Who Watches the Watchers (14 Oct. 1989)

A proto-Vulcan culture worships Captain Picard and prepares to offer Counselor Troi as a sacrifice.

Director:

Robert Wiemer

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (creator), Richard Manning,

Stars:

Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Patrick Stewart	...	Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes	...	Commander William T. Riker
LeVar Burton	...	Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge
Michael Dorn	...	Lieutenant Worf
Gates McFadden	...	Doctor Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis	...	Counselor Deanna Troi
Brent Spiner	...	Lt. Commander Data
Wil Wheaton	...	Wesley Crusher (credit only)
Kathryn Leigh Scott	...	Nuria
Ray Wise	...	Liko
James Greene	...	Dr. Barron
Pamela Adlon	...	Oji (as Pamela Segall)
John McLiam	...	Fento
James McIntire	...	Hali
Lois Hall	...	Dr. Mary Warren

Storyline

The "Enterprise" is to provide technical assistance to a 3-man anthropological field team on the planet Mintaka III, which is observing, in hiding, the Vulcanoid Bronze Age native population. When the holographic hiding place is ravaged by an explosion, the landing party and its advanced technology are observed by two natives, one of whom, Liko, gets hurt badly and is beamed up for life-saving treatment; Picard orders his short-term memory wiped out to prevent a breach of the Prime Directive, but that fails as Commander William Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi find out, after they are beamed down again, temporarily altered to resemble Mintakans, to look for missing anthropologist Palmer: this culture now revives an abandoned belief in a supernatural overseer, worships the Picard, and soon ponders to offer Counselor Troi as a human sacrifice....

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Plot Keywords:

24th century

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 October 1989 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title is related to the phase Quis custodiet ipsos custodes, a Latin phrase from the Roman poet Juvenal, variously translated as "Who watches the watchmen", "Who watches the watchers", "Who will guard the guards", "Who shall watch the watchers themselves", or something similar.

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Goofs

(at around 3 mins) When Captain Picard shows Nuria the view of her planet from the Enterprise, what appears to be a boom mic is visible on the top of the screen.

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Quotes

Nuria: [after being shown around the Enterprise] Perhaps one day, my people will travel above the skies.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Of that, I have absolutely no doubt.

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Connections

Referenced in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

User Reviews

great story

I was watching back through the first three seasons to select episodes that would make a good sampling for a friend of mine; this episode is the one (out of the first three seasons) that I would be absolutely certain to recommend to anyone. It requires little to no background information and tells an engaging story. Also, to my recollection, no other episode conveys so well the wonder of reason and cultural progress.

Just as another reviewer observed about The Inner Light (my personal favorite), this episode shows that sci-fi, at its best, is not so much about the technology as it is about good storytelling.