Did Picard choose the name of Galen for his "mercenary" identity in honor of his former professor, Dr. Richard Galen ("The Chase")?

Yep, got it in one.

What about the great ancient Greek physician Galen?

Phil thought the guy in the bar was asking a dumb question, "Who are you guys?" They're obviously Starfleet. But that's not a sufficient answer. The guy in the bar wanted names, ranks, serial numbers, what their mission is...

So the Vulcans had super powers but gave them up? How does this square with Spock at the end of Catspaw saying those super-powered aliens must have come from another galaxy just because they had super powers?

Could you be a bit more specific? What "super powers" are you referring to in each episode?

Vulcan telepathic powers were depicted (in the form of the mind meld) way back in Dagger of the Mind(TOS), which was only the ninth episode of the first season. This was nothing new.

The only thing I remember about Gambit(TGN) in that regard is that it established a weapon that they used with their telepathic abilities, not that they had "super powers". What powers did the people in Catspaw(TOS) have? I don't know if I've seen that episode.

GREAT WARDROBE: Crusher looks cute with the beret. It suits her. Personally, I wish they put Troi in skin-tight leather though.

Funny you should mention that because I could have sworn Troi was wearing leather in that scene. The camera never dips low enough to show her whole outfit but I distinctly remember seeing that her pants were black and shiny. Perhaps someone with the DVDs can clarify...

FYI, she does wear leather pants in that silly episode where Worf gets trapped in the western with all the Datas.

HMM....Saavik (#2) has a renegade great-grand-daughter. Nah...same person (Robin Curtis)

Doesn't have to be a great-grand-daughter, could just be a daughter. Remember, Vulcans live longer than humans. Spock is still alive and well at this point in time, and Saavik was younger than him.

Valid point

Cameron Thor (Narik) has a five-second role in Jurassic Park as Lewis Dodgson. Unfortunately for him, the adaptation of the Lost World decided not to use his character again.

Bruce Gray (Admiral Chekote) was Ian's confused father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

And the ensign who replaces Data at the ops position played Sondra on "The Cosby Show."

Maybe he has the right Terikon particle thingy ...

Why do the mercenaries bother to abduct Riker? With Starfleet showing up, I doubt they want to stick around any longer than they have to. Yet they take the time to hop on over (dangerously close to the other officers who should have been firing) and grab him. In the next scene Vekkor and Narik both agree that Riker is useless and should be disposed of ... so why did they risk so much to take him in the first place?

Data is in command of the ship, so maybe we should leave it on ...

After the attack on the planet, Data and LaForge work at the aft science station trying to determine where the mercenaries might head next. Throughout the entire scene, all the alert lights flash red, indicating the ship is still on red alert. Why? The mercenaries are long gone, they are unlikely to return, and there isn't any other alarming issue present. So why is the ship on red alert?

Maybe somebody should tell Baran about those night classes over at DeVry ...

Baran apparently needs Picard around to test the artifacts. Why? What does Picard do that's so difficult? At one point I guess Picard improved the scan accuracy, but now all he does is sit in the cargo hold, stick an artifact between the rods and say "Begin scan". Even when the computer finds a positive match, Picard does nothing: the computer announces the positive and Tallera hauls the artifact off to Baran without a second thought. So what part of Picard's artifact analysis is indispensible?

And while you're at it, give him a copy of The Art of War too

In order to avoid attacking the outpost on Calder II, Picard suggests the mercenaries use Riker to talk their way in. Ummm, that's a pretty dumb plan. According to LaForge, Calder II is a day away from Barrdas III at maximum warp -- since the mercenary ship had engine difficulties it can be assumed more than a day has elapsed. The acting captain of the flagship being captured is pretty big news and one would think that after a day plus it would be well known ... especially to people in the area he was captured. Why then would any of the mercenaries expect this plan to succeed?

Riker was captured as a potentially useful hostage. The mercenaries couldn't know what a bad officer he was, once Riker started to lie about himself to them. He was used, in effect, as a shield, so that the Enterprise didn't blow the mercenaries out of the sky, which they could have feared. But, they shouldn't have changed their minds so quickly from scene to scene.

The whole pain device thing sounds effective, until you consider that everyone has to eat and sleep eventually, and Narik could be poisoned at breakfast, locked in a compartment that has his air cut off, or vaporized in his sleep.

I would have liked some nod towards the fact that Picard had only recently been seriously tortured with a very similar device ("Chain of Command, part 2").

It's possible that his immediate destruction of the control piece in part 2 is that nod, of course - look at his face.

Why do you want a "nod". What does his torture in Chain of Command part 2 have to do with this episode??

Nothing.

There was a "nod" to Chain of Command part 2" when Picard points out that Riker was relieved of duty durning that episode. Of course you forget to point out that "nod".

Mr. Crusher,

The first sentence of your 2:24pm post was fine. The second was unnecessary.

How was it "unnecessary"? Theres not one word of it thats not true. And who the hell are you to say what is "unneccessary" and what isn't?

OK, I should say, "In my opinion, the second..."

To me, it reads like "You're so dumb or deliberately misleading, you don't point out the 'nod'".

Again, that's my opinion, and the way I read it. All I'm asking is that you *read* your posts in that preview page, and see if it's inflammatory.

I did read it in that preview page and I didn't find it inflammatory.

In my opinion, his comment: "Of course you forget to point out that "nod"." is no more inflammatory than his comment in his previous post: "Nothing."

Perhaps if he had changed the tense on forget and made it forgot, people wouldn't have issue with it. But of all the things Mr. Crusher has said that were definitely inflammatory, I don't think this one is provocative enough start a debate over.

I agree with Polls

of course you do, Polls Voice speaks for the masses...

Crusher states that she is picking up 'StarFleet fibre traces" in the bar. So are we to assume from this that Picard went into this really seedy bar in his uniform and managed to convince everyone he wasn't a Starfleet captain?

This is the second time the Enterprise releases the inertia dampers to simulate battle damage. The first episode in which this was done was The Chase - which is also the episode when the (real) Galen appeared.

I'm fairly certain she meant fibers replicated from SF technology, not the actual uniforms.

I have a few things to say about this substandard two-parter: Riker and Troi yelling and screaming at each other? Riker threatening that annoying alien guy? And the whole piracy plot throughout? Not to mention the isolationist Vulcan who showed emotions and acted like she belonged back in the 22nd century with T'Pol? These things NEVER would have happened under Gene's watch!

But then, this WAS the seventh season, and the creators and actors had basically given up on presenting quality material to the fans at this point, and were just basically phoning it in!

Shame, isn't it?

I always really liked this ep, both parts of it.

I think I liked the fact that it showed our characters out of their traditional roles. Picard and Riker under deep cover, Data in charge of the ship with Worf as his first officer.

Andre- Why do you think this episode wouldn't have been made under Gene's watch?

Rodney - for the same reason why "Chain Of Command" also would not have been made if Gene had still been alive. To paraphrase Tim McCree on that episode's board, Gene would have fed the script through a paper shredder and declared "This is NOT Star Trek!"

I totally agree with Tim on that one. Starfleet is not Al-Quida and therefore does not, or at least *should* not commit acts of terrorism!

As for the specific reasons why Gene never would have approved of THIS episode, I believe I already made my feelings clear about it, and I do not wish to discuss it any further.

As he said, Brian Fitzgerald liked this episode, but I did not. And as John Lang said, he liked "Emergence", and if you read what I wrote on that board, I did not like that either.

Just diferent opinions, that's all. Nothing personal towards anyone here!

Wasn't the entire point of Riker's erratic behavior supposed that it would help him infiltrate that ship? Why is that anti-Trek?

Indeed- i see no reason why it simply "isn't Star Trek". There is nothing in this episode that wasn't done on "Gene's watch" as it were. McCoy argued with Kirk all the time. kirk roughed up several aliens. Voices were raised so many times I lost count. I would actually like to know what, in Andre's lofty opinion, ISN'T Star Trek...

It's not interpersonal conflict between the crew that I have a problem with, it's the militarization of Starfleet that happened once Berman took over.

As for this story, Gene Roddenberry had a ban on space pirates stories. He felt they had become too cliche. Judging by this, he was right.

All right, this has really been bugging me for a long time now. I am finally going to get this off my chest.

Regarding this "substandard" episode that I dared to critizise and actually same negative things about, it's finally time that I clarify a few things.

First of all, my buddy Tim McCree clearly stated what I was originally thinking in the first place, and for some reason I was not able to express it in the excellent way he did:

"It's not interpersonal conflict between the crew that I have a problem with, it's the militarization of Starfleet that happened once Berman took over. As for this story, Gene Roddenberry had a ban on space pirates stories. He felt they had become too cliche. Judging by this, he was right." - Tim McCree

Yeah, what he said. Tim was able to express it in a way that apparently I was unable to do to suit Rodney's needs as to why I greatly dislike this episode, as well as much of the final season.

Gene felt that "space pirate" plots were too cliche. Therefore, he would never had done a Trek episode like this if he had still be in charge.

Also, after Berman got his claws on Trek and made Starfleet overly military-oriented, the quality of the entire franchise went downhill considerably.

Those two things Tim mentioned, I wholeheartedly agree with. And sadly, it's almost a year later that I am now finally able to properly express myself as to why I thoroughly loath Berman and what he and Braga did to Trek. Case in point, this two-part abomination.

As for my "lofty opinion", well, Rodney, that's neither here nor there. You dont know me. You dont know anything about the life I've lived and the suffering I've endured, so, you have absolutely no right to judge me!

Christ, I feel like it's 2004 again and I'm back on the old Decipher.com BBS saying how much I hate Enterprise, and having everyone there make fun of me for daring to have a different opinion than everyone else. Like I said before, back then, everyone else loved that POS show and I was the odd one out who actually dared to say anything bad about it.

And like I said, I eventually got banned for having different opinions than the status quo that existed at the time, and I was branded an outcast, because I did not just automatically go along with everything that was presented to us, and I actually spoke out against banality and mediocrity, and most of all, conformity. That stuck in the moderator's craw one two many times and I was cast out. But hey, it's not like I dwell on it or anything. I'm pretty much over it at this point...(grumble grumble SCUMBAGS grumble BASTARDS grumble GRRRRRR!!!!!!!!)

Well, anyway, I've said my piece. Do with it what you will.

And I still think that episode like this would never have happened if Gene was still calling the shots. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Thank you Andre.

You've finally explained yourself and I understand where you're coming from now.

I agree with a number of things you said (shock! horror!) I can only imagine what you thought of DS9 if you didn't like the militarisation of the show.

To be fair to Enterprise- it started well and went downhill rapidly in season 2 and despite clawing back ground in the next two seasons, the damage was done (and to cap things off it finished with the worst series finale ever).

If I may make one point Andre, it's not your opinions on anything you say that irks me from time to time, it's the overly rude and aggressive manner you adopt when pulled up on it. I have never had a problem with anyone disagreeing with me on any topic but it needs to be done respectfully. I realise you have an illness that I am sure is unpleasant and horrible to live with- I also know what it causes to happen to people. But if I may ever so humbly offer the opinion that in an online situation you have the opportunity to stop, pause, come back and view what you write instead of just blurting out things like can happen in real life. Your response to mine and your cousins thoughts on one of your FB posts was a case in point- especially the one to your relations which I thought went beyond rude (and I notice you've now removed that and any subsequent responses to that status).

Honestly Andre, I don't have it in for you or want to start flame wars or anything but I think you need to, occasionally, think before you post. 95% of what you post is fine regardless of content.