

(written from a Production point of view Real World article

On an evacuated USS Enterprise-D, Picard plays a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with terrorists who want to steal explosive toxic waste from the warp core as a lethal beam sweeps the ship.

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Summary

Teaser

"Captain's log, stardate 46682.4. The Enterprise is docked at the Remmler Array where it will undergo a routine procedure to eliminate accumulated baryon particles. In preparation for the sweep, we are evacuating the ship."

The USS Enterprise-D is at the Remmler Array where they are scheduled for a baryon sweep, a maintenance cycle that removes large amounts of radiation that builds up in the hulls of starships that travel for extended periods at warp. The sweep is lethal to organic matter, so there is a flurry of activity as the entire ship is being evacuated prior to the sweep, and various last-minute problems (such as slow progress on Deck 7 and a lack of storage for Dr. Crusher's living tissue samples) are being quickly addressed. Captain Picard is less than enthusiastic over the visit, as he has to meet with Commander Calvin "Hutch" Hutchinson, a Starfleet officer known for his gift of gab. Coincidentally, Data is studying the concept of "small talk", and during their turbolift ride to the bridge, Data tries to break the silence this way; Picard recommends that Data study Hutchinson so as to learn from an expert on the subject. Arriving on the bridge, Picard is met by both La Forge and Worf, speaking simultaneously. Worf reports that Picard must give his authorization to disable command functions during the sweep. Then La Forge informs Picard that he needs to install additional field diverters to protect the primary systems on board, such as the computer core and the bridge. He needs the equipment because the amount of radiation in the hull is so high (due to the Enterprise's high amount of warp use–double the average) that the baryon sweep may be more intense than normal. Picard agrees and instructs the ship's computer to shut down the primary systems in 30 minutes, allowing enough time for the diverters to be installed first. Worf then asks permission to be excused from Hutchinson's reception. When La Forge witnesses Picard agree, he attempts to do the same only to be denied because Picard can't excuse all of the senior staff, and Worf asked first. Picard confirms the time of the sweep to Orton, the station administrator, and takes one last look around the bridge. He then sees a crew walking onto the bridge to install some equipment. Assuming that was the crew that La Forge ordered, he thinks nothing of it and transports to Hutchinson's reception at the Arkaria Base.

Act One

Act Two

True to form, Hutchinson greets each member of the crew and talks about horn fowl mating, weather conditions, and horseback riding with little interaction from them. Data, following Picard's advice, is studying Hutchinson from afar: mimicking his hand movements and facial expressions. Briefly practicing on Crusher and Riker , he appears to be over-doing it, but Riker is quite amused. Picard hears about the horseback riding and sees a way to escape from the meeting – the damp weather and isolation on the trails sounds perfect – and returns to theto get his saddle After retrieving his saddle, Picard walks to the transporter room with minutes before the sweep is to occur, but stops when he notices an open ODN junction with a severed ODN line. He encounters Devor , who says he is performing last minute maintenance to the systems before the baryon sweep begins. Picard agrees to let Devor get back to his work and starts to walk away. Devor attempts to attack Picard from behind with a laser welder , but Picard knocks him to the floor with his saddle and then disables him with a Vulcan nerve pinch Picard then runs to the transporter room with 30 seconds to go before the main computer shuts down the primary systems. Picard then sees several other people on the ship, but successfully hides from them in order to escape. Meanwhile, the baryon sweep has begun, starting at the warp nacelles . He enters the transporter room and starts the transporter, but he is too late and it immediately shuts down once he stands on the transporter pad . He is now trapped on the

Data is continuing his small talk on Orton, still with little success while Hutchinson talks to Riker. After a little bit of maneuvering, he introduces Hutchinson to Data, who has been practicing Hutchinson's technique and is now ready to engage Hutchinson himself in conversation. They hit it off.

Picard drags Devor to sickbay and asks him what he is doing on his ship, threatening him with a phaser, and then the laser welder when Devor tells him that his phaser wouldn't work. Devor refuses to help him; after all, Picard won't kill him because he is a Starfleet officer. Picard instead knocks him out with a hypospray. Picard takes Devor's communicator to listen in on the intruders' communications. Picard walks through the Enterprise where he is captured by Kiros and taken to main engineering.

At Arkaria Base, Riker and Deanna Troi watch with fascination as Hutchinson and Data continue to talk: Hutchinson is a pro, but Data is a fast learner with inhuman patience. Just then, La Forge notices unusual energy readings underneath a reception table and asks a member of the staff if he can take a look at it. The staff tells him there's nothing to worry about. Riker is wondering why the staff is trying to move La Forge from the table. Orton then pulls out a disruptor and shoots La Forge, injuring him. An accomplice uses another disruptor to shoot Hutchinson. The Arkarians point their disruptors at Riker, Data and Troi before they can react. The base has been overtaken in a surprise attack.

Act Three

On the Enterprise, Picard meets Kelsey and her crew, who are attempting to steal trilithium resin from the Enterprise's warp core. Picard tells her that he is Mot, the ship's barber and that he got lost on the ship trying to collect his saddle. Picard is held under guard by Satler but eyes the field diverter with interest.

Hutchinson was killed by the surprise attack in Arkaria Base, and La Forge is seriously injured. The rest are being held hostage but are trying to assess the situation with help from Troi's empathic abilities. The assailants have made no demands or claims, which indicates a strategic rather than psychological motive, and their anxiety indicates they're off schedule (probably because La Forge blew their cover). They're improvising, so if they plan well, they could seize the initiative. Data recommends modifying La Forge's VISOR to produce a hypersonic pulse, knocking out everyone in the room near-instantly except himself. Riker agrees but cautions to proceed covertly.

Kelsey and company still don't know that Picard has knocked out Devor and taken his laser welder. He uses this to make a move. Keeping the tool behind his back, he maneuvers it into an inlet underneath an engineering console and fires into it. This produces an overheat and activates the emergency coolant systems. Picard then uses the distraction to make an escape into the Jefferies tubes as the isolation door begins to close. Before he leaves, though, he fires on and shorts out Kelsey's field diverter: rendering Engineering unsafe from the sweep. Satler follows him. Through the tubes, Picard is attempting to escape but finds the baryon sweep behind the door in front of him.

Act Four

Satler follows down the same corridor but only finds a closed door and Picard's jacket. By the time he realizes it's covering a hole in the floor that Picard had cut to escape, the baryon sweep passes the closed door. Satler is heard to scream as the baryon sweep consumes him; Picard pauses briefly at this, a look of regret on his face that the man's death was so painful. Picard himself prepares to make a stand, taking a crossbow from Worf's quarters. The communicator then relays Kelsey's plans. With Engineering no longer safe, they improvise a device to move the trilithium resin to Ten Forward, the last place to be scanned by the baryon sweep. Picard jumps on the communicator and warns her not to move such an unstable substance, but she refuses, saying that if he hadn't disabled her field diverter, she wouldn't have to improvise. She also knows Picard is a Starfleet officer since he'd left his combadge behind in the tube. Picard responds by making it difficult to travel to Ten Forward: cutting the rungs in the Jefferies tubes and forcing Kelsey into a longer, more random, alternative route. She and Picard continue to verbally fence through the communicator, trying to intimidate each other.

On the station, Crusher uses a request for water to relay to Troi that the hypersonic pulse is almost ready, but a bright light that will appear from the VISOR when she finishes the configuration; she needs a distraction. Commander Riker creates a diversion by starting a fistfight with Orton. Riker is knocked out, but it works. Crusher finishes the modification without further incident.

Pomet is searching for Picard when he's struck in the leg by a crossbow bolt. He quickly passes out. The substance that had been applied to the tip turns out to be a tranquilizer which will keep him unconscious for a while. But as Picard attempts to extract the bolt, Kiros appears, laser welder drawn at him.

Act Five

Word of "Mot's" capture is relayed to Kelsey as Kiros leads Picard away. Meanwhile, Kelsey and Neil are making their way through the Jefferies tubes. But when Neil passes the trilithium to Kelsey and explains how to unload it, she promptly points her welder at him. When she finally emerges in Deck 10 and rejoins Kiros, Kelsey claims Neil got caught by the baryon sweep. Kiros notes Picard shot Pomet. Picard says that he is still alive but he will not be for much longer; they cannot go back for him as the baryon sweep is entering his location and will kill him.

Back on the planet, a signal indicating an incoming ship is approaching. Data and the others realize it's probably the terrorists' escape craft. Riker relays instructions to Data, the only one who will remain conscious after the pulse activates: stop that ship. Crusher activates the hypersonic pulse, and it works as planned. Data soon proceeds unhindered to the control panel.

As Kelsey, Kiros, and Picard approach Ten Forward, Picard decides to reveal his true identity, hoping to be taken as a hostage, but Kelsey reveals that the trilithium is her sole objective. She's not a terrorist as Picard had suspected but a merciless thief who will steal and sell to anyone willing to pay; her only motive is profit. As they enter Ten Forward, though, Picard has another trap ready. He steps over several strips along the floor, but Kiros steps on one. It promptly bursts into an intense flash, stunning her. Kelsey is knocked back as well, and she drops the trilithium. She and Picard fight even as the baryon sweep finally enters Ten Forward. Kelsey eventually fights her way free of Picard and grabs the trilithium container, but Picard makes a grab for it also. Finally, Kelsey knocks Picard away and holds him at gunpoint, freeing her to be transported to her ship. But with the sweep approaching, Picard's main concern is shutting it off. After several attempts to contact the station and have the sweep terminated, it finally shuts off with mere meters to spare. Data asks about the ship that had transported someone off the Enterprise, to which Picard replies that they "won't get very far." He reveals that he removed the stabilizer during the scuffle, and watches through the forward windows as Kelsey attempts to escape, only to have the resin destabilize and destroy her ship. The explosion rocks the Enterprise slightly.

Picard is in sickbay where Crusher is treating him for the injuries he incurred with the fight in Ten Forward with Kelsey. Picard is more concerned with getting back his saddle, which he left on Deck 7 after he was attempting to transport off the Enterprise before the baryon sweep began. Riker and Troi enter, stating that they couldn't find it, but fortunately Worf arrives with the saddle, which had been placed in a maintenance locker, and Picard says he regrets not being able to use it on an actual horse. "Of course", Worf replies.

Memorable quotes

"…It has been quite a day, has it not?"

- Data attempting small talk with Picard



"I am attempting to fill a silent moment with non-relevant conversation."

"Small talk."

- Data and Picard



"Captain, request permission to be excused from Commander Hutchinson's reception."

"Permission granted. I wish I could excuse myself as well."

"Uh, Captain, permission to-;"

"Mister La Forge, I cannot excuse my entire senior staff. Mister Worf beat you to it."

- Worf, Picard and La Forge dreading the reception



"You're Starfleet. You won't kill me."

"You sure? (stuns Devor) It seems you're right."

- Devor and Picard



"I have to admit that it has a sort of strange fascination – how long can two people talk about nothing?"

- Riker, to Troi about Data and Cmdr. Hutchinson's non-stop small talk



"Who are you?"

"My name is Mot. I'm uh, I… I'm the barber."

- Kelsey and Picard, who assumes the identity of the Enterprise's Bolian barber



"Satler, get down here and uh… keep an eye on our barber."

- Kelsey asks Satler to watch Picard



"You keep a saddle on board the Enterprise?"

- La Forge, Worf, Troi, and Riker



"I only wish I had the opportunity to use it on a horse."

"Of course."

- Picard, lamenting on his unused saddle, and Worf responding. This might be a humorous reference to the lyrics of the theme song to the 1961 television show Mister Ed.



"Sir, an unidentified scout ship has just beamed someone off the Enterprise. Do you know anything about it?"

(holds up the dynamic stabilizer) "I know they won't get very far…"

- Data and Picard shortly before Kelsey's ship explodes

Background information

Production history

Story and production

Sets, props, and costumes

Continuity

Reception

Patrick Stewart commented, " I enjoyed the episode enormously. It's now in my top half a dozen episodes. It was wonderful to be out of uniform for an entire episode and to be on the ship without any of the other boring crew members. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 275)

" ( , p. 275) Rick Berman stated, " This was a classic example of a bravura role for Picard. It had a real tone and style to the look of the show and I think Cliff Bole did a nice job directing it. I enjoyed seeing Patrick as an actor being able to get physical. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 275)

" ( , p. 275) In contrast, Michael Piller remarked, " It didn't feel like Star Trek to me. I liked the show and thought it was very effective and well directed by Cliff, but I was worried that it was very violent, which troubled me. Picard slugging it out with the two women wasn't silly, and Patrick did his usual fine job, but it was derivative. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 275)

Star Trek " ( , p. 275) Morgan Gendel recalled, "First time I saw it, I wasn't sure how well it worked. But when I went back to watch it a second time, I really like it, and thought it was true to what I was trying to do." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 275)

Video and DVD releases

Starring

Also starring

Guest stars

Co-star

Uncredited co-stars

Stunt doubles

Stand-ins

References

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