“The First Duty” (5×19)
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This episode is a departure in a number of ways. It’s entirely character-driven, our series regulars are relegated to supporting roles, and it has nothing to do with the show’s mission of exploring new planets and boldly going where no one has gone before.
The plot allegory is basically a fraternity hazing ritual gone wrong, and the point of tension is whether Wesley Crusher will remain loyal to his friends or steadfast to his ideals. The Wesley of the first couple seasons would have ratted his friends out immediately. To the writers’ credit, that is by no means a sure thing here.
It’s a story that has a lot to say about peer pressure, and the difficulties that arise when deeply held values are in conflict with one another.
It’s also a story about Beverly Crusher having to see her son in a less angelic light. Even though Wesley’s really smart and was always really well-behaved, he’s capable of making grave errors in judgment just like any other young person out on their own for the first time. That’s a tough pill for his mother to swallow.
We get hints that Picard was embroiled in some mischief of his own during his academy days, too, though the details are left unstated. His memory of that experience helps him nudge Wesley in the right direction, and confirms for the audience that the great man did not live an unimpeachable life. But whatever mistakes he made, he owned them and learned from them. That too is what Wesley is being asked to do.
Impacts on Star Trek Continuity:
With “Picard” in its final season, and “Discovery” ending next season, we’ll be down to one live action Star Trek show. There has been a lot of discussion recently about possible new Trek shows. One of the ideas that keeps coming up is a Starfleet Academy show. So I wanted to revisit this episode, centered around Wesley Crusher, which is probably the closest thing we’ve gotten yet.
This episode basically tells a boarding school story or a college years story. Since they can’t really build a show around the curriculum, that’s the approach any Starfleet Academy show would have to take. Start with a group of immature young cadets and follow them as they’re shaped into the kind of people who deserve to wear the Starfleet uniform.
This episode also features the first of three appearances by the late great Ray Walston as Boothby. It’s the only one where the character appears in the flesh. Boothby’s a character that has long fascinated and intrigued me. As a gardener/groundskeeper, he had no official role in the education of the academy’s pupils. But he nevertheless knew everything that was going on with everyone. He represented a key source of continuity as the admirals leading the academy came and went. And he mentored countless future officers over half a century or more.
Robert Duncan McNeill has a significant role in this episode as Nicholas Locarno, the leader of Nova Squadron whose arrogance got Cadet Albert killed and who pressured the rest of the squadron to cover up his mistake. McNeill would later go on to star as Tom Paris on “Voyager”. Paris bears a number of similarities to Locarno, and photos of McNeill as Locarno would be repurposed to show Paris during his days at the Academy.
Both characters made mistakes that got people killed. But Locarno is a darker and more selfish character. Paris ultimately confessed just like Wesley Crusher did. Locarno’s lack of remorse would have made any redemption arc a much steeper climb.
Another co-conspirator, Sito Jaxa, would be revisited in the seventh season episode “Lower Decks”. And the price for her redemption was very steep indeed.
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