| Review : |
One of my favourite episodes with a good story and good acting. A lot of this referred back to "Court Martial", but there were touches of "The Merchant of Venice", including Louvois - who reminded me somewhat of Portia, but had the same conflict of interest as Areel Shaw. However, in this, the legal proceedure was much more convincing than "Court Martial" (I say this as a fan of legal dramas). Maddox was possibly a bit too arrogant, but I think they went slightly too far on some occasions. However, I also get the feeling that, had Data's wellbeing not been in danger, Maddox would have been allowed to have his way. Jonathon Frakes had an interesting part to play this time, and I think he got it just about right, balancing Riker's conflicting reactions while hardly having to say a word. Whoopi Goldburg had her usual excellent cameo, quiet, but to the point. Picard's final speech was a classic, straight out of Patrick Stewart's RSC days. It obviously did what it was supposed to do. Let us not forget Brent Spiner, who managed to show Data's reactions with no obvious feelings, yet you just KNEW he would be terrified of the results if he could be. Generally, an excellent episode for my 347th review. |
