The Chase

Captain Picard is visited by his old archaeology professor with an intriguing proposal: leave the Enterprise and come with him to uncover one of the great mysteries of the ages. Hot on his tail though are Klingons, Cardassians and Romulans who are after the same thing. Is it a weapon? A source of power? Or something with far greater meaning? The Chase is on in this week’s Mission Log! This episode is the one we can point to when people ask why there are so many humanoid types out there in the Galaxy. Agree with John & Ken. This one is a very Star Trek episode. And yes it always bugged me that a being from way back when spoke perfect English. BTW. Was this the first appearance by Salome Jens? Sure wish they and other races would have garbled speech for a few seconds…then scramble into English….dang, that would make so much more sense/be more digestible!! In ‘Generations,’ after the D’s saucer crashes onto the planet (spoiler alert), Picard pics through his belongings. He tosses the Kurlan naiskos aside like trash. Just another reason to hate on ‘Generations.’ btw — T-Rexes in starships? Who’s streaming THAT show?! I would watch the hell outta that! Definately a scene that really hurt back then. They could have used one of his Shakespeare books for that since they probably are just replicated. Holy cow, it’s Norman Lloyd! So this places the whole Star Trek universe inside the snowglobe, right? (Just kidding.) Great job once again Ken and John! Appreciate the comments about Picard shirking off his orders. In this episode, notice that when Deanna went to Picard to discuss the importance of mediating the conference on Itailia 7 that had been scheduled for 6 months he tersely said, “…if that means inconveniencing a few squabbling delegates for a few days then so be it. I will take the full responsibility.” Effectively shutting down her very reasonable suggestion. And then Deanna backed out of the office, a little defeated. Very similar, when Deanna attempted to approach the controversial Captian Jellico (Chan of Command) with a few suggestions he shut her down as well – and added that she was to wear the standard uniform (thank goodness). That was also a difficult moment. It was suggested that Deanna’s empathic ability should have led her to understand that approaching Jellico was a futile effort. My thought then and in this case is that Deanna has a job to do regardless of what her empathic abilities might be telling her. Even if it means getting shut down by the captain. I wasn’t sure if I missed a bit w Picard asking Starfleet for “special duty” permission. Seemed reasonable since he is…well Captain Picard. Also, would seem like w all the craziness in the galaxy things would come up where Captains would need some discretion… I promise, this is my last comment on this episode… It would have been too much and tragically unbelievable if they would have “gotten it” and all experienced some sort of epiphany when the program was activated. There are those of us who hope that the arrival of extra terrestrial lifeforms to our planet would bring about some sort of renewed hope for the state of mankind. That human beings would cast aside our petty bickering and concerns about our differences and togehter usher in a new era of hope, peace, and discovery. But… I wonder… would that be the case? “That’s all! If she were not dead I would kill her.” “The very notion that a Cardassian could have anything in common with a Klingon, it turns my stomach.” The Romulans get it. I’ve always liked that while the Cardassians and Klingons miss the point, the Romulans DO get it. I recall some Twilight Zone 80s episode where aliens arrive and tell the UN your wars are pathetic. So Earth leaders make world peace ASAP, expecting alien approval. Then alien says “Your wars are pathetic because they are so small scale and your weapons so weak! We started your planet off millennia ago to raise and breed fighters for our intergalactic militia!!”- inte