Trek Thursdays: Trekking Towards Sixty #22 — “The Defector” And “Chain Of Command”

On September 8th, 1966, an intrepid crew of explorers boldly went where no one had ever gone before on television. At that moment, Star Trek was born. A series that launched a franchise that has kept a firm grip on audiences for decades.

As the sixtieth anniversary approaches, we here at Comicon are ready to celebrate one of the greatest science fiction franchises. While Star Trek has graced the silver screen, most of its life has been on our television screens. So, that’s where our focus shall remain.

Every week through September 8th, we’ll be spotlighting two Star Trek episodes, from any and every iteration, that we feel are some of the greatest. At this point there are over 950 episodes of Trek, so it goes without saying some favorites won’t make the cut for this list of 60.

There are many things that are quite common for any of the series that fall under the umbrella of Trek  From the exploration to the action to the themes and allegories ripped from real world events and feelings.

One of those elements is the political chess game that comes from dealing with “foreign powers” that oppose the values that the Federation holds. In the earliest days the Klingons were a big part of that, but in the Star Trek: The Next Generation era forward the Romulans got far more play in this avenue. So too did the Cardassians, most famously during the whole of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Both episodes this week focus on episodes where those two powers and the deviousness they embody was on display. Both are TNG era with one seeing a career soldier left to take a fall and the other brought in a new captain and left us with a tragically memorable quote.

-RED ALERT: SPOILERS FOLLOW-

“The Defector”
Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 3, Episode 10 (01/01/1990)

Synopsis: The Enterprise grants asylum to a defector from the Romulan Empire who claims to have vital information. This information might very concern the Romulans renewing efforts to offensively move against the Federation.

The Romulan Neutral Zone plays a big part in a lot of the episodes of this era, and the Enterprise sure spent a lot of time nearby.

Established after the Earth-Romulan War, the Neutral Zone stood as a barrier between the Romulan Star Empire and the United Federation of Planets. Either side breaching the zone could be constituted as an act of war. Though the lines around that get blurry, and some word play often made sure nothing came of it, since both sides really didn’t want another open war.

That didn’t stop the Romulans from secretly plotting a great many things. Working from the shadows to strike was part of their gimmick.

In this case, a Romulan Admiral, posing as a file clerk sublieutenant, looks to be trying to break that web of deceit. Fleeing in a scout ship while being fired on by his own people, the eventually revealed Admiral Alidar Jarok (James Sloyan) demands asylum and to be able to defect.

One of the things this episode does best is playing with suspicions and genuine concerns. Anyone on the Enterprise crew is right to be suspicious. As noted, the Romulans always are up to sneaky things, and having someone give false information in order to lure the Federation into actually starting a new war is right up their alley.

Sloyan plays a man who is proud of his people but weary of so many things. Yet, he doesn’t want to fully be a “traitor” and reveal all the information. Just enough to stop a potential war. He’s a new father who realizes that war between the two groups would benefit no one and doom the next generation. Despite what he has done, there is a bit of feeling for the character here.

He’s a man torn between wanting to do what is right for himself and his family, but still strongly wrapped up in the pride and patriotism for his world and people.

We also get another appearance from the great Andreas Katsulas as the Romulan Commander Tomalak. Oh, we never got enough of Tomalak, who was such a good foil for Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart). Even the fake Tomalak that we got in “Future Imperfect” was some good stuff.

So much of this episode is about trying to find trust and break through suspicion, but being reminded that these suspicions were born of something tangible. The Romulans staged everything, throwing Jarok out to dry because he was too pushy, in order to be the ones in the “right” against the Federation.

In the end, Jarok commits suicide, having realized how he was played and that his sacrifice was for nothing. It’s a bitter moment that underscores how far the two groups will have to do to ever be on any common ground.

“Chain Of Command
Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 6, Episode 11 & 12 (12/14/1992 & 12/21/1992)

Synopsis: When Captain Picard and others are reassigned for a secret mission, the Enterprise comes under the command of a new harder Captain who begins to make changes. Behind enemy lines, Picard falls into their clutches when the secret mission fails, and faces torture at the hands of the Cardassians.

“There … are … four … lights!”

I did state above that there was a tragically memorable quote from this episode. Yes, this is the two-parter that saw the introduction of the much maligned Captain Edward Jellico (Ronny Cox) but more importantly the episode of Picard almost being broken.

There is a lot happening in these two episodes. The Federation is worried that recent mobilization by the Cardassians is a prelude to another war, potentially over the Bajoran system (a precursor to the soon to debut Deep Space Nine). Jellico is brought aboard to handle the negotiations with the Cardassians, since he handled the original treaty, while Picard, Worf (Michael Dorn), and Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) secretly look to infiltrate Cardassian space for information.

So much to digest in these two episodes. Major cast shake ups are not generally a thing that Star Trek deals with. Giving us two episodes with such a big change was very different and injected a different drama than the series had employed before. It’s well noted that creator Gene Roddenberry didn’t like conflict between the crew, but after his passing the franchise benefited from finding ways to mine these conflicts and minor dramas.

That’s how you build good character stuff, not just having the only conflict come from one off aliens or the same alien empire week after week.

We get so much here with Jellico and Riker (Jonathan Frakes) being at one another’s throats for two episodes. Meanwhile we watch Stewart show us a different side of Picard, who is pushing to stay himself through Cardassian torture, all while going toe to toe with David Warner who impeccably plays the Cardassian Gul Madred.

It’s hard to watch Picard almost reach the point of breaking under Madred’s ministrations. He stays firm all the way till the end, when he bursts out the quote from above, after almost finally cracking and accepting Madred’s lies about there being five lights. The offer was more torture or a life of luxury should he admit the five lights, and Picard, only to Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis), admits he was going to take the deal. And not only that, by the end, he could actually see five lights.

Much like “The Best of Both Worlds,” Picard ends this two parter as a man who was forced to face himself and the scars left in the wake of these moments. His mind and body attacked, and himself left wondering if he is whole still.

Again, like the previous entry, the character moments are what make this episode work. There are great plot ideas and they maneuver already brought up plot points (Cardassians, Bajor, etc) masterfully. But without the performances of the actors, and the way they butt heads on various fronts, the episode would be something more routine and maybe even forgettable. Instead of being easily on the list for the best of Trek.

Come back next week as we dive into two more of Star Trek’s greatest episodes.