Four ensigns serving aboard the Enterprise await the outcome of evaluations. They all hope to get promoted. They are mentored by or serve under different members of the crew.
Sam Lavelle (Human) serves on the bridge under Commander Riker. He tries to ingratiate himself on Riker, who isn't terribly impressed with him.
Sito Jaxa (Bajoran) serves under and is mentored by Lieutenant Worf. He pushes her to do her best including at least one test which she objects to because it is clearly unfair.
Taurik (Vulcan) serves under Lieutenant Commander La Forge in engineering. Taurik impresses La Forge with his observations and suggestions for innovations.
Alyssa Ogawa (Human) serves under Doctor Crusher in sick bay. They have a friendly relationship.
Ben (Human) is a civilian and works in Ten Forward. He sees no conflict in being friendly with both the ensigns and the bridge crew.
Joret Dal, a Cardassian spy who works for Starfleet, is brought aboard the Enterprise. He needs to get back into Cardassian space. Sito is asked, by Captain Picard, after he has tested her, to help Joret Dal get there. It is a perilous mission but there is a plan to extract her.
Thoughts
Sito Jaxa appeared in one episode of Next Generation prior to this one but it is one that I have not seen, 5.19 (The First Duty). I have added it to the ever growing list of episodes that I want to watch. There are references made to events that occurred in that episode in this one.
Alyssa Ogawa is the only one of the three other ensigns who appeared in any episode following this one. This was the 14th of 16 episodes in which she appeared. The only other episode that she has been in that I am sure that I have seen before is 5.25 (The Inner Light).
She was also in two Star Trek movies: Generations (1994) and First Contact (1996). I have seen both films but it has been over 25 years since I last saw either of them. I don't recall her from either the one episode or the two movies she's in that I have seen. My guess is that she played a fairly small role in all of them.
Joret Dal and Ben have not appeared in any episodes before or since this one.
I watched this episode in part because it feels like the predecessor, in more ways than one, to Star Trek: Lower Decks. It is not humorous like the animated show. It has a much more serious tone.
There is one part of the episode where the story jumps back and forth between two poker games. One poker game involves members of the bridge crew mentioned above plus Counselor Troi. The other game involves the four ensigns plus Ben. I like the spirit of this part of the episode but there was something about the way that it was shot and edited together that didn't quite do it justice. I think it is because there are few medium shots of the games. Most of the shots are close ups on just one character which makes it feel like everyone probably wasn't on set together at the same time.
I knew how this episode would end. I unfortunately had it spoiled a few weeks back when I was listening to a podcast episode about Star Trek: Lower Decks. I still found the whole episode to be extremely well made. The performances are all great and the story was very well crafted. I think this episode goes up there with 3.15 (Yesterday's Enterprise) as one of my favorites of this show.
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