The Defector

The Enterprise is tasked with stopping a galactic war between the Federation and the Romulan Empire. But are they actually being tricked into starting that war? And if so, by whom? Where does the answer lie? In android-like logic? Or deep in the human gut? Find out when we put The Defector in the Mission Log. I really liked this episode for so many reasons.. 1. the Shakespeare war commentary. I thought of this episode when George W Bush convinced so many to go to war. The part about…”if his cause be not just..all these arms and heads and legs will rise up and cry “WE DIED AT SUCH A PLACE!!”…heavy stuff 2. the Romulan disruptor blasts! the steady line phaser bursts always seemed very slow…the sound of these…the speed! the tagging of the scout ship..just more fast paced a la Star Wars… 3. The Tom Clancy feel- I think I soon read, “Red Storm Rising” about WWIII w the Russians and it just felt very heavy!! 4. The backstory mentioning “humiliating defeat at Charon”…the “Treaty of Algeron”, just makes you wonder about what happened and how it went down so many years ago…. 5. The music….when Picard reveals the Jarok is all in, that tune, build up, just really ups the ante and sets the mood. The disbelief of the crew, that, “Oh ShT he gave us the info, IT’S ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!!” expressions, tone, music, really intensified the episode 6. The prior communication to the Klingon vessel, was such a cool easter egg, made rewatching really fun…. 7. The “I have no idea what’s about to happen!!!” feel, so palpable and really the decloaking of the TWO Romulan Warbirds…UNPRECEDENTED!! so fun and really memorable….but just as intense was when the Klingons appear…so cunning..GUILE!!! – ok, just want to say for the record, this ritual of re watching these episodes on Netflix (btw super clear!! seeing all those lights on the Warbird..such detail!! makes you realize how poor our tvs were in the 90s!!) posting on hear w people who love Trek as much as I do, its just FUN!!, to see people who know wayyyy more than more about episodes I thought I knew really well…let me go look for some pics!! The only failure of this episode is it’s one of many Trek episodes where it ends with a suicide that’s meant to feel poignant, but only seems convenient. “Well, we’ll never have to address this again. If we don’t kill him off, they’ll expect us to include this character every time the Romulans are involved.” Yup. Victim of the “one and done” thought process of filming syndicated shows I guess. What a bummer. The arcs they did follow through with got lame….Romulan Tasha, Worf’s son, wacky holodeck….even Q and the Borg..poor follow up and development… It’s episodes like this that remind me of what is missing in the later seasons. The racking suspense in this (used to greater effect in BOBW) is supplied by the Ron Jones’s music. Berman’s decree for ‘sonic wallpaper’ made seasons 5-7 pretty drab. what do you mean by sonic wallpaper? Yes, the score was great. Intense buildup. I agree, sadly S3 was the BEST! the following years had some good episodes but for overall consistency its 3. Darn, what a shame. I recall watching Crusher take command and Troi too or seeing Geordis parents crammed into one episode thinking, ouch, they are really reaching…. this was a great episode for Romulans, then they had to cram in Tasha Yar…ugh…poor follow through… “Sonic wallpaper” was a phrase I read in regards to the musical choices later on in the show. I forget where it originated, perhaps Jones himself. Long story short, Berman was not a fan of “music that called attention to itself” or something like that. After Ron Jones was fired, you might notice the music becoming generic and subdued, not really delivering any emotional impact or driving suspense. There was some here and there, like The Inner Light, but not to the extent of the first three seasons. Geez, Rick Berman, what a bummer. let’s try to minimize creative original music…yeesshh , Ron Jones, fired? hmmm gonna google