Star Trek The Next Generation
S2E17
· Samaritan Snare

False Hospitality Aboard the Mondor

Geordi materializes aboard the cramped Pakled ship and immediately defaults to technician's empathy—calming anxious hosts, asking practical questions, and offering to help. The Pakleds answer with repetitive, childlike phrases (“We look for things,” “We are far from home”) while Grebnedlog and Reginod trade obsequious smiles and quietly assess him. What reads as simple gratitude is charged with subtext: the Pakleds are deftly luring a confident engineer into isolated access to their systems. Dramatically, this scene functions as a quiet but pivotal setup—the moment of false security that will make Geordi vulnerable to betrayal and force Riker into a desperate rescue, while thematically warning against underestimating apparent simplicity.

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

5

Geordi beams aboard the Mondor, startling the Pakleds, and immediately steadies the room by announcing he’s here to help.

alarm to reassurance

Grebnedlog answers with vague non sequiturs (“We are far from home,” “Our ship is the Mondor”) while Geordi pushes for actionable details and asks for the engineer.

confusion to professional focus

Reginod steps forward as the named engineer and drops the Pakled refrain, “We look for things,” as Geordi keeps his patience.

miscommunication to cautious rapport

The Pakleds label the problem (“It is broken”) and press for movement; Geordi commits to help, confirming he can make the ship go.

uncertainty to commitment

Geordi asks for the guidance system and moves deeper into the ship; Reginod and Grebnedlog trade pleased smiles—“He is smart”—as they appraise him.

patient focus to being appraised ['back of the ship']

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

3
Another Pakled
primary

Nervous and eager to please; adopts a childlike, compliant stance to back the group's narrative and smooth interactions.

A secondary Pakled steps forward to echo and reinforce Grebnedlog's statements, offering tacit, anxious support to the group's presentation while contributing to the social pressure that isolates Geordi.

Goals in this moment
  • • Support Grebnedlog's introduction to legitimize the claim of a broken engineer
  • • Add social weight to the group's request to reduce Geordi's suspicion
  • • Maintain the group's cohesive front to facilitate the lure
Active beliefs
  • • Acting collectively will make their request more convincing
  • • Showing gratitude and simplicity will encourage assistance
  • • Their social cues will prevent immediate distrust from outsiders
Character traits
anxious obsequious supportive reactive
Follow Another Pakled's journey
Reginod
Ship's Engineer
 primary

Feigned naivety mixed with quiet satisfaction; outwardly simple and eager, inwardly pleased at the arrival of a qualified technician.

Reginod speaks in simple, repetitive phrases confirming the ship is broken, flatters Geordi ('He is smart'), and turns to Grebnedlog with a pleased smile—functioning as the ship's apparent technician while quietly colluding in the welcome.

Goals in this moment
  • • Signal the presence of a capable engineer to lure Geordi deeper into the ship
  • • Reinforce the appearance of incompetence to lower the target's guard
  • • Gather information about Geordi while appearing harmless
  • • Coordinate silently with Grebnedlog to direct Geordi toward the guidance system
Active beliefs
  • • Starfleet technicians will respond to distress and volunteer help
  • • Appearing simple and grateful is an effective method of manipulation
  • • Geordi's competence can be exploited to acquire technology
  • • The group's manufactured hospitality will prevent suspicion
Character traits
childlike compliant obsequious technically informed (masked)
Follow Reginod's journey
Geordi La Forge
Chief Engineer
 primary

Confident and composed on the surface; quietly curious and focused on problem-solving, with only a hint of puzzlement at the hosts' odd phrasing.

Geordi materializes, immediately assumes a calming, professional posture: he soothes the anxious Pakleds, asks diagnostic questions, volunteers to help, and walks toward the rear of the ship to inspect systems.

Goals in this moment
  • • Assess the ship's engineering problem and locate the guidance system
  • • Keep the Pakleds calm to perform an effective diagnosis
  • • Establish contact with the ship's engineer to begin repairs
  • • Maintain professional rapport to gain unobstructed access to systems
Active beliefs
  • • A trained engineer can fix most mechanical problems if given access
  • • The Pakleds are distressed and intend no immediate harm
  • • His demeanor can defuse anxiety and facilitate cooperation
  • • Technical access will lead directly to diagnostic solutions
Character traits
calm reassuring professionally curious trusting practical
Follow Geordi La …'s journey

Objects Involved

Significant items in this scene

1
Mondor Guidance System

The Mondor Guidance System is verbally singled out as the primary technical fault and the explicit lure: Geordi asks to be shown it, which directs him physically toward the back of the ship and provides the Pakleds a tactical objective to isolate and access the engineer.

Before: Registered by dialogue as 'broken' and nonfunctional; physically …
After: Remains uninspected at the scene's end but becomes …
Before: Registered by dialogue as 'broken' and nonfunctional; physically located toward the rear of the Mondor and unexamined at the event's start.
After: Remains uninspected at the scene's end but becomes the immediate focus of Geordi's movement and the Pakleds' manipulation; effectively designated as the trap's focal point.

Location Details

Places and their significance in this event

1
Mondor (Pakled ship)

The cramped Pakled ship Mondor provides the physical theatre for the encounter: narrow bulkheads and flickering consoles concentrate bodies and voices, manufacturing congenial intimacy that converts Geordi's professional visit into a manipulable, isolating choreography.

Atmosphere Close, slightly humid and machine-scented; tension is low on the surface but claustrophobic and subtly …
Function Meeting place and engineered snare — it acts as a trap designed to funnel Geordi …
Symbolism Represents manufactured vulnerability: the ship's worn interior symbolizes the Pakleds' façade of helplessness and the …
Access No formal restrictions presented; space is physically confined, favoring hosts who control interior movement.
low ceiling and narrow bulkheads constraining physical movement flickering amber status lights and a humming of vents smudged, scuffed plating and a single small command console visible air smelling faintly of machine oil and recycled warmth

Narrative Connections

How this event relates to others in the story

No narrative connections mapped yet

This event is currently isolated in the narrative graph

Part of Larger Arcs

Geordi La Forge's ordeal: coerced technical labor and personal endangerment (loss of VISOR, phaser stuns) as he resists being turned into the Pakleds' weapons‑maker and seeks ways to sabotage their efforts.

Key Dialogue

"GEORDI: Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm here to help. Take it easy."
"GREBNEDLOG: Can you make our ship go?"
"REGINOD: He is smart."