‘THE HUNTED‘ (TNG)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This ‘TNG’ episode features James Cromwell. This is one of James Cromwell’s earliest ‘Star Trek’ appearances’ before ‘Star Trek: First Contact’ and before appearing in ‘Spider-Man 3’ and ‘The Artist’.
In the episode, the Enterprise visits the planet Angosia III, who wishes to become a candidate for entry into the Federation. Picard and Riker are guided by James Cromwell as Prime Minister Nayrok.
They’re shown around the city and are impressed by the standards of Angosia III. It seems that Angosia III is a desirable candidate for the Federation. But nothing is perfect as seems on Angosia III.
Nayrok receives word that a convict has happened from one of Angosia III’s prison colonies on Lunar V. The Enterprise assists in apprehending the criminal by locating the ship he’d stolen from Lunar V.
The Enterprise chase after the criminal in ship before it flies behind an asteroid. But somehow, the prisoner manages to evade them, as the drive section emerges from the asteroid with no life-signs.
The Enterprise crew investigates further as it turns out there’s more to this and the prisoner did survive. Following Data’s hunch, they locate the prisoner before beaming him aboard the Enterprise.
Once aboard, security members try to take the prisoner into custody. But he fights back and there’s a pretty intense scene of the Enterprise security fighting the prisoner before they restrain him down.
Colm Meaney as Chief O’Brien even gets to tackle the prisoner before he gets injured. Very soon, Worf and Riker come in to assist the Enterprise security before they soon pin him down the ground.
The prisoner is Jeff McCarthy as Roga Danar. He seems to be an ultra-violent person, who’s resistant to phaser firepower when the security team tackle him. He also doesn’t emit any life-signs readings.
This is very peculiar as the Enterprise crew wonder how they were unable to track him on scanners. It also makes Roga Danar a very unbeatable enemy, as he’s able to outwit our heroes capturing him.
Counsellor Troi soon visits Danar in his prison cell aboard the Enterprise when she senses him in pain. It turns out that Roga Danar is a former soldier who fought in the wars for Angosia III years ago.
It’s interesting how Troi connects to Roga Danar, as she finds little aggression from him. This is interesting, as his calm nature whilst in the brig is different to how he behaves when he gets violent.
It’s revealed that Danar and other prisoners like him were genetically enhanced. They had their abilities increased and their responses affected whenever they were in danger fighting in the wars.
I like how Deanna Troi and Data investigate Danar’s files from Angosia III to find he has no criminal records. It seems the soldiers like Danar were unsuited for normal civilian life after the wars ended.
That’s according to Nayrok when he confirms Danar’s story about him being a soldier in the war to Picard. It seems that Danar was abused when he was being treated a prisoner on the Lunar V colony.
But that doesn’t stop Nayrok requesting Danar to be returned to the colony on Lunar V. Picard and the others like Troi and Data struggle with the decision to hand Danar over after what they’ve learnt.
I like the conversation Data has with Danar when he’s in his prison cell. Both share things in common, as Data becomes curious on why Danar has this conditioning and why it can’t be reversed.
During the transfer from the Enterprise to the Angosian transport ship for Danar, there’s an exciting chase sequence where Danar manages to escape. It does last for a while when watching the episode.
In the sequence, Danar keeps outwitting the Enterprise heroes who try to capture him. They suspect he’s making for the shuttle bays via the Jeffries tubes. But it turns out he has ulterior motives in this.
Very soon, Picard, Data, Troi and Worf beam down to Angosia III to help Nayrok and the others to solve their problem before Danar and the soldiers turn up. Will they interfere in Angosia III’s affairs?
‘The Hunted’ is a pretty fast-paced, action-packed, character-driven episode that does leave on an open-ended note. It’s unclear what the outcome of the crisis is in this, but hopefully it’s a good one.
‘The Hunted’ (TNG) rating – 8/10
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