The Devil’s Due is a very poor episode that can be easily ignored. Its premise, characters and execution are all entirely substandard for TNG. And no wonder, the original premise for this episode came straight out of Star Trek: Phase II — the ill fated continuation of The Original Series.

The main premise of the episode is that the crew of the Enterprise meets up with … the devil. It’s a precarious premise to begin with. And the subsequent execution, which is, perhaps, competent, doesn’t do anything to elevate the premise. Essentially an alien civilization had, 1,000 years ago, sold itself to Ardra (the devil) in exchange for a millennium of peace and prosperity. Now that the 1,000 years is up, Ardra has returned and wants to collect on the deal.

Of course, Ardra is nothing more than a con artist, using high-tech wizardry to project the illusion that she is the devil. It’s silly. Really silly. And when she tries seducing Picard, it gets pathetic.

In the end, as expected, her charade is exposed and the planet is saved (yay). There isn’t much to say because the episode is, with only a few exceptions, a bore. What you have to look forward to: Picard having to ask for Data to bring a shuttle to the planet surface with a uniform (don’t ask) and Data’s role as a judge. These two moments are enjoyable. But otherwise, the rest of the episode barely registers as anything close to “entertainment.”

Even though it has a couple of memorable scenes, The Devil’s Due is a predominantly poor episode that had no business being part of TNG.

Filed under: TNG Reviews