Underrated Trek-Allegiance (TNG)

Welcome back to Underrated Trek, where I take a special look at Star Trek episodes that I love…which may not be the most popular or even liked by most. Today I wanted to look at an episode I always loved, even though it seems to fly under most people’s radar’s. It seems like these underrated episodes follow two categories, just bad episodes I like for some reason. Or like today’s, a filler episode meant to save money that didn’t have the most effort put into it…but it’s not god awful. This is….

‘

Of course just because I really like it doesn’t mean it’s perfect……

Plot Synopsis:

Picard is mysteriously transported off the Enterprise, and wakes in a holding cell with four other aliens. Meanwhile an exact duplicate of Picard takes his place on the Enterprise.

The fake Picard starts to act oddly enough taht people can’t help but notice. Doing things Picard would never do. Eventually this gets the attention of the senior staff who discuss the matter that something is wrong with Picard and may have to act to protect the ship.

The real Picard is determined to figure out who has imprisoned them. The other aliens are a cadet, an anarchist, and a collaborator. They finally agree to work together to get the door opened. While that doesn’t work, a slip up by the cadet reveals she is a spy and when Picard calls her out the aliens behind this stand revealed and explain it was all a test to satisfy curiosity.

What I Hated:

Ok so the idea of the  kidnapping the four was to study how four different people respond to leadership. Picard gives order, a cadet is trained to follow orders, and the other respond the opposite of each other–one is a aggressive and the other a pacifist. This all sounds Ok but I am not sure that the goal was met. The four argue but they also cooperate and help each other pretty easy. The idea was there but not sure there was enough time to really examine it.

There are things that don’t add up much. How in the world did the  kidnap Picard without anyone detecting anything? Ok Data detects and unusual energy reading but except for him mentioning it one more time it’s never looked into. Granted the shields were probably down, but still! And while fake Picard was convincing that scene in ten forward should have been the clincher. True the senior staff do discuss the matter but no one is willing to act until he nearly destroys the ship! And how was Picard duplicated so perfectly? I mean Troi couldn’t detect Picard wasn’t himself? Really?? The worst thing was with Crusher, why in the world did fake Picard waste his time flirting with her? You can’t call in character development when it isn’t really the character!

It’s amazing to me how Wesley hardly has any lines but his scenes on the Bridge at the end are still stupid. Why was Wil Wheaton told to play it like he was nauseous? Though maybe if Riker had clued him in to their concerns that would have helped, he wasn’t even in the room when the senior staff discussed fake Picard!

What I liked:

The scenes in the holding chamber are really well done. Yeah the issue could have been developed even more, but what we got is nice. We have a Bolian cadet, Kova Tholl from Mizar II, and Esoqq from Chainoth who is a Klingon wannabe or something. Some pick on the over the top make up for Esoqq with his ridiculous teeth, but I can ignore that. The four personalities bounce off each other effectively. They are all played by character actors and they do a great job. The aliens responsible are not given a name but were played two other character actors.

The best is part is how the traitor in the room is revealed. The first time seeing this episode I totally missed the trick Picard uses. When the cadet mentions an event no cadet could know about, he tricks her into mentioning another event even more classified. After that he pretends he doesn’t know so that he can try to determine an escape and stare her down a bit. When the truth comes out it’s a nice scene indeed.

Fake Picard could be nitpicked but putting the nitpicks aside, I love Patrick Stewart in this episode. He does a beautiful job being in and out of character at the same time. The point is never explicitly said but obviously he was testing to see how far a leader can push his luck before someone finally steps in and stops him. He does this by doing things Picard would never do. He asks Troi about the crew’s confidence in him, changes course of a pulsar with no reason, volunteers for a physical, stops by the poker game, romanced Crusher, and even stops off at Ten Forward and has a song with his men. Then Picard keeps bringing the ship closer to the pulsar, even at the risk of the entire crew when Riker finally stops him. As I said I think they waited a little to long, but the scene where Riker takes command from Picard is pretty well done.

When the real Picard is returned and the aliens stand revealed, Picard shows how they don’t need verbal communication for him to get a command across. With a simple look he conveys the message for Worf to get a force field up to contain the two aliens. It’s a nice moment.

Fast Foward Moment:

The general complaint for this episode is that stuff on the Enterprise is real draggy. I don’t think so, with one exception. That scene with fake Picard and Crusher in his quarters feels like it goes on forever. He is romancing her, but why? What does that teach the  about leadership? Was fake Picard just enjoying himself and decided to have a little fun? It’s clearly just to set up the gag at the end..and it’s really not worth it.

Final Thoughts-I always have to remind myself this is a season 3 episode, it almost feels like it belongs in season 2 to be honest. However that being said, this is a great example of how awesome season 3 was. Even a mediocre episode is still pretty damn good!