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Devil's Due (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

"Devil's Due"
Star Trek: The Next Generation episode
Episode no. Season 4
Episode 13
Directed by Tom Benko
Story by
Teleplay by Philip Lazebnik
Featured music Ron Jones
Cinematography by Marvin Rush
Production code 187
Original air date February 4, 1991 (1991-02-04)
Guest appearance(s)
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List of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes

"Devil's Due" is the 13th episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, originally aired on February 4, 1991 in broadcast syndication in the United States. Based on an episode written by William Douglas Lansford for the planned Star Trek: Phase II (1978) television series, it was adapted for The Next Generation by Philip Lazebnik and directed by Tom Benko.

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starfleet starship USS Enterprise-D. In "Devil's Due", the crew of the Enterprise confront an individual claiming to be Ardra (Marta DuBois), a mythological entity from the planet Ventax II. She claims that the planet, and the orbiting Enterprise, are her legal property due to an agreement signed a thousand years earlier. Together, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew reveal Ardra to be a con artist, leading to her arrest by the Ventaxian authorities.

Numerous changes were made from the original Phase II script, with only the general theme of the episode remaining. Originally pitched for use during season three, following changes made it was added to season four. Critical reception of the episode has been mixed, with it generally being thought to be very reminiscent of Star Trek: The Original Series.

The USS Enterprise receives a distress call from Dr. Howard Clarke (Paul Lambert), the leader of a Federation scientific delegation on Ventax II, where the population is in a state of panic because they are convinced that their world will soon end. After the Enterprise arrives, they rescue Dr. Clarke who brings them up to date: a thousand years ago, according to Ventaxian history, the population entered a Faustian deal with Ardra, their mythology's devil. In exchange for ending wars and restoring the ecological balance, and improving their heavily polluted planet, the population would become the personal slaves of Ardra a thousand years later. As the millennium is about to come to a close, the planet has recently begun experiencing mild earthquakes as well as seeing images of Ardra in the skies. These were said to be signs of her arrival.


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