Contrarian view on The Drumhead?

[Shatnertage]

First of all, let me say that I really like "The Drumhead," mostly because of what Jean Simmons brings to it. She's absolutely riveting.

But I've always had a few quibbles with the episode (and hey, what is TBBS if not a place to discuss quibbles w/ 20 year-old tv shows w/ complete strangers?).

First, the title doesn't seem completely apt. What Adm. Satie was doing was the opposite of a drumhead trial, which as Picard says was quick and brutal, with justice dispensed immediately. If anything it was the opposite, with too much "investigation" and analysis of who was talking to whom. I get that both what Satie was doing and a drumhead trial were mockeries of justice, but besides that, they don't have much in common. As Picard later said, it was a witch hunt.

Second, was painted with pretty broad brushstrokes. They could have told a much more complex story. Picard is made out to be totally blameless, when in fact he got caught, so to speak, with his pants down. There was a major security breach on his ship. And Satie was turned into the usual Admiral Dunderhead, with absolutely no ear for logic or common sense. She made a good foil, but really could have been treated with some more complexity.

Plus, there's the usual amorphous proceedings of Courtroom Trek.

Overall, it was just a bit too black and white for me. There's never any doubt who's right and who's wrong. Extremely well acted by everyone involved, though.

I always thought it was funny if, after the big meltdown, the security admiral came walking back in, sat down, and said, "What? I just had to take a leak. Let's continue."

 

[sonak]

Those are good points actually, and I've long had one specific issue with this episode, namely its lack of realism and perspective-and by this I mean that after the initial mystery of the accident was solved, there was no basis for Admiral Satie to continue.


Instead, she just sort of starts making accusations and investigating whatever she wants, from Tarses' lying on his application to Picard's command record, to Worf's father, etc.

And this is where the analogy to McCarthyism that it was clearly trying to be fails-Joe McCarthy was a demagogue and a liar, but at least his investigation claimed to be sticking to Communism.

Satie's "investigations" are basically whatever the heck she wants to look into-why would her team or the ship go along with this? A prosecutor doesn't just start investigating whatever catches his or her eye.

Still a good episode over all though, with the classic confrontation between Picard and Satie, and I'm a sucker for good courtroom drama.

 

[BillJ]

Those are good points actually, and I've long had one specific issue with this episode, namely its lack of realism and perspective-and by this I mean that after the initial mystery of the accident was solved, there was no basis for Admiral Satie to continue.

But her investigation continues to be supported by Starfleet Security...

SATIE: I'm going to get to the heart of this conspiracy if it means investigating every last person on this ship. And every hearing from now on will be held in the presence of Admiral Thomas Henry of Starfleet Security. I've requested he be brought here at once.
PICARD: You never told me about this.
SATIE: I report to Starfleet Command directly. I do not need your permission or your approval for my decisions.
PICARD: Admiral, what you're doing here is unethical. It's immoral. I'll fight it.
SATIE: Do what you must, Captain. And so will I.

Starfleet just didn't know her "elevator no longer went to the top floor".

 

[sonak]

Right, maybe I wasn't exactly clear: I know Starfleet backed her, I meant that I didn't think it was believable for them to back her. Doesn't the mystery of the explosion get solved like twenty minutes into the episode?


Imagine a detective gets brought in to consult on a specific robbery case. The robbery case is then subsequently solved by somebody else-does it make sense that they'd then allow the detective to just start opening investigations into whatever he wanted?


It just felt that the writers of this episode were trying to make a point, but didn't exactly care how they got there. "Let's just have Starfleet allow Satie unlimited discretion to investigate whatever she feels like when she gets up in the morning."

Yeah, THAT won't cause problems....

 

[BillJ]

Well they did have a proven Klingon spy, with Romulan connections, aboard the flagship of the Federation. It is, at least, embarrassing for Starfleet Security and is still a potentially critical security issue.

 

[Mojochi]

Well they did have a proven Klingon spy, with Romulan connections, aboard the flagship of the Federation. It is, at least, embarrassing for Starfleet Security and is still a potentially critical security issue.

Couple that with the Klingon using a hypospray as a tool of espionage, which links a Starfleet medial crewman to him, who has concealed his Romulan ancestry. Now add the shady Betazoid claim of Tarses' dishonesty, & it's a more plausible conspiracy, of a plot against the Federation

By the time Satie implicates Picard & Worf, things have pretty much gone berserk

 

[Timo]

Imagine a detective gets brought in to consult on a specific robbery case. The robbery case is then subsequently solved by somebody else-does it make sense that they'd then allow the detective to just start opening investigations into whatever he wanted?

Then again, every detective story ever written has the plot sprawl out of an innocent incident, which the detective manages to connect to a larger whole - while fooling his superiors into supporting his efforts, or at least managing to stop them from hindering the efforts. In this tradition, Satie should have had experience in making her victims think that she was fully authorized to proceed.

Couple that with the Klingon using a hypospray as a tool of espionage, which links a Starfleet medial crewman to him, who has concealed his Romulan ancestry. Now add the shady Betazoid claim of Tarses' dishonesty, & it's a more plausible conspiracy, of a plot against the Federation.

It's quite plausible as such. The problems arise from Satie trying to nail this on Picard. Picard is a known Borg collaborator, but he has no history of collaborating with Klingons or Romulans, and no motivation to support a plot aimed at blowing up his own ship.

Had Satie found some way to connect the mysteries of the day with either the Borg threat or the parasites she once helped defeat, then it would have made perfect sense to keep pestering Picard. I wonder how that might have been done?

- Instead of Romulan connections, Tarses is connected to one of the people compromised in "Conspiracy"? Walker Keel, perhaps.
- The sabotage is conducted in such a way that the Borg might benefit from it? Say, the ship would have been on a mission to intercept a Borg scoutship. Completely coincidentally, of course, but it would look suspicious. Or the sabotage purges the files on some anti-Borg measures devised by our heroes in "BoBW".
- Other ideas?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Mojochi]

It's quite plausible as such. The problems arise from Satie trying to nail this on Picard. Picard is a known Borg collaborator, but he has no history of collaborating with Klingons or Romulans, and no motivation to support a plot aimed at blowing up his own ship.

Although, I thought it was rather slick, slipping in that remark about how Picard let the Romulan spy slip through their fingers, in "Data's Day"

You throw in a security chief who has rumored family ties to Romulan conspirators, & though the case is circumstantial & pretty much off the mark from where this whole thing began, it does fit that someone with a somewhat borderline personality might draw these conclusions

I always got the impression that when she brought up the Borg incident, she was only trying to get him to crumble, and/or completely discredit him, rather than trying to make a sound case against him. That sort of fits the bully tag she was there to represent, imo

"I've brought down Bigger men than you, Picard!"

I assumed that these tactics played a large role in that

 

[Mojochi]

Point being, a witch hunt can have broad sweeping collateral damage

 

[Holdfast]

I enjoyed this episode quite a lot, but as has been pointed out upthread, it does change gear very abruptly at a couple of points.

If they could have kept it as tense and taut but spread the story out over two parts, making more of damage wrought on Enterprise morale by the alllegations and making more of the direct threat to Picard's command, I think the story would have been even stronger.

 

[Shatnertage]

Here's an idea--what if they made it an entire season long? Talk about an arc!

And at the end of every episode, Satie would announce change in the proceedings:

"All right Picard, the court is now trying you for...genocide!"

Each episode would end the same way, with a close-up of Picard expressing some sort of emotion.

Doesn't sound good? Funny, Doctor Who did that back in 1986. Hard to believe it got canceled, huh?

For all of the agony that Trek fans share about their disappointments with some of the latter productions, at least they never had to sit through Trial of a Timelord.

But seriously, Holdfast is on the right track, I think. As far as I'm concerned, they just needed to make it more substantial than "witch hunts are BAD!!!" Like Timo said, maybe link it back to the original conspiracy, or tie it together better with some of the other questionable things that have happened.

But Jean Simmons is such an incredible actress that they could have have her reading the classified with Patrick Stewart for an hour, and it would be great TV.

With the final courtroom scene being so derivative of The Caine Mutiny, it would have been nice if Picard had expressed some remorse at having brought Satie down, like the lawyer in TCM did over Queeg.

 

[TheRealStarbuck]

Overall, it was just a bit too black and white for me. There's never any doubt who's right and who's wrong.

More often than not, that applies to TNG as a whole, I think.

"Drumhead" is a great episode, but I agree that it's largely carried by the acting rather than the script.

Also agree with Holdfast, a two-part episode would have given them time to really play things out.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Satie was dumb enough not to realize that the presence of a full blooded Betazoid (Sabin Genestra) on her staff, could have meant that this whole trial would be over in five minutes. Sabin could have simply read everyone's mind and be done with it. I don't remember anyone in TNG saying whether or not Betazoid telepathy is admissible in court...

 

[Willieck]

I thought that Betazoids could normally only sense emotions in non Betazoids. (Yes I know that there are exceptions like in Tin Man)

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Normal, full-blooded Betazoids have complete telepathy and can read the thoughts of anyone they choose (except for some species like Ferengi who can't be read). Picard's Academy commandant was one of these. So was Lwaxana of course.

It's only part-Betazoids like Deanna who are limited to reading only emotions. I suppose Sabin could have been one of these, but they never brought it up in the episode.

(The exception in "Tin Man" was that Tam Elbrun had all of his abilities *at birth*. Normally this doesn't occur until about adolescence.)

I guess we are left to assume that Betazoids are normally not allowed to forcibly read someone's mind (they probably have a cultural taboo against doing so anyway), and that Betazoid telepathy is probably not admissible in court. Admiral Satie could have ordered Sabin to do it anyway, given her clear disregard for Simon Tarses' rights, but she must have had at least some scruples.

 

[Willieck]

OK.