The Battle

A Ferengi captain is on a mission of vengeance. He contacts the Enterprise, hailing Picard as a hero, and returning a ship that was in an historic battle nine years previously. Interestingly, a Ferengi ship was destroyed by Picard, so what's going on. The Ferengi, being consummate businessmen, are acting strangely, offering the ship to Picard. Meanwhile, Picard begins suffering debilitating headaches that have no obvious source. During the events that follow, it is obvious that the Ferengi captain is causing all this. It appears that he needs to change history for some reason, making Picard appear a coward. This is an interesting episode although the science is suspect. So often we have to accept machines, allowing our skepticism to subside. The Ferengi captain has conveniently created an orb that can affect the human brain. No one ever explains how he does this. Anyway, the table is set and the villains are in place. Go along for the ride. A decent enough episode.

Here we have another example of anti-Ferengi propaganda from the imperialist Federation. Damon Bok brings Picard two gifts in the spirit of friendship: Picard's old ship the Star Gazer and a thought amplification device that allows him to relive his memories from his time on board. Wouldn't you want the opportunity to say, relive a make out session with your high school sweat heart in your first car? I know I would.

It's unclear as to whether Picard was the Star Gazer's helmsman or its Captain. It is also unclear as to whether or not Picard was acting in self defense or with murderous intent when his former ship was lost. What is clear is the Federation's fear and mistrust if not out right hatred of the Ferengi, a peaceful people who want little more than to spread prosperity through out the alpha quadrant.

In exchange for his generosity, Damon Bok is stripped of command after his first officer is manipulated by Riker. I'll admit, Damon Bok should have sold Picard the Star Gazer at a fair price, but the Federation doesn't use money so how was he supposed to do that in the first place. Damon's throughout the quadrant should learn from Bok's mistake and keep any generous impulses they have in check. Especially when it comes to dealing with the Federation.

There's some good Picard back story here, but not much else. It's a quality episode by season 1 standards, but not all that memorable when considering the series as a whole.

Verdict: Watchable.

Enterprise encounters the Ferengi and Picard's previous ship the Stargazer.

This is an interesting insight into Picard's past and has some decent character moments from Riker and Wesley, but generally the story isn't hugely compelling.

It has another slowly unfolding problem for the crew to resolve and is littered with exposition dumps about Picard's history on the Stargazer. I think these glimpses into the captain's previous command are more interesting than what's going on in the current story.

The Ferengi are far less annoying than their introduction during The Last Outpost, but as villains they are nowhere near as credible some of those established in the original series and the likes of what is to come in TNG.

Picard is portrayed as a bit more vulnerable and it gives Riker some strong moments in command. Wesley is in full teacher's pet mode and looking thoroughly pleased with himself after figuring out something important to the plot. This likely annoys people who dislike the character, I just find it quite comical thinking about the portrayal of Starfleet crews of elite service personnel having this character get them out of trouble. Bok does a fun bit of villain monologging.

Visuals of Picard reliving the past are very good, particularly the ghostly crew members and pyrotechnics. However the spheres look a bit naff and not particularly threatening.

Performances are mostly solid, with Jonathan Frakes on decent form and Patrick Stewart great as always. Will Wheaton's acting is fine, he just does that smug smile as always that grates on viewers. Gates McFadden is a mixed bag as ever. Marina Sirtis has an incredibly striking physical presence but much like the previous episodes her character does not have that much to contribute.

After a disastrous first appearance the Ferengi show up again here and manage to redeem themselves - mostly. No more hopping around, but they still kinda lack a filter. At least they're shown not to be complete idiots, to care about their family and to have some notion of justice.

The plot does involve Picard being controlled by an alien force - again, and Wesley noticing stuff the rest of the crew don't notice - again. A few tweaks could've made this a much more solid effort. Still, it's engaging and weirdly reminiscent of Best Of Both Worlds.

This episode begins with something very strange--the Ferengi want to GIVE something away! As folks familiar with the show would realize later, the Ferengi would NEVER just give something away...and obviously there is a catch. In this case, they return a lost Federation ship, the Stargazer, back to Picard--a man who served aboard the ship during an encounter at Maxia where the ship destroyed a Ferengi vessel that attacked them. Obviously this is an attempt by DaiMon Bok to exact revenge for this incident...but how will this result in his punishing Picard?

Had the Federation come upon the Ferengi offer of a 'gift' later in the series, it obviously would have been seen as a trap. However, this was only the second encounter with this annoying species--so the humans have no idea what's REALLY going on in this episode. So, it is not a weak episode--just one that explains just who the Ferengi are and how they think.

This is a very good episode--not just because of what it has to say about revenge but because it gives some wonderful insights into the psyche of the Ferengi. All in all, one of the better episodes of season one.