Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 10: The Battle [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was not a personal favorite with me, but for those who want to find out more about Picard's history, this is a goodie. Basically its about a ferengei who blames Picard for the death of his son and tries to control him through a mind-altering device that forces him to relive events on the Stargazer, Picard's former ship.

This episode explores Captain Picard's past as captian of the USS Stargazer. The Stargazer is a previously unseen type of starship which was pretty cool. The episodes story is OK which deals not only with Picard's past but with Ferengi (sp) as well. Not bad for the first season.

This episode reintroduces the Ferengi, a new rival for the Federation. Their society is based on commercial interests and profit, although in this episode, revenge is the primary motivation. Many years ago, Captain Picard was commanding a ship called the Stargazer, which was the victim of an unprovoked attack by a ship of unknown origin. The Stargazer was on the verge of destruction, and Captain Picard used a desperate technique to destroy the attacking vessel. That action is now known as the "Picard maneuver" and is part of Star Fleet Academy training. However, the Stargazer was so heavily damaged that the crew was forced to abandon ship.
The attacking ship was Ferengi, although the Federation never learned that fact. It was commanded by the son of Daimon Bok, who is the commander of a Ferengi ship that requests a rendezvous with the Enterprise, although no reason is given for the request. Bok and his senior officers beam aboard the Enterprise and present Picard with the gift of the Stargazer, which is no longer a derelict. The ship is a Trojan Horse, as Bok uses it as bait to use a mind-altering device on Captain Picard. The device forces him to relive the battle, only this time he is alone on the Stargazer and he believes that the Enterprise is the enemy ship.
This episode serves to establish the Ferengi as legitimate rivals to the Federation. In episode 8, "The Last Outpost" the Ferengi are introduced, but they are portrayed as sniveling creatures, hardly worthy adversaries for the powerful Federation. In this episode, we see them as a species capable of building starships, with a command structure similar to that of the Enterprise. Riker's private conversations with the first officer of the Ferengi ship are more in the area of one officer to another rather than one species to another.
I rank this episode very highly, (4 1/2 stars is more accurate),as it corrects many of the errors made in "The Last Outpost." It also paves the way for Ferengi characters to appear in later episodes of TNG as well as the subsequent series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

I loved this episode. It also gave Patrick Stewart(who has been my favorite actor for ever) another breakout performance of a man losing his nerves. We all have problems that seem to pile up on use every minute. However, not as major as the problems Picard have to confront. Just think of it, how hard would it be to not only anticapate what the Ferengi are up to, but also finding his old starship, thinking about an old battle that nearly killed him, finding old logs that may suggest he fired with no provacation and to top it off, a man named Bok is out for revenge against Picard for killing his son, the captain of the ship Picard destroyed. I don't about any of you reading but I would be crying my self to sleep. Stewart plays these emotions very well, which carries the episode. Also, Frank Corsentino has a good performance as the crazed Bok. This is not a stong episode by the standards of the later seasons, but for the first season, it is really good.

A touch of action, a more threatening portrayal of the Ferengi, and a peek into Captain Jean-Luc Picard's (Patrick Stewart) past was the combination that made "The Battle" one of the more intriguing episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation's first season.

Captain Picard is in for a surprise as the Enterprise-D rendezvous with a Ferengi vessel that is towing his former ship, the U.S.S. Stargazer. Ferengi commander DaiMon Bok (Frank Corsentino) offers Picard the derelict as a gift, but its return is actually part of a revenge plot against the Enterprise's captain who the Ferengi holds responsible for the death of his son

It is always a treat when Star Trek: The Next Generation fills in the gaps between the start of its series and the end of the adventures of the original Star Trek crew. "The Battle" provides insightful details into Picard's career before taking command of the Enterprise and is an important step in providing his character with more depth. The less comical portrayal of the Ferengi also was a welcome sight as they leave behind their energy whips and employ deception and guile instead to gain the upper hand.

Battle Scars

In another encounter with the Ferengi; Picard fights the devious Captain Daimon Bok. He's sworn revenge on him for killing his son twenty years ago. Back then, Picard was leading the Stargazer. Bok's son fired on the starship without warning. Our good captain returned fire and inadvertently killed him. The fact his son initiated the "Battle of Maxia"was of no consequence.

Bok returns the old Stargazer as a "gift" to the unsuspecting Picard. He has a mind control device to torture him. As a result, Picard can't understand why he's getting headaches. It's a thing of the past in the 24th century. After a lot of hallucinations and sleepless nights he returns to the bridge of his dead ship.

Who else but Bok is waiting for him to perform the final stroke to finish Picard. Without giving away the ending, this one has a good confrontation between the Captains. One of the better ones of the first season.