Devil's Due

Enterprise encounters a planet where the inhabitants live in fear of being enslaved by a devil-like entity.

This is an over the top episode that is quite enjoyable when not taken too seriously.

The plot and characters are straight out of 60s Trek, with a species wearing absolutely no alien makeup and human names. There is also an attractive, OTT, female villain who wants to have sex with Captain Picard.

Barely below the surface of all the silliness are some very strong themes about the manipulation of religious beliefs to exploit entire population with fear. These are dark themes for such an absurd plot and they are addressed in very a unsubtle way. If you take your Trek seriously, you will not enjoy any of this, but it entertained me throughout.

All performances are enjoyable for me with Patrick Stewart playing straight man to an outrageous Marta Dubois who owns every scene of the episode in which she appears. Brent Spiner also contributes well.

For me it's a 7.5/10 but I round upwards.

My favorite part of this episode is towards the beginning when Captain Picard is talking to his senior staff. He announces that he's going to go down to the planet to try to release the hostages, and we see Worf looking completely defeated knowing that no matter what he says it will be wrong...a fate he resigned himself to based on every previous episode when he's given a suggestion or opinion.

This episode came across well--the portrayal of Ardra/the Devil was exemplary, and the premise of a devil coming back to reclaim her people after a thousand years away certainly struck a chord.

Normally, my favorite episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" are those with are monumental in scope--and are often two-parters involving the Borg or Klingons. However, there are a few standalone episodes that are truly wonderful. They don't relate to any other episodes but they are nonetheless terrific. The best of these, clearly, is "The Inner Light", but another wonderful one, with a VERY different mood, is "Devil's Due".

The episode begins with the Enterprise being brought to a planet after some Federation folks are kidnapped (this is a rather frequent theme, by the way). WHY this occurred is a trip. It seems that the planet's version of the Devil is coming...and in a panic, the people will do anything--even kidnap Federation staff. Picard is a bit annoyed by all this but his annoyance grows exponentially when this devil appears before him and the leader of the planet! This incredibly cool and rather sexy being announces that she's come to collect her due...and her due is the planet as well as anything orbiting it--which includes the Enterprise. What follows is a silly "Devil and Daniel Webster" sort of court case in which Picard tries to invalidate the contract with this 'lady'--but really it's just a delay tactic in order to allow LaForge to seek out the source of this woman's magical and very formidable powers!

So why did I like this episode so much? Well, it's something most episodes of the series never were...FUN. The performance of Marta Dubois as this evil and mythical 'Ardra' was simply delicious. While a bit over-the-top, it was done in such a fun and seductive manner that I was simply captivated by her...and you wonder why Picard didn't just shut up and give his soul to her! Lots of fun and a great change of pace.

The designation of west magnetic pole is listed as a goof. It is true theat the poles of a magnetic field are generally designated north and south, but they do not necessary align with the rotational poles of a planet. The earth's north and south magnetic poles do not align exactly with the rotational poles. In fact the earth's magnetic field appears to have flipped several times in the past, putting the north magnetic pole near the South Pole. If the Ventaxian magnetic field were aligned at 90 degrees to its rotational axis, the magnetic poles would be aligned along its equator. It is conceivable that the inhabitants of such a planet could designate them arbitrarily as east and west in order to describe their location on the surface of the planet.