Star Trek has never been shy about remaking the sci-fi that influenced it, with Strange New Worlds alone offering clear riffs on Aliens, Enemy Mine, and "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.” But 35 years ago, during the week of April 29, 1991, Star Trek: The Next Generation looked to a different genre and gave us The Crucible in space.
“The Drumhead” opens with the discovery that a Klingon exchange officer is really a spy, but what looks like it’s going to be an espionage story soon shifts gears as J’Dan’s (Henry Woronicz) guilt is quickly determined, and the angry alien is shuffled off-screen and out of the episode. Starfleet is worried that J’Dan couldn’t have smuggled his findings off the Enterprise and sabotaged the ship’s engine without help, so retired rear admiral Norah Satie (Jean Simmons) is brought aboard to help sniff out the conspirators.
