Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break.

The Federation ambassador to the Klingon Empire requests Picard’s help about an urgent matter.  Chancellor K’empec names Picard arbiter over the power struggle that will follow his impending death. He suspects that one of the two rival faction leaders has been slowly poisoning him.

The scenery-chewing Ambassador K’Eyhlar gets a lot of screen time. She and Worf had shared a skin-biting “fade to black” holodeck date as the titular character in the season two episode “The Emissary.” This little surprise she reveals just before the opening credits roll ramps up the drama very nicely.

Picard is not exactly neutral in the affair because one of the rivals, Duras, framed Worf for the crime of Duras’s father, and also tried to assassinate Picard. It’s a complex plot with lots of intrigue, lots of squeaky Klingon armor, and lots of Worf looking very uncomfortable.

Susie Paxton is delightfully in character even when her lines are just computer search queries.  Her database search and Dr. Crusher’s forensic computer graphics would have been impressive in 1990, but they’re a bit dated now.

The first appearance of the Vor’cha battlecruiser is wonderful, as are some shots of Birds of Prey forming up and later peeling off.