Star Trek: The Next Generation episode review — 7.20 — Journey’s End

Original air date: March 28, 1994
Director: Corey Allen
Writer: Ronald D. Moore

Rating: 6/10

This episode is kind of dumb, but I largely ended up enjoying it. It’s definitely too Wesley-centric for my taste, but I like that it provides the end of his character’s story — if for no other reason than it means I won’t be seeing him again.

But the main story is really an ethical dilemma, with Picard being tasked with forcing a community of Native Americans to move due to a treaty. He’s aware of the historical parallels, of course, and he isn’t happy with having to do this, but he understands that it’s what Starfleet needs him to do.

Wesley doesn’t like this, and it so happens that he’s been having second thoughts about his role in Starfleet. The storytelling may be on the nose and it’s frustrating that Wesley is the moral conscience of this episode, but I did enjoy it.

Tensions are high during most of the episode, particularly after they introduce a stupid subplot where Picard learns that his ancestor had been involved in a brutal battle against Native Americans back on Earth.