suspicions star trek

Suspicions (episode)

View history
1.2 Act One
1.3 Act Two
1.4 Act Three
1.5 Act Four
1.6 Act Five
1.7 Log entries
2 Memorable quotes
3.1 Production history
3.2 Story and script
3.3 Cast and characters
3.4 Continuity
3.5 Video and DVD releases
4.1 Starring
4.2 Also starring
4.3 Guest stars
4.4 Special guest star
4.5 Co-star
4.6 Uncredited co-stars
4.7 Stunt doubles
4.8 Stand-ins
4.9.1 Other references
4.10 External links

Summary [ ]

Doctor Beverly Crusher enters her quarters with a PADD in hand, feeling dejected and defeated. With a long sigh, she throws the PADD to her desk and decides to change out of her uniform , when her door chime rings. With reluctance, she allows the visitor and Guinan enters complaining of tennis elbow after Geordi beats her in straight sets. Crusher tells her she had better see Dr. Selar in sickbay , but Guinan refuses as she's very particular about her doctors and only wants to see Crusher. Crusher responds that she better look for a new one and then breaks the news that she is no longer a doctor on the ship.

Act One [ ]

Crusher expresses her frustration at the next few weeks as she will face Admiral Brooks . She clearly disagrees with the circumstances of the impending end of her career. In her usual style, Guinan insists on her elbow getting treated to calm Crusher down and starts to ask her about what happened. A Ferengi scientist , Dr. Reyga , has created a metaphasic shielding technique and had presented it at the Altine Conference , but his unorthodox methods have left most scientists in the field ignoring his work. Crusher remarks that Reyga was practically jeered off the stage at the conference. Dr. Crusher decided to play "scientific diplomat" and invite other scientists in the field to come to the USS Enterprise -D and view a demonstration of the doctor's prototype .

Dr. T'Pan and Dr. Christopher

Only four scientists were willing to come: a Klingon named Kurak , a Vulcan named T'Pan and her Human husband Christopher , and a Takaran named Jo'Bril . Crusher expected disbelief from the group, but the fact that they came made her hopeful. She gathered the group in the science lab and began by stating the vision that the group had for the potential benefits. Furthermore, Reyga was willing to share rights with whoever provided assistance to him. Reyga plans to perform a test using an Enterprise shuttle , the Justman . It is to be fitted with Dr. Reyga's experimental shield and flown into a nearby star , Veytan , a lofty goal as it is a particularly superdense corona , but Reyga is confident. As they are all skeptical, they decide that someone other than the Ferengi should pilot the shuttle, so as to provide an impartial analysis. Jo'Bril volunteers and Reyga thanks him.

At the test flight , all of the invited scientists watch from the bridge as Jo'Bril enters the Veytan's corona. Everything seems to be going as planned until suddenly Jo'Bril becomes short of breath. There are increased levels of baryon particles building up in the shuttle's interior. Jo'Bril barely pilots the shuttle out of the star and is beamed on the Enterprise before dying in sickbay, remarking " I saw… the sun!"

Act Two [ ]

Guinan says Crusher shouldn't take it too hard since she wasn't in control. Reminded of what Captain Picard said to her during the autopsy she performed on Jo'Bril, she recalled the frustration she felt at the unexplained nature of his death. His anatomy was very different from other humanoids . In fact, she cannot understand his physiology at all, especially why his cells seems to be decaying at such a slow rate. He also has no discrete organs , and they are all distributed equally throughout his body, which should make him incredibly resistant to injury.

Beverly Crusher, Data, and Geordi La Forge speak with Reyga

" Reyga seemed angry, but I knew it was because he was so disappointed. "

Meanwhile, Data and La Forge analyze the Justman in the shuttlebay . Data informs Reyga that the plasma flow regulators , the field emitter coils , and radial force compensators were all functioning normally. La Forge found microcrystalline damage to the hull, confirming the shield was breached by the radiation . Reyga is livid and cannot accept that the shield was at fault.

Gathering the scientists in the science lab, Crusher explains she has no choice but to end the visit. She hopes that someday, when Reyga has perfected the metaphasic technology behind the shield, they may be able to try again. Reyga pleads with the other scientists to allow him a second test, but meets intense opposition, including from Crusher, who, as chief medical officer , refuses to put anyone at further risk. He seems determined to prove himself and leaves. A few hours later, he is found dead in Science Lab 4 from a plasma discharge.

Act Three [ ]

Worf judges the death was a suicide , but Crusher is incredulous as he had tightly clutched his hand on the plasma infuser instead of dropping it, the normal response. She plans on performing an autopsy on him, but after speaking to Picard about how unusual the death was, she learns the family won't permit it and arrangements have already been made to have his body returned home so they can perform the Ferengi death ritual .

Frustrated, Dr. Crusher explains the situation to Nurse Ogawa and decides to perform an investigation of her own. She confronts Christopher and T'Pan in their quarters , and Christopher becomes incensed. Eventually, he mentions that while he was in the storage room in the science lab, he heard Kurak and Reyga having a fiery argument shortly before his death. Dr. Crusher then confronts Kurak, much to her own peril, as the Klingon scientist throws her violently against the wall, yelling that she will no longer be subjected to Crusher's insinuations. But Crusher doesn't back down and she gets Kurak to confess that the argument she had with Reyga had to do with him accusing her of committing sabotage to his project but insists she didn't and says nothing else. As she determines Kurak also did not murder Reyga, Crusher finds herself stumped as she doesn't have any more insight than she did before she started.

Finally, knowing she will be disobeying a direct order, she performs an autopsy on Reyga, believing that it will answer her questions… and can find nothing. Crusher then goes to Picard's quarters and informs him what she did, and he is extremely disappointed and lectures her about how she not only disobeyed his orders, but she grossly violated the Prime Directive by interfering in another culture's burial ritual. Her actions put both of them in a very difficult position and that Reyga's family will have to be notified and Picard is most certain the Ferengi government will get involved. Crusher accepts the consequences of her decision and that he doesn't have to protect her. With a nod, Picard signals to her that she is relieved from duty and files a report on her conduct to Starfleet Medical .

Back to the present, Guinan recalls the move that caused her Tennis Elbow, and asks Crusher if she thinks Reyga committed suicide and if there's a murderer on board. Crusher pushes back on the idea of digging around again, but Guinan encourages her to continue her investigation, as she has only been relieved of her duty. With that train of thought, Crusher realizes she has nothing to lose.

Act Four [ ]

With less than 24 hours before she leaves the Enterprise for the board of inquiry, Crusher finds Data in the Justman making sure it wasn't permanently damaged by the radiation. She asks his help to determine a possible sabotage scenario. Data deduces that, if it happened, it must have been done during Jo'Bril's test flight, and it's unlikely he did it himself and put himself in danger. Another scenario is that a phased ionic pulse beamed directly into the projection matrix would result in a temporary system malfunction by forming a tetryon field. Realizing she could confirm the tetryon field from Jo'Bril's tissue, she heads for sickbay.

On the way, Commander Riker informs her that they've arranged for the shuttle to take her to Starbase 23 at 0700 tomorrow and apologizes for everything that's happened and tries to raise her hopes that it will work out in the end but warns her that if she does anything rash before the inquiry, it will be that much harder. Crusher tries to brush off Riker's concerns, but he knows exactly what's going on and strongly suggests she returns to her quarters and read a book , which she rejects. Riker pleads with her as a friend, but Crusher again refuses and pleads with him not to get involved as she can't quit now.

Ogawa finds Crusher in sickbay attempting to access the computer to look at autopsy files, but her access has been revoked, as she is no longer an active medical officer on board. When Crusher tries to leave without involving her, Ogawa decides to help anyway, activating the computer for Crusher. Crusher pleads with her not to get involved, and when she tries to pull rank on Ogawa, the nurse reminds her that she's not her boss anymore. They perform an additional examination of Jo'Bril's body and confirm the tetryon particles. It's not conclusive evidence, Ogawa reminds her, but it does indicate there may have been sabotage of the metaphasic shield.

On the bridge, Counselor Troi express great concern for Crusher and that she's been avoiding her every time. Picard concedes that and with surprise, Data picks up an unscheduled shuttle launch. Riker checks his instruments and finds no flight plan and learns from the viewscreen it's the Justman . Picard establishes visual communication and he and the bridge crew are horrified to learn that Crusher herself is piloting the shuttle, in an attempt to test a theory.

Act Five [ ]

Crusher explains that the shield does work, but it was sabotaged in the first test. Picard order her to come back, but she is determined and apologizes. She's already isolated the navigational system and is too close to the star for Worf to attempt to stop the shuttle with a tractor beam . Picard tries to reason with her to no avail even as the temperature rises. After a few minutes, it appears that the shield is working. Crusher is delighted and tells Picard that one of the three remaining scientists must be the murderer. She asks that he confine them to quarters and post security guards, but just then the communication terminates.

On board the Justman , Jo'Bril emerges from his hiding place in a compartment armed with a phaser and tells Dr. Crusher that his species are able to control their metabolic function to the point where they can simulate death. Crusher realizes he heard all her plans while lying "dead" on a slab in the morgue . Jo'Bril demands that she steps away from the controls; while he inputs a set of commands to send out a transient subspace signal which would simulate a warp core breach in the shuttle according to the Enterprise 's sensors. He thanks her and admits the metaphasic shield is real. He wanted to discredit Reyga to have the technology for himself. Now with a prototype, he'll wait until the Enterprise leaves (its sensors cannot penetrate the star's corona). Then, he'll take her and the shuttle back to Takara , his homeworld , to perfect the technique and weaponize it.

Dr. Jo'Bril is shot but not killed by Dr. Crusher

With surprise, Crusher attacks Jo'Bril and inputs commands to take the shuttle deeper into the star's corona. The sudden descent catches Jo'Bril off guard and backs into a wall, dropping his phaser to the floor of the shuttle. Both doctors engage in a struggle for the weapon after Crusher grabs it. Seeing an attack of opportunity, Crusher delivers an elbow strike to his face, dazing him long enough for her to follow up with a painful roundhouse kick to his chest, sending him down while training her newly-acquired phaser at him. Jo'Bril immediately gets up and Crusher fires at him, blowing a hole in his torso. To her shock, this doesn't slow him down at all, only serving to annoy him. Crusher quickly adjusts the setting and shoots him again at maximum level, killing Jo'Bril by vaporization. She immediately adjusts heading and returns to the Enterprise . On board the Enterprise , the crew are beginning a search for shuttle debris when the Justman emerges from the star's corona and Dr. Crusher tells them she finally has the answers about Reyga's murder.

Crusher returns to the Enterprise , where she is reinstated to active duty. In Ten Forward , she finds Guinan standing at the bar . Crusher opens the present she brought her as thanks for her encouragement – a tennis racket of the latest design she replicated, so that Guinan will never get tennis elbow again – but Guinan admits she has never played tennis .

Log entries [ ]

Chief medical officer's personal log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
Chief medical officer's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Well, you better go to sickbay. I think Dr. Selar's on duty. " " I don't want to see Dr. Selar, I always see you. I'm very particular about my doctors. " " Well, you better get a new one because I'm not a doctor on this ship anymore. "

" I can hear Admiral Brooks now telling me how I've disgraced Starfleet Medical. Then, a leisurely day and a half before the formal inquiry begins and my career ends. " " Beverly… my elbow. "

" You know, I've never been to a formal inquiry. " " Well, I'll see if I can arrange one for you. All you have to do is disobey orders, violate medical ethics and cause an interstellar incident. " " Well, I guess that would do it. "

" I saw… the sun! "

" I don't want you to get involved in this." " Is that an order, doctor? " " Yes! " " Too bad you're not my boss anymore. "

" Thank you, Doctor. This looks like a great racket but, uh… I don't play tennis. Never have. "

Background information [ ]

Production history [ ].

Final draft script: 25 February 1993 [1]
Premiere airdate: 10 May 1993
First UK airdate: 6 December 1995

Story and script [ ]

Joe Menosky 's original story, while involving the murder of a Ferengi scientist, ended with the revelation that warp drive was destroying the fabric of space. This element was later revived for the seventh season episode " Force of Nature ". ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (2nd ed., p. 247))
The story went through many versions. Originally, it featured Worf and included film noir elements such as flashbacks, dissolves and voiceover narration. Rick Berman only hesitantly approved this, feeling that the voiceovers would conflict with the captain's log . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (2nd ed., p. 247); Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 277)
Worf was replaced with Beverly Crusher as the staff thought that he was being overused. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (2nd ed., p. 247)) Jeri Taylor recalled, " What I really wanted was a vehicle for Beverly. I felt we had given Troi some really nice things to do, Beverly has had more to do within a number of episodes but she did not have one that was all hers. We wanted to give her something atypical and not a female role. The idea of her playing a Private Eye or Quincy was very appealing. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 278)
Michael Piller rejected several drafts as unexciting until the staff came up with the twist that the first apparent victim was the perpetrator. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (2nd ed., p. 247))
The producers learned that this would be Whoopi Goldberg 's last opportunity to appear in the season. Accordingly, further rewrites were necessary to insert Guinan . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (2nd ed., p. 247))
Ronald D. Moore commented, " It was just a never-ending, never-waking nightmare. Keep the murder mystery, lose the warp thing, move Worf out, keep the flashbacks, lose the film noir, insert Beverly – it was just arrgh ! " ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (2nd ed., p. 247))
Naren Shankar added, " It was a misery. It was a troubled script. There'd been two other attempts to do murder mysteries and they hadn't worked out – then we tried to do this and the whole thing was a clusterfuck. " ( Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , p. 304)

Cast and characters [ ]

This episode marks the final appearance of Guinan on the series, though she remains on the Enterprise -D. She plays an integral role in Star Trek Generations and has a brief appearance in Star Trek Nemesis and would return in the first and last episodes of Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard .
According to director Cliff Bole , several scenes with Dr. Reyga ( Peter Slutsker ) were reshot. " He was a scientist, so I said that means he's got a little more compassion, maybe he's not as oily as the rest of them. I think I went too far and the guys asked me to reshoot a few scenes. Rick Berman said, 'Don't forget, they're still Ferengis [sic] .' " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 278)
Stock footage from the fourth season episode " Final Mission " is used, including Mary Kohnert as Ensign Allenby .

Continuity [ ]

The metaphasic shield technology was later used by the Enterprise -D under the command of Dr. Crusher in " Descent, Part II " to combat the Borg. James Horan also guest starred in that episode, but as Lieutenant Barnaby , an Enterprise -D crewmember.
In this episode, it is stated that Ferengi are to be buried after death and are very adamant that the body not be "violated" before burial. On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , a different Ferengi death ritual for Grand Nagus Zek and for Quark is shown involving vacuum-desiccated remains that are sold to the highest bidder. ( DS9 : " The Nagus ", " Body Parts ") However, since the Deep Space Nine episode refers specifically to the Grand Nagus' funeral as appropriate for a Ferengi "of his stature," it may be that death ritual of vacuum-desiccated remains does not apply to the Ferengi scientist in this episode because, as a disgraced failure, there would be no (financial) interest in his remains.

Video and DVD releases [ ]

UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 74, 22 November 1993
As part of the TNG Season 6 DVD 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 [ ]

Patti Yasutake as Alyssa Ogawa
Tricia O'Neil as Kurak
Peter Slutsker as Reyga
James Horan as Jo'Bril
John S. Ragin as Christopher
Joan Stuart Morris as T'Pan

Special guest star [ ]

Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan

Co-star [ ]

Majel Barrett as Computer Voice

Stunt doubles [ ]

Tom Morga as stunt double for James Horan
Patricia Tallman as stunt double for Gates McFadden

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 [ ]

2354 ; accusation ; Altine Conference ; autonomic functions scan ; autopsy files ; baryon ; bearing ; board of inquiry ; Brooks ; cabin ; career ; cellular level ; Celsius ; " contradiction in terms "; cortical stimulator ; data ; DNA ; Earth ; Ferengi ; Ferengi death ritual ; Ferengi government ; Ferengi ship ; field emitter coil ; field test ; fired ; forensic clues ; formal inquiry ; humanoid species ; Justman ; Kelvin ; Klingon ; medical logs ; medical personnel ; medical tricorder ; metaphasic shield ; Midsummer Night's Dream, A ; millimeter ; Mintakan tapestry ; medical ethics ; morgue ; organic tissue ; painting ; phased ionic pulse ; plasma infuser ; poison ; polarity ; Qo'noS ; rad ; radiation ; Reyga's family ; science laboratory ( Science Labs 1, 4, 16 ); science station ; scientific community ; scientific diplomat ; scientific diplomacy ; scientist ; security guard ; Selar ; sextant ; sickbay ; slander ; Starbase 23 ; Starfleet Medical ; subspace morphology ; subspace technology ; subspace theoretician ; methodology ; Takara ; Takaran ; temperature ; tennis ; tennis elbow ; tennis racket ; tetryon ; tetryon radiation ; transporter lock ; Type 6 shuttlecraft ; Vaytan ; Vulcan Science Academy

Other references [ ]

Takaran anatomy: aorta ; bronchus ; carotid artery ; coronal section ; epigastric ; heart ; jugular vein ; large intestine ; lateral sternal ; liver ; small intestine ; lung ; parasternal ; stomach ; superior vena cava ; thyroid ; torso ; trachea ; umbilical
Metaphasic Shielding Project: field density ; measurement probe ; metaphasic project ; metaphasic shielding report
Metaphasic Project 33121: emitter array ; line amp

External links [ ]

" Suspicions " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
" Suspicions " at Wikipedia
"Suspicions" at StarTrek.com
" "Suspicions" " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
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Recap / Star Trek The Next Generation S 6 E 20 Suspicions

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Guinan pays a visit to Doctor Crusher to get treatment for tennis elbow, only for Crusher to explain that she is no longer a doctor on the Enterprise. Cue opening credits.

Doctor Crusher explains that she hosted a scientific conference on board the Enterprise so the Ferengi scientist Reyga can test a shield that will allow a shuttlecraft to survive in a star's corona. Also attending the conference are the Klingon scientist Kurak, the Vulcan scientist T'Pan, T'Pan's human scientist husband Christopher, and the Takaran scientist Jo'Bril. Jo'Bril volunteers to test the shield.

The test flight appears to be going well, but suddenly the shielding fails. The shuttle survives the experiment, but Jo'Bril does not.

Doctor Crusher performs an autopsy on Jo'Bril, but her inexperience with Takaran Bizarre Alien Biology means she can't get any conclusive results. However, she decides to cancel the conference and forbids any further experiments with Reyga's shield.

A few hours later, Reyga is found dead in an apparent suicide. Crusher suspects that Reyga was murdered, but she can't learn more without performing an autopsy. Unfortunately, Reyga's family refuses to allow Crusher to "defile" Reyga's corpse.

Crusher asks the surviving scientists about Reyga's death. T'Pan and Christopher have alibis, but they overheard an argument between Reyga and Kurak shortly before Reyga was found dead. Crusher confronts Kurak, who attacks her. Crusher is undeterred and intimidates Kurak into telling her about the argument. Kurak reveals that Reyga accused her of sabotaging the experiment. Kurak denies Reyga's allegation, but refuses to answer whether she killed Reyga.

Crusher, seeing no other avenues to continue her investigation, defies Picard's orders and performs an autopsy on Reyga's corpse, only to find nothing useful. Crusher admits what she did to Picard, who relieves her of duty pending a hearing at Starfleet Medical.

Back in the present, Guinan convinces Crusher not to give up her investigation. Crusher asks Data about how a saboteur could have sabotaged Reyga's shield. After a bit of technobable, Crusher concludes that if the shield was sabotaged, Jo'Bril's corpse should have tetryon particles. With Nurse Ogawa's help, Crusher examines the autopsy report for Jo'Bril and finds that the particles are indeed present.

Doctor Crusher steals the shuttle used in the experiment so she can repeat the experiment and prove that the shield works. After flying in the corona, she finds her communications jammed. Jo'Bril reveals himself: it turns out that Takarans have the ability to pretend to be dead while remaining conscious. Jo'Bril reveals that he murdered and discredited Reyga so he could create the shield himself. However, Doctor Crusher has presented him with an even better opportunity: he will fake the shuttle's destruction and take the shield to his people, where he will turn it into a weapon. Crusher overpowers and disarms Jo'Bril and kills him in self-defense.

Later, Doctor Crusher visits Guinan in Ten Forward to inform her that she has been reinstated as Chief Medical Officer and to give her a tennis racket that will help prevent her from getting tennis elbow again. Guinan sheepishly admits that she doesn't actually play tennis.

This episode was Whoopi Goldberg 's last appearance as Guinan in the Next Generation television series, although she would later appear in Star Trek: Generations and make a cameo in Star Trek: Nemesis before returning to the role again for Star Trek: Picard .

Action Girl : Doctor Crusher manages to stare down Kurak after she attacked her as well as disarm and kill the nearly invincible Jo'Bril.
Bizarre Alien Biology : The biological functions of Takarans are much more evenly distributed among their organs than in most other beings, so that they are far less susceptible to injury. They can also feign death. This comes in handy for Jo'Bril, who fakes his death and even survives an autopsy afterwards.
Caught Monologuing : At the climax of the episode, Jo'Bril is so busy explaining his Evil Plan to Crusher that she is able to kick the phaser from his hand, giving her the chance she needs to overpower him.
Early-Installment Weirdness : Picard mentions that Ferengi bury their dead. Deep Space Nine would later establish that Ferengi sell all of their body parts to the highest bidder when they die. It could simply be that Reyga's family doesn't share the same customs as most Ferengi (Reyga himself already breaks a few stereotypes), though the wording in some places seems to imply that ritual burial is commonplace.
Faking the Dead : Jo'Bril, whose species has the natural ability to simulate death so perfectly that Doctor Crusher performs an autopsy on him while he's still alive. He also had half his midsection removed by a phaser and it barely slowed him down.
How We Got Here : Most of the episode consists of Doctor Crusher telling Guinan why she is no longer Chief Medical Officer.
Implacable Man : Jo'Bril can survive an autopsy as well as getting a hole blown in his torso. Doctor Crusher is forced to disintegrate him to stop him.
Klingon Scientists Get No Respect : Reyga is looked down upon by his fellow Ferengi for being a scientist and not picking a more profitable career. According to Kurak's actress, Kurak is also a victim of this, as Klingons don't have much respect for intellectuals - in-universe, Beverly suspects this as well, thinking "I don't think Klingons regard scientists very highly; [Kurak] always seemed a little defensive."
You would think that Beverly would involve Worf in her investigation, since it's one of his primary duties. Worf is a main character, but in a focus episode, everyone gets pushed out.
For that matter, why is a medical doctor so interested in the development of shield technology to enter a star? Wouldn't this fall under the more broad sciences division, where Data is the Chief Science Officer?
Mistaken Death Confirmation : When Enterprise retrieves the shuttlecraft, Jo'Bril is supine and inert, and Doctor Crusher declares him dead, moving his body to the morgue. As it turns out, Jo'Bril was only mimicking death , aiming to take credit for the Ferengi scientist's invention.
My Species Doth Protest Too Much : Reyga knows how unusual it is to see a Ferengi scientist, which he jokes "is almost a contradiction in terms."
Never Suicide : Jo'Bril kills Reyga and attempts to make it appear as though the Ferengi committed suicide over his experiment's failure.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! : Why Crusher bucks orders and performs the autopsy on Reyga.
Talking to the Dead : When Crusher proves that Reyga's metaphasic shielding works. Crusher: Congratulations, Dr. Reyga. You did it.
That's an Order! : Played with when Ogawa decides to help Crusher. Crusher: I don't want you to get involved in this. Ogawa: Is that an order, Doctor? Crusher: Yes . Ogawa: Too bad you're not my boss any more (grins).
There Is No Kill Like Overkill : Inverted; the phaser's regular "kill" setting isn't enough to stop Jo'Bril, so Dr. Crusher has to use the maximum disintegration setting to stop him.
Wrongful Accusation Insurance : While trying to prove that Reyga was murdered, Crusher causes an international incident by performing an autopsy on Reyga's corpse without his family's consent, and also steals a shuttlecraft. At the end of the episode, she is cleared of all charges and resumes her duties.
Star Trek: The Next Generation S6E19 "Frame of Mind"
Recap/Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek The Next Generation S 6 E 21 Rightful Heir

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The star gazer, into the forest i go.

The crew of the USS Enterprise-D, while on a mission to investigate a mysterious new radiation source, discovers a scientist named Dr. Reyga, who is attempting to research potentially groundbreaking technology. Dr. Reyga is quite a unique individual, as he is a Ferengi, a species who are usually considered to be untrustworthy, and is working on a project involving metaphasic shielding. Meanwhile, Dr. Crusher worries for the safety of her patient, as he has been exhibiting unusual symptoms which the other members of the crew believe may have something to do with the radiation source.

The crew soon discovers that the radiation source is in fact metaphasic shielding, and they are able to replicate the technology with the help of Dr. Reyga, creating a prototype metaphasic shield that is able to protect the ship from the hazardous radiation. However, Dr. Crusher’s suspicions are confirmed when she discovers that Dr. Reyga is exhibiting the same symptoms as her patient. It is soon revealed that Dr. Reyga has been attempting to hide the truth from the crew, as the prototype metaphasic shield is extremely dangerous and could potentially kill anyone who interacts with it.

Dr. Crusher is then put in the difficult position of having to decide whether or not to trust the Ferengi doctor, despite his untrustworthy nature. However, she is ultimately convinced by the fact that Dr. Reyga genuinely believes in the power of the technology, and is willing to take on the risks of using it. To prove his trustworthiness, Dr. Reyga volunteers to be the first to test the metaphasic shield, but the experiment quickly begins to take a turn for the worse.

Desperate to save the life of her patient, Dr. Crusher devises a plan to use the metaphasic shield in a modified form to shield the patient from the radiation and restore his health. However, despite her best efforts, the patient’s condition worsens and he eventually passes away. Though Dr. Reyga and the rest of the crew are devastated by the loss, they are relieved to find out that the metaphasic shield was not the cause of the patient’s death.

In the wake of the tragedy, Dr. Reyga is accepted as a member of the crew and his metaphasic shield is installed on the ship, allowing them to explore the radiation source safely. Dr. Crusher also learns to accept the risks that come with trusting others, understanding that it is sometimes necessary in order to save lives. In the end, the crew of the USS Enterprise-D have gained a valuable ally in Dr. Reyga, and have proven that even the most untrustworthy individual can still be of use.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation : “Suspicions”/“Rightful Heir”

“Suspicions” (first aired 5/8/1993)

Or The One Where Dead Men Walk And Beverly Desecrates a Corpse

Dr. Beverly Crusher should’ve been one of TNG ’s best characters. She’s smart, she’s a doctor (doctor’s are cool, right?), she’s got red-hair—but most importantly, she’s a likeable, appealing nerd, more stable than Geordi, less alien than Data. In a just world, she could’ve been everything Deanna Troi wasn’t: a strong female character who didn’t exist solely to titillate male fans, someone whose passion and ability were outside the often narrow expectations for genre heroines. Instead, we got someone who was never given the opportunity to live up to her potential. Gates McFadden is a solid actress, but too often, her character has been relegated to back-up roles, interjecting occasional medical jargon to give color to scenes, or else worrying to one side about whether or not Wesley was getting enough fun in his life. Admittedly, she’s part of the ensemble, which means she’s not going to be center-stage all the time; there are plenty of episodes where, say, Riker’s primary contribution is grinning like a jackass, or Data exists only to misinterpret basic sayings. But, much as with Troi, Beverly’s solo outings rarely do well by her. “Remember Me,” whatever my reservations, had the right idea; none of this, “Oh no, I’ve fallen in love with an ambassador so my story has to be all about feelings!” crap. (Weirdly enough, I graded “The Host,” an episode with just that premise, higher than “Remember Me.” Sometimes, I don’t make a whole lot of sense.)

“Suspicions,” in concept, falls into the former category. It has Beverly getting passionate about science, which is all kinds of awesome, and it has her going on adventures and fighting crime—and I’m a fan of these things. Unfortunately, “Suspicions” is also mediocre. While Picard and Data and even Riker get to have grown-up adventures, Beverly is stuck Nancy Drew-ing her way through a mystery populated by uninteresting, generic characters, with a lot of chumped-up drama and a solution that seems clever, but doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The good doctor is likeable as ever, but the whole episode has the feel of a bizarre spin-off series that never quite came into focus. It’s the sort of story that works only as background television; occasionally smart, never too much of a downer, but best viewed with your mind largely focused on something else.

Oddly enough, “Suspicions” opens with a framing device. Beverly is in her quarters, wearing her civilian clothes and packing, when Guinan comes to visit. Guinan has a story all prepared—she and Geordi were playing tennis, and she thinks she’s injured her elbow—but what really happened is that Guinan’s magical mentor sense started tingling, and she decided to meddle where she was needed. Beverly brusquely informs Guinan that “I’m not a doctor on this ship anymore,” which is a shock, and after sufficient pestering, Guinan gets the good ex-doctor to spill some exposition. About half the episode is taken up with the tale Beverly tells next. It’s a not entirely unfamiliar structure, but I’m not really sure why it’s necessary. The mystery of just how Beverly lost her job, and just why she’s going up for a court martial, isn’t a bad way to start us off, but telling events in a more linear fashion might’ve created more suspense. Or maybe not. This one was never going to be a thrill-a-minute, however it unfolded.

Beverly explains to Guinan that a Ferengi scientist named Dr. Reyga had developed a process of multiphasic shielding. If it worked, the new kind of shield would have huge ramifications for, um, space science. But given that nobody really likes Ferengi (yes, that’s right, after nearly six seasons worth of sniveling cartoons, TNG has finally decided we need to learn a valuable lesson about judging sentient beings by their species), Reyga is having a difficult time getting the word out. Beverly is so impressed by Reyga’s work, and so frustrated by the lack of attention it’s getting, that she takes it on herself to invite Reyga aboard the Enterprise, so that he can present his work to a group of influential scientists from around the galaxy. Only four of those scientists answer Beverly’s evite, but it’s a start, and the doctor is so confident in Reyga’s work, she’s sure that everyone else will be too.

There’s a lot to like in this set-up. While a moderately attended conference about a made-up science fiction technology doesn’t scream excitement (especially since the importance of the technology is entirely abstract; “multiphasic shield” sounds cool, but it has no inherent meaning, unlike, say, “chronology shifting device”), it’s charming to see someone get so worked up about research and knowledge, without there having to be any immediate personal gain involved. TNG has all kinds of positive ideas about the future, but the one that always registers the strongest with me is the idea that tomorrow might be a place where people go to celebrate learning. There’s a certain degree of pettiness among the scientists Beverly invites—given the turn events take, that pettiness is necessary to make everyone involved a potential suspect. (Besides, considering how far she cast her net with invitations, and how few respond, maybe she just ended up with the dregs.) But that doesn’t take away the fact that Beverly was able to arrange all of this on board the ship with a minimum of fuss, for a gathering that wasn’t going to make her or the Enterprise any money. I’m not doing a good job explaining myself here, and I’m probably over-emphasizing the point as well, but given how much of our culture is suspicious or even hostile to knowledge and study, it’s nice to watch a show where the opposite is true.

Plus, there’s Beverly, pulling all of this together purely based on her own enthusiasm. In a way, it’s surprising that Beverly is the one running all this, and not Geordi, or even Barclay; shields seem more of an engineering concern than a medical one, although Beverly’s ability to perform autopsies will become important later on. But this does help add a bit of depth to her character, and it certainly doesn’t contradict anything we’ve seen before. (I even have vague memories of her broad range of interests in the past. Something to do with physics, I think.) And, for all the reasons I’ve already stated above, it’s just neat to have her working on this sort of thing.

But, in case the title didn’t clue you in, “Suspicions” isn’t just a simple tale of shared study and rigorous debate. To convince the others that his work is a success, Reyga proposes a test drive of the system. Jo’Bril, a Takaran scientist, the first one Beverly’s ever met (if this isn’t setting off alarm bells, it should), volunteers to pilot a shuttle into the corona of a nearby sun to test the multiphasic shield’s strength. The test goes well, right up until the point where it doesn’t, leaving Jo’Bril apparently dead. The other scientists assume that the shield failed, but Reyga refuses to accept this, pleading with Beverly for another test run so he can prove the original failure was a fluke or act of sabotage. But before he can follow through on this, he winds up dead, an apparent suicide, only Beverly doesn’t think it is a suicide—and of course she’s right.

Jo’Bril’s the bad guy here, trying to discredit Reyga’s research so he can steal it for himself. After his “death,” “Suspicions” makes a point of calling to our attention just how odd his corpse is, how there’s little cellular degeneration, and how Beverly doesn’t know a whole lot about Takara physiology. It’s not screamingly obvious—”killing” the criminal is a decent way to throw off the scent, and for a while, I thought the lady Vulcan and her human husband might be responsible, although that would mean disregarding some other clues. (I never thought it was the Klingon.) Beverly’s confrontation with Jo’Bril in the shuttle at the end was intense enough, and while Jo’Bril was on the mustache-twirling side, he at least had a halfway decent escape plan. But how the hell did he get out of the morgue? While Jo’Bril was faking his own death, he had to lie in the morgue for days on end. Beverly did an autopsy on him at some point, even, which can’t have been comfortable.

While I would’ve been willing to accept that future autopsies are much more invasive than modern ones, the reason Beverly temporarily loses her job is because she goes ahead and performs an autopsy on Reyga’s corpse against his family’s wishes. Which would seem to imply that future autopsies affect the body about as much as modern ones do, so how the hell did Jo’Bril survive it? But okay, Beverly didn’t know much about the Takarans, so maybe she didn’t really do an in-depth, hole-poking study of the so-called corpse. (Although you’d think a doctor would be even more thorough on a body from an unfamiliar species, if only for her own records.) Plus, we’re never given specifics on just how resilient Jo’Bril is when he’s playing possum, so who knows. That still doesn’t explain the ease with which Jo’Bril was able to extricate himself from his corpse drawer, sneak through the ship, and stow away in the shuttle Beverly ends up stealing for her final attempt to prove the shield works. How did he know which shuttle to pick? How did he know what time to break out of Sick Bay?

Jumping back to the main story, there’s also the fact that no one here outside of Beverly really behaves as they normally do. People are initially supportive, but as situation grows more tense, and Beverly becomes increasingly determined to get to the bottom of what’s happening, Picard, Riker, and Troi all do their best to get in the way. Picard becomes a sort of impotent father figure, offering promises of threats and moral instruction without putting much effort into backing it up; Riker actually takes Beverly aside and tells her, basically, to shut the hell up and let it go; and Troi is actively worried about Beverly’s mental health. They tell her she’s obsessed, that she’s pushing too hard for answers, and while the episode does it’s best to make it seem like they have a point, these attempts to create more drama and tension—oh no, will Beverly find the killer before she’s taken off the case for good—are too artificial and strained to work. Beverly crosses a line when she breaks down and autopsies Reyga against his family’s wishes, but she’s never irrational or unhinged. In fact, the behavior of the non-Crusher Enterprise crew (excluding Guinan, of course) is surprisingly similar to the behavior of the imaginary crew in “Remember Me.” But where those characters were constructs of Beverly’s mind who could only behave as she believed they would, the Picard et al. of “Suspicions” are as real as they get.

So, basically, this could’ve been cool, but isn’t, mostly. The mystery relies on sci-fi magic to work, and even then requires a heftier-than-justified suspension of disbelief. The characters, both crew and guests, are shallow and uninspired, and by and large, this feels tossed off; it’s understandable that you get the occasional less than perfect episode in a batch of 20-plus, but seems a shame for it to happen to someone who really did deserve better.

Stray Observations:

Yes, yes, I know: “Just wait until you get to ‘Sub Rosa.’”
Convenient how Beverly got her job back and the Ferengi family no longer had any problems with her. I thought her career was in danger because she disobeyed orders, not because she hadn’t solved the case yet. (I guess the Ferengi were so happy she proved Reyga was murdered—and that she executed his killer—that they were able to move on. That still doesn’t cancel out the fact that she disregarded Picard’s commands.)
This was Guinan’s last appearance on TNG . Which is something, I guess.

“Rightful Heir” (first aired: 5/15/1993)

Or The One Where Worf Looks To Find A Reason To Believe

Faith is the art of investing in expectation. You believe in something in the hope that, someday, you’ll find that belief confirmed, either by achieving some kind of transcendence in the afterlife, or by having your regular existence transformed for the better. What’s fascinating is that having that expectation fulfilled means an end to the faith that brought you to that fulfillment. That’s fine if you’re just having faith in, oh I don’t know, becoming a professional writer—once you start publishing your work, you don’t need faith anymore. (You need confidence, which is like faith, but dresses better.) And if you believe in the divinity of Jesus, well, odds are you’ll be able to hold onto that until you die, at which point who cares if you’re thrust into an existential crisis. But what would happen—if you believe Jesus was the Son of God—if you were to open your door tomorrow morning and find him on the stoop? Once you cleaned away the doubts and the second guessing, once you were absolutely sure this was Christ in the flesh, sipping your coffee and complimenting you on the decor… what happens next? And what happens when you try and bring Jesus back to the world?

In “Rightful Heir,” it’s Kahless we’re dealing with, not Jesus, but while he isn’t really a “turn the other cheek” kind of guy, Kahless serves much the same purpose for his people as Jesus did for his. Kahless is a symbol of all that’s good and right in Klingon culture: He defined the warrior spirit, he helped turn violence into something more than just chaos and blood, and he gave his followers an ethos to commit to, a belief that made them a part of something bigger than themselves. Given the sad state of Klingon affairs, with its government struggling to get beyond decades of institutionalized corruption and decadence, it’s only natural that the people may be clamoring for greater spiritual guidance. But that doesn’t mean Gowron, the current head Klingon, is going to be all that happy when Kahless shows up, demanding to take his rightful place on the throne. That’s the problem with these damn heroes of myth—no respect for due process.

“Heir” is another Worf episode, and a much better one than the two-parter from earlier this season. It addresses a problem that’s been building for some time in our favorite security chief, in a way that recognizes the complexity of his situation, as well as allowing him to define his own path. If Beverly is a character who’s never been allowed to live up to her potential, Worf is the opposite, a secondary lead who’s put in his dues in the background, but has been rewarded with a run of showcase episodes that share a gratifyingly consistent level of quality and insight. There are bad apples in the lot (Remember Alexander? “Heir” sure doesn’t!), but not many, and if you were to pull out all the Worf-centric eps from the run of the series and watch them back to back, like a sort of stealth spin-off, I’d bet they’d hold up well. Certainly better than if you did the same with any other major character on the show, apart from Picard and Data.

Worf begins “Heir” in crisis. After the events of “Birthright,” he’s been adrift, missing something in his life but unsure of how to reconnect with his past. After he’s late for a shift on the bridge and nearly sets his apartment on fire doing a Klingon ritual, Picard puts him on mandatory vacation, kicking him off the ship until he can find what he needs and refocus on his duties on the Enterprise . Worf heads to Boreth, to join a group of dirty Klingon hippies who spend their days staring into flames hoping for visions. Worf soon gets sick of the process and is about to leave, when one of the clerics who runs the place convinces him to stick around a little longer. And wouldn’t you know it, the next time Worf settles in for a good long look, Kahless appears. Except this isn’t a vision—everyone can see him. The Klingon who promised to return over 1,000 years ago has finally made good on his promise. Which is a bit of a head-screw, to be sure.

There are a lot of things that make “Heir” work—its clear, believable view of Klingon culture; the actor playing Kahless (Kevin Conway); and Worf getting a chance to put all the stuff he’s learned over the years about himself and his people to good use. What struck me hardest watching it for review was how expertly Ron Moore (working off a story by James Brooks) manages to build up belief in a seemingly impossible revelation. There’s no way this Kahless could be the actual Kahless. While TNG was never afraid to get vauge or semi-magical with its “science,” having someone return from the dead in a purely religious context is beyond the bounds of the show by a fair margin. There had to be some kind of sci-fi explanation for his re-emergence, and we do get one eventually—but until we do, Moore plays things close enough to the vest that I really wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Even if I knew, intellectually, Kahless was a phony, emotionally, I was in the same place as Worf—skeptical, but wanting to believe.

It doesn’t hurt that Kahless is an amazing guy, and not just because he has a century’s worth of epic tales to back him up. Conway plays him exactly as you’d want a Klingon spiritual leader to be: lusty, cheerful, passionate, and, when necessary, profound. There’s no sense of ulterior motive in the performance, which makes sense when we learn the truth: this Kahless is actually cloned from the blood of the original Kahless. The clerics on Boreth then implanted all their accumulated knowledge and lore of the real Kahless in the clone’s brain, and tried to pass him off as the Second Coming. The cloned Kahless doesn’t know any of this, and if “Heir” has a fault, it’s that we’re never really privy to how he handles the revelation of what he really is. Once the head cleric confesses to Worf, clone Kahless goes quiet, and when he does speak again, he acts much the same as he did before. His fortune changes dramatically in the span of a few hours, going from a reborn messiah to a test tube baby to the new Emperor and spiritual leader of the Klingon empire. That’s got to mess with your head.

But hey, this is Worf’s story, not Kahless’s, and “Heir” is probably better for that. Worf goes from desperate seeker, to skeptic, to passionate follower, to… something else, and Michael Dorn handles each transition ably and convincingly. Kahless’s sudden appearance sets off warning bells for Worf, because it’s too perfect. “Heir” understands that just because we pray for something (or, for us atheists, just because we yearn for something really, really hard), that doesn’t mean we expect our prayers to be answered literally. When Worf travels to Boreth, he’s trying to regain the unquestioning devotion to Klingon culture that defined much of his life. He grew up apart from his own race, and that outsider status, as a Klingon in the Federation, meant that his knowledge of who he was supposed to be came purely from books and theory. He aspired to be the purest, most idealized version of Klingon-hood, and it was inevitable that when he’d finally reconnect with actual living Klingon culture, he would be disappointed. His time teaching young people in “Birthright”—young people who, while still being raised by Klingon parents, were still in their way as orphaned from their society as Worf had been—reminded him of the purity of faith he once had, while at the same time failing to resolve the disillusionment that has been eroding that purity ever since he got involved with actual Klingon politics. So he goes to Boreth, because that’s what a Klingon in spiritual crisis is supposed to do, and he gets exactly what he’s supposed to want, and it gets awkward.

There is a period of time when Worf does believe, but it’s telling that what converts him (for a while, anyway) is Beverly’s scientific proof of the new Kahless’s connection to the old one. (She matches his DNA with the sword blood DNA, and of course, they match.) Worf has passed beyond a point where he will blindly accept anything—he wants to believe, he says to Kahless, but the fact that there’s a gap between wanting and actual belief shows how much he’s changed over the years. He brings Kahless aboard the Enterprise to transport him back to the Klingon home-world, and tries to convince the rest of the crew that it’s possible they’re witnessing a true rebirth. Worf seems convinced himself, but it’s a conviction he sheds at the first sign of doubt, when Kahless, supposedly the greatest Klingon warrior to ever live, loses a fight to Gowron. When Worf learns the truth, he’s so amazed by the gall of it that he laughs. The knowledge, the final nail in the coffin of his belief in Klingon idealism (First the government lets him down, now Jesus?) could’ve made him bitter, but doesn’t; and after talking with Data, of all people, he realizes that this is an opportunity. Just because Kahless isn’t “real” won’t stop people from believing in him. And the Klingon people desperately need someone to believe in.

The episode deals with the potential ramifications of a savior reborn, bringing Gowron back into the picture and showing how reluctant a political leader would be to embrace a spiritual power—but mostly, this is Worf’s show. He watches, he considers, and in the end, he’s responsible for guiding the Klingon empire back on its course. He begins the story adrift; then he gets what he thinks he wants, and realizes it isn’t what he needed it to be. But instead of losing his way again or giving up entirely, Worf realizes that faith is what matters, not the fulfillment. His own faith goes from an unquestioning devotion to something more mature. He respects the ideals Kahless represents, without the need to invest in the man himself. That gives him the maturity to recognize what the others fail to see: The cloned Kahless is still a symbol of what could be. For someone who’s spent much of his life blindly worshiping a culture that continually failed to deserve such commitment, Worf is someone who understands how important ideals can be, even if they remain forever outside your grasp.

Picard and the others, except for Data, are skeptical of Kahless’ legitimacy. While they’re right to be skeptical, the way the episode is constructed, I felt more on Worf’s side then theirs; for once, that seemed like an intentional choice.
Data is terrific in this episode. His speech—about deciding to try and raise above the limits of his programming by believing himself to be capable of more—was unexpected and powerful. (“Unexpected” just because the rest of the episode was so Worf-centric, I didn’t think Data would get the spotlight when he did.)
“So I chose to believe that I was a person, that I had a potential to be more than a collection of circuits and sub-processors.”
Every time I see Gowron, I want to cup my hands so I can catch his eyes when they pop out of his skull.

Next week: We see if there are “Second Chances,” and then explore the “Timescape.”

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"Suspicions" was the 148th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation , the 22nd episode of the show's sixth season , first aired during the week of 10 May 1993 . The episode was written by Joe Menosky MA & Naren Shankar MA and directed by Cliff Bole MA .

1.1 Characters
1.2 Starships
1.3 Locations
1.4 Races and cultures
1.5 States and organisations
2 Appendices
3.2.1 Timeline
3.3 External link

References [ ]

Characters [ ], starships [ ], locations [ ], races and cultures [ ], states and organisations [ ], appendices [ ], related media [ ].

Connections [ ]

Timeline [ ], external link [ ].

" Suspicions " article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
1 The Chase
2 Preserver (race)
3 Totality (Andromeda)

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Star Trek The Next Generation: Suspicions

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I don't pay a whole lot of heed to the science of Star Trek, not that I could understand it if I tried. Me, either. I'm a librarian, not a starship engineer. :) (and they promptly vacuum-desiccate and sell him?) Very funny. Fake-gruesome is worse than both not-at-all gruesome and very gruesome. Actually, I'm not into grue but I really liked that particular gruesome effect. They'd covered it by explaining Jo'Bril's physiology. Yeah, not a great episode. It felt like they didn't know quite what they were doing, and it could have been so much better.

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Suspicions (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

" Suspicions " is the 148th episode of the syndicated American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation , the 22nd episode of the sixth season .

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Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D . In this episode, relieved of duty and facing a court martial, Dr. Beverly Crusher ( Gates McFadden ) tells of her support of a Ferengi scientist (Peter Slutsker) and the trouble that ensued from an applied test of his theory.

This episode aired in broadcast syndication the week of May 8, 1993. [1]

Guinan ( Whoopi Goldberg ) visits Dr. Beverly Crusher ( Gates McFadden ) in her quarters, complaining of " tennis elbow ". Crusher breaks the news that she is no longer a doctor on the Enterprise and will be facing a court martial . She tells Guinan the whole story. [2]

A Ferengi scientist, Dr. Reyga (Peter Slutsker), has created a metaphasic shielding technique, but racial profiling and his unorthodox methods have left most scientists in the field ignoring his work. Dr. Crusher decided to play the role of a "scientific diplomat" and invite other scientists versed in the field to come to the Enterprise and view a demonstration of the doctor's prototype. As they are all skeptical, they decide that someone other than the Ferengi should pilot the shuttle outfitted with the shielding. Jo'Bril ( James Horan ), a Takaran, volunteers. [2]

At the test flight, they all watch from the bridge as Jo'Bril enters the star. Everything seems to be going as planned until suddenly Jo'Bril becomes short of breath, and barely pilots the shuttle out of the star before dying. Everyone considers Reyga a failure, but he cannot accept that something went wrong. No one can find any trouble with the shuttlecraft. Also, Dr. Crusher cannot determine the cause of Jo'Bril's death. In fact, she cannot understand his physiology at all, especially why his cells seem to be decaying at such a slow rate. However, he is judged dead. Reyga pleads with the other scientists to allow him a second test. Dr. Crusher reluctantly refuses, but he seems determined to prove himself. A few hours later, he is found dead due to a plasma discharge. It is judged a suicide by Security Chief Lt. Worf ( Michael Dorn ), but Crusher intuitively knows it was neither a suicide nor an accident. [2]

Dr. Crusher discusses how unusual this seems with Captain Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ). She is determined to perform an autopsy , but the captain informs her that it is out of the question, as the family insists the body not be desecrated before they can perform the Ferengi death ritual. Frustrated, Dr. Crusher decides to perform an investigation. She confronts Christopher ( John S. Ragin ) and T'Pan (Joan Stuart Morris), and Christopher becomes incensed. Eventually, he mentions that Kurak ( Tricia O'Neil ) and Reyga had a fiery argument. Dr. Crusher then confronts the Klingon scientist, much to her own peril. As she determines Kurak also did not murder Reyga, she finds herself stumped and her confidence faltering. Knowing she will be disobeying a direct order, she performs an autopsy on Reyga, and finds nothing. She informs Picard who is forced to relieve her of duty. [2]

In the present, Guinan encourages her to continue her investigation, as she has nothing left to lose. Commander William Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) warns her not to do anything "foolish". Despite this, Crusher takes Dr. Reyga's shuttle into the star herself. Picard urges her to come back, but to no avail. In the shuttle, Crusher discovers that the shields work just as Jo'Bril emerges alive. He reveals his species can fake death. He also plans to fake the destruction of the shuttle and take it back to his homeworld. He plans to profit from the new shielding, turning it into a weapon. Jo'Bril attacks Crusher, but she fights back and is forced to completely vaporize him. [2]

She returns to the ship, relieved to have vindicated Reyga, and unafraid of any court martial, she replicates a tennis racket for Guinan so she would never get tennis elbow again – but Guinan admits she has never played tennis; she was merely trying to figure out what was wrong with Crusher. [2]

In 2011, The A.V. Club gave this episode a "B−", and noting it as a Beverly Crusher focused episode. [1]

The book Star Trek FAQ 2.0 (Unofficial and Unauthorized): Everything Left to Know About the Next Generation, the Movies and Beyond (2013) said this was a "credible whodunnit", and a showcase for Gates McFadden as Doctor Crusher. [3]

Medium.com ranked this the 66th best episode Star Trek: The Next Generation in 2017. [4]

The episode was released as part of the Star Trek: The Next Generation season six DVD box set in the United States on December 3, 2002. [5] A remastered HD version was released on Blu-ray optical disc, on June 24, 2014, with DTS-HD MA 7.1 audio. [6] [7]

On November 3, 1999 this was released on LaserDisc in the United States, paired with "Frame of Mind" on one double sided 12 inch disc. [8] The two episodes together had a runtime of 93 minutes, and it had a Dolby Surround audio track. [8]

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Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 6, Episode 22

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Cast & crew.

Patrick Stewart

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Marina Sirtis

Counselor Deanna Troi

Episode Info

Suspicions Stardate: 46830.1 Original Airdate: 10 May, 1993

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1 star trek actor starred alongside 5 classic captains.

Joseph Ruskin holds an impressive Star Trek record by appearing on screen alongside five of the franchise's most recognized, classic captains.

Joseph Ruskin's unique distinction lies in appearing alongside all classic Star Trek captains, solidifying his legacy across multiple series.
His diverse roles range from commanding as the Cardassian Informant to guiding as the Vulcan Master, showcasing his versatility.
Despite brief appearances, Ruskin's impactful performances and distinct characters add depth and intrigue to the Star Trek universe.

Actor Joseph Ruskin appeared alongside five classic Star Trek captains . Appearing in small or minor roles amid ensembles including Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), and Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula), Ruskin holds an important and distinguished Star Trek claim. Joseph Ruskin is the only actor to have worked alongside each of the franchise's earliest captains (not including Captain Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter), Star Trek's pilot episode commanding officer.

Born Joseph Richard Schlafman, Ruskin sadly passed away from natural causes in December 2013 at the age of 89. Besides voice acting roles in two video games, Ruskin's Star Trek links include working alongside many franchise actors on other creative projects – including Leonard Nimoy in "The Outer Limits" (1964) and Chris Pine in "Smokin' Aces" (2006). Both Nimoy and Pine, Spock, and James T. Kirk, respectively, starred in Star Trek movies as captains, further enhancing Ruskin's captainly distinction. Ruskin's roles in four Star Trek series and a movie are a unique glimpse into the layered intergalactic community's diversity and a fun exploration of Ruskin's convincing and comprehensive acting talents.

How To Watch All Star Trek TV Shows In Timeline Order

6 star trek: the original series season 2, episode 17 - "the gamesters of triskelion", joseph ruskin as galt.

In the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Gamesters of Triskelion", Joseph Ruskin plays Galt, a mysterious figure dressed in a black robe with a large red collar. The master thrall of the planet Triskelion, Galt is a mildly chilling figure, able to dole out a painful punishment for bad or undesired behaviors, his eyes shining like stars as the new thralls’ collars of obedience glow and cause severe discomfort. Playing with themes of slavery and consent, "The Gamesters of Triskelion" is somewhat dark and disturbing, and Ruskin’s role as Galt is subtle, muted, strong, and unflinching.

Galt marks the obedience collars once thralls have been purchased by the highest bidding Providers, overseeing training exercises, employing the use of less valuable thralls for target practice and example, and issuing painful and unpleasant punishments for refused participation or commands. The ominous, imposing Galt is a menacing and mighty allegory of humanity’s terrible past and the allusion to potential other-worldly dangers awaiting mankind throughout space. It’s a strong, if undefined, performance – and a dependably noble first franchise performance from this long-spanning Star Trek actor.

A photograph of Galt, along with drill thralls Tamoon (Jane Ross) and Shahna (Angelique Pettyjohn), was shown in Star Trek: Lower Decks, Season 2, Episode 5 - "An Embarrassment of Dooplers."

5 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 3, Episode 3 - "The House of Quark" & Season 5, Episode 3 - "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places"

Joseph ruskin plays tumek.

Joseph Ruskin appeared as the Klingon Tumek in two episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Prominently Klingon culture-driven, these episodes revolve primarily around Quark (Armin Shimerman) , with Tumek introduced as a respected and much-trusted advisor to Grilka (Mary Kay Adams). Older and wise, Tumek had an essential role in Grilka's house and demonstrated an insightful, honest, loyal, and honorable personality with a keen understanding of familial politics and a tired clarity and awareness of other characters' motivations.

In the DS9 season 3 episode, "The House of Quark," Grilka abducts Quark to her home on Qo'noS and later weds him at knifepoint after he falsely claims responsibility for her husband's accidental death in an attempt to boost his business. As Quark quickly finds himself in a dilemma of deception, alien customs, and relational manipulation, Tumek informs him that he's played into the devious schemes of Grilka's opponent. Though Quark eventually navigates his way out of these circumstances with a distinctly Ferengi financial flair, this episode is an exciting look at Klingon culture, tradition, and inter-species relationships.

Ruskin impressively aids the narrative with a commanding and convincing character

Similar themes are also explored in the DS9 season 5 episode, "Looking For pah'Mach in All the Wrong Places." Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn) and Quark learn about Klingon mating rituals and work together to woo Quark's ex-wife, Grilka. Ruskin's Tumek quickly warns Worf away , with the much-loved Klingon character subsequently working to aid Quark's efforts in love. When Quark and Grilka retire for their Klingon mating ritual, Worf is engaged in a similar ceremony by Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell). Ruskin impressively aids the narrative with a commanding and convincing character, demonstrating skillful acting prowess and a sympathetic understanding of the subject matter.

4 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 3, Episode 20 - "Improbable Cause"

Joseph ruskin plays a cardassian informant.

In this first part of a complex and winding two-episode story , the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine officers launch an investigation following an explosion in Elim Garak’s (Andrew Robinson) tailor shop. With traces of a bomb located in the debris and Garak’s list of enemies a mile long, the scope of Constable Odo’s (Rene Auberjonois) task to uncover the culprit(s) is daunting. Later rocked by another explosion, a potential poisoning, Garak’s own complicity, and suspicions over Romulan involvement in the attacks on Garak’s life, Odo meets a shadowy contact on a lifeless moon.

Ruskin again performs well here, manipulating the audience and narrative with a series of obscure and stylized shots that show little of his appearance

The Cardassian Informant (Joseph Ruskin) is mysterious, suspicious, and literally cloaked in a veil of darkness. He confirms Odo’s suspicions about the Romulans’ involvement but alludes to a bigger picture with the revelation of Romulan vessels along the Cardassian border and news that other operatives of the Obsidian Order (besides Garak) were recently killed in suspicious circumstances. With an impressively clear Cardassian countenance, Ruskin’s Informant is vague, credible, and yet questionable. Evoking an air of Garak-esque duplicity, the Informant is informative and dubious, doing much to escalate the tension and secrecy of the scene.

Remarkably removed from his previous franchise roles, Ruskin again performs well here, manipulating the audience and narrative with a series of obscure and stylized shots that show little of his appearance but his eyes and overall presence. With this limited physical opportunity, Ruskin impressively conveys a multi-layered, intelligent, and memorable character with a wealth of qualities and depths. Ruskin offers a compellingly intriguing character of questionable morality in an exciting tale of conspiracy, assassination, and deception.

The Obsidian Order was an intelligence agency in the Cardassian Union.

3 Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 13 - "Gravity"

Joseph ruskin plays a vulcan master.

When a USS Voyager shuttle crash lands on a class D desert planet, Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeil) and Lt. Tuvok (Tim Russ) encounter Noss (Lori Petty) and quickly work together to establish shelter and activate The Doctor (Robert Picardo) to treat Noss’ wounds. Noss’ developing feelings for Tuvok provokes the Vulcan to remember his experiences from his youth with a Vulcan Master (Joseph Ruskin) where he admitted to various volatile emotions stemming from a romantic attraction. Ruskin’s Vulcan Master promptly informs the young Tuvok that he must train to control his emotions to avoid being consumed by them – particularly pertaining to love.

Ruskin's performance is balanced and gentle, but characteristically intense and wholly transformative

Occupying a pivotal influence on Tuvok, Ruskin’s role in this episode is both brief and dignified . Patiently guiding an emotionally unbalanced and untrained young Tuvok, Ruskin’s Vulcan Master offered guidance and teaching on powerful emotions and the power of embracing logic. It’s a pleasant character, again offering interesting insight into Vulcan culture and tradition, and demonstrating ongoing importance through Tuvok’s own recalled memories. Ruskin’s performance is balanced and gentle, but characteristically intense and wholly transformative – using a small, shared space to make a strong, artistic, and impactful statement.

Star Trek: Voyager Cast & Character Guide

2 star trek: enterprise, season 1, episode 1 - "broken bow", jospeh ruskin plays a suliban doctor.

Joseph Ruskin as a Suliban doctor in Star Trek: Enterprise 's series premiere , "Broken Bow". The Suliban doctor works alongside Silik to administer truth drugs to Klaang (Tiny Lister, Jr), a Klingon courier who crashed on Earth. Klaang's transport to the Klingon homeworld was the inaugural mission of Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and the NX-01 Enterprise, which the Suliban disrupted in their efforts to capture Klaang.

Playing a Suliban doctor is a questionable and admittedly limited role for Joseph Ruskin, not offering as much opportunity to shine as in previous performances, but Ruskin still makes a clear and noteworthy impression. Maintaining his pattern of distinctly different character portrayals in each role, Ruskin again works with little to create much. It’s an interesting study of the actor’s range, particularly in so full a costume, and the impressive ability to convey a layered personality and rich mindset with little room to maneuver in the story’s script or narrative.

1 Star Trek: Insurrection

Joseph ruskin plays a son'a officer.

In Star Trek: Insurrection , Joseph Ruskin plays a Son'a officer who has a showdown with Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) late in the film. Ruskin's Son’a officer aboard the flagship of Ru’afo (F. Murray Abraham) faces a choice between destruction or defeat when Riker sets the USS Enterprise-E on a collision course with the Son'a ship, and Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn) confirms that it isn’t a bluff. Ruskin’s character orders evasive maneuvers, exposing the ship to direct fire from the Enterprise – and effectively surrenders. The ship’s life support subsequently disabled, the Son'a are transferred to the Federation flagship.

Ruskin's role in Star Trek: Insurrection is relatively brief yet well-rounded and resonating.

Joseph Ruskin has an interesting role in Star Trek: Insurrection, not a large part, but certainly one of note. Like his other appearances in Star Trek , Ruskin’s part in Star Trek: Insurrection is relatively brief yet well-rounded and resonating. Picking up an impressive credit as an actor in each of these early series alongside five of Star Trek ’s most important captains, Joseph Ruskin demonstrates originality, creativity, longevity, and depth . In roles ranging from minor enemy support characters to a traditional Klingon advisor and a learned Vulcan guide, Ruskin’s easy, dynamic, and approachable performances in each instance remarkably reflect an earned and innate inner confidence and obvious natural talent.

Star Trek: Insurrection is available for streaming on Max.

All Star Trek series (except Prodigy) are available for streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek: The Original Series follows the exploits of the crew of the USS Enterprise. On a five-year mission to explore uncharted space, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) must trust his crew - Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Forest DeKelley), Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (James Doohan), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Sulu (George Takei) - with his life. Facing previously undiscovered life forms and civilizations and representing humanity among the stars on behalf of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets, the Enterprise regularly comes up against impossible odds and diplomatic dilemmas.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.

Star Trek: Voyager

The fifth entry in the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek: Voyager, is a sci-fi series that sees the crew of the USS Voyager on a long journey back to their home after finding themselves stranded at the far ends of the Milky Way Galaxy. Led by Captain Kathryn Janeway, the series follows the crew as they embark through truly uncharted areas of space, with new species, friends, foes, and mysteries to solve as they wrestle with the politics of a crew in a situation they've never faced before.

Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Enterprise acts as a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, detailing the voyages of the original crew of the Starship Enterprise in the 22nd century, a hundred years before Captain Kirk commanded the ship. Enterprise was the sixth series in the Star Trek franchise overall, and the final series before a twelve-year hiatus until the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery in 2017. The series stars Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer, with an ensemble cast that includes John Billingsley, Jolene Blalock, Dominic Keating, Anthony Montgomery, Linda Park, and Connor Trinneer.

Why 'Star Trek: Discovery' deserves more credit as a barrier-breaking series

Starship Discovery will soon be ending its mission, and what a journey it's been.

“Star Trek: Discovery,” which premiered in 2017, is entering its fifth and final season Thursday on Paramount+. And you’ll need the Captain’s Log to remember all the twists, turns and transformations the show has gone through since it began.

One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the hate the series has received from some Trek fans. (“Discovery” has an overall audience score of 37% on Rotten Tomatoes, a stark difference from the 87% critic rating.)

While the show is far from free of legitimate criticism, many of the complaints seem unfairly – though perhaps tellingly – placed on the show’s focus on a Black woman commander, its LGBTQ+ stars and allies and its inclusive storylines. “Woke agenda” and other dog whistles frequently surface on Reddit and social media posts about the series.

That so much of the negativity is rooted in a backlash against inclusivity raises questions. After all, the "Star Trek" franchise has long emphasized and celebrated culture, diversity and humanity coming together and preserving the integrity of beings they meet across the galaxy.

"It doesn't make any sense, because (these fans) say they love this franchise," series star Sonequa Martin-Green says in an interview. The show “has always been about breaking those boundaries. It's always been about diversity and equality. And our world has changed since the last iteration of 'Trek.' We have a responsibility to push that needle forward and to stay true to that."

More: Issa Rae says Hollywood needs to be accountable. Here's why diverse shows are so important

The series is originally set before the events of NBC's original “Star Trek: The Original Series” (later jumping to the future) and follows Michael Burnham (Martin-Green), who became the starship’s captain, and the rest of the crew of the USS Discovery: first officer Saru (Doug Jones), chief engineer Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), lieutenant and now Starfleet Academy teacher Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), medical officer Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), courier and Burnham’s love interest Cleveland “Book” Booker (David Ajala) and ensign Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio).

Many more characters have stood on the bridge, battled with Burnham, or otherwise make up the world of "Discovery." The series had some trouble finding the right footing, but it’s always had heart, especially in its recurring theme of redemption. And it deserves more support for what it has meant for the entire "Star Trek" franchise.

Here’s why “Star Trek: Discovery” deserves more credit:

Prioritizing diversity and inclusivity

A Vulcan philosophy (and one espoused by “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry) is IDIC, or “infinite diversity in infinite combinations,” and many of the related series, movies and books underscore this belief. “Discovery” also has diversity at its core: the show focuses on a Black woman who becomes captain. Stamets and Culber are an openly gay couple, and engineer Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) is a lesbian. And the show introduced a few franchise firsts: Adira Tal as the first nonbinary character in "Star Trek ," and their boyfriend, Gray ( Ian Alexander ), is the first transgender character , both introduced in Season 3.

More: 'Star Trek' documentary unveils star Nichelle Nichols' impactful NASA connection

Starting a new age of Star Trek

“Discovery” helped launch the CBS All Access streaming platform, a CBS subscription service that would eventually become Paramount+, as well as a new era of "Star Trek" series including “Lower Decks” and “Picard.” Before “Discovery,” the last Trek series was “Star Trek: Enterprise,” which ended in 2005.

Exploring strange new worlds

The second season of “Discovery” also served as a launching pad for the well-received spinoff, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” which resurfaced popular characters from the original series including Spock (Ethan Peck), Captain Pike (Anson Mount), Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) and Number One (Rebecca Romijn).

Finding time for the simple things

In a few scenes scattered throughout "Discovery," we see characters like Culber and Stamets sharing a meal or talking about their day while brushing their teeth. It’s almost mundane, but there’s also something so lovely about watching LGBTQ+ characters who rarely are the focus in movies or television simply living their lives, being their whole selves. Burnham rocking braids at the beginning of Season 3 speaks cultural volumes. The subtle amid the big battles and overarching plots do have meaning, especially for those whose voices often go unheard.

Going boldly

The first season of “Discovery” went out of its way to highlight its connections to the original series: Burnham is Spock’s adopted sister, and there's a brief appearance by Spock’s father, Sarek. But it wasn’t always so neatly woven, sometimes seeming more like it was using franchise lore as a crutch. But “Discovery” wasn’t afraid to try new things, turning itself around after an overcomplicated first season and again after a very “TOS”-inspired second, slowly building up its own universe without relying too heavily on the old.

The first episodes of Season 5 are a little rocky before it settles into a comfortable speed.

"This time around, we wanted to bring in some levity," Martin-Green says. "But there's a grand sort of epicness to Season 5, even though we didn't know it was our last season when we were shooting it. I think looking back on it, and when we share it with the world, it'll seem that way because the season is so big. So people can expect a lot of fun. They can expect it to go really fast."

It will be interesting to see if “Discovery” sticks the landing through the remainder of the season.

“The good outweighs the bad,” Burnham says in an upcoming episode about a mission, and that’s also true of “Discovery."

The fifth and final season of "Star Trek: Discovery" (two episodes now streaming, then weekly on Thursdays) streams on Paramount+.

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Published Apr 5, 2024

RECAP | Star Trek: Discovery 501 - 'Red Directive'

There's never a dull moment for the U.S.S. Discovery!

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains story details and plot points for Star Trek: Discovery.

Graphic illustration of Captain Michael Burnham riding a racer vehicle in 'Red Directive'

StarTrek.com

The fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery opens with " Red Directive, " where Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery are sent to retrieve a mysterious artifact hidden inside a 800-year-old Romulan vessel – but find that they’re not the only ones on the hunt. Meanwhile, Saru is offered the position of a lifetime.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Section Banner - Personnel

Michael Burnham
Hugh Culber
Paul Stamets
Sylvia Tilly
Laira Rillak
Charles Vance
Christopher
Joann Owosekun
Keyla Detmer
Cleveland "Book" Booker

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Section Banner - Locations

Federation Headquarters
U.S.S. Discovery -A
U.S.S. Antares

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Section Banner - Event Log

As a vessel traverses the stars at high warp, Captain Michael Burnham experiences exhilaration as she clings to its hull in her environmental suit. The captain quips that there’s "never a dull moment" and proceeds to use her phaser in a bid to knock out the starship's engines. Burnham notes that they need to retrieve an item taken from a vault over the comm channel. As her suit advises her that warp bubble stability is declining rapidly, the captain remarks that this is not what she expected to happen when the night started…

"Red Directive"

Four hours earlier, Burnham joyfully converses with Ensign Adira Tal, Lt. Sylvia Tilly, Commander Paul Stamets, and Dr. Hugh Culber at Federation Headquarters, where Cadet Ross introduces them to Tonic 2161 — the official cocktail of the millennium celebration. Though the Federation was founded in 2161, the Burn prevented any widespread festivities when the holiday actually occurred decades before in 3161. Paired with a blue liquid, the beverage’s "floaty bits" — which taste like Bajoran jumja sticks — honor the Federation flag and its starry features.

The captain offers a smile, stating that it’s good to see that the Federation is back and at peace. Stamets nevertheless comes off as melancholic, and Culber discloses that the astromycologist just found out that Starfleet is shuttering the spore drive program. Paul expresses trepidation over his new title of "Scientific Luminary," adding that the Federation’s new Pathway Drive "won out" as the propulsion system of the future. Adira chimes in, remarking that this means the U.S.S. Discovery -A will always be one-of-a-kind, but Stamets replies with skepticism, believing his legacy was destroyed along with Cleveland "Book" Booker’s ship.

Certain he would have figured out the spore drive's navigator problem one day, the scientist emphasizes the potential for rolling out the technology to the whole fleet. His friends exchange concerned glances, but Captain Burnham then assures him that they will all find a new purpose and raises a glass in a toast to change. An aide informs Burnham that her presence has been requested by Federation President Laira Rillak, leaving Stamets to chastise himself for mentioning Book as the captain departs. While Tilly assures him that Burnham has not even talked about Book in months, Culber applies his psychiatric expertise and highlights the significant difference between locking something away and moving on. Tilly notices a fellow officer and goes to visit him, and the rest of the group disperses to "mingle."

On the dance floor, Captain Saru chats softly with Ni'Var's President T'Rina, who recognizes that the Kelpien has news and playfully wonders if she'll be "forced" to mind meld with him in order to learn what has transpired. President Rillak would like Saru to serve as a Federation Ambassador to a coalition of smaller worlds, ensuring that their needs are addressed as the Federation continues to expand. T'Rina appreciates the government’s effort to avoid repeating its past mistakes and observes that the planets’ locations could leave them open to influences from the Tholian Republic or the Breen Imperium.

Saru cites the Federation's need to remain unified, but the post would require that he resign his Starfleet commission. However, as an ambassador, he would be based at Federation HQ, in close proximity to T'Rina and her own duties. Ni'Var's president interrupts her dance partner, stating that — despite their deep love for one another — it is only logical that their relationship not factor into Saru's decision, an observation which seems to unsettle the Kelpien.

Across the room, Admiral Charles Vance approaches Captain Burnham and hands her an infinity-shaped device. The two retreat to a secure location — a featureless, all-white area known as the Infinity Room — and rendezvous with Dr. Kovich, who acknowledges the facility’s over-the-top theatricality. Turning to Burnham, Vance explains that an 800-year old science vessel was just found at the edge of the Beta Quadrant. Discovery needs to jump there immediately, but Kovich will only say that the ship contains "something vital to the security of the Federation." Burnham begins to object, but Kovich silences any disagreement when he reveals that the mission is a Red Directive.

Saru beams into Discovery 's Bridge and receives status reports from Lt. Christopher, Lt. Linus, Lt. Commander Joann Owosekun, Lt. Naya, Lt. Commander Gen Rhys, and Lt. Commander Keyla Detmer. Burnham and Kovich transport aboard and share that the crew will be going on a Red Directive classified mission. Their target? A 24th Century Romulan science vessel that will most certainly attract the attention of scavengers and other nefarious characters. A second Starfleet ship is already en route, but Discovery will arrive first — or so they believe…

Across the quadrant, two helmeted figures pillage the derelict Romulan starship, ultimately removing their protective gear and taking in the ship’s breathable atmosphere. The female — Moll — comments that the U.S.S. Antares is on its way, and her male cohort L’ak sees a second Starfleet ship on their scanners. L’ak believes this means that the Romulan cargo must be "extra shiny," but he suggests they call it a day and enjoy a holodeck for two. Moll asks if L’ak wants "the pebbles or the mountain," convincing her partner to stay the course.

Discovery enters scanning range, and Owosekun detects two lifeforms on the Romulan ship — at least until their lifesigns suddenly vanish. Burnham gathers Owosekun and Rhys for the away team, but Kovich offers some disturbing insight — setting weapons to stun might not be enough, so they are authorized to use lethal force. Shock covers Burnham's face, and Kovich orders her to successfully complete the mission by any means necessary.

The three Starfleet officers beam over to the Romulan vessel's darkened corridors with phasers drawn and begin searching for the trespassers. Aerosolized water droplets notify them that the intruders had not been gone long, and Burnham advises Rhys and Owosekun to keep their phasers on stun. The trio continue on and locate an 800-year old Romulan corpse and an uncloaked — and empty — vault. Realizing the scavengers must be close, the Starfleet officers spin around and open fire. Moll and L'ak materialize in front of them, managing to capture Rhys and Owosekun in containment fields and making their escape.

Captain Burnham pursues, converting her weapon into a phaser rifle and exchanging volleys with her opponents. Moll and L'ak step forward, holding the prize they acquired from the vault and tossing an explosive charge toward the captain. As the intruders beam away, Burnham is tossed through an opening and into space. Fortunately, her programmable matter EV suit automatically activates, and the captain jets toward the outline of Moll and L'ak's ship. Burnham magnetizes her suit as the craft enters warp.

As Burnham works to sabotage the engines, the U.S.S. Antares follows and grabs the ship with a tractor beam. Captain Rayner signals Burnham, who notices the warp bubble has started to collapse and urges the U.S.S. Antares to release its hold on the fleeing vessel. Operating on Burn-era tech and lacking a state-of-the-art Pathway Drive, Rayner knows the Antares can’t pull the enemy craft out of warp. Having previously encountered Moll and L'ak, Rayner is hesitant to let them elude him

Checking in from Discovery 's center seat, Saru informs Burnham — who doesn’t want to miss her upcoming saxophone lesson — that Owosekun and Rhys are being treated in Sickbay. Detmer pilots the Crossfield -class vessel into position and Lt. Gallo prepares to transport the captain to safety. The ride is bumpy, but Kovich resolves to remain on the Bridge until the mission is completed. Burnham repeats her warning to Rayner, advising that the breakup of Moll's ship would also destroy the Antares . Believing that every mission is personal, Rayner pushes back on Burnham's own record, but he eventually concedes.

The three starships, as well as Captain Burnham, drop out of warp. The intruders' vessel spouts numerous probes, and they all leap to warp on different courses. Burnham is beamed right to Discovery 's Bridge, barely able to catch her breath before Rayner's hologram appears to discuss what he describes as the "cherry that they just dropped on our shit sundae." Appearing with a stern face and pointed ears, Rayner states that the probes left behind 20 warp signatures, meaning it will take days to determine which course Moll and L'ak actually took. Kovich voices his displeasure, but Burnham admits she knows someone who can help them find the thieves.

Discovery jumps to a ringed planet, and its captain nervously strolls into the shuttlebay to greet Cleveland "Book" Booker, who beams in and requests permission to come aboard. The somewhat awkward reunion shifts into Discovery 's corridors, where Burnham announces her suspicion that Moll and L'ak used to be couriers. The Federation is expanding and most of the old networks are closed, but Burnham hopes Book's experience, expertise, and insight can assist them in determining the correct warp signature. The two acknowledge that it has been a while since they spoke, and Burnham commends him for the work he has done with the refugees who were affected by the Dark Matter Anomaly. Book is eager to "make things right" in the wake of stealing the experimental spore drive for his own ship.

Burnham and Book confer with Saru, Kovich, Vance, and Rayner in the Ready Room, where the Antares ' captain briefs them on what is known about Moll — a human — and L'ak, a member of an unknown species. The duo, who showed up in the sector approximately two years ago, procured a tan zhekran — a traditional Romulan puzzle box — from the science ship. Kovich claims he is not at liberty to share details about the item and shifts the conversation to Book's detective skills. Factoring in the need to avoid Federation territory and the few fencers who would have interest in a 24th Century haul, Book determines that Moll and L'ak are headed to meet with a broker named Fred — just "Fred" — on Q’Mau. Vance orders Burnham and Rayner to investigate, insisting that they try working together.

The officers begin to walk out, but Saru stays behind to speak with Captain Burnham in private. Noting that a tan zhekran can contain almost anything, including a weapon or a pathogen, the captain is concerned that Kovich won't even tell her the name of the Romulan scientist who owned it. Saru slyly suggests that someone outside of Discovery 's chain of command with access to different databases might be able to assist. Burnham responds with a joyous smile, her expression turning serious as she remembers Saru could soon be leaving for another post.

Back at Federation HQ, Lt. Tilly enters her quarters in the midst of an energetic chat with Lt. Jax. Lamenting over a cadet who refuses to leave the lab during the Academy's Simulation Week, Tilly outlines collaboration's importance to Starfleet's future and — very briefly — ponders whether she could crash every cadet onto an ice moon in order to teach them that lesson. Tilly attributes her talkativeness to the champagne served at the after party, and the two officers exchange flirtatious gazes.

Tilly and Jax — who both love walking and talking — share a clumsy goodbye that nevertheless elicits a smirk from the Academy instructor. Now alone, Tilly orders up a coffee from the replicator. The respite is short-lived, as an incoming communication from Captain Burnham provides another boost to Tilly's energy reserves. Theorizing that Tilly must have had some Andorian champagne, Burnham adopts her "serious voice" and asks Tilly for her help. Always available for her friends, Tilly gleefully responds, "Whatever it is, I’m in."

Discovery arrives at Q’Mau, where Burnham and Book beam down to a small settlement that is surrounded by a desert landscape and rocky outcroppings. Book remarks that it feels like their old courier days, and Burnham asks about Grudge — the Queen is great, she says, "Hi." They disagree about who should have made more of an effort to contact the other, but Rayner's arrival disperses the mounting tension.

Elsewhere in the marketplace, Moll and L'ak are scanned and welcomed into Fred's establishment. Fred, who has the distinctive appearance of a synthetic lifeform, maintains a friendly demeanor, though his guards supply the room with an air of hostility. Fred notices Moll and L'ak's "togetherness," spiritedly contrasting the bilabial nasal of "Moll" with the voiceless velar plosive of "L'ak." The thieves present Fred with their recent finds — isolinear coprocessors, vintage PADDS and tricorders, self-sealing stem bolts, and the mysterious puzzle box.

Intrigued, Fred mentions that he hasn’t encountered such an item in 622.7 years. He unlocks the box by shifting its features into a new configuration, revealing a handwritten diary. The android skims the text, happily offering Moll and L'ak three bars of latinum for the entire lot. The duo replies with a laugh, unsatisfied with the price. Fred refuses to return their items, prompting the pair to burst into hand-to-hand combat with his guards. Moll is struck by an energy blast from the synth’s weapon, and — though her wound is not fatal — L'ak launches into a violent frenzy that results in Fred’s demise.

Book, Burnham, and Rayner locate Fred's lair soon after and confiscate the synth's body so that Discovery can scan his memory. Rayner hurriedly sets off on his own, but Book and Burnham remain to plot their next move. As they realize that Moll and L'ak must have cloaked their ship outside the settlement, Dr. Culber observes Fred's corpse in Sickbay. The android is an old model — dozens of generations before the tech used for Gray’s body — marked with the serial number "AS0572Y." Stamets deduces that the "AS" was intended to honor Altan Soong*, marveling at the 24th Century scientist’s legacy. The astromycologist needs wires to interface with Fred's memory drive, quipping that — luckily — Culber had married a packrat.

Down on the planet's surface, Moll and L'ak speed by Rayner on sand runners — swift transports used by locals to navigate the terrain. Thanks to their patience and foresight, Burnham and Book had anticipated the chase and already rented three of the vehicles. Rayner isn't impressed by Burnham's "strategic advantages," leaving Discovery 's captain to tell Book that she hasn’t disliked someone this much in 930 years.

Meanwhile, at Federation HQ, two security officers burst into Tilly's quarters as the lieutenant prepares to break the shifting fractal encryption which safeguards a secure Federation database. Vance marches in and intervenes, who astonishingly agrees that Captain Burnham deserves to know why her crew is risking their lives for an 800-year old Romulan ship. The admiral says that it is a "shame" he didn't get to stop Tilly in time and allows her to unlock the file. A shaky holo-recording manifests, depicting Doctor Vellek* — the Romulan whose body they had found. The Romulan scientist warns that his knowledge of an ancient technology beyond all comprehension — hidden in the "shadow of twin moons" — must not be lost or fall into the wrong hands.

On Q’Mau, the Starfleet officers close in on Moll and L'ak, but Rayner ventures ahead once again. Book teases Burnham by claiming that Rayner reminds him of another captain he knows, but the situation intensifies once the thieves reach their starship. Moll and L'ak set course for a nearby mountain's tunnel system so as to avoid detection by Discovery and Antares , and sensors detect an explosive charge in one of the tunnel's entrances. Aware that their foes planned ahead to distract their pursuers with an avalanche. According to Saru, Zora estimates there to be a 30% chance that the disaster would decimate the settlement.

Captain Rayner proposes an unorthodox plan — detonate the charge themselves and block Moll and L'ak's escape route. Burnham disagrees, yet her counterpart insists that she is letting stats get in the way of strategy — though possible, an avalanche is unlikely. As Rayner orders Antares to lock phasers on target, Burnham contends that they are on a non-Federation planet and undertaking a classified mission, but Rayner follows through with his plan. Phaser beams strike down from orbit and seal the tunnel, yet Saru confirms that scans show the mountainside remains stable… at least until Moll and L'ak launch a photon torpedo that sends the rattled cliff into a freefall.

Burnham, Book, and Rayner flee from the rising debris cloud on their sand runners, but Zora announces that the avalanche is reaching speeds of 200 kilometers per hour — there is not enough time to evacuate the local encampment. In Engineering, Stamets and Adira run through several solutions, ultimately landing on the idea of combining Discovery and Antares ' shields to serve as a "brake" for the avalanche. Will it work? Stamets thinks — no, hopes — it will work, finally deciding, "Let’s go with 'hope.'"

Captain Saru starts to organize the maneuver, but Rayner does not want Antares to leave orbit and lose track of Moll and L'ak. Burnham emphasizes that the safety of the civilians in the avalanche's path is now their primary mission, and Rayner relents. Discovery and Antares burst through the atmosphere in a tight formation, fusing their shields together and burying their forward saucers into the planet's desert. The avalanche ripples against the energy barrier, but the starships triumphantly hold the line and inspire cheers from the settlement. The relief is lost on Rayner, who watches as Moll and L'ak escape to warp.

Rayner beams back to the Antares , giving Burnham and Book a moment to enjoy each other's company and confess that they both should have called one another. Still bruised from the ordeal, Burnham takes her admission a step further and reveals that she's not sure how to be around him anymore. Book considers the statement, countering that some things are hard to move past. The heart-to-heart is interrupted by a transmission from Tilly, who tells the captain that she has "wild" answers to her pressing questions.

The Discovery -A employs its spore drive to return to Federation Headquarters, where Captain Saru resolves to have his own private conversation with his partner. T'Rina expresses concern over rumors of Saru's eventful mission. The Kelpien reflects on the danger the civilians had faced and recalls something Tilly had once told him — "life is just a blink." Saru struggles to elaborate, aware that fear had constrained him from embracing love while dealing with the cullings of his youth.***

Had he been endangered by the avalanche, Saru would only have been able to think of T'Rina, therefore their relationship must be factored in as he considers his future. T'Rina is his home, his family, and so much more, and he intends to accept the ambassadorship to be alongside her — always. T’Rina welcomes the news, pleasantly surprising Saru when she proposes they "codify" their bond through marriage.

On Discovery , Captain Burnham enters Sickbay to get an update on Fred from Culber and Stamets. They downloaded the last 15 teraquads of data from his ocular processing unit, giving them an extended look at the pages of Vellek's diary. A handwritten diagram depicting the Vileen system's "twin moons" catches the captain's attention, sending her on a mission to meet Kovich on a holographic representation of a barren planetary surface. Kovich admires her tenacity but claims this Red Directive has been classified for centuries. His threat to pass the assignment to another team doesn't phase Burnham, who knows she holds the key to their target's location.

On the surface of Vilmor II, a Progenitor disrupts an argument between the Enterprise away team, the Cardassians, Klingon, and Romulans in 'The Chase'

"The Chase"

Kovich lets out a sheepish grin, aware that Tilly and Vance played key parts in briefing the captain. He discontinues the holo, and — as the two stand in his office — he recounts the details. As one of the greatest scientists of his day, Dr. Vellek, was present when a Starfleet captain — Jean-Luc Picard — found a message left by a race of ancient beings — referred to as the "Progenitors" — who created every humanoid species in the galaxy.** Vellek discovered the technology that the Progenitors used to design life itself, but its location was lost when he disappeared 800 years ago.

Now, either Moll and L'ak know where this powerful find is or the diary is the first piece of the puzzle. Starfleet must track down this technology to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. Burnham divulges that Lyrek, a planet situated in an outer sector of the Beta Quadrant within the Vileen system, has three moons — two of which move in perfect sync. Pleased, Kovich proclaims that the greatest treasure in the known galaxy is out there, lightheartedly asking the captain what she’s waiting for. Burnham flashes a smile and replies, "Let’s fly."

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Section Banner - Canon Connections

* " Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1 " — The dealer in Q'Mau, Fred, is a Soong-inspired synthetic possessed a memory drive that had a serial number with an attribution to Altan Soong. The self-described "mad scientist" is the son of Noonien Soong , the creator of Soong-type androids. Altan Soong would continue his work despite the Federation's ban on synths. His work (and Dr. Maddox's research), known as the Soong Method, on transferring sentience into an artificial golem body was what helped create Gray Tal's new synthetic body's design in "Anomaly."

** " The Chase " — This Star Trek: The Next Generation adventure was where Captain Jean-Luc Picard found himself in a race with the Cardassians, Klingons, and Romulans to solve a four billion year old genetic puzzle. The Romulan Dr. Vellek, one of the greatest scientists of his day, was among those present when Picard discovered a message left by a race of ancient beings known as Progenitors, who created life as we know it — every humanoid species in the galaxy.

*** " An Obol for Charon " — Following Saru's survival of Vahar'ai , he discovered that the maturation process didn't signal death. It was in fact a biological event in the Kelpien's evolution that removed their suppression of fear. Concerned with their own survival, the Ba'ul who lived on Kaminar with Kelpiens exploited their binary nature to oppress the later group.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Section Banner - Log Credits

Written by Michelle Paradise
Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Section Banner - Notes

"Red Directive" features a dedication:

For JP, with love.

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Jay Stobie (he/him) is a freelance writer, author, and consultant who has contributed articles to StarTrek.com, Star Trek Explorer, and Star Trek Magazine, as well as to Star Wars Insider and StarWars.com. Learn more about Jay by visiting JayStobie.com or finding him on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms at @StobiesGalaxy.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Graphic illustration of a tender moment between friends where Michael Burnham and Saru tap their foreheads in 'Under the Twin Moons'

How Star Trek's Most Underrated Villains Wreaked Havoc From Deep Space 9 to Picard

Star Trek enemies like the Borg and Klingons have been a thorn on the Federation's side, but only one underrated villain has caused the most damage.

The Dominion is a powerful alien empire in Star Trek that challenged the Federation like never before.
While the Klingons, Romulans, and Borg evolved over time, the Dominion remained a second-tier villain.
Star Trek: Picard's third season saw the Dominion return strong, with a complex plot and characters.

Star Trek has always featured compelling villainous aliens, many of whom have arcs and collective journeys as rich as any individual character. The Klingons, for instance, have gone from the Federation's greatest foes to fierce allies and antiheroes. The Romulan Empire similarly underwent rapid disintegration in the late 24th century and re-unified with their genetic cousins, the Vulcans, in later seasons of Star Trek: Discovery . Even the Borg changed over the course of the franchise, as individuals like Seven of Nine escaped the Collective and threats like Species 8472 proved more than they could handle. That dedication to their organic development has helped make them truly memorable foes, not only in Star Trek , but in pop culture as a whole.

One villainous species tends to get a little lost in the shuffle, however. The Dominion -- a powerful alien empire controlled by shape-shifting Changelings -- proved to be one of the deadliest foes the Federation ever faced. They launched a war against the Alpha Quadrant during the final seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, forcing Starfleet to join forces with traditional enemies like the Romulans in the face of the common threat. Despite that, the Dominion itself is often relegated to second-tier villain status. Star Trek: Picard's triumphant third season successfully returned them to the spotlight, and reminded fans how terrifying they could be as antagonists.

The Dominion Were Designed as an Existential Threat

The complete history of the klingons in star trek's next generation era.

Deep Space Nine cemented a big transition for the franchise, moving away from Gene Roddenberry's beliefs in an absolute utopia. A Federation devoid of conflict was no place to tell compelling stories, which The Original Series solved by presenting solely external threats in its planet-of-the-week format. Star Trek: The Next Generation successfully broke out of that mold, though its early seasons were plagued by problems caused by the infamous "Roddenberry Box" forbidding intrapersonal conflicts among the crew. The incursion of the Borg in Season 3, Episode 26, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I" definitively broke the Box, with Will Riker taking command of the Enterprise amid constant head-butting from his de facto Number One, Elizabeth Shelby.

As The Next Generation continued to explore the story potential of protagonists with differing opinions, Deep Space Nine fully committed to the dark side of the 24th century. Set aboard a rickety former mining station near the planet Bajor, it looked for drama within the limits of the Federation's power, and how characters like Captain Benjamin Sisko have to sometimes make compromises for the greater good. The Dominion proved to be the perfect fulcrum for that as a technologically advanced fascist theocracy, ruled by the Changelings who condition their subjects to worship them as gods. Besides their technological advantages, the Dominion's military forces are truly terrifying.

The ground troops are genetically engineered constructs known as the Jem'Hadar; they are bred to be soldiers and physically dependent upon a chemical called ketracel white to ensure their absolute loyalty. Their commanders, administrators and tactical advisors are a species known as Vorta, who are preternaturally cunning and built to influence foes with honeyed words before unleashing the Dominion's full forces on them. Worst of all were the Changelings themselves, who could perfectly imitate anyone they wished and who would abduct key personnel and replace them with duplicates to sow distrust and discord. On top of all that, they had a vast empire of slave labor at their command, and with the Bajoran wormhole providing a conduit to the Alpha Quadrant, they potentially had the ability to overrun the Federation in a manner of days.

The Dominion Pushed the Moral Limits of The Federation

The complete history of vulcans in the federation era of star trek.

The Dominion were designed the way they were in order to push the Starfleet characters -- specifically Sisko -- into making compromised choices for the sake of survival . That included below-the-belt tactics such as mining the entrance to the wormhole to prevent any ships from getting through, and Section 31's use of biological warfare to infect the Changeling collective with a fatal virus. The most telling moment came with Season 6, Episode 19, " In the Pale Moonlight ," in which Sisko has a hand in forgery, duplicity and murder in order to bring the Romulans into the war.

It is perhaps Star Trek's darkest moment, and a canny exploration of the franchise's famous adage, "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Sisko's efforts bore fruit, and the united Alpha Quadrant was finally able to push the Dominion and its allies to the point of capitulation at the end of Season 7. But the cost was terrible, with millions dead and vast regions of the Alpha Quadrant devastated by war . The Dominion retreated back to the other side of the wormhole, and Odo -- a wayward Changeling who helped convince his people to halt the fighting -- returned to the collective to help end their distrust of "the solids."

As antagonists, they worked incredibly well, thanks in part to a slow build-up that left their origins and motives in the dark until they were well into their infiltration of the Alpha Quadrant. They provided the ideal crucible to test the Federation's principles under fire. While Roddenberry's bright future survived, it emerged with scars that never quite healed. Not even the Borg could top the Dominion as foes, and fans have even gamed out a hypothetical conflict between the Dominion and the Borg, with more or less even odds on which species will prevail.

Despite that, their footprint in the franchise is much smaller than other major antagonists. They returned to the Gamma Quadrant after the war, and essentially vanished with the series finale of Deep Space Nine. With its sister series Star Trek: Voyager focusing on the Borg , and the follow-up Star Trek: Enterprise taking place centuries before the opening of the wormhole, there was no convenient way to resurrect them. The franchise simply moved on, and the Dominion was left collecting dust on the shelves.

Picard Gives The Dominion the Comeback They Deserve

How deep space nine elevated the ferengi from jokes to serious characters.

The latter-day Star Trek renaissance provided an opportunity to do something special with the Dominion. Picard Season 3 depicted a dying, vengeance-obsessed Borg queen pairing up with a radical faction of Changelings to take another run at destroying the Earth. They replace key Starfleet members and sabotage the transporters aboard most of its starships by infecting those who use it with a subtle hormone that allows the Borg Queen to take control of them remotely. The complex plot sees Picard and the reunited crew of the Enterprise-D work to uncover the truth before the sinister coalition springs its trap.

Beyond the cleverness of the plot and its borderline horror-movie premise, Amanda Plummer's Changeling Vadic cements herself as an instant fan favorite. She and her cohorts were captured and experimented on during the Dominion War, rendering them traumatized and filled with hate. Plummer always excels in eccentric roles, which feels like a being who hasn't quite mastered the art of humanoid emotional expression. She's manic, mercurial, and extremely bad at hiding the depths of her hatred.

While Vadic meets her just fate before seeing her plans come to fruition, her presence lingers in the series' final few episodes, to the point of outclassing the Borg Queen herself. She also gives a face to the Changelings, who were usually by definition disguised as someone else. Their representative (known only as "female Changeling") was presumptuous and cold, which forms a stark contrast with Vadic's onscreen villain. It demonstrates the effects of their defeat on the Dominion's self-styled god-rulers.

Picard helps the Dominion demonstrate a viable arc over time, in the same manner as the Klingons, the Romulans and the Borg. Fans can see how the loss has affected them as individuals, as well as the political fallout from it all. Vadic belongs to a splinter group rather than the bulk of the collective. It gives them the depth and sense of continuity they need to rightfully join the ranks of elite Star Trek villains . With Picard opening the door to further appearances, and with other antagonists suffering from decades of overuse, an extended return could help define the future of the franchise.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Picard are both streaming in their entirety on Paramount+.

The Star Trek universe encompasses multiple series, each offering a unique lens through which to experience the wonders and perils of space travel. Join Captain Kirk and his crew on the Original Series' voyages of discovery, encounter the utopian vision of the Federation in The Next Generation, or delve into the darker corners of galactic politics in Deep Space Nine. No matter your preference, there's a Star Trek adventure waiting to ignite your imagination.

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"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Suspicions (TV Episode 1993)
Suspicions: Directed by Cliff Bole. With Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn. Dr. Crusher puts her career on the line to prove a scientist's theoretical new shielding technology which may have cost him his life.
Suspicions (episode)
" (Star Trek: The Next Generation 365, p. 304) Cast and characters [] This episode marks the final appearance of Guinan on the series, though she remains on the Enterprise-D. She plays an integral role in Star Trek Generations and has a brief appearance in Star Trek Nemesis and would return in the first and last episodes of Season 2 of Star ...
Suspicions (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Star Trek: The Next Generation. ) " Suspicions " is the 148th episode of the syndicated American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 22nd episode of the sixth season . Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D.
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Suspicions (TV Episode 1993)
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Suspicions (TV Episode 1993) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Menu. ... PADDY'S WATCHLIST - STAR TREK CHRONOLOGICAL WATCH ORDER LIST (900+ EPISODES & FILMS) a list of 935 titles created 5 months ago See ...
"Suspicions"
Includes all episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, Prodigy, and Strange New Worlds. ... "Suspicions" is a who-cares murder mystery told in hackneyed narrated flashback (as if this were some sort of film noir) as Crusher relays ...
Recap / Star Trek The Next Generation S 6 E 20 Suspicions
Crusher asks the surviving scientists about Reyga's death. T'Pan and Christopher have alibis, but they overheard an argument between Reyga and Kurak shortly before Reyga was found dead. Crusher confronts Kurak, who attacks her. Crusher is undeterred and intimidates Kurak into telling her about the argument.
Suspicions (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
In this episode, relieved of duty and facing a court martial, Dr. Beverly Crusher ( Gates McFadden) tells of her support of a Ferengi scientist (Peter Slutsker) and the trouble that ensued from an applied test of his theory. This episode aired in broadcast syndication the week of May 8, 1993. "Suspicions" is the 148th episode of the syndicated ...
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Suspicions (TV Episode 1993)
Dr. Crusher puts her career on the line to prove a scientist's theoretical new shielding technology which may have cost him his life. Dr. Crusher is suspended and faces dismissal after taking the side of Ferengi scientist Dr. Reyga to persuade an inter-race research panel to allow a colleague to test his invention, the "metaphasic shield ...
Suspicions
Star Trek: The Next Generation Suspicions Sci-Fi May 10, 1993 43 min Paramount+ Available on Paramount+, Prime Video, iTunes S6 E22: Beverly risks her career to solve the murder of a pioneering Ferengi scientist. Sci-Fi May 10, 1993 43 min Paramount+ ...
Suspicions
Suspicions The crew of the USS Enterprise-D, while on a mission to investigate a mysterious new radiation source, discovers a scientist named Dr. Reyga, who is Home Choose Your Star Trek Series
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Dr. Crusher violates Starfleet regulations and medical ethics when she investigates the death of a Ferengi scientist.
Star Trek: The Next Generation : "Suspicions"/"Rightful Heir"
B+. Episode. 23. "Suspicions" (first aired 5/8/1993) Or The One Where Dead Men Walk And Beverly Desecrates a Corpse. Dr. Beverly Crusher should've been one of TNG 's best characters. She ...
Suspicions
"Suspicions" was the 148th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 22nd episode of the show's sixth season, first aired during the week of 10 May 1993. The episode was written by Joe MenoskyMA & Naren ShankarMA and directed by Cliff BoleMA. Tess Allenby • Armstrong • Beverly Crusher • Christopher • Data • Gates • Guinan • Jae • Jo'Bril • Kurak, daughter of Haleka ...
Suspicions
The death of a pioneering Ferengi scientist embroils Crusher in a mystery that may end her Starfleet career.
Watch Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6 Episode 22: Suspicions
Suspicions. S6 E22 45M TV-PG. Beverly risks her career to solve the murder of a pioneering Ferengi scientist.
Episode Preview: Suspicions
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TNG "Suspicions"
It's All Been Trekked Before #322 Season 11, Episode 33 Star Trek:The Next Generation #6.22 "Suspicions" Stephen was taken in by the mystery and Jimmy-Je...
Doux Reviews: Star Trek The Next Generation: Suspicions
CoramDeo reviews the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode 'Suspicions', and muses about its missed potential. Star Trek The Next Generation: Suspicions ... But 'Suspicions' is too busy playing murder mystery to care. Understandably, Picard cares, and he relieves her of duty in a scene utterly devoid of passion. There's only a brief and toned ...
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Suspicions (TV Episode 1993)
ST:TNG:148 - "Suspicions" (Stardate: 46830.1) - this is the 22nd episode of the 6th season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This episode stars Whoopi Goldberg in her last appearance as Guinan on the TNG series itself (she would later reprise her Guinan role in Star Trek: Generations and Nemesis).
Suspicions (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Suspicions is the 148th episode of the syndicated American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 22nd episode of the sixth season. Suspicions (Star Trek: The Next Generation) - WikiMili, The Best Wikipedia Reader
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Watch Star Trek: The Next Generation — Season 6, Episode 22 with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV. The death of a pioneering Ferengi scientist embroils ...
The Next Generation Transcripts
Star Trek The Next Generation episode transcripts. Suspicions Stardate: 46830.1 Original Airdate: 10 May, 1993 [Crusher's quarters] (Beverly has just got home, and is not in a good mood. Then the doorbell chimes.) CRUSHER: All right, come in. (Guinan enters, holding her left arm) ...
1 Star Trek Actor Starred Alongside 5 Classic Captains
In the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Gamesters of Triskelion", Joseph Ruskin plays Galt, a mysterious figure dressed in a black robe with a large red collar. The master thrall of the planet Triskelion, Galt is a mildly chilling figure, able to dole out a painful punishment for bad or undesired behaviors, his eyes shining like stars as the new thralls' collars of obedience glow ...
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Suspicions (TV Episode 1993)
Patrick Stewart. ... Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Jonathan Frakes. ... Commander William Thomas 'Will' Riker. LeVar Burton. ... Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge.
'Star Trek: Discovery': Why the barrier-breaking series is important
More:Issa Rae says Hollywood needs to be accountable.Here's why diverse shows are so important. The series is originally set before the events of NBC's original "Star Trek: The Original Series ...
RECAP
The fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery opens with " Red Directive, " where Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery are sent to retrieve a mysterious artifact hidden inside a 800-year-old Romulan vessel - but find that they're not the only ones on the hunt. Meanwhile, Saru is offered the position of a lifetime.
How These Star Trek Villains Wreaked Havoc From DS9 to Picard
How Star Trek's Most Underrated Villains Wreaked Havoc From Deep Space 9 to Picard. Star Trek enemies like the Borg and Klingons have been a thorn on the Federation's side, but only one underrated villain has caused the most damage. The Dominion is a powerful alien empire in Star Trek that challenged the Federation like never before.
classicsoncall's Review of Suspicions
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How Star Trek's Most Underrated Villains Wreaked Havoc From Deep Space 9 to Picard

The Dominion Were Designed as an Existential Threat

The Dominion Pushed the Moral Limits of The Federation

Picard Gives The Dominion the Comeback They Deserve

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