Capt. Picard's is happy when his old mentor Professor Galen pays a surprise visit to the Enterprise although he has to decline his offer to take part in an expedition which could lead to the most important archaeological discovery of the era. Upset at having been turned down Prof Galen departs to carry on with his expedition. Shortly afterwards his shuttle is attacked; the Enterprise attempts to rescue him but is too late and he dies. An investigation shows that the attackers took some computer data but enough is left for Picard to start an investigation. After a little while it becomes apparent this data relates to DNA fragments found in various parts of the galaxy and that if all the fragments can be recombined a program will be activated. Heading to the planet Galen said he was going to the Enterprise finds that the Cardassians are already there and the Klingons arrive soon afterwards; no one has all of the code so they eventually agree to work together and combine the strands each of them has found; still there is some missing so the race is on to get the last strand. When it is found they are joined by the Romulans then when the final strand is put into place a message from billions of years ago is played.
This is an interesting episode, because it brings together Cardassians, Klingons, Romulans and Humans together for the first time. It also answers the question of why just about all the intelligent life encountered are humanoid. Before this final revelation we get some exciting moments although it isn't as tense as it could be one would have thought bringing the four main 'Star Trek' species together for the first time would have been a bit more dramatic. The reaction to the message explaining the relationship between the races is also a bit disappointing with nobody being as effected as one might expect. Fans of 'The Avengers' might be interested to note that this episode features Linda 'Tara King' Thorson as Cardassian Gul Ocett; although she is almost unrecognisable under her make-up. Overall an interesting episode which isn't quite as good as it could have been.
This is an interesting episode, because it brings together Cardassians, Klingons, Romulans and Humans together for the first time. It also answers the question of why just about all the intelligent life encountered are humanoid. Before this final revelation we get some exciting moments although it isn't as tense as it could be one would have thought bringing the four main 'Star Trek' species together for the first time would have been a bit more dramatic. The reaction to the message explaining the relationship between the races is also a bit disappointing with nobody being as effected as one might expect. Fans of 'The Avengers' might be interested to note that this episode features Linda 'Tara King' Thorson as Cardassian Gul Ocett; although she is almost unrecognisable under her make-up. Overall an interesting episode which isn't quite as good as it could have been.