The First Duty
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"The First Duty" is the 119th episode of the American syndicated
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', the 19th episode of the show's fifth season. It featured the return of former regular castmember
Wil Wheaton Richard William Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film ''Stand by Me (film), Stand by Me'', Joey Trotta in '' ...
as
Wesley Crusher Wesley Crusher is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. He appears regularly in the first four seasons of the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (''TNG''), and sporadically in its next three seasons. He also app ...
as well as the first of three appearances by
Ray Walston Herman Raymond Walston (November 2, 1914 – January 1, 2001) was an American actor and comedian, well known as the title character on ''My Favorite Martian''. His other major film, television, and stage roles included Luther Billis (''South Paci ...
as Boothby. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the
Starfleet Starfleet is a fictional organization in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Within this fictional universe, Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conduc ...
crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, while visiting Starfleet Cadet
Wesley Crusher Wesley Crusher is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. He appears regularly in the first four seasons of the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (''TNG''), and sporadically in its next three seasons. He also app ...
at
Starfleet Academy In the Setting (fiction), fictional universe of ''Star Trek'', Starfleet Academy is where recruits to Starfleet's officer corps are trained. It was created in the year 2161, when the United Federation of Planets was founded. The Academy's mot ...
, the crew learn of an accident that claimed the life of a cadet.


Plot

The ''Enterprise'' returns to Earth, where
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Picard is scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Starfleet Academy's graduation ceremony. However, the Academy superintendent informs Picard of an accident during flight training that has injured
Wesley Crusher Wesley Crusher is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. He appears regularly in the first four seasons of the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (''TNG''), and sporadically in its next three seasons. He also app ...
and caused the death of Joshua Albert, a member of the Nova Squadron flight team on which Wesley serves. During an Academy inquiry, team leader Nick Locarno testifies that the collision occurred while they were executing a "
Yeager Yeager is a mostly American surname, a phonetic transcription of the common German surname Jaeger (Jäger), meaning hunter. Ya ...
Loop" maneuver. He also states that Joshua had been nervous about flying, but Nick had kept him on the team out of a desire not to end his flying career. Nick claims that the accident was Joshua's fault, but admits that allowing him to fly was an error on his own part. Satellite imagery shows the team's ships to have been in a different formation from that described; these records, combined with the cadets' sudden reticence to explain their actions, prompt Picard to direct his crew to open an investigation of their own. Picard discovers evidence to suggest that Nova Squadron had actually been performing a maneuver called the "Kolvoord Starburst", last attempted at the Academy more than a century earlier; it was banned following a training accident that killed all five cadets involved. Pressed by Picard to admit the truth, Wesley instead chooses not to answer. Reminding Wesley that the first duty of any Starfleet officer is to the truth - scientific, historical, and personal - Picard threatens to reveal the facts to the board of inquiry unless Wesley does so himself at the next day's hearing. Nick tries to coerce Wesley into corroborating the other survivors' accounts of the accident, claiming that Picard has no solid evidence; Wesley is torn between loyalty to his friends and duty to Starfleet. The next day, the admiral in charge of the inquiry prepares to dismiss it since there is no conclusive proof of any wrongdoing beyond the minor infractions that the cadets have admitted to committing. Before she can do so, though, Wesley confesses that Nova Squadron had indeed tried to execute the Kolvoord Starburst. Nick subsequently takes full responsibility, stating that he pressured the rest of the team into performing it and lying to cover up the facts. He is expelled from Starfleet Academy, while Wesley and the other two survivors lose their flight privileges and a year's worth of academic credits. Wesley is disappointed in himself, and Picard tells him that the immediate future will be difficult since everyone on campus will know what happened. As the two part, Picard recalls a remark by Boothby, the old groundskeeper at the Academy, who had once given him some much-needed advice: "You knew what you had to do. I just made sure you listened to yourself."


Reception and impact

Keith DeCandido Keith Robert Andreassi DeCandido (born April 18, 1969) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer and musician, who works on comic books, novels, role-playing games and video games, including numerous media tie-in books for properties such ...
of
Tor.com ''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction. From 20 ...
gave the episode a rating of 6 out of 10. It ranked ninth in ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
''s list of top 10 ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' episodes in September 2007.
Sito Jaxa SITO is an online artist collective which began in January 1993, making it one of the oldest Internet-based art organizations. It was started by Ed Stastny and has been maintained by Stastny and a group of volunteers and supporters. __NOTOC__ Fro ...
, one of the other cadets involved in the accident, later made a prominent appearance in the ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' episode "
Lower Decks ''Star Trek: Lower Decks'' is an American adult-oriented animated television series created by Mike McMahan for the streaming service CBS All Access (later rebranded as Paramount+). It is the ninth ''Star Trek'' series and was launched in 2020 ...
" (Season 7). Now holding the rank of Ensign, she learned that Picard had specifically requested her for his crew in order give her a fair chance to redeem herself. She was ranked as the 86th most important character of
Starfleet Starfleet is a fictional organization in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Within this fictional universe, Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conduc ...
within the ''Star Trek'' science fiction universe by
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in 2016.
Robert Duncan McNeill Robert Duncan McNeill (born November 9, 1964) is an American director, producer, and actor. As an actor, he is best known for his role as Lieutenant Tom Paris on the television series '' Star Trek: Voyager''. He has also served as an executive pr ...
's Nicholas Locarno served as the template for the character of
Tom Paris Lieutenant Thomas Eugene "Tom" Paris is a fictional character in the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and is portrayed by Robert Duncan McNeill. Paris is the chief helmsman, as well as a temporary auxiliary medic, ...
on '' Star Trek: Voyager''. When casting Paris, producers were searching for a different actor than McNeill. After many auditions it was suggested to simply bring McNeill in to play the part since they were using his character as a model for Tom Paris already.
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
noted that the episode was the first to feature Starfleet Academy, as well as the first to feature Boothby. The review also highlighted a line from Picard's lecture to Wesley: "The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth."
Geek.com Geek.com is a technology news weblog about hardware, mobile computing, technology, movies, TV, video games, comic books, and all manner of geek culture subjects. It was founded in 1996 and was run independently until 2007 when it was sold to N ...
rated Picard's lecture as the fourth greatest moment in ''Star Trek'' overall.
Space.com Space.com is an online publication focused on space exploration, astronomy, skywatching and entertainment, with editorial teams based in the United States and United Kingdom. The website offers live coverage of space missions, astronomical discov ...
ranked Picard's truth speech one of the character's top ten moments.


Releases

The episode was later released in the United States on November 5, 2002, as part of the season five
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
box set. The first
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
release was in the United States on November 18, 2013, followed by the United Kingdom the next day, November 19, 2013.


See also

* "
Lower Decks ''Star Trek: Lower Decks'' is an American adult-oriented animated television series created by Mike McMahan for the streaming service CBS All Access (later rebranded as Paramount+). It is the ninth ''Star Trek'' series and was launched in 2020 ...
", the seventh season episode prominently featuring then-Ensign
Sito Jaxa SITO is an online artist collective which began in January 1993, making it one of the oldest Internet-based art organizations. It was started by Ed Stastny and has been maintained by Stastny and a group of volunteers and supporters. __NOTOC__ Fro ...
. * Dump and Burn *
Immelmann turn The term Immelmann turn, named after German World War I Eindecker fighter ace Lieutnant Max Immelmann, refers to two different aircraft maneuvers. In World War I aerial combat, an Immelmann turn was a maneuver used after an attack on another a ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:First Duty, The Star Trek: The Next Generation (season 5) episodes 1992 American television episodes Television episodes written by Ronald D. Moore