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| Reviewer : |
Indefatigable |
Rating : |
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| Review : |
I find it quite hard to watch this episode now without thinking of the debacle of "These Are The Voyages...", but I really shouldn't hold that against it. Ron Moore could never have imagined that anyone would hijack his script like that, and it is a very good script. I'm always astonished by the number of rogue admirals that Starfleet has had. Do they all lose their sense of duty when they hoist their flags? Nobody had thought of Section 31 when this was written, but the Pegasus project seems to have their grubby fingermarks all over it. I could see where the trend was going, and I really didn't like it. Starfleet was never supposed to stoop to lies, deceit and treaty-breaking. On the plus side, the idea of the hunt for this mysterious military secret, to stop it falling into the wrong hands, quite caught my attention. I liked the balance between Picard, Riker and the overbearing Pressman. I suppose you can understand Riker's dilemma, but you knew full well that he would do the right thing eventually, it was just a question of why. It was a little awkward that he was forced into it, but most likely he would have tried to find a way to prevent the device from ever leaving the Pegasus if he could. Picard's decision to reveal the device to the Romulans was interesting as well. Still, I think I know what he would have done if they had tried to arrest him. "Engage the cloak..." |
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| Reviewer : |
sailtrekker |
Rating : |
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| Review : |
Great episode as one would expect from Ron Moore. The only thing preventing me from giving this a full five stars is the lack of significant discussion of why it is so dangerous to let a military branch (or quasi-military as is the case with the Federation's interstellar navy aka Star Fleet) countermand policy established by a republic (like the United Federation of Planets). The military is a tool of the republic not vice versa. Military personnel, especially high ranking personnel, have a real motivation to start a conflict (oppurtunity for glory and advancement) was know by the founding fathers of the U.S government. "Standing armies" were thus considered a real threat, unfortunately, utterly forgotten today. A discussion of this point would have been very beneficial to all. |
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| Reviewer : |
=NoPoet= |
Rating : |
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| Review : |
It was very, very hard for me to accept Picard surrendering the cloaking technology to the Romulans, but really, he took the Starfleet action. Starfleet is often derided as a military organisation, but when they are getting attacked all the time with little provocation by everyone they come across, I'm not surprised Starfleet vessels can kick serious arse. In this case, Picard honoured the agreement that the Federation will not use or develop cloaking devices. It must have been a shock to the Romulans that this one was so advanced. A good episode all round, unfairly maligned for its association with its spiritual sequel, ENT's "These Are the Voyages". I for one do not see why this was a bad episode to choose for TATV; the only other one that suggests itself might be Best of Both Worlds, but with Riker in charge and a first officer who wants to kick him off the Enterprise, he could hardly have spend all day in the Holodeck chopping carrots. |
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