The Best of Both Worlds, Part I
- FIRST SHOWN (US)
- 18 June 1990
- ON
- First-run syndication
- STARDATE
- 43989.1
- DIRECTED BY
- Cliff Bole
- PRODUCTION NO.
- 174
WRITTEN BYWritten by Michael Piller
A Federation colony vanishes without trace, and the evidence points to the Borg. As the Enterprise prepares to face them, Riker weighs his own command and clashes with an ambitious young Borg specialist.
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSIS
Answering a distress call, the Enterprise finds the colony on Jouret IV completely wiped out. Admiral Hanson arrives with Lt Cdr Shelby, a sharp and ambitious Borg expert who makes no secret that she wants Riker's job. Riker, meanwhile, has been offered command of the USS Melbourne and is unsure why he keeps turning down promotion. A Borg cube soon appears, demands Picard by name and overpowers the Enterprise. The ship hides in a nebula while the crew develop a deflector weapon, but the Borg board the bridge and seize the captain. Riker takes command and pursues the cube as it heads for Earth. Shelby leads an away team that fails to rescue Picard. Then the captain appears on the viewscreen, transformed into Locutus of Borg, and Riker gives the order to fire.
- 01Star Trek's first season-ending cliffhanger. Fans waited all summer to learn how it would be resolved in the season four premiere.
- 02Michael Piller wrote Part I without knowing how the story would be resolved, unsure at the time whether he would stay on the show.
- 03It won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Art Direction for a Series and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series.