The Drumhead by: Jeri Taylor and directed by: Jonathan Frakes

 

“The Drumhead” is written by: Jeri Taylor and is directed by: Jonathan Frakes.  It was produced under production code 195, was the 21^st episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, the 95^th episode overall, and was broadcast on April 29, 1991.

 

Sometimes an abrupt ending to an episode is the perfect ending.  “The Drumhead” is an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation presenting the crew of the Enterprise with a witch hunt.  The episode opens with an act of sabotage.  A Klingon biologist staying on the ship is actually a double agent for the Romulans, discovered due to an explosion among the engines that said spy importantly was not responsible for causing.  This indicates the possibility of other double agents aboard the ship, a conspiracy which starts small and eventually puts every member of the crew under suspicion.  Starfleet sends Admiral Norah Satie, played by Jean Simmons, to investigate due to her and her father’s experiences in routing out conspirators and traitors.  This premise is quite simple.  It’s far from the first episode of Star Trek or even Star Trek: The Next Generation to structure itself around court proceedings, but this is one where the ending is intentional in not allowing catharsis.  This is an episode where the pressure is slowly applied and increased and while Satie makes one misstep, an outburst to protect the name of her father revealing just what lines she has been crossing.  Yes, the episode ends with her being taken off the ship and the investigations ended, however, Jeri Taylor’s script does not give any indication as to whether there actually is a conspiracy of the crew on the Enterprise.  The explosion was coincidental, but there is still the distinct possibility of a larger conspiracy.

 

Taylor’s script clearly takes its inspirations from hearings heard by the House Hun-American Activities Committee and the campaign of anti-Communist sentiment spearheaded by senator Joseph McCarthy.  Notably Starfleet and Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the future is one that clearly takes cues from socialism and Marxism, even if everyday life is rarely explored throughout Star Trek.  Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is clearly a source of inspiration for how the episode is structured, though “The Drumhead” does not have a protagonist who is guilty of an unrelated sin to explore the moral dilemma.  The line of questioning is explicit in implicating anyone who had brief association with J’Dan, including those that provide him medical care.  Not surprisingly, Worf is given quite a bit of material in this episode, however, he is one character who does not come under suspicion in the investigation.  This is because he is becomes swept up in persecution, actively challenging Picard on not immediately being on board with the persecution of members of the crew.  Michael Dorn gives a layered performance: Worf’s own insecurities about his lost honor are clearly motivating his actions and despite the heavy Klingon makeup there are these brief moments where Dorn’s eyes are particularly active.  Worf as a character has been given an ongoing character arc from the fall from honor by doing the right thing, but it haunts him.  It is used against Picard when he is questioned, several previous decisions are under scrutiny due to treating allies and enemies as people.  It’s notable that Worf and Picard are given the final word in the episode.

 

Patrick Stewart is given a script where he excels as Jean-Luc Picard.  Despite being the captain of the Enterprise and a great admirer of Satie’s father, he is consistently on the backfoot.  This is a man who does not believe in the concept of the sins of the father or that the Romulans are inherently evil.  This does mean that Picard has been tricked and taken advantage of by people, “Data’s Day” being a primary example.  Picard’s own trauma with the Borg in The Best of Both Worlds is brought up to be used against him and the way Stewart’s face falls is a particularly fantastic piece of acting.  “The Drumhead” sets Picard up as powerless to actually do anything, despite clearly wishing to stop these proceedings.  This is an episode that only stops because Picard gives a speech that gives Satie enough rope to hang herself.  Stewart and Simmons also have this explosive chemistry.  Stewart as an actor in interviews has spoken about how he was starstruck when he met Vivien Leigh and there’s a sense that Stewart holds Simmons in similar regard if the way he plays off her is anything.  Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet is a definitive version of Hamlet and as such Simmons’ Ophelia is a definitive version of that character.  She is an actress Stewart would have grown up watching and this admiration allows him to step up his game as an actor.

 

The idea of sins of the father is where the snowball begins.  J’Dan has a medical condition which requires injections and one of his doctors is put under suspicion.  This is Simon Tarses, played by Spencer Garrett, and he has his life torn apart by the hearings.  Satie lies her way into forcing Tarses into implicating himself as related to the Romulans, he claimed on his application that his grandfather was a Vulcan.  He also associated himself in social settings with J’Dan at least once.  This is enough to frame him as a villain which is horrific.  Satie is outright a racist, not only towards Romulans due to their position as enemies of the Federation but it is also towards Klingons.  Her racism is quite fascinating, it clearly reflects aspects of American racism as her ire towards Tarses is because he dares to have a drop of Romulan blood in his ancestry which makes him genetically inferior to her.  She also regards Worf as a potential traitor because he is a Klingon who has lost his honor, therefore someone willing to lie and cheat, but happily uses him towards expanding the hearings.  The way the hearings are expanded is visually fantastic.  It’s a simple trick of adding more extras into the gallery and positioning the camera so we are isolating the defendant and emphasizing the mob.  This is the third episode to be directed by Jonathan Frakes and once again he proves that he is a dynamic television director.  It elevates the simplicity of the premise and enhances the storytelling to draw so much out of the cast.  Simon Tarses only appears in this episode and yet the examination of why he would lie to enter Starfleet and crack under the interrogation asking why he would lie if he had nothing to hide avoids feeling like a well-used trope because of Frakes’ direction.

 

Overall, “The Drumhead” is perfect.  It’s an episode that owes a lot to pieces of literature that are engrained in the public consciousness.  Jeri Taylor writes a script that does not actually update the ideas from the nearly 40 years between Miller’s The Crucible and this episode, but explores them as an aspect inherent to society, at least how it is structured in the present of 1991 (and today due to how societal change has been slow).  This immediately becomes a contender for the best episode of the season and one of the show’s best.  It assembles a perfect guest cast, Jean Simmons in particular is integral in making the episode work.  Jonathan Frakes directing means that the regular cast can just feel familiar and almost let loose with their performance, even if those performances are given extreme gravity.  10/10.