History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E12TheHighGround

** The episode deals with the "you say terrorists, we say freedom fighters" issue. The Ansata separatists are trying to overthrow their Rutian oppressors "by any means necessary," including suicide bombers (while the government they're fighting makes use of indefinite detention, and in the past simply killed people). During this episode, Data notes the "historical fact" that Ireland was reunified in 2024 after a successful terrorist campaign ([[BannedInChina which is why this episode wasn't broadcast in its entirety in either Britain or the Republic of Ireland until years after]]).

* StockholmSyndrome: Beverly shows signs of this towards Finn. When Picard is captured by the separatists, he's quick to point this out to her.

* CuffsOffRubWrists: Crusher rubs her wrists after Finn unlocks her shackles so she can start treating his followers.

* EvilIsPetty: Evil is pushing it, but Finn's final act after his cell is raided is to run back and try to murder Picard, even though there is nothing to gain from doing so. He may have figured his plan would play out posthumously.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: When Crusher insists that Washington was a general and not a terrorist, Finn claims that Washington would have been considered a terrorist if he'd lost the war. But while rebel generals may be considered ''traitors'', they are not considered terrorists in the annals of history unless they actually used terrorist tactics. For example, Robert E. Lee has never been considered a terrorist even though he lost the [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar American Civil War]]. Though that may justified by Finn not being from earth and using example from his own planet history.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: When Crusher insists that Washington was a general and not a terrorist, Finn claims that Washington would have been considered a terrorist if he'd lost the war. But while rebel generals may be considered ''traitors'', they are not considered terrorists in the annals of history unless they actually used terrorist tactics. For example, Robert E. Lee has never been considered a terrorist even though he lost the [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar American Civil War]]. Though that may justified by Finn not being from earth and only knows a finite amount from word of mouth.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: When Crusher insists that Washington was a general and not a terrorist, Finn claims that Washington would have been considered a terrorist if he'd lost the war. But while rebel generals may be considered ''traitors'', they are not considered terrorists in the annals of history unless they actually used terrorist tactics. For example, Robert E. Lee has never been considered a terrorist even though he lost the [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar American Civil War]].

* FailedFutureForecast: The reference to the unification of Ireland in 2024, thanks to a successful terrorist campaign not only instantly dates the episode back to before the Good Friday Agreement, which saw the end of The Troubles and which made it very unlikely to result in the unification of Ireland by 2024, but is also indicative of the sympathetic views that a not-insubstantial portion of the American population had towards the IRA at the time, before events later in the decade (including the Oklahoma City bombing in America, and the Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland) eroded that sympathy.

* NoTimeToExplain: Once Geordi gets the bomb off, he calls for the transporter room to lock on to his communicator and prepare to transport into space. Troi, horrified, starts to question it but Picard holds up his hand to stop her.

* AffablyEvil: Finn, a terrorist willing to sacrifice innocent lives to serve his cause, is polite and personable to Beverly Crusher. He even provides her food when she is in his custody.

* MoralDissonance: While the Prime Directive is invoked to justify not providing support to the Rutian government, there is still the open question of why the Federation has any dealings at all with a planet experiencing such violent social conflict as opposed to simply avoiding them entirely the way they would less advanced civilizations. Even if Rutia IV meets the technological threshold for allowing the Federation to have contact with them, their civil strife is a clear demonstration that technology is an inadequate yardstick for measuring a culture's behavior.
-->'''Finn:''' Captain, there's a lot to admire in the Federation, but there's a hint of moral cowardice in your dealings with non-aligned planets. [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech You do business with a government that's crushing us. And then you say you aren't involved? You're very much involved. You just don't want to get dirty]].

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: When Crusher insists that Washington was a general and not a terrorist, Finn claims that Washington would have been considered a terrorist if he'd lost the war. But while rebel generals may be considered ''traitors'', they are not considered terrorists in the annals of history unless they actually used terrorist tactics. For example, Robert E. Lee has never been considered a terrorist even though he lost the war.

Crusher has been taken to the Ansatan separatists' underground hideout, where their leader Finn tells her that they need her medical skills. Many of the terrorists are dying because their DNA has been warped. The Ansatans' use of an Inverter to jump through dimensions to teleport without a trace is slowly killing them, but it is a sacrifice they're willing to make for their cause. Though Crusher scorns his tactics, Finn argues that he's using the only means he has at his disposal to achieve freedom. Finn proves to be a talented artist and begins sketching Crusher in his off time.

* SkunkStripe: All the Rutians have one.