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.

Comments

De said…
This remains one of my favorite episodes in the entire Trek canon. I truly appreciated the unapologetic treatment of torture, even if it was hard to watch at times. Though one of the most disturbing scenes was when Madred tells his daughter that humans don't care for their children like [Cardassians] do. Heck, the fact his daughter is in the same room with the tortured Picard is horrific.

The stuff on the Enterprise really showed that Riker should have transferred to his own command years ago. I did like the scene with Jellico and Geordi though.
Siskoid said…
Yes, all part of the dehumanization of the victim, shocking. This episode really does make the Cardassians the best new series villains IMO (even above and beyond the Borg, who are more of a force of nature then went on to be compromised so that they could still work). Good point about Riker too.

As an aside, I'd like to say how much I appreciate your frequent comments on the Star Trek reviews. It makes them more than just a way for me to count the days since the blog opened.
Anonymous said…
I have to say, these reviews have really made me want to watch these episodes again. Like much of DS9, I even though I enjoyed the episodes when I watched them on the first run, I don't think I ever really appreciated them the way I think I would now.

Take this episode, for example. I remember really disliking it at the time; I preferred the similar Babylon 5 episode in series 4 when Sheridan was interrogated. But on reflection, I just don't think I really understood what the episodes were getting at.

Hopefully this episode will roll around again soon on the British Sky One repeats.
Siskoid said…
I can not only confirm that I'll be doing DS9 afterwards (my favorite Trek of all time), but Voyager as well, since I've just found/bought its 7 seasons at 30$ a pop. Since I dislike the series, I never wanted to spend big money on it, but at that price, I can look forward to feeding this blog over the next year+ (when you add up all the series and movies, you get almost exactly two years).
Marc Burkhardt said…
I remember liking Jellico and disliking Riker intensely over those two episodes.

Isn't Riker supposed to be a military man trained to follow orders? Plus, if I recall correctly, Jellico turned out to be a great captain in his own right - even if he wasn't as likable as the still pretty stern Picard.
Anonymous said…
Starting maybe with Ensign Ro and riding through Relics and the Riker/Jellico relationship in these episodes, there seems to be some kind of plan underway to make the Enterprise crew more fallible and possibly less likeable. I'm not sure if it's a trend to set up DS9 as Siskoid points out happens with the Cardassians (which is not the "happy happy joy joy" Starfleet we have seen up to now), or just a way to breathe new life into the aging series by making trouble, but many characters have been showing darker sides such as unprofessional attitudes (Riker and Troi, among others, here), clique-like behavior (Geordi vs. Scotty), and an almost racist undercurrent in some cases (Ro's earring being a prime example). Unfortunately, there isn't any payoff, so they just look like jerks.
Siskoid said…
The Cardassians really do bring out the worse in Starfleet. Consider their first appearance in The Wounded, exposing O'Brien as a racist.

I don't know if there's a concerted plan to make the characters "darker" or less sympathetic, after all, Troi was shown to be an ass as early as The Loss. You may be right about DS9, maybe the trend was simply toward darker stories and writers were doing the same thing in TNG. Or perhaps darker characters is simply a natural part of an evolving series, the effect of exploring other parts of characters we've known for a while now.
Matthew Turnage said…
It's hard to disagree that Riker comes off as a bit unprofessional in this two parter but I still don't think he was as much of a jerk as Jellico, who I have despised from the first time I saw these episodes (almost fifteen years ago now that I think about it - wow!). Great stuff with Picard over these two episodes, and it sets the table for DS9 rather nicely.

I'm glad to hear that Voyager will be following DS9 on the Blog of Geekery. I hate to think what it will be like without my daily dose of Trek here!
Austin Gorton said…
First of all: DS9 is my favorite Trek too! I thought I was one of the only ones...

Secondyly: Keep the reviews coming! Glad to hear DS9 will come next and you will go all the way to Voyager. Dare I ask, Enterprise? Finish it out, keep our daily dose of Trek joy coming as long as possible?
Siskoid said…
Everyone I know and care about prefers DS9 (those I don't care about, well, not always). We are not alone by any means.

Enterprise should follow Voyager, yes, though I don't own the DVDs as yet. I've got a long way to go still, so before then, it could happen. From my calculations, one episode a day over the course of all 5 series comes up to exactly two years.
Alain Degrace said…
All right, so I must also be a jerk sometimes... I seem to be in the minority who actually likes how Riker handles Jellico.

I see that he is unprofessionnal, I'll agree to that. But leading the crew the way Jellico does, I can see no real alternatives for Riker. The crew is reporting to him that they don't appreciate the new captain (see Geordi in the hallway). So I can imagine he's torn between his subordinates and the captain. They're willing to adapt, but Jellico never changes a bit. I'm just glad to see Riker react the way he does because it made him look more human - i.e. not a perfect officer.

But, that's not the main attraction and I must point out the great acting. Stewart is delivering an excellent performance throughout.