"The Chase"
Season Six, Episode 20
Teleplay by Joe Menosky
Story by Ronald D Moore
Directed by Jonathan Frakes
Main Cast:
Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes as Commander William Riker
LeVar Burton as Lt Geordi LaForge
Michael Dorn as Lt Worf
Gates McFadden as Dr Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis as Counsellor Deanna Troi
Brent Spiner as Lt Cmdr Data

Guest Cast:
Salome Jens as Humanoid
Norman Lloyd as Professor Richard Galen
John Cothran Jr as Nu'Daq
Maurice Roeves as Romulan Commander
Linda Thorson as Gul Ocett
Majel Barrett as Computer Voice
 

Synopsis:
 
Picard's old mentor, archaeologist Professor Richard Galen, arrives offering him the chance to join him on what he promises will be the archaeological discovery of the century. Picard is tempted but cannot leave his command. Galen leaves bitterly disappointed but a short while later the Enterprise responds to his distress call and finds him dying, having been attacked after someone tried to steal his research. After Galen dies, Picard decides to piece together the puzzle and find out why he was killed. He starts by trying to decipher what he was up to and what this "archaological bombshell" was. He retraces his steps to long-dead planets and discovers that he was collecting prehistoric DNA samples. Incredibly, when put together the DNA samples provide a code. The code cannot be deciphered, however, until the missing pieces of the puzzle are found.

The Enterprise encounters a Klingon and a Cardassian ship, both also attempting to get to the bottom of Galen's work. Picard suggests they work together and share their results for the common good. Despite some treachery from the Cardassians, they locate the last piece of the gentic puzzle and, joined by the Romulans, trigger an ancient recording. It is by a long-dead humanoid race who reveal that they had seeded their genetic codes across the galaxy -- in essence, despite all their differences, humans, Romulans, Cardassians and Klingons alike have a common link. In a sense, they are brothers.

Review: 

Whew. That was quite a ride, wasn't it? The Chase starts off as a solid character drama, reuniting Picard with his old mentor and forcing him to reconsider the path he's taken his life. Originally Galen wanted him to become and archaeolgist, but instead Picard joined Starfleet. Don't we often look back and wonder what would happen if we'd taken a different path in life? Life has a remarkable way of turning out for the best with things all falling into place, but it is sometimes tempting to wonder what if?. The relationship between Picard and Galen was well handled and featured some solid work from Patrick Stewart and guest star Norman Lloyd (the pair of them would have passed for father and son!). But the moment Galen uttered the words "I'm not a young man" it was clear that he was not gonna survive the episode!

But it was a surprise that he was bumped off so soon. The premise, involving a code in the DNA of many different humanoid species, is thoroughly intriguing and full of potential. The involvement of the Cardassians, Klingons and eventually Romulans, certainly adds of lot of spice to the story as they race to finish the pattern and discover what the encoded "program" is. The Chase is an episode which captures the spirit of The Original Series and is a very rare example of the series utilising the mystery, adventure and excitement that was inherent in the early days of its predecessor. Whilst watching, I was swept away by this mission and left wishing that TNG (and certainly Voyager) had been like this more often. This is a tellingly rare example of TNG truly "boldly going" for once and it was a real adventure. I suppose it's pointless to say so now, but I wish we'd had more of this; more exploring and adventure and less diplomatic conferences, technobabble and space anomalies.

There are some problems -- for one, the actors playing the Cardassian and Klingon captains weren't very good (particularly, it saddens me to say, Linda Thorson) and the fact that they were portrayed as petty, bickering idiots was downright embarassing. The silly insults and squabbling was way overdone and quite risable. It was also almost a given that after such a great build-up any conclusion would have been something of an anti-climax. Right enough, a measly two minute holo-recording isn't quite as exciting an outcome as the premise seemed to offer. I laughed out loud at Nu'Daq's disgusted response; "That's ALL?!!" But I have to say I rather liked the final revelation that a long-dead race had basically seeded the galaxy and that, in essence, Klingons, humans, Cardassians and Romulans alike descend from the same lineage. There's nothing more Trekkian than that -- we are all the same and even though we may appear different, we are all one. The humanoid's speech was well delivered (by Salome Jens, who looks not dissimilar from her role as the Female Changeling on DS9) and whilst the ending was a trifle obvious and clunky, it was well-intentioned and inspiring, nevertheless. What it adds to the Trek universe is debatable, for it's something that has never been addressed again, but it's a nice nod to Roddenberry's Trek ideology at its best -- at least that's how I took it.

On the whole, we have a strong episode. A genuinely fascinating plot that utilises the basic tennats of Ttrek to great effect is beautifully brought to life by Jonathan Frakes who does a superb job behind the camera. There's pretty much something for everyone -- a fascinating sci-fi premise, strong characterisation, action, mystery and comedy (I loved that scene in Ten Forward with Data and Nu'Daq!). You may find the final pay-off slightly unsatisfying given the wonderful build-up, but it provides a nice message and a hell of a ride along the way.  
 

Rating: 9

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