Star Trek: The Next Generation has been a consistent provider of intriguing science fiction mysteries. It’s arguable the writers of the show helped shape the modern science fiction experience. This episode is no different, though there’s a bit more history behind this particular episode than most.
Synopsis for “Devil’s Due”
While answering a distress call, Capt. Picard finds himself dealing with a person who claims to be the planet’s version of the Devil.
Right off the bat, both of us clocked Devil’s Due as reminiscent of an Original Series episode. As we’ve previously commented about TOS villains, they tend to have highly extraverted personalities with fabulously evil master plans. Ardra, the villain in this episode is no departure from this convention. This presentation was likely well-suited to a 1960s audience since that embodied much of the television aesthetic of the time.
It turns out, this was originally written for the Original Series show, and was later adapted for Next Generation. One of the additions made by Rick Berman was making the Devil a woman. This explains why it felt so retro this late in Next Generation’s seasonal run (fourth season!). Yes, the first season of Next Generation reeked of the Original Series, but certainly not the fourth season.
Speaking of the lady devil, there is a moment in the episode where the idea is floated that she might be a Q. This needed to be addressed, only because her behaviour is typical of Q’s and was likely part of the rewrite to integrate into the Next Generation paradigm. They obviously didn’t want to mislead the audience, even with a red herring that this lady devil could be Q. The writers likely wanted the episode to stand alone without the Qniverse polluting the narrative.
Speaking of themes, the litigation section of the episode could be interpreted as an indictment of religion. I know, I know… them’s fightin’ words. But hear us out. Literally. Go listen to the episode. But to sum up, the line of questioning Picard issues to Jarod, the leader of the planet in question, are entirely translatable to those asked of devoutly religious folk determined to credit god for their prosperity in lieu of themselves.
Then sports somehow surfaces in the conversation again, waggling in particular. We’re not sure how this keeps happening. But, rest assured, the conversation is dripping with expertise.
