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Allegiance (episode)

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This article is written
from the Real World
point of view
This article is written
from the Real World
point of view
"Allegiance"
TNG, Episode 3x18
Production number: 40273-166
First aired: 26 March 1990
← 65th of 176 produced in TNG →
← 65th of 176 released in TNG →
  {{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 176 released in TNG Remastered  
← 172nd of 726 released in all →
Written By
Richard Manning & Hans Beimler

Directed By
Winrich Kolbe
43714.1 (2366)
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Captain Picard and three other people are abducted and imprisoned by an unknown force and replaced by duplicates.

Contents

Summary

Captain Picard is reading in his room when he is transported away to an unknown room. An unknown energy source is detected on the bridge and a security team is sent to the captain's quarters. As they attempt to open the door, they find the captain at the door.

The real captain finds himself in a black holding cell with lights and with two others, a female Bolian Starfleet cadet named Mitena Haro, and Kova Tholl, a Mizarian.

The "captain" running the Enterprise is a replacement of some type, but still seems to have all of the memories and experiences of Picard. His behavior, however, is somehow unusual for the captain. It is subtle, but his demeanor has changed, he is more outgoing yet emotionless. His actions become more and more unusual as time passes. He orders the crew to stop their course, and head towards a well-studied pulsar at a very slow speed. The crew does not understand this but follows orders.

Meanwhile in the holding cell, Picard takes charge of the situation and attempts to find a way out. Tholl believes in peaceful non-resistance; his homeworld has been conquered a number of times. Because of this he refuses to help in escape and in fact tries to convince the others to stop trying. He states that he tried once earlier and received an extremely painful punishment. Cadet Haro is willing to do whatever Picard says.

Back on the ship, the Picard replacement stops in at the poker game and asks La Forge to increase the efficiency of the warp drive from 93% to 95%. This is the first time he has ever stopped in for a poker game. He asks to speak with Troi and when outside asks if the crew is suspicious of his actions in any way. She reminds him that such changes are not unusual and that she will tell him if they become distrustful. The conversation itself is rather odd and just a bit suspicious in and of itself.

The real Picard in the holding cell still tries to find his way out when a Chalnoth, Esoqq, appears. The Chalnoth becomes extremely angry and pulls out a large knife, the captain is able to calm him down by saying that he has visited Esoqq's homeworld.

Esoqq finds that he is incapable of eating the food tablet that the other three are able to eat. He is already quick to violence but he says that he can go only three to four days without food, but no more. He then eyes Tholl hungrily.

The replacement captain on the ship then gets a physical and is in perfect health, Dr. Crusher does not understand why Picard would need a physical as he was not due for a checkup in a month, and normally he hates physicals. Picard then invites Crusher to dinner in his quarters.

In the holding cell, Esoqq uses his knife to smash a panel. Haro tries to rig the door open. The door opens a crack, and then Picard, Esoqq, and Haro are punished by a painful green light. At this point, they begin to accuse each other. Esoqq accuses Tholl of being the enemy because he refused to help and seemed to sit there observing them, he claimed he was peaceful. The remainder of the attack was directed toward Picard because he was ordering them all around all the time. Haro vouched for him by citing some of the battles Picard had participated in.

Crusher having dinner with the Picard-doppelganger
Crusher having dinner with the Picard-doppelganger

On the Enterprise, Crusher is having dinner with the replacement Picard. She tells Picard that she knows that something is on his mind and he says he wants a more intimate relationship. They talk about their duty and how both their jobs require professional distance. He then asks her to dance. Surprised, Crusher exclaims she thought that Picard didn't dance, he responds, only on special occasions. He then kisses her, Crusher gets the feeling that something is odd and asks if she is being played. Picard calls it a night and shows her the door.

After clearing up some the conflicts in the holding cell, they all decide that it would be better to work together than to bicker about whose fault it was. They attempt to open the door again by working together. This time they succeed, but behind the door, there is just a wall of metal.

Troi and Riker are sitting in Ten Forward talking about the unusual acts of the captain. Picard walks into Ten Forward and buys ale for everyone there. He then sings a song with everyone. Riker becomes increasingly suspicious. The crew all meets together to discuss Picard's odd behavior. They are concerned but there is not enough cause for mutiny. "The next move is his", states Riker as the meeting is adjourned.

Picard then moves the ship dangerously close to the pulsar, so close that their shields will only last 18 minutes. Picard then orders them to move even closer, which would almost certainly destroy the ship. Riker talks to Picard in his ready room and Picard suggests that Riker has been under a lot of stress and should get a physical. Once again, Picard orders to move closer, this time, Riker takes control of the ship. Picard orders Worf to remove Riker, but Worf does not budge. Riker orders the ship away from the pulsar.

In the holding cell, Picard manages to get all of the prisoners to cooperate in opening the access door, only to be thwarted by yet another door or wall to quickly close behind the door they managed to open. By now, the prisoners are depressed and confused. Picard, having long grown suspicious of Haro, announces to everyone that the entire thing had been an elaborate test to see how everyone acts under leadership. "After all", Picard argued; Tholl was completely passive and Esoqq refused to follow most orders and would readily threaten others. Haro would follow almost any order, and, of course, Picard, as a trained captain, tried to take control of the situation. He noted that only the Chalnoth was unable to eat the food, a tactic to put them under pressure. He also noted that all their tasks were especially designed to require the help of all of them to complete and that once they completed a task, there was another one behind it.

He knew that it was actually Haro who was the enemy because when defending Picard's reputation, she cited a war example that was classified, one that no cadet could know. The cadet immediately morphed into an alien and explained that it was true and they were studying leadership, and Picard's knowledge of the experiment would taint the results.

The real Picard was transported to his ship and the fake one was revealed as a sort of replica, they were able to even clone the thoughts and experiences of Picard, though it clearly wasn't perfect. The Picard clone had been testing how far his crew would follow him, even to death.

The real Picard gave his crew a subtle signal that let them know that he wanted the aliens to be trapped in a force field. When they were trapped, they became afraid, Picard reminded them that imprisonment is its own harm and that they should rethink the morality of their experiments, and that the Federation had the ability to trap them again. Picard set them free and they transported away.

Picard asked how they knew it was a replica and Riker explained that he didn't know that he could sing that well. Crusher then sat next to him and glanced at him in a flirtatious manner, which made Picard very uncomfortable as they returned to their normal course.

Memorable Quotes

"The next beams might be lethal!"
"Not to you. You moved FAR from the door!"

-Kova Tholl and Esoqq


"What is this?"
"Food."
"The only food?!"
"It would seem so."

(Esoqq nibbles food)

"POISON!!"

--Jean-Luc Picard and Esoqq


"Then my doppelganger caused no serious damage. The replica was convincing?"
"Very convincing, but not perfect."
"Not perfect in what way?"
"Well sir, I find it hard to believe that you're that good a singer."

-Captain Picard and William T. Riker

Background Information

  • The song that the fake Picard sings in Ten Forward with the crew is called Heart of Oak.
  • Captain Picard's quarters are seen to be on deck 9, room 3601.
  • This episode features one of only two occasions in the whole series that Picard (real or otherwise) drops into the weekly poker game, the other being in the final scene of "All Good Things...".
  • This episode marks the second appearance of a Bolian, though technically Mitena Haro is actually a fake Bolian.

Awards

  • This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup for a Series.

Video and DVD releases

Links and References

Main Cast

Guest Stars

Uncredited

Co-Stars

Stand-ins and doubles

References

2354; Board of inquiry; Bolians; Bolarus IX; Browder IV; Chalnoth; Cor Caroli V; Hood, USS; Mintaka III; Mizar, Mizarians; Moropa; Lonka Cluster; neutron star; Ordek Nebula; Phyrox plague; Stargazer, USS; Wogneer creatures


Previous episode:
"Sins of the Father" 		Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 3 		Next episode:
"Captain's Holiday"
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