The Battle (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Last updated

"The Battle"
Star Trek: The Next Generation episode
The Battle screenshot.jpg
The USS Stargazer as it appears to the Enterprise after it has performed the Picard Maneuver
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 9
Directed by Rob Bowman
Story byLarry Forrester
Teleplay by Herbert Wright
Featured music Ron Jones [1]
Cinematography byEdward R. Brown
Production code110
Original air dateNovember 16, 1987 (1987-11-16)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
 Previous
"Justice"
Next 
"Hide and Q"
Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1
List of episodes

"The Battle" is the ninth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and was originally aired on November 16, 1987, in broadcast syndication. The episode was written by Herbert Wright, based on a story by Larry Forrester, and directed by Rob Bowman.

Contents

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) is given his former vessel, the Stargazer, as a gift by the Ferengi DaiMon Bok (Frank Corsentino) who intends to use it to take revenge upon the Enterprise captain.

The Stargazer was to originally be represented by the movie-era Enterprise model, but producers were convinced to use a design which had appeared on a model in Picard's ready room in the series pilot. Several camera and compositing techniques were used by Bowman in filming the scenes aboard the bridge of the Stargazer, which was also a re-dressed movie-era Enterprise bridge set (which had also been re-dressed to serve as the Enterprise-D “battle bridge” in the pilot episode).

Plot

The Enterprise encounters a Ferengi vessel whose captain, DaiMon Bok, requests a meeting with Captain Picard. Picard is suffering from persistent headaches, whose cause Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) is unable to determine. Meanwhile, a second vessel approaches and is identified as a Federation Constellation-class starship.

Bok transports to the bridge of the Enterprise, and announces that the newly arrived ship is a gift for "the hero of Maxia." Data (Brent Spiner) reminds Picard that nine years earlier at Maxia he was attacked by an unidentified aggressor which he destroyed. Bok reveals that the ship in question was Ferengi. Bok's gift is identified as the Stargazer, Picard's former command, which Bok found as a derelict. Picard explains that at Maxia, the crew was forced to abandon ship, despite winning the battle by an action that would come to be known as the "Picard Maneuver", a short warp jump that caused the enemy vessel's light-speed limited sensors to detect the Stargazer in two places at once.

Picard and an away team board the Stargazer, and he orders a chest of his belongings sent to the Enterprise. Hidden in the chest is an orb, apparently under Bok's control, that subjects Picard to a wave of pain. Dr. Crusher orders him back to the Enterprise. Data finds an entry in the Stargazer's logs stating that the Ferengi were attacked under a flag of truce, but he and La Forge determine that this entry was faked. Wesley detects unusual signals from the Ferengi ship, and the Enterprise computer informs William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) that Picard has returned to the Stargazer.

Picard finds Bok waiting for him with another orb. Bok explains that his son was in command of the Ferengi vessel at Maxia, and that Bok is taking revenge. He sets the orb down and leaves Picard on the Stargazer bridge. The orb lights up, and Picard suddenly believes he is once again at the Battle of Maxia, and that the Enterprise is the attacker. On the Enterprise, Lieutenant Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) and Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn) discover the orb brought over from the Stargazer in Picard's chest. They take it to Riker as the Stargazer powers up its weapon systems. Riker hails the Ferengi vessel and speaks to Kazago, the ship's first officer, who reveals that the orb is a banned device and promises to investigate.

Riker subsequently hails the Stargazer, but Picard continues to believe he is being attacked by the Enterprise. Riker asks Data to devise a countermeasure to the Picard Maneuver. When Picard takes the Stargazer to warp, Data uses the Enterprise's tractor beam to seize the Stargazer and limit its field of fire. Riker tells Picard about the orb; Picard seems to understand and destroys it with his phaser. After a few moments, Picard hails the Enterprise and requests a transport. Kazago hails Riker to inform him that Bok has been relieved of command "for engaging in this unprofitable venture".

Production

"The Battle" marked the second appearance of the Ferengi, but executive producer Rick Berman thought that they still did not make a decent major adversary. [2] Larry Forester's script, his second for The Next Generation, originally featured several scenes on board the Ferengi ship to cast further light on their culture but they were all ultimately cut before filming. [2] Bok would return in the seventh-season episode "Bloodlines", although the role would be recast with Lee Arenberg gaining the role instead of Frank Corsentino. [3] [4]

Rob Bowman used a couple of specific camera techniques for the scenes on board the Stargazer during Picard's hallucinations. A steadicam attached to a cameraman was used to show a slight unsteadiness, and each of the Stargazer crew members were filmed individually on the bridge against a smoke background before being superimposed together. [2] He explained, "we went dark in a lot of scenes and we did different angles and things the show hadn't done yet. For me, it was a real creative stretch and it felt great for the show." [5] The bridge itself was a re-dress of the film-era Enterprise bridge. [5] The term "Picard Maneuver" was later used offscreen to refer informally to Patrick Stewart's habit of tugging his uniform shirt down, [2] and the Battle of Maxia itself was described in the first chapter of the pre-TNG era novel The Buried Age. [6]

The Constellation-class starship first appears in "Encounter at Farpoint" as a desktop model in Picard's ready room. Rick Sternbach constructed the model by kitbashing Ertl kits of the movie Enterprise , using parts from other models such as the VF-1 Valkyrie to add detail. [7] [8] Greg Jein used Sternbach's and Andrew Probert's designs to create the four-foot shooting model of the USS Stargazer for "The Battle". [7] [8] In the original script, the Stargazer was to be a redress of the movie-era Constitution-class Enterprise model that first appeared in Star Trek: The Motion Picture ; Probert and Sternbach persuaded the producers not to reuse the movie Enterprise model, and the "Constellation"-class label was chosen so that it could match LeVar Burton's lip movement to redub dialogue. [2]

This episode is noted for featuring special effect sequences with a Constellation-class starship in outer space. This design is used again in the episode "Peak Performance" season 2 Episode 21 of TNG). [9]

Reception

Reviewers and The Next Generation crew praised the performance of Patrick Stewart in "The Battle" PatrickStewart2004-08-03.jpg
Reviewers and The Next Generation crew praised the performance of Patrick Stewart in "The Battle"

"The Battle" aired in broadcast syndication during the week commencing November 15, 1987. It received Nielsen ratings of 10.5, reflecting the percentage of all households watching the episode during its timeslot. This rating was lower than those received by the episodes broadcast both before and afterwards. [10] Staff writer Maurice Hurley later said that the episode was "pretty good" because of the performance of Patrick Stewart. [5] He originally didn't think much of the episode as it included the Ferengi, who he felt didn't work as an adversary at all. [5]

Several reviewers re-watched the episode after the end of the series. Zack Handlen reviewed the episode for The A.V. Club in April, 2010. He thought that the Ferengi were a "one note" opponent for the crew, [11] but that in this episode they weren't as bad as they were in "The Last Outpost". [11] He thought that the plot made the crew look a little silly, saying, "Put it this way: if somebody showed up at your door and said, "Hey, we want to give you this weapon you used to murder a bunch of guys we knew years ago," wouldn't you be a little suspicious?" [11] He gave the episode an overall mark of C+. [11] James Hunt reviewed the episode for the website "Den of Geek" in November 2012, and said that it was the best episode of the series up until that point. He thought that little touches such as the Stargazer using the movie-era effect for warp drive was a cute touch as it was meant to be an older ship than the Enterprise but also pointed out that "it also means that the Picard Manoeuvre is completely invalidated, because you literally see the ship move from point A to B before the original disappears". [12] He felt that the conflict between Picard and Bok was well realized, and that the characterization was good. [12]

Keith DeCandido re-watched the episode for Tor.com in June 2012, saying that it was a solid episode and that Patrick Stewart did "a stellar job, modulating from pained to confused to nostalgic to frustrated to crazy, all quite convincingly." [13] He said that the downside of the episode was that Troi and Wesley Crusher were not well used, while the revelation of the orb so early in the episode prevented any suspense being built up. He said that the episode worked because it concentrated on Picard, and gave it a score of six out of ten. [13] Jamahl Epsicokhan at his website "Jammer's Reviews" gave the episode two and a half out of four, saying that it was slow-paced but that the storyline had a "psychological component that's sometimes effective". [14] Cast member Wil Wheaton watched "The Battle" for AOL TV in February 2007. He felt that the plot had similar themes to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , in that a father sought revenge following the death of his son. He thought that the writing was weak overall, and that the episode purely worked because of the ability of Patrick Stewart as Captain Picard. [15]

In 2020, Primetimer ranked this one of the top ten episodes for the character Jean-Luc Picard. [16]

Home media release

The first home media release of "The Battle" was on VHS cassette was on July 1, 1992, in the United States and Canada. [17] The episode was later included on the Star Trek: The Next Generation season one DVD box set, released in March 2002, [18] and was released as part of the season one Blu-ray set on July 24, 2012. [19]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Nemecek (2003): p. 40
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Nemecek (2003): p. 41
  3. "Star Trek: The Next Generation Series 7 – 22. Bloodlines". Radio Times. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  4. "Star Trek: The Next Generation Series 1 – 9. The Battle". Radio Times. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Gross; Altman (1993): p. 160
  6. Bennett, Christopher L. (2007). The Buried Age . London: Pocket Books. pp.  3–20. ISBN   978-1-4165-3739-7.
  7. 1 2 Sternbach, Rick (June 28, 1998). "USS Stargazer". alt.sf.scale-models newsgroup. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  8. 1 2 Sternbach, Rick (June 2, 1998). "Stargazer and anime kit bits". alt.sf.scale-models newsgroup. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  9. Sorrells, Paul (April 2, 2013). "13 Awesome Star Trek Ships". WhatCulture.com. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  10. "Star Trek: The Next Generation Nielsen Ratings – Seasons 1–2". TrekNation. UGO Networks. Archived from the original on October 5, 2000. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Handlen, Zac (April 23, 2010). ""The Battle"/"Hide and Q"/"Haven"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  12. 1 2 Hunt, James (November 16, 2012). "Revisiting Star Trek TNG: The Battle". Den of Geek. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
  13. 1 2 DeCandido, Keith (June 2, 2011). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: "The Battle"". Tor.com. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  14. Epsicokhan, Jamahl. "Star Trek: The Next Generation "The Battle"". Jammer's Reviews. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  15. Wheaton, Wil (February 12, 2007). "Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Battle". AOL TV. Archived from the original on September 7, 2011. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
  16. Liese, Jessica (January 20, 2020). "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Jean-Luc Picard's 10 Best Episodes". Primetimer.com. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  17. "Star Trek – The Next Generation, Episode 10: The Battle (VHS)". Tower Video. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  18. Periguard, Mark A (March 24, 2002). "'Life as a House' rests on shaky foundation". The Boston Herald. Archived from the original on June 10, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2012.(subscription required)
  19. Shaffer, RL (April 30, 2012). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Beams to Blu-ray". IGN. Retrieved January 25, 2022.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romulan</span> Extraterrestrial humanoid species in the Star Trek franchise

The Romulans are an extraterrestrial race in the American science fiction franchise Star Trek. Their adopted home world is Romulus, and within the same star system they have settled a sister planet Remus. Their original home world, Vulcan, was renamed Ni'Var later in canon. They first appeared in the series Star Trek (1966–1969). They have appeared in most subsequent Star Trek releases, including The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, and Lower Decks. They appear in the Star Trek feature films Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) and Star Trek (2009). They also appear in various other spin-off media, including books, comics, toys and games.

Enterprise or USS Enterprise, often referred to as the Starship Enterprise, is the name of several fictional spacecraft, some of which are the main craft and setting for various television series and films in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. The most notable were Captain James T. Kirk's USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) from the original 1960s television series, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard's USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Guinan (<i>Star Trek</i>) Character in Star Trek

Guinan is a recurring character in the Star Trek franchise, portrayed by American actress Whoopi Goldberg. The character first appeared in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1988 and went on to appear in the films Star Trek Generations and Star Trek: Nemesis as well as the television series Star Trek: Picard. She was also played as a child by Isis Carmen Jones in the episode "Rascals" and a younger version of the character by Ito Aghayere in Picard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferengi</span> Fictional Star Trek species

The Ferengi are a fictional extraterrestrial species in the American science fiction franchise Star Trek. They were devised in 1987 for the series Star Trek: The Next Generation, played a prominent role in the following series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and have made brief appearances in subsequent series such as Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Picard.

The Neutral Zone (<i>Star Trek: The Next Generation</i>) 26th episode of the 1st season of Star Trek: The Next Generation

"The Neutral Zone" is the season finale of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, originally aired within the United States on May 16, 1988, in broadcast syndication. The episode originated as a story submission purchased by Paramount written by Deborah McIntyre and Mona Clee, and was turned into a teleplay by Maurice Hurley. Because of the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, Hurley created the script in a day and a half, and the timescale forced the abandonment of both the idea of a two-part episode and of the first appearance of the Borg, which was delayed until the following season episode "Q Who".

USS <i>Enterprise</i> (NCC-1701-D) Fictional starship from Star Trek

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), or Enterprise-D, to distinguish it from other vessels with the same name, is a starship in the Star Trek media franchise. Under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, it is the main setting of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994) and the film Star Trek Generations (1994). It has also been depicted in various spinoffs, films, books, and licensed products.

"11001001" is the fifteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was first broadcast on February 1, 1988, in the United States in broadcast syndication. It was written by Maurice Hurley and Robert Lewin, and directed by Paul Lynch.

The Last Outpost (<i>Star Trek: The Next Generation</i>) 5th episode of the 1st season of Star Trek: The Next Generation

"The Last Outpost" is the fifth episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, originally aired within the United States on October 19, 1987. The episode was written by Herbert Wright, based on a story by Richard Krzemien, and directed by Richard Colla. The guest cast included Armin Shimerman, Jake Dengel and Tracey Walter. Although this was Shimerman's first appearance as a Ferengi, he had previously filmed his first appearance in an uncredited role in "Haven", but that was broadcast after "The Last Outpost". He would later gain the role of the Ferengi Quark in the main cast of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

"Yesterday's Enterprise" is the 63rd episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. It is the 15th episode of the third season, first airing in syndication in the week of February 19, 1990. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, the ship's crew must decide whether to send the time-travelling Enterprise-C back through a temporal rift to its certain destruction, to prevent damaging changes to their timeline.

"Hide and Q" is the tenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, and originally aired on November 23, 1987, in broadcast syndication. The story was originally written by Maurice Hurley but went under numerous re-writes by the show's creator Gene Roddenberry. The episode was directed by Cliff Bole, and saw the return of John de Lancie as Q.

"Haven" is the eleventh episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, originally aired on November 30, 1987, in broadcast syndication in the United States. Directed by Richard Compton, the story was originally created by Lan O'Kun, and developed into the final script by Tracy Tormé.

"The Arsenal of Freedom" is the twenty-first episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, originally aired on April 11, 1988, in broadcast syndication. The teleplay was written by Richard Manning and Hans Beimler, based on a story by Beimler. The episode was directed by Les Landau.

"Peak Performance" is the twenty-first and penultimate episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 47th episode overall, first broadcast on July 10, 1989.

"Bloodlines" the 174th episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The 22nd episode of the seventh season. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. Actor Ken Olandt guest stars as Jason Vigo. Lee Arenberg replaces Frank Corsentino as Bok.

Rascals (<i>Star Trek: The Next Generation</i>) 7th episode of the 6th season of Star Trek: The Next Generation

"Rascals" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 133rd overall. It was originally released on October 30, 1992, in broadcast syndication. "Rascals" was credited to Alison Hock from a story by Ward Botsford, Diana Dru Botsford, Michael Piller, although the script was revised by several writers with Ronald D. Moore conducting the final draft. It marked the directorial debut of Adam Nimoy.

"A Matter of Honor" is the eighth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 34th episode overall, first broadcast on February 6, 1989. The teleplay is written by Burton Armus, based on a story by Armus, Wanda M. Haight and Gregory W. Amos, and directed by Rob Bowman.

"Acquisition" is the nineteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise that originally aired on March 27, 2002, on UPN. The episode was developed into a teleplay by Maria and Andre Jacquemetton from a story by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, and was directed by James Whitmore, Jr. Set in the 22nd century, the series follows the adventures of the first Starfleet starship, Enterprise, registration NX-01. In this episode, a group of interstellar alien thieves knock out the Enterprise crew and begin looting the ship. Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III is the only one left to stop them.

"Ménage à Troi" is the 24th episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the 72nd episode of the series overall.

The Star Trek franchise features many spacecraft. Various space vessels make up the primary settings of the Star Trek television series, films, and expanded universe; others help advance the franchise's stories. Throughout the franchise's production, spacecraft have been depicted by numerous physical and computer-generated models. Producers worked to balance often tight budgets with the need to depict convincing, futuristic vessels.

Several characters within the Star Trek franchise, primary and secondary, often made crossover appearances between one series and another. This included appearances of established characters on premiere episodes of new series, a few long-term transfers from one series to another, and even crossovers between Trek films and television. A few crossover appearances, such as that of Spock on The Next Generation and the time-travel of the crew of Deep Space Nine to the era of The Original Series were especially lauded by both fans and critics.

References