“The Battle”
Written by Larry Forrester and Herbert J. Wright
Directed by Rob Bowman
Season 1, Episode 8
Production episode 40271-110
Original air date: November 16, 1987
Stardate: 41723.9
Captain’s Log: The Enterprise rendezvous with a Ferengi vessel, which keeps them waiting for several days, telling them to “stand by.” Picard, meanwhile, has been suffering headaches, and Crusher can’t find a cause, though she does give him a painkiller.
DaiMon Bok, the commander of the Ferengi vessel, finally breaks the silence to say that he has a mutual problem to discuss in person and agrees to beam aboard in an hour. A Constellation-class starship comes into the system—Bok explains that it’s under his control. It’s a gift for Picard, whom Bok describes as “the hero of the Battle of Maxia.” That’s the hifalutin’ name the Ferengi give to an encounter Picard had under his previous command, the U.S.S. Stargazer, nine years previous, during which he fought an unidentified vessel and destroyed it. He had to abandon ship.
Bok explains that the “unidentified” ship was Ferengi, and the approaching ship is, in fact, the Stargazer, which Bok has salvaged—and gives it to Picard as a gift (to the chagrin of his first and second officers, who were expecting profit).
Picard tells the others what happened nine years ago: a vessel attacked the Stargazer for no reason. Out of desperation, Picard ordered the ship into maximum warp for half a second, stopping right at the enemy vessel—which thought the Stargazer was in two places at once for a moment—and enabling the Stargazer to destroy it while they fired at the false image. That tactic is now known as “the Picard Maneuver.”
An away team beams over. Picard is overcome with memories—and then, when he goes to his old quarters, is overcome with pain. A device in his footlocker glows—and a matching device on the Ferengi vessel is operated by Bok, who wants revenge on the “hero of Maxia.”
Data informs Riker that Picard’s personal log downloaded from the derelict tells a different story from the historical record. Picard ordered an unprovoked attack on the Ferengi ship, which was under a flag of truce. Riker must report this to Starfleet Command, even as Data tries to determine whether or not it’s a fake.
Picard’s headaches grow worse. He’s been remembering the Stargazer‘s last voyage in his dreams, and he’s no longer sure if the logs were faked, if perhaps he did destroy the Ferengi ship for no reason. Crusher cannot determine the cause, but she does provide a sympathetic ear and a sedative so he can sleep.
But the sedative is no match for funky alien mind-control tech. (And honestly, when is it ever?) Bok turns the device up to 11, and Picard wakes up and hallucinates the Battle of Maxia.
The next morning, Picard seems well rested, and orders Riker to release the tractor beam on the Stargazer, allegedly to preserve power. Then Crusher, Troi, and Wes realize that some low-intensity transmissions from the Ferengi ship match anomalies in Picard’s brain scan—just in time for Picard to beam over to the no-longer-tethered Stargazer.
Bok is also on board the Stargazer, now holding the alien device. He orders shields raised, and explains to Picard that the DaiMon of the ship Picard destroyed nine years earlier was his son, and this whole thing is his revenge on his son’s murderer.
After Bok beams out, Picard starts reliving the battle, with the computer—set by Bok—responding to his verbal commands. The Enterprise manages to get the Stargazer back in a tractor beam, and—with help from a frantic Riker—Picard has the wherewithal to destroy the sphere.
Bok’s first officer relieves him of command for engaging in an unprofitable venture, Picard beams back on board, and the Enterprise tows the Stargazer home.
Thank You, Counselor Obvious: Troi senses something odd with Picard, and again something odd later on, but none of it is particularly useful, and it’s the Crusher family that does the work in figuring out what’s wrong. Nothing she senses is in any way useful.
Can’t We Just Reverse The Polarity?: “By comparing the Stargazer‘s main computer log to Captain Picard’s personal log, I found checksum discrepancies, sir.”
“What does that mean?”
“All information is time-coded by entry, and the bits, when totaled, produce an aggregate amount, which—”
“I don’t want a computer science lesson, Data!”
Data starts to explain the faked log, with Riker cutting off the babbling, which is quite likely the only time the word “checksum” has been used in dialogue in the history of Star Trek.
The boy!?: Wes comes all the way to the bridge from engineering to report something on long-range sensors, with Picard upbraiding him for not using ship’s communications, thus wasting valuable time. Later on, he notices that the transmissions from the Ferengi ship match Picard’s brain scan, and is rather irritatingly smug about it. Not that one can blame him, since none of the other fully trained Starfleet personnel figured it out. (Wil Wheaton himself pointed to this episode as cementing many fans’ hatred of the Wes character.)
If I Only Had a Brain : Data devises a defense for the Picard Maneuver, and even confidently proclaims that there’s no question that he’s right. Of course, he’s proven correct just a few seconds later .
There Is No Honor In Being Pummeled: Worf has the incredibly exciting task of carrying Picard’s luggage from the Stargazer to the Enterprise.
Welcome Aboard: The Ferengi are much less comical here than they were in “The Last Outpost,” and while it’s partly due to the toning down of their goofy mannerisms, credit must go to guest stars Frank Corsentino and Doug Warhit as, respectively, Bok and his first officer Kazago. Corsentino’s Bok is convincingly slimy, and Warhit shows impressive depths, particularly in his conversations with Riker.
I Believe I Said That: “Why do doctors always say the obvious as though it’s a revelation?”
“Why do captains always act like they’re immortal?”
Picard and Crusher, comparing the stereotypes of their jobs.
Trivial Matters: While Picard having a previous command was established in the TNG bible—and was used in David Gerrold’s novelization of “Encounter at Farpoint”—this was the first time it was mentioned on air. Michael Jan Friedman would write a series of novels focused on the Stargazer, starting with Reunion—a reuniting of the Stargazer crew on the Enterprise, based on what was learned in this epsiode—followed by The Valiant and the six Stargazer novels, which chronicled Picard’s first year in command of the ship. Several other novels and stories, by Friedman and others, would make use of the Stargazer as well. The Battle of Maxia was novelized by Christopher L. Bennett in The Buried Age, a Picard-focused novel that bridged the nine-year gap between the battle and “Encounter at Farpoint.”
Make It So: A solid episode that has an interesting look into Picard’s past. Sir Patrick Stewart does a stellar job, modulating from pained to confused to nostalgic to frustrated to crazy, all quite convincingly. It’s fun seeing the Stargazer, which is a redress of the Enterprise bridge from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. The crew’s enjoyment of seeing the old tech is palpable, but the near-reverence Picard has is a joy to see, even though it has the bitter tinge of Bok’s mind control. In particular, this episode nicely establishes that Picard had a life, a career, prior to the Enterprise, and that his experience as a commander long predates the start of the show. It gives the character greater depth.
Although many viewed it as too little too late, the Ferengi are at least a bit redeemed after their unfortunate first appearance in “The Last Outpost.” Bok’s revenge for his son is a good motive, if clichéd, and Kazago’s reasons for relieving him—the lack of profit—is a nice twist.
The episode is not without its flaws. The use of Troi and Wes is not the best, and letting the audience know about the mind-control device half-an-hour before the rest of the crew does soften the suspense. And then there’s Crusher’s clumsy exposition regarding medical advances, talking about how cool it is in the 24th century where they don’t have headaches or common colds. Gates McFadden manages not to slip into smug self-righteousness, but it’s a close call.
Ultimately, the episode works due to its focus on Picard, who is rapidly growing into a fascinating and complex character. (It’s also far from the last time he’ll have his mind messed with by external forces )
Warp factor rating: 6.
Keith R.A. DeCandido has written bunches of Star Trek fiction, including several pieces that focused on Jean-Luc Picard, among them the comic book Perchance to Dream, the short story “Four Lights” in The Sky’s the Limit, the eBook Enterprises of Great Pitch and Moment, the novel Q&A, and much more. Follow him online at his blog or on Facebook or Twitter under the username KRADeC.
Really enjoying the recaps! This is easily one of the better season 1 episodes. Which isn’t saying much, but I have a real soft spot for this show.
I remember being impressed with the “hallucination” scenes, including the detail that Picard’s Stargazer crew wore (as I recall) ST II-era uniforms. (Though without the undertunics, right? That’s really not a good look… those “beefeater” jackets need those tunics below! Go re-watch “Yesterday’s Enterprise” if you don’t believe me!) I was still faithfully taping every TNG episode off-air at this point, and I thought this one got worse each time I watched it. Patrick Stewart is, of course, “good in everything” (just like Gene Hackman — thanks, MST3K!); but, apart from establishing the Stargazer on-air (best starship ever to be built in Bedford Falls!), this one doesn’t have much to commend it today. (And the nitpicker in me always hated that Kirk could speak openly of heaving headaches in “Tribbles” and everyone knew exactly what he was talking about; but, 78 years later, no one had any memories of ever having had one. Maybe the secret ingredient in the headache cure turned out to be quadrotritcale!)
Mike: No, the Stargazer crew wore the same skintight spandex that everyone else was wearing. There were other flashback episodes that had folks wearing the TOS movie-era uniforms but without the tunics — and yes, it did look ridiculous — among them “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” “Tapestry,” and the holo-image of Jack Crusher in “Family.”
first one I LIKED
At last a half-way decent episode. Even the special effects were well done; the Picard Manoeuvre looked pretty great. And Sir Patrick really shows his acting chops. Too bad it took seven weeks to get to this first good episode.
I always liked episodes in any Trek series where more that one ship would appear. It made me believe that there was more of Starfleet and the Federation as a whole than the Enterprise. I even fantasized about a series that would show the chronicles of several Starfleet ships and crews.
Nice concept, and it’s a shame they didn’t do more with the Stargazer, but I found “The Battle” to be rather weak. There are logic holes, some of which I had to struggle to patch up when I wrote The Buried Age (mainly, how the hell did Picard and his crew not know their ship had survived largely intact — or if they did, why would they leave it intact in possibly hostile space rather than scuttling it?). I found the dialogue rather awkward, though it’s been a while, so I’m not sure how much of that was the script and how much was the directing. Not to mention the FX error of making the Stargazer look almost as big as the Enterprise.
I do like the idea of the Picard Maneuver. It’s so rare for anyone in SFTV or movies to remember that the speed of light is finite and that if a ship could travel at FTL it could outrace its own light, creating illusions like being in two places at once (or going backward). However, it’s clear in the rest of ST that warp-capable species have FTL sensors allowing instantaneous detection of things parsecs away, so this nice bit of scientific literacy is hard to reconcile with the usual, more fanciful conceit.
I know that no one thought of it at the time, but now, when you here about “The Picard Manuver” defeating the Ferengi, who here thinks Picard won the battle by tugging on his uniform?
@krad 3 — For the second time in two weeks, I stand corrected! Or, as James Kirk once said, “Damn. Must be getting senile.”
@mike S 8 — Indeed! Now what would be really cool is if Picard could tug on his tunic at near-light speed, to create the illusion that he’s pulled it down to his waist before he actually has….!
It really is a shame this wasn’t the first Ferengi episode. I particularly like that the 1st officer relieves Daimon Bok for being unprofitable. The Ferengi are usually portrayed as shallow fools or callous exploiters but it makes sense that they would be very sharp in certain ways. And when you see how their culture deals with a rogue like Bok you have to allow them some respect.
Sanagi: Agreed. In the parallel universe where this was the first Ferengi episode, they actually turned into a good, nasty foe for TNG. It becomes a much more different show after that………….
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
Like a lot of my first season favorites (“The Naked Now,” “Where No One Has Gone Before,” “The Big Goodbye,” “Datalore,” “Heart of Glory,” “Arsenal of Freedom”), this episode has some flaws… and yet they can’t detract from my love of it. I don’t think my love for season 1 is entirely rational. It has more to do with my memories of how much I loved it as a 5 year old in 1987, and with that aura of newness that the show has, like anything is still possible. I would take season 1 over season 7 any day — the world was so full of possibilities that the show was tripping over them all.
“The Battle” was one of the only episodes that actually managed to make the Ferengi seem menacing (which was the original intention). It gave us a ton of Picard’s backstory that would be leaned on for many future episodes, and unlike Data’s backstory in “Datalore,” the series didn’t have to spend the next few years working around it or trying to ignore it (how many colonists have their minds stored in Data’s brain again?)
One thing that always interested me — according to “The Battle,” the destruction of the Stargazer was 20 years ago. What did Picard do in the 20 years between the destruction of the Stargazer and becoming captain of the Enterprise? Inquiring minds want to know, yet the TNG writing room stays silence. Get to your computer, KRAD, you’ve got books to write!!! ;-)
Or, if you don’t want to, what’s Michael Jan Friedman doing these days?
I use to call this one the battle of Maxi pad:D
Pendard: it was only nine years between the destruction of the Stargazer and the launch of the Enterprise-D, and the novel you ask for has already been written (as I said in the “Trivial Matters” section): The Buried Age, by excellent writer (and commenter here on Tor.com) Christopher L. Bennett.
And yeah, the Ferengi were indeed a genuine menace in this episode. Oh, what might have been if this was their first appearance rather than “The Last Outpost”……
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
I concur in your general assessment that this is a solid episode. I dissent though from your rating-and would go further to call this episode the best of the First Season, particularly when considered in light of the whole series.
We know almost nothing about Picard at this point. We just know that he is “becoming better acquainted with his new command”, and that he had some prior relationship to Dr. Crusher, from “Farpoint.”
This episode dives headfirst into who Picard was and is. Until Picard’s kidnapping and assault by the Borg, he always seemed to have a bug up his ass. In this episode, Picard avoids that proverbial bug goes from strength (the Picard Maneuver) to elation and pride (reunion with the Stargazer there) to extreme vulnerability in short order.
This vulnerability is an emotional level that Next Generation rarely explored. The lack of resolution Picard feels over Maxia is very real. “I
destroyed an entire starship..And then that log…or am I going crazy?
How do I know I was in my right mind at Maxia? How do I know I’m in my right mind now?”
And this vulnerability creates conflict. Riker is trying to figure out if he has to turn in (or even kill) Picard or if the Ferengi have perpetuated a coverup (they have). And there is Crusher, who is witnessing Picard unravel and helpless to stop it.
The scenes that always stick out to me are all of the flashbacks to the Stargazer. “Can you identify them, Vigo?” “PHASERS FIRE, TORPEDOES AWAY!” “I SAID GET THE FUSION GENERATOR UNDER SURGE CONTROL! YOU’RE MOVING MUCH TOO SLOWLY! ARM THE TORPEDOES MAN!…WHO ARE THEY?”
Granted, I agree that the episode does not utilize all character as well as it should. But that’s a structural flaw in the First Season-the ensemble itself was too large and ill-defined. (Just like them not sticking with Troi’s hair down.) But, in as far as Picard, Riker, and Crusher being the ones who brought the episode to life, it works.
There is also something else missing from your assessment. Ron Jones does an outstanding job with his score. The score, when taken with the scenes, brings the episode to another level. You are facing Picard’s doubts, memories, everything, as he lived them. Indeed, I bought the soundtrack.
Finally, there is actually a message in this episode. “Let the dead rest, and the past, remain the past.” Reliving one’s past by way of revenge solves nothing-and nostalgia should only go so far. It’s also one of the few times TNG got into that area.
So, I concur in your assessment of the episode being great. But I dissent from the rating. It may be the best of the First Season.
You should update your link to Wil’s review of the episode to this:
https://web.archive.org/web/20131022105616/http://www.aoltv.com/2007/02/12/star-trek-the-next-generation-the-battle/
Thanks for that, Nightstriker! The link has been updated….
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
I like that the alien villain in this episode is deviating from his race’s schtick; he’s not trying to make money, he’s consumed by grief and wrath.
I don’t see the big deal about Wesley’s role in this. All he noticed was that the sensor readings he’d been looking at for three days were the same as Picard’s brain scans which he happens to see just because his mom is the ship’s doctor. He doesn’t figure out what that really meant. Then again, he is really smug about it so that is pretty annoying.
I have the impression that Kazago doesn’t remove Bok from command becouse he hasn’t had a profitable business: that’s just an excuse or a cover-up of the real reason, that he has used those controlling mind artifacts; he was really upset and surprised when he saw one of them in Riker’s hands. It seems to me that they are forbidden.
Basically nothing (except females wearing clothes and doing business *) is forbidden in Ferengi culture if it brings profit.
(* Not anymore.)
But previously Bok has given to Picard as a gift a whole almost new Constellation-class starship with a couple of grunts from his acolytes and nothing else… I think that the reaction of Kazago when he realizes what Riker has in his hands is significant.
I can’t remember if this episode states it, or if it is from somewhere else, but at one point you learn that Picard commanded the Stargazer for 22 years!
Frankly, Wes saving the day by outsmarting Data and everyone else is a lot more believable than one ship having the same captain for two decades.
@20/MaGnUs: Kazago does say a thought maker is a forbidden device. Ferengi society must have some standards; they tolerate a degree of corruption and exploitation, but there would have to be some limits on things that would be excessively disruptive to a functioning economy and society. And it’s easy to see how mind control could be one such thing.
@21/IndyJoserra: As Jeremy says, the Stargazer was already at least 22 years old when it was lost 9 years earlier — probably much older, since it’s the same class as the 80-year-old Hathaway from “Peak Performance” and its design features are similar to starship classes from the 2270s-80s.
@22/jeremys: Picard’s bio in the original TNG writers’ bible said that he’d served on the Stargazer for 22 years, not necessarily that he’d been its captain for 22 years. I got the impression back then that he was meant to have risen through the ranks aboard that ship and eventually become its captain. But somewhere along the line, it got simplified to him being captain the whole time.
Anyway, I do wish TNG had done more with Picard’s backstory. The idea was supposed to be that he was already a legendary starship captain at the start of the series. Yet a lot of fans don’t seem to remember that. When Nemesis came out, there were fans crying foul about Shinzon’s backstory, saying “Why would the Romulans have cloned Picard twenty-odd years ago? He wasn’t captain of the Enterprise yet so he wouldn’t have been important!” The whole reason he got the Enterprise was supposed to be because he was already important, an acclaimed veteran who already had a storied career behind him and was thus worthy to command the most advanced and prestigious ship in the fleet. But the Stargazer was so rarely mentioned that a lot of fans forgot all about it.
@23/ChristopherLBennett Serving on the ship for 22 years makes a lot more sense than being the captain for 22 years. I am sure the upcoming Picard series will shed new light on his post-Enterprise career (including the long-delayed promotion to admiral), but it would be cool if it would also talk a bit about his entire life, including the Stargazer and the strange gap between his command there and his posting on the Enterprise (and I haven’t read your book on this era yet, sorry).
I am currently reading the Stargazer series of novels, but they aren’t very satisfying. The first one, Gauntlet, has such a ludicrous ending that it was hard to keep going, but I am a sucker for any Star Trek novels that have a starship crew as protagonists, doing starship things like on the various shows (it’s actually harder to find any like that are still in print than you might think).
I’m a little surprised no one picked up on this. When the Ferengi first beamed aboard the Enterprise, their body language, their accents, and their obviously fake, cartoonishly overplayed obsequiousness looked and sounded a lot like old-time Japanese (or at least Asian) stereotypes. It’s not a huge deal, and I’m not the kind to blanch at every real or imagined un-PC moment in what’s supposed to be, after all, a fantasy, but it’s the kind of thing that normally someone here would have commented upon.
@25/jazzmanchgo: I think it was just a lingering element of the “alien” body language and speech patterns the Ferengi were given in “The Last Outpost.” If anything, I’ve seen it said that the Ferengi bear an unfortunate resemblance to anti-Semitic stereotypes — disreputable businessmen with short stature and big ears and noses, and usually played by Jewish actors (although presumably they wouldn’t have taken the gig if they thought it was deliberately anti-Semitic). And their name, for some bizarre reason, is the Arabic/Turkish word for a European, literally a Frank (Frenchman). I don’t see any reason why a director would want to include Asian stereotypes in that mix, so it’s probably a coincidence.
When Picard goes to the Stargazer, Bok meets him there. He raises the SG shields then leaves (which itself it odd, considering they make it a point to establish that one can’t beam through shields). Picard eventually hails Enterprise and then the transmission cuts and Geordi said it was because “he put up the shields”. You mean, the shields that were already up? I suppose it could be because he ordered “shields a full power” but they’ve never had a problem before communicating through shields.
I also found that period where Picard met the group in his ready room and he acted like he was fine, then his telling Riker to cut SG loose and beaming over weird. I understand the device is forcing his past memories present, but is this then implying that the device can force a person to do specific things not related to memory? Why would Picard do any of that if all that is happening is those past memories being forced to the surface?
Also nobody put together sudden rare headache onset with the Ferengi situation happening? With the captain acting so obviously weird right as the Ferengi are coming that’d be a pretty obvious thing to investigate IMO.
This is a pretty good episode! For season One… which makes it average overall.
What’s remarkable is that after a disastrous first outing, the Ferengi fight back a little, and we see a shadowing of what’s to come. Obviously, this episode falls into the cliches that plagued S1: nobody realizing anything’s wrong despite all the signs until someone’s about to die, except for that genius visionary Westley, who should probably be first officer given the number of times he sees exactly what’s going on while the “real” number one who’s been in Starfleet longer than he’s been alive says “nothing wrong here.” Or the empath who can’t sense a barrage of brainwaves somehow powerful and targeted enough to take control of the redoubtable Capt. Picard (but have no effect on anyone else). There are plenty fo plot hoes, and I’d also wondered about the one with the shields Ken pointed out. We didn’t care about that in 1987. Actually, I was four, so I didn’t care about much more than toys and naps and my next meal, but I digress.
This episode does play out pretty well. It’s a pretty good dig into Picard’s past; I just wish the means of getting there were a little more… convention? The whole idea of a brainwave controller, banned by the Ferangi, that somehow works on humans? Getting past that though, it’s fun to see Picard connect with his past, and Riker play the “we’re the same guy, really” game with the Ferengi second officer. The finish is kind of fun, but anticlimactic: the counter to the Picard maneuver is… the tractor beam? Oh well, it was a great episode in its time, and still pretty watchable. I call it an eight for first watch, five overall.
I’ve grown to like this one a bit more on subsequent viewings. It was one of the first episodes to humanize Picard (11001001) would further explore that) and give him a tangible background. There are the usual early-Season 1 awkward moments, but overall, a pretty decent episode. I do have one question though: since when does the Counsellor have the authority to cut-off communications with another ship? On their first visual communication with the Ferengi, Troi turns and gives Tasha the ‘cut-throat’ motion to immediately end the visual transmission because she senses some kind of betrayal from Bok. I don’t recall this ever happening again…
This is a pretty good episode. I wish it had been our introduction to the Ferengi instead of “The Last Outpost.”
Picard introduces Riker as his First Officer and Data as “second in command” — but of course as Second Officer he’s third in command.
The Enterprise crew is curiously uncurious about why the Ferengi vessel remains alongside them after the gift of the Stargazer has been made and it’s being towed by the Enterprise’s tractor beam.
I’d never made the connection between the stripes on Wesley’s top (which always reminded me of Color Kid from the Legion of Substitute Heroes) and Starfleet’s assignment divisions before looking it up after its debut in this episode — partly I guess because I never realized it was his official “acting ensign” uniform.
Actually a pretty fine episode. My one nitpick is that it seems once you know about the Picard maneuver, the defense is easy: You act on the ship that’s immediately in front of you. Unless it’s the complex Double Picard maneuver where you warp forward and back.