Cheap Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 49: The Ensigns Of Command (Video) (Larry Shaw, David Carson, Gabrielle Beaumont, Timothy Bond, Kim Manners, LeVar Burton, Richard Compton, Jonathan West, Marvin V. Rush, Michael Vejar) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 49: The Ensigns Of Command

Picard confronts a mondo diplomatic headache
This episode is one of the better examples of diplomatic problem solving in the 24th century. The Sheliak Corporate are a nonhumanoid race that has not contacted the Federation for over a century, but suddenly they are informing Picard that there are humans on one of the planets deeded to them in their treaty with the Federation. Under the stipulation of this treaty, the Federation has to remove the colonists before the Sheliak arrive in three days. However, when the Enterprise arrives at the planet in question the headaches increase exponentially. Not only is the planet is in an area of radiation deadly to humans, the Enterprise's sensors and transporters will not work. Data is sent to the surface in a shuttlecraft where he discovers there are over 15,000 colonists who refuse to evacuate the planet, insisting they will fight instead. Meanwhile, Picard learns the nearest Starfleet ship that can evacuate the colonists is three weeks away and the Sheliak refuse to be dissuaded from their intention to kill all the humans on the planet when they show up in three days.

Off the top of my head I cannot think of another Star Trek episode where the diplomatic situation where everything goes as wrong as it does on this one. Jean-Luc Picard is as reasonable a person as you can find in the Star Trek Universe, but this is a real mess. The nice thing is that it is an accumulation of plausible problems as opposed to one far-fetched impediment. I usually have a preference for diplomatic resolutions rather than battles in space, so I consider "The Ensigns of Command" to be an above-average Next Generation episode. The resolution is in keeping with the haggling between Picard and the Sheliak over the terms of the treaty. Fortunately it is the wordiest document in the history of the Federation, with apparently something for everybody if they look long and hard enough. For a similar situation on STNG see "Journey's End" (Episode #172), where Picard has to resolve a dispute between the Cardassians and a planet of Native American colonists (a.k.a. Wesley's last episode). Finally, I should note that one of the sub-plots has a female colonist taking a liking to a fairly oblivious Data, an echo of "This Side of Paradise" from the original Trek's first season (the "Spock is happy" episode).

---

A great Data episode
To be fair, I should point out my bias which lends itself to this review...I am a huge Data fan. Therefore, any episode starring the android crew member is going to be one of my favorites.

Regardless of my Data obsession, objectively this is a very good episode. It is Data's job to convince a human colony to leave their planet before the Sheliak destroy them. Data has to struggle against the wishes of the colonists who do not want to leave their endangered homes. While Data is confined to lessons of logic and practicality, the colonists share an overwhelming sense of pride and love for their homeland. As Data has no emotion it proves very difficult for him to understand the colony's irrational decision to stay.

A nice script examines the limitations of Data's capabilities and his struggle to overcome them. There is a little romance between Data and one of the colonists as well, proving once again that Data is the sex symbol of STTNG. A fun subplot finds Picard up to his ears in bureaucratic red tape with the single-minded Sheliak, a frustration we 21st century folk can sympathize with.