The Drumhead

"The Drumhead"
Star Trek: The Next Generation episode
Picard, before Satie's Inquisition
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 21
Directed by	Jonathan Frakes
Written by	Jeri Taylor
Featured music	Ron Jones
Production code	195
Original air date	April 29, 1991 (1991-04-29)
Guest stars
Bruce French - Sabin Genestra Spencer Garrett - Simon Tarses Henry Woronicz - J'Dan Earl Billings - Thomas Henry Jean Simmons - Admiral Satie Ann Shea - Nellen Tore
Episode chronology
← Previous "Qpid" Next → "Half a Life"
List of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes

"The Drumhead" is the 95th episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Synopsis

Following an explosion in the dilithium chamber in the engine room, Starfleet Command dispatches retired Rear Admiral Norah Satie to head up the investigation to determine the cause. A series of interviews with crewmembers determines that a Klingon exchange officer, J'Dan, is using a hypospray to encode privileged computer information into amino acid sequences. Though he admits to being a Romulan collaborator, he insists that he is not responsible for the explosion. Satie and Picard agree that J'Dan could not have acted alone, and that a larger conspiracy is present.

Medical technician Simon Tarses is interviewed as he had been one of the technicians responsible for giving J'Dan his injections. Tarses states his interactions with J'Dan were innocent, and in an aside notes that he is one quarter Vulcan, but Satie's Betazoid assistant senses the young technician is hiding something. Satie recommends restricting Tarses' movements aboard, but Picard refuses to do so based on Betazoid intuition alone. An analysis of the dilithium chamber determines that the explosion was caused by a manufacturing defect in the hatch casing, not sabotage or conspiracy. Picard considers the matter closed, but Satie argues that even if the explosion was not sabotage, J'Dan could not be acting alone and that a conspiracy must be present.

Tarses is brought back for questioning, this time in an open inquiry. Satie and her team accuse Tarses of lying about his association with J'Dan and reveal that he is in fact one quarter Romulan, though Tarses refuses to confirm this on the grounds that his answer might serve to incriminate him. Afterward, Picard discusses the matter with Worf; Worf is adamant that Starfleet does have enemies and they must be discovered. Picard realizes that Satie is engaging in a drumhead trial. He speaks with Tarses in private, and leaves satisfied that covering up his Romulan ancestry was his only misdeed. Picard meets with Satie to protest her unethical methods and call for an end to the hearings. She advises the captain that she reports directly to Starfleet Command on the proceedings and does not require his approval, and that the hearings will continue. Later, on the bridge, Picard receives a summons to report for questioning.

The head of Starfleet Security, Admiral Thomas Henry, arrives to observe the hearings. Satie proceeds to pick apart Picard's career aboard the Enterprise, citing numerous infractions of the Prime Directive, his capture and assimilation by the Borg, and finally directly questions his loyalty to Starfleet. Worf stands to defend the Captain from her baseless allegations, but Satie's assistant uses Worf's father's status as a Romulan collaborator to further impugn Picard's judgment. Picard's response is to quote Satie's father, a respected jurist, on the subject of the state placing limitations on a person's liberty. Satie furiously berates Picard for invoking her father's name in his own defense, stating that she has "brought down bigger men than you, Picard!" Admiral Henry leaves the room in the middle of the tirade, having recognized Satie's paranoia for what it was. The prosecution calls a recess, and leaves a disgraced Satie sitting alone in the courtroom.

Worf later finds Picard in the observation lounge to inform the captain that Admiral Henry has ended the hearings and of Satie's departure from the Enterprise. Picard remarks that the human race thinks it has come so far, with the Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials all an unpleasant memory. Worf laments that he was initially eager to assist Satie in her witch-hunt because of how she presented her case. Picard speaks of the ever-present, but subtle, danger of those who would spread fear and suspicion in the name of righteousness and reminds him that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.

Notes

• Guest star Jean Simmons portrays retired Rear Admiral Norah Satie, a special investigator who visits the Federation Starship Enterprise.

• Michael Dorn said this was one of his two favorite episodes, the other being "The Offspring".^[1]

• "The Drumhead" was the last Star Trek episode to be scored by Ron Jones, who was fired shortly after its completion by producers Rick Berman and Peter Lauritson as "Ron's stuff was getting big and somewhat flamboyant" and the producers "decided to move on and try other composers".^[2]

DVD

This episode is featured on the Star Trek: The Next Generation - Jean-Luc Picard Collection DVD set for Region 1 only. It is the fourth of seven episodes featured on disc 1 of the two-disc set.

References

1. ^ GAMING :: TrekCore
2. ^ Startrek.com, March 2011 Interview

• Star Trek The Next Generation DVD set, volume 4, disk 6, selection 1.

External links

• "The Drumhead" at TV.com
• The Drumhead at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• The Drumhead at StarTrek.com
• "The Drumhead" at the Internet Movie Database