This episode starts off with a huge bang (Spock! Defecting to the Romulans!)
And then there’s a whole bunch of padding – Sarek, getting a Klingon ship, the supply depot, Picard trying to sleep. It’s well written padding, but it just feels like an attempt to stretch out the plot to make this a two-part episode. All in all it’s about 35 minutes of padding before we actually get to Romulus.
Then there’s a very good five minutes on Romulus, but it’s just not enough. Fantastic setup, but so much padding means I have to mark this one down a little.
Sad Star Trek moment: this is the first episode aired after the death of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.
214 down, 523 to go.