Peak Performance

DVD, TNG S2 (Peak Performance)

I found this to be a bit confused as a story and lacking in some way. It may be the punchlines which were telegraphed a sector away - Riker would prove himself to Kolrami, forcing the pompous Zakdorn to eat his words, and Data would beat the alien at his own game. Like the training situation there was nothing to be gained and nothing to be lost as Mr. Worf succinctly put it. The premise of a tactical battle was sound, especially in the light of the Borg threat, as mentioned by Picard, but I wasn't clear on who was being tested and how they would be judged.

How was the Hathaway (a re-use of the Stargazer model and set) taken to the rendezvous point and why have a battle in any old space when more controlled conditions could be achieved in Federation territory, then a safer and more internal exercise could have been carried out without danger of interference as happened in this case? Why was this Zakdorn involved - beyond his race's reputation as supposedly the best tactical minds he didn't appear to be a member of Starfleet, yet he was going to report to them. How did he get there? There must have been another starship which both brought him to the Enterprise and towed the Hathaway which leaves a question: wouldn't it have made more sense for Kolrami to have followed the battle from a neutral ship? It would also make sense to have another starship around to see that interference didn't happen and warn other ships in the area that a training exercise was taking place.

The challenge for Riker is as much about getting his ship together as actually fighting the battle, which leads me to wonder if this was all a ploy. Starfleet really want Riker to be captain and he keeps turning them down, so maybe this whole exercise was designed to invoke his pride and give him a taste of captaincy so that he'd accept next time they asked? It's a theory. Relations with the Ferengi seemed to be, if not cordial, certainly non-combative, but it appears there is no actual peace treaty between them and the Federation by their actions here, as they are free to swoop in and attack at any opportunity.

Their method of intervention was rather pitiful, I suppose in continuation of their previous erratic behaviour, but to warp in, firing, then stop dead right next to your enemy and wait for them to speak was the kind of example Kolrami should have been denigrating! Craziness! I didn't buy their interest in the old ship either. Daimon Bok may have searched out the same type but that was for an unprofitable personal vendetta against Picard. Once again the Ferengi aren't used in the best way. They've changed quite a lot from previous appearances now, having lost all signs of their jittery, ape-like crouching and waving arms. This time they had a menace to them that might have worked had it been adhered to from their first episode. We can thank Armin Shimerman for any positive Ferengi attributes and it's telling that even before his regular role as ambassador of the species in Trekdom he did what he could to redeem the species. I didn't remember the Ferengi were in this until I saw Shimerman's name in the opening credits which gave the game away.

There are other confused parts of the whole - Burke, the guy standing in for Worf is set up as someone who might be important, but apart from popping up all over the place (one minute he's on the bridge, the next he's escorting Wesley, then he's in Ten Forward watching Data and Kolrami's match!), he isn't important at all though he seems good mates with Data - after the Android wins by default he grabs him by the shoulders in praise of it.

Although the re-use of the Stargazer showed their lack of funds at this stage of the season it was good to see a different bridge to the one we see every week and fun to have Riker's fantasy crew (Mr. Worf as first officer was especially good value). We knew that he'd pull through though and we knew Data would get over his 'sulk' so the episode is a bit of a slow grind. I'm left with the thought that Pulaski has been seriously underused for a new character and has sort of blended into the background much like, but not as bad, Dr. Crusher did in Season One.

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