Cheap Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 47: Peak Performance (Video) (Larry Shaw, David Carson, Gabrielle Beaumont, Timothy Bond, Kim Manners, LeVar Burton, Richard Compton, Jonathan West, Marvin V. Rush, Michael Vejar) Price

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Customer Reviews of Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 47: Peak Performance

A missed oportunity to examine the Ferengi culture
Without question, Star Fleet would have the most rigorous standards for entry, advancement and evaluation. With billions of potential candidates from many different species, only the very best would even reach the level needed to apply. Therefore, command officers would constantly be put through new training exercises, sometimes with little chance of success. Such a scenario is the premise for this episode, where Commander Riker is to take command of an 80 year-old ship and lead it in a simulated battle against the Enterprise. The odds are overwhelmingly against Riker and his band, as their vessel, the Hathaway, is essentially a derelict, without antimatter for warp drive.
Relying on his knowledge of the security features of the Enterprise, Worf is able to simulate the appearance of a Romulan warship on the Enterprise view screen. This distracts the crew long enough for the Hathaway to inflict a great deal of simulated damage to the Enterprise. After applauding Riker and his crew, Picard believes that an approaching Ferengi warship is also a false image. However, this one is very real and attacks the unshielded Enterprise. Sustaining heavy damage and unable to immediately respond due to the weapons being taken off-line, Picard receives an ultimatum from the Ferengi. He must surrender the Hathaway or be destroyed. Once again, the guile of the Enterprise officers serves them well as they convince the Ferengi that another star ship is in the area.
There is also a major subplot, where a member of a species known for their strategic thinking is the Federation observer assigned to monitor the exercise. Arrogant to the point of being extremely obnoxious, Dr. Pulaski maneuvers Data into engaging him in a strategy game. While it is easy to root for Data, the subplot is much too dominant. I would have preferred more effort having been spent in explaining the exercise and fleshing out additional tactics. After all, the crew of the Hathaway had to have a secondary plan after the first. Also, there is very little explanation as to why the Ferengi would attack the Enterprise in such a blatant manner. Risking an interstellar war over a derelict vessel makes no sense without some additional justification. The Enterprise crew should have held a conference where the psychology and motives of the Ferengi were examined in detail.
This starts out as a very good episode, I found myself laughing at some of the "improvisations" performed by the crew of the Hathaway. However, the strength of the subplot and the inexplicable attack by the Ferengi weakened it to an average episode.

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Notable for its guest star casting
Later to make himself known as "Quark" on DS9, Armin Shimerman dons the lobes of Ferengi commander "Bractor" in this episode from the series' second season. This was not the first time that the actor portrayed one of big-earred aliens, having assayed similar and distinctive characterizations in two earlier installments.

The story is rather routine and not among the show's best but it's worth a look for the development of Ferengi as pivotal characters in the Trek mythology.

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Starfleet War Games: Can Pupil Riker surpass Master Picard?
Starfleet has sent the legendary Zakdorn strategist, Sirna Kolrami, the Third-level Strategema Grand Master to overseer a simulated war game. On one side we have the Enterprise, commanded by Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his trusted Android Second Officer Commander Data. On the other side we have Commander William Riker, supported by La Forge, Worf and Wesley, in the Hathaway, an eighty-year old starship that does not have warp drive. Sounds really fair, huh? This would be a really good test for Picard and the Enterprise, especially with the Borg on their way from the far ends of the Star Trek universe. Okay, the set-up is somewhat lame, but Riker and his wily crew sure have fun coming up with all sorts of tricks to help even the odds. Then, just to make things interesting, the Ferengi show up and cause trouble. This episode is a bit above average, and even though nothing significant happens it does show the crew being innovative and having fun. Clearly a couple of key elements in the show's second season was not only showing the crew as highly functional but also establishing them as becoming more of a family. In these regards "Peak Performance" helps solidify both elements.