I'm back baby! Just spent 5 days at Lassen Volcanic National Park in a place that was supposed to have wifi so there shouldn't have been any interruption, but things being what they are of course there was no wifi. Coming back into an episode like The First Duty is a bit of a shock. This is probably one of the darker TNG episodes although it is but a light jest compared to how dark things are going to get in DS9. Tom Paris, I mean Locarno is always a bit confusing to me. I know Trek reuses actors all the time, but most of the time they reuse actors who have had lots of makeup and prosthetics on so you can't easily recognize that they are the same person.
The episode opens with Picard on his way to Starfleet Academy to give this years commencement address. En route he receives a call from the admiral who runs the academy informing him ensign Crusher has been involved in an accident. He is recovering from his injuries, but one of his team members was killed while flying in small ships together. Upon arriving at the academy Picard and Dr. Crusher attend the briefing on the incident and then go to visit Wesley. He is shook up by what happened and seems especially distant. When his team leader arrives, Cadet Larcarno, Wesley asks his mother and the captain to leave him and Lacarno to talk about what happened. This seems odd to them, but they agree. Lacarno tells Wesley it will be fine as long as they stick together in a totally non-conspiratorial way, wait, the opposite.
Picard catches up with his old friend, the gardener of the academy named Boothby. They share recollections before Picard goes to the inquiry. The flight team all testify that the accident happened during a normal maneuver, but Lacarno speaks up blaming the dead cadet for the entire accident. The rest look uncomfortable but remain silent. They admiral in charge calls and end to the hearing for the day while the flight recorder is examined. On the ship Picard gets Geordi and Data started on a parallel investigation. The flight team meets up and are clearly uncomfortable with lying about what happened, but Lacarno keeps them all in line. The next day at the hearing the Admiral is questioning Wesley when she shows them some new information. A satellite caught a picture of the team just before the accident, and they aren't in the formation Wesley described.
Back on the Enterprise Geordi and Data tell Picard Wesley was preparing to vent plasma right before the accident and Picard puts it all together. He calls Wesley to his ready room and tells him he knows they were trying a banned starburst formation and that if Wesley doesn't tell the truth he will. Wes goes straight to Lacarno who does all he can to keep Wesley from revealing what really happened. As the inquiry is about to wrap up however Wesley steps up at tells the whole truth. Later in the garden Picard tells Wes that Lacarno was thrown out of the academy and that in addition to a formal reprimand Wes is going to be held back and will spend another year at the academy.
Review: This has always been a moving episode to me and it was just as much so today. It was a little strange seeing all the pictures of the Blue Angels at Fleet Week popping up on my twitter feed as a watched this, but it didn't lessen the effect.
8 out of 10
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