Cheap Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 95: The Drumhead (Video) (LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Gabrielle Beaumont, Robert Becker, Cliff Bole, Timothy Bond, David Carson, Chip Chalmers, Richard Compton, Robert Iscove) Price

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Customer Reviews of Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 95: The Drumhead

paranoia self-destroy-a
After a visiting Klingon, J'Ddan (Henry Woronicz) is accused of spying aboard the Enterprise, retired Admiral Norah Satie (Jean Simmons) is dispatched by Starfleet to investigate. With a Betazoid aide to assist her, she remarkably and quickly extracts the truth from the Klingon spy and he confesses.

Satie becomes obsessed. She is certain that this is only one loose thread in a tapestry of deceptions and a large spy network that has obviously penetrated the Enterprise and the very Federation itself. She enlists Worf, who is eager to assist her, to aid her in investigating every member of the Enterprise crew.

During an interview of medical technician Simon Tarses (Spencer Garrett), the Betazoid aide detects that he is nervous and hiding something, so they drill into his background and discover that he lied on his Starfleet application. When filling out family information, he claimed his paternal grandfather was Vulcan, when in fact, he was Romulan. Such a connection would have made Tarses ineligible to apply to Starfleet, yet getting caught in a lie like this could mean a Court Marshall.

Satie is unsympathetic to Tarses, believing he is part of a Romulan plot to undermine the Federation and to destroy it from within.

Picard is furious. Satie has turned a simple investigation into a witches' tribunal. Satie has powerful friends in the Federation and has been in constant communications with Starfleet, behind Picard's back. When Picard gives her an ultimatum, she begins to investigate him, and subpoenas him to appear before their court, where she brings up the 9 times he has violated the Prime Directive.

Suddenly, Worf gets his wake-up call, but it seems like it's too late. The senior staff has their jaws hanging open as it appears their world is falling apart. Satie is grilling Picard in a twisted ends-justifies-the-means vendetta.

Will Picard emerge unscathed? Will the rest of the crew be next? A great, albeit disturbing, episode.

...And Justice For All
Not just an excellent TNG episode but also one of the most superior shows ever done in any of the Star Trek series'. With echoes of Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here" and the HUAC hearings, writer Jeri Taylor deftly creates an effective and suspenseful fable about the foibles of suspicion, using the elements of the Trek universe - the Federation's judicial system and a natural skepticism concerning the Klingons. What could have been a long, boring and talky treatise on the fallibility of 'guilty till proven innocent' is instead turned into a chilling and unforgettable examination of power run amuck, paralleling the communist witch hunts of the 1950's very closely.

When a Klingon officer is suspected of spying he is brought before Riker and Troi for questioning. Despite compelling evidence the Klingon proclaims his innocence over and over again; he is then sequestered in his quarters until they reach a starbase where an expanded and more formal hearing can take place. Since the officer had been part of an exchange program Picard remains diplomatic and open-minded on the affair unless someone can present solid evidence suggesting - or proving - guilt. When retired Admiral Norah Satie, a former Judge Advocate General officer, is recalled by the Federation to assist in the investigation Picard is pleased to have her aboard convinced she will resolve the matter most effectively. But the investigations soon become more personal than professional and when Picard attempts to stop the admiral from pursuing the matter further he becomes her next target.

Terse, frightening and utterly believable 'The Drumhead' is one Star Trek's finest hours. The casting of the accomplished film and television star Jean Simmons as Admiral Satie is a real coup and lends even further credibility to the episode. She is absolutely convincing as the insatiable power mad former hatchet of the Federation's JAG office. The teaser (that snippet of the show just before the opening credits run) sets up the episode nicely. As Worf is escorting the Klingon suspect back to his quarters the scoundrel tells Worf "I know people of power who can restore your name. Turn your back for just a second and allow me to leave in an escape pod." Worf's offense gives way to violent anger and afterwards he threatens and taunts the spy. It's a terrific lead into the story and we are immediately on the side of the prosecutors until we have our own eyes opened.

The plotting of the show is well done also; though the Klingon is proven to be a spy he is unfortunately comprised by additional circumstantial but damning evidence; crewman Simon Tarses has his Star Fleet career destroyed by the machinations of Admiral Satie and her unwitting accomplices; Worf becomes a victim also as Satie preys upon his weakness concerning his hatred for the Romulans; even after Data and Geordi offer conclusive proof against the suspected sabotage it isn't enough to convince the admiral to halt the investigations. Though there are many lines of dialogue worth remembering Picard has the most memorable: "The road from legitimate suspicion to rampant paranoia is very much shorter than we think." Spoken eloquently, factually and lending historical significance to the Star Trek canon.