Did Picard make a strategic blunder at the end of the episode? Did his own pompous self-righteousness get the better of him?
The Next Generation, on the other hand, wasn't satisfied with this portrayal of STARFLEET, preferring to show it as suffering from a sovereign case of The Emperor's New Clothes. I know that there are alot of fans out there who prefer the perceived realism of a flawed organisation that requires vigillance to set to rights. Maybe that's more entertaining, I don't know if it is. I just know that I liked the idea of there finally being a Do-Gooder Institution that wasn't corrupted by its own power. I thought it made STAR TREK transend other space shows. And I feel that TNG did manage to do that, for the most part. But having so many bad apples falling from up high kind of leaves me cold, when I'd rather see the bad apples without Federation membership causing drama.
That is a good description of the TNG series. I felt that there was a moral superiority vibe given off by the crew of the TNG Enterprise. I didn't particularly like it. It came across as snobbish and obnoxious. Coincidentally, the ending of the Pegasus episode encapsulated this.
Back to Picard's self-righteousness.
I was bothered by Picard's decision to let the Romulans in on the Pegasus' successful implementation of its phased cloaking device. I didn't like his admission to the Romulans that the Federation was in violation of the no-cloak-for-the-Feds treaty either.
First of all, Picard's admission sounded like an apology, "we violated the no-cloak treaty. please forgive us. we won't do it again. and by the way, we are going to throw the book at the guy who cheated on the treaty." Of course, Picard didn't use those words, but that is essentially what it sounded like. It was lame and it made Starfleet look weak.
But Picard's holier-than-thou attitude and decision were all that mattered to him. His harsh words to Pressman sounded like a scolding. It was Picard at his pompous and do-gooder-ing worst.
As for Picard's decision being a possible blunder, I thought he should have handled it in a way that could have turned the situation into an advantage for the Feds.
If this phased cloaking technology could alter the balance of power between the Feds and the Romulans, why not warn the Romulan captain (since he had already witnessed the success of the Pegasus cloaking system) that the Feds were going to withdraw from the no-cloak-for-the-Feds-but-OK-for the-Romulans-to-cloak treaty. Then give the Romulan captain an alternative -- that the Feds would be willing to renegotiate the treaty that would prohibit both sides from deploying any phased cloaking technology.
That way the Feds, with their successful demonstration of the phased cloaking system, could actually gain something from the Romulans.
Also, what did Picard think the Romulans would take from his apology anyway? Did he think that the Romulan ship would go back home and report to their senate that Starfleet is sorry for violating the treaty but promised never to do it again? And that settles that. No harm, no foul.
Of course not, the success of the Pegasus cloak would only encourage the Romulans to develop and employ phased cloaking systems for their ships. When you see that your enemy has acquired advanced technology that you don't have, you would feel a need to match them, regardless of what they might say about treaty violations. You know they have it and that makes you feel a need to keep up on the arms race.
Picard may think that he is a better man, an incorruptible one, unlike Pressman. But his self-righteousness prevented him from making a better decision in this situation.
