873 – The Drumhead | Snore Trek TNG S4 E21
Picard will barely tap the drum in a way that bumps away all that keeps sleep at bay.
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EPISODE 873 – The Drumhead – Snore Trek TNG S4 E21
[START OF RECORDING]
SCOOTER: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, friends beyond the binary, my patrons, it’s time for the podcaster coming to you from a blanket fort so I could create a safe place for you within your blankets, or on top of them, depending on the time of year. It’s time for Sleep With Me, patrons, the podcast you make possible. Hey everybody, this is Drew. This episode was recorded a little while ago so I just wanted to let you know, this podcast is here so you can feel less alone, day or night. We’re gonna keep coming out Sunday and Wednesday nights, as usual. But if you need more help, reach out for help. I have a list of resources in the show notes if you’re looking for more help in this current time ‘cause I’m here to try to support you with that. Thanks.
INTRO: [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing, trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press play. I’m gonna do the rest. What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake, whether it’s thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, changes in time or temperature. Whatever’s keeping you awake. Normally, we can be generalized to things on your mind you’re thinking about; that’s usually number one for me, past, present, and future, spanning decades and events that have never occurred, may you never…okay, so thoughts, feelings, emotions coming up, physical sensations, and then situational stuff; moving, travel, anticipatory stuff. But whatever it is, it might not be any of those. If I missed it, let me know.
What we all share in some sense is the familiarity with the deep, dark night; the tossing and the turning and all that kind of stuff, with the tossing and the turning. What I’m gonna do, is I have a nice, safe place set aside. I’m gonna smooth it, I’m gonna pat it, I’m gonna rub it down, I’m gonna say safe place. Ideally, I’m gonna make you feel welcome and comfortable by sending my voice across the deep, dark night using lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones. Creaky dulcets is a bit like…it’s like your favorite door, I think that’s a thing. You say well, that’s an older door that I like that makes a creaky sound that feels…that’s good. It comes from grandmother’s bakery. Creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, half-reared metaphors that…I’ve never called it that before but it’s been written in one-star reviews from Metaforest Magazine, a magazine…I don’t know what it was for. I said wait a second, is this a magazine or…then I sent in a letter to the editor and I got that one back; return to sender.
Is there a song Return to Sender? Probably is. Maybe it was…I think it was…this is a stretch, but it might have been on…a long time ago, there was a episode of Simpsons where they had…what is that called when four people are in a band together? Not doo-wop. Oh, I almost…like Barbershop, Barbershop Quartet. I think they had a song…whatever…I don’t know even who was in it. I’ve gone off the rails pretty quickly but I think they may have had a song Return to Sender. If they didn’t, I’m sure someone else did ‘cause I don’t know who gives out the mail in The Simpsons. I haven’t watched it…and also…anyway, what I’m gonna do is if you’re new, welcome. Sorry about that, that was a pointless meander and I guess my brain was trying to think of metaphor…oh, trying to think of the metaphor jokes about the Metaforest Magazine, magazine for Metaforests. Metaphor Weekly; that one I’ve…Metaphor Daily, they stopped publishing it.
They went from Metaphor Weekly to Metaphor Monthly. Wait…yeah, I think I missed one stage in there. Now, they’re just available online, behind a paywall. I’m just kidding. What am I even…? Okay, so if you’re new, sorry about that. I’m glad you’re here. If you’re new, I want to take some time to point a few things out and give you a little bit of some placemaking. As you may have already observed, this show kind of goes…is a little bit different; goes off-topic, it has trouble…it’s unfocused in a way. It’s focused in an unfocused way, but here’s a couple things to expect; structurally what to expect if you’re new, is the show starts off with a few minutes of business. That’s how we make it free for everybody. It’s not super important if you’re new. Then, there’s an intro. The intros are around twelve to fifteen minutes. It’s kind of like an introduction, a forward, and…when you have a book and it starts off, it has an introduction and a forward; ours are about that.
You say okay, that’s…I just want to get to the book. You say well, for the new people or people new to this volume of Metaforest Weekly, a compendium of Metaforest…The Metaforest. Yeah, that was what it was called. Oh, that was a different one. That was a different place. I submit stories sometimes. That was to Metaforest, M-E-T-A-F-O-O…however you spell forest with the woods, with the trees, not the P-H-O-R. F-O-R-E-S-T. There might be two s’s or two r’s in forest, or maybe two t’s. I have no idea. May have been why that letter got returned. I think that was a magazine about magazines about forests, which is also interesting because it was printed on paper. It was like, you want to talk about meta, you can’t get any more meta than Metaforest Magazine, right down to what it’s printed on. I think that’s all the news that’s fit to print on things that are fit to print on about things that are fit to print on. I don’t know, I guess I’m not…I don’t have quite the intellectual capacity to complete these jokes; I just have a chance to set them up for you, dear listener.
Oh, if you’re new, I have a tendency to go off the rails, especially during the intro. That’s why it’s like, twelve to fourteen minutes. It’s me kind of setting up and setting the mood for bedtime. This is like, it can be a negative term but in this…like my incompetence; I’m very confident and competent in my incompetence. So, this is a positive incompetence because if I contemplently…or, if I was good at getting to the point and completing words, I don’t know if this podcast would be as effective. The intro is me proving that each time. But it just gives you a little bit a of a familiar place. For regular listeners, you would think most of them would skip the intro, but only a small percentage of people who want to get to the story, they skip ahead to about twenty minutes and they just start listening to the story part, where tonight we’ll be talking about Star Trek: The Next Generation. But the idea of the intro is it’s part of your wind-down routine because I truly believe you deserve a good night’s sleep and I’m here to help ease you into bedtime, ease the day away.
Gives you some distance, give you a place to breathe and get comfortable and get cozy. The intro is kind of that; some people start listening as they’re getting ready for bed, and some people wind-down in bed. You can figure it out as you go, if you’re new. But that’s the…okay, that’s the intro. Then there’s some business between the intro and the story. That’s just how podcast advertising works. Then, there’s the story. Tonight, we’ll be talking about an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in a very oblique way where you might not even know Star Trek: The Next Generation. So, if you’re a Star Trek: The Next Generation super-fan, those are the only people that it kind of sometimes…the episodes don’t work as good for but believe me, you can kick back up. I’ll be talking about…it won’t be any action. It’ll be mostly summaries and then saying huh, I wonder what, you know, how…this is a question that’s never come up, but it’s how are the communicators…are they…how are they held on the shirt? I’ve never…in reality, as a part of the…what are they called?
That wardrobe, and then in space, do they still use pins or do they use…is it magnets? Is it something else? Is it some sort of reverse-gravitate…you know, gravita…some sort of gravity-based? You say well, no, no. That would go down, Scoots. I said well, what if it’s a miniature gravity-generator? Has anybody invented that yet? I think Marvel, that’s one of the things that the non-heroes always come up with, is some sort of gravity-based gravity-generator. Or if they haven’t, there’s an idea. Anyway, if you’re new, that’s the structure of the show. Then, there’s some thank yous at the end. Couple other pieces; don’t take it seriously. If you’re new and you’re skeptical, that’s totally sensible. I mean, why wouldn’t you be skeptical about a sleep podcast? This is a lot different. It’s very strange in a positive [00:10:00] way. Give the show a few tries. There’s also no need to try to listen to me. You can kind of passively listen. Let me blow by like clouds. You’d say clouds that are a bit goofy.
You’d say okay, if there was…if there was a clown college and they made clouds, or there was clouds coming out of a soap-works factory, you’d say well, those are different than the clouds I normally see. I don’t even know; I guess that formed just like a cloud, that metaphor. Okay, so just see how it goes. I guess you don’t need to pay attention, but here’s the other thing about this podcast which is strange for a sleep podcast; no pressure to fall asleep. I’m really here to keep you company as you drift off. That’s why the podcasts are an hour. That’s why I put a lot of work into it ‘cause if you can’t sleep, I’ll be here ‘til the very end, or if you wake up in the middle of the night and you need a friend, a comforting voice, I’m here to help ‘cause I’ve been there, tossing and turning. Yeah, no need to listen, no need to pay attention, and no pressure to fall asleep. I’m here to help you by distracting…or whatever’s keeping you awake.
Yeah, like I said, if you’re new, give this show a few tries, see how it goes. See if…I’m definitely something for a lot of people you have to develop a taste for. Usually, if you’re already in the…if you’re in the…what is this? That’s kind of a good sign, if you’re skeptical. A podcast to put me to sleep? That’s what Doreen said at the water cooler. Oh hun, did I tell you we got a new…we got a water cooler at work. Oh, what’s that? Well, it’s…unfortunately, it’s the first one where you have to…it uses AirPay or whatever. It’s water, it’s cold, and it’s a gathering spot, just like the watering holds…no, watering holes. Well, it is kind of like a watering hold ‘cause none of us want to pay for water. We just kind of stand around there and chit-chat. Doreen was telling me about this sleep podcast where the guy…now I’m listening to it. He’s kind of pointing it at…he was pointing it out, dear, that…it’s a strange thing. I was like, what do you mean, he was gonna talk about nothing and put me to sleep? Doreen said not quite.
He’s gonna barely talk about anything, different than talking about nothing, believe it or not. He barely talks about anything while talking about everything. I think he once created an imaginary, miniature gravitation thingamajig. Instead of using it for either…to be…well, he did want to be a hero; he’s a sleep hero. Something with his…he managed to only make it so that he could live within a paradox, where you can talk about nothing, everything, and barely anything all at once in lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones. But yeah, it does take a few tries, Doreen said, ‘cause it is different. Scoots, he’s a bit like an underdog in Underoos. You say what’s an Underoo, hun? It’s funny; one of the people that work that’s Scoot’s age was telling us about how Scoots talked about him and that reminded them. It used to be themed, branded undergarments for kids and maybe at some point, adults. I’m sure it’ll be making a comeback right away. If those market…if those gurus wanted to sponsor a sleep podcast, that would be brilliant. I don’t know which…I don’t know which VC company can’t get their act together to pull that off.
But anyway, I guess I’m serious…I just was thinking of that. How come Underoos haven’t made a comeback, huh? Can someone get Chris Sacca on the phone, or somebody? For adults and kids. I didn’t even realize it. I talk about Underoos all the time because I never had them as a kid. Maybe I did have one pair but they were like themed undergarments; a shirt and then…you wore…I guess you wore them all…I want to…I always associated them with bedtime. Maybe you just wore them all the time. If you’re new, I’m glad you’re here. That’s the main thing. I go off-topic a lot. I make this show because as I said, I would like you to get the sleep you need and deserve so you could be out there in the world flourishing and enjoying your life. I’m glad you’re here. If you’re new, give this show a few tries, see how it goes. If it doesn’t work for you, sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou is there with other options. But like I said, I’m glad you’re here and I work very hard. I yearn and I strive and I’d really like to help you fall asleep. Thanks again for coming by, and here’s a few ways we’re able to bring this podcast free to everybody.
Alright everybody, we’re talking about season four, Episode 21, The Drumhead. Again, I wanted to try to keep up our Klingon and that other species…culture’s name I already forgot. I’m sure I’ll…oh, Romulans. Of course, Romulans. This episode starts off Captain’s Log; they’ve got a Klingon exobiologist on-board…scientific exchange program, but he’s involved in some trouble, a little breach, a possible warp drive messing with it. Opens with Riker…after the Captain’s Log, Riker and Troi with Worf looking on, interviewing this person. They say…let’s see. They said must be a mistake. They say are you working with the Romulans? He has a very nice leather outfit on. I did have a question; do Riker and Troi do all these type of interviews, these interviews where people are…then I said is this the courtroom they’re doing the interview in? He keeps saying he didn’t do it. 12 B-9, Deck 36. He was on the computer. Let’s see what happens, let’s see. J’Dan…schematic drawings.
He’s like, sending info to the Romulans, they think, or messing with the ship, or and/or. Too much…he said I wasn’t involved with the messing of the ship. He goes, you’re just saying that ‘cause I’m Klingon. Worf says what? Troi says our chief of security’s a Klingon. It has nothing to do with it. He says just send me home, then. Riker says yeah, we already called home; the Klingons are waiting for you, as soon as we’re done. Then he does a Jedi move where he says I have nothing more to say here. They say Worf, bring him back to his room. Riker’s got a serious look on his face. He says what are you thinking? Troi says hard to tell; he’s closed off, hiding something for sure. Then they’re on the elevator, the two Klingons. He says jeesh, Worf, you got…you don’t even exist on our home world. It’s too bad. So sorry; a man without honor. Worf says…when Scoots says men without ties don’t dress for dinner…they get off the elevator, walking down the hall.
He goes hey, I got friends that could clear it up back on our home world. I could talk to them, restore your name. You just gotta give me a shuttlecraft. He stops Worf before…let’s see, all passive aggressive…he goes yeah, I can get you out of trouble without knowing about it. Then Worf does a bunch of action moves. When they get in the ship, he goes I don’t know how you got this data off the ship, to the Romulans, but I’m gonna find out. He goes, I’m gonna tell the Klingon High Council all about it so you’re gonna be in trouble at home too, Mr. Know-It-All. Let’s see, Worf and dude on…lifts all passive aggressive…Worf tries to ignore, powerful friends helped me get away. Yeah, dude puts hand out and…at the door to stop Worf. Once in the room, Worf schools him. Then the episode opens, there’s the opening. Captain’s Log Supplemental; we see two ships. Something about Admiral Satie, so I guess I gotta look that up.
I’m recording on…I mean, I’m not on the road right now, so I’m gonna look this up right now. I’m gonna pause it. Then there’s intros all around. Okay, so I’m just gonna do the facts in here. Let’s see, I have here Nora Satie, S-A-T-I-E, Admiral Satie; Rear Admiral Satie. 24th Century, daughter of renowned Starfleet judge, civil liberties advocate Aaron Satie. She’s a renowned investigator. There’s a lot of family stuff in here. She worked…what does a rear admiral mean? That’s one I’ll look up here. A rear admiral was a flag officer rank used by naval organizations between the grades of commodore and vice admiral. This rank was used by the Federation Starfleet and Earth Starfleet. Some systems use two tiers of rear admiral rank; rear admiral upper half and lower half. Wouldn’t it be [00:20:00] left and right half if we’re talking about the rear? But I’m not…I mean, maybe…I don’t know, do Romulans have a different shape of rear? Or is that starboard?
I guess I shouldn’t be doing material right now, but rear admirals such as James T. Kirk. Kirk was a rear admiral. A lot of people say that about William, Bill Shatner, too. Okay, so that was just a little bit about Rear Admiral Satie and rear admirals. The episode opens…let’s go through my notes, here. Then we’ll go through the tape. Oh, it starts with intros all around but they…Admiral Satie’s arrived. We’ll go through the dialogue. They say let’s get right to work. She has a staff of two and she wants to inspect the engineering room right away. She meets Data and Geordi. Forty-nine hang…visual log. Forty-nine something. Oh, forty-nine maybe…I don’t know, visual log. Four days ago, at 0300 hours, somebody says…and 0she says I think I’m gonna need a full briefing. I put…oh, really breathy, maybe I said? Earl Grey, then she has a meeting with Picard. Earl Grey, and for her…she mistakes when he…Klingon, Romulan connection. She is withholding something, alliance versus the business at hand.
Worf shows up; she gives Worf a long look. Let’s see, Worf shows up, she gives Worf a long look. Worf finds optical reader, so he finds a way, he found the way that the other Klingon was getting the information off. They can pass it onto other people kind of like…what’s that, like a twenty-three…? Anyway, he says they could pass it on to somebody and they don’t even know, like a microdot-type thing, back in the day. Oh yeah; body top-secret. He put a microdot that looks like somebody’s freckle. It’s the old freckle microdot with the microfish with secret information. I want you to contact Picard now. How…oh, Picard has a questioning look on his face at 38:35. She turns fast…extremely valuable, that officer, in this. Okay, so let’s see what happened with the visuals. Yeah, they say okay, Captain’s Log, Admiral Satie’s arriving. She arrives with two assistants; one who doesn’t really speak but does a lot of transcription, I think. Sabin Genestar from Betazed and then Nellen Tore from Delb II.
Then Riker gets to meet everybody; he bows his head. They say how about going to your quarters? That’s a common question. Everybody’s common answer is no, let’s get right to work. I guess that might be a test on Starfleet. Then it says, Riker, see to the staff as Picard and the Admiral walk off. When Riker walks out of the room, he looks back at whoever was working at the transporter. Commander La Forge, Commander Data, I don’t know…Data…rad levels are dropping, isolation doors down. Oh, they’ll be able to get in in forty-nine hours. They look at the visual log which now…they say yeah, check the nest cam. We got it all on there. It was a squirrel. But this one, it’s not. Four days ago, 0300 hours, warp-drive flames out. Since the log 44765.2 and everybody…it’s inconclusive if it was a squirrel or a Klingon. Any assessments? Data says a slow-motion study suggests reticulation frame problem. That was the…with the…it was some of the schematics that that guy had.
Data says well, we got other evidence. We got some…plenty of circumstantial stuff. We’re building a circumstantial case. Her eyes are wide and she says Captain, I need a full briefing. That’s when she says before we go any further. By all means, Admiral. She looks back in on the thing, she says…I don’t envy you two with your jobs. Good luck. Then we get a shot of the Enterprise and this is when the tea is getting made. Looks like she takes her cream…her tea with milk or…I don’t know if they’re both having Earl Grey, but hers is a paler one where Picard’s is, so you know, is a regular robust color that’s tough to tell. It looks like a black tea but we don’t have any light behind it. Talking about the, oh, you know, this alliance with the Klingons and the Romulans, a possible alliance we could be hearing about. Now Worf comes in, Worf says yo, yo, yo. Sorry, I didn’t expect the admiral here. Head of security, Worf…this is when Worf kind of says yeah, here’s how they did it, a microdot freckle.
Optical reader…he had the optical reader part in there, and the hi-tech stuff. They used to have it in the Cold War but then it was only fiction. He says yeah, I’d be honored. She says why don’t you interview the dude? He says I’ll be honored. That’s when she turns fast, when Picard has that look. She says he’s gonna be extremely valuable. We see the ship again, Worf’s grilling the other Klingon. Trey says freckles, man. I know something’s up. I don’t know what it is. Everybody’s watching, dude says it doesn’t prove anything; you don’t have any real stuff. He goes well, I found this in your room; the thing that puts the data in fake freckles, optical chip reader. Only one function; the reading of chips. In this case, in freckle form. Then the guy does a little bit of…you can’t handle the truth type thing, and Romulans are strong, humans aren’t; too much empathy, too much compassion. Worf doesn’t like that. The admiral says everybody chill here.
She goes what did you do to the dilithium chamber, dude? He goes nothing; she goes coincidence? I don’t think so. You’re dealing in the plans. He goes, I didn’t do that. She goes, you’re lying. He goes, not now, not now. Maybe I was lying about that freckle stuff, but not lying about that. She says Worf, take him away. Then we have Picard…pulls his shirt down, stands, walks over…her Betazed says he was telling the truth about the freckles. He goes, and I think about the…that he didn’t do anything to the dilithium chamber. Then they say someone else might be involved, and then she says dun-dun-dun, Winter Soldier time…someone else. They do a slow zoom to Picard’s face. Let me see what else I got on here. My handwritten notes…Worf doing an interview with Ambassador and her crew, freckle reader…case closed, Joe. That’s what he says; you can’t handle the truth though, you’re weak. They say how did you do that? It had nothing to do with it. Why lie now?
Klingon has on command…oh yeah, I noticed he had on a communicator. I said I don’t know if everybody has one; it just stuck out to me. Okay, post-conference at Betazed says he’s telling the truth. Zoom…someone else involved. Picard…look, then there’s a commercial break. Then more tea time with Picard and the Ambassador, this time from a pot. Picard…I think Picard takes one lump of sugar in his tea?? Double question mark. She has some big glass tea prep or tea set. Oh, teardrop earrings. She has some big, glass teardrop earrings. They were getting along well, talking father…oh, so her and Picard get along well for a little while. They talk about her father, one of Picard’s heroes. She says all that I am, I owe to him. He says you must [00:30:00] miss him. She gets honest; we were quite a team. Oh, she gets honest. I think she says…I’ll go to the dialogue here on the video, but I think she’s…usually I’m a lone wolf but now I think we could be a good team.
Picard smiles…okay, let’s see what the video shows here. We see the Enterprise, get a Rear admiral view of that. They’re in her room, so she’s bringing the tea over. It’s the interesting thing, and Picard prefers his tea straight, right, straight in a glass. Some people prefer pouring their tea. Picard’s hands are crossed. Great; some nice plants in her room. Her tea set’s interesting, too; it’s like purple, green, and yellow, and red, so some nice colors. I wonder if…how that…what’s that thing called? The molecular construct or whatever; decides to do that. Oh, she says yeah, my father doesn’t…told me to avoid partnerships. I said well, sounds like a…I’ve said the same thing; no partnerships, period. He was talking about business, though. I’m noticing now, though…I think her earrings are flat, and they’re teardrop-shaped but not 3D. Then, they have some etching on the inside. I can’t tell if it’s a bouquet of flowers or…I thought it might have been something else.
Picard really…he says…he works the compliments. He says oh, I bet you’re the best debater in your family. Then, there’s emotion where he said jeez, I miss my dad. He was the best. This was when she says…her eyes are…really great acting, again. This is a tough role because this is a really…I watched this episode a few times, like a year or two ago, and it was like, a really ranging role. Then we have Picard and…I’m sorry, I’m afraid I forgot the name of the Betazoid, ladies and gentlemen, but they’re kind of going over their notes, talking. He says jeez, I don’t mind telling you. I’m surprised; I heard your father was a man with no name and you were a singer of men without ties who don’t dress for dinner. He was the one who helped the Romulans and Picard goes it’s nobody’s business but my own, dude. He goes well, you know, I had to think…I have to suspect everybody, but I don’t suspect you anymore. I told the admiral that you don’t have to prove you’re loyal.
Worf goes, don’t worry man, I’m on this. I’m looking into it. He has a serious Worf look. That guy goes good; we’re counting on you, lieutenant. Worf goes, I’m gonna get right back to work. Don’t worry. Serious look from the Betazoid dude. Now, we’re back in court. Who’s on the stand being questioned? This is an unofficial capacity, I believe. But Doctor Crusher, she’s kind of kicked back, relaxed. They said jeez, you met with this dude; he was under your care, he had a lot of questions about freckles. They go yeah, it didn’t seem like any big deal. He was a pleasant enough character, didn’t have much to say. I go thank you; I think they do say like, who else did you work with? I go bring in the next dude, med-tech soon-to-be-furrowed-eyebrow Tarses. He sits down, they say what’s your name and position? Crewman, First Class, medical technician. I was right on my guess there. Picard says don’t worry; this is totally informal, totally relaxed. You saw how chill Beverly was.
They said if you want council…he goes no, I got nothing to hide. Maybe he didn’t know there was a Betazed in there, or Betazoid. They go…the admiral says jeez, you were from Mars Colony. Life on Mars. She goes, are you human? He goes, largely. He goes, I was also Vulcan. He goes, these Vulcan ears are so fake. He goes…they go, what was up with you and the Klingon? You used to talk to him, huh? He goes yeah, he was…I was treated…I was helping him. He goes, yeah, of course we talked. I said does everything…say anything strange? He goes no, no. I said do you ever see him outside of Sickbay? He goes yeah, in Ten Forward, but I didn’t hang with him. He was with a group of people but I wasn’t involved. Everybody gets a weird look on their face there. They go, you’re excused; no more questions. You know, he’s a kid. He looks very…Picard scratches his temple, he says Mr. Worf…and then the Betazoid…he says he’s lying. He’s hiding something. Picard goes yeah, he…it’s a kid.
They say well, it wasn’t truthful. He’s covering something up, something…he goes, I think this is it. He goes, based on my hunch, this is the person we’re looking for. Picard goes oh boy. Then it fades out. I don’t know if it went to a commercial. But yeah, the Betazoid and Worf…oh, they look at a screen. That’s what I was talking about earlier. I’m strongly motivated in this matter, that’s one thing Worf says. The Betazoid notes about his father. No one’s concerned he got nothing to prove. I will find a conspiracy if there’s one on board. We’re counting on you; stares after Worf. Doctor Crusher, then the next up was Mr. Tarses, a young First-Class med-tech, informal enquiry, 43587, something. Born on Mars…you know, that’s…we said this all. No relationship. I think that was with the…what was that? Anyway, whatever…we’re getting so many things. He says yeah, I worked with him a few times, see him out at Ten Forward with a group. The group thing; that caught my attention.
They were too busy with other stuff. Picard rubs his temple. I liked that. Yeah, then there’s a commercial, then we get in the Ready Room. Oh, glass ship in his office. I guess I’ll come back and do these. It’d be easier if I look all this up later. Back and forth, Picard sighs and stands. We can’t wait for evidence. That’s what this admiral’s saying. Picard says no, so we’ll run through the dialogue though, in a second here. She really guilts Picard, Geordi got some…finds something interesting so he calls up, and then Geordi and Data explain that basically it was just a defect in the engine. She plays it very softly, just a defect in the hatch cover. Of course, well, at first, she plays soft, but then they don’t buy it. No, no, it’s probably not. Just roll…there is no…I can’t stand it. I know you planned it. I’m gonna set it straight, this Watergate. There was no S-A-B-A-T-O-G-E. They go well, this guy’s got Confederates onboard. Also, I wondered if this assistant types everything, and whom are they?
Worf and I are a great team; that’s what the Betazoid says. They will establish Sabin’s innocence. That’s mispronounced. That was that kid’s innocence. Picard answers, Picard something…oh, Picard appears, the courtroom is packed with onlookers, so Picard’s not happy. She likes to have people there. Then she starts grilling Doctor Crusher. Picard has an aside, Betazoid gets a call and leaves…this is total courtroom drama 101. He gets a call and has to leave the courtroom or something, or whatever. He does the old fake piece of evidence; Riker objects. This isn’t Doctor…at some point, they were interviewing the young guy and the dude goes deep and then he says I refuse to answer, ‘cause it turns out he’s part Romulan, not Vulcan. Then there’s an oh-snap before the commercial. Let’s see the run-through here. We got the Enterprise, Picard in his office talking to the admiral; hey, sit down, get comfortable. I’ll sit down, too. She says yeah, I gotta tell you…Picard says I’m not…no action against Tarses on gut instinct. Betazoid intuition.
She goes well, Sabin…oh, that’s…Sabin’s the…Picard goes you can’t use the Betazoid stealth. They go, you got a Betazoid. He goes, there’s a difference between a counsellor and an investigator. Come on; [00:40:00] she’s helping…she’s using her skills for help. They go well, use her in interrogations. Picard goes yeah, I guess so. He goes, I don’t act just on instinct alone. Didn’t you watch that episode where Geordi taught Data about the differences? He goes, you’re asking to take Mr. Tarses based on…he goes, you know, I can’t accuse him of something based on nothing. She creates the old straw-person argument; oh, what if this was Troi? Wouldn’t you keep an eye on him? He goes, I keep an eye on him. He goes, maybe I should reevaluate my behavior. She goes, let’s keep our priorities straight; we’re trying to uncover stuff on the ship. It’s a red alert…we’re living this episode, in some sense. She goes, I want continuous surveillance on this kid.
That’s when Picard gets up and starts pacing, goes to his fish tank. He said if we had clear evidence…she goes, we will have clear evidence once we bust him. Saving Worf or Annit. She goes, we gotta act now before…not later when we have proof. Picard goes no. He’s the king of boundaries, man. He goes, I’m not gonna treat somebody like they did something wrong unless they do. She goes well, you’re just so generous, snowflake. He’s not a snowflake, so he just glares. She goes, what if next time it’s more serious? She goes, can’t you…then that’s when Geordi calls. They say get down here right away, we got some breakthrough in the case. That’s when Geordi and Data say yeah, it was a blown hatch. Defective hatch, or a hatch frame. We analyze it; it’s 100% defective, submicron. You know, just one of those ones…McKinley…McKinley Station. They replaced it with something…oh, undetectable defect, Data does say.
So, not really blaming anybody, just saying the facts, where it happened. The Betazoid doesn’t buy it. He says, I find an accident hard to believe. Picard goes dude, when my staff says something, they mean it. Then, the Admiral, she says just because there wasn’t something damaged doesn’t mean there’s not a conspiracy. This is the drama. This is a really, really deep episode. They say what about…who knows? Picard says man, this is a lot of pressure on Jean-Luc, here. Worf says we gotta look into this; he is hiding something. They say okay, we’ll look into it. Picard goes, let’s get this over with as quick as possible. Then we see the Enterprise again, doors open; that’s when the court is packed with onlookers. Picard’s like, you’ve got to be kidding me, this is my ship. He goes, with spectators? She goes yeah, it’s open, sunshine…he goes, keeps the rumors flowing. She goes, you know, we gotta…she’s misusing this use of sunshine.
She says keep it…keeps it…keeping the light on everybody and everybody’s eyes is better. This poor young guy, he’s up there, he’s already a little bit under stress. Picard looks up his info; crewman Simon Tarses. They go okay, now you have…I assigned you a counsel, William Riker, who nods. He goes, I don’t need it. He goes, I didn’t do anything wrong. They go, Doctor Crusher, did this guy talk to J’Dan? She goes yeah, when he was working with him. She goes…they go outside of Sickbay and they go maybe at Ten Forward. There’s…people talk there. They go, I don’t understand. There’s a social gathering. She goes, why do you hesitate to give us those names? Picard goes…she goes, tell us everyone who’s there. Picard goes, if you have a case to make against Tarses, make it now, otherwise I’m putting a stop to this pony show. Then, the Betazoid stands up, Sabin, or whatever. He says…he goes do you…he goes, you ever work with freckles? He goes, because any deoxyribose stuff?
The kid gets really nervous; he goes yeah, we all do. He goes, are you sure you didn’t…he goes, don’t you have access to the whole Sickbay, everything? Including deoxyribose freckles? He goes, there’s evidence that that was what was…messed up the engine, something that was in Sickbay. The guy goes, I don’t have anything to do with that. He goes, how can we believe you? Meanwhile, the dude’s lying and he says you’re a liar. Riker objects for calling him a liar, Picard agrees. He goes, you know, the guy goes I’m trying to work my case, here. He goes, did you lie when you lied to the Starfleet…on your application? Isn’t it true your grandfather is a Romulan? Then the guy gets really upset and Picard…Riker says don’t say anything. They say, we’re waiting. He says, on advice of my counsel, I’m not gonna say anything ‘cause it’s gonna incriminate me. That’s when it says oh snap, and it goes to commercial. We get serious shots of the Admiral, Picard sighing, and then grimacing.
Then that’s when the ad goes to break, then we get to the Enterprise flying by. We have a meeting with Worf’s crew. They go…I want to know everything; where Tarses has been. Meanwhile, Picard’s walking in the room. They go, we want to know everybody; his friends, anybody he talked to back in the day, polygraphs…Picard goes, Worf, I gotta talk to you, man. Worf goes, everyone’s dismissed. Get your reports to me as soon as possible. They walk off. Picard sits down and Worf looks away, looks back. They make eye contact and he goes, don’t you see what’s happening, Worf? Worf goes what do you mean? He goes, this is like a drumhead. He goes, this is a thing…he goes, it’s a…he goes, I gotta use it…he goes, it’s not a metaphor so Scoots has got to create one. Five hundred years ago, people used to tap on a drum and it would get on people’s nerves, and instead of working stuff out in a logical manner, based on the facts, they would just do that.
Worf goes well, he was…he goes yeah, he admitted he lied on his application. They go back and forth. Picard goes yeah, he made a mistake. It’s not…you can’t infer he did anything else. Actually, we can’t even infer that ‘cause he didn’t answer if he…Picard goes well, he wouldn’t tell the truth. Picard goes, we’re not sinking to that level. The Seventh Guarantee is one of the most important rights granted by the Federation. You cannot take a fundamental principal of the Constitution and turn it against somebody. Worf’s like, more on it; we gotta seek out whoever’s up to no good. Picard goes, that’s how it starts, man. From legitimate road, a logic, in fact, to rampant…he goes, it’s not short. He goes, something’s wrong and I don’t like what we’ve become. He storms out of the room. Picard has to take a breath and pucker his face. Let’s see, then we see Picard meeting with Tarses, having tea out of a pot, like a porcelain-style pot. Picard goes, tell me a little bit about yourself. Mars Colony, eh?
He goes yep. He goes, I wanted to get to be in Starfleet, though. Since I was a kid, I really wanted to. He goes, I was gonna go to the academy but I trained as a med-tech, served on outposts. He goes, the day I got posted on the Enterprise was the happiest day of my life. He goes, yeah, I didn’t want to wait to become an officer. He goes, my parents wanted me to and I thought about it, but…he goes, I used to sit under this big tree on the parade grounds. Picard goes, oh, I know that tree. With the elm bench? He goes yeah, it was my favorite place to study. That was my thinking spot. Tarses says I used to watch the drills and imagine I was an officer. He goes, I know it would have made my mom happy, but…Picard goes, you didn’t do it. He goes, nah. He goes, I was eighteen and [00:50:00] eager, man. I wanted to be out in the stars, not spending four years on the ground in a classroom. It’s a really romantic thing and it takes Picard aback, you know.
He’s got a H-E-A-R-T and you can see why his eagerness…he goes, that’s it, right? He goes, I’m losing my career, huh? He goes, no Wes Crusher move for me. He goes, that was a big mistake, not saying I was Romulan, but I wouldn’t have gotten in if I didn’t, probably. Picard has to take a deep…man, what acting this is, holy moly. Then we’re in the hall with the investigation with Admiral Satie. Worf’s gonna check out Mars Colony, do a background check. Picard interrupts them, rolls up behind them. He goes, I’d like to have a word with you in private, off the record. She’s a little taken aback. She goes oh, well, you’re my partner in this. She sends the assistant on the way and she goes, I can’t believe this. Picard goes, yeah, I’m putting a stop to this. Too far, it’s gone too far. You can’t lie in court. He goes, that only happens in the movies, not on my ship. You’re hounding an innocent man. She goes, how’d you figure that out? He goes, I talked to him. She goes well, I see.
I’m sure he gave you a story about snowflakes. I said man, that’s like, one of my…that’s just one of my sore spots, when people say that. He goes yeah, he goes he made a mistake. Doesn’t make him anti-Starfleet. She goes, you’re naïve, Jean-Luc. She’s the one pacing now. Picard’s sitting there. She goes, you know how I’ve been…you know what I’ve been doing the past four years? I’ve been going from planet to starbase to planet; no home, live on starships and shuttles, saving the world. Haven’t seen a family member in years. I got no friends, just a purpose. When I was a little girl clutching a blanket, I was…she goes, this is the institution my father was a part of and that was my cause, to preserve this extraordinary union. Picard’s looking on in dismay and she goes, I’m not enabling you to block this. She should have been in those first three Star Trek…I mean, those extra Star Wars movies ‘cause she could play a Sith lord, a lordess. Picard goes no, these hearings are stopping.
I don’t care what you say. He goes, I’ll go to the Starfleet Command. She goes, I got news for you; I’ve been telling them everything and the hearings are not stopping. We’re expanding them. He goes what? She goes yeah, I’m gonna get to the bottom of this even if it means investigating every single person on this ship, including you. She goes, public hearings, Admiral Thomas Henry is gonna be there from Starfleet. He’s on his way. Picard goes, you gotta be kidding me. She goes yeah, I don’t report to you. I report to Starfleet Command. I don’t need your permission for anything. She spins and walks off, and Picard…as she gets to the door, he goes what you’re doing here is wrong, unethical, immoral, and I’ll fight it every step of the way. She goes, do what you must, Captain, so will I. Picard stares after her for quite a few minutes, then we see his ship again. We’re at the bridge; warp engines are back online, ready to restart the engine. Picard’s distracted. He can’t even hear Data.
Data goes sir, can you hear me? He goes yeah? He goes yeah, go ahead, Data. Walks back to his seat. Riker looks at him. He knows something’s up. He goes, you alright, boss? He goes, yeah, well, I’m a little preoccupied, Number One. Then the transcriptionist says you’ve been ordered to court tomorrow, 0900. You’re appearing before the committee. Picard is stunned as he looks at his summons; they zoom and it goes to a commercial on a pause from him. Let me see my other notes. Drumhead trial, Worf meeting with his crew. Dismissed, Picard sits with Worf. Do you see what’s happening? Let’s see, there’s no…not a crime. Worf’s intense…oh yes, that is how it starts. Picard stands, I don’t like what we’re becoming. Picard and Tarses and tea with lemon. I think there might have been lemons there, out of a teapot, white, with black or navy mugs. An elm tree; I don’t know what that is, with cucumber bench? Oh no, that was the elm tree that they were talking about, a circular bench. Big Picard sigh at the end.
Ambassador and the assistant walking, Picard walks up behind them. She ignored Picard for a while. She did like a power move where she pretended she couldn’t hear him. In private, off the record, in the office…she walks around the office with grace, touching things. My cause…she goes, doubt me and regret it. Then Picard stands, lays down the law. Her chin is up; hearings will be expanded. Admiral Thomas Henry…Picard says all the…everything I said, he said. Picard spaced out on the bridge, Riker concerned, preoccupied. Picard gets served; he does what?? Double question mark. Okay, so we’ll run through my notes, then we’ll run through the actual…do not confuse this proceeding…oh, Picard uses innuendo, I think. I liked that. We find out Picard has violated the Prime Directive nine times. She uses some Riker language; she says surprised the H-E- double hockey sticks out of me. Looking into those reports, she questions his commitment to Starfleet, nods at the Betazoid. I beg your pardon, let me refresh your memory.
I don’t think we need the preamble; Romulan spy, something thirty…left Picard, Riker flare…I don’t know, I’ll look that up when my handwriting’s…Worf interrupts. Where…your Betazoid…Worf to the court, Romulan collaborator. Oh, then she talks about the whole time with the Borg that Picard spent. How much was it, thirty-nine ships, 11,000 peeps? She says how do you sleep at night? It’s 6:15. I guess that’s left in the episode ‘cause this is one of the few episodes I watched on Netflix. I usually watch them on Prime, for some reason. Oh, so that’s why my timing’s off. 7:30, there’s a good Riker glare, left in the episode, then 6:15 left in the episode, I said this must be one of the Picard memes, not the one where he’s…I don’t know. You could look at it…with the hand on his forehead, not the one where he’s upset. This one was more like oh boy…yeah, Picard drops some Papa Satie on her. She says, how dare…this is a really good court…Star Trek really has good courtroom scenes.
I don’t know what Raymond Burr or Aaron Burr would say about it, but Romulans…she goes off the rails. Admiral Henry is like…he gets a great look of like wha? Then he’s like, it’s so absurd, he walks out. It’s like, she should be meeting…they should have brought in Counsellor Troi right away to…I say hey, maybe you should talk to her. I have nothing to say. Even her Betazoid is stunned. Okay, it’s time for a recess. Then whispering port…oh, the whispering court empties. It’s her alone, and then Picard is in the conference room staring out the window, and Worf comes in. The episode ends but don’t worry, we’ll run through it in a deeper way here. Okay, so Captain Log Supplemental; Admiral Thomas Henry’s worked closely with Satie in the past and they say jeez, who’s…your full name? Jean-Luc Picard. Rank and position? Captain. Federation, Enterprise. Three years I’ve been on this ship, since 41124. Picard goes, I want to make a statement.
She says if you have a statement, you can make it later. He goes no. He goes see…he quotes that he goes I have a right to make a statement before questioning begins, by the law. He goes, sorry I have to drop science on you. He goes, I’m concerned about what’s happening. He says it looking at the ground at first, slow build. Started when we thought someone was up to something with freckles, and he got in trouble for it. But it couldn’t end there; another guy lied on the [01:00:00] application, another guy lied on his application, that was a trial. He goes, that was a sham. Insinuation and innuendo. He goes, if there was anything substantive about that or proven…he puckers his lips. He goes yeah, his grandfather was Romulan. Since when is that…? That’s it. His career…it cost him his career. He goes, have we become so fearful and so quick to point the finger that just because one mistake, that’s it?
He goes, just because he’s related to a Romulan or is a Romulan…he goes, let’s not condemn Tarses or anyone else because of their bloodlines, or investigate others for innocent associations, having friends. I implore you, don’t continue with this proceeding. ‘Cause he knows he’s got her outclassed. He goes end it now. Admiral Henry looks on like, oh boy. She goes what about the Prime Directive you broke nine times? General order number one, is it not? He goes, what’s your point? Then she’s like oh, well, you broke it nine times since you took over the Enterprise. She goes yeah, that’s the hockey stick saying you were surprised. He goes well, the circumstances…she goes yeah, we’re looking into that. We’re gonna run some things, very closely looking into it. Then we’ll have more questions for you about your commitment to Starfleet. We see Tarses’s face, then the Betazoid gets up. He goes yeah, what happened? Oh, first he gets a slow build about the Borg stuff.
Oh no, first they say didn’t you help a Vulcan get to the Romulans? He goes no, no, that was a trick. He goes, it was near the Neutral Zone. He goes, she wasn’t Vulcan, though; she was Romulan. You still gave her the Romulan…gave her back to the Romulans, it says Romulan spy. They go why, when you knew that, didn’t you take out the ship or something? He goes ‘cause she was on the other ship. Everybody starts getting looks like, Crusher, Worf…Worf stands up. He says you…he goes you can’t just enter into…he goes, Captain Picard did everything his best. She goes, where were you? Aren’t you in charge of security? Worf is like, what? Then they say oh, isn’t your father with the Romulans, Worf? Picard goes settle down, Worf. Papa Picard’s got this; don’t worry. They talk about the Borg and they’ve…you know, oh, it must have been so hard that you did it. How do you sleep? Picard looks down. That’s when he puts his hand on his head that I think is one of the memes.
She goes, I gotta question your judgement, your loyalty. He rubs his forehead, then he takes a breath. He goes yeah, there are some words I’ve known since I was a schoolboy. Within the first length of chain, it’s formed. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied. That chains us all irrepa…he said it. That was your papa, Judge Aaron Satie, or Satie. She goes wide-eyed at that. He goes, the first time any person’s freedom is trodden on, it hurts us all. It’s pretty straightforward. He goes, that’s what’s happening. She goes what? She really…she goes you are Romulan consort and you’re using my father’s name…calls him a traitor. Goes right off the rails. Picard looks up. She goes, you subvert the Federation. My father was great. His name’s integrity and principle. You shouldn’t even be saying it. She says he loves the Federation; you don’t. She goes, I’m exposing you for what you are. That’s when the dude stands up and leaves, the other…admiral.
She goes, I’m taking you down. He doesn’t even say anything or look at anybody. He just walks out of the courtroom. Then everybody gets a shocked look on their face. She knows she’s lost her case and gone too far. She looks down. Riker…yeah, Riker look…she’s kind of trembling. She goes, I got nothing more to say. She slowly sits down. The mouth of the Betazoid opens. He kind of looks like he just sucked on a lemon. He calls recess and Picard just has…Picard’s look is very unhappy. On his face…he didn’t want to do it, probably, either. But yeah, he goes I had to do what had to be done, I guess. Everyone gets up and leaves. Just the transcription…oh no, then the transcriptionist leaves and the courtroom is emptied. One Gameboy-looking thing on the table. Then we see the Enterprise again and Picard’s looking out the window of the conference room. Worf comes in; hey, do I keep bothering you, Captain? He goes no, come on in, Worf. He says Mr. Worf.
Worf walks up next to him and says jeez, it’s over. Admiral Henry said…he goes, no more hearings. Picard goes, that’s good. Worf looks down; he goes, Admiral Satie is gone. Yeah, that’s good, too. Picard gets closer [inaudible] we think we’ve come so far from the past, with all that not-great human stuff. But in the blink of an eye, it could…the cycle could restart. Worf looks down, shakes his head, and he goes I bought into it, boss. I helped. He goes, I didn’t see what it was. He goes well, she was a Sith lordess. He goes, not everybody twirls their moustache and is easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves are well-camouflaged. Worf goes, I think after yesterday, maybe people won’t buy in as quick. Picard goes, maybe. But it could be someone else. They’re always with us, just the right climate in which to flourish. Spreading F-E-A-R in the name of righteousness. Worf thinks hard about it. Hands behind the back, he goes vigilance, Mr. Worf. That is a price we continually pay. The episode comes to a close. Yeah, that was the episode. I guess I’ll have to include the research another time, but that was a pretty good…I mean, really good, really good episode of The Next Generation, and goodnight.
[END OF RECORDING]
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