TNG - Devil's Due

[chaos42]

i agree its most likely arda like many people doesn't fully understand what she is using just how to use it. she probably has gear like the damping field that disables things and the poor copy of a romulan clocking device that she has but doesn't know all the ways they work so when she extended the cloaking field to hide the enterprise and set a damping field they were trying to figure out what is going on. adra hoping they would panic and by the time the arbitration is over she would have picard tell them to do what she said. but that is the thing about arda she is obviously not a supernatural being as she set financial goals and is tempted by a rare gem. if she is all powerful she can just will these things into being. Overall i like the idea but i think it needed more polish by todays standards, back then though that was good so i don't see much problem with it. though i think she might have been a try at making their own version of harry mudd as she is kinda the mudd type of character. plus i suspect her ship is actually very small like a small house big -she probably had it fly right under the enterprise and stay in side the shield perimeter so they could screw with them, and block everything they did. add on to that she probably underestimates what she is up against she is an experienced con woman but that doesn't mean she is that good just that her marks are easy to take advantage of. like less advance civilizations, wouldn't be shocked to know she does this to low tech worlds because any advanced tech to primitives is the same as magic.

[Mecha82]

While over all Ardra was very typical TNG villain of the week her Harry Mudd like qualities could had made her potential recurring character allowing writes to expand her. Oh wasting potential that could had been. It's very Berman thing to do.

[MightyDavidson]

It was just hidden, Ardra's ship just extended their cloaking field around it so it couldn't be seen. Pretty sure they say that's the case in the episode itself. Transporter beam was down it was true and communications were likely being interfered with but it probably wasn't as bad as it initially seemed. Ardra's made clever use of existing technology (well existing tech in the Star Trek universe anyway) to inconvenience them it's true but that's all they were: inconvenienced.

Really not sure where you're getting that they "just extended their cloaking field". A memory alpha page about damping fields specifically references the episode:
[url]https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Subspace_damping_field[/url]

If you just want to argue about disabled versus inconvenienced, that's a level of pedantry I'm not going to debate beyond saying: If they couldn't move out of the field, couldn't use the transporter, couldn't communicate, couldn't find a way to help the captain get back to the ship, couldn't shoot the ship that had them in the field apparently... That seems more than inconvenient.

Given they managed to capture Ardra's vessel with no appreciable damage and without any loss of life, it didn't seem to really take them all that long for that matter, they clearly weren't terribly hindered. The moment the Enterprise spotted them they were dealt with and apparently didn't even manage to put up much of a fight in the process. So despite all the admittedly clever tricks they used against the Enterprise in the end all they managed to be was a nuisance.

The Enterprise didn't know it was cloaked or wasn't able to do anything about it until Geordi pointed out where the ship was? The Enterprise not suffering damage or loss of life might be because Arda's ship didn't try to inflict damage or loss of life.

There's no evidence to support that first claim though. Geordi and Picard didn't know the Enterprise was cloaked and weren't able to do anything about it, that's true but we don't actually know what the status of the Enterprise was during this time. As for Ardra's ship, the fact that it was disabled and captured in the space of a couple of minutes rather indicates they weren't all that formidable.

[remagynona]

This was a fun episode in my memory, but yeah it does feel dated and has logical problems. Even when I saw this as a kid it always confused me that Ardra's ship extended the cloak around the Enterprise. Like, wouldn't that just expose the ship to the Enterprise? Geordie wouldn't have had to do anything. The ship would just pop right up on their sensors that instant. I imagined a thief hiding from two cops under a bed and they even the odds by making one of them "disappear" by pulling him underneath the bed.

[cdrood]

There's some evidence from TOS that worlds near the Klingon border were exempt from the Prime Directive. This does make sense since Klingons didn't have one. Errand Of Mercy, Friday's Child, and A Private Little War are all examples. Note how in the latter, the "hands off" policy was due to a recommendation by Kirk's original survey party and no mention is made of the PD.

[Rocketboy1313]

There's some evidence from TOS that worlds near the Klingon border were exempt from the Prime Directive. This does make sense since Klingons didn't have one. Errand Of Mercy, Friday's Child, and A Private Little War are all examples. Note how in the latter, the "hands off" policy was due to a recommendation by Kirk's original survey party and no mention is made of the PD.

That would be an interesting caveat to the PD. That areas which could be taken over by our defacto enemy and exploited need some kind of special dispensation. Like a more hands on approach than the US in Afghanistan against the Soviets. And then once the Federation was there, they just ended up hanging out.

Why do these aliens look dead on like humans? Is that another relic of the TOS era? No blue face paint or weird ears to be seen. Very odd choice.

[Darth Wedgius]

It was just hidden, Ardra's ship just extended their cloaking field around it so it couldn't be seen. Pretty sure they say that's the case in the episode itself. Transporter beam was down it was true and communications were likely being interfered with but it probably wasn't as bad as it initially seemed. Ardra's made clever use of existing technology (well existing tech in the Star Trek universe anyway) to inconvenience them it's true but that's all they were: inconvenienced.

Really not sure where you're getting that they "just extended their cloaking field". A memory alpha page about damping fields specifically references the episode:
[url]https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Subspace_damping_field[/url]

If you just want to argue about disabled versus inconvenienced, that's a level of pedantry I'm not going to debate beyond saying: If they couldn't move out of the field, couldn't use the transporter, couldn't communicate, couldn't find a way to help the captain get back to the ship, couldn't shoot the ship that had them in the field apparently... That seems more than inconvenient.

Given they managed to capture Ardra's vessel with no appreciable damage and without any loss of life, it didn't seem to really take them all that long for that matter, they clearly weren't terribly hindered. The moment the Enterprise spotted them they were dealt with and apparently didn't even manage to put up much of a fight in the process. So despite all the admittedly clever tricks they used against the Enterprise in the end all they managed to be was a nuisance.

The Enterprise didn't know it was cloaked or wasn't able to do anything about it until Geordi pointed out where the ship was? The Enterprise not suffering damage or loss of life might be because Arda's ship didn't try to inflict damage or loss of life.

There's no evidence to support that first claim though. Geordi and Picard didn't know the Enterprise was cloaked and weren't able to do anything about it, that's true but we don't actually know what the status of the Enterprise was during this time. As for Ardra's ship, the fact that it was disabled and captured in the space of a couple of minutes rather indicates they weren't all that formidable.

They did say that Ardra's ship had extended her ship's cloaking field around the Enterprise, and the shuttle that Picard was on was approaching the Enterprise and diverted when the Enterprise got cloaked. If the crew of the Enterprise had noticed that, don't you think they would have contacted Picard? "Hey, why are you heading away? Don't you like us anymore?"

[MightyDavidson]

It was just hidden, Ardra's ship just extended their cloaking field around it so it couldn't be seen. Pretty sure they say that's the case in the episode itself. Transporter beam was down it was true and communications were likely being interfered with but it probably wasn't as bad as it initially seemed. Ardra's made clever use of existing technology (well existing tech in the Star Trek universe anyway) to inconvenience them it's true but that's all they were: inconvenienced.

Really not sure where you're getting that they "just extended their cloaking field". A memory alpha page about damping fields specifically references the episode:
[url]https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Subspace_damping_field[/url]

If you just want to argue about disabled versus inconvenienced, that's a level of pedantry I'm not going to debate beyond saying: If they couldn't move out of the field, couldn't use the transporter, couldn't communicate, couldn't find a way to help the captain get back to the ship, couldn't shoot the ship that had them in the field apparently... That seems more than inconvenient.

Given they managed to capture Ardra's vessel with no appreciable damage and without any loss of life, it didn't seem to really take them all that long for that matter, they clearly weren't terribly hindered. The moment the Enterprise spotted them they were dealt with and apparently didn't even manage to put up much of a fight in the process. So despite all the admittedly clever tricks they used against the Enterprise in the end all they managed to be was a nuisance.

The Enterprise didn't know it was cloaked or wasn't able to do anything about it until Geordi pointed out where the ship was? The Enterprise not suffering damage or loss of life might be because Arda's ship didn't try to inflict damage or loss of life.

There's no evidence to support that first claim though. Geordi and Picard didn't know the Enterprise was cloaked and weren't able to do anything about it, that's true but we don't actually know what the status of the Enterprise was during this time. As for Ardra's ship, the fact that it was disabled and captured in the space of a couple of minutes rather indicates they weren't all that formidable.

They did say that Ardra's ship had extended her ship's cloaking field around the Enterprise, and the shuttle that Picard was on was approaching the Enterprise and diverted when the Enterprise got cloaked. If the crew of the Enterprise had noticed that, don't you think they would have contacted Picard? "Hey, why are you heading away? Don't you like us anymore?"

Well if the Enterprise was as badly disabled as you say, why weren't the crew of Ardra's ship able to avoid being disabled and captured so quickly that the episode didn't even bother to show it happening? The only logical answer is that they weren't all that tough in the first place. They were able to use trickery to to keep the Enterprise crew confused in the short term sure but they were completely and utterly pwn'd the moment they overplayed their hand and revealed their presence in the process.

[Darth Wedgius]

It was just hidden, Ardra's ship just extended their cloaking field around it so it couldn't be seen. Pretty sure they say that's the case in the episode itself. Transporter beam was down it was true and communications were likely being interfered with but it probably wasn't as bad as it initially seemed. Ardra's made clever use of existing technology (well existing tech in the Star Trek universe anyway) to inconvenience them it's true but that's all they were: inconvenienced.

Really not sure where you're getting that they "just extended their cloaking field". A memory alpha page about damping fields specifically references the episode:
[url]https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Subspace_damping_field[/url]

If you just want to argue about disabled versus inconvenienced, that's a level of pedantry I'm not going to debate beyond saying: If they couldn't move out of the field, couldn't use the transporter, couldn't communicate, couldn't find a way to help the captain get back to the ship, couldn't shoot the ship that had them in the field apparently... That seems more than inconvenient.

Given they managed to capture Ardra's vessel with no appreciable damage and without any loss of life, it didn't seem to really take them all that long for that matter, they clearly weren't terribly hindered. The moment the Enterprise spotted them they were dealt with and apparently didn't even manage to put up much of a fight in the process. So despite all the admittedly clever tricks they used against the Enterprise in the end all they managed to be was a nuisance.

The Enterprise didn't know it was cloaked or wasn't able to do anything about it until Geordi pointed out where the ship was? The Enterprise not suffering damage or loss of life might be because Arda's ship didn't try to inflict damage or loss of life.

There's no evidence to support that first claim though. Geordi and Picard didn't know the Enterprise was cloaked and weren't able to do anything about it, that's true but we don't actually know what the status of the Enterprise was during this time. As for Ardra's ship, the fact that it was disabled and captured in the space of a couple of minutes rather indicates they weren't all that formidable.

They did say that Ardra's ship had extended her ship's cloaking field around the Enterprise, and the shuttle that Picard was on was approaching the Enterprise and diverted when the Enterprise got cloaked. If the crew of the Enterprise had noticed that, don't you think they would have contacted Picard? "Hey, why are you heading away? Don't you like us anymore?"

Well if the Enterprise was as badly disabled as you say, why weren't the crew of Ardra's ship able to avoid being disabled and captured so quickly that the episode didn't even bother to show it happening? The only logical answer is that they weren't all that tough in the first place. They were able to use trickery to to keep the Enterprise crew confused in the short term sure but they were completely and utterly pwn'd the moment they overplayed their hand and revealed their presence in the process.

They seemed to recover when LaForge did... something. But regardless, that "short term" seemed to last a considerable amount of time -- certainly more than long enough for a hostile ship to open fire with torpedoes.

[MightyDavidson]

It was just hidden, Ardra's ship just extended their cloaking field around it so it couldn't be seen. Pretty sure they say that's the case in the episode itself. Transporter beam was down it was true and communications were likely being interfered with but it probably wasn't as bad as it initially seemed. Ardra's made clever use of existing technology (well existing tech in the Star Trek universe anyway) to inconvenience them it's true but that's all they were: inconvenienced.

Really not sure where you're getting that they "just extended their cloaking field". A memory alpha page about damping fields specifically references the episode:
[url]https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Subspace_damping_field[/url]

If you just want to argue about disabled versus inconvenienced, that's a level of pedantry I'm not going to debate beyond saying: If they couldn't move out of the field, couldn't use the transporter, couldn't communicate, couldn't find a way to help the captain get back to the ship, couldn't shoot the ship that had them in the field apparently... That seems more than inconvenient.

Given they managed to capture Ardra's vessel with no appreciable damage and without any loss of life, it didn't seem to really take them all that long for that matter, they clearly weren't terribly hindered. The moment the Enterprise spotted them they were dealt with and apparently didn't even manage to put up much of a fight in the process. So despite all the admittedly clever tricks they used against the Enterprise in the end all they managed to be was a nuisance.

The Enterprise didn't know it was cloaked or wasn't able to do anything about it until Geordi pointed out where the ship was? The Enterprise not suffering damage or loss of life might be because Arda's ship didn't try to inflict damage or loss of life.

There's no evidence to support that first claim though. Geordi and Picard didn't know the Enterprise was cloaked and weren't able to do anything about it, that's true but we don't actually know what the status of the Enterprise was during this time. As for Ardra's ship, the fact that it was disabled and captured in the space of a couple of minutes rather indicates they weren't all that formidable.

They did say that Ardra's ship had extended her ship's cloaking field around the Enterprise, and the shuttle that Picard was on was approaching the Enterprise and diverted when the Enterprise got cloaked. If the crew of the Enterprise had noticed that, don't you think they would have contacted Picard? "Hey, why are you heading away? Don't you like us anymore?"

Well if the Enterprise was as badly disabled as you say, why weren't the crew of Ardra's ship able to avoid being disabled and captured so quickly that the episode didn't even bother to show it happening? The only logical answer is that they weren't all that tough in the first place. They were able to use trickery to to keep the Enterprise crew confused in the short term sure but they were completely and utterly pwn'd the moment they overplayed their hand and revealed their presence in the process.

They seemed to recover when LaForge did... something. But regardless, that "short term" seemed to last a considerable amount of time -- certainly more than long enough for a hostile ship to open fire with torpedoes.

Of course there was no indication that shields or weapon systems were at all hindered. They'd managed to interfere with communication and transporting sure but that's happened to the Enterprise before. If the Enterprise had truly been rendered helpless by Ardra's ship, as you seem to be suggesting, why did Ardra's crew surrender without any indication that they put up a fight at all?