Usually people select a program before entering the Holodeck, but both Wesley and Worf decided to enter this one Holodeck before entering programs. I know the Holodeck states if a program is in use, but shouldn't it mention that someone is inside?

Worf seemed awfully apologetic to an Acting Ensign.

Mordock is having trouble with the Dynamic Relations Test, as Wesley is trying to talk him through it the graphic appears to jump from having just a few objects in the cube to many objects in the cube. No wonder Mordock is having trouble, apparently the computer isn't showing him the correct information.

A scene in during Remmick's interrogations (which were all brilliantly done, I must say) made me sit up and think "Nit nit nit nit nit!"
When interviewing Picard, he says "You violated the Prime Directive of the Edo" referring to that silly pointless episode "Justice". Wait a minute! The Edo had no Prime Directive, it was the Federation Prime Directive that was compromised in that episode. (And indeed, Remmick went on to say, "You interfered with their laws." He should really have said, "Just what the hell were you doing on that planet anyway- they're a pre-warp civilisation!!!")
To nominate a great scene- Picard saving Kurland. Even if the solution to the crash predicament was a bit obvious, it was a great moment when Jake finally pulled up eliciting a huge cheer from everyone (including Remmick- maybe the creature inside him was thinking- "Good! One more receptacle for my lovely beetles!").

I was just wondering about the Zoldans (the guys who are infurated by courtesy). There is one wandering around Starfleet Academy in a Starfleet uniform, so evidently the Federation did make contact with this race, at least so much as to gather enough data to be able to disguise a regular human as a Zoldan for testing purposes. I wonder just how the Federation managed to actually make first contact. Since during most first contacts we've seen, the Federation is very diplomatic and curteous, I'm sure the first meeting with the Zoldans must have been just charming.

Furthermore, assuming we blasted them into submission or whatever, why would one of them want to join Starfleet and surround himself with the courtesy he hates so much? The Zoldan Starfleet officer doesn't surprise Wesley at all, so there must be one or two somewhere in Starfleet. Seems a bad place to be for a person who's infuriated by courtesy ...

Well, being in Starfleet means learning to tolerate other cultures (or at least it should, except for all the terracentricity we see). As for first contact with the Zaldans, it is likely that surveilance experts examine a planet's culture before making contact. Anyone monitoring Zaldan communications, entertainment, etc., would see how the Zaldans act, and make sure to act rude as all hell when greeting them.

Get stuffed, Luigi!

If the Zaldans is so obsessed with straight-forward talk, it shouldn't be to hard to negotiate.

"Hi, we're from Starfleet, and happy as hell to meet you. We would like you to join us. Take it or leave it. So what do you say?"

Vulcans and Zaldans would work well together.

True, the spying thing could have gotten the Federation through first contact and through subsequent dimplomatic affairs.

But would a person so infuriated by courtesy really join the benevolent and courteous Federation? In just one episode we see countless acts of courtesy on the Enterprise, I would assume most other starships have similiar behavoirs. If you loathed courtesy, would you join into this kind of organization?

Up yours, Merat!

A double dumb...

Why is only ONE person allowed to continue after all the tests are complete? They all had high scores! I mean, in today's schooling, everyone who has a passing grade graduates. Only those who fail completely don't.

The pass grade was adjusted by the British exam boards in response to perceived (but not actual) political pressure, to avoid accusations that the tests were getting easier....

Why is only ONE person allowed to continue after all the tests are complete? They all had high scores! I mean, in today's schooling, everyone who has a passing grade graduates. Only those who fail completely don't.

Yes you graduate from High School if you pass no matter if you got all A's or all D's but that doesn't mean any college will let you in just because you graduated.

Yeah, but these are ENTRANCE EXAMS, not "exit exams"/grades.

Why is only ONE person allowed to continue after all the tests are complete? They all had high scores! I mean, in today's schooling, everyone who has a passing grade graduates. Only those who fail completely don't.

True, but maybe the academy is like a lot of the 'big name' colleges, where for (this is just an example, not from actual numbers) every 1 student they accept, they reject 5. of those 5, 4 or even all 5 of them may very well meet or exceed the strict requirments to 'get in' BUT, because they have limited space they have to be very picky and reject based on the tiniest reasons.

At which point they are sued

Yeah, but these are ENTRANCE EXAMS, not "exit exams"/grades.

That's what I'm saying. Exit Exams/Grades mean you get out as long as you passed and most of that is so easy you can pass with a D simply by showing up and spelling your name right. An enterance exam is more like "You're the best, we're only taking the best of the best"

Well, even after the guy said that they knew Wesley helped Mordock and even Mordock said Wesley helped him they IIRC they said there were other reasons (but didn't give them)

Personally I think their are quotoas at work here (ie they must accept x amount of non humans every year). Colleges in the USA have quotas they must meet for minorities (from what I have heard at least) so I think it's something simular.

I agree with John (or part of his point) that it seemed weird that one and only one of them testing in that sitting would get into the Academy. I am assuming that there are hundreds of other applicants testing at different times. I would think, like current entrance processes, once all the tests are taken, all the results are pooled, and then the competitive schools pick only those with the highest scores. Statistically that could be the top 5% or whatever will fill their first year class. So it is possible that all of them could make it, if they scored high enough, and it's also possible that none of them would be accepted into the Academy if their scores were not high enough.

I also agree with John in that entrance should be based on some set criteria, rather than an arbitrary "contest" in which three don't get in, which makes absolutely no sense. If all four of these kids are so smart, you'd think the Academy would simply want all four of them. Moreover, given this scene, how the hell did Tasah Yar get accepted? Some kind of affirmative action for street urchins from war-torn planets?

I find this episode highly unbelievable watching in later years. First of all, I agree with when Phil asks in his book how Wesley could not be accepted to Starfleet. He's already at this point, performed well on a Starship.

Then years later, we have Nog making Starfleet who just a few years earlier was just a thug. Not saying that he's s tupid or anything but each of the applicants in this episode seemed worthy.

Ryan,

But would a person so infuriated by courtesy really join the benevolent and courteous Federation? In just one episode we see countless acts of courtesy on the Enterprise, I would assume most other starships have similiar behavoirs. If you loathed courtesy, would you join into this kind of organization?

But the zoldans don't think of themselves as discourtes, they think of themselves as being honest and open and outspoken. They don't loathe being nice, they resent dishonesty they associate with a lot of courtesy. Since there is no absolute standard for courtesy or honesty, but only relative between two or more cultures, the zoldans may well know that the humans in starfleet are more courteous and less honest than themselves, but that doesn't stop the zoldans from being eager to explore space and to meet other cultures.

Today on earth, there are different degrees of politeness and honesty in different cultures, yet there are always people eager to go to a different country, although they know beforehand that the culture will be very different. Many of the cultural behaviour is unconscious and automatic, and so the zoldan reacts automatically towards wesley. When serving on a ship, this is not a problem, because when it turns into a problem, people will realize that it was unintentional.

I wonder why wesley is always the boy genius: where did he pick up knowledge about some small culture/race? They can't be that common, because they are never mentioned again. Wesley doesn't really demonstrate his open-mindedness towards other cultures, he only shows his knowledge and that he can act accordingly.

Different cultural behaviour is something I would like to see more often in Star Trek.

I have an observation. The Federation comprises several thousand worlds. Why does it look like they have exactly one Starfleet Academy? Considering all the ships, bases, embassies and other duty posts Starfleet must fill, why have just one academy to train them all? One space probe or alien attack could wipe out a whole generation of future Starfleet personnel. I would think there would be several academies in different regions, and perhaps Earth would be the most prestigious. The other places would offer the same basic programs, and might specialize in certain concentrations like Engineering, Tactics, Science or Medicine. I also think it's possible they could have an Officer Candidate School program like in our modern military, to fill the void (I imagine Tasha Yar went through something like it after serving in the enlisted ranks). Not to mention, all or most Federation worlds could have local fleets and ground troops, like the National Guard, which would be happy to train the Academy's castoffs, who'd equally love the exprience they get before transferring into Starfleet. I am just saying, there's no reason for the Academy to be the only option to get into Starfleet.

Makes sense, Chris.

I believe the official number was 150 worlds belong to the Federation, but I'm not sure if this was mentioned in an episode or not.

Although Ensign Ro proved that one doesn't have to be a member of a world belonging to the Federation to be a member of Starfleet.

Ryan & Constanze, also consider that the Zoldan in this episode may have been acting atypically towards Wesley because this was a test. In a non-test situation he may be less agressive.

about the zoldan: I read in a book about greek culture that the greeks detest polite behaviour because they consider it "slave-like" and because they were enslaved for 400 years by the Turks, they do not want to appear polite, submissive and so on. (I don't know if this is true, but I think its an interesting way of looking at it. Of course, the greeks wouldn't think of being rude, they would think they are open, manly, not-slave-like and so on.)

I would think there would be several academies in different regions, and perhaps Earth would be the most prestigious.

That makes sense. If you want to go into the US Army as an officer you can go to West Point but you can also go to VMI, The Citidel or some other millitary institutes.

Citadel and VMI are "military institutions", but they are not US Military Academies.

Chris Diehl: The Federation comprises several thousand worlds.
Luigi Novi: This has never been established. It may very well be true, but it would require that each Federation member world has an average of about 6 colonized planets (or less, since there are "over" 150) to make it a 1,000, or some multiple of 6 to make it "several thousand."

KAM: I believe the official number was 150 worlds belong to the Federation, but I'm not sure if this was mentioned in an episode or not.
Luigi Novi: Picard told Lily in ST First Contact that it was "over 150."

Citadel and VMI are "military institutions", but they are not US Military Academies.

But don't people come out of those institutions as officers if they decide to persue it?

I think places like the Citadel and VMI probably give course credit toward one of the service Academies. I imagine (don't know it for a fact) that people go to them if they can't get one of the slots for West Point, Annapolis or Colorado Springs. There are a finite number of students each year, so someone could go to one of these schools for a year and reapply.
As for graduating from them giving commissions, it may be they come out officers in the state National Guard and not the regular US military. I would assume a state legislature can issue commissions in their National Guard or state militia the way Congress does in the US military.

Assuming the map behind Remmick's chair at the end of Conspiracy represents the territory claimed by the Federation, that's a lot of space to defend, even if it's under 5% of the galaxy. Even if most of the systems in there do not have a colony or a member world on them (some might not have been contacted, or might be neutral), they still have to be defended, lest a hostile power invade and make them into bases of operations against the Federation. If the Federation only claims 150 worlds, they seem to be scattered over millions of cubic light-years of the Alpha Quadrant, so Starfleet must defend the spacefaring routes between them. As a result, no matter how you slice it, they will need a lot of ships, and all the support structures that let you keep a fleet in space, and all the personnel all that would entail. My point was that it's not at all likely that one school on Earth (already a target for enemies, which is a whole other argument) could turn out enough people to fill all the slots.

I have a possible explanation:

Maybe it's like todays school system. The academy on Earth could be like the Harvard of academies. It's not the only one of course, but it's the one everyone wants to get into. This seems supported by the idea that only 1/4 get beyond the initial tests, im sure after that it's only 1/8 and so forth until you only have something like the top 1-2% getting in. (think of it as a school only considers the top 5% of a school and of all those top 5% people in all the school's it only considers the top 5% of all of them, hence the best of the best idea).

I'm sure there are other academies that have the equivalent, but the best postings go to those that trained at the Earth one, when you apply you apply to only one, so if Wesley wanted to try out for the others he'd have to apply to them.

The others standards may be be quite as high, simply because their not as well known and don't get as many applicants. I woulden't be surprised if they have the equivalent of Ivy League ones and have other top rated ones on Vulcan and and Andoria etc. I don't think there is any dialog to confirm this but IMO it would make a lot of sence.

I'm sure on other planets you'd have lesser known ones that would still give you the accredation (is that the right word?) to become an officer BUT the people who train at the better ones (or more so well known ones) tend to get better assignments upon graduating (sort of like the idea of the better the school you go to the better the job you get upon graduating athough it doesen't always work that way). Of course we've all heard of the idea of 'it's not what you know it's who you know' and on more then one instance we've seen examples of people getting good assignments because their friends with the Captain or an Admiral or their monther or father is an Admiral or prominent Captain etc.

As for how Nog got in. This was after the borg incident and if I remember correctly when tensions with the dominion were just starting to heat up. Starfleet felt that they needed to fortify their position and start building a lot more ships, all those ships needed crews so they knew they needed to recruit more people. I asume that they expanded the campus on Earth and started recruiting a lot more people. It'd be sort of like an industry needing people desperatly so Universities and Colleges start creating programs for it and start making getting into those programs easier then the norm.

Chris Diehl: As for graduating from them giving commissions, it may be they come out officers in the state National Guard and not the regular US military. I would assume a state legislature can issue commissions in their National Guard or state militia the way Congress does in the US military.

:: OK, here’s the deal, Diehl (sorry).
The Academies graduate Regular officers, commissioned by Congreff (sic.), who have essentially lifelong tenure (but not necessarily an upper hand on assignments or promotions). Reserve officers are likewise commissioned by Congreff after completing ROTC or OCS, and usually have a mandatory active duty commitment. As such, they comprise the vast majority of active duty officers. (A small number of ROTC graduates are awarded Regular commissions.)

National Guard officers as well must have Federal recognition as Regular or Reserve officers, although some states have an organized, non-Federally-recognized militia, and can make their own rules. I don’t think the Theodore Roosevelt route to Federal recognition is available any more.

VMI and the Citadel are simply colleges with mandatory ROTC, and accordingly, all graduates earn a Reserve (or, occasionally, Regular) commission. This was once true of most land grant (Morrill Act) colleges as well, but only Texas A&M still makes a big deal of it (as far as I know).

OK, but back to the Star Trek-related point I was making. Doesn't what I suggested originally make more sense than what we are shown in this episode? Having a very personalized test made for each of five applicants competing for one spot is pretty expensive in time and effort just to assign one of them an ordinary cadet position at the Academy. I would have imagined Wesley in a room with several hundred other people taking an exam like the SAT's, then perhaps going through a group of physical tests, wearing monitoring equipment on their bodies to time their performance, and maybe a psych exam done on groups in holodecks. Each test might weed out some people, but a lot of them should get through it. Not all of the ones who pass might be able to go to the Academy, but the ones who don't make the cut might be referred to a local program or get on a list to fill openings that may pop up later.
Finally, why didn't Wesley's service on the Enterprise give him a leg up in the test and later at the Academy? He was given a field commission while still a schoolboy. He had worked the Ops console on the flagship of the fleet. He had saved the Enterprise's bacon more than once, and probably earned commendations from his superiors. So many things he did while there seem to indicate skill that the Academy would not have to teach him, so wouldn't he get some course credit for them? All these things seem like pretty big feathers in Mr. Crusher's cap.

You're welcome.

I watched this episode today and I'm curious about something.

Are Remmick and Quinn infected with the alien bugs at this point?

If they are infected, their behavior is curious.

If there is a conspiracy, why would Quinn and Remmick alert Picard to it. Why not simply bring a beetle with them and force it into Picard.

If Remmick is infected but not Quinn, why hasn't he infected Quinn yet?

If Remmick is not infected, where is that super beetle?

TUE

TUE,

They never outright tell us, but it's a near certainty that Quinn is not infected - why would he warn Picard about his own conspiracy?) Remmick's behavior also leads us to believe he is not infected (and I think he is probably not at this point) but it could just be a cover, i.e. Remmick is waiting for the moment to strike.

But, on the other hand, if Remmick was already infected I don't see why he would allow Quinn to go on a mission for the sole purpose of judging/warning Picard - he would infect Quinn to avoid that - so I don't think he is infected either.

Robert Schenkkan (Remmick) wrote the script for the recent movie "The Quiet American" with Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser.

Robert Ito (Chang) played Quincy's assistant Sam Fuijiyama on "Quincy, M.E." as well as later returning to the Trek universe to play Harry Kim's father on "Voyager." He voiced the nefarious Kyodai Ken on "Batman: The Animated Series."

PAL: The trailer for this episode makes a big deal of Picard handling the runaway shuttle situation, but makes no mention of the much more prominent plot of his coming under investigation.

Robert Schenkkan (Remmick) also wrote the script for the upcomming mini-series "The Andromeda Strain"

I've always thought this wasn't the regular entrance exam. Don't know why, but the moment I saw this ep for the first time I assumed it was just an additional opening for younger "genius" children. Like, regulars for 18-year-olds or more - that would be the setting with dozens applicants and one place for a younger but most promising cadet. That would explain why there were only five of them and why only one was admitted.

I've also always assumed that neither Remmick nor Quinn were yet infected. Quinn noticed something was going on and he was actually trying to trace it - that's the reason for the investigation and the offer for Picard. A nice piece of continuity, if seen this way, don't you think?

I guess none of the above has been established anywhere. Just my random musings :-)

The impression I get from all of this is that starfleet is not really all that big. There is only one starfleet academy, and positions in it are highly sought after. The reason people like Tasha Yar and Nog can get in is because admission is based on the best person from each region and if there isn't anyone else in your particular locality trying to get in, then it probably isn't all that hard. This is probably some kind of starfleet affirmative action. I don't think there needs to be more than one academy though because like I said, I don't think starfleet is all that big. They have who they need to crew what ships they have, some administrative and scientific jobs, and that's it.

I get the same impression, that Starfleet isn't all that big either. If they have only 150 or so members, thats only a drop in the bucket considering how big the galaxy is!

I watched this episode on Spike TV today, it felt more dated than some of the TOS stuff.

I mean, Picard has to corral a runaway shuttle with a failed genius on it? Sounds like a superfriends plot. If it Sisco, he would have beamed the kid out. If it was Kirk, he would have engaged tractor beam, and if it was Kate, well she would have beamed the kid off, and then destroyed the shuttle.

The interrogation stuff was good.

"If you weren't so cute, you'd be really annoying" You don't know the half of it.

Yeah, I think in this incarnation of Trek, Starfleet was a small institution, much like the Navy. I think the orignal number of Galaxy Class ships totaled at a whopping six, and each one took 20 years to build. Once the Borg and Dominion showed up, the fleet needed to get larger. Although, it does beg the question how the Federation can be perpetually at war with the Cardies, Romulans, Tholians, Gorn, Ferangi, Tzenkiti, Talarans et al, with only fourty ships.

I just watched this episode today on Spike. A good bit of the writing is decently cheesy, but when the kid is in the shuttle is a bit too much. We see him fly away, and it's been something like 30 seconds since he left and he is out of range of both the tractor beam AND the transporter? What? Either that shuttle is travelling at warp speeds or both of those pieces of technology are just useless!

The whole thing was a cheesy version of the "troubled teen accidentally gets a piper plane to take off while playing with the controls and needs to be talked down" plot device I've seen in several cheesy movies/TV shows.

I wonder if these Zoldans would get along with Klingons?
Wouldn't THAT be an interesting meeting? ha ha ha

While it is hard to believe that they couldn't use the transporter or tractor beam to stop that kid for stealing a shuttle, alot of the plots in the early days of Next Generation were like this. The sad truth is that the show didn't start getting really good until Roddenberry gave up control of it.

Now, whenever I see this and Conspiracy, regarding Remmick, I think to myself:

"He's got the Bluegill Queen in his chest,
he's got the Bluegill Queen in his chest!"

And of course: KA-BLOOOOOEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

Ugh. Blech. Gross. You could see the look of utter disgust and revulsion on Picard's face as he fried that mother creature to oblivion!

Funny, funny stuff from the late '80's. But also, pretty darn gross!

Also, how come we never saw any female Zaldans? It would have been funny to see one react to Riker's advances, wouldn't it?

I, too, wonder how the Federation approached this race, and how they asked them to join. They could have implied that it would be beneficial for them as a whole, and if they didn't join the Federation, they would not be able to "guarantee the Zaldans' safety", seeing as how there were many hostile and aggressive cultures out their that could possibly "take advantage of them".

Just a thought, that's all!

* Another reason to think Remmick is not infected at this point: How would he get past the transporter bio-filter, when he was beamed aboard with the Admiral?

Also, there's no hint whatsoever that he's infected in any of his behavior throughout this episode. At one point, when Picard saves the kid in the shuttle, Remmick even does a "Yeah!" fist-pump. Nobody suspects that he might be under the control of an alien monster, so why would the monster bother to make him do that? Although, I suppose the monster could have been genuinely happy for the kid. And it could also have been genuinely moved by the "feeling of family" it found among the Enterprise crew.

Seriously, I don't think it's very plausible that he'd been infected yet (in the 2nd TNG Guide, Phil says he thinks he had been, but doesn't say why).

* I thought that Geordi's joke in "Conspiracy" was the only mention of hyperspace in TNG, but in this episode, a hyperspace physics test is on the Starfleet Academy entrance exam. One of the questions on the test asks about the matter/antimatter ratio at Warp Factor 8. But warp drive involves a subspace bubble, not hyperspace.

* Creating those individually-tailored psychology tests, like the fake accident they used for Wesley, would be a lot easier with a disguised holodeck.

* Wouldn't it have been better for Wesley's psychology test to take place at an unexpected time? I remember the first time I saw this episode I immediately suspected that the accident was part of the test, and I'm not a genius like Wesley is supposed to be.

* Lt. Chang is noteworthy in that he is a rare example of a Chinese person in Starfleet. I don't think we see more than 3 or 4 people with Chinese surnames in all of TNG, even tho today 20% of the human population is Chinese. Maybe China was wiped out during the Eugenics Wars or WWIII.

Would a race that prided itself on honesty want to join an organisation dishonest enough to spy on the population before revealing themselves?!

Re Starfleets numbers it's mentioned later that only officers go to the academy, enlisted crew train elsewhere, there may be many enlisted training facilities. Still they should need more than one academy as it's mentioned that the 150 member worlds count only includes home worlds and colonies aren't included in that count and they span 8000 light years.

And it's shown later that Starfleets has thousands of ships, hundreds of star bases and who knows how many garrison bases and other assignments they should need more than one academy to train the millions of officers that you'd need.