‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘The Wounded’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

When we think of the horrors of war, some fairly common images come to mind. The kind that brings sorrow to our heart since they remind us of the physical toll that war creates on the innocent, since we think of their suffering and of devastated cities that are still smoking from the weapons that leveled once proud skylines. If anything, these images do a fine job of reminding us that war is absolute hell and that there is no good reason for it to exist. But while those images definitely rattle and unsettle us, they are sadly the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the horrors of war. And we likely avoid pondering upon the more horrible aspects of it, so that we can preserve our sanity and keep it together emotionally, since such thoughts would likely break us.

But in order to rid our world of this madness, we need to acknowledge every awful nuance that accompanies war and that includes its long-term psychological effects on the men and women and transgendered individuals that opt to serve their country. For they see horrible things in combat and that haunts them for years on end, to the point that they require proper care when they return home from war. Otherwise their transition back to civilian life will be difficult and painful and really, all of this is relevant today, simply because the next episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation opted to explore this unfortunate reality in a dynamic manner. By taking the time to not only examine the lasting psychological impact of war, but by also pondering upon what could happen, if a solider without proper care… returned to service and faced his enemy once again.

Which made ‘The Wounded’ quite the powerful and heartbreaking tale, one that saw a Starfleet captain named Benjamin Maxwell, abandon his oath to Starfleet and the Federation… in order to use his vessel to wage a one ship war against the Cardassians. A fight that was motivated by some serious trauma from the Cardiassian/Federation war. For we came to learn, by way of Miles O’Brien, that Maxwell lost his family to the Cardassians and rather than seek treatment for such a loss or perhaps take a little time away from the frontlines… he simply returned to the chair and funneled his pain into the fight. But with the war over, that fury boiled over and broke him. Prompting him to make the call to stop the Cardassians from re-arming and that put Picard in quite the difficult place.

Because now it was up to him to figure out how to get Maxwell to stop his quest for vengeance without setting him off, and failure in this instance would likely lead to war and sadly… despite Picard’s best efforts to accomplish this in a peaceful and simple manner, Captain Maxwell couldn’t let his vendetta go and he brought these two factions back to the brink. But Mister O'Brien was able to offer up a unique solution to this mess, one that involved him beaming aboard the U.S.S. Phoenix to try and talk a little sense into the captain he once served with. And seeing a familiar face and being able to be open and honest with Miles about his pain, allowed for Benjamin to finally stand down and understand the error of his ways and return to Federation territory, where he could finally get the help he so desperately needed. 

In the end however, this really was quite the dark and powerful tale. One that held nothing back in its exploration of a solider that lost his way and refused to give up on war in the hopes that an eye for an eye would finally heal his emotional wounds, and it deserves some serious props for addressing an issue that wouldn’t be talked about in great detail until now really, and also for providing us with more important milestones in Star Trek lore. For this episode also features the first on-screen appearance of the Cardassians, a villain that would be integral to the events of Deep Space Nine and it also features another actor that would go on to star in that show as well. Since Marc Alaimo, who plays Gul Macet, would go on to take on the role of Gul Dukat… a character that would forever be a thorn in Benjamin Sisko’s side. But all geeking out aside, make no mistake about it, this really is one impressive tale. One that really does give you pause after it has come to an end, courtesy of its powerhouse portrayal of a broken solider, that found himself consumed by the spoils of war. Until next time.  

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