Episode complete credited cast: | |||
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 | |
Wil Wheaton | ... | Wesley Crusher (credit only) | |
Kathryn Leigh Scott | ... | Nuria | |
Ray Wise | ... | Liko | |
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James Greene | ... | Dr. Barron |
Pamela Adlon | ... | Oji (as Pamela Segall) | |
John McLiam | ... | Fento | |
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James McIntire | ... | Hali |
Lois Hall | ... | Dr. Mary Warren |
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. The culture now revives an abandoned belief in a supernatural overseer, worships the Picard, and soon considers offering Counselor Troi as a human sacrifice. Written by KGF Vissers
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.