Typical Star Trek, giving away the plot twist long before it happens.
Why do the writers explicitly show us her conversation with her leader and saying "everything's going as planned." This is a huge giveaway that she is misleading the crew. It was completely unnecessary. They could provide more subtle hints.
The point of this story was the danger of trusting people but to have the crew oblivious to the possibility that she is misleading them, except for a momentary discussion with Troi, is ridiculous. In one episode the crew is cunning and outsmarts their enemy and the next episode they are portrayed as gullible.
A huge hole is that the crew doesn't even discuss the implications of removing her implant, how it would affect the balance of power if one person could run around undetected. It would be far better if they stated that they tried to find other ways to shield the implant but nothing works, so they have no option but to remove it but surely that would mean that she must leave the planet.
I was amazed that they let her go back to the planet without the explosive tracker.
(Plot hole: If the government implanted people 15 years ago then everyone under 15 would not have an implant and be recruited as spies and saboteurs.)
Also, Picard makes zero attempts at negotiation with the other faction, believing everything that Yar's faction says. That is highly unusual because a negotiated solution is always preferable. We only get one very brief communication. If they really wanted compensation then there would be more talks and Picard would need to lead them on while planning the rescue.
There's only so much that can be done in 45 minutes but I believe that the episode could be greatly improved with more thought.
Note: If the tracker explodes when exposed to air, why can they handle it immediately after the operation and carry it as a souvenir? Rather than a force field Geordie could have said that a careful exposure to radiation can force the chemical to slowly decay and become inert, then it would make sense. Otherwise, they need a line to state that it will be safe once removed even though removing the detonation circuit for an explosive doesn't make it safe. They just need some explanation.
Why do the writers explicitly show us her conversation with her leader and saying "everything's going as planned." This is a huge giveaway that she is misleading the crew. It was completely unnecessary. They could provide more subtle hints.
The point of this story was the danger of trusting people but to have the crew oblivious to the possibility that she is misleading them, except for a momentary discussion with Troi, is ridiculous. In one episode the crew is cunning and outsmarts their enemy and the next episode they are portrayed as gullible.
A huge hole is that the crew doesn't even discuss the implications of removing her implant, how it would affect the balance of power if one person could run around undetected. It would be far better if they stated that they tried to find other ways to shield the implant but nothing works, so they have no option but to remove it but surely that would mean that she must leave the planet.
I was amazed that they let her go back to the planet without the explosive tracker.
(Plot hole: If the government implanted people 15 years ago then everyone under 15 would not have an implant and be recruited as spies and saboteurs.)
Also, Picard makes zero attempts at negotiation with the other faction, believing everything that Yar's faction says. That is highly unusual because a negotiated solution is always preferable. We only get one very brief communication. If they really wanted compensation then there would be more talks and Picard would need to lead them on while planning the rescue.
There's only so much that can be done in 45 minutes but I believe that the episode could be greatly improved with more thought.
Note: If the tracker explodes when exposed to air, why can they handle it immediately after the operation and carry it as a souvenir? Rather than a force field Geordie could have said that a careful exposure to radiation can force the chemical to slowly decay and become inert, then it would make sense. Otherwise, they need a line to state that it will be safe once removed even though removing the detonation circuit for an explosive doesn't make it safe. They just need some explanation.