“Peak Performance”
Written by David Kemper
Directed by Robert Scheerer
Season 2, Episode 21
Original air date: July 10, 1989
Star date: 42923.4
Mission summary
Enterprise is assigned to participate in a game of laser tag under the supervision of Sirna Kolrami, a Zakdorn master strategist. The scenario will pit the state-of-the-art flagship of the Federation against a decrepit eighty-year-old starship, the Hathaway, under the command of “Captain” Riker. So that’s fair. Picard had initially rejected this proposal because it’s a waste of time, but he figures maybe they could use the extra practice in tactical combat, what with the Borg gunning for them and all.
Riker is allowed a skeleton crew of forty, and Picard allows him to select his own motley away team for this mission—as long as he gets to keep Commander Data as his temporary first officer. So Riker grabs every other useful member of the Bridge crew—La Forge and Worf—plus Wesley, for educational purposes. With a little time to spare before they begin the exercise, he challenges Kolrami to a game of Strategema, which is no challenge at all to the Starfleet observer, who is the “best ever” at the game. Riker knew he had no chance against the third level grand master, but it’s an honor just to play against him—even if he was beaten in only twenty-three moves. “That’s it?” Pulaski exclaims, surprised at Riker’s lack of staying power. “I’m afraid so,” Riker says.
When Enterprise meets up with Hathaway, it’s time to get down to their real business: Riker and his crew has forty-eight hours to breathe some life into the derelict and give them a fighting chance against Enterprise’s superior… everything. Riker selects Worf as his first officer, while La Forge tries to coax the engines online. They have a few fragments of dilithium crystals to work with, but they’re useless without antimatter.
Wesley the boy genius remembers that his science experiment back on Enterprise uses antimatter, so he beams back aboard and manages to sneak it off the ship in clear violation of the rules of the scenario, even under the watchful eye of the ship’s crack security team. Thanks to the teen’s willingness to cheat, Hathaway may be capable of an adolescent two-second burst of warp speed, which could provide a key tactical advantage… or they might be capable of stalling at an inconvenient time. Worf also cooks up a scheme to use his access codes to turn the Enterprise’s sensors against them.
Meanwhile, back on Enterprise, Pulaski convinces Data to play Strategema against Kolrami, and they’re both stunned when the android loses. Data immediately assumes he is malfunctioning—the equivalent of a crisis of confidence—until Picard orders him not to be so ridiculous and come back to the Bridge to do his job. With that sorted out, it’s time to play!
Both starship commanders and their crews demonstrate their common knowledge of basic military maneuvers as they test out each other’s strategies and capabilities. Worf fools Enterprise into thinking a Romulan warbird is attacking, which allows Hathaway to strike some significant simulated blows with their pretend weapons. So when a Ferengi ship seems to appear, Picard ignores it—and Enterprise takes real damage when they attack. The Ferengi commander is convinced there’s something of value on Hathaway because of the odd situation they have happened upon, and gives Picard ten minutes to give it up.
With defenses down and only Nerf guns at their disposal, they consider their options. Picard is unwilling to retreat and lose forty of his crew on Hathaway to the Ferengi, so Riker offers another alternative. He tells them his ship might be able to warp for two seconds (surprise!); with Enterprise’s newly-restored photon torpedoes, they’re going to try to trick the Ferengi into thinking they’ve destroyed Hathaway by firing and detonating the torpedoes to mask their warp-out. If the ship can’t warp after all, they’ll really be destroyed. Riker shrugs. Sure, why not?
Fortunately, the ploy works, and Worf manages to drive off the Ferengi before they figure out they’ve been played by faking their sensors into detecting another Starfleet vessel approaching.
Kolrami is pleased by the outcome of his little game and promises to give them a good grade on their report card. Before he departs, he agrees to a rematch with Data, who has vastly improved his game. When he has Kolrami on the ropes, the gamer stops playing and leaves in a huff, complaining that the sun was in his eyes or something.
LAFORGE: What did you do?
DATA: I simply altered my premise for playing the game.
RIKER: Explain.
DATA: Working under the assumption that Kolrami was attempting to win, it is reasonable to assume that he expected me to play for the same goal.
WESLEY: You didn’t.
DATA: No. I was playing only for a standoff, a draw. While Kolrami was dedicated to winning, I was able to pass up obvious avenues of advancement and settle for a balance. Theoretically, I should be able to challenge him indefinitely.
PULASKI: Then you have beaten him.
DATA: It is a matter of perspective, Doctor. In the strictest sense, I did not win.
TROI & PULASKI: Data!
DATA: I busted him up.
ALL: Yes!
Analysis
Oddly, all I initially recalled about this episode, once I saw Kolrami, is his face-off against Data, so I was surprised by pretty much everything else surrounding that scene. This is a mildly entertaining episode with a flawed premise: Given the constraints of the proposed scenario, there’s no reason why the simulation can’t be run on the holodeck or even under more controlled conditions at a starbase, a la the Kobayashi Maru test seen in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Even if Starfleet is now skittish about performing combat exercises via software, because it’s susceptible to cheating, Wesley and Worf prove that this method is just as vulnerable.
It’s interesting that in Star Trek, cheating isn’t necessarily a bad thing; in fact, it’s often worthy of admiration and reward because it shows the capability to think outside of the box. Kirk became a legend at Starfleet Academy for changing the rules of the no-win scenario, which is similar to Data’s revelation at the end of this episode—by not playing to win, he has changed the rules of Strategema, and this might be construed as another way of cheating. Even in “Coming of Age,” Mordock cheats and is given a coveted Academy spot, and Wesley—who helped him with his test—kind of scores points as well.
And it is by cheating and trickery that Enterprise ultimately escapes the Ferengi, though it doesn’t make sense that Worf is able to hack into their ship’s systems to fool their sensors. He was only able to pull that off on Enterprise because he was their tactical officer and knew the proper command codes! Still, this is another nice nod to Star Trek II, where Kirk is able to get into Reliant’s computer using the same tactic.
There is another troubling trend that crystallized for me in this episode, and that’s the tendency for the various series to portray geniuses as unsocialized jerks. Part of this is because they serve as antagonists for the main crew, and there needs to be some conflict there, but Kolrami is the latest in a long line of jerks like Graves, Manheim, Kosinski, and Daystrom who are obsessive with bristly personalities, who are usually disdained by the Enterprise crew and treates as though their life’s work has been wasted. Looking ahead, this happens again and again, notably with Dr. Zimmerman (creator of the Emergency Medical Hologram) on Deep Space Nine. This is playing to the stereotype of the mad scientist, and on some level, the awkward geek who doesn’t play well with others. It really doesn’t sit well with me, because how often does a brilliant scientist come aboard who is treated with the respect she deserves? They are always treated as inconveniences and distractions getting in the way of the ship’s more important work of exploring stuff.
Moreover, this is the first episode where I began to see why so many people dislike Data and his character arc of discovering how to be human. I grew impatient with him myself, and the childlike tantrum that Picard thankfully did not indulge—this time. Although the A-plot was much more substantial, it felt like it was all tied together in Data and his attempts to learn how to think and strategize like a human—ie. illogically—but he was not a key player in events. It all feels off-balance somehow, like the cobbled together warp core of the Hathaway: capable of a two-second burst of fun, but occasionally stalling out. I enjoyed most of the character moments, and the dialogue is finally being written consistently well (still with too many lapses into exposition and treatises on humanity, now part and parcel of Star Trek), and there’s a sense of continuity with the reminder of the impending Borg threat, which comes with the promise of better episodes ahead.
This would have been a decent episode to end the season on, but unfortunately, we still have to get through “Shades of Gray”…
Eugene’s Rating: Warp 3 (on a scale of 1-6)
Thread Alert: I don’t actually mind the costumes in this one. Kolrami’s is alien and inoffensive, and the Ferengi are beginning to sport their familiar, zany business suits which work a lot better than the fur outfits from their first appearance. But while looking for screenshots, the outfit in the background of this frame caught my eye. What’s going on there? Who is that, anyway?
Best Line: Picard: “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.”
Trivia/Other Notes: This episode was rewritten by Hans Beimler and Richard Manning, then revised by Melinda Snodgrass.
The bridge of the Hathaway is a redress of the Enterprise-D’s battle bridge set, which originated as the bridge of the refit Enterprise from the first three motion pictures.
Armin Shimerman returns to TNG as another Ferengi, Captain Bractor.
This is the only time the warp drive is referred to as a “lightspeed drive.” Those wacky Ferengi.
This is the first appearance of the infrequently seen Zakdorn race.
Actor Roy Brocksmith (Kolrami) may be most familiar to SF fans from his role in the original Total Recall, though he has appeared in many movies and TV shows, including Tales from the Crypt, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Scrooged, Arachnophobia, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, and others. He also returns to Star Trek in DS9’s lamentable season four episode “Indiscretion”.
Glen Morshower (Ensign Burke) played a recurring role as Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce on the long-running series 24, which is basically science fiction. He also returned for another episode of TNG in a different role (“Starship Mine”) as well as Voyager, Enterprise, and Star Trek: Generations, and shows and films including The X-Files, Millenium, Dollhouse, and most recently, Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Previous episode: Season 2, Episode 20 – “The Emissary.”
Next episode: Season 2, Episode 22 – “Shades of Gray.”
I think Warp 3 is a little generous. The entire episode is damaged by the convienent, and stupid, threat of the Ferengi. They stumble upon the exercise, are incapable of understanding a wargame, and threaten the ship just to provide a little false danger.. They do not flow naturally from the events of the story.
I agree our alien of the week was another prickyl sterotype for no reason than to be a thron in people’s side. It strikes me as insecure writing. The fear that no one will like your characters unless the other characters are repulsive.
I like the idea of pitting the characters against each other, and it might have been more of a dramatic story had instead of Riker getting his pick, the offiers self-selected which tead, Red or Blue they were going to part of, could Rike inspire confidence when going against Picard.
As it is this story si so-so and I’d give it a warp 2
Kolrami just reminds me of this guy, but with less cred and less interesting articles. How does this kind of armchair general get any kind of respect? His people have a reputation for military success generations ago, but in the mean time they’ve just been playing games. Napoleon may have been one of the greatest military leaders in history, but even he’d have had at the least a learning curve trying to fight one of the World Wars–technology changes, and tactics must evolve in concert.
As for Riker’s challenge, it makes me think of the Chinese expression casting a brick to attract jade. (The image is you toss your worthless brick to someone who cannot help but catch it, dropping their own jade in the process.) It also says something very important about Riker: his audacity in issuing the challenge, sure; his steadfastness in the face of certain defeat; but most of all a maturity that’s entirely lacking from the Kirk he’s modeled after. Kirk may refuse to accept the no-win scenario; William T. “some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you” Riker knows there’s far more value in accepting the times you can’t win and learning from them than there is in always winning at any cost.
And you have to admire a guy who’s sufficiently above his own ego that he can take on a challenge he’ll surely fail just for the honor of competing.
As for the entire setup, I do think it makes sense that they should use real ships for this. The whole point is learning how to bend the rules in a way that’s not limited by the simulation (exactly the sort of thing that Kolrami could not understand with his simulated expertise). If they play by the book the exercise is pointless.
But I do kind of wonder why the Enterprise didn’t just use its photon torpedoes to blow up the Ferengi vessel. Do the Ferengi really think that random acts of space piracy are going to be indulged? Is Starfleet really so cowardly that they take this kind of behavior? Thou shalt not suffer a pirate to live, c’mon people!
Pretty mediocre all around. Given the apparently large number of people involved in rewrites, it’s no wonder. Too many cooks and all that. I agree with pretty much everything that’s been said here. A more naturally occurring threat, a less abrasive scientist, lots of room for improvement. Also, the message delivery from the silly game is rather heavy handed, and that never quite works.
Interesting that Eugene mentioned Daystrom in his rundown of maladjusted scientists, since this episode clearly owes a lot to “The Ultimate Computer”.
Other than that, all I can is for next week: poor, poor Torie.
The A plot here might make more sense if you think of it along with the later (1996) movie Down Periscope which itself had some basis on reality. The military does run games in the real world in which outdated equipment is placed against the latest and the greatest. In Down Periscope, Lt. Cmdr. Tom Dodge was told he was expected to think outside the box when he was given command of the WWII era sub. The explanation given was that an actual enemy who would have to use such equipment would not be expected to play by the current book of tactics. I can give a real world example. Back in the 70s, when the F-15 was the hot new fighter, a wargame was set up in which Regular Air Force F-15s were assigned to protect Lambert Field in St. Louis and the Missouri Air Guard, then flying 50’s era F-100s, were the ‘Russian Migs’ trying to attack the field. The Air Guard pilots were instructed not to use their ECM gear (Electronic Countermeasures) or anything else that the Soviets would not have. Thinking within those rules, the lead pilot decided that the Russians would at least have radar detection technology so he purchased four ‘Fuzz Buster’ radar detectors from a local store and installed one in each fighter. With those devices and using a tight formation along with deceptive radio calls, they successfully attacked Lambert by coming in disguised as a four engined airliner when the F-15s were not in a position to get a visual ID.
Data’s tactic in Strategema can also be traced to a movie – War Games (1983). Strange game. The only wining move is not to play.
The Wesley cheat strains the conceit to the breaking point, so clearly outside the bounds of the competition. Why didn’t Worf and Geordie wire the security systems so they could sneak back on board to set the Enterprise engines to implode? Oh, I see: That would be out of bounds.
I agree with Eugene that this is an episode when Data’s childish quirks especially grate. What if this had been a real combat scenario (as it turns out it is) and the First Officer was off pouting because he lost a game? The problem with these Data episodes is—unlike the other crew—he acts as if he was made yesterday. Has he not been 20 years in Starfleet? Did he not attend the Academy? At no time was his puzzler ever strained with a problem he could not immediately solve?
But, on the subject of Data, this is the last time we will see him interact with Pulaski. Next episode is the dreaded clip show, where she plays a bit part, but then is gone forever, never to be mentioned again even in passing. And it seems they have tried here to seal a story arc, where she really does seem to give Data some of the respect he is due, betting on him to win and seemingly to genuinely care about his responses and well-being. This fully integrates her as a member of the central crew. Then… she is gone.
I had much, much better memories of this episode.
Data is a whiny little baby and I have no interest in his crisis of confidence. Also: HE SHOULD HAVE WON THAT GAME. I am sorry, but a computer can analyze all possible move and win scenarios. There is no reason, EVER, that Data should have lost the game.
Wesley cheating so atrociously breaks the game that I don’t see the value in the exercise at all. It’s clearly supposed to be a Kobayashi Maru scenario, but Riker’s no Kirk and this bit of fraud isn’t impressive or appealing. They don’t learn to make do with what they have–they just get stuff they shouldn’t have.
The big problem I have with this episode, though, is that they are fundamentally misunderstanding the concepts of tactics and strategy. There is a very limited amount that a single ship can do in a battle or a war. Tactics and strategy come in when you have a fleet or at least a small battle group–when you choose targets and feign attacks and shore up one thing and flank this etc., etc. If they were pitting Riker against Picard in THAT kind of scenario, I might be interested. It shows how they command and how they can use the knowledge of their opponent against them. Could be fun, right? So I just have no clue what’s going on in THIS scenario. If this is supposed to be the equivalent of sparring, then it’s not tactics or strategy–there is no high-level or even operational planning. Then you’re just playing pew-pew-lasers and seeing as the Enterprise is constantly overpowered (for reasons!) I don’t feel anything new would come from that exercise. If it’s supposed to be strategy, where are the other ships and what’s the objective? I walk away feeling the entire exercise is mysterious and pointless.
Warp 2
@6 torie Strategery and Tactics
I’ve long since given up seeing a TV show properly depict the different or express an understanding as to Strategy and Tactics. This was a tactical encounter, but ione without goals, just wail on the other ship until they cry uncle. Sort of like a ‘duel’ scenerio of Star Fleet Battles. In an actual exercise there would be an objective.
Strategy deals with long times frames and includes logistics, encirlce is bad tactically, but strategically is is death because now you have no logistics train. Moving your fleets the threaten fronts, feighning where your invasion is going to land, that is strategy.
the game was thee worse, is was a speedy video game that has nothing to do with strategy.
And of course Data won, his opponet conceded the game, this was not a tie it was a win. but that’s not to say a machine should always win, if data hasn’t gotten the right programming he won;t play at master levels. My iMac beats me at chess, it wouldn’t beat a real master.
@6 Torie
DeepThought makes the excellent point that even Napoleon would have been a historical Nobody if he’d confined himself entirely to playing endless games of Risk or Axis & Allies. It was his (and other generals in history) willingness to put their theories to the Absolute Test that made their combat decisions vital and important. This scenario pits an completely outclassed ship with a deficient crew against Enterprise, where the latter has absolutely no intention of making good on that outclass. It’s little more than an overly elaborate demolition exercise, blowing up a derelict with a few streamers attached.
It’s about as “strategic” as the Maginot Line. Ooo! Fife drums, please!
(It would have kind of cool to have Geordie and Wesley hotwire the otherwise useless warp core in the fashion of a one-use capacitor, one burst before destruction, giving a second or two of warp capacity in an unheard of application. That would have given the exercise some ultimate point and eliminated the “cheat” factor… made them heroes instead of cheaters).
I walk away feeling the entire
exerciseis mysterious and pointless.I borrowed yer words, Torie. Hope you don’t mind my minor alteration to make them fit me rather than you. :)
*shakes cane*
Erm, the word “series” should have been right after
exercisethere. Muphry’s Law as usual.@ 7 bobsandiego
Isn’t that what I said? :)
@ 8 Lemnoc
Oh man, I would love to play an all-night game of Risk with you folks. My board game collection is getting out of control. It takes up an entire bookcase now.
@ 10 Cait
Are you actually watching along, or is the cane-shaking a kind of muscle memory from having seen it all the first time?
I watch whenever it’s an episode we have on DVD. My partner’s a huge TNG fan, never liked TOS much, while I’m the opposite. This one, unfortunately, she has on DVD, so I watched it. *shudder*
I’m going to give myself about eighteen seconds on setting 734a with my sonic screwdriver to the temple, in hopes that it will destroy enough synapses that both this and the dreckulicious next show will vanish forever from my memory, leaving only a vague association of dread and nameless horror when the name of either show is mentioned.
It could be setting 734b, though, I always get those two mixed up (the other setting is for fixing eyeglasses, so it’s a bit of a problem).
7 bobsandiego
bobsandiego makes the excellent point that if Data perceived that all he had to do was stay even until his non-automaton opponent dropped dead from exhaustion or surrendered, utterly that is considered a WIN by everyone from Von Clausewitz to Sun Tzu. No question.
—better than i remember–but still–and i agree–flaws in the plot—maybe wes could have had that experiment running on some device in his pocket–“hey, i forgot this”–to avoid an obvious breech of rules—oh yeah, they don’t have pockets either—fixing data gets to be more compelling later on–this time it takes the captain to do it—just not being tough enough, ladies—axis and allies is vastly superior to risk imo—see you next season friends—“shades” has got to be the low point of the entire series–and that is saying a lot—
@12 torie – I’m agreeing and ranting with you. Sorry if that was unclear.
@13 Catiecat — I hear you. I watched the episodes when they aired and having only sporadically been rewatching, while I own TOS on blu-ray and was always miffed I had not found this rematch at the start…
On the comments about Wesley’s cheat. Starfleet is not the only fleet that uses this technology so it is reasonable to assume that an enemy or a rogue group getting control of an obsolete Starfleet ship would be able to get some fuel for it. Sure, Riker’s crew could not draw antimater directly from the ship’s supplies but that in Wesley’s experiment was already separate from the ship’s supplies. (Maybe he even had to use some ‘credits’ to get it so it was his outright.) Wesley getting his experiment, to me, was the same as that pilot in the example I cited above deciding to buy and install the ‘Fuzz Busters.’ And, as I suggest below, his getting (sneaking it off the ship) and using that device might not be seen by those responsible for the scenario as a true cheat.
This scenario doesn’t have to be a copy of the Kobayashi Maru. There are reasons for presenting scenarios that look like no-win situations from the onset. My understanding of the F-15 case I cited above was that the Air Force was looking for ways to prove (in their publicity) the superiority of their new fighter. That the Air Force didn’t use this event in their publicity (I was told about it by members of the MO Air Guard) suggests that it was a failure because of the cheat, but the Air Force did learn something from it – having the best new toy doesn’t matter if you don’t fully understand how to use it.
While the Kobayashi Maru scenario is meant to be a test of character, one sided scenarios like the one in this episode are also useful though probably of more use to planners and strategists in checking their plans and strategies in real world situations. When running games in your head or in simulation you are dealing with what you already know (or think you know). When running a game in the real world you are facing a truer representation of the unknowns. You can’t know all the experiences a pilot, a Security Chief, or an Acting Ensign have had and how those experiences shape their creativity. Watching how someone playing the part of an enemy in a situation gives you more to think about when planning for how a real enemy might deal with that situation.
Oh. Bobsandiego was right. There should have been a stated objective in the scenario being played in this episode.