The High Ground
- FIRST SHOWN (US)
- 29 January 1990
- ON
- First-run syndication
- STARDATE
- 43510.7
- DIRECTED BY
- Gabrielle Beaumont
- PRODUCTION NO.
- 160
WRITTEN BYWritten by Melinda M. Snodgrass
While delivering medical aid to Rutia IV, Dr Crusher is abducted by separatists fighting a decades-long campaign of violence, dragging the crew into a conflict Picard wants no part of.
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSIS
The Enterprise brings medical supplies to Rutia IV, a world caught in a long struggle between its government and the Ansata, separatists fighting for their cause with bombs. When a café is bombed, Dr Crusher rushes to help the injured and is snatched by Kyril Finn, the Ansata leader. His fighters move using an untraceable dimensional shift device, which is slowly destroying their DNA. In captivity, Crusher argues with Finn, who believes the Federation is siding with the government. Security chief Alexana Devos wants the Enterprise's firepower to crush the rebels, but Picard refuses to take sides. Finn's people then strike at the ship itself, planting a bomb on the warp core, and seize Picard. Data and Wesley pinpoint the hidden base, and Riker and Devos lead an assault. As Finn prepares to kill Picard, Devos shoots him dead. A young Ansata boy tries to take revenge, but Crusher persuades him to put down the gun.
- 01Data's reference to Irish reunification in 2024 led the BBC to decline to show the episode during its original UK run. BBC Two finally broadcast it uncut on 29 September 2007.
- 02Melinda M. Snodgrass first drew parallels with the American Revolution but was asked to shift them to Northern Ireland, a change she said she was very unhappy about.
- 03RTÉ did not broadcast it during the show's original run in Ireland. In the UK, an edited version first aired on Sky One in November 1992.