History YMMV / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E7Justice

* BizarroEpisode: The crew of the ''Enterprise'' is schmoozing with what appears to be a pre-warp culture, when Wesley knocks over an outdoor decoration and is sentenced to death. And even though the Prime Directive didn't prevent them from making contact with this planet, all of a sudden it prevents Picard from saving Wesley. For no plot-relevant reason whatsoever, the inhabitants of this planet all dress in barely-there loincloths and have a preoccupation with sex. Rumor has it that Creator/GeneRoddenberry added this to the plot after they changed the planet from a floating military fortress housing incredibly xenophobic aliens to an idyllic paradise. Because naturally Paradise means EveryoneHasLotsOfSex.

* FridgeBrilliance: Sure, Picard may have broken one of the cardinal rules of Starfleet by interfering with the laws of a non-Federation world just to save the life one child aboard his ship. But considering the child in question is Dr. Crusher's son, he probably didn't want to face her wrath if he had let her son die. Alternatively, Picard's desperation to save Wesley may stem from the guilt from losing Beverly's husband under his command; he didn't want to lose her ''son'' on top of that.

* FridgeBrilliance: Sure, Picard may have broken one of the cardinal rules of Starfleet by interfering with the laws of a non-Federation world just to save the life one child aboard his ship. But considering the child in question is Dr. Crusher's son, he probably didn't want to face the hostility she would've certainly given him if he had let her son die. Alternatively, Picard's desperation to save Wesley may stem from the guilt from losing Beverly's husband under his command; he didn't want to lose her ''son'' on top of that.

* UnfortunateImplications: As pointed out by Website/SFDebris, just a few weeks prior, the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E3CodeOfHonor Code of Honor]]" aired, which depicted an all black planet that was a DarkestAfrica dystopia filled with greed and corruption. Here, the paradise planet is populated entirely with blonde-haired blue-eyed white people whose only flaw is that they're so pure and simple that they need others to handle ethical issues for them.

** Picard's decision to get involved with the Edo and fight their legal system to save Wesley, remarking that letting a member of his ship die was never what the Prime Directive intended. This him look like a huge hypocrite in later episodes when he preaches that the Prime Directive means that they don't get involve with pre-warp civilization, not even to save them from mass extinction.

** "I'm with Starfleet. We don't lie."

* {{Narm}}: The crew skirting around the subject of sex.

* UnfortunateImplications: As pointed out by WebVideo/SFDebris, just a few weeks prior, the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E3CodeOfHonor Code of Honor]]" aired, which depicted an all black planet that was a DarkestAfrica dystopia filled with greed and corruption. Here, the paradise planet is populated entirely with blonde-haired blue-eyed white people whose only flaw is that they're so pure and simple that they need others to handle ethical issues for them.

** Older viewers and those who are athletically inclined will notice this one: The Edo are in "perfect physical condition" because they run everywhere (a common misconception: doctors say brisk walking and/or swimming are better). They're wearing slippers with absolutely no support, and they're running on hard surfaced pathways. Yeah, that's gonna bite'em in the butt in a few years.

** When he explains himself, Wesley says "I'm with Starfleet. We don't lie." In "The First Duty", after he'd officially entered Starfleet Academy, Wesley gets reprimanded for trying to cover-up an accidental death.

* Older viewers and those who are athletically inclined will notice this one: The Edo are in "perfect physical condition" because they run everywhere (a common misconception: doctors say brisk walking and/or swimming are better). They're wearing slippers with absolutely no support, and they're running on hard surfaced pathways. Yeah, that's gonna bite'em in the butt in a few years.

* HarsherInHindsight: When he explains himself, Wesley says "I'm with Starfleet. We don't lie." In "The First Duty", after he'd officially entered Starfleet Academy, Wesley gets reprimanded for trying to cover-up an accidental death.

* WTHCastingAgency: In direct contrast to the UnfortunateImplications from "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E3CodeOfHonor Code of Honor]]," the paradise planet is populated entirely with blonde-haired blue-eyed white people.

* ParanoiaFuel: The Edo's law practically operates on this. Since one never knows if where they are is currently a punishment zone, natives and visitors alike are effectively scared into obeying the law at all times, and it ''works''. And no, exceptions are not made for people who don't know about the law, as Wesley finds out the very hard way.[[note]]The part about no exceptions for those who do not know the law is actually [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignorantia_juris_non_excusat a very old legal principle]] dating back to the UsefulNotes/RomanEmpire.[[/note]]

* ParanoiaFuel: The Edo's law practically operates on this. Since one never knows if where they are is currently a punishment zone, natives and visitors alike are effectively scared into obeying the law at all times, and it ''works''. And no, exceptions are not made for people who don't know about the law, as Wesley finds out the very hard way.

* ParanoiaFuel: The Edo's law practically operates on this. Since one never knows if where they are is currently a punishment zone, natives and visitors alike are effectively scared into obeying the law at all times. And no, exceptions are not made for people who don't know about the law, as Wesley finds out the very hard way.

** There is a scene in which an Edo woman starts to consider Captain Picard to be a god, because the Enterprise is sharing its orbit with ''their'' god. Picard then makes it very clear that no, he is not a god. Flash forward to "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E4WhoWatchesTheWatchers Who Watches the Watchers]]" in season 3, in which Picard has a decisively harder time to convince the members of a pre-warp civilization that he is in fact not a god.

* WTHCastingAgency: A continuing theme of UnfortunateImplications from "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E3CodeOfHonor Code of Honor]]," the paradise planet is populated entirely with blonde-haired blue-eyed white people.

* HilariousInHindsight: The episode's moral that laws cannot be treated as absolute and unerring without themselves becoming unjust comes across this way when in later years Picard (along with [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Janeway]]) would frequently insist that the Prime Directive is absolutely immutable and cannot be broken under any circumstances whatsoever.
** There is a scene in which an Edo woman starts to consider Captain Picard to be a god, because the Enterprise is sharing its orbit with ''their'' god. Picard then makes it very clear that no, he is not a god. Flash forward to ''[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E4WhoWatchesTheWatchers Who Watches The Watchers]]'' in season 3, in which Picard has a decisively harder time to convince the members of a pre-warp civilization that he is in fact not a god.

** There is a scene in which an Edo woman starts to consider Captain Picard to be a god, because the Enterprise shares its orbit with ''their'' god. Picard then makes it very clear that no, he is not a god. Flash forward to ''[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E4WhoWatchesTheWatchers Who Watches The Watchers]]'' in season 3, in which Picard has a decisively harder time to convince the members of a pre-warp civilization that he is in fact not a god.

* TheissTitillationTheory: Taken to its logical extreme.