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Old 11-07-2021, 07:46 PM
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First Officer's log, stardate 45240.6. The Enterprise is nearing Qualor Two, home of a Federation surplus depot operated by the Zakdorn.

I thought that this episode and "Peak Performance" were the only appearances of Zakdorn, but apparently there was one at the trade conference back in "Menage a Troi."

DOKACHIN: He probably figures that we don't get to see a lot of handsome women out this way and someone like you might get a little more cooperation from me. He's probably right.

So now Riker has impressed two Zakdorn. I wonder how often that happens.

PICARD: I'm sure the Klingons found it amusing to put us in here together.
DATA: Since I do not require sleep, I propose you take the shelf, sir.

It's a shame that some jokes don't translate to plain text very well. Data hesitates before saying "shelf". As I said on the TV Tropes page for funny TNG moments...

"At the last second Data pauses as the word "bed" refuses to come out. Data does not lie unless it's required to complete a mission, and calling this thing a "bed" would definitely be a lie. So Data awkwardly finishes with "shelf.""

DATA: I was processing all of the information we have accumulated on Romulan society. I am preparing for the task of impersonating a Romulan.

You'd think he would've finished this back on the Enterprise. At this point I'd expect his thoughts to be occupied by things like attempting to detect the speed of the ship by the feel of the deckplates a la Scotty.

PICARD: Well, Mister Data? What do you think?
(They are both now Romulan)
DATA: I would not have thought it possible, sir. I am eager to test the success of our efforts. It does remain to be seen if the Romulans will accept us.

They brought the gear to go to and from Romulan with them? Does that sort of stuff fit into a suitcase? Why didn't they have Crusher do this back on the Enterprise?

On DS9 they definitely implied that minor surgery was required to change appearance this much.

NERAL: Ah, Senator Pardek. You received my message.
PARDEK: I got here as quickly as I could, Proconsul.
NERAL: What do you know of this human? Jean-Luc Picard, a Starfleet Captain.
PARDEK: I know nothing of him.

Really? Being captain of the Enterprise seems like enough reason for all Romulans in the higher levels of government to know about him (I'm sure they all knew about Kirk after "Balance of Terror").

DATA: I am sorry, Captain. I will be more careful.
PICARD: Don't call me Captain.

So what is he supposed to call you? Did you go through the effort to create a cover identity? I doubt it.

(Picard knocks, then tries the handle)
PICARD: He's not open for business yet.

It's always interesting to see where there are manual doors and where there are automatic doors. There's no consistency at all across canon.

(an old woman brings two bowls to their table, no chairs)

Where did they get Romulan currency, and how do they know how to use it?

The expanded universe has precious little about Romulan currency. There's something called a "prime transfer authority" which seems less like normal currency and more like a representation of a bond.

The Klingons use darseks and talons. The Cardassians use leks and droknas.

The Fiver

Riker: For whatever reason, Starfleet thinks we don't have enough going on with the Spock mission, so they gave us a debris-from-some-random-Vulcan-ship mission on the side.
La Forge: Heh. It's as if they think there'll be some sort of correlation between the two at the end of all this.
Riker and La Forge: Hahaha!

Genre saaviness is always a classic fiver gag.

Perrin: Here he is. Yelling, smoking, and whistling of Disney theme songs are not permitted.

I thought this Disney thing refers to another Mark Lenard role, but I'm not seeing anything. Explanation?

Sarek: ?"pardeK" ekil ,sdrow esnesnon emos tuoba woH .sdrawkcab gniklat fo tibah eht pu nekat ev'I ,snacluV enasni tsom htiw sA

"As with most insane Vulcans, I've taken up the habit of talking backwards. How about some nonsense words, like Kedrar?"

Is there another fiver with a backwards talking insane Vulcan?

K'Vada: Captain, I dislike secrets. What is your business on Romulus?
Picard: Me telling my Klingon chauffer about a classified Federation mission? Ha!

Is this a reference to another fiver or something?

Data: Captain, do you think our disguises are convincing enough to fool the Romulans?
Picard: I don't know. Why don't you step out into the corridor and find out?
Data: I don't see how that will--
(kaSHINK)
Data: I see your point, Captain. Would you mind pulling this Bat'leth out of my back?

What's a bat'leth doing on Romulus? I tried to look for a Romulan edged weapon, but they won't appear until Picard and Discovery.

Data: Pardek's establishment is right over there.
Picard: He doesn't appear to be home.... Let's get some soup.
Romulan Guard: No soup for you!
Picard: I'm amazed I didn't see that coming.

The fiver is from 2005. Seinfeld ended in 1998. I didn't watch much Seinfeld, but I do know who the Soup Nazi is.

Memory Alpha

* There was going to be an episode with Spock in the second season called "Return to Forever", but it fell through.
* Jeri Taylor didn't just write the episode, she wrote the novelization. I've read it, and it falls into the trap that most other Trek novelizations do: sticking to the script too closely and not expanding the story. If you want a good TNG novelization I'd take Relics above this one anyday.
* Sarek's mention of young Spock going to the mountains is a reference to "Yesteryear". I never made the connection.
* First appearance of Romulus (the holodeck recreation from "The Defector" doesn't count).

Nitpicker's Guide

* Why did the Klingons wait until they reached the Neutral Zone to cloak? Don't the Romulans keep track on ships on the other side?
* Phil also noted the Lore's ears thing.
* Usually Trek uses the metric system, yet Dokachi uses feet to describe the eel. This isn't the first or last time the TNG era will use Imperial measurements. Then again, maybe the eel actually has fourteen feet...
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