Starfleet Command receives a transmission from Karnas, a leader on planet Mordan IV, reporting that terrorists have seized hostages including Federation Ambassador Hawkins. Karnas urgently requests the assistance of Starfleet Admiral Jameson, noting a terrorist threat to kill the hostages if Jameson does not intervene in 6 days.

The Enterprise is assigned to make diplomatic contact with the reclusive civilization known as the Jarada. The mission is delayed when a holodeck malfunction traps Captain Picard and other personnel in an ongoing film noir simulation program.

This episode features the first appearance of Data's "evil" twin brother Lore. Also notable is that this is one of only three episodes of Star Trek The Next Generation written by Gene Roddenberry. The other two were Encounter at Farpoint and Hide and Q.

investigation of probable flight path of the Odin escape pods leads to planet Angel 1, a matriarchal society where the female is as aggressively dominant as the male gender was on Earth hundreds of years ago. Survivors of the Odin are found to be alive on the planets surface, having integrated themselves into the society. Local authorities request removal of the survivors on the grounds that they are interfering with planetary authority.

This is discovered to be an effort by the Aldeans to reestablish their society, rendered infertile due to radiation exposure caused by damage to their ozone layer

Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher undergoes Starfleet Academy Entrance competition testing at the Starfleet facility at planet Relva II. Lieutenant Commander Dexter Remmick of the Starfleet inspector general's office conducts a thorough investigation of the Enterprise while the ship is at the Relva II facility.

The Enterprise is assigned to the Lorenze Cluster to investigate the disappearance of the USS Drake at planet Minos. Although the planet Minos had been inhabited in the past, Recent probes indicated no intelligent life on the planet.