While en-route to
Starfleet Academy, where Picard is scheduled to deliver
the year's commencement address, the crew learns of a
devastating in-flight accident involving Wesley Crusher
and his squadron. While all five ships involved were
destroyed, Wesley, his squadron leader and two other
crew members managed to transport to safety. However,
the fifth team member, Wesley's good friend Joshua
Albert, was killed instantly.
Picard, Dr. Crusher and the rest of the cadets' parents
watch as Admiral Brand, the Academy superintendent,
begins an investigation, questioning the four surviving
cadets about the fatal flight. When the admiral finds
discrepancies between their testimony and the flight
plan they had filed, the squadron's leader, Nicholas
Locarno, steps in. He reluctantly tells the
investigating panel that Albert panicked and lost
control during the maneuver and caused the accident.
Albert's father, a Starfleet officer, is especially
devastated by this news.
Because the U.S.S.
Enterprise is Wesley's home, Admiral Brand allows Picard
and the crew to begin their own, independent
investigation of the accident. Meanwhile, Wesley meets
with Locarno and the other squadron members to discuss
the earlier inquiry. The three cadets are clearly upset
with their leader for placing blame on Albert when the
accident was not really his fault. Locarno tries to
convince them that they aren't lying by omitting crucial
details that will explain what really happened, and that
they must go along with his plan in order to save their
careers. Stressing the importance of working together as
a team, he gets his squadron to agree with him. Later,
when the hearing resumes, Wesley is questioned about the
surviving data from his flight recorder. He and his
comrades are shocked when the panel produces evidence
that clearly contradicts Wesley's testimony. However,
while he appears to be caught in a lie, Wesley refuses
to explain.
Shaken by what is
happening, Wesley subtly indicates to Beverly that he is
lying. She shares her feelings with Picard, and the two
join Geordi and Data to try to reach a conclusion.
Together, they use all the data they have recovered to
conclude that instead of the formation the squadron
claimed to be practicing, Wesley and his comrades were
working on an extremely dangerous maneuver.
Picard summons Wesley
and tells the young man that he and the crew know what
is going on. They know Wesley's squadron was working on
a spectacular maneuver so dangerous it has been
forbidden — a move they planned to perform at Starfleet
Academy's commencement ceremony. Had they succeeded,
Locarno would have graduated as a living legend.
Unfortunately, their failure cost Albert his life.
Picard tells Wesley that if he can't tell the truth,
Picard himself will. Wesley immediately meets with the
rest of his squadron, but Locarno again convinces them
to stick together, reminding that Picard has no concrete
proof. At the hearing, however, Wesley tells the truth,
unable to allow Albert's father to go on believing his
son was a coward. Locarno takes the blame and is
expelled, while the rest of the squadron are told they
must repeat the school year. |
 |
Production: 219
Season: 5 Episode: 19
Original Air Date: 03.30.1992
Stardate: 45703.9 |
 |
|
 |
Patrick Stewart as
Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes as William Riker
Brent Spiner as Data
LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge
Michael Dorn as Worf
Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi |
 |
|
 |
|
|
Ray Walston as Boothby
Ed Lauter as Lt. Commander Albert
Jacqueline Brookes as Admiral Brand
Richard Fancy as Captain Satelk
Shannon Fill as Sito
Richard Rothenberg as Cadet
Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher
Walker Brandt as Hajar
Robert Duncan McNeill as Nicholas Locarno |
 |
|
 |
| Ray Walston was born on
December 2, 1914 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA and
began his acting career in 1939, receiving his first big
break when cast as the reporter in the Ben Hecht-Charles
MacArthur classic "The Front Page". Later, he came to
the New York critics' attention with the play, "The
Alchemist". Prominent in Walston's career was an
association with director George Abbott which included
appearing in five productions over a span of 20 years.
They began working together in 1949, around the time
Walston was cast in "South Pacific". Then, in 1955,
Walston won a Tony award as best male musical comedy
star in the Abbott production of "Damn Yankees". Walston
came to Hollywood in 1957 for Kiss Them for Me (1957).
Since then, his other films have included The Apartment
(1960), Portrait in Black (1960), Paint Your Wagon
(1969), The Sting (1973), Popeye (1980), Fast Times at
Ridgemont High (1982) and O'Hara's Wife (1982). In 1963,
he began the TV series "My Favorite Martian" (1963),
which ran for three years. |
|
Click this link to view the
complete script in a TXT format
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
"The First Duty"
#40275-219
Written by
Ronald D. Moore & Naren Shankar
Directed by
Paul Lynch
THE WRITING CREDITS MAY NOT BE FINAL AND SHOULD NOT BE USED
FOR PUBLICITY OR ADVERTISING PURPOSES WITHOUT FIRST CHECKING
WITH THE TELEVISION LEGAL DEPARTMENT.
Copyright 1992 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights
Reserved. This script is not for publication or
reproduction. No one is authorized to dispose of same. If
lost or destroyed, please notify the Script Department.
FINAL DRAFT
JANUARY 22, 1992
STAR TREK: "The First Duty" - 1/22/92 - CAST
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
"The First Duty"
CAST
PICARD NICHOLAS LOCARNO
RIKER JEAN HAJAR
DATA SITO
BEVERLY ADMIRAL BRAND
TROI CAPTAIN SATELK
GEORDI BOOTHBY
WORF LIEUTENANT COMMANDER
ALBERT
WESLEY
Non-Speaking
CADETS
TEACHERS
YOUNG MALE CADET
PARENTS
SUPERNUMERARIES
STAR TREK: "The First Duty" - REV. 1/23/92 - SETS
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
"The First Duty"
SETS
INTERIORS EXTERIORS
USS ENTERPRISE USS ENTERPRISE
BRIDGE
READY ROOM STARFLEET ACADEMY
ENGINEERING GROUNDS
CORRIDOR
SICKBAY
BEVERLY'S OFFICE
STARFLEET ACADEMY
WESLEY'S DORM ROOM
HEARING ROOM
STAR TREK: "The First Duty" - REV. 1/23/92 - PRONUNCIATION
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
"The First Duty"
PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
Hajar ha-ZHAR
Kolvoord kol-VORD
Locarno la-CAR-no
Mimas MEE-mas
Pareses Squares pah-REE-seez Squares
Satelk suh-TELK
Sito SEE-to
Titan TY-tan
Yeagar YAY-ger
Click this link to view the
complete script in a TXT format |
