Why the hell was Picard so eager and enthusiastic to agree to the aggressive demands of the Paxans? He seemed positively delighted to be manipulating the brains and memories of his crew, his ship’s memory banks, and lying to both himself and starfleet. Picard’s self-proclaimed mission is to seek out new life and new civilizations, yet upon finding it here, he is determined, with no provocation other than a Klingon’s broken wrist, to look for a way to un-find it.

Furthermore, before having his memory wiped, Picard has learnt that the Paxans are a danger to anybody that comes into contact with them. Rather than dealing with this danger by either neutralising it or warning Starfleet to steer clear in future, he has simply walked away from the situation, allowing it to happen again another day.

Star Trek is meant to be all about seeking the truth and expanding humanity’s knowledge… this episode comes across as a strange allegory promoting the exact opposite.