Lynch's Spoiler Review: "The Wounded"
Timothy W. Lynch
TNG episode, "The Wounded". Those not wishing to know things in advance should
really think twice about reading this article.
One-line sentiment: Very, very heavy...and very good.
Well, TNG finally broke its pattern.
Ever since "Brothers", at least for me, TNG has been off-again, on-again,
every other show. (The sequence: "Brothers" [+] ---> "Suddenly Human" [-]
---> "Remember Me" [+] ---> "Legacy" ---> "Reunion" ---> "Future Imperfect"
---> "Final Mission" ---> "The Loss" ---> "Data's Day". So, I logically
expected that "The Wounded" would be not very good, to keep up the pattern.
I was wrong. It was terrific.
More on that, after this friendly synopsis:
The Enterprise is conducting a mapping survey near the Cardassian border. The
Federation and the Cardassians made peace less than a year ago, after a long
war. Their mission is interrupted, however, when they are attacked by a
Cardassian ship. They manage to disable it without too much difficulty, and
are told by its captain, Gul Macet, that a Federation starship has destroyed an
unarmed science station.
Picard contacts Admiral Haden, who says that the news is true. The starship in
question is the Phoenix, commanded by Ben Maxwell, a fine officer. Haden tells
the Enterprise to find him and to preserve the peace, no matter what the cost.
He also, to soothe Cardassian nerves, takes on board Gul Macet and two aides as
observers, despite distrust from some members of the crew...particularly
O'Brien, who served with Maxwell years ago aboard the Rutledge, and saw a
massacre which, among other things, took the lives of Maxwell's family.
Before long, the Enterprise locates the Phoenix--but long-range sensors find
that the ship is about to attack a Cardassian supply ship. When Maxwell
repeatedly refuses to answer Picard's hail, Picard is faced with no choice but
to accede to the Cardassians' wishes, and he gives the Cardassian warship
(which is much closer to the Phoenix) the Phoenix's prefix codes.
Despite this imbalance, however, the Phoenix destroys both the warship and the
supply ship. As the Enterprise speeds up to intercept, Picard talks to
O'Brien, who is convinced that the Cardassians are somehow at fault, not
Maxwell. Picard points out, however, that Maxwell's been angry for so long
that, although he may not consciously be acting on revenge, the anger has
become "comfortable", and he may not be able to think around it. O'Brien soon
realizes that he has the same problem, because due to the Cardassians, he was
once forced to cold-bloodedly kill one.
After Worf brings in one of the other Cardassians, who was caught trying to
access weapons information and is confined to quarters by Gul Macet, and Macet
and Picard talk privately, convinced that a lasting peace is possible, they
reach the Phoenix. Maxwell beams over, and seems friendly enough (particularly
to O'Brien, not surprisingly). When he talks to Picard, however, it's a
different story.
He claims that the Cardassians have been arming for war again, and that the
ships and station he destroyed were all on military missions. He dismisses
Starfleet as too bureaucratic to have done any good in the situation, and when
Picard refuses to condone his actions, brands Picard a fool. Picard, not
allowing Maxwell to continue on his crusade, orders him to take the ship back
with the Enterprise to starbase 211--and informs Maxwell that he can command
the ship back himself, or have it towed and be thrown in the brig.
Maxwell goes back to his ship, but before they reach Federation space, veers
off. The Enterprise catches him just as he reaches another Cardassian ship,
which he claims is the proof Picard needs, and he demands Picard board it.
Picard refuses, but he is spared having to fire on Maxwell when O'Brien beams
over and manages to convince Maxwell to give up. All is well--but before Gul
Macet leaves the Enterprise, Picard tells him that Maxwell was _right_.
(There are various pieces of evidence for this.) He tells Macet that he did
not board the other vessel because he was there "to preserve the peace", but he
tells Gul Macet to tell his leaders that "We'll be watching."
Well, that's that. Now, for the commentary portion of our show:
This was a very, very *solid* show. The plot was very tight, and managed to
keep me guessing right up until the final scene. I kept bouncing back and
forth between "the Cardassians ARE up to something" and "no, Maxwell's just
crazy". As it turns out, I suppose I was right on both counts. (Although I
didn't have room to detail it in the synopsis, the evidence presented was
good enough to make me think that there's at least a strong chance the
Cardassians are in fact planning for war again.) That sort of confusion
hasn't happened to me since, I believe, "Remember Me", and the bouncing back
and forth between two viewpoints hasn't happened since "The Defector". And
both of those were strong shows as a result.
There were, in fact, a number of reminders of "The Defector" here. There was
the presence of Admiral Haden, of course, who only appeared before in said
story, and there was the prospect of a new war. In fact, Macet's claims about
the Cardassian base in the Cuellar system (hmm...as in Javier Perez de Cuellar,
U.N. Secretary-General? Almost undoubtedly.) bore a remarkable resemblance to
some of Admiral Jarok's statements about the Nelvana 3 base (with the main
difference, of course, being that Jarok simply gave the information rather than
blowing things up). The closing scene here gave me the impression that Picard
may have learned a bit from the Nelvana affair, though he did well enough there
that I'm not precisely sure WHAT he learned. Hmm.
The direction wasn't quite perfect (I wish whoever had done "The Defector" had
been on hand for this)--it seemed a bit stiff at times, though not often.
However, it was far, FAR better than either of Chip Chalmers' two previous
efforts, "The Loss" and "Captain's Holiday". So there's still hope for him.
:-)
Onwards to characterization--the regulars first. The two main regulars
focused on here were Picard and O'Brien, and both were excellent. Picard was
definitely caught between the horrible feeling of having to oppose a man who
was once a comrade (they appeared to be of roughly similar ages, so I would
assume that they had at least met previously) and having to preserve the
peace, but even more clearly was prepared to do whatever was necessary to
preserve that peace, regardless of his own personal feelings. That was well
written, and Patrick Stewart did his usual fine job if not better than usual.
One final point on him: maybe it was just because I just watched the rerun
of "Reunion" last week, but I was struck by similarities between Picard's
actions toward the end of this episode (i.e. not boarding the ship despite
believing Maxwell's claims) to "preserve the peace" and K'Mpec's actions in
"Sins of the Father", suppressing the truth to keep away civil war. One
wonders if K'Mpec's words about "all for the glory of the Empire...that should
be my epitaph" are echoing in Picard's head now...
O'Brien was also done quite well. His first scene (with Keiko) was a little
slow-moving (okay, so Keiko still needs some work), but he definitely shone
in all the rest, particularly when playing off Bob Gunton (aka Capt. Maxwell).
Colm Meaney had me believing that the two had served together long ago (which,
considering that the two actors had probably never laid eyes on each other
until the episode began filming, isn't too bad). Just one thing, though--back
in July, at a con, Colm swore before a packed audience that he'd never sing
except late at night after a lot of beers. I wonder how big a bonus he had
to be given before he broke that promise. (Then again, maybe they just filmed
it late at night, after a lot of beers...:-) :-) ) Well done.
On to guest stars. Bob Gunton did very well as Maxwell--while it's a pity
we can't see a fellow starship captain who isn't dead or crazy, Maxwell did a
better job at seeming fine on the outside than most. He really seemed very
congenial when he first came on board, and seemed far more comfortable than
Picard in their conversation (at least, the beginning of it). It wasn't until
a bit later that we saw he really was a bit unbalanced. Fortunately, and this
is the key, we SAW it as well as being told it. Maxwell actually _acted_
like a man with deep problems at the end, rather than us just being told that
he did. Excellent. As to the others, all were at least reasonable. The weak
link was probably Keiko (pity), but even she was pretty decent in her second
scene. All three Cardassians were convincing, particularly Gul Macet. Nice.
Another quick point: if some of the Cardassians acted/sounded/looked familiar,
that's because they were. Gul Macet was played by Marc Alaimo, who also played
the first TNG Romulan we ever saw, T'Bok, in "The Neutral Zone"--and was very
recognizable as such, at least by voice. It took me a while to figure out
where I'd heard Telle (the Cardassian caught spying) before, but after checking
the program guide, I discovered that he appeared as Capt. Paul Rice (or, at
least, the image of him projected by the Super Bowl Trophy Gone Bad) in "The
Arsenal of Freedom". After 3 1/2 seasons, TNG's getting good at recycling
actors. :-)
Technically, the show was also pretty damn good. Okuda and Sternbach once
again earned their week's pay if not a big bonus, especially with their
graphics of the tactical display while the Phoenix destroyed the warship and
supply ship (I won't try to describe it, but it's very pretty). There were a
couple of excellent "space" shots as well, particularly when both Federation
ships are in the same shot (though the one of the first Cardassian ship swoop-
ing by and firing on the Enterprise was nice, too). And there were no big
scientific problems, so that turns out pretty well, eh?
Some short, random comments, followed by another long one:
--We know that the war with the Cardassians must have gone on for at least
15 years or so, since Picard mentions the Stargazer was involved. I wonder:
did it start before the Klingon alliance, or after? We'll probably never find
out, but the Cardassian makeup did look like something easily reused...
--Let's see, O'Brien was Maxwell's tactical officer on the Rutledge.
Tactical, transporter chief, conn, security guard (granted, the last two may
not have been O'Brien, but they were Colm Meaney)--boy, talk about your
Renaissance men! Before long, he'll be first officer, if he's not careful.
:-)
--In Picard and Maxwell's first big scene, towards the end I found myself
thinking of "Battlestar Galactica"'s Commander Cain--one of the few times a
Galactica thought isn't necessarily bad. Anybody else feel the same way?
And now, the long one. I don't know if this was intended (probably), and
the writers/producers certainly couldn't have known for certain that this show
would be airing in the middle of a war, but I think it brought out a couple of
points well worth listening to. (Don't worry, I'm not going to sully this
review with real-life politics too much...I just thought this should be
mentioned.) One point which got firmly driven home to me was that, even in
TNG's fictional 24th century, wars too often dehumanize the enemy. Maxwell
firmly believed that the Cardassians were completely different, and that they
"lived to make war"--and O'Brien pointed out that that was just propaganda,
that they probably believed the same thing about the Federation. If I can
get up on the soapbox for just a second, I think that's a point well taken
right now about the Iraqis. While I won't comment on the main Iraqi
leadership, I imagine that the Iraqi soldiers are in many ways similar to
our own. Let's try to remember that Iraqi citizens, both in the Gulf and
here as Iraqi-Americans, are just as human as the rest of us. Okay...sermon
off. (And please...if you're going to flame me about my wartime beliefs, or
just for having the temerity to bring up real life in r.a.s., do it in private.
I'll listen, promise.)
Well, anyway, I think I've rambled on long enough. It was nice to be able to
come back from reruns to a good show for a change. Of course, the on-off
cycle may simply have skipped half a cycle--we'll see next week. The
numbers, please...
Plot: 10. Kept me guessing right to the end, and that's enough for me.
Plot Handling/Direction: 8. The direction was a little stiff sometimes,
but not often.
Characterization: 9.5. A little off for Keiko, but not much.
Technical: 10. Mike and Rick are deities-in-training.
TOTAL: 37.5/4 ---> 9.5. Quite nice.
NEXT WEEK:
The devil terrorizes a peaceful planet, and threatens Picard's soul. I'll
believe it when I see it.
Tim Lynch (Cornell's first Astronomy B.A.; one of many Caltech grad students)
BITNET: tlynch@citjuliet
INTERNET: tly...@juliet.caltech.edu
UUCP: ...!ucbvax!tlynch%juliet.ca...@hamlet.caltech.edu
"Take this message to your leaders, Gul Macet--we'll be watching."
--J.L. Picard
--
Copyright 1991, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
Paul Schinder
In article <1991Jan31....@nntp-server.caltech.edu> tly...@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>One-line sentiment: Very, very heavy...and very good.
Am I the only one who didn't like this episode? I thought it had *major*
plot flaws.
>
>Picard contacts Admiral Haden, who says that the news is true. The starship in
>question is the Phoenix, commanded by Ben Maxwell, a fine officer. Haden tells
>the Enterprise to find him and to preserve the peace, no matter what the cost.
My first problem with this episode. Where were Maxwell's first officer and
crew when this happened? A captain orders a strike against an installation
of an allied government and the crew just does it?
>
>Maxwell goes back to his ship, but before they reach Federation space, veers
>off. The Enterprise catches him just as he reaches another Cardassian ship,
My second, even bigger, problem with this episode. The captain of a
ship which has commited an act of war against an allied government is
left in command, rather than immediately arrested. Unbelievable. And
extremely stupid, as subsequent events showed, and given Picard's
orders to keep the peace. Someone from the Enterprise should have
immediately taken command of Phoenix, and Maxwell retained in the brig
on the Enterprise. I was extremely suprised that the Cardassians
didn't demand this, or raise any fuss about the lenient treatment
Maxwell received.
>
>This was a very, very *solid* show. The plot was very tight, and managed to
>keep me guessing right up until the final scene. I kept bouncing back and
>forth between "the Cardassians ARE up to something" and "no, Maxwell's just
>crazy". As it turns out, I suppose I was right on both counts. (Although I
Maybe the Cardassians ARE up to something, but this does not excuse
what Maxwell did. The Federation should indeed keep a careful watch,
but renegades like Maxwell don't help the situation at all. The
Cardassians now have a causus belli (been watching too much CNN for my
own good), and evidence that the Federation doesn't take Maxwell's
actions very seriously. They could easily conclude that Star Fleet
actively sent Phoenix into Cardassian space. If Star Fleet is as weak
as Haden implied, Picard's leniency borders on the absurd.
>
>Tim Lynch (Cornell's first Astronomy B.A.; one of many Caltech grad students)
>BITNET: tlynch@citjuliet
>INTERNET: tly...@juliet.caltech.edu
>UUCP: ...!ucbvax!tlynch%juliet.ca...@hamlet.caltech.edu
>"Take this message to your leaders, Gul Macet--we'll be watching."
> --J.L. Picard
>--
>Copyright 1991, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
--
Paul J. Schinder
Department of Astronomy, Cornell University
schi...@astrosun.tn.cornell.edu
Timothy W. Lynch
>Possible spoilers ahead
(the >>'s are me)
>Am I the only one who didn't like this episode? I thought it had *major*
>plot flaws.
You may be the only one so far, anyway.
>>Picard contacts Admiral Haden, who says that the news is true. The starship
>>in question is the Phoenix, commanded by Ben Maxwell, a fine officer. Haden
>>tells the Enterprise to find him and to preserve the peace, no matter what
>>the cost.
>My first problem with this episode. Where were Maxwell's first officer and
>crew when this happened? A captain orders a strike against an installation
>of an allied government and the crew just does it?
What did the Enterprise crew do when the false Picard nearly destroyed the
ship in "Allegiance"? Not a whole lot. I think a subsidiary intention of
the scenes with O'Brien was meant to show just how good Maxwell was at
inspiring loyalty. For another, possibly better, example, one might wonder
what the out-of-sight Enterprise crew thought of the ship suddenly returning
to Earth and phasering a few higher-ups in Starfleet in "Conspiracy".
>>Maxwell goes back to his ship, but before they reach Federation space, veers
>>off. The Enterprise catches him just as he reaches another Cardassian ship,
>My second, even bigger, problem with this episode. The captain of a
>ship which has commited an act of war against an allied government is
>left in command, rather than immediately arrested. Unbelievable.
Not entirely...because first of all, the two govts are not allies. A treaty
doesn't mean they're allies; it just means they're not fighting any more.
More importantly, I imagine Picard felt that Maxwell KNEW exactly how much
trouble he was in, and trusted Maxwell not to go off as a loose cannon with
someone _right there_ watching him. As it happens, he was wrong--but no harm
was done, fortunately.
>And
>extremely stupid, as subsequent events showed, and given Picard's
>orders to keep the peace. Someone from the Enterprise should have
>immediately taken command of Phoenix, and Maxwell retained in the brig
>on the Enterprise.
All I can really say to this is that hindsight is always 20-20.
>I was extremely suprised that the Cardassians
>didn't demand this, or raise any fuss about the lenient treatment
>Maxwell received.
I'm not surprised--after all, the evidence at least hints that Maxwell was
_right_. Given that, the Cardassians don't want to make too much of a fuss,
since a bigger fuss might lead to a bigger investigation of his claims.
>>This was a very, very *solid* show. The plot was very tight, and managed to
>>keep me guessing right up until the final scene. I kept bouncing back and
>>forth between "the Cardassians ARE up to something" and "no, Maxwell's just
>>crazy". As it turns out, I suppose I was right on both counts. (Although I
>Maybe the Cardassians ARE up to something, but this does not excuse
>what Maxwell did.
Certainly true.
>The Federation should indeed keep a careful watch,
>but renegades like Maxwell don't help the situation at all.
Also certainly true.
>The
>Cardassians now have a causus belli (been watching too much CNN for my
>own good), and evidence that the Federation doesn't take Maxwell's
>actions very seriously.
We have no evidence whatsoever to support the latter half of that claim. I
rather suspect that Maxwell's career is now very, very over--just 'cos we
didn't see it at the end doesn't mean that it won't happen shortly after
the episode ends. If we hear in a later show that Maxwell got off with a slap
on the wrist, then I'll be in complete agreement.
>They could easily conclude that Star Fleet
>actively sent Phoenix into Cardassian space.
Only if subsequent events lead to a mere slap on the wrist, which is unlikely.
>If Star Fleet is as weak
>as Haden implied, Picard's leniency borders on the absurd.
Our main point of difference here seems to be the extent of said leniency, so
I'll leave it for now.
(How's Ithaca these days? :-) )
Tim Lynch
Jeff Sicherman
The following is certified to be spolier-free
It was BORING. No interesting plot, no interesting characters (just
characatures (sp?)), no action. Dialogue was filled with platitudes.
Emotion was phony or superficial.
Other than that it wasn't too bad.
S Prendergast
>[...]
>off. (And please...if you're going to flame me about my wartime beliefs, or
>just for having the temerity to bring up real life in r.a.s., do it in private.
WHY?! YOU aired your beliefs openly, and ON r.a.s, so how can you demand that
those who disagree keep quiet, and/or off of r.a.s?!
SWP
Michael Rawdon
If you'll read his sentence above REAAALLL closely (and I'll admit that it's
kind of hard to miss, it being written in words and all - and English at
that!), you'll note the presence of the term "flame". If you look even closer,
you'll notice that Tim doesn't say a thing about "keeping quiet".
Paying attention to what you're responding to is good. In fact, out in
the real world, it might save you from spending money defending yourself in
libel suits. (Or are they slander suits? I always forget. Someone's
probably now going to say it's neither...)
--
Michael Rawdon Someone who posts
Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana too much for his
Internet: raw...@rex.cs.tulane.edu own good.
Bitnet: CS6FECU@TCSVM
"And they said we were heroes, they said we were fine.
We were kings in command, we had god on our side,
And we said nothing will make us change in any way." - Chris De Burgh
S Prendergast
> In <9443.2...@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu> pre...@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu (S Prendergast) writes:
>>In article <1991Jan31....@nntp-server.caltech.edu>, tly...@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>>[...]
>>>off. (And please...if you're going to flame me about my wartime beliefs, or
>>>just for having the temerity to bring up real life in r.a.s., do it in private.
>
>>WHY?! YOU aired your beliefs openly, and ON r.a.s, so how can you demand that
>>those who disagree keep quiet, and/or off of r.a.s?!
>
> you'll notice that Tim doesn't say a thing about "keeping quiet".
>
ON r.a.s, and no one who disagrees with him can. I wholeheartedly agree that
this being r.a.s should stay about ST and EVERYONE should keep their own HO's
about everything else off of it. That opinion, however, will NOT stop me from
publicly pointing out someone's hypocricy and bias.
>[Brain-dead LA Law, ahem, 'legal opinion' follows]
Look, libel/slander are the Malicious Intentional Dissemination of LIES. All
that I did was point out that he expressed his own opinions re the war and
then said "no one else do this, 'or else'!". It's right up there in black-and-
phosphor. YOU read it.
Besides, what's your gripe with me? I thought everyone here, Pinkos and Hawks
alike, SUPPORTED the 1st Amendment, and "I say this. I call 'No more sayzies!'"
isn't quite in the same vein.
SWP
Michael Rawdon
>schi...@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Paul Schinder) writes:
>>Tim Lynch writes:
??batcomputer?? Well, whatever...
>>Possible spoilers ahead
>>>Picard contacts Admiral Haden, who says that the news is true. The starship
>>>in question is the Phoenix, commanded by Ben Maxwell, a fine officer. Haden
>>>tells the Enterprise to find him and to preserve the peace, no matter what
>>>the cost.
>>My first problem with this episode. Where were Maxwell's first officer and
>>crew when this happened? A captain orders a strike against an installation
>>of an allied government and the crew just does it?
>What did the Enterprise crew do when the false Picard nearly destroyed the
>ship in "Allegiance"? Not a whole lot.
Not exactly the best of examples, I'd say. I had the same problem with
that episode at the time (though it was one problem among many).
> I think a subsidiary intention of
>the scenes with O'Brien was meant to show just how good Maxwell was at
>inspiring loyalty. For another, possibly better, example, one might wonder
>what the out-of-sight Enterprise crew thought of the ship suddenly returning
>to Earth and phasering a few higher-ups in Starfleet in "Conspiracy".
Definitely a better example. It's hard to say, of course, what exactly
the Enterprise crew thinks of ANYTHING because we so rarely see ANY of them
with any speaking lines; as you say, they're out-of-sight. But that's neither
here nor there.
To tackle the issue: I don't remember the exact details of "Conspiracy" as
precisely as I'd like, but I think the circumstances were somewhat
different there. It was obvious to all that Picard had conferred with several
other Starfleet captains on the issue, so he wasn't "going renegade" on
his own. There was also the matter of the destruction of the Horatio, which,
given the circumstances, I think is a reasonable excuse for going to Earth
to find out What Was Going On. And, of course, the Enterprise wasn't
slaughtering other sentient beings without provocation.
I think the episode could have benefitted from an examination, even a brief
one, of the behavior of the crew of the Phoenix (in fact, come to think of it,
the story could have made a nice two-parter; there were certainly enough
aspects of the episode which COULD have been expanded upon, regardless of
whether or not they NEEDED to be, I think). Especially at the end. After all,
regardless of WHY they decided to follow Maxwell's commands, one would think
that several of them (the officers, at least) will be in the same boat that
he is (i.e., their careers damaged, if not over) when they get to that
starbase. Does Starfleet really want to be employing people who follow
orders so blindly, and who ignore orders and/or regulations?
There's loyalty, but these people have free will, and, hopefully, morals.
If I were in charge of Starfleet, I wouldn't want people who are willing to
kill other sentient beings just on their commander's say-so, especially
when Starfleet's say-so is contrary to his. I have a hard time believing
that the crew of the Phoenix didn't think of this, and it irks me that
the episode didn't touch on some of these issues. It weakened the episode,
IMHO.
>>>Maxwell goes back to his ship, but before they reach Federation space, veers
>>>off. The Enterprise catches him just as he reaches another Cardassian ship,
>>My second, even bigger, problem with this episode. The captain of a
>>ship which has commited an act of war against an allied government is
>>left in command, rather than immediately arrested. Unbelievable.
>Not entirely...because first of all, the two govts are not allies. A treaty
>doesn't mean they're allies; it just means they're not fighting any more.
>More importantly, I imagine Picard felt that Maxwell KNEW exactly how much
>trouble he was in, and trusted Maxwell not to go off as a loose cannon with
>someone _right there_ watching him. As it happens, he was wrong--but no harm
>was done, fortunately.
I disliked this happening because it was painfully obvious to me that
letting Maxwell keep his command was only a set-up for him to try something.
I felt it was redeemed slightly in that Maxwell didn't go on to do what I
expected and attack the Enterprise (exciting as that might have been).
However, I do think it was a Bad Move on Picard's part to let him keep
his command, and I didn't feel his reasons were very plausible.
>>I was extremely suprised that the Cardassians
>>didn't demand this, or raise any fuss about the lenient treatment
>>Maxwell received.
>I'm not surprised--after all, the evidence at least hints that Maxwell was
>_right_. Given that, the Cardassians don't want to make too much of a fuss,
>since a bigger fuss might lead to a bigger investigation of his claims.
Here, I agree with Tim. I felt that the twist WRT the Cardassians' war
plans was the best feature of the last fifteen minutes of the show.
>>>This was a very, very *solid* show. The plot was very tight, and managed to
>>>keep me guessing right up until the final scene. I kept bouncing back and
>>>forth between "the Cardassians ARE up to something" and "no, Maxwell's just
>>>crazy". As it turns out, I suppose I was right on both counts. (Although I
>>Maybe the Cardassians ARE up to something, but this does not excuse
>>what Maxwell did.
>Certainly true.
It doesn't excuse what his crew did either, I feel compelled to point out
(again :-).
>>The
>>Cardassians now have a causus belli (been watching too much CNN for my
>>own good), and evidence that the Federation doesn't take Maxwell's
>>actions very seriously.
>We have no evidence whatsoever to support the latter half of that claim. I
>rather suspect that Maxwell's career is now very, very over--just 'cos we
>didn't see it at the end doesn't mean that it won't happen shortly after
>the episode ends. If we hear in a later show that Maxwell got off with a slap
>on the wrist, then I'll be in complete agreement.
Me, too. Picard certainly seemed to take Maxwell's actions, and what he
revealed, extremely seriously. Speaking as he did to a Cardassian captain
is not something *I* would do lightly...
Michael Rawdon
In <9445.2...@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu> pre...@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu (S Prendergast) writes:
>In article <59...@rex.cs.tulane.edu>, raw...@rex.cs.tulane.edu (Michael Rawdon) writes:
>> In <9443.2...@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu> pre...@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu (S Prendergast) writes:
>>>In article <1991Jan31....@nntp-server.caltech.edu>, tly...@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>>>off. (And please...if you're going to flame me about my wartime beliefs, or
>>>>just for having the temerity to bring up real life in r.a.s., do it in private.
>>
>>>WHY?! YOU aired your beliefs openly, and ON r.a.s, so how can you demand that
>>>those who disagree keep quiet, and/or off of r.a.s?!
>> If you'll read his sentence above REAAALLL closely [...]
>> you'll notice that Tim doesn't say a thing about "keeping quiet".
>No, he only says that HE is allowed to post his opinions about NON-ST material
>ON r.a.s, and no one who disagrees with him can. I wholeheartedly agree that
>this being r.a.s should stay about ST and EVERYONE should keep their own HO's
>about everything else off of it. That opinion, however, will NOT stop me from
>publicly pointing out someone's hypocricy and bias.
Excuse me, but that's not what he said at all. He said that he didn't want
anyone else to FLAME his opinions. The operative word is FLAME, which,
loosely translated, means "reply in an inflammatory and insulting manner",
which, I think most people will agree, is something which is worth trying to
stomp out.
>>[Brain-dead LA Law, ahem, 'legal opinion' follows]
>Look, libel/slander are the Malicious Intentional Dissemination of LIES. All
>that I did was point out that he expressed his own opinions re the war and
>then said "no one else do this, 'or else'!". It's right up there in black-and-
>phosphor. YOU read it.
I did. My dictionary defines "lie" as "a falsehood". That is precisely what
your, ah, "interpretation" of Tim's statement was: a falsehood. What's your
problem with that?
>Besides, what's your gripe with me? I thought everyone here, Pinkos and Hawks
>alike, SUPPORTED the 1st Amendment, and "I say this. I call 'No more sayzies!'"
>isn't quite in the same vein.
My gripe is that you are maligning a man I respect, accusing him of saying
things which, clearly, he did not say. To quote your own phrase back at you,
"It's right up there in black-and-phosphor. YOU read it."
--
Shannon T. Kalvar
I agree: Great plot! I wish they had left it even more
uncertain at the end... I feel very certain that the
supply vessel was carrying weapons of war! Picard was
great in this episode, torn between keeping the peace and
digging for the truth... What happened to the Captain
who told the Klingon leader off for protecting lies? Picard
can probably sympathize with the Klingon situation after
being in the same sort of situation and making the same
kind of decision... :-)
O'Brien's wife didn't "do anything" for me... O'Brien was
fairly good, however... Oh, I guess Laforge got the episode
off? :-)
Mike
eil...@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
umans.Vanine.
Timothy W. Lynch
>In <1991Jan31....@nntp-server.caltech.edu> tly...@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>schi...@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Paul Schinder) writes:
>>>Possible spoilers ahead
>>>My first problem with this episode. Where were Maxwell's first officer and
>>>crew when this happened? A captain orders a strike against an installation
>>>of an allied government and the crew just does it?
>>What did the Enterprise crew do when the false Picard nearly destroyed the
>>ship in "Allegiance"? Not a whole lot.
>Not exactly the best of examples, I'd say. I had the same problem with
>that episode at the time (though it was one problem among many).
Just setting a precedent...hey, whaddya expect when I answer these posts off
the top of my head? :-)
>> I think a subsidiary intention of
>>the scenes with O'Brien was meant to show just how good Maxwell was at
>>inspiring loyalty. For another, possibly better, example, one might wonder
>>what the out-of-sight Enterprise crew thought of the ship suddenly returning
>>to Earth and phasering a few higher-ups in Starfleet in "Conspiracy".
>Definitely a better example.
Danke. I liked it.
>It's hard to say, of course, what exactly
>the Enterprise crew thinks of ANYTHING because we so rarely see ANY of them
>with any speaking lines; as you say, they're out-of-sight. But that's neither
>here nor there.
>
>To tackle the issue: I don't remember the exact details of "Conspiracy" as
>precisely as I'd like, but I think the circumstances were somewhat
>different there. It was obvious to all that Picard had conferred with several
>other Starfleet captains on the issue, so he wasn't "going renegade" on
>his own.
I don't consider it "obvious" that Picard had conferred w/ several other
captains. Obvious to those people on the bridge who had the advantage of
detecting the other ships and noting that three people were down planetside,
perhaps--but not to your average crewmember.
>There was also the matter of the destruction of the Horatio, which,
>given the circumstances, I think is a reasonable excuse for going to Earth
>to find out What Was Going On.
Perhaps, but not necessarily.
>And, of course, the Enterprise wasn't
>slaughtering other sentient beings without provocation.
As somebody else has pointed out (sorry for not getting the name), perhaps they
weren't all told the truth about what they were doing? OR, as someone ELSE
pointed out (y'know, I really ought to start writing this stuff down), maybe
Maxwell's just good at inspiring loyalty--look at Kirk's actions in ST3.
>I think the episode could have benefitted from an examination, even a brief
>one, of the behavior of the crew of the Phoenix (in fact, come to think of it,
>the story could have made a nice two-parter; there were certainly enough
>aspects of the episode which COULD have been expanded upon, regardless of
>whether or not they NEEDED to be, I think). Especially at the end. After all,
>regardless of WHY they decided to follow Maxwell's commands, one would think
>that several of them (the officers, at least) will be in the same boat that
>he is (i.e., their careers damaged, if not over) when they get to that
>starbase.
This much is certainly true--I wouldn't have minded this being a two-parter at
all.
>Does Starfleet really want to be employing people who follow
>orders so blindly, and who ignore orders and/or regulations?
Probably not--but there isn't always a good way to tell exactly how far someone
will go in obeying authority. Look at the Milgram experiment. And, there's
also the opposite problem--do you want people who will question EVERYTHING
the captain does? Certainly not. There should be a balance--but that's some-
times tough to find. Maybe all the knee-jerk "yes, sir!" people ended up on
one ship by mistake.
>There's loyalty, but these people have free will, and, hopefully, morals.
>If I were in charge of Starfleet, I wouldn't want people who are willing to
>kill other sentient beings just on their commander's say-so, especially
>when Starfleet's say-so is contrary to his. I have a hard time believing
>that the crew of the Phoenix didn't think of this, and it irks me that
>the episode didn't touch on some of these issues. It weakened the episode,
>IMHO.
It seems to be somewhat well established that all the really good captains
(Picard, Maxwell, Kirk, whatever) command near-absolute loyalty in their
actions. That may not necessarily be a good thing, but for them to bring it
up now might've opened up a big can of worms that they don't want to touch.
That doesn't necessarily justify it, but it explains it.
>>>My second, even bigger, problem with this episode. The captain of a
>>>ship which has commited an act of war against an allied government is
>>>left in command, rather than immediately arrested. Unbelievable.
>>More importantly, I imagine Picard felt that Maxwell KNEW exactly how much
>>trouble he was in, and trusted Maxwell not to go off as a loose cannon with
>>someone _right there_ watching him. As it happens, he was wrong--but no harm
>>was done, fortunately.
>I disliked this happening because it was painfully obvious to me that
>letting Maxwell keep his command was only a set-up for him to try something.
Picard has in general been a pretty trusting being...often, that helps him a
great deal. Sometimes it doesn't. This time, it didn't. Why is it that on
the one hand, everybody bitches about the characters being so bloody perfect,
and on the other hand, everybody comes out of the woodwork with insults
whenever a character does something IMperfect? (This is much broader than
you, Michael...but to a certain extent it applies, so I'm putting it here.)
>I felt it was redeemed slightly in that Maxwell didn't go on to do what I
>expected and attack the Enterprise (exciting as that might have been).
True.
>However, I do think it was a Bad Move on Picard's part to let him keep
>his command, and I didn't feel his reasons were very plausible.
I thought they were--but I'm repeating myself.
Tim Lynch
cfo...@eagle.wesleyan.edu
at the time this episode was being made, was not yet a war). What hit me
was the portrayal of the captain of the Phoenix. Physically, he
looked slightly like George Bush to me (the eyes notwithstanding, more the hair
and physique). I would consider this a coincidence, except that as he talked
(especially in the ready room with Picard) he started using a large amount of
hand gestures; some of them strongly reminiscent of Bush's gestures during
press conferences.
Neat Shot of the Week: The captain of the Phoenix looking out his window, where
the Enterprise floated above him menacingly.
Neat Cinematic Touch of the Week: Picard turning his back to the renegade
Captain, staring out of his ready room window at the stars; then later, his
turning his back to the Cardassian commander as he left, staring out of the
conference room windows at the stars; the balancing out of the two actions.
Chris
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Christopher J. Foster cfo...@eagle.wesleyan.edu or cfo...@wesleyan.bitnet
"Mr. Mayor... put down the gun."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subash Shankar
>I sensed that this war was crafted to be a statement about the Gulf war
Me too, and I'm suprised more people haven't mentioned this. You have
the Federation with incredible technical superiority over the other
side, yet the Cardassians are capable of inflicting serious damage on
the Federation. The Cardassian rulers aren't exactly nice guys, based
on their attack of the Federation civilians in the previous war, but
the Cardassian people believed that they were fighting a defensive war
in attacking a Federation military installation. Both sides are
strongly prejudiced against the other. And finally, despite having a
[somewhat] legitimate reason for attacking the Cardassians (since they
presumably broke the treaty terms), Picard is willing to suppress his
feelings and prevent a war which would be costly to the Federation.
Was this episode filmed completely before the Iraq crisis, or could it
have added a scene or two after the crisis (I don't really know if
this is feasible or not in such short notice)? If the last five
minutes had changed to Picard boarding the ship and finding a food
transmorgifier which was producing the signals indicating war
preparation, the episode would have had a completely different flavor,
and would be more like other typical STTNG episodes.