Chain of Command (TNG episode)

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Star Trek: TNG episode
"Chain of Command"

Episode no.	136 (Part 1) #137 (Part 2)
Prod. code	236 (Part 1) #237 (Part 2)
Airdate	December 14, 1992 (Part 1) December 21, 1992 (Part 2)
Writer(s)	Frank Abatemarco Ronald D. Moore (Part 1)
Director	Robert Scheerer (Part 1) Les Landau (Part 2)
Guest star(s)	Ronny Cox John Durbin Lou Wagner Natalija Nogulich (Part 1) Heather Lauren Olson (Part 2) David Warner (Part 2)
Year	2369
Stardate	46357.4 (Part 1) 46360.8 (Part 2)
Episode chronology
Previous	"The Quality of Life"
Next	"Ship in a Bottle"

Chain of Command is an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that aired in two parts during the sixth season of the series. It was developed to establish the Cardassians as the main villains of the then forthcoming Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

A new captain is assigned to the Enterprise, while Picard, Worf and Dr. Crusher are re-assigned to an undercover mission crossing the Cardassian border. David Warner is a Cardassian interrogator. Much of the story bears some resemblance to 1984, as the scenes between Picard and Warner's character are similar to the scenes between Winston Smith and O'Brien. At the conclusion of his torture, Picard finds that he wants so badly to see five lights that he actually sees five, even though there are only four. This is almost identical to the exchange between Winston and O'Brien in which Winston sees O'Brien display five fingers, when there are in fact only four.