- 30-second episode preview (AVI, 2Mb)
- The Pakled Captain refuses to release Geordi from his ship.

Synopsis:

During a journey to a distant starbase, Geordi is taken hostage by an alien race and Captain Picard must fight for his life after a simple surgical procedure goes awry.

In order for Wesley to complete his Starfleet exams, he must travel to Starbase 515 in the Scylla Sector. He is unexpectedly joined on his trip by Captain Picard, who has been ordered by Dr. Pulaski to undergo a cardiac replacement operation.

While Picard and Wesley are away, the crew responds to a distress call from the Pakleds, a race of lethargic humanoids. It seems that their ship, the Mondor, requires extensive repairs. To help expedite the process, Riker beams Geordi aboard the Pakled vessel. Sensing that the Pakleds' intentions are less than friendly, Troi expresses concern for Geordi's safety.

After making the necessary repairs, Geordi prepares to return to the U.S.S. Enterprise, but he is suddenly disarmed by the Pakleds, who refuse to release him until Riker surrenders all of their computer information. Hoping to buy time and outsmart the dim-witted Pakleds, Riker implies that Geordi is a weapons expert. The Pakleds then abandon thoughts of computer information and demand that Geordi upgrade their defensive capabilities.

Unable to reason with the Pakleds, the U.S.S. Enterprise crew considers a show of force to rescue Geordi. Just then, an emergency summons is received from Starbase 515 indicating that complications in Picard's heart surgery have left him near death. The Enterprise quickly fires a harmless blast of light at the Pakleds, which frightens the weak race long enough to secure Geordi's release and allow the crew to race to Picard's side.

On Starbase 515, Picard regains consciousness and learns that his life was saved, thanks to the surgical skills of the Enterprise's own Dr. Pulaski. Wesley soon rejoins Picard on the ship, having passed his Starfleet exams with flying colors.

Timothy Lynch's Star Trek: The Next Generation Episode Reviews

Review Date: 5/13/89

WARNING: The following post may contain spoilers for this week's TNG episode, "Samaritan Snare". Proceed with caution.

Okay, fine, be that way.

Well, after "Q-Who", I suppose anything would be a letdown. This really could've been better, though.

This episode was one of those that was great on characterization, but sadly lacking on plot. Even with two plots, it had problems :-). Here's a quick synop of the plots:

Plot One: The Enterprise, with Riker in temporary command (see plot two), intercepts a distress call. Answering it, they find a ship of beings known as the Packlets. (sp?) These people seem very, very dumb--it's really a wonder how they ever achieved space travel at all. They say their ship is "broken", but when Geordi beams over to fix it, we eventually find that it's a ruse. Seems that the Packlets don't like waiting for technology, so they steal it; through a hostage situation, generally. The situation is resolved, but I won't say how.

Plot Two: Picard is forced to go "ashore" at Starbase 515 for cardiac replacement, an operation which is usually very straightforward...usually. He also ends up sharing the shuttle there with Wesley, who is en route to take some exam or other.

Now, my usual rambling:

As I've already said, the best thing about this episode was the characteri- zation. They gave us a lot of insight into Picard, and just generally do everyone else right (even Troi, for a nice change of pace). It seems that Picard was somewhat cocky as a youth; that is, until he got into a barroom brawl with some Nausicaans and ended up with a spear through his heart. Most of the scenes between him and Wesley are excellent, and I recommend them (barring, of course, those who vomit whenever Wes is onscreen).

Unfortunately, it's not so good otherwise. The plot with the Packlets started off pretty terrible, but improved. The resolution of that plot is actually quite nice. Sadly, though, it didn't entirely make up for having to sit through the abysmal talk of the Packlets. It was nice in moderation, but it didn't stay in moderation. Bleh.

The plot with Picard, on the other hand, just wasn't very good. The parts with Picard worried about his image on the ship were nice, but that's about all it had going for it. The scenes with the surgeon were abominable. Get someone who can act next time, okay? Yeesh.

In sum, it was nice to see, but not something I'll want to go back and see often.

Plot: 5. 3 for Picard, but 7 for Geordi. Plot Handling: 7. 7 for each, actually. Characterization: 9. Very nice, but not quite up to some. Technical: 8. Nice. Not thrilling, but nice.

TOTAL: 7.25------> 7. I'm rounding down this time, 'cause it's not really up at 7.5 level. Oh well.

Next Week:

A world full of clones, that seem to want a certain captain and his first officer to donate some genes...hmmm.

Tim Lynch (Cornell's first Astronomy Major)
BITNET: H52Y@CRNLVAX5
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"Don't tell me. Their rubber band broke, right?" ---Lt. Geordi LaForge

Copyright 1994, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask... This article is explicitly prohibited from being used in any off-net compilation without due attribution and *express written consent of the author*. Walnut Creek and other CD-ROM distributors, take note.

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VHS, Laserdisc and DVD availability.

Cast:

Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard™
Jonathan Frakes as William Thomas Riker™
Brent Spiner as Data™
LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge™
Michael Dorn as Worf™
Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi™
Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher™
Diana Muldaur as Katherine "Kate" Pulaski™

Guest Cast:

Lycia Naff as Sonya
Christopher Collins as Grebnedlog
Leslie Morris as Reginod
Daniel Benzali as Surgeon
Tzi Ma as Biomolecular Specialist

Creative staff: