Name That Episode #22 Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Ensigns Of Command

A fairly tricky one right off the bat, and one that may have required some extra thought. Most of the time, the Enterprise's resident half-Betazoid was referred to as 'Counselor Troi' by her fellow shipmates and various guest characters. In some cases, however, she was formally addressed as 'Lieutenant Commander Troi', which is her official Starfleet rank.

When the memories of the senior staff are temporarily wiped in "Conundrum", the crew manifest is accessed on the bridge. That's when the ship's computer begins naming each senior staff member one at a time, beginning, of course, with Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and eventually reciting that the ship's counselor is Lieutenant Commander Troi.

In "Disaster", after Troi, Chief O'Brien and Ensign Ro find themselves trapped together on the bridge following the encounter with the ship-wide-disabling anomaly, O'Brien offers that Troi carries the rank of Lieutenant Commander and, thus, is the one who should now be giving the orders, much to Ensign Ro's shock and disappointment.

Then in "Chain Of Command, Part 1", Captain Jellico formally addresses the half-Betazoid counselor as Lieutenant Commander Troi when they, plus Commander Riker, are meeting and negotiating with the three Cardassian representatives in the Observation Lounge. So that leaves the third-season episode, "The Ensigns Of Command", as the correct answer. The mysterious Sheliak, who are wanting to occupy the planet occupied by the Human colonists, spend much of the episode threatening to invade while Picard attempts to negotiate a way to prevent the aliens from doing so. Counselor Troi does accompany Picard during all of his formal talks with the Sheliak, but at no time is she ever formally addressed as Lieutenant Commander Troi by Picard or by anyone else appearing in this episode.

Answer: The Last Outpost

After the Ferengi are suspected of being the source of the mysterious gravitational force holding the Enterprise in orbit of the planet, Picard orders Geordi, who had been manning the conn station, to head to engineering to correct the problem. A short while later, Riker enters engineering to check on Geordi's progress, and together they come up with a way to maneuver the Enterprise from the gravitational hold...or so they think. It's later revealed that it's the planet itself that is creating the gravitational field.

Geordi is not seen in engineering in any of the three first-season episodes that aired previous to this one: he isn't seen much at all in the pilot, "Encounter At Farpoint"; spends most of his time away from the bridge onboard the 'infected' U.S.S. Tsiolkovsky and in sickbay in "The Naked Now"; then spends much of his off-the-bridge time in "Code Of Honor" down on the Ligonian homeworld watching Yar battle Yareena to the death.

In "Heart Of Glory", we do see Geordi with the away team in the Engineering section onboard the Klingon ship, but we never see him working in Engineering onboard the Enterprise. By the time the second-season episodes "Contagion" and "The Outrageous Okona" air, Geordi has been promoted to Chief Engineer and is seen working at his more familiar post in both episodes--analyzing the dangerous orbs hovering above the Iconian homeworld and assisting Okona with the repairs to his ship, respectively.

Answer: The Icarus Factor

Kyle Riker--Commander Riker's father and the one man in the first officer's life that he isn't very pleased about welcoming onbaord the Enterprise. In stark contrast to their cold and combative relationship is the more warming affection immediately rekindled between the elder Riker and Miss Katherine Pulaski when the pair set eyes on each other in Ten Forward. Presumably, Mr. Riker and the ship's new doctor had previously enjoyed an off-screen romantic relationship together, with many other failed relationships and marriages scattered in-between.

This was the only episode, in fact, where Dr. Pulaski would have any kind of romantic scenes during her abbreviated Season 2 tenure.

Answer: Interface

One of my personal favorite Geordi episodes--and overall favorites of the final season of the series--is also one that was highly technical from a science fiction standpoint. After Geordi tests an experimental apparatus designed to interact with his VISOR, Picard goes to his ready room to receive a message from an admiral that informs the Enterprise's captain that a Federation starship called the Hera has turned up missing. Upon informing Geordi of the news, we learn that Geordi's mother was captain of the missing ship, which then leads the chief engineer on a determined quest to use the experimental interface to search for her.

Unfortunately, Geordi's attempts fail, discovering that whom he thought was his mother was actually a lifeform; neither she nor the rest of the Hera crewmembers nor the Hera itself are ever found by episode's end, to which Picard offers his condolences after Geordi is reprimanded for his actions..

Answer: We'll Always Have Paris

Another slightly tricky one, but it helps to remember that Yar spent a good amount of her time in the show's first season remaining at her tactical post on the bridge, unless the senior staff went on an away mission. There were no away missions from the ship in "The Big Goodbye" (much of the episode took place on the holodeck), "Lonely Among Us" (various members of the crew were possessed until Picard ultimately 'joins' the lifeforms in outer space) and "Where No One Has Gone Before" (the Enterprise travels great distances to other galaxies without anybody actually stepping foot outside the ship, even though we do see a bit of a flashback into Yar's dangerous past where she got attacked by the rape gangs). That leaves "We'll Always Have Paris", where the Enterprise crew meets a Dr. Manheim, who has been experimenting with temporal technology.

However, Yar never has a chance to meet the scientist, because she, in fact, did not appear in this episode at all! Yar's final appearance of the first season was the episode that aired right before it, "Skin Of Evil", with the official final episode that actress Denise Crosby was filmed in being two episodes prior: "Symbiosis".

Answer: Descent, Part 1

A couple of key clues are given here: Geordi being unable to explain anger and the Enterprise traveling via an artificially-created anomaly. While Data is having his circuits analyzed by Geordi in Engineering, following the unprecedented experience with feeling anger down at the Ohniaka III outpost, the android's friend offers that he feels belligerent and combative whenever he feels angry. Unfortunately, Geordi isn't able to explain it in any other way, basically summing up that anger is something that's just simply felt and undefinable by words alone.

Meanwhile, the Enterprise soon begins tracking the Borg vessel that had attacked the outpost. As the vessel prepares to jump to transwarp, the Enterprise is caught inside the same conduit (the artificially-created anomaly), and both ships are suddenly transported several light-years from their previous position. Then later, after the shuttlecraft carrying Data and the captured Borg drone disappears before the Enterprise can lock a tractor beam, the Enterprise lays in a pursuit course by opening a second transwarp conduit, thanks to Geordi luckily being able to analyze the shuttle's sensor data. Ultimately, the Enterprise safely arrives at the planet where the away team will eventually encounter the remaining individual-minded Borg drones severed from the consciousness of The Collective.

Answer: Manhunt

At the very beginning of the episode, the outrageous and meddling Betazoid makes her usual grand entrance when the Enterprise crew is greeted by a Federation shuttlecraft. Upon establishing a com link, the shuttle's pilot appears on the main viewscreen, a man dressed in the usual red Starfleet uniform common for conn officers.

He begins his formal introduction for Lwaxana, but apparently he's not being formal enough, as the frustrated Betazoid shoves him aside and proudly proclaims that she is the daughter of the Fifth House, Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx and Heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed. All of this, of course, is still being watched by the entire bridge crew via the viewscreen and is particularly embarrassing to Lwaxana's half-Betazoid daughter, Counselor Troi.

Answer: Rightful Heir

When he realizes that Worf hasn't reported for duty on the bridge nor answers the com, a concerned Riker heads to Worf's quarters, meeting at the doors with a team of security officers. After overriding the locks and entering inside, the Enterprise's first officer finds that not only has the room been decked out with blazing candles and various Klingon artifacts scattered about, but that Worf is out of uniform, chanting untranslatable Klingon phrases before a burning pit of fire.

In the very next scene, when Picard pays a personal visit to Worf, we learn that the ship's chief of security had been performing a ritual in an attempt to conjure up a vision of the legendary Kahless, but the attempt--at least onboard the ship--was unsuccessful.

Answer: The Child

There was a lot happening in the second-season premiere, with one of the stories being Wesley's problem of preparing to leave the Enterprise in the absence of his mother. At the beginning of the episode, he and Picard are in the Turbolift discussing the issue, the captain reminding his young conn officer about the risks and sacrifices one makes when choosing to become a Starfleet officer. Later, Wesley is in Ten Forward and observing the stars out of a viewport when the always-wise Guinan joins him, the mysterious El-Aurian offering that putting the needs of others before one's own isn't always the best action to take. Armed with that sound advice, Wesley then speaks with Picard privately in Picard's ready room, confidently telling his captain about his desire to remain onboard the ship, to which Picard responds by ordering him to return back to his post on the bridge.

Answer: The Host

There were many episodes throughout the serious where the Enterprise found itself needing to serve as mediator between two alien races, or otherwise two opposing groups of people in general. All of these episodes dealt with this issue in some way or another, but the key clues lie with Riker piloting a shuttle and the ambassador dying in sickbay.

This occurred specifically in "The Host", where the Enterprise's first officer agrees to pilot Dr. Crusher's new Trill love interest to a planet to settle the dispute between the inhabitants of two moons.

But they never make it to the planet, getting fired on by a vessel piloted by someone from one of the moons orbiting the planet. Ambassador Odan sustains massive injuries, and upon being ferried into sickbay, he 'dies', but not before informing Dr. Crusher about the importance of saving the life of the symbiont.

In "Man Of The People", Riker is never in a shuttlecraft with the Lumerian negotiator named Alkar. Riker further isn't ferrying any of the representatives in a shuttlecraft in "Attached" while Picard and Dr. Crusher are down on the planet trying to escape, and the mediator brought onboard the Enterprise named Riva doesn't die in "Loud As A Whisper".