Star Trek: The Next Generation — 7x05 — Gambit, Part II

Aired 1993-10-18

SpaceOpera.com rating:8

Average reader rating:6.22

Synopsis

Picard and Riker masquerade as mercenaries.

Remarkable scenes

Riker hitting Picard back. Go Riker!
Data's chat with Worf.
Picard: "Oh what a tangled web we weave. I have difficulty remembering whose side I'm on!"
Picard: "Will, you always seem to be after my job."
The "revelation" that the Romulan was a Vulcan.
Worf's "health and safety inspections" idea.
Beverly nervously introducing herself to the pilot of the Klingon shuttle and conducting her search.
I love the behavior of the Klingon pilot.
Picard taking over the smuggler ship.
Picard carefully testing his "Vulcan" friend.
Picard's solution to the resonator.
Picard jokingly ordering Data to escort Riker to the brig and Data following his orders very thoroughly. Hilarious!

Review

The second half of this episode retains the same level of excitement and intelligence. It goes slightly sour with the psyonic resonator, a super god weapon, suddenly real. I love the ending though. The weapon is useless against a disciplined mind! Overall this is one of the most memorable episodes of TNG.

8 reader comments

This one just isn't working for me. The melodrama at the beginning of the first part with Riker and Troi hashing it out over Picard's death is badly acted and written. The psyonic resonator turns out to be exceptionally lame. The pain/control devices have been done to death. James Worthy's klingon character is just lame.
That said, there is some memorable stuff here. Data's interaction with Worf is well-done. And there is some good intrigue on a plot level.
by JRPoole | 10/15/2008 at 1:53 am

They did all this work, in two episodes, to assemble the artifact, only to find a "gun" that takes 10 seconds to fire. I felt let down.
by Orion Pimpdaddy | 11/25/2008 at 8:22 pm

So what would have been the downside if Data had just ordered that the Enterprise fire on the pirate ship and disable it? I think I have to side with Worf on this one.
by tigertooth | 01/05/2011 at 1:55 pm

I was somewhat let down by the second half of this episode. The first 3/4s of it were fine and continued with the first halfs exciting plot and fair amount of action. However the ending was a big let down for me. As was stated in another review, the "ultimate" weapon was a real let down and the Vulcan peace versus war morality from Picard just came out as extremely lame. The Vulcan woman's reaction was totally out of place and I almost expected to see her go into a childish rant about it throwing it on the ground and stomping on it. Again, the plot line devices are just too convenient and everyone beaming into the cavern at the end seemed too convenient. So this one only gets a 6 rating from me.
by Robert Koenn | 06/22/2011 at 12:29 pm

"my name is actually T'pol and I'm a member of the [vulcan security]"
o.O They were taking lots of names from these episodes, lol
by dronkit | 03/13/2014 at 3:41 am

The only thing I don't understand about this two-parter is why Picard would end up in the hands of these mercenaries in the first place. You'd think that tracking mercenaries who are stealing "Romulan" artifacts would be dangerous enough that he'd ask for some backup, or at least let someone know what he's doing. The rogue nature of this episode's premise is a little out of character for Picard.
That aside, it's one of the more enjoyable two-parters. There are a lot of twists and turns, and plenty of intrigue once Riker shows up on the mercenary ship. I really liked watching Riker and Picard try to play different sides of Baran, and also liked the Data-Worf subplot. Adventurous and compelling…nicely done.
by Axel | 03/08/2015 at 2:41 am

Robin Curtis from Star Trek 3 is in this one.
by jeffenator98 | 08/01/2019 at 5:21 pm

A fun, adventurous episode for sure. The ending was a little odd. While Talera was focusing the resonator on Riker or Worf, couldn't Picard have tried to grab it from her instead of standing there watching while she tried to kill them? It seems like the resonator has to be focused on a particular person to work, so Picard could have done something to neutralize her.
Former L.A. Laker "Big Game James" Worthy playing the Klingon Koral was great. Most athletes don't do well in acting gigs, but this was a perfect character for him: few lines, and mostly intimidating behavior. I love when he pours the bloodwine on the floor!
by Jack S | 03/02/2024 at 7:27 pm