A Matter Of Honor

Will Riker participates in an officer exchange program with the Klingons.

This is a very strong episode with some great insight into the Klingons and some superb character moments for Riker.

The story has an excellent premise and unfolds in a compelling way with some strong themes of the alienation individuals encounter when living in a racially and culturally different environment.

There is a strong build up to the exchange with a number of solid moments such as Riker and Picard on the phaser range, Riker sampling Klingon food and O'Brien in the transporter.

Riker's scenes on board the the Pagh are all excellent and without going into detail, it is safe to say these are probably my favourite moments for this character in the franchise. These are also some good Klingon moments, although there are plenty more to come in TNG and Deep Space Nine.

There is a great sub-plot that mirrors what Riker is going through but in a very different way aboard Enterprise. Eventually the plots collide and we have a pretty cheer-worthy conclusion as Enterprise and Pagh hail each other.

All visuals are excellent with a great atmosphere aboard the Pagh. The makeup effects are some of the strongest examples in Star Trek and hold up against modern day filmmaking.

This episode very much belongs to Jonathan Frakes and the guest actors who play the Klingon warriors. Frakes portrays Riker as an action hero with an iron will and a sense of adventure to rival the best moments of Captain Kirk. Michael Dorn and Patrick Stewart also contribute well.