"Contagion" (TNG)
I decided to put this episode on before "To the Death", since both episodes deal with the Iconians. The Enterprise finds about Iconia through the Yamato, which travelled into the Neutral Zone to learn about the Iconian Gateway, to try to keep it from falling into Romulan hands.
The mystery of the Iconians keeps the audience wondering about them right up until the end of the episode when it's revealed they might not have used the Gateways to conquer but to escape from conquers of their own. Picard going through Captain Varley's log entries add the sense of mystery and build up a sense of suspense about the power of the Iconians.
This episode made much better use of the Romulans than "The Neutral Zone", where their appearance amounted to "We're back!" and nothing else. The Romulan sets look dark and sinister, which befits an adversary worthy of the Federation. Carolyn Seymour was perfect as Sub-Commander Taris. I can see why they wanted to bring the actress back as Commander Toreth in "Face of the Enemy".
The virus from the Iconian probe that affects the Yamato then spreads to the Enterprise and the Romulan Warbird was an effective diversion since only discovering an Iconian Gateway would've been too thin for an entire episode. The systems failures on the Enterprise and the Romulan Warbird make it look like anything could go wrong at any moment.
Highlights: the music. Have to mention the soundtrack. Every musical beat is there for a dramatic reason, rather than just being in the background, adding to the tension. From the appearance of the Romulans to the fear that the Romulans might fire on the Enterprise to the increasing dread that grows over the course of Varley's long entries.
The craziest scenes were 1) the Enterprise crew thinking they were about to be fired on, like I already mentioned, 2) the turbolift malfunctioning and tossing Geordi around like a ragdoll, including right into the bridge; and 3) Picard stepping through the Gateway and onto the Romulan bridge! O'Brien manages to get Picard out of there, and nice of Riker to help Taris so her ship wouldn't be destroyed by accident.
.
.
.
Getting to the part that's relevant to DS9. Picard wanted all information they gathered about the Iconians to be destroyed. The last surviving station on Iconia was also destroyed. The Federation definitely didn't want this technology to fall into the wrong hands. And it's interesting that the DS9 writers thought back to this episode of all things to follow up on from TNG. But it makes perfect sense. If the Dominion had the Iconian Gateway, they could bypass the Wormhole and put Jem'Hadar troops anywhere they want.
I decided to put this episode on before "To the Death", since both episodes deal with the Iconians. The Enterprise finds about Iconia through the Yamato, which travelled into the Neutral Zone to learn about the Iconian Gateway, to try to keep it from falling into Romulan hands.
The mystery of the Iconians keeps the audience wondering about them right up until the end of the episode when it's revealed they might not have used the Gateways to conquer but to escape from conquers of their own. Picard going through Captain Varley's log entries add the sense of mystery and build up a sense of suspense about the power of the Iconians.
This episode made much better use of the Romulans than "The Neutral Zone", where their appearance amounted to "We're back!" and nothing else. The Romulan sets look dark and sinister, which befits an adversary worthy of the Federation. Carolyn Seymour was perfect as Sub-Commander Taris. I can see why they wanted to bring the actress back as Commander Toreth in "Face of the Enemy".
The virus from the Iconian probe that affects the Yamato then spreads to the Enterprise and the Romulan Warbird was an effective diversion since only discovering an Iconian Gateway would've been too thin for an entire episode. The systems failures on the Enterprise and the Romulan Warbird make it look like anything could go wrong at any moment.
Highlights: the music. Have to mention the soundtrack. Every musical beat is there for a dramatic reason, rather than just being in the background, adding to the tension. From the appearance of the Romulans to the fear that the Romulans might fire on the Enterprise to the increasing dread that grows over the course of Varley's long entries.
The craziest scenes were 1) the Enterprise crew thinking they were about to be fired on, like I already mentioned, 2) the turbolift malfunctioning and tossing Geordi around like a ragdoll, including right into the bridge; and 3) Picard stepping through the Gateway and onto the Romulan bridge! O'Brien manages to get Picard out of there, and nice of Riker to help Taris so her ship wouldn't be destroyed by accident.
.
.
.
Getting to the part that's relevant to DS9. Picard wanted all information they gathered about the Iconians to be destroyed. The last surviving station on Iconia was also destroyed. The Federation definitely didn't want this technology to fall into the wrong hands. And it's interesting that the DS9 writers thought back to this episode of all things to follow up on from TNG. But it makes perfect sense. If the Dominion had the Iconian Gateway, they could bypass the Wormhole and put Jem'Hadar troops anywhere they want.
Last edited:
