This has probably been brought up before, but I couldn’t find a thread about it so… I was recently watching “Samaritan Snare” again, and it got me wondering… Why even give the Pakleds the technology of photon torpedoes in the first place? Wouldn’t LaForge pretending to build rudimentary torpedoes get the exact same result? As near as I can tell from the episode, LaForge builds and arms photon torpedoes, which Worf confirms with his sensors. Course, this calls into question: exactly how many torpedoes did LaForge build for them? And then He disarms the torpedoes (with a little help from the Enterprise’s “Crimson Forcefield”) and is beamed safely back aboard to the Enterprise leaving not only disarmed weapons of mass destruction (which LaForge again confirms are real), but apparently several replicated type I hand-phasers. The Enterprise then immediately warps to Starbase 515 to save Picard’s life, leaving the Pakleds with their disarmed photon torpedoes. Is the fact that they are disarmed supposed to be okay? Now, it’s also pointed out early in the episode that the Pakleds are a pre-warp civilization. So, according to the letter of the Prime Directive, so Starfleet should not be in contact them at all. Right? Any other thoughts on this?
Yes. This script is a textbook example of "idiot plotting:" the story would not proceed as it does if everyone involved did not behave at almost every point as complete idiots.
If the Pakleds could tell a photon torpedo from a casing filled with parts from an old pinball machine, then they could build their own.
LMAO!! Boring episode. Stupid plot. Subplot with Picard's operation makes no sense. Why is Picard so embarrassed to be operated on? Many people are operated on every day and most don't care, they just want to get well again.
I know many people who don't even want to go to the doctor to find out if they have a problem or not. They think it's better not to know.
Wasn't it also his heart that got operated on? That would bring up his not so disciplined youth. I think most people agree that the big problem with the Samaritan Snare is that the Pakleds were just supposed to be an example of a more technologically primitive society that didn't want to wait to develop on its own so they stole technology from others, but for some bizarre reason were played as if they were a group of mentally retarded. I don't see how these guys managed to use toilet paper properly let alone pilot a starship.
But that was another "against the stereotype" thing - the Pakleds spoke like retards, but they were cunning as foxes. That was well in evidence in that they had apparently pulled this scam on dozens of victims before, and gotten away with it. And their victims included the Klingons and Romulans... Perhaps their mistake this time was that they tried to grab an actual engineer, rather than just his work. We don't know if they had an escape plan or not, but it wouldn't indicate lack of intelligence to realize they were outmatched when the E-D neutralized their most potent weaponry without much effort. OTOH, an obvious escape plan would emerge if the Pakleds really were given the E-D computer bank contents. They could then probably sabotage the starship or at least her computers at will, and either just fly away or then destroy the E-D. To be sure, the Pakleds originally did have photon torpedoes; LaForge's first comment is that he might be able to "increase the am charges", not that he might be able to construct something out of scratch. Later commentary is on the Pakleds arming their photon torpedoes, but that is no proof that these were factually better than their original form. They would have been good enough to destroy the unshielded E-D, as per LaForge's comments, but again that's no proof of improvement over the originals. Timo Saloniemi
I know it was never stated on screen, but it's long been part of my "personal canon" that the Pakleds smelled like ass. Just looking at them you could see they weren't that attentive to hygiene.
While the speech of the Pakleds is supposed to be humorous, it's possible that the translator had difficulty with their language and therefore the translation was poor. The low level of the language and the stealth of the plans simply don't match.
Isn't there actually dialogue to that effect? Something along the lines of Riker commenting that they seem rather slow, and Data countering that they may simply have poorly developed language skills?
Indeed. And that's all speculation on Data's part, of course. For all we know, they're verbally really talented - but they don't use audible speech for verbalization. What we hear is their equivalent to gesticulation, a supplementary form of communication that carries only a tiny fraction of the information content of the discussion. Or then they just plain don't spend any effort communicating when they can be just as clever without it. They might not have a particularly cooperative biological makeup or a developed sense of community. Which may help explain why they don't develop as fast as certain other cultures around them, or at least why they themselves feel they are falling behind. Timo Saloniemi
^ Or even the poor language skills are faked, an intentional plot to confuse people into thinking they're stupid. When Pakleds are alone, they might speak as well as anyone else?
A clever idea - but one'd think they would drop the pretense when the "crimson forcefield" ruins their scheme...? For some time now, I have had this mental image of a Federation think tank holding a meeting sixty miles below San Francisco, discussing Dominion War strategy. Zakdorn and Vulcan experts are beduffled with the latest Dominion maneuver towards a seemingly irrelevant sector of space. Then, one high-backed armchair swivels around, the Pakled analyst draws a puff of smoke from his pipe, and drawls "They look for things. Things to make them many." - making the Vulcans slap their foreheads (and those of the Zakdorn) and bring up scans of Ketracel White ingredients as found in that sector... Timo Saloniemi
I really think this epsode was a lost opportunity for learning more about PICARD and making that the "A" or only story of the episode...years before Tapestry. My wife watched this ep for the first time..I tried to tell her it was subpar. I think she had more interest in the Picard story as well, but thought he was much more crotchety back in early STNG. Story: Subpar; Makeup: Subpar; Costumes: Subpar; Production: Subpar RAMA