TNG S1E3 "Code of Honor" Review by AnswerMan

Horrible:Meh:Adequate:Good:Fantastic

"Where are all the white women at?"

A federation planet has some horrible plague, and for some reason the only people that have the vaccine are on a planet with a numerical name full of people with strong and confusing cultural traditions. They appear to be African. I mean they're obviously not African, but they are black and dress in a style that is if not authentic African, is a least a nod to it. Oh, and they speak with African accents, which is a neat trick from the universal translator. Even though they are by their own admission less technologically developed, they are still somehow the only suppliers of the vaccine.

Anyway, their leader Lutan beams aboard with much fanfare from his guards. Is this "Coming To America?" It is not. But it is very similar. He gives a sample of the vaccine to Picard, and tells him that as long as everyone shows him the respect and honor he deserves, the vaccine will be shared freely. He immediately seems to crush on Yar, and is especially impressed with her fighting skills. When it's time for him to leave, he abducts her.



Picard is instructed by those that have studied the culture that she probably won't be hurt, and this is just their culture's way. I can't figure out why everyone seems to be briefed on the intricacies of how things work on this planet except Picard. Was he absent that day, or what? The whole show is everyone telling Picard what they know about the Ligonians that he doesn't. Anyway, by their customs all Picard has to do is ask nicely for her back, which he does. In return he is rewarded with a smile and an invitation to the planet to retrieve her. Once there, he has to repeat the whole humiliating thing in front of everyone, which he does flawlessly, showing heartfelt respect for their culture. However, Lutan declines to return her, instead making her his "first one." His current "first one" is outraged at being replaced, and challenges Yar to a battle to the death. By the way, her name is Yareena. So Yar and Yareena. Really? They have to go through with this, because the vaccine is super important as millions of people are dying rapidly without it. The Prime Directive prohibits them from just taking it, so they have to get the vaccine by going along with the ridiculous and dopey customs of the natives. Beside, Yar is pretty confident she can take that chick.

Picard gets inside Lutan's head a bit and figures out that his real motivation is the wealth that Yareena holds. Only the women have land, and their husbands serve as their protectors. Lutan has cleverly created a situation where if Yareena wins, he's not out anything. If Yar wins (and he suspects that he will based on her display of skills he witnessed on the Enterprise) he gets to keep Yareena's land and get Yar. Meanwhile Yar is trying to figure out what's going through Yareena's head. It seems that she genuinely loves Lutan, and just wants to remain his first one. She thinks that Yar must love him too, because he's so dreamy, and warns her that she is well-trained for this fight too. Troi gets Yar to admit that she does kinda wanna bone him, so maybe Yareena was legitimately picking up on some chemistry.

So they fight on a playground jungle gym with gloves made of poison spikes. Lutan says that once they start, they will not be interrupted. Then he interrupts them to give Yareena her glove of death back, which has fallen off in the struggle and killed a bystander. Eventually Yar wins, and as soon as Yareena dies, both are transported out. Apparently this doesn't strike Lutan as odd in any way, as he holds up his end of the bargain by giving them the go ahead to beam out the vaccine. As soon as they do the crew is beamed up, along with Lutan and his servant. There they find a very much alive Yareena. Crusher explains that she was definitely dead, so the results of the battle are legit, but now she's feeling much better and would like to keep her land thankyouverymuch. Also she's no longer Lutan's first one, and Yar declines that role as well. Yar rubs it in his face by saying, "How very sad for you!" Ouch, that was unnecessary. Yareena then chooses the hunky servant as her first one, and invites Lutan to be her second, which he reluctantly accepts and takes his place behind the pair. The show ends with Lutan commenting that although the crew is technologically more advanced, it is the Ligonians that clearly excel in civilized behavior. The line is interesting, as a spontaneous fight to the death is hardly civilized. However, they did settle the matter easily enough and accept the results even though they totally got played by Picard. Besides, even the Vulcans enjoy a good battle to the death occasionally, so who's to say who is more civilized? The ending kind of turns our image of the culture as patriarchal upside down. It's actually the women that hold the wealth and power, and apparently they can choose more than one husband. I'm left kind of puzzled on the whole first and second thing. So women can have more than one husband, but can men? No other wife was shown for Lutan. Was the servant her second before? When Lutan originally introduced him, he called him his secondary. Also, the two men have mirror image scars on their cheeks? I'm so confused! Also the women fight as the men merely observe. In retrospect it seems that Lutan wasn't so much shocked that Yar was head of security and a strong fighter as he was just taken with her beauty and saw her as a sure bet against Yareena in a fight.

There are some early TNG framing details going on in this episode. For instance, it's a huge deal that Picard goes on the away mission to the planet, because Riker forbids this, an arrangement that held up for exactly two episodes. There's also Wesley being welcomed back on the bridge by the captain at Crusher's request in a couple of scenes that are horribly awkward. Data fumbles around making obvious attempts at acting more human, we get a good disgusting look at what's going on behind LaForge's visor, and we are reminded that Picard is French not British. There is a funny moment when Picard is in the midsts of one of his grand speeches on the situation, and he stops himself and says, "I'm sorry, this is becoming a speech." I'm surprised that an inside joke like this was included this early in the show's run.

Altogether this episode is a bit strange, and though it was entertaining, I have to judge it as only Meh. This whole ditching the exploration for diplomatic missions is unbecoming. And I still think they cheated by bringing Yareena back to life and robbing Lutan of his land. I can't see how this result wasn't interfering with their culture, but I'm not sure what else they could have done. "Code of Honor" feels very much like a TOS episode its story-telling, its over-the-top musical score, and its unenlightened approach to gender and cultural concerns. At best it's just not very good science fiction, and at worst it's overtly racist. Plus there's zero Worf, who might have been a useful at understanding the honor-driven culture of the Ligonians.

Published June 14, 2017