Journey's End
A peace treaty has been finalized between the Federation and the Cardassians. A small colony of Native Americans settled on Dorvan V, which according to the treaty is now part of Cardassian space. Captain Picard receives orders from Admiral Nechayev to get the colonists out of there, whether they like it or not.
Wesley gets some time off from Starfleet Academy and visits his mother and the Enterprise. Something weighs on him emotionally. He snaps at people whom he considers to be friends.
Captain Picard and Counselor Troi try to talk the colony's governing body, into moving to another planer within Federation space. The council, led by Anthwara, insists that they have no intention of leaving Dorvan V. It took them 200 years to find it. It is now their home.
Wesley undertakes a spiritual journey. He is assisted in this journey by Lakanta, one of the Dorvan V colonists. Wesley has a vision and sees his father who tells him to find his own way. Wesley takes the experience to heart. He decides to leave Starfleet and not finish his studies at Starfleet Academy, which does not please his mother.
Captain Picard attempts to forcibly remove the Dorvan V colonists but Wesley interferes with that plan. A visit from a Cardassian survey team, led by Gul Evek, further complicates matters when they also try to get the colonists to depart. Violence breaks out but ultimately a solution is found, the colonists agree to become citizens of the Cardassian Empire.
Wesley learns that Lakanta is actually the Traveler. The episode ends with him beaming back down to the surface of Dorvan V to meet again with the Traveler who has agreed to be his guide.
Thoughts
All members of the main cast of this show appeared in this episode although some of them only appeared very briefly.
I should have watched this episode before I watched the two part Deep Space Nine story that I just finished watching earlier this week, The Maquis. This episode first aired about a month before that one and it helps to lay the ground work for things that happened in that story.
This was a very interesting episode. I was prepared to cringe, and maybe I did a little bit, when I saw that this story was ostensibly about relocating native Americans. They call them American Indians in the episode and don't indicate which nation or nations from which they originate.
I found the ending with Wesley to be very moving.
On the whole I thought this episode was very well handled and was quite good.
Notes
This is the last episode of this show in which Wesley Crusher appeared. He only appeared in four episodes in the last three seasons of the show, two in Season 5 and two in Season 7. His other 64 appearances were spread fairly evenly across the first four seasons of the show. The only other episode he was in from the last three seasons that I have watched is 5.19 The First Duty.
This is the third of four episodes of this show in which Admiral Nechayev appeared. I saw her most recently in an episode of Deep Space Nine, 2.21 The Maquis Part II. She was played by Natalija Nogulich in all of her appearances on both shows.
This is the third of three episodes in which Jack Crusher appeared. He was played by Doug Wert in all three episodes. The first of those episode was 4.02 Family,
Richard Poe played the part of Gul Evek. This is the first of two episodes of this show in which he appeared. I saw him very recently in an episode of Deep Space Nine, 2.20 The Maquis, Part I.
Eric Menyuk played the Traveler. This is the third of three episodes of this show in which he appeared. The first episode in which he appeared was 1.05 Where No One Has Gone Before.
Ned Romero played the part of Anthwara. This is the only episode of this show in which he appeared. He also appeared in episodes of Star Trek (1966) and Voyager.
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