Star Trek: The Next Generation Episode Review: Ensigns of Command (1989)

Synopsis: After more than 100 years of silence, an alien race contacts the Enterprise staking its claim to a planet and insisting a previously unknown Federation colony be removed in two days.


Review: Since the weather hasn't been cooperating enough for me to go for walks at lunch, I've gotten back in the habit of watching this show. I had a chance to watch this episode a couple days ago and, after seeing it again for the first time in a while, I have to admit it is one of my favorite episodes.

This did surprise me a bit because I'm not usually a big fan of episodes that focus on negotiations and are mostly just talking. But, this one did intrigue me.

I think the reason for this was the seemingly impossible situation faced by both Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Data (Brent Spiner) with the former trying to negotiate with a stubborn alien race that wanted a complex treaty obeyed to the letter while the latter had to convince the colony it needed to leave the planet. The creativity they both used to achieve their objectives was fun to watch.

I did think the part about the technology-obsessed colonist (Eileen Seeley) might have been a bit much. I get she was excited about an android visiting her colony but it escalated to her having a legitimate crush awfully quick. It really made me wonder if there was something seriously wrong with her, to the point Data should have been concerned she would start stalking him or something.

Also, for a colony of supposedly 15,000 people, it sure looked like there were only a couple dozen. I get they needed it to be that big to make evacuating everyone in two days an impossible task. But, I was having a very hard time believing there were that many people living there.

Final Opinion: Overall, I thought this was a good episode, with both Picard and Data having impossible tasks and needing to pull out all stops in an effort to achieve their goals. I enjoyed watching it as a result.

My Grade: A

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