We’ve finally reached the release of TNG Season Seven on Blu-ray, and once again, we’ve been awarded a plethora of never-before-seen deleted scenes! Just like the cut footage from Season Four, Season Five, and Season Six, all of these new scenes have been rescanned from the original film negatives, just like the remastered episodes from which they were cut.

On the Blu-rays, each cut sequence is featured in context with clips from the final episode, and we’ve got a full breakdown and analysis of the first scenes below.

Episode 7.01: “Descent, Part II”

Scene 16: Data talks about his new-found emotions.

Brent Spiner channels Star Wars’ Yoda for a bit in this first cut scene:

“LOVE IS NOTHING MORE THAN THE ABSENCE OF HATE. JOY IS THE ABSENCE OF FEAR.”

This section of dialogue was removed as it is a bit redundant, reinforcing Data’s new ‘evil’ persona under Lore’s control. While it certainly highlights the change in the android’s persona, the deleted line doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense.

Episode 7.01: “Descent, Part II”

Scene 56: Riker and Worf spring Troi and Geordi from their holding cell.

This scene is brief, but answers one lingering question from the “Descent” finale: just how did Troi and a wounded La Forge escape from captivity anyhow?

In the final edit of this episode, Data takes Picard away for testing, the all of a sudden Riker and Worf show up, phasers blasting — and Troi and Geordi seem to be forgotten about until everyone is back aboard the Enterprise! It’s nice to see that there was at least an attempt to tie up this loose end in the original teleplay.

Episode 7.02: “Liaisons”

Scene 24: Worf is awoken in the middle of the night by Ambassador Byleth,
who demands a tour of the ship’s arboretum and science labs.

Worf just can’t catch a break after being assigned to guide Ambassador Byleth around the Enterprise, and we learn in the ending of “Liaisons” that Byleth’s antagonistic nature was only part of a cultural test used to learn about new species.

While it’s amusing to watch Worf scramble to meet yet another one of the ambassador’s unending requests, had this scene been left in the episode it would have likely been one too many jokes at Worf’s expense.

Episode 7.03: “Gambit, Part I”

Scene 2: Troi’s undercover work is dangerous, but that won’t stop her from having fun.

As the alien bartender tries to guess why Troi is looking for the unnamed criminal — later revealed to be a missing Jean-Luc Picard — the Betazoid plays up her role as a danger-seeking mercenary.

This clipped line adds a little bit of humor to the seemingly serious take on Troi’s hunt for her bounty, and it’s fun to see Marina Sirtis throwing herself into the part.

Episode 7.03: “Gambit, Part I”

Scene 7: Riker and Crusher come to terms with Picard’s death.

Trying bravely to keep her emotions in check, Beverly explains how she used a “multi-base progression” to match the recovered DNA to Picard’s medical records, and theorizes on how the remains became so badly damaged. Riker keeps his words to a minimum, clearly not knowing what to say in such a dark time.

In the final version of the episode, this entire scene is replaced with Jonathan Frakes’ somber “Acting Captain’s Log,” describing how Crusher positively identified Picard’s DNA in the remains found in the seedy bar. While this was likely a decision made to save time, it would have been nice to see some of Beverly’s reactions to the death of her longtime friend in the final edit.

Episode 7.03: “Gambit, Part I”

Scene 11: Yranac, the Yridian trader claiming to know how Picard died, tests Riker’s limits.

This is an extended version of the final confrontation between Riker and Yranac seen in the aired episode. As Riker asks more and more detailed questions, trying to identify the mercenaries who killed his captain, Yranac keeps putting up walls between himself and the truth about the barfight that resulted in Picard’s death.

We also see more of Riker’s threat to turn the trader over to the Klingon Empire, where the Yridian has several open warrants. He’s clearly frightened of being sent into Klingon custody, and he talks about how the Klingons treat their prisoners in this cut section of dialogue.

These edits are again simply removals made for time, as there’s no vital information being removed — the cuts tighten up the conversation and reduce some unneeded duplication.

Episode 7.03: “Gambit, Part I”

Scene 49: As Baran reveals his plans to raid a Federation facility,
Picard tries to save the outpost while not blowing his cover.

Baran describes his planned timeline for an attack on a Starfleet base, and Picard rightfully warns that the outpost will still have time to call for reinforcements. Baran thinks their mission will be fine, but his crew begins to voice their doubts about the upcoming assault — and Picard does his best to stoke the fires of discontent.

While it’s nice to see more of Patrick Stewart in his “Galen” cover identity, this conversation doesn’t add that much to the overall episode. It’s more of Baran and Picard sniping at each other, trying to get the crew to pick sides in their miniature cold war. Fun, but unnecessary.

Episode 7.04: “Gambit, Part II”

Scene 17: Riker improvises quickly, trying to stay on Baran’s good side.

After Baran learns repairs to his ship’s engines will take longer than he would like, he turns to Riker to speed things up — but Riker deftly chooses to side with the ship’s frazzled engineer. Baran then looks around for Galen, and sends Riker to “kick him out of bed.”

We already know that Baran has come to trust Riker — more than many others on his crew — so this is one more example of cutting footage that does nothing more than reiterate the status quo. No big loss.

Episode 7.04: “Gambit, Part II”

Scene 25: Baran learns his Klingon contact has been detained by the Enterprise,
and “Galen” blames Riker while casting doubt on Baran’s plan to raid the starship.

This extended conversation gives us a little more insight on why Baran was so willing to risk his crew to get to the Klingon courier, revealing that he received the Klingon’s scans of the missing artifact weeks ago. Baran also spells out more of his plan to board the Enterprise and recover the stone relic, to which “Galen” provides plenty of doubt.

This dialogue would have been nice to keep in the final edit, as it’s one of the livelier shouting matches the two-parter produced — but again, there’s nothing that important here that couldn’t have been removed for time, so it had to go. [td_smart_list_end]

There’s plenty more to come, as we’ve still got twelve more episodes worth of deleted scenes in Season 7 — stay tuned!

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