This episode is a little bit like a rough draft but it's one of the most important episodes ever made since it's the launch point for Deep Space 9 and some of the undertones of Voyager. Another happy accident that changed everything.
It's a wonderful thing at five seasons to know that you haven't run out of firsts yet. This is the first time we see the barber, Mott, who lovably lives up to the stereotype of being opinionated on current events; talkative almost to a fault. He's annoying Picard with his own strategies for dealing with the Romulans. He also makes sure to express his concern about how close Solarian IV is to Cardassian space when Picard is informed of a distress call from the Federation colony on it. Romulans were originally supposed to be the occupying force for this episode, but the writers thought they were starting to be overused, so they wisely went with another alien race that they'd introduced in The Wounded, the Cardassians. They not only had a good look, but the uneasy peace between them and the Federation was the perfect blank canvas for the plot point of a fishy terrorist attack seemingly committed by a race of aliens that the Cardassians had oppressed at the height of their power, the Bajorans. Picard gets audio only confirmation that a Bajoran named Orta is claiming credit for the attack. They set up the simple back story of the Cardassian occupation of Bajor; of the Cardassians driving them from their land and the subsequent rebelling forces they've had to deal with since then. Admiral Kennelly, who is providing this back story notes that this is the first time they've attacked the Federation. It would seem to make sense since they've recently formed a treaty with the Cardassians. In the early episodes featuring Bajorans the planet name fluctuates from Bajor to Bajora many times since it was a new thing as well as the race name changing from Bajora to Bajoran. But a rebellion adds an almost Star Wars flavor to the Star Trek universe that the Federation isn't directly involved with and had a lot more complex creative potential than just a cold war with Romulans or mediating Klingon politics. Kennelly wants Orta stopped and forces them to take on a Bajoran Starfleet officer to help even though she had been imprisoned for insubordination and has a bad reputation. And so Michelle Forbes, previously Dara the daughter of Dr. Timicin in the episode Half A Life, becomes Ro Laren, the first Bajoran of the Star Trek canon and without much tweaking sets the standard for all Bajorans. The makeup over the eyebrows would be soften over time, but the ear cuffs would remain for both sexes.
They wrote Ro in to be a flawed character. Someone who is rough around the edges and has natural friction with the other characters who, at times, were too perfect and lawful good. But her attitude became a natural state for female Bajorans in particular. She's battle hardened and doesn't sugar coat anything or try to be diplomatic. She values actions above words.The introduction runs on for a while with Riker finding plenty of opportunities to be offended by her. From complaining of her ear cuff as not being a part of the Starfleet dress code to the way she walks around ignoring protocal. Everyone in the audience recognizes that he's overlooking Worf's baldric with the earring complaint, but it adds a kind of realism of the prejudices that exist among supervisors depending on whether or not they like the subordinate, so I can't complain about this "goof." They also go over the fact that in the Bajoran culture the family name is given first making her indeed Ensign Ro, not Ensign Laren. Ro complains of Bajorans having to settle for this reversal to adapt, but it's never an issue again making it one of the minor tweaks to the culture. At a staff meeting they discuss the Bajoran colonists relocated on Valo II and who would be the best to contact to help find Orta. The first name that's bandied about comes highly recommended and is known to several in the room. But Ro knows that he's just a public figure head with no real sway among the Bajoran people who would be likely to join an active rebellion. So they go with the name she gives, Keeve Falor.
Picard talks to Keeve who doesn't approve of the Federation being attacked but has no interest in their problems since they've been observers on the sidelines. Picard arranges for aid to the colony in order to make him more cooperative in arranging a meeting with Orta. The character of Ro is given credibility and made acceptable by her interaction with Picard and Guinan. Her personal back story of leaving her people because they're just barely hanging on explains her anger. Her professional back story of disobeying an order that resulted in the death of eight crewmen explains her reluctance to mingle with fellow officers. However, you can see that she doesn't carry around much guilt but the fact that Guinan finds her worth her time leads the audience to believe that she's not as bad as she comes off. And then you see her talking privately with Kennelly about how things are going according to plan just to throw you off again.
When the time comes for them to meet with Orta, Ro is nowhere to be found and nobody is in the designated meeting place. They wander around until they find themselves surrounded by armed Bajorans. Orta appears with Ro. He's a pretty hard case and you can see he'd have nothing to lose by lashing out at the Federation as well as the Cardassians. But he confirms that the Bajorans didn't attack the Federation in such a way that leaves them no doubts about this claim and floats the idea that perhaps someone is trying to get to him indirectly by way of that attack. Ro, it would appear, went down first in order to gain their trust as a fellow Bajoran. But this is too much for Picard and he later loses his temper with her and confines her to quarters.
Guinan comes to see her new friend and for the first time we see Ro's steely resolve buckle as she confesses to being in a lot of trouble and no longer knowing what to do. Guinan, of course, recommends that she trust in Picards judgment citing her own undefined experiences with him. She takes her to him and validates her presence and right to be heard because she considers her a friend. I think this is what made Ro a character that the audience wanted to like and wanted to see more of. Not just because she's a strong character and a strong woman who can "run with the boys" so to speak. It doesn't matter how strong a female character is, it's little things like these choice moments of vulnerability that make her three dimensional and likeable. Ro explains that she'd been sent by Kennelly to violate the prime directive and give weapons to Orta's terrorists as a bribe so that they wouldn't attack the Federation anymore. But when she found out that Orta's group didn't actually attack anyone she decided not to make the offer. Picard can see that she made a wise judgment call and also that she's in a compromising position with Kennelly, so he decides to come up with a plan to discover the real attackers of Solarion IV.
They head out under the pretense of guarding Orta's transport. Cardassians emerge and demand that the Enterprise move away so they can destroy these known terrorists. Kennelly agrees that it would probably be better since the Federation is neutral and has to protect its treaty with the Cardassians. Picard hints at what his suspicions are as he asks Kennelly if maybe the Cardassians aren't just using the Federation to flush out Bajorans. Kennelly thinks it's ridiculous and orders Picard to move away which he does with just the right amount of reluctance.
The Cardassians destroy the transport ship and Kennelly hails Picard to express phony dissatisfaction with the way things have to be but Picard reveals that the transport ship was empty which proved his theory that the Cardassians attacked the Solarion colony in an elaborate scheme to find an eager beaver like Kennelly who would hunt down and expose the Bajoran rebels. Giving them weapons would also embolden them to expose themselves and all of this would essentially solve the Cardassian's Bajoran problem for them. Kennelly isn't happy about this embarrassment but Picard always gets the last word in. Roddenberry would not have approved since his vision was that the Federation would be corruption free. And although Kennelly wasn't corrupt but merely a dupe, it adds the kind of complexity that I really loved and that continued throughout this show and into DS9. And it's fitting since the purpose was to introduce a flawed officer to the perfect crew. It follows that there would be other flawed people in the Federation at all levels adding color to the black and white universe. Back on the surface of Valo II Picard decides that she has the makings of a good officer and asks her to stick with it. She decides that she will on the condition that she be allowed to keep her ear cuff which Picard is now okay with.
It's a little on the simplistic side as far as them nailing the long shot of the Cardassians being the ones that attacked the Solarion colony, but it's only an hour show and it doesn't really feel like a minute of it is wasted since building Ro's character was worth while. It also lays groundwork which they continue to build on and relatively quickly before the storyline had a chance to grow cold. And I like Ro and all Bajorans. They're my favorite alien race on Star Trek. So, perhaps I'm a little biased as well, but I have to give this one five stars too.
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