Darmok
- FIRST SHOWN (US)
- 30 September 1991
- ON
- First-run syndication
- STARDATE
- 45047.2
- DIRECTED BY
- Winrich Kolbe
- PRODUCTION NO.
- 202
WRITTEN BYTeleplay by Joe Menosky; story by Philip LaZebnik and Joe Menosky
Picard is stranded on a hostile planet with the captain of an alien race whose language the universal translator can turn into words, but not into meaning.
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSIS
The Enterprise meets a ship of the Tamarians at El-Adrel. Every Federation attempt to talk to them has failed: the translator renders their words, but they speak entirely in references to their own myths and history, which mean nothing to outsiders. Their captain, Dathon, beams himself and Picard to the planet below and blocks any rescue with a scattering field. He offers Picard a knife, which Picard takes as a challenge to fight. When a dangerous, barely visible creature attacks, Picard begins to grasp Dathon's purpose: to recreate the legend of Darmok and Jalad, strangers who became allies by facing a common enemy at Tanagra. An Enterprise rescue attempt pulls Picard away at the crucial moment, and Dathon is badly wounded. By the fire, Picard starts to speak in Dathon's terms and tells him the epic of Gilgamesh. Dathon dies, and Picard, back aboard, halts a battle by addressing the Tamarians in their own way.
- 01The episode reportedly had the longest gestation of any under Michael Piller, around two years. Rick Berman initially opposed the premise.
- 02Ashley Judd's acting debut, as Ensign Robin Lefler. She returns in “The Game”.
- 03Paul Winfield had earlier played Captain Terrell in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.