Real World article
(written from a Production point of view)



Teaser Edit

Baryon sweep

The baryon sweep passes through the warp nacelles


The USS Enterprise-D is at the Remmler Array where they are scheduled for a baryon sweep, a maintenance cycle that removes large amounts of radiation that builds up in the hulls of starships that travel for extended periods at warp. The sweep is lethal to organic matter, so there is a flurry of activity as the entire ship is being evacuated prior to the sweep, and various last-minute problems (such as slow progress on Deck 7 and a lack of storage for Dr. Crusher's living tissue samples) are being quickly addressed. Captain Picard is less than enthusiastic over the visit, as he has to meet with Commander Calvin "Hutch" Hutchinson, a Starfleet officer known for his gift of gab. Coincidentally, Data is studying the concept of "small talk", and during their turbolift ride to the bridge, Data tries to break the silence this way; Picard recommends that Data study Hutchinson so as to learn from an expert on the subject. Arriving on the bridge, Picard is met by both La Forge and Worf, speaking simultaneously. Worf reports that Picard must give his authorization to disable command functions during the sweep. Then La Forge informs Picard that he needs to install additional field diverters to protect the primary systems on board, such as the computer core and the bridge. He needs the equipment because the amount of radiation in the hull is so high (due to the Enterprise's high amount of warp use–double the average) that the baryon sweep may be more intense than normal. Picard agrees and instructs the ship's computer to shut down the primary systems in 30 minutes, allowing enough time for the diverters to be installed first. Worf then asks permission to be excused from Hutchinson's reception. When La Forge witnesses Picard agree, he attempts to do the same only to be denied because Picard can't excuse all of the senior staff, and Worf asked first. Picard confirms the time of the sweep to Orton, the station administrator, and takes one last look around the bridge. He then sees a crew walking onto the bridge to install some equipment. Assuming that was the crew that La Forge ordered, he thinks nothing of it and transports to Hutchinson's reception at the Arkaria Base.

Act One Edit

True to form, Hutchinson greets each member of the crew and talks about horn fowl mating, weather conditions, and horseback riding with little interaction from them. Data, following Picard's advice, is studying Hutchinson from afar: mimicking his hand movements and facial expressions. Briefly practicing on Crusher and Riker, he appears to be over-doing it, but Riker is quite amused. Picard hears about the horseback riding and sees a way to escape from the meeting – the damp weather and isolation on the trails sounds perfect – and returns to the Enterprise to get his saddle.

After retrieving his saddle, Picard walks to the transporter room with minutes before the sweep is to occur, but stops when he notices an open ODN junction with a severed ODN line. He encounters Devor, who says he is performing last minute maintenance to the systems before the baryon sweep begins. Picard agrees to let Devor get back to his work and starts to walk away. Devor attempts to attack Picard from behind with a laser welder, but Picard disables him with a Vulcan nerve pinch. Picard then runs to the transporter room with 30 seconds to go before the main computer shuts down the primary systems. Picard then sees several other people on the ship, but successfully hides from them in order to escape. Meanwhile, the baryon sweep has begun, starting at the warp nacelles. He enters the transporter room and starts the transporter, but he is too late and it immediately shuts down once he stands on the transporter pad. He is now trapped on the Enterprise.

Act Two Edit

Data is continuing his small talk on Orton, still with little success while Hutchinson talks to Riker. After a little bit of maneuvering, he introduces Hutchinson to Data, who has been practicing Hutchinson's technique and is now ready to engage Hutchinson himself in conversation. They hit it off.

Picard drags Devor to sickbay and asks him what he is doing on his ship, threatening him with a phaser, and then the laser welder when Devor tells him that his phaser wouldn't work. Devor refuses to help him; after all, Picard won't kill him because he is a Starfleet officer. Picard instead knocks him out with a hypospray. Picard takes Devor's communicator to listen in on the intruders' communications. Picard walks through the Enterprise where he is captured by Kiros and taken to main engineering.


Act Three Edit



Kelsey and company still don't know that Picard has knocked out Devor and taken his laser welder. He uses this to make a move. Keeping the tool behind his back, he maneuvers it into an inlet underneath an engineering console and fires into it. This produces an overheat and activates the emergency coolant systems. Picard then uses the distraction to make an escape into the Jefferies tubes as the isolation door begins to close. Before he leaves, though, he fires on and shorts out Kelsey's field diverter: rendering Engineering unsafe from the sweep. Satler follows him. Through the tubes, Picard is attempting to escape but finds the baryon sweep behind the door in front of him.

Act Four Edit




Act Five Edit

Word of "Mot's" capture is relayed to Kelsey as Kiros leads Picard away. Meanwhile, Kelsey and Neil are making their way through the Jefferies tubes. But when Neil passes the trilithium to Kelsey and explains how to unload it, she promptly points her welder at him. When she finally emerges in Deck 10 and rejoins Kiros, Kelsey claims Neil got caught by the baryon sweep. Kiros notes Picard shot Pomet. Picard says that he is still alive but he will not be for much longer; they cannot go back for him as the baryon sweep is entering his location and will kill him.


Kelseys ship

Kelsey's scout ship



Memorable quotesEdit

"…It has been quite a day, has it not?"

- Data attempting small talk with Picard

"Small talk."

- Data and Picard

"Uh, Captain, permission to-;"

- Worf, Picard and La Forge dreading the reception

"You're Starfleet. You won't kill me."

- Devor and Picard

"I have to admit that it has a sort of strange fascination – how long can two people talk about nothing?"


"Who are you?"
"My name is Mot. I'm uh, I… I'm the barber."


"Satler, get down here and uh… keep an eye on our barber."

- Kelsey asks Satler to watch Picard

"You keep a saddle on board the Enterprise?"

- La Forge, Worf, Troi, and Riker

"Of course."

- Picard, lamenting on his unused saddle, and Worf responding, finally understanding why Picard keeps a saddle on the ship. This might be a humorous reference to the lyrics of the theme song to the 1961 television show Mr. Ed.

(holds up the dynamic stabilizer) "I know they won't get very far…"

- Data and Picard shortly before Kelsey's ship explodes

Background informationEdit

Production history Edit

Story and production Edit

  • Gendel did describe his pitch for the episode as "Die Hard on the Enterprise," however. ("TNG's The Inner Light: Behind the Scenes", Phoenix Comicon 2011)
  • Budget considerations also affected the reception scenes, as extras were not available due to cost. Likewise, Michael Westmore recalled that the male "shoelace eye" terrorist (Pomet) was to have a fuller face treatment. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion 2nd ed., pp. 240-241)

Sets, props, and costumes Edit

Continuity Edit

  • According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (2nd ed., p. 240), Picard's apparent nerve pinch was intended to be a simple carotid-artery block. This is also supported by the script. [4] Alternately, it is possible that Picard's mind meld with Sarek (in TNG: "Sarek") left him with the ability to perform that technique. Jonathan Archer also demonstrated a successful nerve pinch after receiving Surak's katra in ENT: "Kir'Shara". Leonard McCoy was unable to perform the neck pinch while carrying Spock's katra in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock nor was Spock able to teach it to James Kirk, despite his efforts (TOS: "The Omega Glory").
  • In this episode, the terrorists are attempting to steal trilithium resin which Picard explains is a toxic byproduct of the ship's engines. In Star Trek Generations, Worf explains to Riker that trilithium is a synthetic compound the Romulans had to create in a lab that was much more dangerous than a toxic compound – but capable of halting all nuclear fusion in a star, causing it to collapse under its own mass, generating a shock wave powerful enough to destroy everything in its system. Trilithium is also present in the bomb with which the Dominion attempt to destroy the Bajoran sun. (DS9: "By Inferno's Light").
  • This episode includes the only mention of the Sheliak outside of the episode in which they appear (TNG: "The Ensigns of Command").

Reception Edit


Video and DVD releasesEdit

Links and references Edit

Starring Edit

Also starring Edit

Guest stars Edit

Co-star Edit

Uncredited co-stars Edit

Stunt doubles Edit

Stand-ins Edit

References Edit

2365; 2369; appellation; Arkaria; Arkaria Base; Arkarian horn fowl; Arkaria sector; astrophysics lab; audio receptor; auto-shutdown sequence; barber; baryons; baryon sweep; beta shift; body temperature; Calvin; Cargo Bay 2; Celsius; commerce; Conklin; control rod; crossbow; cubic meter; cut; dynamic stabilizer; Edwell; egalitarianism; emergency hand actuator; emergency turbolift; engineering personnel; etymology; field diverter; Gaspar VII; heating element; horse; Human; Hutchinson's parents; hypersonic pulse; hypospray; jaw; Jefferies tube; Kelsey's scout ship; kilometer; ladies' man; laser bonding; laser torch; lieutenant; lieutenant commander; Magellan, USS; magnetic pole; maintenance locker; mean temperature; milligram; milligrams per minute; Mitchell; Mot; name; nesting grounds; noble; ODN interface; ODN junction box; optical transducer; ornithology; pain receptor; political agenda; profit; promontory; Remmler Array; rider; Riskian cheese pastry; saddle; science personnel; scout ship; section chief; senior staff; Sheliak; shuttle drone; sickbay; stable; Starbase 97; Starfleet; Starfleet Medical; stasis unit; surname; talent show; terrorist; tissue sample; trail; transport assembly; Transporter Room 3; trend; trilithium; trilithium resin; turbolift; Tyrellia; Tyrellian; Tyrellian crewmen; Tyrellian laser-art; VISOR; Vulcan nerve pinch; weather pattern

External links Edit

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Star Trek: The Next Generation
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