Despite being such a central character on the show we haven't seen much about Riker's history with Starfleet. This episode solves that a bit by digging into an incident that Riker is revered for, but doesn't seem to think he deserves the praise he has received. From the moment the admiral appears on the transporter pad you can tell Riker is torn up inside. In the end he has to face a court martial, but it is clear that he has made the right choice from the epilogue scene with Picard. It would have been even better if this was the kind of show that might actually risk not having him come back, but that is hardly this episodes problem.
The episode opens with the famous Captain Picard day where the captain is judging several art projects created in his honor. Reverting back to season one Picard he has no time for children or such childish activities, and is quite happy to get a call from an admiral directing him to ignore the dumb warp speed limits and to proceed to pick up a representative from Starfleet intelligence. The admiral they pick up turns out to be Riker's first commanding officer, Erik Pressman, and you can tell Riker doesn't like him from the first moment. The Enterprise is to look for the USS Pegasus, a ship lost while Pressman was captain and Riker was pilot. They believe the Romulans have found a sign that it may still be around despite the official story being that it was destroyed in a warp core breach. In private we learn that Riker was involved in some sort of secret project on the Pegasus that he is banned by order of Starfleet command from discussing with Picard.
They show up where the debris was supposed to have been found but immediately a Romlan warship decloaks and demands to know why the Enterprise is here. Neither side wants to give away what they know so they both go about their business. They find a sign of the ship and Riker tries to blow it up but Pressman steps in and says it is too important for that. They have to hide what they found though when the Romulans notice them giving a close look at an asteroid. The plan to hide it works and they keep pretending to search and will return the next day. Pressman yells at Riker in private for trying to destroy the ship and later Picard threatens to get a new first officer if Riker puts the Enterprise in danger.
The next day they return and the only way to get to the Pegasus is to fly into a crack in the asteroid. Picard doesn't like it but Pressman overrules him and they go in anyway. They find the Pegasus stuck halfway into the rock. Pressman and Riker beam down and we learn there is a secret device that Riker blames for the deaths of all the other crew but Pressman only cares that Riker stood up for him the day the ship was lost. Suddenly the ship shakes, the Romulans have sealed them in. Pressman and Riker return and Pressman brings the device with them. On the bridge Riker violates his orders and tells Picard that the device is a test cloaking device and that it might be able to get them out of the asteroid. Pressman is outraged and tells Riker he is done in Starfleet, but after they are clear Picard decloaks in front of the Romulans and has Pressman arrested for violating the treaty of no cloaking. Riker is also taken into custody for his role, but Picard makes it clear he is welcome back after it is resolved.
Review: I was way more into the science fiction aspects of this story when I saw it as a kid, but the human drama side of it is really good too. Not an award winning one, but a solid tale of captains gone bad.
7 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment