And we get to see the inner workings of the Romulan military and society furthermore. Deanna wakes up. Unbeknownst, she's been surgically altered to be a Romulan. She goes, like it's a normal morning, thinking she's on the Enterprise, to put some make-up or use the bathrroom, when she's done she turns on the lights and looks in the mirror, she finds out she's been surgically altered to be a Romulan and reacts, in horror and gasps. Later on, N'Vek, who will be her commander, comes in. Troi angrily protests and asks why this has happened. N'Vek says he has no time to explain but asks Troi, who knows when someone is lying and when someone is telling the truth, to test for herself. She finds out he's telling the truth and trusts him. Commander Toreth invites Troi, thinking she's a Tal Shiar leader, who later invites her to a lunch. The Tal Shiar is a higher more top-secret order of the Romulan military, introduced in this very episode, and allows us to see how the Romulans operate. "Deep Space Nine" would follow suit with the more advanced Cardassians and give us the Obsedian Order, another top-secret order of the Cardassian military, based on the brutalities of Spanish government authorities to this day.
Essentially Toreth meets with undercover Troi, unbeknownst to Toreth, and Troi gives orders. When they eat Toreth suspects something isn't what it seems and quizes. They eat viinerine, and Toreth tests her to see if she knows what it is. Putting on the tough Romulan act, Troi says she's tasted better. Toreth taunts her until Troi puts her in her place. They rendevouse with a Cravellian crater ship. And here we finally see just how dangerous the Romulans are. No cloak, and they brutally destroy the crator at N'Vek's insistance. And the Cravellians are armed. So yes the Romulans are indeed the first-rate threat they present. But they're still outmatched by Cardassians. Whether they can take on a Federation class starship is still a mystery but there are some flaws in the Romulan design that leave them vulnerable to the Federation and Cardassians. Either way, way Toreth is tired of the Tal Shiar and them underestimating the Federation, which is the cause of Romulan foils and bumbling in many episodes. N'Vek reveals himself as a member of the Vulcan Dissident movement. And that the cargo is secretly the bodies of three dissidents in transit. The side story back on the Enterprise is good "c**p TV" in the likes of the UPN/Warner Bros./WB flagship "Richard Bey" tradition. Stefan DeSeve (Latin how fitting, I'm part Latino), a former Federation officer, who defected to the Romulans, claims to have info on the dissident movement and is greeted with coldness by Riker, who downright says he doesn't want to see him in a Romulan uniform. The Romulans have two problems. One of them is not bumbling and is a source of escapism, in that they're one-dimensional, as are the Klingons. The other is they're comic foils who believe they can't get caught but then try to get sly when they do. Which is why they often are bumbling. This episode is one of the more lethal threat episodes, although it doesn't completely help with being one-dimensional. The bad thing is when N'Vek protests Troi's order she threatens to expose him. It really shows what an informant Troi is. She brings out the worst in a white liberal "Seinfeld"-hating Federation, and being black is the only thing that keeps the "TNG" - "Voyager" shows from being bad.
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