The First Duty

Episode aired Mar 28, 1992
TV-PG
45m

IMDb RATING

7.8/10

3.5K

YOUR RATING

Wil Wheaton in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Action Adventure Drama Sci-Fi

Wesley Crusher's team has an accident at Starfleet Academy. Picard offers to help a Starfleet investigation as to what happened, and begins to suspect they are hiding something.Wesley Crusher's team has an accident at Starfleet Academy. Picard offers to help a Starfleet investigation as to what happened, and begins to suspect they are hiding something.Wesley Crusher's team has an accident at Starfleet Academy. Picard offers to help a Starfleet investigation as to what happened, and begins to suspect they are hiding something.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.8/10

3.5K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
This episode was screened for cadets of the United States Air Force Academy as an illustration of the honor code students were expected to observe.

Goofs
In the final moments, as Wesley is sitting on a bench on the grounds of Starfleet. Captain Picard walks up to him. Wesley continues to sit and speak casually with him. A cadet at any service academy would immediately spring to attention if any officer approached him, and the first words out of his mouth would be "Sir."

Quotes
Capt. Picard: The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth, whether it's scientific truth or historical truth or personal truth! It is the guiding principle on which Starfleet is based. And if you can't find it within yourself to stand up and tell the truth about what happened, you don't deserve to wear that uniform!

Connections
Featured in Star Trek: Lower Decks: Old Friends, New Planets (2023)

Soundtracks
Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User reviews21

Review

Featured review

7/10

Wesley Crusher, the Weakest Link

A strong episode that takes us back to Earth to hang out with Wesley Crusher as he struggles with the ethical dilemmas of being a snitch.

I'm pretty happy with this episode overall, though to be honest, yes the cadets did wrong, but not that wrong. Over-punishment leading to dishonesty is really the fault of the authority as much as it is the underling. And maybe this shapes my impression a bit here, but why are these cadets flying space fighters? When does Star Trek ever have fighter jets in space that zoom around like the Blue Angels? It seems wildly irresponsible.