Star Trek: The Next Generation — 7x24 — Preemptive Strike

Aired 1994-05-16

SpaceOpera.com rating:6

Average reader rating:6.68

Synopsis

Ro Laren infiltrates the Maquis.

Remarkable scenes

The Maquis attacking a Cardassian ship.
Ro taking her ship through the Enterprise's shields and beaming away medical equipment.
Ro Laren betraying the Enterprise crew.
Picard's reaction to learning of Ro Laren's betrayal.

Review

This episode is finally TNG doing something valuable with its finite time left after two bad episodes in a row. Some nice points are the continuity with DS9: The Maquis, and the return of Ro Laren, a character who almost became a missed opportunity for a good episode. If only TNG could have wrapped up more of its loose ends. The graphics were certainly above TNG's average, and the story of Ro Laren's betrayal was enticing. Though I like what happened to Ro, I really wish we could have seen her again. It would have been more interesting if her contract was inclusive such that she became a member of the crew of Voyager or something. Oh well, all things considered it was a great episode considering it was the last stand alone TNG episode.

5 reader comments

Wow! Having Ro Laren on the cast of Voyager would have made that show WAY better. I bet it would have been much more popular, too.
by Pete Miller | 06/04/2006 at 10:34 pm

This has always been one of my favorite episodes because it looks at the Federation from an outside perspective. The Federation has always been presented as somewhat infallible; the politics of the show are rarely in disagreement with those of the Federation itself. This is a little different.
I think that everyone was right here. The Federation was acting in its best interest in the treaty with Cardassia. The Maquis certainly have a valid point, and their militancy, especially for the Bajorans among them, is understandable. Ro made the right moral decision by joining them, and Picard's insistence on duty is also understandable. All this also sets the tone not only for Voyager, but for what DS 9 becomes as well. I give it an 8.
by JRPoole | 11/05/2008 at 3:26 pm

Bajoran Hasperat = a fajita
by Paul | 08/19/2010 at 3:14 pm

It seemed to me that Picard had very deep feelings for her - sort of like a daughter to him. I felt like he was more upset that he wouldn't be able to continue in occasional relationship with her on federation terms than he would have been about her simply defecting. It was a very moving episode for me. Although I felt the Ro character was a bit overwritten, I sympathized with her a great deal.
by Lt. Fitz | 06/19/2012 at 9:45 pm

The Maquis got more attention in DS9, but this is one of the few episodes in TNG where there is a valid alternative position on an issue to the one the Federation takes. This time, the moral dilemma is not Picard's but Ro's. I think it's a great way to tie up the character given her past issues with Starfleet.
It was pretty obvious from the beginning that Macias was going to sway Ro to the Maquis side, so maybe they could've used a more morally ambiguous character. Still, this episode had a lot of great continuity and a really good plot.
by Axel | 03/29/2015 at 3:23 am