A surprisingly blunt episode in its rejection of religion. Picard refers to belief in a meddlesome supreme being as “living in the stone ages” and presented as a detriment to intellectual and scientific evolution. Secular thrills aside, this episode is a really zippy and fun yarn. A hidden team of anthropologists squirreled away on a Vulcan-like planet in their early history goofs up and throws all kinds of kinks into the Prime Directive. Next thing you know a band of upstarts are ready to sacrifice naysayers to “The Picard.” The plot moves in unexpected places and, as mentioned, really socks it surprisingly to organized religion. 1989 was a different time. An episode like this would have Hannity and O’Reilly going berserk.
