Devil's Due

DVD, TNG S4 (Devil's Due)

In the vein of 'The Original Series' story 'Catspaw' this is another tale of superstition manipulated by nefarious aliens for their gain, only this time it's Captain Picard as the great disprover. There isn't much tension because Picard never believes the legend even for a moment, and relatively early we're seen an example of Ardra's lack of knowledge - she tempts Picard with Deanna Troi, when everyone knows it's Dr. Crusher he likes! The story wasn't good enough for a sequel even though 'Ardra' sounds like she'd be up for a rematch, and I expected her to have another trick up her sleeve and disappear, escaping punishment, but not even that small level of mystery is added.

There are interesting similarities with Picard and Data's interactions with the Borg Queen - she's infatuated with the Captain, Data works for her (or at least, not for Picard) for a period, and they both are happy to prove her a fraud and an enemy. But the danger and power of the Borg Queen isn't conveyed in this con artist. In my opinion the first episode to really fall short of the season's level of quality, even if I did watch it the day before Christmas Eve and enjoyed Data's timely performance of 'A Christmas Carol' and the planetary visuals were a sight to behold!

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