The Drumhead (TNG episode)

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Star Trek: TNG episode
"The Drumhead"
Picard stands trial in "The Drumhead".
Episode no.	95
Prod. code	195
Airdate	April 29, 1991
Writer(s)	Jeri Taylor
Director	Jonathan Frakes
Guest star(s)	Jean Simmons, Spencer Garrett, Bruce French (actor), Robert Ito, Henry Woronicz, Earl Billings
Year	2367
Stardate	44769.2
Episode chronology
Previous	"Q-Pid"
Next	"Half a Life"

The Drumhead was the 95th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and also the 21st episode of the show's fourth season. Guest star Jean Simmons portrays Rear Admiral Norah Satie, a special investigator who visits the USS Enterprise.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

An explosion in the Enterprise's warp core reactor (later proven to be a structural flaw and completely accidental) leads the senior officers to suspect a Klingon exchange officer, J'Dan, of sabotage. During his interrogation, it is revealed that J'Dan is indeed a Romulan collaborator, yet he remains adamant that he was not involved in the incident. With no clear resolution as to the cause of the explosion, Starfleet Command dispatches retired Admiral Norah Satie to head up the investigation. She is accompanied by two assistants, one of whom is a Betazoid empath. Satie quickly establishes an agreement of mutual cooperation with Picard, and both seem eager to resolve the incident as the hearings begin.

Following the questioning of medical technician Simon Tarses, who is noted as being one-quarter Vulcan, Satie's Betazoid assistant senses the young technician is hiding important information. Despite Picard's reservations about further interrogation of the crewman without substantial evidence, a subsequent (and now open) hearing reveals that Tarses, contrary to his Starfleet application, is actually one-quarter Romulan. After speaking with the disgraced Tarses in private, Picard meets with Satie to protest her unethical methods and call for an end to the hearings, but only succeeds in alienating the investigator. Satie advises the captain that she reports directly to Starfleet Command on the proceedings and does not require his approval, and that the hearings will continue. Afterwards, Picard receives a summons to report for questioning.

Tempers run high as Picard's open hearing begins, leading to a near-confronation between Worf and the investigators over accusations regarding his own heritage. Another high-ranking Starfleet official, Admiral Thomas Henry, is also present in the audience during this hearing, adding additional tension to the proceedings. Satie picks apart Picard's career aboard the Enterprise, citing numerous infractions of the Prime Directive, his capture and assimilation by the Borg, and finally directly questions his loyalty to Starfleet. Picard accuses Satie of holding a drumhead court-martial, and while making his final arguments he quotes Satie's own father, a prominent Starfleet judicator. He succeeds in goading Satie into losing her composure and she begins shouting, berating Picard for invoking her father's name in his own defense. As her facade falls apart, Satie's bigotry and outright hatred finally boil to the surface for everyone present to observe, including Admiral Henry, who abruptly leaves the room. The prosecution is forced to withdraw its accusations and Picard's hearing ends, leaving a disgraced Satie sitting alone in the courtroom.

Worf later finds Picard in the observation lounge to inform the captain of an end to the hearings and Satie's departure from the Enterprise. Worf laments that he was quite eager to assist Satie in her witch-hunt at first, unaware of her true villainy. To assuage him, Picard speaks sagely regarding the ever-present, but subtle, danger of those who would spread fear and suspicion in the name of righteousness and the need for vigilance against that kind of threat.

[edit] DVD

This episode is featured on the Star Trek: The Next Generation - Jean-Luc Picard Collection DVD set for Region 1 only. It is the fourth of seven episodes featured, on disc 1 of the two-disc set.