There’s a very good story lurking somewhere under this episode, but it just doesn’t show up enough in the final product.
Miles’ relationship with the strange alien is nice, but the episode founders on the lack of moral ambiguity. It’s pretty clear to everyone who the bad guys are, as they have no redeeming qualities. That makes the development of the action pretty straightforward. A bit more ambiguity could have put some genuine angst into the decision to ignore orders.
The series is still struggling to find itself, and this episode seems to have started out down the track of ‘what kind of things happen when you let the action come to you’. But still, a lot better than Season one of TNG still.
252 down, 485 to go.