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TNG Rewatch: 4x21 "The Drumhead."

I kind of wonder what Riker was thinking during this whole ordeal. On one hand he's Tarses counsel right? On the other hand Riker is usually similar to Worf, if there's a security risk I imagine he would get pissed off and support Satie in the investigation.

Riker is able to disassociate his beliefs with his duty. See, "Measure of a Man" where Riker argues in favor of Data not being a sentient being and nearly wins in getting Data turned over, and potentially destroyed, by Maddox.
 
It was heavily implied in Picard's big speech during his questioning that larger problem with Tarsis was his Romulan ancestry. He even says something to effect of, "Mr. Tarsis's grandfather is Romulan (said in a "spooky scary" voice). Do we condemn a man because his ancestor happens to be a current enemy?"

He's directing that at Satie's witch hunt, not Starfleet in general.
It was as I recalled. There wasn't any mention that Tarses could be kicked out from Starfleet according to regulations.Tarses believed his career was ended because his reputation was gonna be broken. Picard said his career was being ruined because Satie was burning him. That's all.

I think Sabin Genestra, the Betazoid aide, is underestimed. This guy acted really viciously and seemed to be found of Klingon hereditary justice. McCarthy Satie wasn't the only crazy person in this episode. I alo think it's a good idea to use a Betazoid character, it shows how empathic powers doesn't garantee the reliability.
I kind of wonder what Riker was thinking during this whole ordeal. On one hand he's Tarses counsel right? On the other hand Riker is usually similar to Worf, if there's a security risk I imagine he would get pissed off and support Satie in the investigation.
Worf is more naive and more deferential to authority figures than Riker. If we remove the Klingon/Romulan background, the only other character who could have fitted in Worf's place was...Tasha.

I don't think the drumhead was the better reference for the title. If I well understood the notion, the drumhead thing was the expeditive justice element. "Inquisition" would be more relevant.
 
If we remove the Klingon/Romulan background, the only other character who could have fitted in Worf's place was...Tasha.

How about Wesley? :rofl: They can put him in charge of security for an episode as part of his schooling. I would like to see Satie give Wesley a verbal beat down.
 
It wasn't that he had a Romulan ancestor that jeopardized his career, it was that he lied about it in his application. There's a difference.
Do we condemn a man because his ancestor happens to be a current enemy?"
If he knowingly lied about the ancestor on what may have been a security clearance? Yes.

Saying she helped expose the alien infiltration from Conspiracy made no sense.
She could have been referring to a different alien infiltration, they're hardly rare in the Federation.

:)
 
If he knowingly lied about the ancestor on what may have been a security clearance? Yes.

Why would your ancestry matter when it comes to a security clearance? That assumes than one's ancestry makes one predisposed to a particular personality and/or disposition.
 
Why would your ancestry matter when it comes to a security clearance? That assumes than one's ancestry makes one predisposed to a particular personality and/or disposition.

Sometimes people share things with family that they shouldn't.
 
If he knowingly lied about the ancestor on what may have been a security clearance? Yes.

Why would your ancestry matter when it comes to a security clearance? That assumes than one's ancestry makes one predisposed to a particular personality and/or disposition.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but when applying for security clearance in the US government/military, don't they also do background checks on your parents?
 
That's the whole point, he has a bloodline connection to the enemy but judging him because of it is still morally wrong. It led to them hounding an innocent guy.
 
If he knowingly lied about the ancestor on what may have been a security clearance? Yes.

Why would your ancestry matter when it comes to a security clearance? That assumes than one's ancestry makes one predisposed to a particular personality and/or disposition.

if he had a security clearance and lied during the process to get it simply telling a lie would be the real issue regardless of the content of the lie
 
Tarses shouldn't have lied on his application, but look at how the interrogators responded to it.

"Isn't it true that your grandfather is Romulan, that it is Romulan tradition you uphold!" He immediately made the leap between Romulan grandfather and total allegiance to the Romulan Empire. That's the equivalent of our "I hold in my hand, a list of United States officials who are members of the Communist party."
 
One of my very favorite shows! It's extremely well written and acted. It shows that no matter how removed we are from the past, human beings can still resort to witch trial mentality or McCarthyism. It's a 24th century "Red Scare!"

What's interesting is how Worf unknowingly and with perfectly respectable intentions gets sort of swept up in it. That's the best part about it, and the scene with Picard at the end was great. The admiral getting up and silently walking out was great too.
 
Why would your ancestry matter when it comes to a security clearance? That assumes than one's ancestry makes one predisposed to a particular personality and/or disposition.

Sometimes people share things with family that they shouldn't.

That's the point Sabin Genestra versus Worf. But the Worf situation could aslo been applied on Data: Lore is dangeous, Soong's works were quite mysterious, Soong have once be able to make Data hijack the Enterprise, etc.

We forget Deanna Troi: she had an affair with the guy who plotted with the Ferengis against the Federation.

About Tarses' case, Genestra and Satie didn't even mention that his lie about his origins was a serious offense, they simply said it was a lie and that lie was the proof he was not simply an anxious pointed ears technichian, but a treacherous infiltrator.
 
Yeah, the focus from those against him was more on his Romulan heritage and not that he had lied on his applications. Which I suspect wouldn't get him too terribly in trouble especially if Picard put in good words in Tarsis's behalf. I mean he'd get something on his record for sure and may see a suspension or something of the like, but it's unlikely his career would be over. If there's anything consistent we've with Starfleet when it comes to their reaction to people who break the rules it's that SF has a very "if the ends justify the means" type of attitude.

Starfleet may very well see the "point" behind Tarsis's lie and understand why he would make such a lie and be forgiving towards him. We could also probably quibble that it's only a lie "on paper" since Romulans and Vulcans are, technically, the same species and are just different cultures even if there may be some minute genetic differences between the two given the length of the separation.

It's like telling someone you're Chinese instead of North Korean. Different cultures, maybe some tiny genetic differences, but still the same species.
 
I've heard some Iranians refer to themselves as 'Persian'. People judge other people irrationally. Maybe in the 24th century they don't, but when it's the Romulans you'd be naturally worried that they would. You certainly can't blame innocent people or fearing that they will be irrationally judged.
 
Good friend of mine has a wife from Iran who identifies herself as Persian. Great, fun, woman who worked with the CIA for a time to get a fast-track to citizenship and is currently working with a local police department. If "Persian" is a word used by an Iranian to distance them-self from the something of stigma people might have against most people from Iran, I can sort of understand that. Sad that it has to be done, however.
 
Come to think of it, Tarses could also argue that he didn't even lie. His grandfather was from Vulcan ... several thousand years earlier.
 
I'm currently rewatching it and I see another point about continuity. Picard is worried about a potential alliance between Romulans and Klingons...what will partly happen at the end of the season.

Yup, and it was originally set up in Reunion.

One thing I noticed rewatching Season 4 was that you could see this season as a little arc based because not only did you have this development, but then in The Minds Eye that covered a great deal about the looming civil war in the Klingon Empire and Romulan involvement. It was nice, seeing the season in a short time frame, how everything seemed to come together, leading into Redemption.
 
I view S4 as the "sequel season" because so many of the episodes are follow ups of previous episodes from the first three seasons in some ways.

"Family" following Picard's trauma with the Borg after "The Best of Both Worlds"
"Brothers" bringing back Lore and looking further into Dr. Soong.
"Remember Me" with the return of The Traveler.
"Legacy" looking into Tasha's stomping grounds and her sister.
"Reunion" bringing back K'Ehleyr and continuing Worf's discommendation with the Klingon Empire.
"Future Imperfect" not much a sequel, but it brings back Minuet that makes Riker realize he's in a holographic fantasy.
"Final Mission" finally has Wesley get enrolled into the academy.
"Data's Day" showing that Data has kept contact with Bruce Maddox from "The Measure of a Man".
"Galaxy's Child" having Geordi finally meet the real Dr. Brahms.
"The Nth Degree" bringing back Barclay.
"Qpid" being both a follow up to "Deja Q" and "Captain's Holiday"

After all that, we get "The Drumhead" and "The Mind's Eye" truly signaling an ongoing arc rather than just one follow up episode.
 
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