Devil's Due

http://tng.trekcore.com/hd/albums/season-4/4x13/devils-due-hd-376.jpg

 

Better get out there are read what you're supposed to like and not supposed to like and then fall in line, Scooter.

Yes, this is a fun episode. You know, if someone told me to pick two eps just to sit a spell and enjoy TNG, I'd more likely pick "The Neutral Zone" and "Devil's Due" than I would "The Inner Light" and "Redemption".

 

What would they done if Ardana turned out to be a Q???

 

Best. Plot twist. Ever.

DeLancie-Q is hardly the only renegade Q out there... the same goes for the Quinn-Q from VOY. While Devil's Due did address the issue, it could have been better (someone should still have been at least skeptical or open to the possibility even for a moment despite it all, even Picard when he sees his ship magically disappear as quickly as my bowl of Trix did some 10,950 days ago or so), but it could have been a lot worse if they hadn't.

The trial scene was still magnificent...

 

For pure fun factor, I agree, but there's something to be said for those drama toned one-offs too. I'd be inclined toward The Defector & The Drumhead. Episodes that entertain, but suck you in with some heavy hitting too

 

"Defector" is a masterpiece with plot twists and resolution. Complete with a masterstroke by Picard that felt authentic due to the build-up of the Klingon Empire and alliance by this point in the show's run (and what would follow). An easy go-to for entertainment when in the mood for something serious and more gritty. "Devil's Due" is fun but there are still some great human nature themes, which Trek should be first and foremost good at, though the science didn't hurt.

 

Also, for "Devil's Due", is it just me or are there echoes of "Skin of Evil" regarding the template of "let's find the baddie's weak spot if we can get them to do the same thing over and over again fast enough"? Which isn't a complaint, TNG had enough proverbial legos to get seven seasons' worth of goodies out of...

 

It was used in several episodes in several ways, including "The High Ground."

 

Wasn't that how they bested Daimon Bok as well? letting him run his subspace transporter schtick one too many times, so they could nab him

 

"The Defector" is in my TNG Top 10, though it never shows up on any lists.

 

maybe better if after Picard and team figured out all of ardra's tricks if there was a plot-twist and in the end ardra was in fact the species devil and had been playing picard just for the fun of it.

and then sent picard packing, with a truly evil laugh

 

I’ve always seen it as an average episode. The only major problem is that, if Ardra was doing it with transporters the Enterprise shields should have been able to block it.

For its time period it’s not that cheesy.

 

Key word, "if".

How do you know she wasn't using a dimensional shifter? (Used in an episode one season earlier.)

 

Only the bit where she appeared to remain on Picard's bridge as Picard's helmsman, and then to leave, would have involved beaming through shields. But the real keyword here is "appeared". Appearing is easily done with holograms, even in the lair of the opponent, like Shinzon does in ST:NEM. The conster could have dropped a few clandestine holoprojectors on Picard's ship and used them to fool the heroes in various ways.

Once again, the attitude of our heroes is what counts in making Trek so charming. Another set of heroes might be awed or confused and find all this magicking the centerpiece of the adventure; the audience here instead gets the somewhat surprise revelation that Picard's heroes consider the magic mundane and banal and something to be swept aside so that they can get to the actual business.

Timo Saloniemi

 

If it were only a hologram, that'd make the crewman's reaction a bit odd surely?

 

That also had some terrible side effects over long term use. And if she had a non-dangerous solution to beat shields when they captured her ship it should have gone straight to Starfleet R&D.

 

That would have been a nice twist with a bit of Twilight Zone thrown in.

 

True but one thing I've learned about TNG (and many other shows) after watching episodes umpteen times, is it's hard not to start picking them apart for these types of things. Best to just suspend disbelief (admittedly difficult at times) and go with it.

 

It’s easier to handwave inconsistencies between episodes than within a single one though. This case feels like Ardra’s magician tricks required a level of tech that should have prevented the ship from getting found.

 

I never had an issue with this episode really. I get why some may think it's a bit cheesy and so forth. But I liked it fine.

But you know what, it's nice to have a little fun now and then. Why not? I think this episode was done well. And the people making it even knew not to take it 'too' seriously and to just have a little fun with it.

I always kind of wish Ardra had made a return at some point to torture Picard a bit more. It's a shame it never happened (though she did finally reappear in one of the TNG novels).