptor and shoots La Forge, injuring him. An accomplice uses another disruptor to shoot Hutchinson. The Arkarians point their disruptors at Riker, Data and Troi before they can react and demand they all stay where they are. The base has been overtaken in a surprise attack.

Act Three [ ]

On the Enterprise , Picard meets Kelsey and her crew, who are attempting to steal trilithium resin from the Enterprise 's warp core . Picard tells her that he is Mot , the ship's barber and that he simply got lost on the ship trying to collect his saddle. Picard is held under guard by Satler , but eyes the field diverter with interest.

Hutchinson was killed by the surprise attack in Arkaria Base, and La Forge is seriously injured. The rest are being held hostage but are trying to assess the situation with help from Troi's empathic abilities. The assailants have made no demands or claims, which indicates a strategic rather than psychological motive, and their anxiety indicates they're off schedule (probably because La Forge blew their cover). They're improvising, so if they plan well, they could seize the initiative. Data recommends modifying La Forge's VISOR to produce a hypersonic pulse , which would knock out everyone in the room near-instantly except himself. Riker agrees but cautions to proceed covertly.

Kelsey and company still don't know that Picard has knocked out Devor and taken his laser welder. He uses this to make a move. Keeping the tool behind his back, he maneuvers it into an inlet underneath an engineering console and fires into it. This produces an overheat and activates the emergency coolant systems. Picard then uses the distraction to make an escape, knocking Satler to the floor from behind and then flees into the Jefferies tubes as the isolation door begins to close. Before he leaves, though, he fires on and shorts out Kelsey's field diverter: rendering engineering unsafe from the sweep. Satler follows him. Through the tubes, Picard is attempting to escape but finds the baryon sweep behind the door in front of him, closing in.

Act Four [ ]

Satler follows down the same corridor but only finds a closed door and Picard's jacket. By the time he realizes it's covering a hole in the floor that Picard had cut to escape, the baryon sweep passes the closed door. Satler is heard to scream as the baryon sweep consumes him; Picard pauses briefly at this, a look of regret on his face that the man's death was so painful. Picard himself prepares to make a stand, taking a crossbow from Worf's quarters. The communicator then relays Kelsey's plans. With engineering now no longer safe, they improvise a device to move the trilithium resin to Ten Forward , the last place on the ship to be scanned by the baryon sweep. Picard jumps on the communicator and warns her not to move such an unstable substance, but she refuses, saying that if he hadn't disabled her field diverter, she wouldn't have to improvise. She also knows Picard is a Starfleet officer since he'd left his combadge behind in the tube. Picard responds by making it difficult to travel to Ten Forward: cutting the rungs in the Jefferies tubes and forcing Kelsey into a longer, more random, alternative route. She and Picard continue to verbally fence through the communicator, trying to intimidate each other.

On the station, Crusher uses a request for water to relay to Troi that the hypersonic pulse is almost ready, but a bright light that will appear from the VISOR when she finishes the configuration; she needs a distraction. Riker creates a diversion by starting a fistfight with Orton. Riker is knocked out, but it works. Crusher finishes the modification without further incident.

Pomet is searching for Picard in a corridor when he's struck in the leg by a crossbow bolt. He quickly passes out. The substance that had been applied to the tip turns out to be a tranquilizer which will keep him unconscious for a while. But as Picard attempts to extract the bolt, Kiros appears, laser welder drawn at him.

Act Five [ ]

Word of "Mot's" capture is relayed to Kelsey as Kiros leads Picard away. Meanwhile, Kelsey and Neil are making their way through the Jefferies tubes. But when Neil passes the trilithium to Kelsey and explains how to unload it without it exploding, she promptly points her welder at him. When she finally emerges in Deck 10 and rejoins Kiros, Kelsey claims Neil got caught by the baryon sweep. Kiros notes Picard shot Pomet. Picard says that he is still alive but he will not be for much longer; they cannot go back for him as the baryon sweep is entering his location and will kill him.

Back on the planet, a signal indicating an incoming ship is approaching. Data and the others realize it's probably the terrorists' escape craft. Riker relays instructions to Data, the only one who will remain conscious after the pulse activates: stop that ship by any means. Crusher activates the hypersonic pulse, and it works as planned. Data soon proceeds unhindered to the control panel.

Kelsey's scout ship

As Kelsey, Kiros, and Picard approach Ten Forward, Picard decides to reveal his true identity, hoping to be taken as a hostage , but Kelsey reveals that the trilithium is her sole objective. She's not a terrorist as Picard had suspected but a merciless thief who will steal and sell to anyone willing to pay; her only motive is profit . She tells Picard that she would prefer it be thought of as commerce . As they enter Ten Forward, though, Picard has another trap ready. He steps over several strips along the floor, but Kiros steps on one. It promptly bursts into an intense flash, stunning her. Kelsey is knocked back as well, and she drops the trilithium. She and Picard fight even as the baryon sweep finally enters Ten Forward. Kelsey eventually fights her way free of Picard and grabs the trilithium container, but Picard makes a grab for it also. Finally, Kelsey knocks Picard away and holds him at gunpoint, freeing her to be transported to her ship . But with the sweep approaching, Picard's main concern is shutting it off. After several attempts to contact the station and have the sweep terminated, it finally shuts off with mere meters to spare. Data then contacts Picard and asks about the ship that had transported someone off the Enterprise , to which Picard replies that they " won't get very far. " He reveals that he removed the stabilizer during the scuffle, and watches through the forward windows as Kelsey attempts to escape, only to have the resin destabilize and destroy her ship. The explosion rocks the Enterprise slightly.

" I only wish I'd had the opportunity to use it on a horse. " " Of course… "

Picard is in sickbay where Crusher is treating him for the injuries he incurred with the fight in Ten Forward with Kelsey. Picard is more concerned with getting back his saddle, which he left on Deck 7 after he was attempting to transport off the Enterprise before the baryon sweep began. Riker and Troi enter, stating that they've had three security teams looking for it, but couldn't find it, but fortunately Worf arrives with the saddle, which had been placed in a maintenance locker, and Picard says it came in handy, but he regrets not being able to use it on an actual horse. " Of course ", Worf replies.

Memorable quotes [ ]

" …It has been quite a day, has it not? "

" I am attempting to fill a silent moment with non-relevant conversation. " " Small talk. "

" Captain, request permission to be excused from Commander Hutchinson's reception. " " Permission granted. I wish I could excuse myself as well. " " Uh, Captain, permission to-; " " Mister La Forge, I cannot excuse my entire senior staff. Mister Worf beat you to it. "

" You're Starfleet. You won't kill me. " " You sure? (stuns Devor) It seems you're right. "

" They're still at it. " " Non-stop. I have to admit that it has a sort of strange fascination – how long can two people talk about nothing?"

" Who are you? " " My name is Mot. I'm uh, I… I'm the barber. "

" Satler, get down here and uh… keep an eye on our barber. "

" You keep a saddle on board the Enterprise ? "

" Sir, an unidentified scout ship has just beamed someone off the Enterprise . Do you know anything about it? " (holds up the dynamic stabilizer) " I know they won't get very far… "

" I only wish I had the opportunity to use it on a horse. " " Of course. "

Background information [ ]

Production history [ ].

• First draft script: 4 January 1993
• Final draft script: 14 January 1993 [1]
• Premiere airdate: 29 March 1993
• First UK airdate: 8 November 1995

Story and script [ ]

• At the 2011 Phoenix Comicon, Morgan Gendel recalled that his pitch for the episode was " Die Hard on the Enterprise ." [2]
• However, in other interviews Gendel played down the connection. " I'm not going to talk about it as Die Hard . That's somebody else's work. It's an idea we've seen countless times: Under Siege , Passenger 57 . What I liked was the element I had come up with of the captain going down with his ship, which was rejected as a notion in the 24th century . That was a strong line for me – a captain alone with his ship. My theory is that what Picard loved most was the Enterprise . I don't think the staff agreed with me. I think they thought it was too much of a 20th or 18th century concept, or Kirk . " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 275)
• Gendel initially called the story "Revolution", after The Beatles ' song of the same name . This was an in-joke, as he had previously named " The Inner Light " after the B-side to " Lady Madonna ". In this case, the producers overrode his choice as it was too similar to the title of " Evolution ". ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 248)
• The episode received an uncredited rewrite by Ronald D. Moore . He remarked, " The hallmark of Michael 's tenure on the show has been character, but once we did that, there's also room to do stuff that is just straight run and jump. I think there's a recognition that sometimes it's okay to do an action show and not to have to try and strain the force of a character piece on top of that. It was fun to do a straight action piece and to just do comedy on the planet. What you rapidly ran into were the money considerations, as is usual with everything else on the show, so I had to pare back the run and jump and then what we had to deal with is: is this too brutal and too much killing? I'm always the one who kills people in scripts left and right, and people are always asking me to pull it back – it's not Star Trek , and I'm always, 'Kill more, kill more!' " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 275)
• Director Cliff Bole recalled, " 'Starship Mine' went through a major restructuring at the last minute. Michael Piller and Rick just didn't like the way it was going and they said page one rewrite. Pages were coming in about ten a day while I was shooting. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 275)

Production [ ]

• For the reception scenes, Cliff Bole asked co-producer Wendy Neuss to provide background small talk for the regular characters. The additional dialogue was scripted by staff writers Brannon Braga and René Echevarria , and Neuss then organised a flowchart tracking where the cast were standing and what they would be saying when not on camera. The cast recorded the dialogue at a group looping session at Modern Sound . However, most of the additional dialogue was not incorporated into the final episode. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 240))
• Bole recalled that the lighting for the episode was difficult. As the ship's systems were powered down, the standard time-saving pre-lighting could not be used. As such, he had to work with Jonathan West to create new lighting schemes for every set. West was pleased to have the opportunity to try lighting the sets in a different way, due to the fact that since joining the show earlier in the season, he had been restricted to using the lighting setups designed by previous director of photography Marvin V. Rush . ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 275)
• Bole also thought the episode suffered somewhat when the length of shooting was reduced to seven days. " I had to cook. When you lose another twelve hours of production, it hurts creatively. The show still stands, but I could have added a lot more and so could the cameraman. At the end, the little thing he pulled out of the canister in Ten Forward, which was kind of like a grenade pin, you couldn't see. You didn't know what he had in his hands so we just didn't sell it. I should have done a little bit more. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 275)
• Budget considerations also affected the reception scenes, as extras were not available due to cost. Likewise, Michael Westmore recalled that the male "shoelace eye" terrorist ( Pomet ) was to have a fuller face treatment. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., pp. 240-241))
• After he is shot, Hutchinson is not seen or mentioned again. However, a following scene pans across a purple fabric that is covering a humanoid body, indicating he was killed. Some additional dialogue between Riker and Crusher that was present in the script but not the episode would have confirmed Hutchinson's death. [3]
• Patrick Stewart performed several of his own stunts for this episode. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 240))
• The role of mercenary leader Kelsey (performed by Marie Marshall ) was originally offered to Robin Curtis , though she had to turn it down for an offer she had accepted less than half an hour earlier. ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 1, Issue 12 , p. 54)

Sets, props, and costumes [ ]

• The venerable Varon-T disruptor prop makes an appearance, as Kelsey's personal weapon.
• Among the recurring items in Worf's quarters are the Ligonian glavin which first appeared in " Code of Honor " and the Kahless and Morath statue .
• The reception area at Arkaria Base featured the bird sculpture first seen in the third season episode " The Bonding " and later in the seventh season episode " Preemptive Strike ".
• The reception area also featured a wall decoration which can also be seen in Proconsul Neral 's office in the fifth season episodes " Unification I " and " Unification II ", in the barbershop aboard the Enterprise -D in the sixth season episode " Schisms ", in the observation lounge in the seventh season episode " Parallels ", in the office of Minister Kray in the Star Trek: Voyager first season episode " Ex Post Facto ", in Neelix 's quarters in the episode " Jetrel ", and in Annorax 's ready room aboard the Krenim weapon ship in the VOY fourth season episode " Year of Hell ".
• Following the fifth season episode " The Game ", this episode marks the second time a matte painting optical extension was used for a Jefferies tube .
• The crossbow seen in this episode was rented for five days from the Pony Express Sport Shop Inc. for US$ 125.00.
• Two of the terrorist jumpsuits from this episode were later re-used for the Serosians in the Star Trek: Voyager fourth season episode " Revulsion ". The costume worn by Stuart Coleman was later sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. [4]

Continuity [ ]

• Tim Russ , who plays terrorist Devor in this episode, is better known for playing Tuvok throughout the run of Star Trek: Voyager . It is interesting to note that in this episode, Russ (who goes on to play a Vulcan ) is the recipient of an apparent Vulcan nerve pinch from Jean-Luc Picard . Additionally, an enemy race called the Devore appeared in VOY : " Counterpoint ".
• According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 240), Picard's apparent nerve pinch was intended to be a simple carotid-artery block. This is also supported by the script. [5] Alternately, it is possible that Picard's mind meld with Sarek (in TNG : " Sarek ") left him with the ability to perform that technique. Jonathan Archer also demonstrated a successful nerve pinch after receiving Surak 's katra in ENT : " Kir'Shara ". Leonard McCoy was unable to perform the neck pinch while carrying Spock 's katra in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock nor was Spock able to teach it to James T. Kirk , despite his efforts in ( TOS : " The Omega Glory ").
• In this episode, the terrorists are attempting to steal trilithium resin which Picard explains is a toxic byproduct of the ship's engines. In Star Trek Generations , Worf explains to Riker that trilithium is a synthetic compound the Romulans had to create in a lab that was much more dangerous than a toxic compound – but capable of halting all nuclear fusion in a star , causing it to collapse under its own mass, generating a shock wave powerful enough to destroy everything in its system. Trilithium is also present in the bomb with which the Dominion attempt to destroy the Bajoran sun . ( DS9 : " By Inferno's Light ").
• This episode includes the only mention of the Sheliak outside of the episode in which they appear ( TNG : " The Ensigns of Command ").

Reception [ ]

• Patrick Stewart commented, " I enjoyed the episode enormously. It's now in my top half a dozen episodes. It was wonderful to be out of uniform for an entire episode and to be on the ship without any of the other boring crew members. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 275)
• Rick Berman stated, " This was a classic example of a bravura role for Picard. It had a real tone and style to the look of the show and I think Cliff Bole did a nice job directing it. I enjoyed seeing Patrick as an actor being able to get physical. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 275)
• In contrast, Michael Piller remarked, " It didn't feel like Star Trek to me. I liked the show and thought it was very effective and well directed by Cliff, but I was worried that it was very violent, which troubled me. Picard slugging it out with the two women wasn't silly, and Patrick did his usual fine job, but it was derivative. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 275)
• Morgan Gendel recalled, " First time I saw it, I wasn't sure how well it worked. But when I went back to watch it a second time, I really like it, and thought it was true to what I was trying to do. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 275)

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 72, 18 October 1993 .
• As part of the TNG Season 6 DVD collection.
• As part of the Region 2 release of the Star Trek: The Next Generation - Jean-Luc Picard Collection .

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
• Jonathan Frakes as Cmdr. William Riker

Also starring [ ]

• LeVar Burton as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
• Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf
• Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher
• Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi
• Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data

Guest stars [ ]

• David Spielberg as Calvin Hutchinson
• Marie Marshall as Kelsey
• Tim Russ as Devor
• Glenn Morshower as Orton
• Tom Nibley as Neil
• Tim deZarn as Satler
• Patricia Tallman as Kiros
• Arlee Reed as Arkarian waiter
• Alan Altshuld as Pomet

Co-star [ ]

• Majel Barrett as Computer Voice

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• David Keith Anderson as Armstrong
• Tracee Lee Cocco as Jae
• Hal Donahue as command division officer
• Gina Gallante as science division ensign
• Grace Harrell as operations division officer
• Michael Moorehead as science division ensign
• Command division lieutenant
• Two Starfleet officers (voice)

Stunt doubles [ ]

• Maria Kelly as stunt double for Marie Marshall
• Irving Lewis as stunt double for Tim Russ
• John Nowak as stunt double for Patrick Stewart
• Mark Riccardi as stunt double for Jonathan Frakes
• J.P. Romano as stunt double for David Spielberg

Stand-ins [ ]

• David Keith Anderson – stand-in for LeVar Burton
• Debbie David – stand-in for Brent Spiner
• Michael Echols – stand-in for Michael Dorn
• Nora Leonhardt – stand-in for Marina Sirtis
• Lorine Mendell – stand-in for Gates McFadden
• Richard Sarstedt – stand-in for Jonathan Frakes
• Dennis Tracy – stand-in for Patrick Stewart

References [ ]

2364 ; 2365 ; 2369 ; appellation ; Arkaria ; Arkaria Base ; Arkarian horn fowl ; Arkaria sector ; Arkaria system ; astrophysics lab ; audio receptor ; auto-shutdown sequence ; barber ; baryons ; baryon sweep ; beta shift ; body temperature ; Calvin ; Cargo Bay 2 ; Celsius ; commerce ; Conklin ; control rod ; crossbow ; cubic meter ; cut ; dynamic stabilizer ; Edwell ; egalitarianism ; emergency hand actuator ; emergency turbolift ; engineering personnel ; etymology ; field diverter ; Galaxy class decks ; Gaspar VII ; heating element ; horse ; hostage ; hostage negotiation ; Human ; Hutchinson's parents ; hypersonic pulse ; hypospray ; jaw ; Jefferies tube ; Kelsey's scout ship ; kilometer ; ladies' man ; laser bonding ; laser torch ; lieutenant ; lieutenant commander ; Magellan , USS ; magnetic pole ; maintenance locker ; mean temperature ; medical storage unit ; milligram ; milligrams per minute ; Mitchell ; Mot ; name ; negotiation tactics ; nesting ground ; noble ; ODN interface ; ODN junction box ; optical transducer ; ornithology ; pain receptor ; Piano Concerto Number 17 ; political agenda ; profit ; promontory ; Remmler Array ; rider ; Riskian cheese pastry ; saddle ; science personnel ; scout ship ; section chief ; senior staff ; Sheliak ; shuttle drone ; sickbay ; stable ; Starbase 97 ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Medical ; stasis unit ; surname ; talent show ; terrorist ; tissue sample (aka living tissue ); trail ; transport assembly ; Transporter Room 3 ; trend ; trilithium ; trilithium resin ; turbolift ; Tyrellia ; Tyrellian ; Tyrellian crewmen ; Tyrellian laser-art ; VISOR ; Vulcan nerve pinch ; weather pattern

External links [ ]

• " Starship Mine " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " Starship Mine " at Wikipedia
• "Starship Mine" at StarTrek.com
• " Starship Mine " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• "Starship Mine" script  at Star Trek Minutiae
• " Starship Mine " at the Internet Movie Database
• 2 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Screen Rant

Star trek: discovery’s 5 tng progenitors scientists & clues meanings explained.

Star Trek: Discovery revealed the five scientists who hid clues to the Progenitors' treasure, and they all have links to Star Trek's legacy.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 6 - "Whistlespeak"

• Star Trek: Discovery season 5 creates a treasure hunt with moral and ethical lessons for Captain Burnham.
• Hidden clues from the Progenitors' treasure left by a team of scientists challenge the USS Discovery crew's respect and compassion.
• The final clue from Betazoid scientist Marina Derex may teach empathy from whoever possesses the galaxy's greatest treasure.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 revealed the identities of the 24th century scientists who hid the clues to the ancient treasure of the Progenitors, and here are the dots that Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the USS Discovery have connected and what they mean. Written by Kenneth Lin and Brandon Schultz and directed by Chris Byrne, Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 6, "Whistlespeak", contains a huge breakthrough as Dr. Kovich (David Cronenberg) reveals the identities of the scientists to Captain Burnham. The names of the scientists were purged from United Federation of Planets databases in the 24th century to protect the Progenitors' treasure.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 is a sequel to Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6's "The Chase", which introduced the ancient humanoids who seeded the galaxy and created humanoid life billions of years ago. In the 24th century, the Progenitors' wondrous but dangerous technology was found by a team of scientists assembled in secret by the President of the United Federation of Planets. There were originally six scientists who found the Progenitors' treasure, but one died horribly when they tried to activate it. The remaining five scientists hid the technology and left various secret clues behind that came with moral and ethical lessons in the hopes that only someone truly worthy would find the greatest treasure in the known galaxy.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Returning Cast & New Character Guide

5 doctor vellek, romulan scientist hid his clue on lyrek.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 retconned Dr. Vellek (Michael Copeman) as one of the Romulan scientists who first learned about the Progenitors along with Cardassians, Klingons, and Starfleet Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the USS Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation 's "The Chase." Vellek kept a detailed diary of his findings about the Progenitors, which led to the first clue to the Progenitors' treasure. Vellek hid his clue on Lyrek, a necropolis planet heavily guarded by deadly ancient technology.

Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis) arrived on Lyrek first but left empty-handed.

On their final away mission together as USS Discovery crew mates, Captain Michael Bunham and Captain Saru (Doug Jones) survived the necropolis planet and acquired the first clue beneath a burial structure. What Burnham and Saru learned on Lyrek was the importance of cultural context as they strove to maintain the ancient grave site despite weapons trying to kill them. Since the Progenitors created countless different species, the lesson is respect for other cultures, which Burnham and Saru proved they possess.

4 Jinaal Bix

Joined trill scientist hid his clue on trill.

Dr. Vellek's clue led the USS Discovery to Trill in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 3, "Jinaal" . Trill scientist Jinaal Bix hid his clue on his homeworld, and his symbiont is miraculously still alive. Temporarily joining with and possessing Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), Jinaal led Captain Burnham and Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) into a canyon near the Caves of Mak'ala, which were the nesting grounds of huge creatures who can cloak called itronoks. It was a test by Jinaal to see how Burnham and Book would deal with the itronoks .

Jinaal was suitably impressed at the compassion shown by Burnham and Booker.

Captain Burnham and Cleveland Booker proved their respect for lifeforms other than themselves . Rather than kill the itronoks, Michael and Book realized the itronoks were merely protecting their young. Even after Booker was injured by the creatures, he and Burnham found a non-violent solution. Jinaal was suitably impressed at the compassion shown by Burnham and Booker and willingly surrendered his clue, confident that the USS Discovery would treat other lifeforms with respect if they find the Progenitors' treasure.

The experience of bonding with Jinaal through the Trill zhian'tara left Dr. Hugh Culber with a new sense of spirituality.

3 Carmen Cho

Terran scientist hid her clue on iss enterprise.

Jinaal's clue leads the USS Discovery to the Tzenkethi system where a wormhole leading to interdimensional space is hidden. In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors", Captain Burnham and Cleveland Booker entered interdimensional space and found the derelict ISS Enterprise from the Mirror Universe, where the third clue was hidden and found by Moll and L'ak. Burnham and Book eventually acquired the clue and piloted the ISS Enterprise into Star Trek' s Prime Universe , although Moll and L'ak escaped.

The refugees aboard the ISS Enterprise left a plaque behind with new details of the history of the Mirror Universe .

The third clue was a vial of distilled water hidden by Dr. Carmen Cho, who was a member of the Terran Empire and the junior Science Officer of the ISS Enterprise. Cho was among the refugees who fled the Mirror Universe aboard the Enterprise and escaped to the Prime Universe. Cho joined Starfleet, became a branch Admiral and one of the Progenitors' science team, and returned to the ISS Enterprise to hide her clue. The lesson Burnham learned was to have the courage to overcome impossible odds to shape your future for the better.

When assembled, the five clues will create a map to the Progenitors' treasure. Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) learned that replicating the clue pieces doesn't work, and it has to be the real thing.

2 Hitoroshi Kreel

Denobulan scientist hid his clue on halem'no.

The fourth clue, a vial of distilled water, pointed to Dr. Hitoroshi Kreel, a Denobulan scientist, who hid his clue on the planet Halem'no. In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 6 , "Whistlespeak", Captain Burnham and Lt. Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) infiltrate Halem'no's pre-warp civilization to gain access to the disguised, artificial weather tower where the Denobulan Dr. Kreel stashed his clue. Tilly ultimately learns that Kreel's clue is located in the fifth of five weather towers built by the Denobulans to bring rain to the arid planet.

4 of the 5 Denobulan weather towers failed over time, and the remaining Halem'nites created a religion of sacrificing themselves to their gods so that it might rain.

Clue number 4 had a metal card attached with a Betazoid inscription, pointing to the final scientist and clue. In their time living among the Halem'nites, Burnham and Tilly realized the lesson was what a massive responsibility technology is , and that whoever wields the Progenitors' power to create life (and possibly resurrect the dead) has to be extremely careful how they use it.

Dr. Vellek and Jinaal Bix are the only scientists who 'appear' in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 (so far), and the remaining scientists (so far) are only spoken of.

1 Marina Derex

Betazoid scientist hid the final clue yet to be found.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 7, "Erigah," takes a detour from the treasure hunt to deal with the captured Moll and L'ak. This means a short break before the USS Discovery pursues the final clue hidden by Betazoid scientist Marina Derex. Commander Paul Stamets was still analyzing Dr. Kreel's fourth clue from Halem'no at the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 6, "Whistlespeak," so it's unclear where Captain Burnham's final stop for the fifth and final clue will be, or what lesson will accompany it.

Perhaps the lesson Captain Burnham must learn from the final clue is empathy, either for others or for oneself.

The fact that Dr. Marina Derex is Betazoid may be a clue unto itself. The Betazoids are known for their empathic abilities, especially Star Trek 's most famous Betazoid, Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) from Star Trek: The Next Generation . The name Marina Derex seems to be a direct nod to the beloved actress who plays Deanna Troi. Perhaps the lesson Captain Burnham must learn from the final clue is empathy, either for others or for oneself, in order to find the Progenitors' treasure in Star Trek: Discovery season 5.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 stream Thursdays on Paramount+

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Star Trek TNG Nearly Cut Off Wesley Crusher's Head In The Best Episode

Posted: May 1, 2024 | Last updated: May 2, 2024

Star Trek TNG Nearly Cut Off Wesley Crusher’s Head In The Best Episode

The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise” has been a fan-favorite for over three decades. This tale of an alternate-universe Enterprise-D crew allowed the writers to get really nasty with our favorite characters, including showing the gruesome death of Commander Riker. It could have been a lot worse (or, depending on your perspective, a lot better), though: if the producers had more time and money for this episode, we were going to see hated character Wesley Crusher get freakin’ decapitated.

Yesterday’s Enterprise Was Going To Be Crazier

For this crazy story about “Yesterday’s Enterprise” having more death and destruction, we’re going to have to travel back in time and explain the basic plot. This episode kicks into high gear when Captain Picard’s crew detects a vessel coming out of a nearby temporal rift. While it goes unnoticed by the crew, audiences see an immediate change: the Enterprise bridge is now darker, the uniforms are a bit different, and (most shockingly) deceased officer Tasha Yar has replaced the Klingon Worf.

Fateful Choice To Save The Future

We find out that the ship that came through the rift is the Enterprise-C, a vessel that was destroyed by Romulans while trying to respond to a Klingon distress call. Their heroic sacrifice led to peace between the Klingons and the Federation but now, Starfleet is rapidly losing ground in a war with the Klingon Empire. “Yesterday’s Enterprise” largely focuses on whether Captain Picard is willing to save the future by sending the older ship’s crew to certain death in the past; Tasha Yar joins the Enterprise-C on its suicide mission, and the climax of the ep is one of the coolest moments in Star Trek history. 

A Shocking Death

The Enterprise-D must defend the older ship as it slowly makes its way through the rift, but this is made more difficult by the arrival of three Klingon battle cruisers hungry for blood. Soon enough, the wounded Starfleet vessel is experiencing an impending warp core breach, and Picard has to take over at tactical after Riker (who had previously replaced Tasha Yar) gets killed. It’s genuinely shocking to see Riker’s dead body with blood pouring from the neck, but it turns out that he was originally meant to be only one of the brutal “Yesterday’s Enterprise” deaths.

More Deaths Were Cut

Because reality is eventually restored by the end of the episode, producers wanted to originally fill “Yesterday’s Enterprise” with more shocking deaths. One such death was quite literally shocking: if the show had the time and the budget, we were going to see the android Data get fatally electrocuted. Considering how often the crew gets zapped on this show and survives, I can only imagine how over-the-top this electrocution scene would have been.

The One Death Fans Wanted To See

However, the intended “Yesterday’s Enterprise” death the fandom would have most wanted to see was that of Wesley Crusher. Created more or less as Gene Roddenberry’s self-insert character, the precocious boy genius character annoyed fans from the very beginning. Originally, this episode was going to show Wesley decapitated by the Klingon attack before he was made whole when the universe restarted.

Fans Were Denied

It’s not clear how graphic this “Yesterday’s Enterprise” death scene would have been, but considering how much blood comes out of Riker’s neck, I think it could have rivaled “Conspiracy” for the level of gory violence. Sadly, we were denied seeing this moment onscreen, so you’ll just have to imagine Wesley getting a Highlander-style death. Just think: if a Klingon were to cut off his head, the lopped-off head of boy genius might have had just enough time to blurt out a cool final line like “I’m shutting up now.” 

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