Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series) Preemptive Strike (1994) User Reviews

This episode is a gem among stones.

[kfo9494 · 9/10 · 13 March 2014]

With lackluster shows in this final season, this episode proved to be a gem among the stones as this was an interesting tale with entertaining results. It begins as Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes) returns to the cast after graduating from Starfleet and returning to the Enterprise crew. She was able to return to Starfleet thanks to Captain Picard's recommendation and she wants to repay the Captain for the kindness shown. But the task that she will be assigned with prove difficult for her.

Due to problems with a group of rebels called the Maquis that are attacking Cardassain's ships, the peace treaty between the Cardassains and Starfleet could be in jeopardy. Ro will be assigned to infiltrate the rebel group and report where and when the Maquis plan to attack so that the Enterprise can put an end to this rebel group. However, Ro begins to have feeling for the rebel group and those feeling could risk her position with Starfleet and her loyalty and gratitude toward Captain Picard.

This is an entertaining story that returned the series to the roots of personal conflict within the plot. This season has been sugary stories that tend to rely more on writing so that each main character gets face time rather than developing a good story. This episode went back to getting an interesting plot and develop the situation around the story. A nice show indeed!

Lieutenant Ro on a mission

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 24 September 2017]

Lieutenant Ro Laren is back from Star Fleet tactical training just in time for some Maquis uprising against the ruling Cardassians. Hearts may be with the Maquis, but the Federation has a treaty with the Cardassians.

Patrick Stewart sends Michelle Forbes on a mission to seek out a Maquis cell and find out what they're up to. But what happens is that she starts a realization of her Bajoran roots when she meets up with the Maquis cell. Most especially with the head of said cell John Franklyn- Robbins with whom she develops an almost father/daughter relationship.

Captain Picard has considered Ro his own protégé and Michelle Forbes's scenes with Picard as well as Macias the Maquis leader have a lot of poignancy.

In the end, in her last appearance on TNG as Ro Laren Michelle Forbes gave a real good performance. I do regret that she was not able to be worked into a Deep Space Nine episode or two.

Tough choice

[sloopnp · 9/10 · 17 December 2019]

What would you do? Ro's father was tortured and killed by the Cardassians right in front of her, then another father figure died in her arms because of them. Can you move past it all for the sake of peace, or are the wounds too great? Pikard was also tortured by the Cardassians and did put his personal experience aside for the hope of peace, Ro was not able to. Do you want revenge, or do you want to make things better so the fighting stops for future generations?

She is who she is.

[legendary_music-834-198341 · 10/10 · 31 January 2019]

There are so many remarkable things about this episode. The plot, the writing, the politics, the performances, especially that of the beautiful Ms. Michelle Forbes. Can we really call Lieutenant Ro a traitor? The reason this episode is so great is because we become just as torn as Lt. Ro? While ultimately our allegiances may lie with Starfleet, in the end we understand why she did what she did. I love the radical character that is Lt. Ro. She is committed to justice for her people "by any means necessary" (in the words of the great El-hajj Malik Shabazz). At the end of the episode we see Captain Picard, perplexed in the extreme, nearly in a state of shock. I can only imagine he is hurt, furious, disappointed. Perhaps some part of him feels like a fool. But what he will wrestle with the most is the part of himself that understands why she did what she did, the part of himself that recognizes that she is who she is, maybe even some part of himself that knew that this was a possible outcome.

When You Know the Enemy

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 17 October 2014]

The Maquis become a big deal when "Voyager" begins its time in the Star Trek canon. These are Federation renegades who are unhappy with the developments in the movement outward in the galaxy. There are too many treaties with rival alien worlds, particularly the Cardassians. The Enterprise has been given the task of infiltrating this group which has the Bejoran culture at its center. Ensign Ro Laren has been given the task of spying on this group. She is willing to take this on because Picard rescued her from a spiral into oblivion. What happens, however, is that while she is secretly a part of the Maquis, she begins to understand their unhappiness and their oppression by forces beyond their control. They are guerrilla fighters in a kind of intergalactic brush war. She is embraced by them and becomes the darling of their old leader who has great affection for her and her "cause." What starts out as a mission becomes a kind of betrayal. It shows how things are not so simple when you see the actual face of the enemy. Quite well done.

Ro goes undercover with the Maquis

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 30 September 2015]

This episode sees the return of recently promoted Lt Ro Laren after time away on the Advanced Tactical Training course; she doesn't get time to settle back into life on the Enterprise though as she is soon sent on a dangerous undercover mission. After the peace between the Federation and the Cardassians some of those who have found their home worlds are now in Cardassian territory are fighting against what they see as their new oppressors. These are the Maquis and it is Lt Ro's job to infiltrate the group and lure them into an ambush so they can be captured by the Federation. They are initially suspicious of Ro but when she helps them steal a large quantity of medical supplies from the Enterprise they grow to trust her. As she gets to know them she starts to symaphise with their cause; she tries to get Capt Picard to call off the mission but he refuses and tells her that if she fails to continue with the mission as planned she will be in serious trouble for disobeying orders; ultimately Ro must decide whether to follow orders or do what she believes is right.

There have been rather too many poorer than average episodes this season but this isn't one of them. When Ro Laren was introduced she quickly became one of my favourite characters so I was rather disappointed that she quickly disappeared from the show with now real explanation… this tells us why she was away and gives her one of her best stories; she is definitely the main character and the excellent Michelle Forbes has no difficulty carrying the episode. Too often in Star Trek the issues are very black and white and the Federation are always the good guys but here things are less certain; the peace with the Cardassians is clearly a good thing overall but those now on the wrong side of the border find themselves bullied by an oppressive regime so it is understandable that they will fight back. This provides a real dilemma for Ro and for once one can see Picard might be on the wrong side of the argument. As the episode progresses it is far from obvious how the story will end but as Ro gets closer to the Maquis the possibility that she won't help the Federation capture them rises distinctly. Overall a really good episode with some moral ambiguity and some decent action.

Good episode but a writing betrayal of Picard

[Hughmanity · 8/10 · 20 July 2020]

Good episode for concluding the story arc of Ro Laren. It does make me wonder why they gave this minor character the penultimate episode in TNG if they didn't plan to move her on to DS9?

This episode was unfortunately a character betrayal of Picard. The man who for 7 seasons has been the ultimate defender of the downtrodden, and suddenly he wants to set a trap for what are essentially abused refugees? Why isn't he asking more questions here? Why isn't he listening to what Ro has to say about it? Suddenly Picard is an obstinate a-hole for the sake of the plot. It just doesn't right true.

Ro Laren's story arc concludes.

[russem31 · 5 May 2006]

ST:TNG:176 - "Preemptive Strike" (Stardate: 47941.7) - this is the 24th episode of the 7th and last season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The newly promoted Lt. Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes in her first appearance since the 5th season) returns to the Enterprise and immediately embarks on an undercover mission to infiltrate the Maquis - a group living in the Demilitarized Zone who is against the Cardassians since the peace treaty since they are now on part of Cardassian territory instead of Federation (they will become a formidable foe in DS9 and VOY).

Ro only takes this mission out of loyalty to Picard, being uneasy helping the Cardassians since she is Bajoran. After learning more about the Maquis, she grows more sympathetic with their cause. And due to this conflict of loyalties, Ro Laren is torn . . . but must soon make a choice.

Trivia note: Deep Space Nine is mentioned here.

No mo Ro.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 6 December 2014]

Ensign Ro was an addition to the cast in season 6. At the time, it appeared as if she was going to become a regular on the show but after only a few appearances she disappeared until this penultimate episode. It begins with the Maquis suddenly gaining an advantage over the Cardassians in their guerilla war. Since the members of this rogue organization are mostly made up of people living within the Federation, it's up to the Enterprise to try to bring their terrorist ways under control and bring these rebels to justice. To do so, Picard asks Ro to go undercover--a thoroughly stupid idea, as she obviously is very much in sympathy with these folks. Can she serve the Federation or will her natural inclination to hate Cardassians and kick butt propel her towards becoming a traitor to Starfleet?

This is a decent enough episode and it's well done. My only complaint and reason I give this one a 7 is because the character was pretty much abandoned by the writers and suddenly makes an appearance in the second to last episode...which feels kind of weird and contrived.

Great to see Ro Laren one last time

[snoozejonc · 8/10 · 22 March 2022]

Ro Laren returns to the Enterprise and is sent on an undercover mission.

This is a solid episode with a great lead performance by Michelle Forbes.

Most episodes involving Ro are good and this Marquis related plot works perfectly for the character. Forbes has the strength, allure and internal struggle down to a T.

Patrick Stewart also has a number of memorable scenes as Picard finds himself in a difficult position in the latter stages. These exchanges are all well written and performed, particularly the final scene with Riker.

For me the weak links are the fairly simple characterisations of the Marquis. None of these really convince me they are freedom fighters, apart from Kalita who has her moments thanks to Shanon Cochran's engaging performance. Also some of the plotting associated with Ro's relationship with Macias is quite predictable.

One of the best aspects of it is how it ties in nicely to Deep Space Nine and Voyager.

I think it's a 7.5/10 but I round upwards.

"Star Trek: Maquis" is the future

[makiefer-87128 · 7/10 · 22 February 2024]

There is your starting point for the next real Star Trek show. The Maquis. In this episode, Starfleet graduate Ro Laren is torn between Starfleet and the Maquis. Do pick the Maquis. It has to be the future. If she remains with Starfleet, only her relationship with First Officer Riker could bear any fruits. Recall this season's episode Lower Decks. As junior staff, you are nothing aboard the Enterprise. Except, you can form a family, if you want. No chance of promotion. Lower Decks feels like a punch in the guts. Because Starfleet hasn't found a Governance Structure that crushes personal networks. In the classic Star Trek show, three buddies run Starfleet's flagship, Kirk, McCoy and Spock. In this Star Trek instalment, a group of men revolve around a European. The two women Troi and Crusher had to start relationships with those men to advance to senior roles. Granted, Starfleet,'s "Buddies-Governance" could be normal. Only the uneasy feeling when you watch junior staff in episode Lower Decks confirms: The Maquis is the future.

Ro's calling.

[thevacinstaller · 9/10 · 27 May 2021]

It's a bittersweet episode ----- The episode itself is great but this is the last time we get to see the beautiful and fierce Ro Laren.

What I took away from this episode was Ro's intriguing internal struggle between her two father figures (Picard and Macias). The scenes between her and Macias seem to give Ro the opportunity for closure and acceptance of what happened to her father in her past. This episode shows the Maquis perspective and presents them as being the victim and Starfleet as being the aggressor with an insidious plan to bait the Maquis out using Bio weapons as a lure.

I am on Ro's side on this one. I feel she made the right call. The Cardassians tortured her dad to death ---- What do we really expect her to do in this situation?

We could debate and discuss the moral and ethical questions brought up in this episode and whether Ro made the right decision. An episode that spurs discussion like that is a winner for me.

All the wrong notes

[mcp1959 · 4/10 · 16 April 2016]

"Preemptive Strike" is a rushed episode which features the return, and departure, of Ensign Ro Laren. Ro returns to the Enterprise after a lengthy absence while she received special training. She is greeted warmly by Picard, who then immediately assigns here to an undercover assignment to infiltrate the Maquis. The Maquis are engaged with a gorilla war against the Cardassians. The members of the Maquis who she meets provoke ambivalent emotions in Ro, which ultimately leads her to betray Picard and defect to the Maquis.

While the acting, dialogue and production values are good to great, the episode feels like a misstep. Picard's genuine feelings of affection for Ro are overridden by his desire for her to complete the covert operation. The operation itself is questionable. I would expect Picard to raise many more questions than he does; in fact, he seems quite eager to be a 24th century CIA operative. He makes Ro into a tool to be used. If that was the goal, then the producers succeeded. The exception to the episode's failure is Ro's relationship to the elder Maquis leader, who symbolically takes Picard's place in Ro's life before his death. Again, if that was the goal, then it could be called a success. I call it a sellout, forcing Picard to behave in a manner totally inconsistent with what we know about him. Not recommended.

REVIEW 2022

[iamirwar · 8/10 · 20 October 2022]

We're on our way to a briefing with regard to the demilitarized zone along the Cardassian border. Also, Ro, who not many people liked, is back. She's a Bajoran.

We're receiving a distress signal from a Cardassian ship, lets go look and see what's wrong. Federation ships causing all the hoo-ha. What's all that about? Maquis.

I have to be honest, I never cared much for the Marquis story arc in TNG or DS9. I always thought that they were something of a distraction, especially during DS9. For some reason I had always remembered the Maquis stories as being more prevalent during the TNG run, but maybe I was associating every episode of TNG that featured Ro Laren as being Maquis based. Watching these shows again I now realise that this episode is the only truly Maquis-based story in the entire TNG run.

So Ro wants to be accepted in her new friends secret organisation. I think the problem with this story is that many viewers never really took to Ro Laren and as a result, not many of us care about the fact that she would join the Maquis as most probably predicted she would from the very first mention of their name at the start of this episode. I don't think I would have trusted her whichever side she claims to be on. But if the old man mention's Hasperat again, I am going to get really upset.

It had the potential to be a great episode but the interaction between the old man and Ro Laren was too syrupy. I never really cared that much about Laren and I could never understand why the writers were so desperate for us to accept her character. Why did they keep pushing her onto us? Was she related to someone at Paramount? I'm sure she's a wonderful actress, if they could only tear it down and start again.

I also felt its was too late in the day for them to create an episode that revolves totally around Ro Laren. I only hope she gets hers in DS9. Good riddance I would say.

As far as the Captain is concerned, Ro Laren was obviously the worst choice to send on this mission. I think we should punish Picard by only allowing him to take the Enterprise out on one more double-header episode and perhaps a couple of movies, and then discard him to the box-set collection shelf.

Ro's words at the end were possibly the closest to the truth that any character would ever get in the entire Star Trek universe. "It's been a long time since I ever felt I really belonged anywhere." Didn't she have a brief fling with Will Riker in one of her earlier appearances. Hell hath no fury... etc, etc.

This Episodes Clue: Macias

(Answer's to all episode clues will appear in the reviews of season seven, episode 25: All Good Things, Part One.)

THIS WILL BE THE FINAL REVIEW 2022 of the TNG SERIES. I only commenced this review at Season Four: Episode 17 Night Terrors as my intention was to only review each episode as far as best of season was concerned. Initially I had simply graded the earlier episodes with points between 0 and 10. Once I complete the entire review, which is very close now, I will choose the six best episodes of each season and put them forward into a FINAL REVIEW, whereby I will try to arrange them in order of from GREAT to OUTSTANDING.

The Grande Return and Goodbye of Ro Laren

[romkevdv17 · 8/10 · 6 November 2021]

This episode is a great sendoff to a character whose made a name for themselves in just a handful of episodes. Ro Laren is not unanimously liked because she shakes up the idyllic bridge crew dynamic. Gene Roddenberry insisted that there be no conflict among the crew except for external forces that control their actions. This stayed throughout the series, where all of the crew has seemingly perfect relationships with them, all best friends and few disagreements that lasted more than one episode. Ro Laren was a nice mix-up, being a somewhat stubborn and arrogant person but justifiably so. She introduced us to the Bajorans and set up the ideas and characteristics of all future Bajorans we would see play a more significant role in Star Trek lore.

Although far too brief for the character arc it tries to achieve, this episode plays with some of the characteristics we know of Ro Laren. It asks where her loyalties lie, her relationship with Jean-Luc Picard and with the federation as a whole. The best part of this episode is some of the tender and quiet moments. Her relationship with the old man helps establish her reasons later on for her change of heart. Her discussions with Picard are very personal and you can see how his approval is important to her. However, those dialogues are bluntly straightforward about the emotional steps we're supposed to see in her. You have Ro Laren literally saying 'the most important thing for me is your approval', something I doubt Ro would ever say out loud. This episode is a standout amongst the rather tame Season 7 and reminds us the great character writing TNG could have. Even in 50 minutes, her arc is very believably and fitting of the character we've watched for several episodes. I appreciate that they had Riker with her at the end, which only slightly manages to finish their arc together by him wishing her luck. We never got to find out what Riker was to say about Ro Laren at her funeral. I am not going to delve too much into the plot, it isn't very complex, it is all about characters this episode and I suggest you watch it yourself.

It's a shame Ro never got more episodes, perhaps to build up this arc over a longer period. Besides Ro Laren's important role in future Star Trek lore, she's also just a fascinating character. She's not the perfect officer like much of the TNG crew who are so often just accommodating to everyone else's opinions. Although they are very sympathetic they are sometimes just too perfect as people. Ro Laren was always at odds with people, always blunt and sometimes crass about her opinions and determined to enact them. People didn't like her and for a clear reason. Yet she still ended up being the most relatable and sympathetic character for me. Even in lesser episodes she always stood out with her very well-defined personality. When you take an episode like The Next Phase, the writer's know well-enough to focus on Ro's reaction than La Forge's (the writer's have tried many times to write episodes about La Forge, like his romance life and about his mom, didn't often work). Even the episode, Rascals, where they turn into kids, some of the characters like Keiko or Picard are written blandly for the kid actors. But Guinan and Ro sound exactly like their adult counterparts. The writer's made Ro Laren into one of the highlights of this series even with so few appearances. It is nice therefore to see her get such a well-thought out farewell.

An episode that simple felt ... "wrong"

[arxinvicta · 3/10 · 10 October 2021]

"Preemptive Strike" continues with the tradition of the previous episodes to "tie up" loose ends of story archs remaining in TNG. This time the producers try to give Ensign Ro an ending that stays close to her "rebellious" nature - and sadly, in my opinion, fail miserably.

For the sake of storytelling, both the character of Ensign Ro and - more drastically - the Character of Captain Picard have been altered to the point where they are hardly recognizable anymore.

Ensign Ro, who used to be confident, rebellious and direct is now weirdly insecure, gets "rescued" from a social gathering by Captain Picard and behaves weirdly docile and submissive in the following conversations. Sure I get it, she is supposed to have a great deal of admiration and respect for Picard but even in the earlier episodes with her this was always combined with a certain "rebellious" and confident touch. (Like her making it a condition to be allowed to wear her jewelry to serve on the Enterprise)

Captain Picards transformation is even worse. What used to be a Character that questions acts against minorities and rebels and would always choose diplomacy and conversations before military action is now incredibly motivated to crush an armed resistance against a militaristic nation which in earlier episodes tortured him to the breaking point.

No conversations with the rebel leaders, no attempts to solve this peacefully, just have Ro infiltrate them and threaten her with court martial (!) if she sabotages this mission in any way.

For the first time in StarTrek Picard takes the role of an antagonistic figure in the show and it does not suit him at all. I do not really understand why the writers decided to go this way but it leaves the viewer with a very unpleasant feeling.

A Senior Trekker writes.....................

[celineduchain · 5/10 · 17 March 2022]

The final season of Star Trek, the Next Generation gave us some splendid episodes and also a fair share of stinkers. Everyone knew by this stage that they would not be renewed and attempts were made to wrap up various story lines before they said their final goodbyes. There is still a great deal to be enjoyed.

There are many cross references to events currently taking place in the contemporaneous Star Trek series Deep Space Nine in this episode and a few set ups for the forthcoming series Voyager. Although we can see these clearly in retrospect it must have seemed confusing at the time to have so many new elements appearing in The Next Generation during its penultimate episode.

Personally, by this time I was already completely hooked on DS9 aka "Star Trek for Grown Ups" but how does Pre-Emptive Strike stand up as a Next Generation episode?

Well, there isn't much Science Fiction going on but it is a decent enough espionage story and a suitable farewell to a recurring character who had never really managed to fit into the crew. I don't think it was actor Michelle Forbes fault that the character of Ro Laren hadn't worked out but having her make her farewells in this manner made a lot of sense. A lot more sense than Wesley's two fingered salute and abrupt abandonment of Star Fleet a couple of episodes back, anyway.

Ro becomes much more sympathetic as she properly engages with her conscience and finds her destiny rather than just stomping around the Enterprise with a chip on her shoulder the size of Mount Rushmore. Her scenes with well-known British actor John Franklin Robbins, as the freedom fighter Macius, are quite affecting even if they are extremely similar to those between DS9's Kira Nerys and another elderly Bajoran rebel.

Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5.