Plot Synopsis: Picard, Worf, and Dr. Crusher are reassigned from the Enterprise to a secret mission. Meanwhile, the Enterprise is under the command of Captain Edward Jellico, who immediately starts making changes, much to the dismay of the crew.
Plot A and B Analysis: In maybe the briefest teaser of the entire series, an admiral comes into Picard’s ready room and hits us with a bombshell: she’s here to relieve Picard of command! Plot A is about Picard, Worf, and Beverly’s assignment, plot B has equal time and is about the new captain of the Enterprise and how he makes everyone miserable. The new admiral, Nechayev, gives the quickest briefing ever: the Cardassians are planning an ‘incursion’ and the Enterprise will meet with them in open talks to avoid war; Picard, Beverly and Worf are reassigned, and captain Edward Jellico (who has experience with Cardassians) will take command. Picard & Co are doing commando-style training for a black ops mission they know nothing about, and Jellico continues runs rough shod over almost the entire crew. Halfway through the we discover what the undercover mission is: the Cardassians are likely developing a metagenic weapon, a genetically-engineered virus designed to wipe out all life on a planet–if so, their mission is to destroy it “at any cost.” The episode switches between the somewhat precarious talks between Jellico and the Cardassians and Picard’s mission. We end with the discovery that it was all a ruse to capture Picard, and he ends up in Cardassian hands. The plot is well-paced, exciting and memorable.
Favorite Scenes: There are several. One that I always remember is toward the end of the 9th minute where Jellico asks Riker to launch a probe during the new Delta shift he asked for. Riker says he hasn’t created one yet because it’d cause personnel problems, and Jellico doesn’t like it. Riker looks at his former captain before answering, and Picard looks away. I’ve always remembered that moment and thought: “Don’t look at him, he can’t help you.” I just liked the subtle exchange there. Later in the 36th minute Jellico seems to be doing quite well until the Cardassian drops his bomb: they know about Picard’s strike force. I’ve always thought that was a well-played scene. Of course the last scene is wonderful, where we learn it was all a trap to capture Picard. In the 18th minute Picard speaks in support of Riker after Jellico makes a disparaging remark, asking him to give him a chance, and Jellico’s response sums up his mindset:
Jellico: Jean-Luc, let’s be candid for a moment. The Cardassians aren’t going to listen to reason, and the Federation isn’t going to give in to their demands. And the chances are you won’t be coming back from this mission of yours. I want this ship ready for action, and I don’t have time to give Will Riker or anyone else a chance. And forgive me for being blunt, but the Enterprise is mine now.
Use of Cast/Characters: Everybody seems utilized in this episode. Picard gets some development as we learn he was involve in theta-band carrier waves on the Stargazer, which is why he’s on the mission. Riker has his hands full with all that Jellico demands of him. In retrospect, that scene with Deta shift is just an awkward situation–Riker was going to approach him and have a discussion about it, but since Jellico asks him first, he’s in a one-down position. He gets a little development as we learn he graduated eighth in his class. Worf gets a bit of development himself, as we learn he’s a little afraid of bats. Likewise, we learn Beverly doesn’t like heights. Deanna gets a standard uniform. In retrospect, shouldn’t she have been wearing it this whole time? She also seems to have gotten a tan. Geordi and Data get smaller roles, but they do get screen time as well. Ronnie Cox does a great job playing a no-nonsense hard-ass. He even gets his own alternative catchphrase to make it so: “Get it done.” Natalija Nogulich plays Admiral Nechayev, and does a good job as a straight-to-the-point admiral. She must have been liked, because she appears three more times in TNG and twice on DS9.
Blu Ray Version: Not much to say here, other than it looks great.
Nitpicks: Why doesn’t Admiral Nechayev wear a combadge on her uniform the entire time she’s on the Enterprise? It was a mistake, because she’s wearing one when Jellico talks to her on subspace later. The whole bar scene starting at the 23rd minute just doesn’t work well for me. Picard whispers too much, and Beverly’s quasi-seduction seems silly. It also reinforces what a laughing stock the Ferengi are, right before DS9 launched. It’s maybe the only weak scene in the episode.
Overall Impression: This is just a terrific episode where everything is up-ended. Picard is relieved of command–what?! Picard, Worf and Beverly are commandos now? Meanwhile Jellico makes changes to everything, ignores his officers and barely gives them any time to do what he wants! Everything it set up beautifully for part two, where it gets paid off. Jellico can’t be casually dismissed either; he’s not that likable but he has legitimate reasons for what he’s doing. Almost everything is great, I rate this episode 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Behind the Scenes/Trivia: This is the third time we see Cardassians on TNG. The first two were in The Wounded and Ensign Ro. Thank goodness the uniforms have changed–this is the look they’ll have from now on. The reference to Picard training for the marathon is something we learned about before, notably in Best of Both Worlds, Part II. This episode (parts I and II) was named #10 on Entertainment Weekly’s top 10 episodes of TNG. Brent Spiner has said this two-parter was his favorite episode of the series. The matte painting at 23:09 was the same as used back in The Masterpiece Society. The bar scene is actually a redress of DS9’s replimat set, which is wild because not a single DS9 episode had aired yet! Chain of Command was meant to be a single episode, but was expanded because TNG was over-budget for the season. It was head writer Michael Piller’s idea to make it a two-parter, as Jeri Taylor explains:
We were in budget trouble and Michael said, ‘You know, I think what we could do is make this a two-parter. Have Picard captured and then make it an episode about his relationship with his torturer that takes place in one room. It’s a fascinating two-person play and we’ll get another episode out of it that way and we’ll save a lot of money that will bring us even with the budget.
DaiMon Solok was originally intended to be Quark, and be set on DS9. It was changed when DS9 was delayed and wouldn’t begin airing until January. During shooting while he, Patrick and Gates were working in the tunnels of the set for Celtris III at Dorn and Stewart started laughing uncontrollably. There were many stray cats roaming around Paramount Pictures and as the set was covered with sand, they frequently used it for cat litter. Dorn asked Stewart what he was laughing about and he said, “I don’t know how I got here. I was just at a seminar at Santa Barbara, the next thing you know I’m crawling around in cat $#!+!” Along those same lines, Patrick has related in more than one panel discussion that the scene where they were rescuing Dr. Crusher from the cave-in, during an earlier take when he moved in quickly to pull her out he accidentally grabbed both of her breasts. He screamed like a girl!
Marina was thrilled to have a standard uniform, because she completely hated the turquoise dress, and most of the other ones. She said the more cleavage she showed the less brains the writers gave her, and she had to wear a corset underneath it! This was because she was told that “in the future, we are wrinkle-free.” After this two-parter she wanted to keep wearing the uniform but the producers didn’t, so they compromised: when she was on duty she’d wear it, when she was off-duty she wouldn’t.
Missable/Unmissable? Absolutely unmissable, and the next episode is one of the best ever.