Summary[]
The Enterprise attempts to rescue all six crew members of an Ornaran freighter that is going to break up. But instead of trying to save themselves, they first beam over their cargo, which costs the lives of two of the crew. Two Ornarans and two Brekkians are saved. Their precious cargo is a substance called felicium, which is produced on Brekka and urgently needed to cure a disease on Ornara.
While the Ornarans and Brekkians are disputing to whom the salvaged felicium belongs, Beverly discovers that the alleged medicine is actually a narcotic, and that the Brekkians have deliberately made the Ornarans addicted long ago. The Prime Directive prohibits any interference, but while he has to hand out the felicium, Picard refuses to repair any of the remaining Ornaran ships, so the drug trade will come to an end.
Errors and Explanations[]
Internet Movie Database[]
Factual errors[]
- At the end of the episode, when Geordi chooses the bearing, he states "970-mark-318". the first bearing number exceeds the maximum 360 degrees. He probably meant 97 mark 318.
Incorrectly regarded as goofs[]
- Worf says that the freighter has entered the "planet's" atmosphere. They are orbiting a star, not a planet. The distress signal was coming from the 4th planet of the star system, not the star itself.
Plot holes[]
- The Enterprise was originally sent to this system to study its sun. After the rescue mission they should have gone back to complete their mission yet Picard just decided to leave without considering their next mission. The ship does not belong to its captain and the captain would not be allowed to fly around at random. He would have a list of missions to complete which would have been set up, perhaps years in advance, by Federation Command. It was probably deemed prudent to withdraw the Enterprise, to remove the temptation by either side to further involve the Federation.
Nit Central[]
- Keith Alan Morgan on Tuesday, May 11, 1999 - 7:19 am: After the Brekkians and the Ornarans zap each other, Riker says that he has never seen humanoids with that ability, but in The Naked Now he said he studied the logs of all ships named Enterprise. Does this mean that there is no visual record of Apollo, from the Classic episode Who Mourns for Adonais? Apollo was humanoid and he clearly had the ability to zap people with lightning bolts, Dr. McCoy even commented on an organ in his body that might be the source of this power, but Riker wasn't interested enough to look up any visual logs? Riker is stating he personally has never seen humanoids with this ability. Besides, there may not be any visual records of Apollo using his zapping ability.
- Crusher tells the Security Guard to escort the Brekkians to their quarters, then the Captain walks in, the guard stands to attention, then the woman asks to talk to Picard, and it is only afterwards that the guard starts to escort the Brekkians to their quarters. Having never served in the military, I cannot say if this is proper behavior or not, but it looked unusual. They were about to escort the Brekkians away when Picard entered, prompting the woman to approach him.
- Chris Diehl on Tuesday, March 04, 2003 - 1:35 pm: Let me get this straight. Picard was not violating the Prime Directive when he beamed these people off the ship. He was responding to a distress call!
The Nitpicker's Guide
Next Generation Trekkers
Volume 2[]
Changed Premesis[]
- Picard makes an interesting choice at the beginning of this episode. He takes the Enterprise into a system to perform some simple studies on the dynamics of its star's heavy flare activity. He endangers the ship with all its families for a close sensor path. Wouldn’t a probe suffice? 1) A probe may not be able to withstand the enviromental conditions in the space surrounding the star. 2) The sensor equipment on a probe may not be capable of completing scans to the required standard.
| The Next Generation - Season 1 |
| Encounter at Farpoint I The Naked Now I Code of Honor I Haven I Where No One Has Gone Before I The Last Outpost I Lonely Among Us I Justice I The Battle I Hide and Q I Too Short a Season I The Big Goodbye I Datalore I Angel One I 11001001 I Home Soil I When the Bough Breaks I Coming of Age I Heart of Glory I The Arsenal of Freedom I Symbiosis I Skin of Evil I We'll Always Have Paris I Conspiracy I The Neutral Zone |