THE PLOT
The Enterprise comes to Angosia III, whose Prime Minister, Nayrok (James Cromwell), takes Picard and Riker on a tour of the planet's facilities as part of the world's petition to join the Federation. The tour is cut short when Nayrok is informed of an escape from a maximum security prison. The prisoner, Roga Danar (Jeff McCarthy), has stolen a transport, and Nayrok doubts that the Angosians will be able to catch him.
Picard authorizes the Enterprise to intercept the stolen vessel. But Danar is somehow able to elude them for a lengthy period, employing a series of tricks to avoid the ship's sensors. When they finally do catch him, it takes several men to subdue him, leaving Picard eager to return the man to his confinement.
When Troi visits the prisoner, she finds that his personality does not match his apparent crimes. Despite his evasions, Troi determines that Danar has an inherently non-violent personality. Using their link with the Angosian computers, she and Data pull up the man's records. They discover that he was a soldier during the Angosian/Tarsian War, but they can find no record of a crime. And the more Troi digs into this bizarre case, the closer she comes to a most disturbing truth...
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: Is initially impressed with the Angosians' peaceful, intellectual society, and thinks their planet will make a good addition to the Federation. He becomes less impressed when Troi uncovers the truth about Danar's situation. When Nayrok tells him that this is "a matter of internal security," he grumbles to himself that such is "the cry of the oppressor." Nevertheless, he does not attempt to interfere with Danar's transfer back to the Angosians', nor does he intend to block Angosia's admission to the Federation. Instead, he thinks that something may be able to be done about the situation after the planet joins the Federation.
Troi: A rare, good episode for Troi. This episode uses her inherent empathy to push her into playing detective. She knows what Danar has done - and he freely admits that he killed three men to escape, and would kill her if it would aid his escape - but she also knows that he isn't an evil man. The split between who he is and what he's done pushes her to investigate, and this doggedness brings out the best in both the character and in Sirtis' performance.
Data: His quick thinking leads to Danar's capture. He observes Danar's pattern, the prisoner's use of diversionary tactics and escape, and anticipates it. He and Danar have a particularly good scene, a conversation about different types of programming, Danar's military programming versus Data's android programming. Data comes away from the conversation just as convinced as Troi that Danar is deserving of a place in a civilized society.
THE PICARD SLEDGE-HAMMER
Picard confronts the Prime Minister with Angosia's policy toward its former soldiers by... making a speech. The former soldiers are Angosia's "brothers... sons... and you turned your backs on them!" Patrick Stewart's in fine form, thundering out the speech, but it's quite unnecessary. The point has already been amply made, and will be reinforced by the ending. As a result, Picard's speech comes across as self-indulgence, hammering home an already none-too-subtle message when the episode as a whole would be more effective without it.
THOUGHTS
The moment you see (a startlingly young) James Cromwell, you have to know that Nayrok isn't going to be the representative of All That's Right and Just, so it's little surprise that Danar ends up being more sympathetic than the intellectual prime minister. Still, both Cromwell and Jeff McCarthy play their roles well, with McCarthy's thoughtful scenes opposite Brent Spiner and Marina Sirtis giving the episode more resonance than it otherwise might have had.
It's not hard to see where The Hunted is going from fairly early on, and it has the series' usual level of subtlety (which is to say, none). It's still a good episode, though. First of all, it's well-paced. The days of early Season One, when this series was seemingly incapable of building momentum even in an action episode, are long past. The Hunted grabs viewer attention with a smartly-written chase sequence across the first Act.
Then it switches gears to a thoughtful middle, with some excellent scenes of characters talking to each other. These scenes are enhanced by not having the characters simply deliver exposition to each other. Danar doesn't tell his story to Troi. He evades telling his story for as long as possible, until Troi digs it out of him. Picard doesn't instantly listen to Troi's doubts. He tries to shut her down, telling her that he will be glad to see Danar off his ship, and only listens when Troi brings him concrete evidence. In this way, as Danar's story comes out, it becomes more effective and maintains a certain momentum, even before the episode switches back to being action-heavy for the climax.
The episode is also well-directed, with some nicely varied lighting greatly enhancing the drama. It's also well-acted. Jeff McCarthy is particularly strong as Danar. The script gives Troi a much meatier role than usual, and Marina Sirtis rises to that with one of her best performances. It about goes without saying that Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner are as reliable as ever, and the script gives them some strong character moments as well.
It may be a bit predictable and simplistic, but The Hunted is still a good entertainment. It may not be up there with The Enemy or The Defector, but it's still a notch above the series' average.
Overall Rating: 7/10.
The Enterprise comes to Angosia III, whose Prime Minister, Nayrok (James Cromwell), takes Picard and Riker on a tour of the planet's facilities as part of the world's petition to join the Federation. The tour is cut short when Nayrok is informed of an escape from a maximum security prison. The prisoner, Roga Danar (Jeff McCarthy), has stolen a transport, and Nayrok doubts that the Angosians will be able to catch him.
Picard authorizes the Enterprise to intercept the stolen vessel. But Danar is somehow able to elude them for a lengthy period, employing a series of tricks to avoid the ship's sensors. When they finally do catch him, it takes several men to subdue him, leaving Picard eager to return the man to his confinement.
When Troi visits the prisoner, she finds that his personality does not match his apparent crimes. Despite his evasions, Troi determines that Danar has an inherently non-violent personality. Using their link with the Angosian computers, she and Data pull up the man's records. They discover that he was a soldier during the Angosian/Tarsian War, but they can find no record of a crime. And the more Troi digs into this bizarre case, the closer she comes to a most disturbing truth...
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: Is initially impressed with the Angosians' peaceful, intellectual society, and thinks their planet will make a good addition to the Federation. He becomes less impressed when Troi uncovers the truth about Danar's situation. When Nayrok tells him that this is "a matter of internal security," he grumbles to himself that such is "the cry of the oppressor." Nevertheless, he does not attempt to interfere with Danar's transfer back to the Angosians', nor does he intend to block Angosia's admission to the Federation. Instead, he thinks that something may be able to be done about the situation after the planet joins the Federation.
Troi: A rare, good episode for Troi. This episode uses her inherent empathy to push her into playing detective. She knows what Danar has done - and he freely admits that he killed three men to escape, and would kill her if it would aid his escape - but she also knows that he isn't an evil man. The split between who he is and what he's done pushes her to investigate, and this doggedness brings out the best in both the character and in Sirtis' performance.
Data: His quick thinking leads to Danar's capture. He observes Danar's pattern, the prisoner's use of diversionary tactics and escape, and anticipates it. He and Danar have a particularly good scene, a conversation about different types of programming, Danar's military programming versus Data's android programming. Data comes away from the conversation just as convinced as Troi that Danar is deserving of a place in a civilized society.
THE PICARD SLEDGE-HAMMER
Picard confronts the Prime Minister with Angosia's policy toward its former soldiers by... making a speech. The former soldiers are Angosia's "brothers... sons... and you turned your backs on them!" Patrick Stewart's in fine form, thundering out the speech, but it's quite unnecessary. The point has already been amply made, and will be reinforced by the ending. As a result, Picard's speech comes across as self-indulgence, hammering home an already none-too-subtle message when the episode as a whole would be more effective without it.
THOUGHTS
The moment you see (a startlingly young) James Cromwell, you have to know that Nayrok isn't going to be the representative of All That's Right and Just, so it's little surprise that Danar ends up being more sympathetic than the intellectual prime minister. Still, both Cromwell and Jeff McCarthy play their roles well, with McCarthy's thoughtful scenes opposite Brent Spiner and Marina Sirtis giving the episode more resonance than it otherwise might have had.
It's not hard to see where The Hunted is going from fairly early on, and it has the series' usual level of subtlety (which is to say, none). It's still a good episode, though. First of all, it's well-paced. The days of early Season One, when this series was seemingly incapable of building momentum even in an action episode, are long past. The Hunted grabs viewer attention with a smartly-written chase sequence across the first Act.
Then it switches gears to a thoughtful middle, with some excellent scenes of characters talking to each other. These scenes are enhanced by not having the characters simply deliver exposition to each other. Danar doesn't tell his story to Troi. He evades telling his story for as long as possible, until Troi digs it out of him. Picard doesn't instantly listen to Troi's doubts. He tries to shut her down, telling her that he will be glad to see Danar off his ship, and only listens when Troi brings him concrete evidence. In this way, as Danar's story comes out, it becomes more effective and maintains a certain momentum, even before the episode switches back to being action-heavy for the climax.
The episode is also well-directed, with some nicely varied lighting greatly enhancing the drama. It's also well-acted. Jeff McCarthy is particularly strong as Danar. The script gives Troi a much meatier role than usual, and Marina Sirtis rises to that with one of her best performances. It about goes without saying that Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner are as reliable as ever, and the script gives them some strong character moments as well.
It may be a bit predictable and simplistic, but The Hunted is still a good entertainment. It may not be up there with The Enemy or The Defector, but it's still a notch above the series' average.
Overall Rating: 7/10.
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