Written by Ronald D. Moore and Naren Shankar
Directed by Paul Lynch
Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) is invited to speak at the Starfleet Academy commencement ceremonies and so the Enterprise is returning to Earth. Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), who once lived on board the ship with his mother (who is the ship’s doctor) is part of a flight squadron scheduled to perform at the commencement. Just prior to the Enterprise’s arrival, there is an accident and one of the cadets in the squadron is killed. Wesley is injured, but it’s nothing that won’t heal.
At the inquiry, there are some discrepancies in the testimony of the cadets involved versus the data Starfleet Academy has collected. There are also parts of the stories that just don’t seem to add up.
Admiral Brand (portrayed by Jacqueline Brookes) seems to sense something is amiss and gives Captain Picard to begin his own investigation. Picard puts his crew to work on finding out exactly how the accident happened.
It’s nice to see Wesley in a very different setting than he’s been seen before. While he was a regular on the show, he was rarely seen with those his own age. Rather, he was a teenager (supposedly wise beyond his years) who was almost always interacting with the adults – officers – on board the Enterprise. By having this setting, plus Wesley often portrayed as smarter than those around him, Wesley quickly grew into a very irritating character to most fans.
Here, however, Wesley is among his contemporaries. The greatest influence is Nick Locarno (portrayed by Robert Duncan McNeill). Nick is Wesley’s squadron commander and walks around with an air of bravado somewhat reminiscent of a certain starship Captain known as James T. Kirk.
In the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, much is made of Kirk’s antics on how he passed a particular test that no one else ever had while attending Starfleet Academy, known as the Kobayashi Maru. Locarno’s bravado and antics really brought that to my mind. Were the writers looking to show the other side of what happens when overconfidence takes over where caution should be? Kirk’s alteration of the conditions of the Kobayashi Maru put no one in real danger (that we know of), but he was changing the rules to suit his own need to never fail. Locarno is also changing the rules – and getting his squadron to go along with it – so that he can make a name for himself.
This puts Wesley in a conflict that almost every teenager is put through. He is stuck between wanting to be part of the group and go along with those in his squadron, and the truth and what is expected of him by those who he loves and who care for him. It’s interesting to see Wesley this fallible. It’s also interesting to wonder if his actions, in the end, would have been different had the Enterprise not been present.
Robert Duncan McNeill is excellent as Nick Locarno, and I think was by far the most interesting character of all the young people, even Wesley. He will later appear on Star Trek: Voyager as Tom Paris. It would have been an interesting point if that character had actually been a continuation of the character in The First Duty. It could have been done and would have placed Paris joining Voyager about seven years down the line after this incident, easily fitting in with the story. McNeill’s terrific acting here probably won him that role. That he could create a character that resembles a youthful Kirk so much without having it become over-the-top really speaks to his abilities.
One minor nitpick is that when the gardener at the Academy, Boothby (portrayed by Ray Walston) sees Picard again he remarks “What happened to your hair? This is a direct contrast to the depiction of a young Picard that was seen in Star Trek: Nemesis.
It’s a pretty decent episode that suffers only because at times it seems a bit preachy on the subject of telling the truth. Star Trek has never been noted for its subtleties, however. There really never was a question in my mind what action Wesley would take in the end, although having him choose the other path might have led to a terrific second story later on as he copes with his choice.
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The decision to make Picard totally bald (or almost so) in “Star Trek: Nemesis” is one of the reasons that I can’t enjoy the film on rewatches. Tom Hardy is a decent actor, but I think that the people behind “Nemesis” (including Rick Berman and Brent Spiner) should have remembered that the young Picard (played by Marcus Nash on the TV series) had hair.
Oy.
Yes, some of the series continuity issues are pretty bad. It wouldn’t have taken much to fix it, but the writers at that point were displaying a lot of contempt for the fans. I remember comments to that effect in the media.
As I recall, though, the last film was written by Sooner, Berman, and John Logan, the guy who co-wrote “Gladiator.” And it was directed by a guy who had not even watched the series.
Also, I meant “Spiner” and not “Sooner” in my previous commitment. Auto correct sucks.
I remember this one clearly and was pleased that Wesley was “toned down” and not as obnoxious as the regular series made him appear. I had lunch with my oldest son and mentioned Deep Space Nine. I was impressed that he knew all the characters and their background stories. I’m a proud mama!
I felt that way when my kids grabbed onto the new Doctor Who.
There are many that believe Nick Locarno and Tom Paris were basically the same character. I believe their similarities were at best, superficial. Both were pilots who had committed an error that led to someone’s death. Both had initially lied about the accident. And both were portrayed by Robert Duncan McNeill. But there are differences.
It took Wesley Crusher’s confession to finally lead Locarno to take full blame for the accident. Tom Paris had admitted his guilt without anyone forcing his hand. Locarno seemed to possess a “cult leader” personality, mixed in with a driving ambition. This is one reason why I have no problem with Locarno not being in “Voyager”. Paris did not. The latter had something of a cynical personality. Locarno did not. Locarno actually reminded me of a benign version of Max Burke, B’Elanna Torres’ ex-boyfriend, who was portrayed by Titus Welliver.
“First Duty” is a good episode, but there were times when the pacing nearly put me to sleep. Or perhaps I was tired at the time of my last viewing. Also, all of the cadets should have been drummed out of Starfleet Academy and not simply Locarno. He didn’t order Wesley and the others to lie about their attempt to perform a banned maneuver. He merely convinced them via his cult personality. Also, why on earth did the Enterprise crew investigated the accident? They were not needed. The episode should have featured someone within Starfleet Academy to do the investigation without LaForge and Data’s help. I found this aspect of the episode rather contrived.
I would guess the Enterprise investigating was something they sort of fell into due to Wesley’s connection, but you’re right that they really didn’t have a standing there to perform the investigation. I think there might have been some good continuity if they had the characters the same and that Locarno was tapped by Section 31 as a believable person able to infiltrate the Maquis because he was drummed out of Starfleet. I love Titus Welliver in Bosch, so I will have to really pay attention again when I get around to reviewing Voyager.