CHAIN OF COMMAND PART 1


Well, if the conclusion ties this one up satisfactorily, then I think season
six has finally produced a winner.

Just to start off on a pessimistic foot, I'll point out that this episode
wasn't perfect; it DID have some problems.

One of them was Vice Admiral Nechayev, who 1) Was poorly acted, and 2) Had
what seemed to me to be an unusually large amount of latitude regarding this
mission than one might think a VICE Admiral would have.

Another was the question of sending three STARSHIP OFFICERS (including the
captain of the Federation flagship) on this mission.  Surely Starfleet has
personnel specially trained to carry out these sorts of infiltration missions,
and just as surely there are other people in Starfleet who have some knowledge
and experience with theta-band waves, people less intrinsically valuable than
Picard.

Finally, Jellico's seemed rather over-the-top at times.  From the perspective
of this viewer, it was never explained WHY he wanted the ship to move onto a
four-shift rotation, or for that matter WHERE he got the extensive detailed
technical information about the Enterprise in his head.  (Or WHY, if it was
possible to improve the Enterprise's capabilities in so short a span of time,
it hadn't been done years ago.)  I have no problem with his making these
demands and expecting them to be met, only with the fact that the hows and
whys behind them were never explained.  This smacks of manipulation to me, and
needless manipulation at that.

So, there were some holes in the story.  However, for all that it was still a
good, entertaining story.  Moreover, there's still an hour of it left to be
played, and, as is alwas the case with two-part stories, the second half could
make or break the whole thing.

The key to making the first part work was, of course, Captain Jellico.
Amazingly, after only half an hour or so of exposure, Jellico is a better
realized, more interesting character than most of the TNG regulars!  In
general, his arguments for why he was running the crew ragged were persuasive;
he DOESN'T have the time to really work with them and get to know them.  (On
the other hand, it would have been wise of him to have said o up front and
have made it clear that his style of command would probably be quite a change
from what they're used to.)

There is certainly a lot left to be done with him.  For one thing, his
interactions with and knowledge of the Cardassians needs to be better defined
(mainly because the Cardassians as a race are such utter nonentities), and
we'll need to see if Troi is really correct in her assessment that he isn't
sure of himself.  (As yet we have nothing whatsoever to go on in that
department.)  So, there are a few balls here that part 2 will have to run
with.  Hopefully the creators learned from the "Best Of Both Worlds Part 2"
debacle and will not fumble.

(At one point my "conspiracy theory" circuitry kicked in and I wondered if
Jellico - with or without the Vice Admiral's aid - had somehow planned all
this with the Cardassians to get rid of Picard so that Jellico could get
command of the Enterprise.  Of course, this would make Jellico a traitor.  I
sincerely hope that this is NOT the case, since the whole idea is patently
ludicrous.  The best route the story could take would be for Jellico to prove
to be exactly what he appears to be:  A hard-nosed Starfleet captain whom the
Enterprise crew just can't work well with.  Twisting his character to fit
another mold would be a big letdown.)

The other half of the story was decent enough.  While I could have done
without the bit with the Ferengi and Dr. Crusher, the trap set to capture
Picard was well-done, had some good one-liners, an a nice, sinister
atmosphere.

The promo for next time focused on Picard being tortured.  While this no doubt
will have some interesting bits, after he was Borgified I think the "let's
hurt Picard" routine probably doesn't have TOO much life in it.  I hope that
the focus of the second part continues to be on Jellico and the Enterprise,
with cuts to Picard beign held captive to show us exactly WHY Riker fighting
with Jellico not to write off Picard is of such importance.  As with "The Best
Of Both Worlds", it's the character aspects, not the "menace to life and limb"
which are the interesting pieces here.

To summarize:  I think Jellico may be the best thing to happen to TNG in over
two years.  The characters are really beginning to come alive, and I almost
hope that he remains in the center seat (though of course he won't).  This
story has a lot of potential, and I'll see this Saturday how they resolve it.

Grade: B+

SEASON SIX AT A GLANCE:
Time's Arrow II: B-
Realm Of Fear: C
Man Of The People: C
Relics: B+
Schisms: B-
True Q: D-
Rascals: D+
A Fistful Of Datas: B
The Quality Of Life: C+
Chain Of Command I: B+
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Total Points: 23 1/3
Season Average: 2.333 (C+)
(Rise of 0.111 from last episode)