Series: Star Trek: TNG
Episode: 3.12 The High Ground (01-29-1990)
Rating: 4/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1.5/23
Notable Guest Stars:
Richard Cox – Kyril Finn. He mainly does guest star work, and theater.
Kerrie Keane – Alexana Devos.
Marc Buckland- Katik Shaw. He mostly does directorial work now, including working on the Drew Berrymore show The Santa Clara Diet.
Christopher Pettiet – ‘boy’. He played Jessie James in the TV series The Young Riders. Unfortunately, he died a decade after this episode from a drug overdose at the age of 24.
Review:
I have mixed feelings about this episode. Its not an overly horrible episode, but it also didn’t keep be glued to the screen either. And reviewing the production notes on Memory Alpha and Wikipedia led me to believe the writers weren’t that happy with this episode either.
The Enterprise shows up to a planet that is not Federation, but is one which has a strong trade relationship. The planet is currently having a civil war of sorts between a community that wants independence from the larger continent and the governing group of that continent. So the issue in this episode is Terrorism.
The lack of a reason for wanting independence weakens the characters on the ‘terrorist’ side. I’m not sure if it was there and edited out before the final script or what, but it could have strengthened the episode. Otherwise this episode falls flat.
I’m going to give this episode a 3. Its mediocre and considering the writer who wrote it hates it, I don’t think I’m wrong here in saying this was not the direction they should have taken.
Interesting Notes:
- Written by Melinda M. Snodgrass
- Directed by Gabrielle Baumount
- This episode ruffled some feathers with its mention of the Ireland reunification of 2024. Some countries have yet to air it, others have aired it with editing out the reference, and some have aired it in its entirey….decades later.
- Gene Roddenberry suggested the dimensional shifting.
Pros:
- A Beverly centered episode!
- The idea of dimensional shifting being fatal. Makes me wonder about later attempts at transwarp and such. Does this affect it?
Cons:
- Its…mediocre.
Sokorra Lewis 