Note: This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.
The U.S.S. Enterprise is looking for another ship, the U.S.S. Drake. The
come across a planet called Minos, where the ship is likely to have
last been. As they're assessing the planet, which seems to be devoid of
animal life, they receive a hail. The hail is from an automated
holographic salesman trying to pitch a weapons system. When a landing
party beams down, they come under attack from a drone. The drone’s
easily destroyed, but the landing party is on edge.
To make
things more interesting, Commander Riker meets Captain Rice, who
commanded the Drake. Riker soon figures out that what appears to be Rice
is nothing more than a holographic projection designed to pump Riker
for information. Another drone appears and is more difficult to destroy.
Shortly after beaming down, another drone attacks the ship. It’s now
apparent what happened to the Drake.
Also, with the shields
up, those on the surface can’t be brought back up. The shields would
have to be dropped, which would leave the ship vulnerable to attack.
Geordi La Forge, who was left in charge of the ship, decides to evacuate
rather than get pummeled by the drone. Chief Engineer Logan, who
technically outranks La Forge, wants to take command, but La Forge won’t
relinquish it.
In the end, Picard has to say that he’ll buy
the system in order to get the demonstration to stop. That still leaves
La Forge to deal with the drone in space. He’s able to send most of the
people on the ship to safety with Logan in charge of that task. He then
figures out a way to destroy the drone and beam back the people on the
surface.
There are several things that I don’t get about this
episode. First, Logan is the Chief Engineer of the week. Until La Forge
takes over, I don’t think that one person ever played the chief engineer
more than once.
Speaking of the chief engineer, Troi
technically outranks both La Forge and Logan. I believe that it was
established in the pilot episode or shortly thereafter that Troi holds
the rank of lieutenant commander. She could have assumed control and
maintained order. It’s too bad that the writers didn’t think of this.
The entire episode was about defending against the automated system.
Those drones could have really hurt someone. They were attacking the
landing party and even encased Riker in force field. For some reason,
the entire thing seemed like filler. It was all action, but no real
substance or plot. It’s enjoyable, but I don’t think that it would have
much replay value. Watch it if it comes on TV or if you get it as part
of the first-season set, but I can’t recommend buying the VHS tape of
the episode.
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