[One man. One exercise bike. One surgery. 136/178 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.]
In this story, Picard is relieved of command of the Enterprise and sent on a secret mission into Cardassian space with Worf and Crusher to destroy some scary weapon which — of course — only Picard really knows much about. When it turns out to be a trap, everyone but us is surprised. Meanwhile, aboard the Enterprise, a new hard-ass captain changes up the routines of the crew with a seemingly arbitrary dick-headedness.
Yawn.
And I do mean “yawn.” Like many two-part episodes in Star Trek, this first part is poorly paced — doing nothing but establishing the exciting second part. We’re treated to a good five minutes of Picard, Worf, and Crusher talking about spelunking, and at least two extraneous scenes of Captain Jellico being an idiot.
The second part of this episode, coming tomorrow, is what people remember when they think of this as a classic.
On the plus side, this first part shows some interesting sneaking around and special ops work (though that’s something we never really see or hear about again).
My grade: B-
[Time on bike: 15 minutes.]
I like both parts of this mainly for the Captain Jellico part of the story. I love to hate him and it is fun to see the dynamic of the crew vs a new leader. The interrogation part of the second half is what makes this in my top 5 TNG eps.