I'm glad this episode was made in the fourth season and not in one of the first two because there's a lot of things wrong with it, but it's so much fun and especially with the comfort and familiarity that could be seen in the cast by this time, that I almost don't care.
The opening scene features Picard critiquing Data's acting ability again in a rendition of A Christmas Carol during the scene where Scrooge is haunted by Marley. The scene was just made to be referred back to later when talking of spirits, but it's always cool to see one or more character out of uniform and behaving differently. They are interrupted with a call from the bridge to report an emergency call from a science station on Ventax II claiming that the entire population is gripped in fear of the end of the world and are holding them hostage.
They get a chance to beam the head scientist away before it becomes too crowded for their sensors and he tells them what's going on down there. At this point it's nearly a duplication of Who Watches the Watchers... even down to a crabby looking, white haired, old scientist complaining about the peoples' superstition in regard to a religious belief. But these aren't bronze age people being studied secretly; the Ventaxians know they're there. They presumably know about spaceflight and all of these things because they used to be a highly advance civilization that chose to downgrade to an agrarian civilization - that is to say communism which is a utopia in the mind of the liberal socialist writers in the film and television industry. The superstition in all of this is that they once were war mongers and reprobates in an industrialized society and everything became peaceful and pleasant when the new government was established one thousand years ago and all of this change was owed to a supernatural being called Ardra. I mean... they can't make up their minds. Star Trek epitomizes advanced culture and pushes that advanced cultures such as this one (they knew the Starfleet scientists were there after all) have advanced beyond superstitions like religions. And then it's trying to make the case that changing the way their civilization is structured makes them start believing in the supernatural again. It's a stretch for two reasons. Firstly, they'd always have the knowledge of their past unless they willfully discarded any records of it so they'd know that they'd discarded any superstition ages ago. Secondly, if it was really communism that they switched to, you better believe they'd rewrite history to deny anything good that may have come of it and any belief in a god of any kind would be discouraged and punishable since the State is god in a communist society. The episode is made more palatable because instead of attributing their success to the blessings of a benevolent god, they attribute it to making a deal with the "devil." Picard takes an away team down to negotiate for the rest of the scientists to find their leader a feeble man who believes that Ardra has come back to enslave the planet as it was written in the contract forged years ago when their society shifted. Nations that follow socialist and communist ideals are ruled by fear, but it's the fear instilled by the leaders of the government. If this was a more realistic story Jared, their leader, would've made up Ardra himself to cause the population to fear and obey. But I realize it's no good to point these things out.
Ardra appears and starts making demands of submission from everyone. They are to turn control of the planet over to her and serve her in perpetuity. They're ready to surrender everything to her because in the contract there were descriptions of signs that would foretell her reappearance such as minor earthquakes and visions which had been happening. Picard will have none of it, of course, and demands to know who she is and that's when she reveals that she's known in many civilizations as a kind of devil and demonstrates by transforming into Fek'lhr, a demon to whom the dishonored Klingons go to when they die. She shows them the contract that gives her claim over the people and Picard instructs Data to go over it immediately. Despite my complaints from above, this is all palatable, like I said. Palatable and fun. Going on the assumption that the politics have worked out just like the left always dreams it will, this is all a lot of fun to watch. Ardra has an irresistible personality. Jared is the picture of a weak and pacifistic leader who is unable to stand up to force. The Enterprise crew can smell a rat, even observing that this may be Q in female form and it's all very smoothly preformed.
She lets the scientist hostages loose, but they continue to investigate her. Picard decides she's a con artist and her powers are just illusions and tricks that could be done with holographic technology. She knows they don't believe in her assertions of deity so she continues to toy with them, appearing on the bridge and showing off her "powers." She then declares the Enterprise to be in her possession as well according to the contract and Data confirms that it can be interpreted that way, which sets up the conflict of the show. But she should've just let well enough alone because you know Picard and the gang would get to the bottom of it.
She later tries to seduce Picard by trying many different fantasies that she thinks may appeal to him,but when he doesn't respond she beams him to the science station in his night clothes where Geordi remained to help patch things up. She disables the transporters so he has to call Data to come and get him in a shuttle and just as they're about to dock, the Enterprise disappears, so they have to return to the surface.
But Data had told him of a case involving a contract with an alien race that required arbitration instead of a regular progression through the court system of Ventax II and Picard bases his hopes of escape on this legal loophole. He challenges Ardra to prove she is who she is via the arbitration choosing Data to be the judge because he is incapable of being biased. Data's not even okay with this since her performance up to now has been flawless and believable. But Picard is sure she has her own ship and he's counting on Geordi to find it and find out how she works her magic.
The trial scenes are great. It's a wonderful mix of comedy with the anticipation of serious consequences if Picard should fail. Ardra preforms many more demonstrations, causing the planets' tremors, making Picard disappear and reappear and intimidating Jared into confessing that he genuinely believes that she is who she claims to be which of course makes the decision an obvious one unless more evidence can be introduced. Geordi to the rescue.
Picard then redirects questions at Jared and begins performing the same illusions that Ardra can, only this time she had no control over what Picard is doing. He duplicates all of her tricks including Fek'lhr and a version of the humans' Satan. and then proceeds to explain that they found her cloaked ship and took control of her crew. She was indeed a con artist who stumbled upon the Ventaxian's myth of Ardra and embodied it to score a life of ease and riches as a queen. He determines that the myth of Ardra was made up to give the people something to focus on when changing their societal structure and that they did it all by themselves without the help of any outside, supernatural influence. (As an aside I need to point out that this sort of man-centered worship of mankind's own accomplishments is the work of Satan if you follow the Christian teachings, so they ended up writing the attribution of their transformation to a "deal with the devil," via crediting the people, without even knowing it. As a Christian I just have to give a face-palm to that.)
Embarrassed, Jared orders Ardra to be seized and jailed. He thanks Picard but this time the thank you is validated as opposed to the reaction of the aliens in Who Watches the Watchers because he was genuinely being taken in by a con artist. But like I said, this was an episode that was made for fun and it was a lot of fun. More great Picard moments especially at the end of the trial which makes it one of my personal favorites, actually. I can't be bothered too much by the affront to my personal and political beliefs because the episode was more about solving a mystery than soapboxing on the virtues of socialism and atheism. Four stars.
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