Star Trek 244: Chain of Command, Part II

244. Chain of Command, Part II

FORMULA: The Empath + The Wounded + The Best of Both Worlds, Part II

WHY WE LIKE IT: Picard and Madred's sublime scenes together.

WHY WE DON'T: Riker's unprofessionalism goes a bit too far.

REVIEW: So it turns out that the whole mission was a trap to lure Picard specifically to Celtis III for capture, interrogation and torture. I don't know if that makes the Cardassians surprisingly great planners or the writers spectacularly lazy. But it doesn't matter, because that's just a context to something truly excellent. Chain of Command, Part II is really an unflinching, adult look at torture and the relationship between a Cardassian captor and his dehumanized captive. David Warner and Patrick Stewart in the roles simply seals the deal. It's a must-see.

The performances are very strong, and Warner delivers the entire Cardassian template in the course of a single story. Their pride, their love of family, their desperation and use of all resources for war, their semi-abandoned spirituality, their Orwell/Kafka justice system, their vile cuisine, and of course the way they like to paint themselves as the good guys only trying to help "lesser" cultures. It's all there for DS9 to work from.

Picard is tortured, humiliated, stripped of his identity and toyed with, but he gives as good as he gets. Picard is stronger - must be stronger - than his cruel captor. His use of psychology matches that of Madred's as much as his willpower does. In the end, Picard never admits to ever seeing more than four lights (a set piece worthy of 1984). But in the end, though Madred walks off defeated, Picard must admit that he HAD been broken, and that's pretty powerful stuff. And bold.

Over on the Enterprise, the Jellico-Riker relationship comes to a head and bam! Data's in a red command shirt. What follows is a little more predictable, though perhaps nice to see no begrudging respect between the two men at the end.

LESSON: There are five lights. (Damn, he got me.)

REWATCHABILITY - High: For the first time, Part II is better than Part I, and a sign of things to come once Deep Space 9 gets good and going. Cardassians are proving to be formidable villains where the Ferengi and neo-Romulans have yet to truly succeed.