Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 49: The Ensigns Of Command [VHS]

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

 

 

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.

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).

Plot: The Sheliak Corporate, a species whom the Federation barely get along with, has contacted the Enterprise, saying that there are humans on a planet in Sheliak territory. Picard is given a few days to remove the "human infestation" or the Sheliak will annihilate them. The Enterprise enters the area, filled with hyperonic radiation, which is normally fatal to humans, randomizes phaser beams, and renders transporters useless. So, they send Data down in a shuttle to find out what the fuss is about. Well, instead of a crashed scout ship with few people to rescue (as Riker theorized), it happens to be a colony of 15,000. Well, there's no way the Enterprise can get all the colonists aboard before time runs out, and there isn't a colony ship availible for 3 weeks. Picard tries to ask for additional time from the Sheliak, who figure that it would be better to wipe the colony off the planet than give Picard time. On top of that, the colonist leader is ornery and refuses to allow evacuation, saying that he would rather fight than leave. Picard is having a really bad day. Meanwhile, Data is unsuccessfully trying to convince the colonists to prepare for evacuation. The only colonist is this lady who is a little in love with him (which makes a whole ton of nonsense). Data asks Riker at one point, "Sir, just how violent will the Sheliak be if we can't move them?" Riker responds, "The treaty is the only thing that kept the Sheliak from wiping the colony out in the first place." Data says, "Ah." "Ah," confirms Riker....

Overall, a pretty good episode, although the idea of falling in love with an android (and knowing it from the start) gives the story a really, fake feel at times. It does have a solid ending with plenty of humor in regards to La Forge trying to modify the transporter so they can transport through hyperonic radiation.

4 stars overall.

What I like about this episode is that the Federation is forced to deal with the Sheliak, a species that has made peace with the Federation, but which considers humans to be an extremely inferior species. The Sheliak language is so complex that no human has ever been able to decipher it. To keep the peace, a very lengthy treaty was signed between the Federation and the Sheliak. One clause of the treaty is that if a human colony remains in place on Sheliak territory beyond a specific time frame, the Sheliak can exterminate the human population.
The Enterprise receives a message from the Sheliak that they must remove a human colony from a planet that the Sheliak are about to colonize. When they arrive on the planet, which is surrounded by an energy field that renders transporters inoperable, the Enterprise discovers that there are thousands of colonists. Far too many to be evacuated within the time allotted by the Sheliak. Since he is immune to the radiation, Data takes a shuttle down to the planet and attempts to convince the colonists that they must leave. This proves to be difficult, as the leader of the colonists refuses to depart. He is so adamant that he hits Data with an energy weapon, which temporarily incapacitates him. The colonist leader is also willing to die fighting against the Sheliak, even though with their superior weaponry, the Sheliak could annihilate the humans from space.
Meanwhile, Picard intercepts the Sheliak ship containing the colonists and attempts to negotiate a delay in the colonization. At first he fails, but after consulting the treaty at length, he finds a way to put the Sheliak on the defensive. When the Sheliak hail the Enterprise, his actions until responding make it one of the funniest moments in the series.
At the end, Data convinces the colonists to leave and the Sheliak agree to give the Federation the extra time needed to extract the colonists. What makes the episode even better is that one of the female colonists gives Data a kiss, because "he looked like he needed one." When he leaves, he gives her a kiss for the same reason. While the premise that colonists would rather die than give up what they have created may seem absurd, one only has to look at the turmoil during the Israeli evacuation of Gaza to realize that such a scenario is very possible. It is also quite likely that when humans move out into space, they will encounter and make peace with other species that consider humans to be tolerable vermin. The combination of humor, a species that considers humans to be an infestation and Picard's solution to averting what could have been an interstellar war makes this one of the best episodes of the series.