Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 62: A Matter Of Perspective [VHS]

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

 

 

Spoiler Alert for TREK Fans
Read no futher if you want to see the ending...

This one is an otherwise run of the mill episode made interesting by three different points of view of the same story.
We have Riker charged with murder when in fact it's the scientist's experiment that is responsible for the radiation that destroyed the station and almost finished the Enterprise.

We get the wife of the fellow developing this "Kreiger" ray project...she claims Riker made unwanted advances when it was actually her was doing all the advancing. The unethical assistant said he was also going after Krieger's wife. It all turns out to be false when the radiation from his experiment is putting holes in the Enterprise hull and insides of the ship.

It's all put to rest when the radiation bursts are 5.3 hours apart. It's at just such an interval when the station blew up.

All in all it's a good episode. It's worth it to put this one in your collection.

I like this episode and is in the top quarter of all episodes.

But, if it is suspected that Riker used his phaser to shoot the generator, wouldn't such a "progressive", peaceful future track the use of a lethal weapon? People are accessable at the touch of a communicator "badge", trackable on board the ship via same, and apparently all have to log their activities (officers anyway), and in general live under a huge microscope. Yet, in an age of high technology, a lethal instrument that could easily have a computer chip to log every stardate it was fired has no such thing. Just doesn't fit in the whole Star Trek collectivist milieu.

This episode is a classic whodunit, where three witnesses give accounts of the events that lead up to an explosion and the death of a scientist. Riker and LaForge visit a scientist, Dr. Apgar, whose work on a new energy source is being funded by the Federation. LaForge beams back to the Enterprise from the satellite and hints to Captain Picard that there are difficulties. When Riker attempts to beam back to the Enterprise, there is a problem and as soon as the beaming starts, the satellite inexplicably explodes, killing Dr. Apgar.
Shortly after this, the chief investigator from the planet arrives on the Enterprise and demands that Riker be turned over to him to face charges for murder. Picard refuses and is forced into the position of being an impartial arbiter over whether the evidence indicates that Riker should stand trial. To resolve the issue, the events, based on the testimonies of Riker, Mrs. Apgar and Dr. Apgar's assistant are recreated in the holodeck.
The testimonies are quite different. According to Riker's testimony, Mrs. Apgar threw herself at him and according to Mrs. Apgar's testimony, she was subdued and it was Riker who forced himself on her. However, in the end, the difficult point is that the evidence conclusively indicates that there was an energy surge similar to a phaser blast from Riker's exact position right before he beamed to the Enterprise. It turns out that the explosion was not an accident, but due to the actions of someone attempting to commit murder.
The unique point of this episode is the use of a holodeck to recreate the events significant in a murder investigation. It was interesting to follow through the testimony and try to concentrate on the key points to determine who is guilty, (I got it wrong).
Murder mysteries will be around as long as there are self-aware creatures who can die. This is one that is resolved through the use of technology, and the blend of the two genres of murder mystery and science fiction is very well done.