The Drumhead (episode)
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.
| This article is written from the Real World point of view |
 |
| This article is written from the Real World point of view |
|
| "The Drumhead" | ||
|---|---|---|
| TNG, Episode 4x21 Production number: 40274-195 First aired: 29 April 1991 | ||
| ← | 94th of 176 produced in TNG | → |
| ← | 94th of 176 released in TNG | → |
| ← | 201st of 726 released in all | → |
 | ||
| Written By Jeri Taylor Directed By Jonathan Frakes | ||
| 44769.2 (2367) | ||
After an accident in engineering, a Klingon exchange-officer aboard the Enterprise is found guilty of passing secret information about the dilithium chamber to the Romulans, but not for the accident. However, an overzealous Starfleet admiral refuses to believe it to be an accident and soon begins a witch-hunt aboard the ship to find a conspiracy, eventually accusing Captain Picard of treason.
Contents |
[edit] Summary
On stardate 44769.2, a dilithium chamber hatch explodes aboard the USS Enterprise-D and sabotage is suspected. The explosion coincides with news that the Romulans have gained access to information about the Enterprise's chamber, indicating that there's a spy on board. A quick investigation turns up one suspect – a Klingon exchange officer named J'Dan, but he denies any involvement. With little progress in the investigation, Starfleet Command sends retired Admiral Norah Satie and her assistants – one of whom is a Betazoid – to expedite the proceedings.
A more thorough examination under Satie's direction reveals a hypospray in J'Dan's room modified to scan and resequence classified information into biological tags for transport on an injected body; J'Dan covers this by the fact that he has Ba'ltmasor Syndrome, which requires weekly injections and, thus, would easily hide the transfer of information. With this evidence against him, J'Dan admits to being a Romulan spy, but adamantly maintains his innocence in the explosion. However, Satie is still unsatisfied; she is convinced that J'Dan couldn't have been working alone, and begins an inquiry into all personnel and passengers on the Enterprise he's come into contact with during his stay. When she questions young medical technician Simon Tarses, she's apparently got her man; her Betazoid assistant senses great fear and guilt from Tarses, as if he's being consumed by a lie he refuses to come clean about.
Picard is not convinced, though, and refuses to restrict Tarses' movements based on Betazoid intuition. Before a consensus can be reached he and Satie are called to engineering by Geordi La Forge and Data; the radiation levels preventing them from entering the chamber – caused by the explosion – have dropped low enough for them to safely enter, and their examination shows no foul play involved. The explosion was caused by metal fatigue along an undetectable defect in a hatch cover installed during the ship's last refit at Earth Station McKinley, making it an accident that just happened to coincide with the theft of the chamber's plans and not sabotage.
This new development doesn't seem to placate Satie or her assistants, who still believe Tarses was a co-conspirator with J'Dan. Another inquiry against Tarses is launched, this time open to the public, and he is barraged with numerous accusations to try and establish his guilt, including a lie that the explosion was caused by corrosive chemicals that he had access to, and the exposure of the lie Tarses himself tried to kept hidden – that he put false information about his parentage in his admission form, stating that his grandfather was Vulcan when, in fact, he was Romulan. Overwhelmed, Tarses clams up, and the ruthlessness of the accusations convince Picard that Satie is engaging in a drumhead trial, going on a xenophobic witch-hunt for Romulan and other enemy conspirators.
After talking with Tarses and establishing that his lying on his application was his only misdeed, Picard confronts Satie and demands that the hearings be put to rest, threatening to go over her head and complain to Starfleet Command if necessary, only to be rebuffed; Satie has been in full contact with Starfleet Command since the beginning, and they fully approve of her methods. In fact, the next interrogation will have Starfleet Security Admiral Thomas Henry as a witness. In other words, the interrogations can't and won't be stopped, and will in fact expand. Unfortunately, because of his outspokenness against them, Picard is called to the stand next.
At his interrogation Picard attempts to appeal to Satie's sense of reason and convince her to end the hearings but is met with a thorough nitpicking of his competency and loyalty to Starfleet and the Federation. Worf, who up until this point had sided with Satie in her actions, realizes where the hearing is going and attempts to defend his captain but is also rebuffed with accusations of his father's supposed betrayal to the Romulans. Finally, Picard responds to the accusations laid against him by quoting Satie's father about the dangers of denying basic rights to one man in the name of protection. Enraged, Satie interrupts him in a fit of anger. She verbally attacks Picard for using her father's good name to defend himself, telling Picard that she, "has taken down bigger men than you". Too late, she realizes what Picard has done; by quoting her father, he has goaded her into revealing her state of mind and reasons behind the trials in front of an audience, severely damaging her credibility and causing Admiral Henry to walk out in disgust, putting an informal end to the interrogation.
Later on, in the ship's ready room, Picard is informed by Worf of the hearings' official cessation, and of Satie's departure from the Enterprise. Though it's not likely that she will ever be trusted with such legal proceedings again, Worf can't help but feel guilty for being deluded into aiding her cause without realizing what she was. Picard, however, sees it as a learning experience; such enemies who cloak their misdeeds with the pretense of serving a greater good are very seductive and very hard to spot, and continual vigilance is needed to be able to spot and stop such threats.
[edit] Log Entries
[edit] Memorable quotes
"Sir, the Federation does have enemies! We must seek them out!"
"Oh, yes. That's how it starts, but the road from legitimate suspicion to rampant paranoia is very much shorter than we think. Something is wrong here, Mr. Worf. I don't like what we have become!"
- - Worf and Picard
"You know, there are some words I've known since I was a schoolboy: ' With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably.' Those words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie as wisdom and warning. The first time any man's freedom is trodden on we’re all damaged."
- - Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie
"How dare you – you who consort with Romulans – invoke my father's name to support your traitorous arguments? It is an offense to everything I hold dear. And to hear those words used to subvert the United Federation of Planets. My father was a great man. His name stands for integrity and principle. You dirty his name when you speak it. He loved the Federation, but you, captain, corrupt it. You undermine our very way of life. I will expose you for what you are. I've brought down bigger men than you, Picard!"
- - Admiral Satie, losing all of her credibility
"We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, is all ancient history. And then, before you can blink an eye, suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
- - Picard, to Worf
"Mr. Worf, villains who twirl their mustaches are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well-camouflaged."
"I think, after yesterday, people will not be so ready to trust her.
"Maybe, but she, or someone like her, will always be with us – waiting for the right climate in which to flourish. Spreading fear in the name of righteousness. Vigilance, Mr. Worf – that is the price we have to continually pay."
- - Picard and Worf, discussing Admiral Satie
[edit] Background
[edit] Story and Script
- "The Drumhead" was conceived as a money-saving installment for the series. The studio suggested a clip show. Michael Piller and Rick Berman, however, despised the idea as they didn't want a repeat of "Shades of Gray". Piller commented, "We think they're insulting to the audience. They tune in and then you create this false jeopardy and then flashback as their memory goes back to the wonderful time they had before they had before they got trapped in the elevator and all that bullshit." They persuaded the studio avoid a clip show while still producing an episode that was under budget. (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages)
- Jeri Taylor wrote the script based on a story idea Ronald D. Moore had proposed called "It Can't Happen Here". Taylor aim was to show that witch-hunts along the lines of Senator McCarthy's Communist hearings and the Salem witch trials could happen even in the enlightened 24th Century if individual liberties and freedoms were breached, even if only slightly, in the name of preserving the Federation. (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages)
- The events of "Conspiracy", "Sins of the Father", "The Best of Both Worlds", "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II", "Family", and "Data's Day" are referenced in this episode. It reveals that 39 Federation starships were annihilated and 11,000 personnel were lost at the Battle of Wolf 359.
- Both the unnamed Excelsior-class starship and Oberth-class starships seen in this episode are not named in the episode or the script. The identification of the Oberth-class as USS Cochrane is derived from the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion.
[edit] Production
- This episode was a bottle show, coming $250 000 under budget. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)
- According to director Jonathan Frakes, on the TNG Season 4 DVD interviews, several shots from the episode were "stolen" from Judgment at Nuremberg, the 1961 Stanley Kramer film starring William Shatner.
- This is the second appearance of the interrogation room set after "The Defector". It is a modification of the bridge of the original USS Enterprise as seen in the first three movies.
- A long time extra, Ensign Kellogg, played by Cameron is finally named in this episode during Worf's briefing with his security officers.
- This was the final episode to have music composed by Ron Jones. Jones was fired shortly afterwards for repeatedly arguing with Rick Berman and Peter Lauritson over what type of music was thought to be appropriate for the series. (citation needed • edit)
- This is the only time in the run of the series that the inner isolation door in main engineering is seen; normally the outer door is seen after a warp core breach.
[edit] Reception
- In the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion Jeri Taylor names this episode's script as the one she was most proud of.
- This is one of Michael Dorn's two favorite TNG episodes, the other being "The Offspring". [1]
[edit] Video and DVD releases
- Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 48, June 1992.
- UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment): Volume 4.7, 3 September 2001.
- The video sleeve gives the title of this episode as "The Drum Head".
- As part of the TNG Season 4 DVD collection.
- As part of the Region 1 edition of the Star Trek: The Next Generation - Jean-Luc Picard Collection.
[edit] Links and References
[edit] Guest Stars
- Bruce French as Sabin Genestra
- Spencer Garrett as Simon Tarses
- Henry Woronicz as J'Dan
- Earl Billings as Thomas Henry
- Jean Simmons as Admiral Satie
[edit] Co-Star
[edit] Uncredited Co-Stars
- Michael Braveheart as Martinez
- Cameron as Kellogg
- Tim McCormack as Bennett
- Guy Vardaman as Darien Wallace
- An unknown actress as Bailey
[edit] References
amino acid; Ba'ltmasor Syndrome; Battle of Wolf 359; beard; Betazed; Betazoid; blood; Borg; Cochrane, USS; communicator; Constitution of the United Federation of Planets; crewman; Cruces system; Delb II; Delb II native; deoxyribose suspension; dilithium articulation frame; dilithium chamber; dilithium chamber hatch; drum; drumhead trial; Earth Station McKinley; elm; emergency confinement field; encephalographic polygraph scan; Excelsior-class; exobiologist; Federation Uniform Code of Justice; hyposyringe; interrogation room; isolation door; isolinear optical chip; judge; Klingon-Federation Alliance; Klingon High Council; lemon; Marcus; Mars Colony; mass spectrometer; matter-antimatter reaction assembly; medical technician; microtomographic analysis; Mogh; neural parasite (24th century); neutron fatigue; Oberth-class; Officer Exchange Program; optical chip reader; outpost; petaQ; Prime Directive; protein; Qo'noS; radiation; roach; Romulan; Romulan Neutral Zone; Satie, Aaron; sabotage; security clearance; Seventh Guarantee; shuttlecraft; spectrometer; spy; starbase; Starfleet; Starfleet Academy; Starfleet Command; Starfleet Security; sub-micron fracture; Tarkanian; tea; T'Pel; United Federation of Planets; Vulcan; witch
[edit] External links
- The Drumhead at Wikipedia
- The Drumhead (episode) at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
| Previous episode: "Qpid" | Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 | Next episode: "Half a Life" |
