This is an episode I didn't remember all though fondly from my childhood that turned out to be better than I remembered. Thinking back I mostly just remembered Ro being rude to the captain and generally being a pain in the ass until she got Guinan on her side and suddenly we were supposed to like her. But having a bit more perspective on life her character motivations make a bit more sense. Also I didn't originally figure out that she was joining the show to be a replacement for Wesley and that isn't a bad thing at all.
We begin with Picard getting a haircut and some strategic advice from the Bolian barber Mot. I wouldn't imagine Picard needs a haircut very often, and he is eager to head to the bridge when they receive a distress call from a Federation colony. It has been attacked by Bajoran terrorists and the Enterprise is tasked with finding the terrorists and negotiating with them. To aid in their efforts they are assigned Ensign Ro Laren, a Bajoran Starfleet officer with a bad reputation for getting people killed on an away mission and not giving a fuck generally. She isn't any happier to be on the Enterprise than the Enterprise is happy to have her, but there are orders from an admiral so there isn't much choice. They head to a Bajoran camp to meet with one of their leaders by Ro tells them they are wasting their time with political leaders, instead she takes them to the real head of the camp.
The Bajoran isn't really interested in helping the Federation which stood by as the Cardassians conquered Bajor torturing and killing many of its inhabitants, but after Picard agrees to give them aid he tells them where to start looking for the terrorists. As they approach Ro receives a direct call from the admiral and beams down ahead of the away team pissing of Picard mightily. Picard and company beam down and are quickly captured by the terrorists who insist they didn't attack the Federation outpost and Troi confirms they aren't lying. Back on the ship Picard is confused, but not confused about confining Ro to quarters for beaming down without his permission.
Guinan who befriended Ro earlier shows up in her quarters and gets he to agree to tell Picard the truth. She does and he learns the admiral has plans to offer the terrorists arms to return to the camps and realizes something very serious is up. He works with the terrorists to get them to send a slow ship to the camps but they are intercepted by the Cardassians. The admiral orders them to leave the scene and the Cardassians attack and destroy the Bajoran ship, but it was empty. The admiral calls back and Picard tells him what he has done and tells the admiral he has been tricked in regards to the attack on the Federation colony. Back at the camps Picard offers Ro a permanent position of the Enterprise which she accepts.
Review: This is a classic Picard out thinking his enemies episode and it works pretty well. The way the officers act it is kinda hard to believe this is really a military vessel sometimes, but it all works out in the end.
6 out of 10
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