Riker's former commanding officer, Admiral Pressman, beams on board the Enterprise to oversee a mission to salvage the remains of his former ship, the Pegasus. During the investigation, Riker must choose whether or not to reveal a cover-up of an illegal operation Pressman conducted on the Pegasus twelve years ago. In the end, he chooses to turn Pressman in and face the consequences.
Military intrigue is something that should logically be in Star Trek much more often, but apparently it conflicted with Gene Roddenberry's belief that Starfleet should be conflict-free and purely altruistic. However, since this episode was produced a couple years after his death, the doors for this kind of story are now wide open.
This is also a great story for Riker, as he's forced to choose between by-the-book loyalty and following his conscience. We also see his character growth reflected in the dialogue, as Pressman notes that Riker has now grown a beard, started smiling more often, and gotten less stiff overall. As far as we've been aware, Riker has always been known to do things in a "non-regulation" manner, and yt's interesting to wonder if the events on the Pegasus are what caused him to start thinking so differently.
There's a ton of new special effects shots of the Enterprise, including some phenomenal ones with the ship traveling inside an asteroid, shining spotlights across the inner walls. Considering the show's beginning, where we were lucky to get even the slightest variation on a stock shot of the ship, this is quite a welcome change.
On every level—the mysterious plot, the character development, the special effects—this episode delivers. It's not a mind-blowing super-epic, but it's very good.
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