Okay, I'll start the rebuilding here. :-)

This episode establishes that genetic scans can be deceived. Yet in "Redemption", a genetic scan showing that Toral really was Duras's son was apparently taken at face value.

Also, in the Next Gen Nitpickers Guide, someone wondered how feasible Bok's plan to get back at Picard really was. Particularly changing Jason's DNA without the young man's being aware of it. While this makes Bok's plan only slightly simpler, my take on the episode was always that Jason was in cahoots with Bok, and that's why he didn't share Picard's concern about his safety.

Why would Jason be in cahoots with Bok? Would you want to help out a guy who's devious plan resulted in you ending up dead, just to help him get revenge on some guy you had never laid eyes on?

Plus, Jason looks rather squeamish and tries to barter his way out after he's taken. Bok is rather serious about killing him. Both know that Picard & the Enterprise are nowhere near, so I think it's fairly safe to say that both their sentiments were authentic.

I thought the Ferengi first found out everything he could about Picard, then, based on that information, he decided what his plan would be.

At the beginning of the show Picard says that Bok is wearing a Daimon's uniform. What exactly differentiates a Daimon's uniform from the uniforms that the rest of the Ferengi in his crew were wearing?

Wasn't it amazing that both of Bok's probes approached from the same angle and direction?

Lieutenant Sandra Rhodes struck me as being too nice and naive to be a member of Security.

Yeah, barely eighteen at the time. Who makes these casting decisions?

Actually, it didn't surprise me that she was a member of security. What got me was that she was an OFFICER in security.

TJ Fleming: Yeah, barely eighteen at the time.
Luigi Novi: Actress Amy Pietz was 25 at the time of the episode.

Just seeing if you're paying attention. J
(Clearly, I wasn't. L)

Crusher comes out as being dumb during the first scan of Jason. She doesn't find out the truth until much later. You'd think that with all the advanced equipment on the flagship of the Federation, that the true results would have showed up during the FIRST SCAN.

Except that if all the equipment on the Enterprise automatically detected and analysed and correctly diagnosed every single possible anomaly on first go, it'd be a very short series altogether.

Since (as the Chief pointed out) we're already postulating such an insanely complicated plot on the DaiMon's part, it's not a stretch to figure he's already thought of Jason being scanned and planned accordingly.

I've never known a transporter being used as a DNA identity scanner on a routine basis, myself.

Did anyone else think it was trite to have two "father-son" episodes in a row? Firstborn was no scream in hell, and Bloodlines belonged in Fifth Season.

Just my two cents...

this may have been brought up already, but there are rules of acquisitions that allow for things to be done at the cost of family and yet this Bok individual has so much hate over the death of his son. One would think that since there is plenty of ways to make a profit on the grave of someone, it shouldn't bother him. Thus why is he so passionate about his son here. The Grand Nagus in a DS9 episode left Quark as Nagus and Rom tried to kill him, so whats the deal with family?

The family structure of the Ferangi (in Doctor Bashir, I Presume?) describes a society that doesn't place the family as it's building blocks; so why is Bok so upset.

I think that's the point, Torque. For whatever reason, Bok saw vengeance over the death of his son rather than profit as his number 1 aim and when the other Ferengi found out, they found it heretical or maybe even abnormal.

Ryan,

>Why would Jason be in cahoots with Bok? Would you >want to help out a guy who's devious plan resulted >in you ending up dead, just to help him get >revenge on some guy you had never laid eyes on?

I too thought that this was the case, that Jason was in cahoots with Bok when I first saw the episode. Obviously, if they were in cahoots, then Bok wasn't serious in wanting Jason dead. Jason being a petty criminal, wouldn't have made this surprising.

>Plus, Jason looks rather squeamish and tries to >barter his way out after he's taken. Bok is rather >serious about killing him. Both know that Picard & >the Enterprise are nowhere near, so I think it's >fairly safe to say that both their sentiments were >authentic.

Obviously at this point, they weren't in cahoots. The point being was for most of the episode, a lot of viewers thought that this would be the twist, that Jason and Bok somehow planned to deceive Picard.

Near the beginning of the episode, Picard orders Riker to contact the Ferengi government and find out why Bok has regained his rank. Shortly thereafter, Riker reports that the "Ferengi government is debating an amendment to the rules of acquisition" and that there could be a delay.

Wait a minute...the entier government? That's like someone trying to find out information about a naval officer and being told, "I'm sorry, the U.S. Government is debating a bill on corn tariffs." You see my point? The government of one country on Earth is massive enough that no one activity can tie up all its branches, yet we're supposed to believe that the government of an interstellar power is so small that one activity brings it to a standstill?

It's an excuse. Ferenginar doesn't want to deal with this annoying Starfleet captain, so they come up with this figleaf.

"What? Bok? Uh... we're... busy! Yeah, that's it! We're busy... uh... amending the Rules of Acquisition! Yeah, that's the ticket!"

I might buy that, Scott, except that someone from the Ferengi government later contacts the Enterprise and tells them exactly what they want to know!

Well, you know- the rules are a little more important to Ferengi society than Corn tariffs are for ours. :-) It's like a mix of reiligion and politics and soemthing of great cultural significance.

My guess is that they really just forgot to leverage the proper bribe to get their info, and later someone thought of this (or Picard got Starfleet funding authorization) and THEN the Ferengi were willing to talk. ;-)

The whole topic of Bok's subspace wonder transporter technolgy bothers me on several levels:

1) Where did Bok get this technology? The man was rotting in prison and yet somehow he miraculously buys his way out of prison and apparently finds out about and purchases this wondrous super long range transporter. (maybe he saved up his prison wages and bought a power ball lotto ticket)
2) why do we never see this technology again? They capture Bok in the end but his crew presumably runs free and as profit driven as they are I cant figure why they didn't sell this technology to anyone else.
3)Bok takes Jason in the end and it will take 20 minutes to get there so Picard has his crew modify the transporters to duplicate what Bok did. What? how? even after studying the effects all episode long how does Gordie create a device with a range thousands of times over a standard transporter without ever even getting a peek at the actual unit and in under 20 minutes no less.
4) Gordie took a page from Scotty's book and rewrote the laws of physics, thus creating a transporter that can safely send his captain light years away.... so why do we never see the enterprise or anyone in the federation use this device again? seems to me a transporter that can beam you out or in from a solar system away and through shields would be a fairly valuable thing.

Well, we don't see the technology again because it's very expensive and unstable, as mentioned in the Episode- the Federation doesn't use it, and it costs too much energy to be practical. Which is why the Ferengi didn't sell it to anyone else; no one else wanted it. :-)

As for where Bok acquired it, this isn't really an answer so much as a related question... but presumably from the same source he got his incredibly rare Thought Maker devices when he first appeared in The Battle. Perhaps he was a Ferengi treasure hunter, and found rare artifacts like this? Or perhaps he knew the inventor of the Tantalus Field in this universe- some crackpot centuries ahead of his time- and called in a few favors? :-)

Also, I'm assuming Picard piggybacked his way on the beam Bok used to beam to Bok's ship- which is why they couldn't do it in other episodes; no existing signal to piggyback on.

The idea of unstable DNA was reused in "Nemesis"

It was often used in Star Trek's version of cloning. It was also used in "Up the Long Ladder" & that DS9 episode where Odo is framed for murder because someone murdered his own clone and tried to make it look like Odo did it.

Ironic, considering that Picard does end up having a son, Jack.

That is of course if it's considered canon. Just because season 3 of Picard is better than most everything since 2009 doesn't mean the franchise isn't the production rights mess that has plagued it since shortly after Enterprise ended.

Isn't Picard in the Trekboot timeline rather than the Prime timeline?

As far as I know, Picard takes place in the Prime line.

If I understand these timelines correctly... and that's a big IF, the prime timeline still falls under the Bad Robot/Secret Hideout umbrella, so it has to have a 20-25% disconnect to older Trek, or the Main Timeline as I've heard some call it.

If that's correct, there's at least three timelines to work with here; the missing one being the Kelvin Timeline (or Trekboot as KAM refers to). But don't take my word for it, it's just a mess.

Most probably consider Picard a Prime Timeline show because it involves the same actors playing the same characters they did on TNG (and VOY in regards to Seven).