Synopsis: Commander Riker is injured while undercover on a first contact mission and Captain Picard is forced to take extraordinary measures to ensure his safe recovery and the peace on the planet.
This episode is a lesson of what happens when the best laid plans go awry. And it is also a lesson in the difference between an introverted and extroverted outlook. Extroverts look outward to try to orient themselves to the world, or the universe; introverts fear being overpowered by outside forces and prefer to use their energy to look inward. Both are equally valid points of view.
Starfleet, and its officers have a set prescribed way in which to make first contact with an alien race. A procedure that they deem as non-interfering as possible, but which to the observed upon alien race can be seen as being a precursor to invasion. As part of that plan, Commander William T. Riker was sent to the planet Malcor III, to meet with individuals who had been sent by Starfleet years earlier, in order to prepare for Captain Jean-Luc Picard to make first contact with the inhabitants, as they were on the verge of warp-driven space travel. However, Riker was injured in a street protest and is now in a hospital facility where it becomes obvious that he is not Malcorian. Picard is forced to act in a way in which he is uncomfortable. To be honest, the idea of monitoring civilizations in order to make contact is very extroverted thing to do.
However, the Malcorians are clearly introverted, by the admission of Mirasta Yale, their Space Minister, the Malcorians believe that they are a superior race and that their planet is the center of the universe. This is an introverted perspective. In the end, the leader of the planet decides that they are not ready for contact with the Federation. While he states that it goes against every fiber in his being, he has seen how there is so much fear on the part of others, he must honor their wishes and not pursue relations with the Federation. This is just how an individual does well to honor how one naturally relates to the world.
Original post created 9 September 2021
mydailysoultrek 