3.04 Who Watches the Watchers

Rating: 3

 (Short answer: The Picard J). A hidden Federation observation post, set up to study the hut-dwelling Mintakans, loses power and is revealed. When Liko, one of the Mintakans, views the away team and then is accidentally and fatally injured, Dr Crusher beams him aboard. Her attempt to wipe his memory fails, and he returns to his people with stories that will drastically affect their future.

Comments

This episode, combined with The Ensigns of Command, form most of the plot of the movie Star Trek: Insurrection. Takes two episodes, throw in Worf’s gorch, and voila! You’ve got a mediocre feature length film! J

Personally, my reaction is that this episode plays better than the movie. The Mintakans are more interesting, and there is the real, personal drama of having both Troi and Picard with arrows pointed at their chests.

The Mintakans are developing very similarly to the Vulcans, and also resemble them.

Ray Wise, a talented actor who played Leland Palmer on Twin Peaks, plays Liko. He does a great job, but his wig, clothes, large brow, and tilted eyebrows sometimes make him look like a Vulcan Frankenstein.

After Liko shoots an arrow into Picard, he seemed so distraught. I thought he was going to put an arrow to his own head.J

Is Warp 9 similar to ‘flooring a car’? Is it unhealthy for the engines? It doesn’t seem that Picard likes to travel at Warp 9 unless it is absolutely necessary.

Picard’s goal in this episode is to restore the Mintakan culture to the state it was in before he polluted it. The Mintakans had rejected the idea of an ‘overseer’ or god and had begun to develop a strong sense of logic instead, much like the Vulcans. The appearance of ‘the Picard’ made them believe once again in an overseer. Picard is adamant about not sending the Mintakans back to the dark ages of "…superstition and ignorance and fear." He highlights Trek’s notion that, in the future, belief in god is frowned upon and considered a lack of intelligence. Obviously, many Trek watchers disagree with this notion.

Nits

Picard brings Nuria to an observation lounge. She sees an orbiting blue and white sphere floating in space, and says (with no help from Picard), "That is my home." Would that really be her first reaction? Would a hut-dweller have any notion that they live on a planet, that it is round, and that it would look blue and white from far away?

Memorable Moments

•    I liked the shot of the Enterprise orbiting in front of the oceans of Mintaka 3.

Quotable Quotes

Riker: What kinds of service?
Troi: All kinds.
Riker: They are a sensible race.
(Riker commenting on the Mintakan tradition of a wife negotiating all services for his husband)

 "I believe I have seen The Overseer. He is called…The Picard."
- Liko