Ep 11. The Hunted

The crew of the Enterprise encounters a group of people who have been labeled as "hunters" by a nearby planet, Angosia III. These hunters have been genetically modified to be able to outsmart and outfight any opponent, making them the ultimate warrior. However, their modifications have also caused them to be incredibly violent.

The leader of the hunters, Roga Danar, escapes from his transport to Angosia III and seeks asylum on the Enterprise. Captain Picard is hesitant to grant this request, as he does not want to interfere with the internal politics of the planet. However, Roga's desperate pleas for asylum, coupled with his incredible strength and agility, force Picard to take him in.

As the crew investigates Roga and his species, they begin to see that the hunters are not simply violent creatures. They are the products of a societal structure that uses violence as a means of control. Roga and his fellow hunters were created to be the ultimate fighting force for their planet, and they did their duty by fighting in a brutal civil war. However, once the war was over, the government deemed them too dangerous to be allowed back into society. They were kept in prison-like camps, treated as animals, and forced to undergo experiments aimed at reversing their genetic modifications.

Roga's escape is the culmination of years of frustration and mistreatment at the hands of the Angosian government. He sees the Enterprise crew as a way to finally gain freedom for himself and his people. However, his actions also bring the conflict between the hunters and the Angosian government to a boiling point.

The episode raises difficult questions about the relationship between genetics, violence, and society's responsibilities towards its citizens. The government on Angosia III believed that by creating the perfect fighting machines, they were guaranteeing their safety and peace. However, this approach only led to more violence and resulted in the creation of a marginalized group of people.

The crew of the Enterprise is forced to navigate these ethical and political questions as they try to find a way to help Roga and his people. They realize that there is no easy solution - granting asylum to Roga and his people might lead to a war between the hunters and the government, while turning them over to the authorities would mean condoning the mistreatment of a group of people.

Overall, "The Hunted" is a complex and thought-provoking episode that asks important questions about the relationship between power and violence. The Enterprise crew is caught in the middle of a conflict that has no easy answers, and their attempts to find a solution demonstrate the difficulty of navigating these types of complex societal issues. With strong performances from all the cast, including guest star Jeff McCarthy as Roga Danar, "The Hunted" is a standout episode in the third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.