It’s rare that The Next Generation does an episode with big implications for the larger mythology of the franchise, which is a good thing, ‘cause it makes stories like The Chase feel special. It’s also always cool when we get to see the archeologist side of Picard. Plus it’s nice to have a bunch of notable aliens interacting, which we don’t usually get.
ARTifACTS! Picard gets excited.An old professor pays him a visit and wants him to leave his dumb ship behind to become an archaeologist with him for a while.He says he’s on to something real big!Picard says sorry no, he’s a main character and all.“As a scholar, you’re nothing but a dilettante.” dang harsh burn.But then he’s attacked by some Yridians! He manages to cough up an apology for that dilettante line before he gives up the ghost.They dig into his research turns out it is was pretty sickThey need to find DNA samples to complete the 4 billion-year-old puzzle! But someone else beat them to the next sample, and killed all life on the planet just to cover their tracks.They go to the next sample location, and find the Cardassians and Klingons!They need each other’s samples, so they decide to work together for a few minutes. The replacement Diana Rigg is there, pretending to be a Cardassian.Data makes a Klingon friend in a scene that is a total throwaway gag and also completely essential.Next sample location?Betrayal?Romulans?Then a lady says everyone looks kinda the same, not because of cheap make up effects, but actually because of shared DNA. I like all stories that end up being apologetics for budgetary restrictions. Hopefully they do a story about why all caves are papier-mâché.
