Star Trek: The Next Generation — 4x12 — The Wounded

Aired 1991-01-28

SpaceOpera.com rating:8

Average reader rating:6.67

Factoids

This is the first episode to feature Cardassians, a race which will become majorly important later in TNG and in DS9.
In the Ten Forward scene, the Cardassian orders Kanar. In the coming years, we will find out that it is the favorite drink of Cardassians. Virtually every Cardassian we ever see drinks it at some point.

Problems

Marc Alaimo played Gul Macet in this episode. He later goes on to play Gul Dukat in DS9. They're virtually identical characters, why did the name have to change? Granted Dukat sounds cooler, that's no excuse...
Maxwell says O'Brien was his tactical officer on the Rutledge. So O'Brien goes from being a high ranking officer on the Rutledge to a chief petty officer on the Enterprise? Isn't that a demotion? Not impossible a situation, but certainly unlikely and annoying when no explanation is given.

Synopsis

A renegade Federation captain must be stopped.

Remarkable scenes

O'Brien and Keiko discussing food.
first sighting of a Cardassian ship and the ensuing battle.
The Cardassians trying to be friendly with an abrasive O'Brien.
Picard carefully handling Macet's transponder signal request.
O'Brien carefully discussing Cardassians with Keiko, trying to understand, but not wanting to reveal his hate.
Data: "It appears to be a Cardassian supply ship." Macet: "How would you know that?" Picard: "We are able to make that determination." I love that enigmatic response...
Picard backing down and giving Macet the transponder frequency he asked for.
Watching the battle between the Phoenix and the Cardassians on the computer.
Picard discussing anger with O'Brien.
O'Brien describing the horrors of killing a man to the Cardassian in Ten Forward.
O'Brien: "It's not you I hate, Cardassian. I hate what I became, because of you."
Macet chastises his officer for breaking into the Enterprise computer. All his arrogance gone; seems he's been completely humbled after seeing his warships destroyed.
Seeing the Nebula class starship. Beautiful design.
Maxwell justifying his mass murder and Picard's responses of rationality.
O'Brien's chat with Maxwell getting him to see reason.
Picard digging into Macet about how Maxwell was right all along about the secret buildup.

Review

Including O'Brien and Keiko as major characters in this episode just one episode after their wedding was perfect. It shows us that the writers aren't going to just brush these great characters aside because their 15 minutes of fame are over. That said, this is a major character building episode for O'Brien. We learn tons of great things about O'Brien and we also get a great introduction to the Cardassians and their deceptive and warlike nature. Well done.

7 reader comments

When the Enterprise first locates the Phoenix, Picard orders the con to lay in a course for the Phoenix at warp 6. After the Phoenix destroys the warship, Picard asks how long till they intercept, and Data replies, "At our present speed of warp 4 …" When did the Enterprise slow to warp 4?
At one point O'Brien enters a turbolift with two Cardassians. As it travels, one of the Cardassians asks O'Brien to have a drink with them. When the turbolift reaches its destination, O'Brien mouths off to them and heads for the doors. The doors on the turbolift wait until he approaches before opening. Compare this to the operation of the turbolift doors in other episodes. As soon as the turbolift reaches its destination, the doors open. They do not wait for the person to approach. This is normal operation for turbolift doors.
by DSOmo | 08/20/2007 at 7:34 am

The only part I don't like about this episode (and it's so minor it shouldn't matter, but it's distracting) is the design of the Cardassian armor/outfits. They are fugly. I'm so glad that they are changed by the time they become a major baddie on DS9… especially those utterly ridiculous helmet-thingies they wear.
by Rob Gnow | 04/14/2008 at 12:13 am

This episode is a perfect 10 until Maxwell shows up. I love the idea of a renegade captain, but Maxwell is written and acted so broadly that the character doesn't really rise above cliche. Parts of his interaction with O'brien are still moving, and Picard's chilly exchange with him after bringing him into his ready room is awesome, but overall, he's not one of the most memorable guest characters.
Nearly everything else about this episode is great, though. Our first introduction to the Cardassians is a good one, and I love the way that Picard handles the tense situation. Even though Maxwell is right, and the Cardassians are up to something along the border, he knows that boarding the ship would lead directly to war, something he wants to prevent.
The plot of this episode is crafted exceptionally well, with no easy answers and a lot of gray area to explore. Despite his violent actions and the coming court martial, Maxwell has in effect been a peacekeeper. He killed nearly 700 Cardassians without real provocation, but his actions ultimately led to Picard sniffing out the plot, which undoubtedly prevented an eventual Cardassian attack. We can posit that the Cardassians, knowing that the Federation's Star Fleet is reeling following the Borg incident, have beefed up arms along the border for a foray into Federation territory. Picard's frosty little speech to Macet at the end of the episode put the dampers on this plan, making Maxwell a sort of hero in disgrace since his outlaw actions led to this chain of events.
Macet himself, like several other Cardassian characters we'll see later, is a well-drawn character. I get the feeling that Macet, like Picard, wants to avoid war--I tend to take his speech about some people needing war at face value--but he still is required by duty not to spill the beans about the border ramifications to Picard.
Finally, this episode, like a lot of great Trek episodes, studies the nature of command very well. Picard's interactions with O'brien and Maxwell are indicative of his command style, as his handling of the incident of the Cardassian attempting to access the computer system. Macet's handling of this incident is interesting as well, and the actor playing the busted Cardassian is great. He implies with his eyes that he was acting on Macet's orders and is bewildered by Macet's reaction, but his sense of allegiance makes him follow orders. Contrast this with Picard's speech about Maxwell earning his crew's respect and allegiance.
All in all, a great episode. I rated it an 8, but this one is not far from being a 10.
by JRPoole | 05/06/2008 at 2:12 pm

A tense, exciting episode. The plot, and the performance of Picard, are awesome. I tend to agree with JRPoole that the characterization of Maxwell is not very convincing and is a weak point in an otherwise superb episode.
by Christopher Alexander | 04/22/2011 at 2:55 pm

As an even bigger fan of ds9 i am quite enjoy to see familiar faces "back", happy for change to dukat i would have never taken him seriously with that helmet ;)
by Nadrac | 05/14/2012 at 11:18 pm

I wonder if the writers planned to have O'Brien in DS9 way back when and gave him more development in this episode and the last because he would have a larger part in the Cardassian arc in DS9. This episode feels like a DS9 prequel on my rewatch.
by Jake | 09/20/2012 at 3:41 am

Regarding the Macet-Dukat change: At the time of this episode, Gul Dukat would be commanding Terok Nor, supervising the Cardassian operations on Bajor. He would have no business chasing the Phioenix. Making Macet and Dukat the same character would make no sense.
by Praelat | 11/27/2013 at 6:42 pm