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| Memories of war. |
THE PLOT
The Phoenix, a Federation ship under the command of the highly-decorated Captain Maxwell (Bob Gunton), fires on a Cardassian science station, an act that appears entirely unprovoked. To avoid renewed hostilities between the Federation and the Cardassians, Picard is ordered to pursue Maxwell - and to bring aboard a Cardassian delegation, under the supervision of the icy Gul Macet (Marc Alaimo), to participate.
By the time Picard catches up with the Phoenix, the renegade starship has destroyed two Cardassian vessels, killing more than 600 Cardassians. With Maxwell refusing to simply stand down, Picard finds himself in the position of firing on a Federation starship. Unless Chief O'Brien - who was previously Maxwell's tactical officer - can convince Maxwell to end his one-man war!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: Ever the good diplomat, he insists on allowing the Cardassians access to every phase of his decision making during the pursuit of the Phoenix. Openness, he reasons, will prevent this incident from reigniting the war. But he remains a pragmatist. He refuses worf's advice to assign a security team to the Cardassians, but he approves Worf's second request, to post security teams at sensitive areas to limit the Cardassians' access. Though he strongly condemns Maxwell's actions, he refuses to allow Gul Macet to dismiss Maxwell himself or O'Brien's loyalty to Maxwell, the value of which he extolls in a terrific little speech near the end.
O'Brien: O'Brien's hostility toward the Cardassians arrives fully-formed in this first-ever Cardassian episode. He fought the Cardassians with Captain Maxwell. Though he insists to Keiko and Picard that he holds no animosity toward them, his manner belies his words. He talks to Picard about how "he knows (the Cardassians)," and that "they must be up to something," refusing to side against Captain Maxwell even after Maxwell destroys more than 600 Cardassians. He refuses to share a drink with the Cardassian engineer, snapping that he will choose his own company off hours. He apologizes later. His candid revelation about the massacre on Setlik III is particularly well-played, recalling the first Cardassian he killed after never having killed anyone before, and ending by telling the man that "It's not you I hate, Cardassian. I hate what I became because of you."
Cardassians: This is the episode that introduced the Cardassians to the Trek universe. Some refinements were made for later appearances. They lost the stupid-looking helmets - a good move - and tweaked the makeup to allow a greater range of expression. Still, even in this first appearance, they work. There is something genuinely intimidating about the icy coldness with which they deliver their lines. Cardassians don't shout and cry like Klingons - They are calm, icy, like a cobra eternally poised to strike.
THOUGHTS
"When one has been angry for a very long time, one gets used to it... It becomes so familiar that one can't remember feeling any other way."
A Picard Sledge-Hammer moment, perhaps, as Picard sums up the moral of the story for Chief O'Brien. But it's a thoughtful bit during a suitably quiet moment. Tucked into the middle of the episode rather than crowbarred into a tag at the end, and wonderfully played by Patrick Stewart and Colm Meaney, it ends up adding to the texture rather than distracting. Picard's words echo through the rest of the show, from O'Brien's denial, then acknowledgement, of his anger, to Maxwell's Oliver North moment in Picard's ready room. As such, a scene that might have been heavy-handed becomes part and parcel of a very good episode.
After letting O'Brien develop from a prop to a distinct background character over the first three seasons, the series finally gives him the spotlight in this episode. Colm Meaney is well up to the task, with two of the three best scenes in the episode belonging to him: the scene in Ten-Forward, in which he recalls Setlik III, and his final scene with Maxwell are both splendid scenes. Both O'Brien's decency and loyalty and his resentment toward the Cardassians come through strongly, and both character beats would be expanded on in Deep Space 9.
The episode's other great scene is its final one, the scene between Picard and Gul Macet. Two intelligent adversaries/allies, talking calmly about what has happened and about its implications. Patrick Stewart is particularly good, moving from thoughtful and pleasant to quite cold in a heartbeat. There's a touch of Locutus there when he tells Macet that Starfleet "will be watching."
Significantly less great is the scene between Picard and Maxwell. Bob Gunton is a solid veteran of television and film, and he's terrific in his closing scene with O'Brien. But the scene with Picard is too rushed. Maxwell goes from appearing reasonable and confident to giving the full Oliver North within a two-minute span. Likely a result of there being just a touch too much story for the episode's 45 minutes, but this scene does knock an otherwise excellent episode's score down - not substantially, but by one point.
A good show in any case, and it's easy to see why the Cardassians would become fixtures of the franchise from this point on.
Overall Rating: 8/10
Previous Episode: Data's Day
Next Episode: Devil's Due
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