A Federation starship attacks the Cardassians.
This is a strong episode with a good concept played out by some great characters.
The story involves a concept that always fascinates me: the rogue captain. Sending Captain Picard to deal with Captain Maxwell is entirely plausible as he lives and breaths the values of the Federation. There is an element of suspension of disbelief required in one aspect of the plot when Picard first meets Maxwell, but for me it does not effect my enjoyment of the episode as (unlike some other reviewers) I do not take fictional stories too seriously. There are some great themes relating to anger, hatred and warfare that underpin everything.
There is a good focus on Chief O'Brien, who makes a huge contribution to the main plot and has some decent early marital exchanges with Keiko.
The Cardassians are introduced and the foundations are laid for some excellent future episodes of TNG and also Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In this episode the hatred of them is not just a plot driver but the basis of a strong arc for O'Brien and similarly Maxwell.
One tactical decision by the writers aside, Picard, as always embodies great leadership and mediation. His confrontation with Maxwell for me is a good scene and he handles the scrutiny of the Cardassians perfectly.
Visually it tells the story well. Some of the highlights are the early concept makeup effects for the Cardassians and the scene where the Enterprise bridge crew watch a fight between the Phoenix and Cardassian ships on a scanner.
Patrick Stewart stands out as always and has great support from Colm Meaney, Marc Alaimo and Bob Gunton.
For me it is an 8.5/10 but I round upwards.
This is a strong episode with a good concept played out by some great characters.
The story involves a concept that always fascinates me: the rogue captain. Sending Captain Picard to deal with Captain Maxwell is entirely plausible as he lives and breaths the values of the Federation. There is an element of suspension of disbelief required in one aspect of the plot when Picard first meets Maxwell, but for me it does not effect my enjoyment of the episode as (unlike some other reviewers) I do not take fictional stories too seriously. There are some great themes relating to anger, hatred and warfare that underpin everything.
There is a good focus on Chief O'Brien, who makes a huge contribution to the main plot and has some decent early marital exchanges with Keiko.
The Cardassians are introduced and the foundations are laid for some excellent future episodes of TNG and also Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In this episode the hatred of them is not just a plot driver but the basis of a strong arc for O'Brien and similarly Maxwell.
One tactical decision by the writers aside, Picard, as always embodies great leadership and mediation. His confrontation with Maxwell for me is a good scene and he handles the scrutiny of the Cardassians perfectly.
Visually it tells the story well. Some of the highlights are the early concept makeup effects for the Cardassians and the scene where the Enterprise bridge crew watch a fight between the Phoenix and Cardassian ships on a scanner.
Patrick Stewart stands out as always and has great support from Colm Meaney, Marc Alaimo and Bob Gunton.
For me it is an 8.5/10 but I round upwards.