Who Watches The Watchers

Episode aired Oct 14, 1989
TV-PG
45m

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

4.7K

YOUR RATING

Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Action Adventure Drama Sci-Fi

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

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

4.7K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

User reviews43

Featured review

8/10

Anthropology research gone wrong

Futuristic anthropologists get to observe a culture in development by means of a camouflaged station. As anyone who took Anthropology one can tell you any contact with any culture will contribute to the development of same. It's the reason for the prime directive, leave relatively primitive cultures alone to develop.

Star Fleet's prime directive goes awry here when the station camouflage is down and a father and daughter from a cousin race to the Vulcans. One is beamed up to the Enterprise at Dr. Crusher's orders because her prime directive involves saving lives. The patient under sedation sees enough to convince him he's up among the gods of which Captain Picard is Jupiter.

Not wanting these people to develop some kind of religion around worship of the Picard Deity is Patrick Stewart's problem. He takes a potentially dangerous solution to solve it and to save Marina Sirtis's life when she is held hostage by the natives.

An anthropologist's episode if there ever was one.

bkoganbing
Dec 5, 2018
Permalink

Trivia
The Mintakan tapestry that is given to Picard by Nuria and the villagers is seen on Captain Picard's chair in his quarters in many subsequent occasions on Star Trek: The Next Generation. After the Enterprise-D is destroyed in Star Trek: Generations (1994), Picard keeps the tapestry on the back of his chair in the ready room of the Enterprise-E (it can been seen in both Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)).

Goofs
The weapon is a compound bow, one that has wheels or cams to increase power. Some might suggest that this would be inconsistent with the presumed stage of development of this culture. As these people are "proto-Vulcans" and, as seen by Oji's sextant, more prone to scientific discovery, there is no reason to doubt that they would apply the knowledge of a pulley to the development of a hunting bow.

Quotes
Counselor Deanna Troi: Mintakan emotions are quite interesting. Like the Vulcans, they have highly ordered minds. A very sensible people. For example, Mintakan women precede their mates. It's a signal to other women.
Commander William T. Riker: "This man's taken, get your own"?
Counselor Deanna Troi: Not precisely. More like, "If you want his services, I'm the one you have to negotiate with".
Commander William T. Riker: What kind of services?
Counselor Deanna Troi: All kinds.
Commander William T. Riker: They *are* a sensible race.