‘ALLEGIANCE‘ (TNG)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This episode sees Captain Picard get abducted by alien beings. It also features a duplicate version of Picard who gives out unusual orders to his crew. It isn’t long until they suspect Picard isn’t who he is.
I enjoyed this episode when I saw it as it sees the real Picard in a situation with three other captives where they have to work out what the problem. It’s not long until Picard works out what’s going on.
It was also fun to see a duplicate version of Picard where he’s acting oddly. This is through his interactions with the crew that know him well before he gives out peculiar orders that trouble them.
The real Picard sleeps in his quarters on the Enterprise before he gets taken by a strange alien board that appears. He finds himself in a cell with two other prisoners before it’s three, making them four.
The other prisoners are as follows. There’s Joycelyn O’Brien as Starfleet Cadet Mitena Haro. Haro is from Bolarus IX and seems willing to listen to Picard, after reading his missions at Starfleet Academy.
There’s also Stephen Markle as Kova Tholl from Mizar II. Tholl is a philosopher and a little cautious when he’s with Picard and the others. Tholl warns everyone to not open the door of their prison cell.
And there’s Reiner Schöne as the violent Esoqq from Chalnoth. I must say the make-up for Esoqq is pretty grotesque but very effective, especially as it enhances Esoqq’s violent tendencies in the story.
Apparently this episode was nominated for an Emmy award for Oustanding Achievement in Make-up for a Series. I wonder if that’s what this episode’s remembered for: the make-up and not the story.
It seems that the four prisoners have all been brought here for no reason. They can’t figure out what the connection is between them, as they try to break the lock on the only door inside the prison cell.
They’ve given beds and facilities within the prison cell, but their only source of food is a tasteless rubbery disk. Seriously is that all they have? It doesn’t seem a bite’s on it when Picard tries to eat it.
Esoqq is the unable to eat this rubbery food and there’s a tense moment when he’s about to eat Tholll. Thankfully Picard persuades him not to, but it won’t last if they stay in that prison cell longer.
The four prisoners try to open the door only to get hit by a stun beam, which Tholl warned them about. They give a second try, but when they do there’s a blank wall behind it. Is there no way out?
Meanwhile on the Enterprise, Picard’s doppelgänger orders the ship to visit a nearby pulsar but on a slow speed of warp two. It diverts the Enterprise from a scheduled rendezvous with the Hood ship.
Members of the Enterprise crew begin to suspect Picard’s odd behaviour including Riker and Troi. Beverly Crusher also suspects something in Picard, when he starts to show a romantic interest in her.
This is when Picard invites Beverly to have dinner with him in his quarters. I would have liked that to happen with the real Picard and Beverly, especially as the dialogue between them is so well-written.
There’s another odd moment when Picard in Ten Forward gives glasses of ale to everyone and engages the crew to sing ‘Heart of Oak’ from the Royal Navy. Riker and everyone else suspect Picard.
Things get tense when Picard orders the ship to go closer to the pulsar, exposing the crew to lethal radiation. Riker and the bridge crew refuse to co-operate with Picard, which was so tense to watch.
Thankfully however, the real Picard discovers who the true culprit in their prison cell is. I won’t reveal to avoid spoilers. But the plot is revealed as two aliens played by Jerry and Jeff Rector appear.
The real Picard gets sent back to the Enterprise and through eye contact with his crew manages to trap the two aliens in a holding cell. It’s to teach them a lesson on what it means to imprison people.
I like how the story ends with Picard asking Riker whether his doppelgänger caused trouble. Riker makes comments that intrigue Picard and I found it amusing when Beverly sat by him on the bridge.
‘Allegiance’ is a good episode in the ‘Star Trek: TNG’ series. I found it engaging when Picard gets abducted with three other aliens and so intriguing how his doppelgänger behaved on the Enterprise.
‘Allegiance’ rating – 7/10
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