For real, though, this is an all around good episode. It introduces the foundational political situation between the Federation, Cardassians, and Bajorians, a scenario rich enough that it serves as the setting for the entire Deep Space Nine series. The plot is built on something of a stock Trek formula, but not one that is utilized as frequently as others, and the beats are played well enough that there’s plenty of life in them. (It features a simple but especially satisfying bad-admiral-commupance scene near the end.) They hit the “Ro is tuff and doesn’t play by the rules” thing a *little* too hard, and the crew’s intense prejudice toward her is clearly there to serve the narrative arc, but it’s at the expense of character consistency. Ro as a character is immediately great. Michelle Forbes sells the toughness, something that is often not achieved in Star Trek, but she also conveys Ro’s vulnerability without it undermining her formidable presence. The character’s outsider perspective on Starfleet spices up the crew dynamic in a welcome way. The personal histories of the bridge crew can often be a little underdeveloped and same-y, so Ro Laren’s baggage is a nice way to freshen things up.
A starfleet admiral shows up. I bet he’ll be really cool and not like the other admirals.
The admiral has assigned Ensign Ro to Enterprise for this mission. “She has no business serving on any starship, let alone the flagship… my ship” sheesh, Picard really doesn’t like herWhat’s up with the no earring regulation? Riker made that up.“There will be members of this crew that will not want to serve with Ensign Laren, sir” what did this lady do??Riker is going to keep a close eye on her. Ro is so cool. She doesn’t even care what they are talking about.They refer to Bajorans as the “Bajora” in this episode. I hope this inconsistency is explained in a new CBS All Access show.Ro gets a secret transmission from the admiral. See, she’s trouble, not like the admiral. He seems like a good dude.Enterprise finds the Bajoran terrorist but he says he didn’t do anything, he’s just a guy chillin’ in a cave.Ensign Ro comes clean with Picard. The admiral wanted Ro to offer the “terrorist” weapons if he came back to his camp. The conversation between Ro and Picard is really good.They contact the admiral and tell him the terrorist is DEFINITELY on a ship they’re escorting to the Bajoran camp. The Cardassians show up and creates a 🚨diplomatic conflict!🚨The admiral says to pull back, leaving the Bajoran transport to the Cardassians.Picard calls him out!But Enterprise still follows the admirals orders and pulls back. The Cardassians destroy the Bajoran ship.But the ship was empty – a set-up to expose the conspiracy! Picard straight up calls him dumb! Admiral angry!And Picard convinces Ro to join the crew even though she’s too good for them.
