Season five had at least two of the most popular all time episodes ever and this is one of them. I'd categorize it as a Roddenberry classic. Definitely his style, but updated and more applicable to a modern world.
The Enterprise is being sent to try to establish communications with a race known as the Children of Tama. Their territory is by an uninhabited system and they're parked near a life supporting planet. The biggest obstacle is that nobody has ever been able to figure out how to communicate with them. Picard is confident in his ability to start a dialogue; after all, he's the great diplomat. Until he gets on the bridge and discovers the captain of the Tamarian ship to be speaking in something worse than utter gibberish - he's simply noting names and locations that are meaningless to the Federation crew. Troi can sense their good intentions, but nothing else. I think this episode is popular mostly because of the beautiful story being told, but it also resonates with language lovers and literary nerds, making it one of the most quoted even if it's only in jest most of the time. This is also the first episode where we see Picard's casual look with the grey undershirt and jacket. Very fetching. Picard politely listens but can't conceal his confusion. He then tries to offer a trading agreement such as is appropriate to the situation. At that point you can see the Tamarians are completely bewildered. The first officer of the ship laughs, but the captain stays his rude behavior. He then appears to come to a decision which the first officer does not approve of. He stands, displays two knives, utters the phrase, "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra," and transports himself and Picard down to a nearby planet. Riker, of course tries to beam the captain back, but the Tamarians have projecting a scattering field into the atmosphere of the planet making it impossible for either to be transported back.
The captain's name is Dathon. If his soothing voice seems familiar, it's because he is played by Paul Winfield who played Captain Terrell in Star Trek II. He repeats the phrase to Captain Picard who assumes the worst, and rightfully so since he's just been effectively kidnapped. Dathon throws a knife to Picard and he thinks Dathon is trying to challenge him to a man-to-man battle. He refuses and throws the knife back. Instead of attacking, Dathon's body language droops in a manner of defeat and he throws out another metaphorical phrase and retreats to a position some ways away from the captain. Personally, I think at this point Picard should've suspected that there was more to this than a challenge since he is supposed to be a great communicator, but it's important to note that he's not aggressive either after this blatant violation of an attempt at peaceful communications.
Meanwhile Riker is getting nowhere by just yelling at the first officer of the Tamarian ship. However, they monitor the life signs on the planet and can tell they're both in good health. I love the part where Worf expresses his confidence that Picard would prevail in a battle because he believes in his prowess as a warrior. Riker arranges for Worf to take a shuttle down there to get him back but the Tamarian ship fires a surgically precise blow to the shuttle disabling it only and forcing it to return to the Enterprise.
As night falls, Picard can't start his own fire so Dathon lends him a torch. He offers it with another confusing phrase and Picard is grateful and watches him preform a ritual by his campfire before he lies down to sleep with his back to him which was significant to me because it seemed like an outward display of trust. On the ship, Riker still wants a peaceful solution and asks Data and Troi to try to research the Tamarian's language. They conclude that the phrases they use are metaphors based on their own experiences and mythologies making it nearly impossible to learn independently in the same way that we learn what individual words mean. This episode has been used by linguistics teachers to aid students in the understanding of how languages evolve.
The next morning Dathon has wandered off and Picard decides to look over his campfire to see if he can find anything that will help him to understand him. Dathon comes running back shouting about Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra and trying to get Picard to take one of the knives. This is where it becomes almost too much to think that after a peaceful night of what clearly seems like a forced attempt at communication (and that demonstration of trust) that Picard would still assume that this is an attempt at a fight. I have to guess that it's because Dathon came running up to him out of nowhere brandishing the knives and the fact that his phrases are still meaningless to Picard. As he's refusing the knive again, forcibly this time, they hear a growling off in the distance that sounds like a wild beast of some kind.
Picard begins to understand that Dathon brought them down there to fight the beast together and starts to slowly connect the phrases as he'd been hearing them since the previous day. Temba for sharing. Shaka for defeat. Darmok and Jalad for fighting a shared enemy. He accepts the knife. Dathon is delighted and Picard, although he's still struggling, follows his lead to find the best defensive positions.
On the Enterprise they're understandably freaked out because they can tell there's a large creature down there. They know that the Tamarians are aware of it as well and can't understand why they've stranded their own captain down there and are stopping all attempts to save either of them. So, Riker decides to use Geordi's genius to force the transporter's way through the atmosphere even though they know it may start a war with the Tamarians. But it doesn't work. They begin to transport Picard but can't finish. Picard finally understands the Tamarian captain and is prepared to fight by his side. The audience can fully share in his alarm and frustration when the Enterprise attempts to beam him back and he becomes temporarily immobilized in the transporter beam, able to do nothing but watch helplessly as Dathon falls to the strange electrical beast attacking them. This episode doesn't have a lot of dialogue in it, but it absolutely ropes you in and tugs at your heart.
Dathon doesn't die immediately. Picard sits with him through the night telling him the Sumarian tale of Gilgamesh and Enkidu which the script for this episode is loosely based on. He uses more words as is the nature of our language, but he makes sure to note the names and places with special attention and even though Dathon most likely can't understand the human mythological references any more that Picard can understand the Tamarian ones, he understands the underlying meaning and is simply thrilled that they can now communicate before he finally dies.
The next day the beast attacks again, but this time the Enterprise's transporter works. They beam Picard back, incurring the hostility of the Tamarian vessel. They fire upon the Enterprise and do severe damage. Riker has no choice but to try to take them out in self defence, but Picard races to the bridge in time and they calm down instantly when he begins to address them in Tamarian metaphor. The first officer is stunned and happy that he understands. Picard tells him that Dathon was killed by the beast and they are grieved. He offers them Dathon's log book which they accept but they allow him to keep the knife and move away. He reflects on the situation with Riker, wondering if they were more familiar with their own mythologies that they would be able to better relate to the Tamarians. They note Dathon's sacrifice for the sake of learning to communicate and then Picard privately honors him by repeating the possibly religious gesture he saw him make at the campfire.
It's a one-off episode, but it is also a five star episode. Of course, it's always a disappointing reality that stories like this end with no evidence that there will be or ever is any follow up since following up would be vital to any new alliance of this kind, but it's completely forgivable and easy to overlook in such a heart-felt episode that showcases Picard at his best and the content offers points for reflection without pushing one ideology to indicate what people "should"think. That shows a lot of growth in Star Trek and probably one of the reasons it's such a popular episode because it's inclusive to all fans, not just those who are in step with Star Trek's political leanings. It's one of my favorites too.
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