I have an explanation. Even Riker wonders how the bad-guy aliens (I forget their name) were able to pull off this stunt.
The baddies got their technology from the Conspiracy Aliens, who were letting other people test their equipment. And they disguised themselves so the bad guys didn't know who they were really dealing with.
Or, the Dominion was supplying the equipment... or the Vians, or...take your pick.

Who's bartender?

Data. Unless it's Guinan...

Here's an odd nit... for some reason MacDuff and Riker decided, once they discovered their ranks, that they were in the wrong seats for some reason. In the beginning of the episode, when the crew lose their memories, Riker is still sitting to Picard's right and we are suddenly introduced to MacDuff on the captain's left. At the end of the episode MacDuff is on the captain's right and Riker on his left.

Now it is true that normally we see the #2 officer to the captain's right, but... how would they know that with their memories gone?

It kinda makes sense for the XO to be on the Captain's right hand.

I don't know if this is mentioned in the nitpickers guides, but Mac Duff has crew quarters and everything made for him? It seems a little odd that the beam would have time to allocate him a nice room.

The Satarrans could've beamed manufactured belongings into an empty crew quarters at the moment they wiped the crew's memories. (Not that this makes the plot any more plausible as a whole, but that seems to be the least of its holes.)

Phil, from his NextGen Guide; PO#1: Troi beats Data at chess? Given that current computer chess programs can beat you in no time flat, and Data is way more sophisticated, is this even remotely believable?
Good point, Phil, but may I ask why you didn’t voice a similar nit when Kolrami beat Data at strategema in the episode Peak Performance? The characters themselves were shocked (except for Kolrami, of course), so why weren’t you?
Phil, from his NextGen Guide; PO#2: It is established that the Federation greatly outmatches Lysian technology, and at the end, that Sataaran technology is at approximately the same level as the Lysians. So how could MacDuff so easily overcome the Enterprise’s shields? Also, everything MacDuff does with the Enterprise crew’s selective memory wipes, with the main computer and even with Data indicates the Sataarans are MORE advanced than the Federation. As Riker says at the end, why would he even NEED the Enterprise to attack the Lysians, given his ability to alter their brain chemistry?
First, the race’s name is spelled Satarran, not Sartaaran. Second, it is the Satarrans who manipulated the Enterprise and her crew. MacDuff was merely one of their agents. As to the nit itself, you’re absolutely right, Phil. Many fans point to this as one of the sloppiest plot holes in any episode. Not only are the Satarrans’ technology extremely sophisticated, but incredibly specific: The memory weapon acts on the part of the brain that stores fact, or event memories, but leaves the area storing skill memory alone. (These two type of memory are stored in different parts of the brain, so we can give kudos to the creators for making that part plausible.) It even affects Data in the same way as everyone else. While it’s possible they needed the crew to learn how to operate the ship, not only does this contradict other episodes where enemies magically learn how to instantly do so on their own, like Basics parts I-II(VOY), and Message in a Bottle(VOY), but at the end of the episode, MacDuff tries to commandeer the tactical console, indicating he knows how to operate it. Maybe he read Operating Starfleet Consoles for Satarran Dummies?

Too bad I don't have my own plasma mindwiper for the writers...
Obviously, viewers must’ve known from the start that MacDuff was part of the mindwipe, but I wonder if the writers would’ve tried to disguise that if they realized there was a way to do so? The opening log of the episode could’ve made mention of new officers temporarily assigned to the Enterprise as part of the exchange program we saw in both A Matter of Honor and Sins of the Father. (Yeah, those were interorganizational exchanges, not intraorganizational ones, but it could’ve given the higher ups at Starfleet the idea to conduct intras as well.) MacDuff could’ve been alluded to being an exchange officer, which might’ve thrown the viewer a red herring.
Uh…she "forgot" that it hurt?
When Crusher first treats her swimmer patient in the beginning of the episode, she tells the patient to move her head to the left, and when she does so, she feels pain. After the memory wipe, when we see the two again in sickbay, the swimmer looks at her injured shoulder, moving her head to the left to do so, mind you, and apparently, although her shoulder still hurts, her neck/collar no longer does.
Join Starfleet. We provide flexible hours, good benefits, and versatile job opportunities and venues for advancement (provided you bring your own plasma mindwipe weapon)
After the memory wipe, everyone tries to figure out what everyone’s rank and place on the bridge is, but they act like they also forgot where everyone was standing and sitting when it occurred. Even if everyone forgot that Picard and Riker were sitting in the command chairs, Riker walks up to tactical and identifies it as such to Worf, who is still standing there. Geordi doesn’t stray too far from his engineering station, and Ro deduces that she’s the "pilot." Yet Worf later takes the captain’s chair, apparently forgetting he was at tactical, and Picard takes the helm where Ro was sitting when she leaves the bridge.
Who would’ve thought Worf for a slacker?
The crew manifest seen in this episode when the crew rediscover their identities gives Worf’s Academy entrance date as 2357. Since Worf was six at the Khitomer Massacre, as mentioned in Heart of Glory and The Bonding, and the Massacre was twenty years prior to Sins of the Father, and that episode was set in 2366, then Worf was born in 2340, and was therefore, seventeen years old upon entering the Academy. (All of these dates are corroborated by The Star Trek Chronology and The Star Trek Encyclopedia.) Obviously, the guy who wrote the manifest info assumed that all people enter the Academy at 17 or 18, but why would a Klingon, Worf, wait that long? Apparently, he forgot to take into account the fact that Klingons grow very fast, as evidenced by Alexander, who is chronologically 2 by this episode, yet physically 10 by Earth standards, and he’s one quarter human! Alex goes on to look physically 16-18 by the time of Sons and Daughters(DS9), when he is chronologically 8. This means Worf could’ve entered the Academy when he was as young as 8 or 9, since the speed at which a Trek alien can learn and assimilate information (i.e.: progress through school) is generally commensurate with their growth rate, as evidenced by both Alexander, who was in a grade level appropriate for an Earth child of his apparent age, not his chronological age, and serving in the Klingon military at age 8, rather than in third grade, and Kes, from Voyager, who, at age 2 and 3, was learning how to be a nurse, not sleeping in crib wearing a diaper. So why did Worf wait so long? What was he doing for those 8 or 9 years?
Don’t worry, she doesn’t remember. It makes no difference.
Sheena Ainsbury, of Monte Vista, South Africa, writing in The Star Trek Communicator #100 (December/Januray 1994/95), pointed out that Crusher holds the rank of Commander, but is listed in the crew manifest as a Lt. Commander.
You’d think Quaice would’ve been the one to forget the right date!
Also, in the episode Remember Me, which was set in 2367, Crusher is established to have known Dr. Quaice from med school for the past 15 years, meaning she first knew him in 2352. Her date of graduation on the crew manifest, however, is given as 2350, so if she knew him from med school, she would have known him for at least 17 years by that episode, not 15.
Yes. All the others went on an away mission with her to Garon II
The computer also identifies Ro as the "helm officer." What, she’s the only one on the ship?
I guess she didn’t mean happily married.
In Act 3, after Riker and Ro find their quarters, Ro comments to Riker that, for all they know, they could be married. Sure, Ro. A married couple who each have separate quarters.
Picard: "Data, I need a tactical analysis."
Data: "Worf’s going to kick your ass if you keep asking me for them."
Picard: "Hmm…that’s actually a pretty good one, Data, thanks."
At the end of Act 3, the confusion over bridge crew duties continues. The Enterprise encounters a Lyrian ship, and Picard asks Data instead of Worf for a tactical analysis. True, it’s possible that Picard is still trying to remember who does what, but I don’t get the sense from that this was intentional on the part of the creators.
Data to Engineering, I’m still waiting for that screwdriver!
As in Time Squared, and The Masterpiece Society, Data’s ops console wobbles very badly when he uses it.
He had to fight off Ro’s advances in the corridors
When MacDuff’s true identity and agenda is revealed, Riker uses a phaser on him. Since when does Riker carry one on the bridge? Sure is a good thing he had one this time!
Are Starfleet uniforms made of asbestos?
The memory-wipe weapon is referred to as a plasma beam. Plasma is ionized gas, or the state of matter that the sun exists in. How exactly did it penetrate the Enterprise’s hull, and if it did, why wasn’t everyone incinerated?
Maybe she figures, "Yeah, but he’s more ‘mine’ than ‘Ro’s’."
Why does Troi give Riker the cold shoulder at the end of the episode? She just explained to him that what happened with him and Ro was understandable, given the circumstances, and last time I checked, Troi and Riker were no longer an item. Not very consistent with the fact that Troi comes from a supposedly open and enlightened society, that she’s a trained counselor, and that she told her mother in the beginning of Manhunt that Riker was not "hers."

Luigi, regarding your second blue nit. It's well known that Starfleet uses the IFOS (or Invader Friendly Operating System®). It has been commented on many times in the past, especially regarding Voyager.

Why does Troi give Riker the cold shoulder at the end of the episode? She just explained to him that what happened with him and Ro was understandable, given the circumstances, and last time I checked, Troi and Riker were no longer an item. Not very consistent with the fact that Troi comes from a supposedly open and enlightened society, that she’s a trained counselor, and that she told her mother in the beginning of Manhunt that Riker was not "hers."

To me it seems perfectly in character for her to believe that she is beyond such petty ideas but when she is confronted by such a situation in real life to show her true immaturity.

But it doesn't square with the fact that both Troi and Riker have had dates and relationships with numerous other people, all without any problem from one another. (The Price, The Outcast, The Game, The Masterpiece Society, etc.)

This episode would have made so much more sense if MacDuff had been a renegade from a more advanced race, working for the Satarrans as a mercenary.

I love the scene with the Enterprise blasting through the Lysian defences. Multiple shots, all on target, targets destroyed. It's nice to see the weapons actually working as intended for a change.

Shouldn't the Holodeck safeties have kept the woman from hurting herself? According to the later episode Descent it requires 2 Officers to override the safeties. (Then again, maybe that rule was created after this episode?)

There is no verbal interface for the computer, then a few minutes later, with no mention that it has been fixed, Riker, Ro and La Forge get on a turbolift. With no verbal interface how are they going to get it to work?

Geordi is wondering why there is only one Android on board the ship, but Geordi is the only one with a VISOR, Troi is the only Empath and Worf is the only Klingon. How come he doesn't wonder about that? (And Ro may be the only Bajoran. The list goes on.)

Satarrans must have exceptional medical and computer knowledge to come up with a device capable of affecting all those different brains the same and also reprogramming Data and the Ship's computers. With medical knowledge like that why not just develop a poison and dump it on the Lysian Homeworld?

On page 322 of the NextGen Guide II, Phil asked why the Sataarans don't use that memory beam on the Lysians. Well, maybe they did, but the Lysians were able to counteract it?

I found it incredible that the minds of all the different races and the computers were affected the same way. (Wouldn't Geordi's VISOR have altered the effectiveness of the beam?) I also found it incredible that no one had written any information down. Do writing utensils and paper not exist in the 24th century or did the beam erase written information as well?

I think I've finally figured out why Riker keeps turning down his own command. He's afraid female crew members would be less likely to jump the Captain's bones than the First Officer's. I think the only Enterprise women he hasn't had sex with are Tasha Yar and Dr. Pulaski. (Although, in her taped goodbye, Tasha did say Will was "the best.")

Personally I thought the most interesting part of this story, was the part they didn't show. Wouldn't you have loved to watch the face of the Lysian leader, when Picard, who's ship could destroy the command post with no problem, explained the situation. "Sorry about almost destroying you. We were under the control of your enemy and didn't know what we were doing. So sorry about slaughtering the men on that ship."
Nervous Lysian leader. "No problem. Could happen to anyone. I hope our defenses didn't scratch your paint job?"

Actually, by involving the Federation in their war, the Sataarans probably nullified the Prime Directive. So the Federation could send a fleet of ships to the Sataaran command post and demand that they surrender to the Lysians.

Shouldn't the Holodeck safeties have kept the woman from hurting herself? According to the later episode Descent it requires 2 Officers to override the safeties. (Then again, maybe that rule was created after this episode?)

The same could be said about O'Brien's frequent shoulder displacements. Holodeck safeties protect people from the objects it creates (bullets, Borg, etc.), but that doesn't mean people can't get hurt in the holodeck. I don't remember the nature of the young lady's holodeck accident, and therefore can't comment upon that, but if the accident was caused by something she did, maybe the holodeck couldn't adapt to protect her. When O'Brien gets hurt, he apparently pops his own shoulder out of joint. What if he paddled at the wrong angle, or something? Could the holodeck do anything for him? I think not.

Agreed. Holodeck safeties protect you from the effects of bullets and cars (leading to potentially cartoon like effects.) But it cannot protect you from your own overexertions. So a mounted knight couldn't kill you but falling off your horse could bruise and batter you. I'm not quite sure how the deck would react if you did pull a coyote and walked off the edge of a cliff but it might depend on the program. I.e you bounce or just go splat but with some minor bruising instead of becoming jello.

Maybe Tasha likes the beard?

I believe the diving girl said she tucked instead of rolling or something like that, so your scenarios would seem to fit.

So a mounted knight couldn't kill you
Tell that to McCoy. ;-) (Yeah, yeah. It wasn't a holodeck knight.)

Watching this episode last night, I couldn't help wondering why "Commander Macduff" didn't just put four pips on his collar and make himself the captain of the ship. It would have saved him a lot of trouble since then he could have just ordered everyone to do what he wanted.

In Engineering, Geordi and Data are searching the records. Just before they find out that personnel and medical records are erased, Data says "We've".

The episode never explains how Data gets his memories back.

After the crew lost their memories, they refer to the ship as a "Starship" right off. How did they know what to call it from the get go?
"Next Gen" on TNN: This week, with the marathon on, I feel like I died and went to heaven.

I agree. I was kinda hoping that Troi would wake up from a dream, find Riker in her shower, and realize the entire Voyager series had been a dream.

Please, no "Dallas" similes on this board. "Dallas" is one of my least favorite shows ever. It is not even good as high camp.
A bad "Next Gen" (or even "Voyager") is infinitely better than what some people consider a good "Dallas" (an oxymoron if there ever was one.)

I love the premise behind this ep...despite the big honkin' plot holes. Forcing the NextGen gang to act on their instincts loosens them up a bit; they're more unpredictably human - hence more fun to watch.

However.There's just no way, going by the information we're given, that a) The Satarrans would need the Enterprise to defeat the Lysians in the first place, or b) That - even if by some miracle they did [see below] - MacDuff wouldn't have made himself Captain and simply overrode all opposition. (There actually might have been a way around this one for the creators. Suppose Picard's memory of being Captain had kicked in for some reason just as MacDuff was giving the orders to fire? Corny, yes, but more plausible than the scenario they went with.)

The only, itty-bitty shred of defense I can muster is that maybe the memory beam was an old technology that the Satarrans had managed to salvage...from their own culture or someone else's...so that all they really know about it is how to flick the ON switch. Or maybe they purchased/stole it from someone and lost the instruction manual.
Which doesn't explain why they wouldn't have just set to work and extrapolated the technology to create more effective weapons...but hey, as I said, I reallyreally want this ep to work.

P.S. - For some reason, when I saw it on TV, I could have sworn the last scene (the Picard/Riker exchange) took place out on the bridge...but when I bought the cassette, it takes place in the briefing room. Any chance they switched it - or (much more likely) am I just crazy?

I am REALLY bothered by Ro's presence in the crew manifest. I have no problem w/her at Conn, and I really like her as a character. I just don't get why the computer lists her as the Flight Control officer or something like that.

First off, Data is Operations Manager (not to mention second officer), Worf is the Security Chief, Crusher is the Chief Medical Officer....the idea is that these people are department heads. Is there really a Flight Control department? Isn't that just the little extra on the bridge that says "Aye, sir" once an episode? So why would the FC officer be listed along w/the other senior officers/dept. heads? Has the FC officer ever sat in meetings w/anyone else? I would refer to the episode "Disaster." The bridge is occupied by Troi, O'Brien, Ro, and an extra who was at conn, I believe. When they retire to the conf. room for a powwow, that extra is NOT there even in this extreme, irregular situation. An FC officer's inclusion in the manifest is illogical.

Second, if such a person exists, why would it be Ro? She spent time in a military prison until 11 episodes prior to this one, so I wouldn't have her on my ship for three months and make her head of ANY department! (Not to mention that her first mission onboard the Enterprise turns out to be an illegal one. Her trustworthiness rating is not all that high.)

Now, it's possible that "MacDuff" altered the manifest to include her, just as he added himself as first officer. No one would know any different. But why would he make this position up? The only thing I can think of is that he identified her as a potential asset to his plan and wrote her in. Unfortunately, this creates a major plot hole b/c it presumes that his memory-scan-erase deal was able to tell about her personality. If he had this capability, he should have identified Picard as too peaceful to suit his--MacDuff's--needs.

Here is how they should have fixed the hole about "poor weapons technology":

The UFP has been called upon to mediate talks between the Sataraans and the Lysians. The Enterprise is dispatched (with a diplomatic team) to deal with the situation.

This is the motivation for MacDuff: his people's forces are too drained to push their way through the Lysian defenses, so they can't attack conventionally.

But the Lysians WILL allow the Enterprise through. MacDuff therefore commandeers the ship b/c it will slip right through Lysian defenses unperturbed--in fact, the Lysians will probably escort it right to their command.

So MacDuff pulls his stunt and kills the diplomatic team. He takes the ship in, just like it's on a peace mission--until they reach the Lysian central command. At this point, MacDuff will activate some secret weapon he's placed aboard the Enterprise to destroy the Lysians, and the crew intervenes just in time.

I thought it was interesting to have one of the chess pieces in the Troi/Data chess game to resemble the robot from lost in space.

I've just spotted an production oddity in this episode. I've noticed it on the Region 2 DVD box-set version.

The nit happens approximately 25 minutes in to the episode. There is an shot of the Enterprise zipping along at warp speed towards Lysian space. The scene changes to the bridge, with the camera starting between the Conn and Ops stations (Ro at Conn, Data at Ops). The camera starts zooming in and pans towards Ro, just as Worf announces that the Enterprise has crossed the Lysian border. Picard starts to give the command to drop out of warp. Watch the top of the screen aligned with Commander MacDuff's head - something that looks remarkably like a microphone appears and is visible for a few seconds (until Ro acknowledges the command and the camera pans back towards Picard).

Doesn't seem to be in volumes 1 or 2 of the Nitpickers TNG guide.

Thanks.

Just curious, did the Federation ever give any compensation to the Lysians for knocking out their sentry pods and ship? Provide them with replacements, except with the ship's crew, so to speak. Even if they don't feel they're under any moral obligation shouldn't they at least return the environment to its natural condition/ non-interference/ prime-directive ••••?

I believe Picard did mention that the Lysians were contacted and that the Federation has extended its condolences and regrets for the tragedy. The particulars, however, were not detailed, and IMO, not important to the episode's story.

Things must be getting bad for D. Troi. She takes a moment to sniff some nail polish. Trying to get high, Di?

(Then again, she doesn't remember ME at this point. That probably explains it! )

I don't know if any of you have noticed this yet, but did Doctor Crusher mix up her neurological terms in this episode?

She mentioned that none of the crew's hippocampuses were damaged, and concluded that they must still have their long-term memories, but they must be blocked.

Now, I'm no neurologist, but I do know that the hippocampus is the part of the brain that records recent events into long-term memory. A person with a damaged hippocampus remembers everything up to the time of the damage, but nothing that happened afterword. The crew of the Enterprize had the opposite problem: they couldn't remember anything from before they lost their memory, except certain skills.

So, who's ignorant: Crusher or me?

"Data to Engineering, I’m still waiting for that screwdriver!"
-Luigi Novi

Why would he need to call engineering for one? He can obviously tend bar. Shouldn't he be able to just mix one up?

She mentioned that none of the crew's hippocampuses were damaged, and concluded that they must still have their long-term memories, but they must be blocked.

Now, I'm no neurologist, but I do know that the hippocampus is the part of the brain that records recent events into long-term memory. A person with a damaged hippocampus remembers everything up to the time of the damage, but nothing that happened afterword. The crew of the Enterprize had the opposite problem: they couldn't remember anything from before they lost their memory, except certain skills. - Cernya

Right... hence Doctor Crusher's conclusion... their hippocampuses weren't damaged, therefore they don't have anterograde amnesia (as opposed to retrograde)... which is what Archer had in Twilight.

If your question is why Crusher bothered to check the hippocampus as a potential cause of their amnesia... it's entirely possible that our understanding of the brain's structure and function changes in the next 400 years.

Right, and the cases that have been studied in this century are all flukes? Unlikely. I'd prefer to think that the writers had a brain fart.

No... not flukes... but simply something that's undetectable by our current understanding of the human brain.

Much like changes in our understanding of matter/energy conversion, quantum mechanics and faster than light travel make transporters, time machines, and warp drives possible in the Trek universe.

Darth is right in that Crusher did say that the hippocampuses weren't damaged.

Erich Anderson (MacDuff) was Felicity's father, Dr. Edward Porter, on the self-titled show, and recently played D.A. Ben Fisher on the much-too-quickly-axed show "Boomtown."

Liz Vassey (Kristin) played Captain Liberty on the short-lived live-action version of "The Tick."

KAM: Shouldn't the Holodeck safeties have kept the woman from hurting herself?

d31: Not neccesarily. The safety protocols are designed to keep people from being killed or seriously injured. Tightening them up to prevent all injuries would leave very little to do in a program. Haven't seen this recently but I think it was someone performing gymnastics- if someone overexerts themselves or lands the wrong way there is not too much the computer can do about that.

O'Brien on DS9 hurt his shoulder kayaking on the holosuite all the time.(It was a plot point in Inquisition.)

she wasn't dong gymnastics, she was swimming!

I find it interesting how in the beginning, Data checks Troi and then instead of the next move being to move out of check, she moves a completely unrelated piece.

The point of chess, 3D or not, is to capture the king. Not moving or blocking one in check is not possible, yet that was clearly what happened.

KAM: Actually, by involving the Federation in their war, the Sataarans probably nullified the Prime Directive. So the Federation could send a fleet of ships to the Sataaran command post and demand that they surrender to the Lysians.
I didn't think of that! The Satarrans attacked a Federation ship and crew, essentially forced them to destroy a Lysian battleship, and almost killed more than 15,000 additional Lysians. I would think SF has every right to intervene in this war.

Many people, including Phil, were confused why the Satarrans, with their sophisticated mind/computer altering technology, could breach the Enterprise's shields so easily. The Satarran mind-beam thingy was connected to their scanners and had nothing to do with standard weapons. I'm sure there are examples, but I can't think of a single ep where an opponent's shields were up and scanners couldn't penetrate.

Was there a time lag between the crew's memory being wiped and when they realized it happened? I would think there would have to be for MacDuff to get his own quarters, screw with the computer, destroy his ship, and appear on the bridge but it seems like Picard stood up immediately after the beam passed through.

Although I have no doubt Luigi spelled Satarran right when correcting Phil, the way Picard says it at the end it sounds like Sutarran.

KAM: "No problem. Could happen to anyone. I hope our defenses didn't scratch your paint job?"
I know you meant this as a joke but Federation ships haven't been painted since TOS era, aside from hull markings of course.

Jesse: I just don't get why the computer lists her as the Flight Control officer or something like that... Is there really a Flight Control department? Isn't that just the little extra on the bridge that says "Aye, sir" once an episode?
It was 'helm officer' and no, that isn't a department. Luigi also makes a good point about Ro being the only one listed as a helm officer too. Why an ensign gets to hang out with department heads and command staff as often as Ro does is a re-occuring nit when compared to any (para)military chain of command.

This has happened in at least a few other episodes but when Riker shoots at MacDuff a second time his phaser beam is projected at around twenty degrees lower then where he is pointing it.

Where was the real bartender during this ep?

By AWhite (Inblackestnight) on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 - 10:13 am:
"I know you meant this as a joke but Federation ships haven't been painted since TOS era, aside from hull markings of course. "

The picture quality isn't the best to determine this on the actual ship, but the color of the model of the stargazer is yellow. One would assume after the color the ship...

The picture quality isn't the best to determine this on the actual ship, but the color of the model of the stargazer is yellow. One would assume after the color the ship..

No, the Stargazer was the same colour as every other starfleet ship - a light grey. In ST Nemesis you can clear see Picard has a model of the Enterprise E that is transparent. Which unless there is something really wrong with my TV isn't the case in 'real' life. (For anyone who wants to check you can see the model clearly in the background near the start of the film when he takes the call from Admiral Janeway).

Observation - The only person I can recall who has a model of a starship that is correctly coloured and detailed was Sisko. He had a model of a Nebular class ship in his office.

While I agree with you that the Enterprise E isn't transparent, typically when painting a model, you'd paint it to represent the colors of the ship.

Since it is yellow, one could wonder why...

Well, the registry code on Picard's model is NCC-7100, the Stargazers registry was given as NCC-2893 in 'The Battle'. So the model is not the Stargazer.

The technical manual does mention that prototype ships were painted yellow to show warp field stresses on the hull. (A Practice that seems to have stopped sometime after 2365 as nether the USS Defiant or the USS Promethius were yellow even though both were prototypes for their classes. Then again they could have been repainted after initial flight trials) If so then it may be inferred that Picard's Model is of the prototype Constellation class - presumably the USS Constellation before she was given a name. Quite why Picard would have a model of this ship is anyone's guess. Since this class must date from at least the time of TMP, the USS Bozeman dates from around this time, then the class is at least 40 years older than Picard and he couldn't have served on her. It is possible that a Picard worked on the design of the ship - although Picard himself states that he was the first Picard to leave the solar system, which leaves out the possibility of a Picard serving on the ship. Then again depending on what he meant by his statement it could be that someone on his mothers side of the family served on that ship. Or he could have been given the model by someone who worked on that ship. Lots of possibilities but no hints as to why he had that model.

(Ironically it is claimed that this model didn't appear in 'The Battle', but a refitted Constitution Class starship model was in Picard's ready room instead - as well as appearing in a couple of other episodes. The Stargazer was meant to be a Constitution Class starship as originally written. This information comes from Memory Alpha - apparently it was one of the sources of information used for the latest Star Trek film - since I can't recall seeing any other models in Picard's ready room).

With my new big screen HGTV I bought a month ago

Wow... you bought an entire network? I'm impressed.

Maybe you should go back and watch the episode for yourself.

If you'd be kind enough to buy me Season one of TNG on DVD sure.

Maybe you should stick to the facts instead of just what you "recall" about the episodes.

The fact was that I couldn't remember seeing any model apart from the Constellation one in Picards room - not that I had any reason to look at it when I was watching the episode anyway.
As its been almost 20 years since I saw season one, and don't have the DVD to go back and look again, I used the term 'Claim' as I had no way to confirm that what was written was fact.

"I think I've finally figured out why Riker keeps turning down his own command. He's afraid female crew members would be less likely to jump the Captain's bones than the First Officer's. I think the only Enterprise women he hasn't had sex with are Tasha Yar and Dr. Pulaski. (Although, in her taped goodbye, Tasha did say Will was "the best.") - KAM

Yeah Keith, and if you look at my post on the "Skin Of Evil" board, I wondered the same thing! I said that her saying that could be interpeted in many different ways. However, I also said that there was a *very* good chance that Riker and Yar "got it on" at some point, during their off-duty hours.

Also, I wonder what happened to the Satarrans after this episode, presumably the Federation did their best to avoid contact with them, based on their treachery in their attempt to commit mass genocide against the Lysians!

Data says that the Lysian destroyer is armed with disruptors, whose "capacity appears to be only 2.1 megajoules".

It's hard to believe the Lysian weapons are *that* weak. 2.1 megajoules equals about as much energy as only 1 pound of TNT.

Even worse: Data later says that the Lysian Central Command has a "defensive shield output of 4.3 kilojoules". 4 kilojoules would be about equal to 1 food Calorie.

Also. a kilojoule is 1/000th of a megajoule. Data says the Lysian destroyer's disruptors had a capacity of 2.1 megajoules, and presumably the capacity of Satarran weapons was similar. Does it make sense that the Lysian shields would use only 1/500th as much power as the weapons they are defending against?

So, did you hear the funny joke about how Counsellor Troi easily beats Data at 3-D chess, and then she...oh, wait.
That actually happened in this episode.
Yea.
Riiight.
In essence, Troi just beat a computer with comparable skill to the Enterprise's main computer!
As I said...yeah. Right.
Data admits he never saw this coming, and then states that his countermove will put him in check in 6 or 7 movies (I forget which), at which point Troi simply removes the pieces, as if the game is over, and smugly tells him that chess also includes the skill of intuition to succeed.
I'm pretty sure Data can think 7 moves ahead, and would probably have initiated a move to stop the second check.
It's as if the writer thought that saying "Check." is the end of the game.
Last time I noticed it was "Checkmate.", and you should play to the end to finalize the game.
I suppose they were trying to give Troi something interesting to do, but beating Data, out of the entire crew, instead of picking on Picard or Riker...?
Uh...no.

The Lysians are a hundred years behind Federation technology, but they sure do know how to build massively-huge, extra-extra-extra large space stations don't they? The Enterprise looked like the Defiant-to-DS9 by comparison with this humungous stick-insect in space.

The Sataraans are dumb. They wipe out the crew's memory, and go to all the trouble of creating a Federation vs. the Lysians war scenario, when all they had to do was man the bridge, and only the bridge, dash over to Lysian command, and blow it to bits by themselves. Then leave the ship, leaving the Enterprise crew confused and stuck with the blame.

Troi and Ro smugly tell Riker at the end that he shouldn't be embarrassed-- he probably secretly wanted to make out with Ro.
Okay, but that works both ways! Especially since it was Ro who pursued Riker aggressively, not the other way around. Therefore, Troi should be pissed off at Ro for getting cozy with her ex-boyfriend/imzadi!