User Reviews

Partial Spoilers here...

This is an extremely important and revealing episode for the Trek universe. It literally gives us an explanation of origins for all the major species in the Alpha quadrant (which, as has been mentioned, gives us a rather sophisticated explanation as to why so many Trek races are humanoid and vaguely similar). Of course, originally it was a budget limitation. But this gives us a great "in story" explanation.

This is an underrated episode. In my opinion, this episode should have been a MOVIE. The scope of this episode and the ramifications of the discovery demand a larger canvas. Not to mention the relationship between Picard and the professor, which we only got to glimpse. Can you imagine this storyline, expanded out to a full two hours, with a massive budget? It's a terrible tragedy that such a incredible premise was wasted, yes WASTED, by being stuffed into a single episode (not even a two parter!). With a little rewriting and a true movie budget, this would have resulted in a much better Trek film than Generations, Insurrection or Nemesis.

This is a very trekesque episode.

I'm one of people who doesn't mind that trek often has aliens that look human (Bajorans being the prime example) as there are practical limitations to inflicting a makeup chair upon the stars of the show.

We get quite the monumental discovery that many life forms in the quadrant are descendent upon one progenitor race. The episode does a fine job in presenting an episode full of mystery and tension and gives us quite a profound resolution.

I also enjoyed the small peak into Picard's psyche. He is clearly completely committed to being captain of the Enterprise and was only professor Galen by suggesting he required a night to sleep on the decision.

This was a well executed and thought provoking episode.

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.

I apologize for my overly "ambitious" rating. The episode doesn't really warrant 10 stars...but it IS the most important single episode of the the Star Trek mythos.

The first part of the question is: probability fails to explain why (virtually) all the aliens have great similarities to each other, and to standard homo sapiens. The second part of the question is trickier, tho':

How can all these humanoid sapients breed interbreed? Without an episode like this this to definitively give the only possible answer, SHARED GENETIC ANCESTRY, it would be impossible. Indeed, even with shared genes, inter-breeding is exceedingly unlikely without assistance. Humans are genetically closer to other terran apes, yet we cannot successfully breed with them (or so i am reliably informed).

This question was vaguely addressed in an episode of the original Star Trek, where a humanoid alien speculates that he may have been our (humanities') ancestor, but until recently, we have ALL agreed that a fact is better than a guess.

In fact, I would place the last 10 minutes of this episode as a preamble to anyone starting to experience Star Trek.

ST:TNG:146 - "The Chase" (Stardate: 46731.5) - this is the 20th episode of the 6th season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

What is our origins? Why are we here? Well, watch and see this classic and VERY intriguing episode which explains many things about the different humanoid races of the Star Trek universe.

Professor Galen, Picard's old archeology professor, surprises Picard by paying a visit, with the attention of taking him on a secret expedition (meaning he would have to leave the Enterprise indefinitely). Picard refuses and angrily leaves, but soon afterward his shuttle is attacked and he's killed.

Now, Picard and crew investigates what Galen was on the verge of discovering . . . and what they find has profound implications for all civilizations.

Trivia note: Salome Jens who plays the Humanoid Progenitor in this episode, will be more well known as the Female Shapeshifter on the Deep Space Nine series. Also, Picard and Beverly have their traditional breakfast together.

In "The Chase" the findings of Picard's old archaeology mentor lead the Enterprise (as well as a few other alien empires) on a race to find the secret behind a string of connected DNA clues that might explain why humanoid life forms are so prevalent throughout the galaxy.

I'd never seen this episode before and was sort of surprised how nicely the entire story arc wraps in a nice little bow. The in-universe explanation of why everyone sort of looks the same besides a few facial differences is pretty ingenious and fun. I love a good world-building episode and this episode has huge implications for inter-planetary diplomacy. A concept such as this really could have been a movie!

At the very least, I think I would have preferred this to be a two-parter. Everything happens so fast, I wish we had more time to explore this concept. Maybe we can prolong the chase sequences a bit, go to a few more planets, pick up a few more clues... Anyways, love the concept, but I think the episode doesn't quite live up to it in execution.

Soon after Norman Lloyd who was Captain Picard's friend and mentor in archaelogy invites Patrick Stewart to take leave and go to on an archaelogical expedition to a deserted planet, his ship is attacked and destroyed. But the Enterprise rescues his computer logs which contain a complex algorithmic sequence.

It's nothing less than the original gene code for life and several species as well as humans are linked to it. In fact several species are wanting it very badly.

This is an interesting take on the concept of creation itself not for just our special earth, but for life in general around the universe.

You scientists out there, this TNG story is for you.

From the very beginning, with the unaired Star Trek pilot featuring Captain Christopher Pike, we've been exposed to Star Trek aliens who have always been "Human Plus", as in "Human Plus pointy ears and green blood" or "Human Plus elaborate forehead ridges and oddly shaped noses" or "Human Plus blue skin and antennae" So decades later, even though we accept that almost every alien race (even in a part of the galaxy 70,000 light years, or 67 years of travel at continuous Warp 9) is 99% identical to humans in appearance, this episode decides to tackle that.

And that portion is only tackled in the last 10 minutes, and just as casually discarded as the thoughts and ideas of average Star Trek episodes.

Four billion years ago, there was an alien species that we would consider to be "humanoid", and they discovered faster than light travel, and traveled the stars, where they encountered other aliens... and none of them looked humanoid.

So as this humanoid species began to decline, they seeded thousands of worlds throughout the galaxy with their DNA, so that thousands of species would develop as these ancient aliens would, while shaped and sculpted by the natural evolution to best adapt to their planetary environments.

This explains why Klingons, Romulans/Vulcans, Andorians, Cardassians, Bajorans, Humans, Orions, Betazoids, every single new species encountered weekly by Captain Kirk or Captain Picard that could be considered human with a side of frilly hair or bumpy foreheads, all look alike; they were all descended from the same ancient humanoid alien.

And this is only hinted at half-way through the episode, and revealed in the last 5-10 minutes, and not even once expounded upon or given any time for the audience to think about it and truly appreciate it.

This is an excellent episode. The only reason that I gave this 9 Stars, is because I believe this should have been at least a 2-Part episode (maybe even a 3-Part). More time should have been given to the chase. More time should have been given to the main theme of explaining how so many different alien species look similar all across the galaxy. The realization that all Humanoid life was seeded throughout the galaxy & descended from this one ancient alien civilization deserved more time too. Even combining both TNG & DS9 crews could have given this idea an even bigger canvas to work with. Also, I think more alien species should have been in on the chase too (Andorians, Ferengi, Orions, Vulcans, etc). Either way, this was still a very good episode & gave us some great character developing moments from Picard too. This was, also, well executed by Jonathan Frakes at the helm too.

This episode is finally expanded in season 5 of Star Trek Discovery.

The orgin of all humanoid species in the galaxy is started in this episode.

This episode serves as a prequel to Star Trek Discovery Seasean five. The final sesson of Discovery.

At the time of this review only two episodes of Star Trek Discovery have been aired.

Discobery Season 5 Episode one references this episode of Star Trek The Next Generation. Captain Picard and the alien was directly mentioned. Additionally, one of the Romulians is the character that ties the two different shows together.

At last this episode is expanded!

We're in the stellar nursery, the Volterra Nebula. This is just a routine analysis of several dozen protostars in various stages of development. Estimates suggest we should be here for approximately three weeks.

"I never thought I would see a Kurlan Naiskos," but thanks to Picard's old tutor, Professor Galen, we have a surprise.

The planet Kurl is a 'hell of a long way outside Federation territory.' And it would seem that the Kurlan civilisation died out centuries ago. The old professor has plans for the Captain, and he intends to take the Enterprise along too. Don't let emotional blackmail dictate your plans, Captain.

It looks like we're on a treasure hunt... the Yridians are on the hunt as well.

A slow burn with a lot of dialogue but we aren't getting very far. Having stumbled on to a mystery we are now trying to put the pieces all together. What are we looking for? Indri VIII could provide us with some answers.

This is the space equivalent of Indiana Jones and the Temple at the Edge Of The Universe.

I am reminded of Captain Jellico and his no-nonsense ways when dealing with the crew. It's about time Picard reminded them once again, just who is in charge of the Enterprise. It's nice to see Troi in uniform once again.

Maybe Loren III will give us a clue?

Gul Ocett. I cannot remember having seen a Cardassian women commanding a star ship before, how novel. The Klingons are here as well.

It's a good job that the doctor doesn't have any patients to look after. On a ship of 1,014 souls, we must imagine that a small percentage of them would have varying symptom such a space-sickness, spinal-tap boogie-shoes or Mecurian lasso spangles... yet she still has several hours spare to set-up and to process Jean-Luc' silly commands.

In the end they went all that way just to get a lecture. The moral of the story is never listen to an old school tutor and his dreams of a great legacy. But at least Data made a new Klingon friend.

This Episodes Clue: Humanoid Progenitor

(Answer's to all episode clues will appear in the reviews of season seven, episode 25: All Good Things, Part One.)

An archaeology professor shows up with a puzzle, a gift, and an opportunity for Picard. Picard declines and gets scolded by the professor who quickly dies in order to guilt Picard into finishing his work. A Klingon destroys a planet in order to safe guard his piece of the puzzle. The Cardasians show up with another piece of the puzzle and reveal that it is in fact a recipe for biscuits. Hijinks follow. Surprise, the Romulus's are here! The puzzle is completed but it's just a hologram and not biscuits. Fiddlesticks.

This episode might have been compelling if it didn't feel forced and unnecessary. Since the inception of Star Trek alien human hybrids were a given. Spock is half Human half Vulcan. Earlier this season we met a half Klingon half Romulan. Alexander's mother is half Human half Klingon. That the various humanoids throughout the galaxy share a common ancestor ought to be obvious. There is no mystery here, but the writers want to take us for a ride in order to explain the things we already know. Fine.

The Klingon guest star steals the show.

By the time Generations rolls around Picard will no longer value the Kurlan Naiskos.

You know what I found amazing? After Professor Galen (Norman Lloyd) stated to Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) that his archaeological expedition to discover the origin of species would take anywhere from three months to a year, the Enterprise crew and assorted friends and enemies got it all done in the space of an afternoon! Not bad for intergalactic detective work. Spock would have called it 'fascinating'. Although it did take a lot of intrigue and deception on the part of the Humans, Cardassians, Klingons and Romulans to put the ancient mystery to rest. It all hinged on completing a complex DNA strand with its component parts scattered throughout the galaxies, with the one remaining missing piece somewhere in the Vilmoran System. There it was learned that a four-billion-year-old civilization that was dying out planted seed codes out into the infinite cosmos, thereby insuring that future civilizations would spring from them with a common ancestry, hence the reason why so many of the alien life forms encountered throughout the Star Trek universe would resemble humanoids. Makes sense to me, but it seems that revelation should have been made with much more grandeur and scope than a forty-five minute broadcast could offer. Instead, we were left with the wisdom of the Human Progenitor (Salome Jens) who proclaimed - "There is something of us in each of you, and so, something of you in each other." If only warring factions on this planet could get the message.

The Golden Age of Star Trek: we had the 6th Season of The Next Generation and the 1st Season of Deep Space Nice on our televisions, Generations on view in our cinemas and First Contact due out soon. This season of TNG contains some excellent stand-alone episodes and several spectacular two-parters, with only the occasional make-weight. Despite the length of time it had already been on the air, it still represents some of the highest standard of television Science Fiction ever broadcast.

It might just as well be the Klingon's mother's recipe for biscuits!

Yes, The Chase is pretty nonsensical and the denouement more than a little bit embarrassing but it's classic Star Trek through and through. Apparently, Jonathan Frakes who was directing complained that he could not afford to film the planet-side scenes outdoors. He had four different imaginary races visiting an imaginary world to fight over one of the most absurd Science Fiction ideas ever presented on screen. I don't think the cardboard rocks were really that much of a distraction, Mr Frakes. If we just watch it for the fun of a memorable, fast-paced adventure and give credit for the sheer chutzpah of the writers and the delicious performances of the guest actors, we will be better served than by complaining about what it doesn't have in it.

Screen veteran Norman Lloyd as Professor Galen clearly relishes going toe-to-toe with Patrick Stewart as the latter's former mentor, Professor Galen. Extremely well known for his long running part in St Elsewhere, this actor added some much needed gravitas. He died last year at the magnificent age of 106.

British audiences were delighted with former Avengers star Linda Thorson as the strong-willed Cardassian Gull Ocett: it was such a pity we couldn't have had her back on Star Trek to put Marc Alaimo in his place (DS9 fans will know exactly what I mean here). She was very well counterbalanced by Star Trek regular John Cothran as the blustering Kingon NuDaq and Scottish actor Maurice Roeves as the Romulan Commander.

Salome Jens showed herself to be a consummate professional, considering how much prosthetic she needed to wear in order to give her grandiose valedictory speech (the ramifications of which are, of course, never visited again). She returned for many appearances as the female shape-shifter in DS9 but, happily, voice work for Star Trek video games appears to have given her a nice little pension pot without the need for even more hours in the make-up chair.

Senior Trekker continues to score every episode with a 5.