There’s an old trope on Star Trek where any admiral, ambassador, commodore, or any sort of high-ranking Starfleet or Federation official is probably going to be wrong and cause problems for the crew of the Enterprise.
Jimmy and Tom have an episode like that on tap here with “The Drumhead”.
“The Drumhead”
A retired admiral’s investigation into an espionage incident may be going too far.
jimmy: On this week’s episode of Picard Is Never Wrong…
tomk: You’re just upset Worf was on the other side.
jimmy: He lost a few MVP votes with that one.
tomk: Who else has the street cred to stand against Picard? Nice Guy Geordi? William “Social Disease” Riker? Beverly Crusher, pacifist except when she isn’t?
jimmy: Only some old Admiral.
tomk: Who you will never see again?
jimmy: Guest stars have a tendency to do that.
tomk: Picard has to defeat worthy opponents. Worf despises Romulans, so winning him over is a challenge. Therefore, Worf being on the other side allows Picard to shine while Worf retains his MVP title.
jimmy: MVP! MVP! MVP!
tomk: See, a noble sarcifice.
jimmy: If anything, he’s noble.
tomk: It’s the way of the warrior.
jimmy: At least medical office Wassisname was cleared for the many more adventures to come!
tomk: He has some great team-up episodes with that alien from the first contact episode and Dr. Brahms.
jimmy: We’re in the Golden Age of TNG now!
tomk: You seem surprised that Picard wouldn’t take care of his people.
jimmy: Oh no, of course not. Though I did find his total dismissal of that other Betazoid’s “feelings” as a bit hypocritical.
tomk: Troi is so reliable after all.
jimmy: She also had plans with Barclay as she disappeared from the rest of the episode.
tomk: Still on that walk, apparently.
jimmy: It just seemed odd since she was there for the opening interrogation, but once B2 showed up, she wasn’t seen again.
tomk: Courtroom rules say only one Betazoid at a time. Otherwise, they cancel each other out.
jimmy: And if he was full Betazoid, shouldn’t he have more advanced “powers” than Troi? If anything, more reliable to use in this case than Troi. Though without any compassion or crew familiarity.
tomk: He worked for Admiral Paranoid.
How much do you think he’d be fair?
jimmy: You’d hope he’d be honest and not just driving her agenda.
tomk: He might just be a toady who doesn’t want to lose his job.
jimmy: He may just.
tomk: Still, those fools put Picard on the stand. Maybe you can push around some young guy with mildly pointy ears, but watch it with a man who can rub his own bald head for luck.
jimmy: Is Picard a genie?
tomk: No. He rubs his head, not a lamp. Now, Q on the other hand…
jimmy: Q rubs a lamp?
tomk: He might live in one. Be careful next time you’re browsing at a yard sale.
jimmy: Good advice.
tomk: Unless you want to meet Q.
jimmy: Tempting, but probably more trouble that anything.
tomk: Besides, we already had our Q appearance for this season.
jimmy: Well, I don’t really want to meet the Admiral or her flunkies.
tomk: Good point. Also, for all you know, Lwaxana Troi might be in that lamp too.
jimmy: And you don’t want to release her.
tomk: No, you don’t. Putting Picard on the stand won’t help you there.
jimmy: Her line of questioning was interesting though. Especially calling into question his state of mind in recovery from the Borg.
tomk: Well, everyone knows how much the Borg and the Romulans get along.
jimmy: I don’t think the implication was that they were working together, but that the Borg messed Picard up, which is probably more true than he’ll admit.
tomk: Unless it involves a mud fight with his grumpy brother.
You’re not wrong, Jimmy. But this isn’t generally that type of show.
jimmy: We’ll get into Picard still being messed up from his Borg encounter later.
tomk: When we get to Hugh? First Contact? Picard’s rough interview on 60 Minutes?
jimmy: He wasn’t even on there!
tomk: That’s because those are the interviewers. He would have been the interviewee.
jimmy: I see.
tomk: But what about the fact that, apparently, retired Admirals can just run around and put anyone of trial that they feel like, all because one Klingon was kind of a jerk?
jimmy: She did seem to have an awful lot of power for being retired.
tomk: Some of that may be due to who her father was. Some of it is just good, old fashioned clout.
jimmy: She was obviously respected. Until her meltdown.
tomk: It’s amazing how much running a kangaroo court of an inquisition and then having a meltdown can ruin your whole career.
Then again, nobody expects that sort of thing.
jimmy: Certainly not that other Admiral that never spoke a word.
tomk: Sometimes it’s best to say nothing.
jimmy: Indeed.
tomk: Picard understands that. It’s why every word out of his mouth counts for something.
But no one would ever accuse us of dragging things out. Anything else you want to add, Jimmy?
jimmy: Even when directing, Frakes can’t pass up a chance at a lingering look at the attractive transporter operator?
tomk: Could you?
jimmy: Direct? No.
tomk: You need to be more ambitious. The world might need that Impossible view of things.
jimmy: You think? I’ll add it to my To Do List.
tomk: You might want to have something to keep in mind considering what’s up next.
jimmy: That doesn’t sound positive.
tomk: Let’s just say…someone rubbed a lamp and Lwaxanna Troi popped out again.
jimmy: We really need to hide that lamp.
tomk: It’s also the first appearance of Ensign Ro…sort of.
jimmy: “Sort of” eh?
tomk: Shall we?
jimmy: Engage!
More Stories
Noteworthy Issues: Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #13 (March, 2023)
The X-Files “Talitha Cumi”
Yellowjackets “Two Truths And A Lie”