Who Watches the Watchers

Up until the end of this season and beginning of the next, this episode stood out to me as the best of TNG. It does a great job of examining the Prime Directive and has a great performance from Patrick Stewart.

Boy, does the Federation screw up this time!!! A group of scientists are observing a bronze age civilization on Mintaka III. As per the Prime Directive, the scientists are hiding behind fake rock in the hills-- shielded from view by the Mintakans. However, their holoscreen malfunctions and the Mintakans SEE them! Sadly, when Picard tries to undo this harm, he accidentally ends up creating a new cult that worships HIM as their god!! So, in trying to undo the damage, they just make things worse!! Should Picard just give up once and for all or is there some way he can possible fix this huge mess?

This is a pretty intriguing show and shows just how much damage can be done unintentionally. Additionally, seeing Picard, the god, trying to dig his way out of this mess was rather entertaining.

I was watching back through the first three seasons to select episodes that would make a good sampling for a friend of mine; this episode is the one (out of the first three seasons) that I would be absolutely certain to recommend to anyone. It requires little to no background information and tells an engaging story. Also, to my recollection, no other episode conveys so well the wonder of reason and cultural progress.

Just as another reviewer observed about The Inner Light (my personal favorite), this episode shows that sci-fi, at its best, is not so much about the technology as it is about good storytelling.

In this episode, religion is depicted as useless, counterproductive, and irrational. In the episode Rightful Heir, religion is depicted as useful for what it teaches, regardless of its supernatural basis. Data even says he experienced a "leap of faith", an idea very far removed from the attitude expressed in Who Watches the Watchers.

This is a super episode of Star Trek, a true classic.

What is so great about this episode? The answer is simple. This episode illustrates one of the great flaws of human beings, namely the insanely extreme actions they will take to force others to believe whatever nonsense they themselves decide to believe.

This massive flaw in human being is at the root of endless billions of instances of humans mistreating other humans. Happens every day, in endless ways.

This understanding is not some religious or atheist lesson. People behave this way about endless issues, not just whether god exists or not. People mistreat others for not accepting socialism or communism or democracy or fascism or any number of political systems (all of which are bogus). People mistreat others for not accepting certain kinds of medical treatments. Hell, people kill each other for supporting "the wrong" sports team!

So yeah, the lesson this episode takes on is far more general than religion. The lesson is intellectual independence... or lack thereof. Shall we deal with other humans by intimidation and force, or should humans simply have conversations with each other, and let each draw their own provisional inferences, and update them as they accumulate more and more experience.

Great idea. Great story. Great writing. Great episode.