The Federation gets dragged into a civil war. Through the Captain of its flagship Enterprise. The captain who appointed a Klingons security officer of that flagship three seasons earlier. The first part of a double episode featuring a Klingon civil war. It's not a great double episode. The Borg in the cliffhanger a season earlier were an enemy more 'captivating.' So why the Klingons now ? Isn't that a step backwards ? Tension-wise ? Intellectually ? I reckon you would feel something is missing if the Federation didn't get dragged into Klingon politics. It's 'The Picard.' The captain of Starfleet's flagship. He HAS to carry that crew into one or another war against their will. The crew don't oppose him enough. The Picard means Death. He ignores God ("Q") in the very first episode, causes tens of thousands of staff to die during last year's Borg invasion, and appoints a Klingon the head of security. In the final episode, The Picard is going to turn mad. At some point along the way, the crew needs to be warned - along with tens of thousands staff in Starfleet - that Captain Ahab means Death. If you left out this kind of warning, the character Picard in all future episodes of this outstanding TV show would start to feel two-faced.
