Summary

• The Prime Directive in Star Trek is meant to be a key rule in non-interference, however, its use in TNG season 1 is inconsistent and does not always make sense.
• In the episode "Justice," Captain Picard and his crew already violate the Prime Directive by interacting with the Edo people, who have not achieved space travel.
• The portrayal of the Prime Directive in TNG season 1 contradicts later episodes, where the crew takes more precautions in learning about new cultures and disguising themselves. Captain Picard's actions in "Justice" potentially alter the Edo culture, contradicting his adherence to the Prime Directive.

The Prime Directive is meant to be Star Trek's most important rule, but its use in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1 does not always make sense. General Order 1, AKA the Prime Directive, serves as Starfleet's policy of noninterference, stating that no Starfleet officer can interfere with the technological progress or social development of an alien civilization. The Prime Directive would eventually come to prohibit any interference in a civilization that had not yet achieved warp travel. As the commanding officer of the USS Enterprise-D, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) did his best to adhere to the Prime Directive, but the exact nature of the rule had not been fully established in TNG season 1 and its application is inconsistent at best.

In TNG season 1, episode 8, "Justice," Picard and his crew make with the Edo people on the planet Rubicun III. The Edo are a relatively primitive people who have not yet achieved space travel and who worship an alien vessel as a god. When Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) inadvertently crushes some recently planted flowers, thereby breaking one of the Edo's laws, he is sentenced to death. Although it would be easy for the Enterprise to take Wesley by force and leave the planet, Picard refuses to do so, citing Starfleet's Prime Directive. However, it seems as though Picard and his crew have already violated the Prime Directive by interacting with the Edo people at all.

Star Trek TNG's Prime Directive In Season 1 Makes No Sense

According to the later instances of the Prime Directive, such as its application in the TNG season 3 episode "Who Watches the Watchers," Picard and his crew should not have been able to reveal themselves and their technology to the Edo people in TNG season 1's "Justice." The nonchalance with which the Edo accept the arrival of Picard and his crew suggests that they are at least aware that other species exist in the galaxy. However, this is only implied and there is no indication that the Edo have any form of space travel. Several times throughout "Justice," the Edo comment on how advanced the Starfleet technology is compared to their own. While there are certainly good reasons to violate the Prime Directive, none are given in this particular instance.

The Edo worship a god who appears to the Enterprise as a mysterious entity who exists in multiple dimensions at once. The entity (or entities) communicates through Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), rendering him temporarily unconscious. When Data awakes, he reveals that the entity now knows everything that he knows, including information about the Prime Directive and Starfleet's other laws. TNG season 1, episode 8 contains a lot of dialogue about the nature of the Prime Directive without ever actually stating its intended purpose. Picard seems to place following the Edo's laws above every other element of the Prime Directive, but it is not clear why.

How Star Trek's Prime Directive Is Supposed To Work Vs. TNG Season 1

Although the ultimate interpretation of the Prime Directive is left up to Starfleet's commanding officers, it is held up as their most important principle. Starfleet officers swear to uphold the Prime Directive even at the cost of their own lives or the lives of their crew. While this element of the Prime Directive sometimes causes problems, the away teams on later episodes of TNG take more care to learn about the culture of new societies and ensure they do not reveal their technology to them. The Enterprise away teams often disguise themselves as locals and evaluate the culture before revealing themselves as visitors from another world.

This contrasts sharply with the Prime Directive as seen in TNG season 1, episode 8. Not only does the Enterprise crew beam down in full view of the Edo people, but they speak freely of their technology and superior knowledge. Later in the episode, Captain Picard further violates the Prime Directive when he brings one of the Edo women aboard the Enterprise and shows her the strange ship they have encountered. The woman goes to her knees, worshipping the strange vessel as a god. Picard's actions here have the potential to alter the trajectory of the Edo culture, which seems at odds with Picard's insistence on upholding the Prime Directive throughout all of Star Trek: The Next Generation, including this very episode.