Uploaded November 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Season 1 Episode 8
Episode: "Justice"
The Enterprise has arrived at Rubicun III with the intention of giving the crew an opportunity to take shore leave. Rubicun III is a vast garden-like planet filled with parks, open spaces and a youthful population, the Edo who dress appropriately for their sunny climes; they are also very huggy, kissey and whatever else you care to think of. The Edo have also enjoyed a long lasting peace, which they attribute to the enforcement of all laws with the threat of a single punishment for any crime; that punishment being death (of course!). Well despite the introductory away team consisting of a manageable half dozen crewmembers, it's pretty much a ticking timebomb event which sees young Wesley Crusher playing ball before accidentally falling into a planter filled with new plants. - Enter the death penalty!
And that's before we even get to talk about the Edo's God, an advanced intelligence that keeps an everpresent watch over the planet's population from orbit and who are completely aware of what's transpiring down on the surface.
Captain Picard beams down to the planet to open negotiations with a pair of community leaders for the Edo one last time to close out their discussions regarding Wesley's "crime"; Picard having pretty much already decided that no matter how this story plays out, he will prevent them from actioning Wesley's order of execution.
This scene presents to the viewer just how flexible the concept of justice really is; that a person's perception of justice is actually an invention, informed by the dominant value system of a community, the members of which having been educated by their culture to reflect what the state maintains as justice.
Season 1 Episode 8
Episode: "Justice"
The Enterprise has arrived at Rubicun III with the intention of giving the crew an opportunity to take shore leave. Rubicun III is a vast garden-like planet filled with parks, open spaces and a youthful population, the Edo who dress appropriately for their sunny climes; they are also very huggy, kissey and whatever else you care to think of. The Edo have also enjoyed a long lasting peace, which they attribute to the enforcement of all laws with the threat of a single punishment for any crime; that punishment being death (of course!). Well despite the introductory away team consisting of a manageable half dozen crewmembers, it's pretty much a ticking timebomb event which sees young Wesley Crusher playing ball before accidentally falling into a planter filled with new plants. - Enter the death penalty!
And that's before we even get to talk about the Edo's God, an advanced intelligence that keeps an everpresent watch over the planet's population from orbit and who are completely aware of what's transpiring down on the surface.
Captain Picard beams down to the planet to open negotiations with a pair of community leaders for the Edo one last time to close out their discussions regarding Wesley's "crime"; Picard having pretty much already decided that no matter how this story plays out, he will prevent them from actioning Wesley's order of execution.
This scene presents to the viewer just how flexible the concept of justice really is; that a person's perception of justice is actually an invention, informed by the dominant value system of a community, the members of which having been educated by their culture to reflect what the state maintains as justice.
