Justice, Jurisdiction, and Institutional Procedure
The plot pits Starfleet procedure against Tanugan legal claims, exploring how institutions create narratives of culpability. Krag's insistence on custody, the holodeck deposition, and Picard's maneuvering show procedure treated both as weapon and safeguard. The theme examines who gets to tell the official story and how evidentiary form (sensor logs, timetables, holographic reconstructions) determines liberty, diplomacy, and the reach of justice.
Events Exemplifying This Theme
A sudden, unexplained power drain during Riker's transport and Data's terse technical readout — an overload of the station's reactor core — turn a procedural recovery into a forensic problem. …
Chief Investigator Krag enters the Enterprise bridge with a quiet, relentless authority and immediately fixes on Commander Riker, ignoring Picard's formalities to demand Riker's custody. The blunt accusation — "suspicion …
On the holodeck Picard, Krag and the others watch a forensically precise recreation of Riker's first meeting with Dr. Apgar. Riker delivers a flat, procedural deposition—insisting he is not a …
On the holodeck Picard and Krag stage Riker’s formally flat holographic deposition of his ‘first’ visit to Apgar’s lab. Riker insists, calmly, that he is not a murderer and plays …
During a holodeck replay of the evening on Tanuga Four, Manua’s flirtatious hospitality and Apgar’s simmering humiliation play out as quiet evidence of motive. As Riker offers a polite toast …
Investigator Krag commandeers the holodeck reconstruction and layers Tanugan ground‑computer data over Data's program to present a chilling, apparently objective replay: as Riker begins transport he draws a phaser and …