CHAIN OF COMMAND (STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION)

'Chain of Command' is an episode of '' 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 ''.
A new captain, Edward Jellico, is assigned to the Enterprise, while Picard, Worf and Dr. Crusher are re-assigned to an undercover mission crossing the Cardassian border. Much of the episode revolves around the differences between Jellico's and Picard's command styles. Picard's, while reserved, had also been somewhat relaxed, relying on the professionalism of his subordinates. Jellico's is much more authoritarian, demanding strict obedience and exact execution of his orders. He dislikes and eventually relieves Will Riker as executive officer. However, Jellico is later forced to ask Riker to pilot a shuttle craft to lay mines amongst a fleet of Cardassian ships. David Warner is a Cardassian interrogator.
In the part of the story set in Cardassia, Picard is tortured by his interrogator Gul Madred (David Warner), who at first seeks information about the Federation's defense plans for Minos Korva, but instead soon tries to warp Picard's perception of reality by forcing him to see five lights where there are only four lights shining upon him. At the conclusion of his torture, Picard finds that he wants so badly to see five lights that he actually sees five. Fortunately just before he admits that, Cardassian officers come to return Picard to the United Federation of Planets as per a surrender agreement Jellico imposed. Triumphant, Picard shouts his seemingly unbowed defiance to his torturer, but later privately admits to his counselor his moment of weakness. The sequence recalls the exchange between Winston and O'Brien in Orwell's 1984 in which Winston sees O'Brien display five fingers, when there are in fact only four. The Cardassian interrogator enjoys the company of his daughter in the interrogation room in between torture sessions.

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★ (Part 1)

★ (Part 2)