Star Trek TNG - Season 7 - Episode 04
Star Trek TNG - 7x04 - Gambit, Part I
Originally Aired: 1993-10-11
Synopsis:
Picard disappears and is found posing as a smuggler. [DVD]
Problems
None
Factoids
None
Remarkable Scenes
- The alien describing Picard being vaporized.
- Riker forcing more information from the alien who witnessed Picard's "death."
- Data questioning Riker going on the away team, since he's captain now.
- Data becoming captain!
- Worf: "Sir, they have taken Commander Riker. We must do something. We cannot just sit here!" Data: "On the contrary, Lieutenant. That is precisely what we must do."
- Picard appearing on the smuggler ship, voting to kill Riker!
- The engine trouble aboard the smuggle ship.
- Picard explaining why he wasn't vaporized. A beaming gun! Cool!
- Picard hitting Riker as soon as the smuggler captain walks in.
- Picard's conversation with the Romulan.
- The fake battle.
My Review
I loved seeing Data as captain and I absolutely love how Picard and Riker maneuvered whilst aboard the smuggler ship. This episode sets up an exciting premise to the two parter. The captain's supposed death is contrived, but well played nonetheless, and Riker's capture makes both the Enterprise plot thread and the smuggler ship plot thread quite interesting. Overall, this episode is wonderful very intelligently written.
The following are comments submitted by my readers.
I have to say I really dislike this episode. It seems to me like the series switches between a serial series (Jericho, Dominion War DS9 kind of) and a syndicated show (every crappy 80's show on SciFi).
My finance and I have watched everything from season 3 onward and it seems like the show went more serialized in th 6th season and then this piece of crap episode pops up.
1. Starfleet just lets the flag ship stay under Riker and then Data's command.
2. Riker and Data: I thought for sure they were going to make out at least twice in this episode
Data: I am sorry if this ends our relationship
Worf: no it is I....
LAME!
3. Why in the hell does it take the entire cast (minus Data for once) to go down to the bar and find Picard?
4. My finance and I both think the acting in this episode seemed forces. Data was more robotic than he's ever been - despite all of the advances he's made in 6 years.
I think this is the only 2 episodes that Picard doesn't wear a starfleet uniform through the whole episode. Every other episode he has a uniform on, at one time or another.
I enjoyed these two episodes for the most part.
However one thing which I hated was how incompetent Worf was with a phaser during the firefight! He is supposed to be the chief of security!
Personally I gave this episode an 8 rating. I suppose that was mainly due to it being an exciting episode and a bit off the normal TNG story lines. I also enjoyed the aliens and the Star Wars like bar scene although it did get a bit out of hand when half the bridge crew showed up at the bar. There are always inconsistencies and rather absurd plot line devices so I've grown use to that. Picard playing a thief with his attire and Bronxy accent sounded a bit like in a Piece of the Action from TOS. And as someone else mentioned, these Star Fleet people are some of the worse shots in the galaxy.
Did I hear "I'm receiving a transmission fro admiral Chakotay?" at 8:08 lol