The Battle 

The Enterprise is kept waiting for days on a mysterious rendezvous with Ferenge 'daimon' (captain) Bok's spaceship, then receives a gift which stuns Picard: the USS Stargazer, the lost ... See full summary »

Director:

Rob Bowman

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (created by), Herbert Wright (teleplay by)

Stars:

Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Patrick Stewart	...	Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes	...	Commander William T. Riker
LeVar Burton	...	Lieutenant Geordi La Forge
Denise Crosby	...	Lieutenant Tasha Yar
Michael Dorn	...	Lt. Worf
Gates McFadden	...	Dr. Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis	...	Counselor Deanna Troi
Brent Spiner	...	Lt. Commander Data
Wil Wheaton	...	Wesley Crusher
Frank Corsentino	...	DaiMon Bok
Douglas Warhit	...	Kazago (as Doug Warhit)
Robert Towers	...	Rata

Storyline

The Enterprise is kept waiting for days on a mysterious rendezvous with Ferenge 'daimon' (captain) Bok's spaceship, then receives a gift which stuns Picard: the USS Stargazer, the lost vessel he commanded in a legendary battle, won by inventing a now classic maneuver. He goes aboard to recover some belongings and takes it in tow, but suffers worrying headaches and starts behaving erratically, until he leaves the Enterprise for it. Data works out Bok's motivation for the gift against his race's mercantile attitude, which even gets him removed from command. Wesley notices very peculiar waves.

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Plot Keywords:

alien starship | voice over narration | female lieutenant | personal quarters | ferengi starship | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 November 1987 (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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Larry Forrester's script, his second for The Next Generation, originally featured several scenes on board the Ferengi ship to cast further light on their culture but they were all ultimately cut before filming.

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Goofs

(at around 8 mins) Boom microphone visible while Picard is introducing his officers to the Ferengi on the bridge.

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Quotes

DaiMon Bok: You will injure yourself, as you once injured me.

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Connections

Spoofs It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

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Soundtracks

Star Trek: The Next Generation End Credits
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User Reviews

There is not much profit when it comes to revenge.

This episode begins with something very strange--the Ferengi want to GIVE something away! As folks familiar with the show would realize later, the Ferengi would NEVER just give something away...and obviously there is a catch. In this case, they return a lost Federation ship, the Stargazer, back to Picard--a man who served aboard the ship during an encounter at Maxia where the ship destroyed a Ferengi vessel that attacked them. Obviously this is an attempt by DaiMon Bok to exact revenge for this incident...but how will this result in his punishing Picard?

Had the Federation come upon the Ferengi offer of a 'gift' later in the series, it obviously would have been seen as a trap. However, this was only the second encounter with this annoying species--so the humans have no idea what's REALLY going on in this episode. So, it is not a weak episode--just one that explains just who the Ferengi are and how they think.

This is a very good episode--not just because of what it has to say about revenge but because it gives some wonderful insights into the psyche of the Ferengi. All in all, one of the better episodes of season one.