“A Matter of Perspective”
Written by Ed Zuckerman
Directed by Cliff Bole
Season 3, Episode 14
Original air date: February 12, 1990
Star date: 43610.4
Mission summary
Data interrupts Picard’s art class to tell him that they’ve arrived at Tenuga IV and also that Picard couldn’t paint his way out of a Rothko. It seems Riker and La Forge conducted a survey of Dr. Apgar’s work on Krieger waves, which they hope will become a new energy source. La Forge says in so many words that Riker surveyed someone just a little too intimately and is in a rush to return. But as he beams back, Dr. Apgar’s science station explodes, and Riker barely makes it home intact.
But his luck isn’t meant to last, because an Inspector Krag beams aboard and arrests Riker… for murder.
Picard demands an explanation and Krag explains that he has two witnesses who will testify that Riker threatened Dr. Apgar’s life. Worse, in the Tanugan system he’d be guilty until proven innocent, and without a shred of exonerating evidence, it looks like Riker would be on permanent shore leave. Picard tries to avoid this fate, but he cannot refuse extradition altogether. Rather, he suggests using the holodeck to re-create the deposition testimony of the witnesses–including Riker–to piece together what really happened. Even better, it has “only” an 8.7% margin of error, which should be totally statistically insignificant when deciding guilt.
On the holodeck, Picard, Krag, Riker, and Counselor Troi sit at a table to watch the show. The first steamy holo-novel we get is Riker’s. Upon beaming down to the science station, Dr. Apgar and his lovely wife Manua greet Riker and La Forge. Apgar looks particularly tense and upset at their arrival three months ahead of schedule, but Riker assures them that it was merely more convenient this way. Manua can’t take her eyes off that beard, though, and invites Riker and her husband for a champagne toast, then insists that Riker stay on the station despite already arranging planet-side accommodations. She then shows Riker to his room, closes the door, and propositions him. Of course her husband enters just as she’s undressing and he and Riker get into a rather lame man-fight. The next morning, Dr. Apgar vows to file a complaint against Riker, but is very concerned that doing so will threaten Riker’s report on the Krieger wave project and affect Dr. Apgar’s request for more dicosilium. Riker says their personal dispute–which he’d be happy to clear up–won’t affect his report. He contacts the Enterprise and beams away.
But Krag thinks that Riker’s version leaves out the part where he fires a phaser at the core and kills Dr. Apgar. Riker denies it, but Krag can prove there there was an energy drain at the moment of transport, and that a very focused beam of radiation hit the core from precisely Riker’s spot. Hmmm…
We now get to watch this happen two more times! The next version is Manua’s, in which she is the demure hostess and Riker is the lascivious otherworlder who not only undresses her with his eyes pretty much every second he’s on the surface, but invites himself to stay the night then tries to rape her when she shows him her room. Oh, and he threatens to kill Dr. Apgar. Last, we get Tayna, Dr. Apgar’s assistant, who gives us Dr. Apgar’s story as filtered through her. Picard objects that this is inadmissible hearsay, but Krag reminds him that they have to play by Tanugan rules and on their planet there are no civil rights. Ultimately, Tayna’s story makes Dr. Apgar look a little better but closely mirrors Manua’s version of events.
At a recess, Picard and Troi start to sweat. Though they “know” Riker is innocent, they can’t prove it, and he’s doomed. But while they’ve been watching the Lifetime movie-of-the-week, La Forge and Data have been doing an actual investigation. Mysterious bursts of radiation have been hitting the Enterprise at regular intervals, and they determine that it’s from Dr. Apgar’s surface-based energy generator in combination with the all-too-realistic holodeck. They also say they know who killed Dr. Apgar.
Picard takes this new “evidence” to Krag and Riker, and pieces together his own theory of the crime from the various deposition testimonies. In all three versions, Dr. Apgar is very worried about the presence of the Federation. Picard theorizes that Dr. Apgar, realizing the Federation wouldn’t be nearly as lucrative an ally as their enemies interested in a powerful radiation weapon, has shifted his research to a new goal. Worried that Riker is on to him (and bitter at him for skeezing himself at his wife), it was Dr. Apgar who killed Riker. He had the energy core emit a beam at Riker as he beamed out, hoping to make it look like a transporter malfunction, but instead the magic beam reflected back and caused an overload of the reactor.
Krag drops the charges, because obviously this is the only possible way it could have happened.
Analysis
If you’re considering watching this, watch Clue instead. Or Rashomon. It’s not even that much longer.
I have a real soft spot for whodunits, which may be why I have so few nice things to say about this episode. The mystery sucks. I have read dime-store paperbacks more tense, sexy, and shocking that this one. Hell, “Wolf in the Fold” is Oscar-worthy in comparison. Once again, we absolutely know that Riker is not going to be taken to jail or executed and thus could not possibly be guilty. In fact, even though he’s the defense, we get his story first, and we know that it’s going to be the one closest to life. As a result, the mystery feels completely flat. There is no question of who did it (given that the two other characters are the nervous scientist and his devoted wife, the answer is obviously going to be “no one”), only a question of how it’s done–whose answer is utterly meaningless. It’s a long, dreary story that we have to watch three times that adds nothing to what we know of Riker. Good job, guys.
I’m also seriously troubled that in Manua’s version of events, Riker isn’t just smarmy or pushy–I can believe that–but he tries to rape her. It a) immediately lets us know that this version of events is bogus because it just crossed a line Riker never would have crossed; and b) instantly turns the viewer against her, because only a monster would falsely claim rape, whether she “believed” it or not. It’s just so obviously too far, and feeds the harmful fiction that women who claim rape are merely bitter at being rejected (or embarrassed at being sexual aggressors).
The only thing I genuinely like about this episode is the creative use of the holodeck. I like the idea of putting in real people, the way that La Forge did with Leah Brahms, and telling their stories visually. It’s also a dream come true for criminal prosecutors and defenders because it’s an easy way to manipulate or prejudice a jury. But it doesn’t make sense that the holodeck can create another dangerous situation aboard the ship (why does the ship have to be in danger all the time anyway?). I also wouldn’t risk MY neck on an 8.7% margin of error, but hey, that’s just me.
Oh, and why is Troi in this episode? No reason.
Ultimately, my favorite thing about this episode is the idea that a painting class requires a live, nude model to paint on-the-fly 1) surrealist; 2) cubist; or 3) constructivist pieces. Or is it the idea of anyone filling out a Starfleet Visit Complaint Form? What would that even look like?
Dear Interstellar Being,
We are so sorry that your Starfleet visit was anything other than excellent. We know how disappointing it can be to get an Officer who does not live up to your expectations. To improve our services, please let us know what aspect of the Officer requires improvement:
◊ Adherence to the prime directive
◊ Professionalism/ courtesy/ deference
◊ Unable to resolve your issue
◊ I do not remember signing up to receive a Starfleet officer
We hope that you will continue to seek contact with the Federation in the future. If you have requested removal from our Federation, please allow 7-10 business days.
Signed,
The Federation Customer Service Board
Torie’s Rating: Warp 2 (on a scale of 1-6)
Thread Alert: As if being a grad student weren’t bad enough, poor Tayna has to inhabit a carapace.
On the plus side, I completely love Inspector Krag’s sleek suit.
Best Line: None. Seriously zero.
Trivia/Other Notes: Data must have hurt Picard’s feelings because we never see him painting again.
Krieger waves were named after scientific consultant David Krieger, who was surprised to hear his name in the episode when it aired.
Previous episode: Season 3, Episode 13 – “Deja Q.”
Next episode: Season 3, Episode 15 – “Yesterday’s Enterprise.”
Remaking Rashomon, but offering a solution is certainly one of the more misguided ideas one can have as a screenwriter.
BTW, for German viewers the Krieger waves are an unintentional spoiler because Krieger means warrior. So it’s not that surprising when it’s revealed that they can be harmful and used as a weapon.
Oh ho ho ho, I just realized what the whole point of this episode’s teaser was. Three different perspectives! And then Picard’s version is a mishmash of all of them. So clever.
I have a lot of the same issues as Torie, particularly with pretty much everything to do with Manua. For me, the most interesting aspect of this episode is the way the real mystery was solved–the strange radiation–and how the holodeck ended up playing into that. It may be a bit handwavey, but I kind of like it.
However, everything else is just a poor rehash of a great story structure that was already done definitively. I do think using the holodeck in an investigation is inspired, though maybe not with a) That wide a margin of error, and b) Putting Riker’s friends in charge of it on his own ship. Krag is so suspicious of any favoritism, I’m surprised he didn’t balk at this plan. And I’m not really sure whether the entire proceeding is justified–if they’re really following planetary law, they need to hand Riker over, don’t they? Once again, bending the rules to protect their own.
I love a mystery story, even when they botch it on TNG, and it’s great that Picard is so active in solving this one given his interest in Dixon Hill. But this one is inherently flawed: Krag proposes that Riker fired a phaser while beaming out, but when he appears on Enterprise, he isn’t holding a phaser. Surely they can tell whether a phaser has even been discharged! And now that I think about it, why the hell did he have a phaser on this mission anyway? They were dropping in to get an update on a research project!
Riker also claimed that he didn’t intend to stay on the station, so couldn’t they have checked to see if he had, in fact, made prior arrangements to stay on the planet? This episode is so caught up in only listening to eyewitness testimony and dramatizing it on the holodeck, it ignores all the conventional ways an investigation might take place, which would have settled Riker’s innocence right away.
Back to that naked model for a moment… Who is she? Is this art class also on the holodeck? It looks like it’s in some room somewhere on the ship, so that means she’s a real person, which means she’s probably a crew member, and on a ship of 1,012 people, doesn’t that get a little awkward?
Warp 2.
Attempting to do Rashomon in space is certainly ambitious. And I know that a “man’s reach should exceed his grasp or what’s a heaven for”. But this is more like a group of second graders attempting Henry V. Except that would be kind of cute. This just doesn’t work on so many levels, all of which Torie has dealt with.
There is so little to say about this episode that the only thing that’s really worth focusing on is Picard’s art class. Eugene is definitely on to something with the three perspectives business. That’s actually kind of subtle for this bunch, even at their best. But I agree, where did this nude model come from? A holodeck session would seem to make the most sense. You could probably even arrange it so that everybody has a good angle, which is often not the case in the real world. But this doesn’t seem like a holoprogram. The only explanation I can find for her is that we have somebody on the ship with exhibitionist tendencies and this is a way for her to act on them in a socially acceptable way. (And oh, look! We’re being all high-brow and self-actualizing in our free time again.)
Also, can anyone prove that Jean-Luc Picard was not in Spain last August. There’s an octogenarian Spanish grandmother who is clearly being framed for the “Ecce Homo” restoration.
I don’t know that I have a lot to add — although Eugene, in the enlightened future, humans will have outgrown silly superstitions like awkwardness over having been seen naked (…actually, digs at the Great Bird aside, it’s quite possible Facebook is making that happen already…) — except to note that Dr. Apgar may have been better off as a pediatrician.
The mystery is made tedious for the reasons Torie cites. The moment Riker delivers his recollection of events, we know that is in fact the most factual recount, because we know he is neither liar nor rapist. Nor cold blooded killer.
But I give it credit for at least trying to break out of the mold and deliver and old-fashioned murder mystery procedural, and one based around science at that. It’s different, in that regard. Even the “holodeck endangers the ship” canard works a little better here, as it is explained the device is merely a set of mirrors designed to focus the handwavium. You can imagine a holo mirror works pretty similarly to a regular mirror.
Rewatching, I was wondering whether the differences depicted in the Tanugan justice system really served some plot point, or whether they were just introduced to create a cultural distinction without much of a difference on outcome. Jury’s out on that one… I can’t really see how the Tanugan system much influenced outcome.
How much stronger this episode would have been if the crime had actually been within Riker’s capacity to commit, and if his depiction of events, his defense, had been delayed or even—through some application of alien (in)justice—forbidden. At least “Wolf in the Fold” at least presented us with a head injury that might have been substantive cause to doubt Scotty’s veracity and innocence.
“Bending the rules to protect their own,” as Eugene said. But what if the proceeding did not have resulted in Riker being completely exonerated, beyond any doubt let alone reasonable doubt? Would Picard really have surrendered his officer to a hostile and irrational justice system?
This episode was rigged for self destruct in several aspects.
Also: I did like how Picard reassembled events completely out of hostile testimony and did not reference Riker’s version. That was a nice touch. Probably we could have gotten through this entire episode without even learning Riker’s recollection of what happened. I mean, did we really need to hear that Riker is an officer and a gentleman?
—data critiquing the capt’s painting–and i thought: ‘your logic can be most annoying mr spock’—-yep–i could do without the silly holodrama —just kills it–a more measured dose next time please—(But it doesn’t make sense that the holodeck can create another dangerous situation aboard the ship)—.Its body duplicates our navigator in precise detail. Suppose that beneath it’s programming, the real Ilia’s memory patterns are duplicated with equal precision.
KIRK: They had a pattern to follow.
SPOCK: Indeed. …They may have followed it too precisely.—bingo!—and no mention of mark margolis–who is also alberto from ‘scarface’?—-type cast i tells ya!–w2 luke warm—
@3 Lemnoc
Re: the holodeck, I almost forgot to mention another quibble. They claimed the beam was hitting random areas of the ship because of its orientation to the machine on the planet’s surface. They never specified, but I suppose we’re meant to assume that Enterprise moved to the exact location of the destroyed station and precisely reoriented itself so the holodeck overlapped with the original room the program is based on?
On the other hand, I just realized that the holodeck explosion wasn’t a dramatic representation of what happened to the station when the beam hit it–the holodeck actually was damaged when the beam hit it, thus ending the program in a shower of real sparks. At least, I hope that’s what they were going for.
I was also annoyed at how Counselor Troi was once again rendered useless. She should be able to tell them that who is telling the truth, but instead we get this whole, “They believe they’re telling the truth.” I don’t buy that. Where’s the middle ground in Manua seducing Riker and Riker attempting to rape her? I agree with Torie; far better to concoct a reason for her not being aboard at the time.
And why aren’t they still using psychotricorders?
@ 1 Lubitsch
QFT.
@ 2 Eugene
Re: the art, I did notice the “parallel” but didn’t think it worthy of noting. Picard is a shitty painter and a shitty crime-solver. Is that what I’m supposed to learn? It’s also super weird that they don’t bother to conduct an ordinary investigation, as I also noted that they should be able to find out pretty easily whether or not he fired a phaser.
@ 2 DemetriosX
Nude model: this is definitely weird, not just because of the small population involved, but because modeling is actually VERY difficult. You can’t just find an exhibitionist. You need someone who can sit perfectly still for very long periods of time without allowing boredom to color her expressions or posture. I have to assume it’s a hologram.
@ 5 Lemnoc
It actually makes a HUGE difference that the justice system is set up as guilty until proven innocent. If this weren’t the premise, there would be no story. Basically, if this were our Anglo-American system, Riker can propose an alternate theory of the crime–that Manua was the sexual aggressor, that he had no ill will towards Apgar, and that he did not fire a phaser. It becomes Manua’s word against his and defendants (in theory… the statistics on this are a joke) should win ties because the burden of proof for conviction is very high: beyond a reasonable doubt. Any juror given those two versions of events should have a reasonable doubt about his guilt. If it could go either way, you can’t convict. Riker doesn’t need any exonerating evidence–so long as the prosecution can’t present enough evidence to pass that burden, he doesn’t even need to defend himself at trial.
If he’s guilty until proven innocent, there is just no way to meet the evidentiary burden that he’s innocent. Proving a negative is much harder than proving a positive anyway, so he would absolutely be found guilty. The prosecution wouldn’t need any evidence or much of a case at all–the burden shifts to him to exonerate himself. It’s a loser proposition.
@9 Torie,
…And yet, this society is not presented as the sort of totalitarian state where guilt is presumed and punishments imposed. Riker apparently has the right to a defense, to introduce evidence, to face his accusers. As presented, its not much different than the sorts of pre-trial hearing that were the staple of Perry Mason.
Let’s turn this around and come at it another way: If this society were no different from ours, a prosecutor/judge might still hold some sort of evidentiary hearing where the quality of evidence is weighed, the merits of a case are established, and probable cause to proceed to trial is granted. That’s what happens here. In other words, it doesn’t have to be any different from our own system to play out the same way.
Yes, presumption of guilt is a much higher bar in a trial. But as presented this was not exactly a trial.
I mean, part of the problem here is virtually no physical evidence is presented. Where’s the phaser Riker used, where’s the evidence it was discharged, where’s Manua’s clothing that he supposedly ripped? Some of these things were touched on in comments. It plays out more like an elaborate deposition. …with Troi as the world’s worst lie detector.
@9/10
The presumption of guilt doesn’t necessarily imply a totalitarian or dystopic state. It was a part of the Code Napoleon and places which still base their legal code on that may still use it. France certainly did well into the post-war era, possibly even still at the time this first aired. I’m not sure when they shifted to presumption of innocence, but it seems to have been a requirement of the EU or one of its predecessor organizations.
I think Lemnoc is right that this should have been presented more a pre-trial thing. Riker can’t leave, because he’s the prime suspect and a little thing like the lack of a murder weapon wouldn’t be enough to let him go. Frame as a European-style situation where the prosecution works closely with the police investigation (also a remnant of the Code Napoleon). Toss in a low bar for conviction and a death penalty or memory wipe kind of thing.
Mind you, this wouldn’t really help this episode much. It would still be dreck, but at least it would sit on a slightly more stable platform.
Farscape used this idea rather better (in the Season 2 story ‘The Ugly Truth’), mainly because Farscape works on such a moral sliding scale that it’s entirely possible that both a) someone in the crew was guilty and b) they might not get away with.it. In fact someone is executed for the crime, despite not having actually committed it (and even that you don’t find out until after the execution.)
I agree with the comments about this episode’s failures, but I have to stand against the comments about the model. While it is true that modeling for drawing / painting sessions is hard and not everybody can do it, this truth is no reason to conclude that the model seen here has to have been a hologram. I speak as someone who has drawn from the nude model many times in college and a few times since then. I’ve drawn from the clothed model nearly as many times in college and many more times since then.
In the drawing classroom setting, the poses rarely lasted longer than fifteen to twenty minutes and the majority of the poses were in the thirty second to five minute range. The poses under two minutes are for warming up with gestural studies. It is possible to catch the essence of a pose in less than a minute. In posing for painting, the model takes breaks at regular intervals and the painters often continue working on their paintings during the breaks. One instructor even said “what you do (with your work) during the model’s absence can be as important as what you do with the model.”
Now, to the nude model being weird. Some of the models I drew from at Webster were other students – a lot of them theater students. Each of them brought a different personality to their poses and we art students saw each of them as a challenge. That they had posed nude (those who did) seemed to have no influence on our interactions with them outside the drawing classroom. So, no, having a live model posing nude in the setting of this episode is not weird.
That they cast an actress/model who has the look of American beauty is understandable (for the ratings and for the fanboys), but I can tell you that most of the models at Webster back then had anything but that look. One man had the build of a football player. One woman was rather heavy. The model everyone enjoyed drawing the most was in her sixties or seventies. She had a great personality and she had a way of adding a playful gesture with a hand or the tilt of the head to keep even the static (at rest or reclined) poses interesting.
Now. Just in case anyone in this group thinks of artistic posing as only nude posing, I want to say that the best drawing session with a model I’ve taken part in was in the WWII gallery of the Museum of the Untied Stated Air Force. This session consisted of a series of one or two minute poses with the model dressed in authentic USAAF flight gear. He started at rest, leaning against the wing of a P-40, with his parachute placed on the wing. He went through the motions of pulling on the parachute then climbed onto the wing. This progressed through him getting into the cockpit then leaving the cockpit and returning to rest against the wing. He stopped and held the pose at each key point of the process. The twenty of us who were ‘beyond the barriers’ drawing this loved every minute of it and the other museum visitors who stood around to watch seemed to get just as much enjoyment out of the event.
Back to the main story. Others have pointed out how this story could have been a little more interesting. I’d like to point to another Star Trek episode that did make the Starfleet Officer in legal trouble on a local planet story interesting. Deep Space Nine’s Hard Time started with O’Brien already convicted and serving time. And, it turned out that he had unknowingly broken a local law. That episode has stuck with me all these years. This episode, I’ll gladly for get about it in a few weeks.
@ 10/11 Ludon/DemetriosX
That’s not quite true–the Napoleonic Code was the Civil Code, and didn’t deal at all with criminal matters. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the French code of criminal instruction/penal code also had a presumption of innocence at least as far back as the Declaration of the Rights of Man, but the myth of the presumption of guilt persists because 1) there wasn’t a right to counsel; 2) the judge was often the prosecutor; and 3) in reality defendants were always remanded before their trial, imprisoned for months or years before getting their day in court (and potentially being exonerated). This is a staple of the U.S. justice system, too… go figure. So it was a nice idea.
The only places I know where there was a presumption of guilt were feudal Japan and I want to say Soviet Russia but maybe I’m confusing it with a joke. In any case… I think its use here is less to paint the locals as backwards despots than to give SOME reason for why such a flimsy case might actually jeopardize Riker.
@ 13 Ludon
Thank you for the perspective! I sat (uh, clothed) for a friend in college a few times and it felt like I was still for yeaaaars. I still think there’s something weird about this art class–maybe it’s the classic beauty model, or the artificial pose, or the fact that she’s posing for her captain and not a classmate, or just the non-sketch nature of the all the paintings. But you’re right, we should assume these people wouldn’t have hang-ups about nudity. Nothing we saw looked remotely as fun as your experience, though! That is so cool.
@14 Torie
I will bow to the law student on this one. Come to think of it, I may have gotten much of what I based my comment on from various thrillers over the years (but high-brow ones like Le Carré, honest!). Certainly the close association of judge and prosecutor would result in a de facto presumption of guilt, but that isn’t all that uncommon in the US legal system either.
@13 Ludon
In my art classes, they always hired life models who were “interesting” looking like a guy with a bunch of piercings and tattoos all over his body and an obese woman. Though they didn’t fit the definition of beauty sold on television and in magazines, it was great to see people who were so comfortable with themselves, and they *were* more interesting to draw. I suppose you also don’t want your students to be too distracted by their own bodies while trying to draw those of others…
I’ll give you guys this; you certainly have come up with some very intelligent and in depth discussion for what was, for me, a very “meh” episode. I just always had trouble buying that a program as ( supposedly ) sophisticated as the one for the holodeck, would be have – or be allowed – the capability of endagering the ship in as many ways as this one does.
Once these puppies started creating nearly invincible self aware foes, or bullets that can really kill, or beams of radiation that can attack it’s own ship, there’s no question in my mind that there would be an general order to shut ’em down and disable them so no one could ‘accidentally’ destroy their own vessel.
@17 dep1701
Good point. And what I think actually works here is that the HD is not actually projecting anything. Just replicating very good mirrors that reflect what was projected from elsewhere. This works, more on the level of an honest design flaw than wacky license to do harm.
Does seem kind of stupid that the beam projector on the surface would not shut down when the orbiting receiving station, er, goes away…. But Dr. Apgar and his lab associates do come across a little bit like Freudian-complex simpletons. Details! Details!
My favorite part of the episode was when they were examining the damaged wall in sickbay and Wesley announces, with Data standing right next to him, “Data’s found something”.
It sure was nice of Data to keep quiet about his discovery just so Wesley could have a line in the scene. And just how did Wesley know that Data had found something? Do the two of them have some kind of telepathic link?
@ 15 DemetriosX
Oh please, they don’t teach you anything this interesting in law school. This is just background knowledge.
@ 17 Dep1701
No arguments here. After the first Moriarty incident, that baby would be down for maintenance indefinitely.
@ 19 JohnSteed7
Probably the same way that Troi magically “senses” hostility when someone yells at her. Bad, bad writing.
Like @17 dep1701, I congratulate you on an intelligent in-depth discussion of an episode that does not seem to warrant the attention. My draft review for Relive the Majesty is much less thorough. What bugs me the most, however, is that the chief complication of the mystery is not solved. How is it possible that Manua remembers Riker trying to rape her, and (according to Troi) actually believes her memory, if it didn’t happen? Is she literally insane? I was sure that the resolution of the mystery would have to involve the use of some kind of hypnosis/mind control device. Or maybe it would be revealed that Manua is the murderess, and has mental powers strong enough to fool Troi (can’t be too difficult). This is left as a giant honking loose end, frustrating anyone who was actually trying to solve it in a way that accounts for the evidence (never mind the handwavium around the Kreiger Waves).
Let’s keep in mind that if Manua does believe she was sexually assaulted, the hoopla around “proving” that her memory is false, and her husband a murderous criminal, would be very traumatizing, on top of the trauma of her remembered experience. I don’t believe the camera ever bothers to look at her again, however, once Picard finishes his summation. Oh, we are so civilized in the 24th century.
@Torie et al
I could be mistaken, but it seems to me that some of you may have overlooked that what we see on screen isn’t the “guilty until proven innocent” trial. We’re seeing the procedure that Picard (i.e. the Federation) requires for determining whether or not to extradite Riker for subsequent trial. At least, that’s why I wasn’t surprised at some of the unorthodox elements of the process.
@ 21 Kevin
Some possible explanations regarding Manua’s believing her rape story:
1. Self-deception is a powerful thing.
2. She’s suffered recent trauma over the loss of her husband.
3. Troi could simply be mistaken.
4. There could be truth somewhere between Riker’s story and her own.
@ 22 Ulises M
I agree that all of those explanations could be plausible. Focusing on and developing one of them (any of them!) would have made for a much more interesting episode than the one broadcast.