Gambit, Part I 

While investigating the apparent death of Capt. Picard, Riker is abducted by a group of intergalactic archaeological thieves, only to find Picard has apparently joined their ranks.

Director:

Peter Lauritson

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (created by), Naren Shankar (teleplay by)

Stars:

Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Stewart	...	Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes	...	Cmdr. William Riker
LeVar Burton	...	Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
Michael Dorn	...	Lt. Worf
Gates McFadden	...	Dr. Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis	...	Counselor Deanna Troi
Brent Spiner	...	Lt. Cmdr. Data
Richard Lynch	...	Baran
Robin Curtis	...	Tallera
Julie Caitlin Brown	...	Vekor (as Caitlin Brown)
Cameron Thor	...	Narik
Alan Altshuld	...	Yranac
Bruce Gray	...	Adm. Chekote
Sabrina Le Beauf	...	Ensign Giusti
Stephen Lee	...	Bartender

Storyline

Riker's team concludes that the missing Captain Picard must be dead, since Dr. Crusher identified the debris as his DNA; he gets a free hand from Starfleet while in temporary command of the Enterprise to go after Picard's killers. After further bribery of the alien who tipped them off in the first place fails, Riker resorts to threatening with expulsion to cruel Klingon justice and learns it's the work of mercenaries who head for the Barradas system. Data works out the only plausible planet is Barradas III, now uninhabited but rich in archaeological remains of the Debrunes, a Romulan-related race. Indeed his party finds Picard's traces there, but is attacked by three mercenaries, who capture Riker on board their ship, and implant a pain-control device. To his surprise another implantee is none other than Picard. He was pressed into joining the crew on account of his skills, especially in archaeology. Picard tells Riker to win the pirate captain's trust, by pretending to be Picard's ...

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Plot Keywords:

acting first officer | acting captain | implant | punishment | female mercenary | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Julie Caitlin Brown (Vekor) previously appeared as Ty Kajada in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Passenger (1993).

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Goofs

In describing Picard to a stranger, Troi apparently described him as "about two meters tall" (or 6' 6"). While not inaccurate in an absolute sense, in the context of describing a human it is very misleading, implying that Picard is exceptionally tall for a human.

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Quotes

Commander William T. Riker: Acting Captain's log, stardate 47135.2 - Dr. Crusher has positively identified Captain Picard's DNA. There's no doubt now that he's dead.

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Connections

References Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993)

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Soundtracks

Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User Reviews

good story, terrible acting

This is an agreeably interesting and complex story, with a few twists and a surprising ending that Makes An Important Point. Plotting-wise, it's almost (but not quite) worthy of Roy Huggins. (Huggins was never one to Make Important Points.) You can discover these for yourself. This review will focus on the acting.

The various Star Trek series have never been strong on casting. Any of them is lucky to have one really fine actor in the regular cast. (DS9 has two, but out of respect for the other actors, I won't name them.) I'm inclined to say that TNG doesn't have //any//. In "Gambit", we see two of them at their worst.

Frakes and Sirtis are arguing over who's more upset at Pickard's apparent death. They raise their voices as if they're trying to be heard at the back of a stadium with a non-functioning PA system. They wildly over-emote in an manner more like a high school production of a Shakespeare tragedy.

It's some of the worst "acting" I've ever seen in an American TV series. (The absolute worst is Martin Landau's death scene in the "Bonanza" episode "The Gift".) Peter Lauritson, the director, must have been in a rush, or didn't care that Frakes and Sirtis broke one of the most-basic of acting rules -- restrain yourself. You have no where to go from "all out". Frakes and Sirtis are cringe-worthy without the saving grace of risibility.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 October 1993 (USA)

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

46 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1