who played ardra star trek the next generation

Star Trek: Who Plays Ardra & Why Is She Familiar To Hallmark Fans?

Throughout their seven seasons on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the rest of the crew on the USS Enterprise butted heads with a vast assortment of intergalactic villains. A few of their most memorable foes include the warriors of the Klingon and the malevolent cyborgs of the Borg Collective, though the team also dealt with plenty of unique solo villains during their adventures across the stars.

One of the most intriguing opponents to face off against Picard and company was the alien con artist Ardra, who impersonated the mythical Ventaxian devil of the same name and fooled the people of Ventax II into believing she was a god. In the episode "Devil's Due," a Federation distress signal draws the Enterprise to Ventax II, where Picard investigates the return of this so-called devil and her supposedly magical powers.

While the manipulative Ardra is one of the more unique enemies ever faced by the Enterprise crew, she might actually seem very familiar to fans of the Hallmark television network. This alien imposter is played by Marta DuBois, best known for her role as Roberta Hansen in Hallmark's "McBride" film franchise. A quick-witted homicide detective who shares a romantic history with the titular Mike McBride (John Larroquette), Roberta Hansen has appeared in every single McBride film to date as McBride's partner and confidant.

DuBois made appearances across a variety of prolific television series

Though Marta DuBois remains most well known for her performance in Hallmark's popular mystery film franchise, during her decades-long television career, DuBois has appeared in some of the most iconic television shows of all time.

Outside of her memorable appearance on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," DuBois' impressive resume also includes small parts in "Walker, Texas Ranger," "The A-Team," "Matlock," "MacGyver" and "Law & Order: LA." DuBois was also well known for her performance as Princess Koji in the Emmy-winning adventure series "Tales of the Gold Monkey," and for her recurring role as Michelle Hue throughout "Magnum, P.I."

DuBois' last role came in a 2013 episode of the acclaimed comedy-drama series "Bones," playing a woman named Maureen Serrano who poisons a beloved ballroom dancer. Although DuBois passed away in 2018, she left behind a legacy that stretched across some of the most popular shows in television history –- and played one of the most memorable villains in all of "Star Trek: The Next Generation"

Marta DuBois

Series: TNG

Character: Ardra

Marta Dubois was the actress who played the impostor Ardra in the Star Trek: The Next Generation fourth season episode “Devil’s Due”.

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Ardra (impostor)

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"Ardra" was the alias of a female humanoid who lived during the mid- 24th century , who made a living as a con artist , impersonating people in order to gain wealth and favors.

Prior to 2367 , she gained access to a starship and crew which had advanced cloaking , transporter technology and energy beams which could create planetary tremors . She also had an implant put in her which allowed her to control her technology with eye movements. She successfully maintained 23 aliases in the same sector as Ventax II , as well as more in other sectors. She knew of other evil spirits as well.

In 2367, she learned of the Ventaxian myth of Ardra and the lore surrounding her return. She studied the myth and history, including the Contract of Ardra , and revealed herself to the Ventaxians, fooling them into believing that she was their deity . Acost Jared , the Ventaxian leader , immediately surrendered to her. She demanded a census and a measure of their productivity. Her knowledge was sufficient to deceive the Ventaxians and evade any accusations.

At the same time, Captain Jean-Luc Picard on the USS Enterprise -D arrived on the planet to respond to a Federation station distress call . Seeing her, he decided to help Acost Jared to disprove her assertions. Seeing Picard's defiant and disbelieving nature, the impostor immediately took interest in him, and attempted to seduce him, unsuccessfully.

The impostor also claimed she owned the Enterprise and her crew, due to the terms of the Contract, and had her ship's cloak extended over the Enterprise so Picard could not return to it. When Picard requested an arbitration of this situation, she agreed on condition that, if Picard lost, he would give himself to her willingly . She then participated in questioning Jared and Picard with Data acting as an arbitrator . "Ardra" continued to use her "powers" to prove to the court that she was indeed "real", while Picard focused on disproving her existence and role in events. He pointed out that all of the changes on Ventax were gradual, natural changes, with no indication that Ardra had so much as picked up a single piece of rubbish while Ventax was rebuilding its civilization. The impostor, in turn, simply had to establish that Jared believed she was Ardra and that her appearance long ago effected the change. Data confirmed that Ventaxian law validated her argument.

Unbeknownst to her, Geordi La Forge and Doctor Howard Clark , the station's director, were pinpointing her ship in orbit. Commander William T. Riker led an away team to arrest the ship and crew, and used the technology to prove to Jared that "Ardra" wasn't who she appeared. As a result of Picard's testimony, the impostor was taken under arrest by the Ventaxians. ( TNG : " Devil's Due ")

• 1 List of impersonated figures
• 2.1 Background information
• 2.2 Apocrypha
• 2.3 External link

List of impersonated figures [ ]

Appendices [ ]

Background information [ ].

The impostor Ardra was played by Marta Dubois .

During the first six different script versions, Ardra was originally a man. ( The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 19 , p. 10)

Apocrypha [ ]

In the spin-off novel Star Trek: Prey : The Hall of Heroes , as the crew of the USS Enterprise -E try to deal with the threat of a group of Klingon criminals descended from Kruge , they recognize some of the tricks used by their enemies as the same tricks used by Ardra and her affiliates. With this revelation, Picard contacts the still-imprisoned Ardra for insight into their actions, prompting Ardra to assist the Enterprise in neutralizing the current con artists, feeling that their actions cheapened what her organization was meant to stand for. Once Kruge and his allies are defeated, Ardra and the rest of her crew are released on a probationary period to deal with similar threats in the Federation, Ardra musing that she will enjoy the challenge.

External link [ ]

• Ardra (person) at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works

Star Trek: The Next Generation : "The Wounded"/"Devil's Due"

"The Wounded"

Or  The One Where We Meet The Cardassians, And The Warden Of Shawshank Prison Makes Some Bad Calls

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As though to prove me wrong after all my talk about closed episode continuity, the first entry in this week's  Star Trek  double feature picks up essentially where "Data's Day" leaves off. Oh, we don't deal with the ramifications of a Romulan spy infiltrating the Vulcan government (although I agree with the commenter who pointed out last week that you'd think this would be a pretty big deal). Nor does Data do much in the way of soft-shoe. But we do check in on O'Brien and Keiko, and their interactions suggest a couple still in the early stages of matrimonial bliss. Actually, they seem more like two people fumbling through a third date, one that isn't too likely to lead to a fourth. Keiko is less crazy this week, but there isn't a lot of chemistry between her and her apparent husband. (So maybe this episode takes place three or four years  after  "Data's Day"?) Maybe this is some kind of mail-order bride scenario or an arranged wedding.

Whatever the reason, O'Brien has more chemistry with his former captain, Ben Maxwell, then we ever see him having with his wife, but that works to "The Wounded's" advantage. This isn't an episode about marriage, or love, at least not of the romantic kind. This is more about trying to find honor in situations that require more subtle responses and how trauma can warp the judgment of even the best of men. It's an episode I enjoyed, although this is a story that's been done and been done to death many times before. I'm fairly certain we've seen some variation of this on  TNG  already and in  TOS and half a dozen other genre shows besides. Hell, this is basically Space Rambo, only Bob Gunton isn't 'roided up, and there's no Space Brian Dennehy getting in his face and thinking he's a hippie.

Stripped to its basics, this isn't a plot I automatically have a lot of interest in. It's one of those concepts (the warrior who can't find peace) that makes so much inherent sense that it becomes almost too familiar. Like, say, a Christmas episode when everyone has to be reminded that the holidays should be about everything  but  freaking out over buying the right toys. Once a theme or moral becomes a common part of our cultural experience, it becomes a sort of unwritten requirement or fall-back position for TV show writers. It's fertile material, but it also allows for lazy writing, because the structure is so readily identifiable. That means that nearly all of these stories follow the same arc, and it means that once you've seen a few of them, it can seem like you've seen them all. Not every show can support a storyline about a soldier unable to come in from the cold, but enough of them can, so that it's easy to recognize the signs.

When we learn that Maxwell, as Captain of the  Phoenix , destroyed a seemingly unprotected Cardassian science station, did anyone really think it was an innocent mistake, or that his behavior had been justified? I know I didn't. That's partly because a morally questionable Maxwell makes for a more interesting story (if the Cardassians were just flat out lying bastards … well, okay, we'll get to that), but also because the minute we learn about the massacre Maxwell and O'Brien witnessed, and how Maxwell lost his family, it doesn't take much effort to follow the lines. The only way to make this work is by finding a new angle to play it from. It doesn't have to be shockingly original, but it has to surprise us out of our expectations just long enough to get our attention.

"Wounded" mostly worked for me, and, as always, the details are the crucial difference between a decent episode, and a very good one. It's great to see O'Brien get so much attention; this is (if I'm remembering correctly) the first episode where he's been actually crucial to the resolution of the main storyline and not just in a "Well, somebody has to push the button that activates the transporters" kind of way. Colm Meaney is more than up to the task. His scenes with Keiko are enjoyable (although weirdly tense, as I kept expecting casual conversation to break into a soul-shredding, George-and-Martha-style argument at any moment), and his final scene with Gunton, as O'Brien tries to talk his former captain out of killing again, is understated and all the more moving for that.

Understatement is really the key word for Meaney's entire performance, and it's most crucial in his transition from pretending he's fine seeing Cardassians on board the  Enterprise , to admitting he's not all that happy to have to deal with their race again. There's subtext in his scenes here, always a welcome presence, and while we've seen characters denying their issues before (just last week, in fact), rarely have they seemed so utterly divided in their circumstance. O'Brien repeatedly tells everyone he has no problem with the Cardassians, and he never sounds all that defensive when he says it. And yet the instant he's left alone with the aliens, he's stand-offish to the point of rudeness, and it's not the kind of calculated rudeness you see from a man who quite realizes the depth of his disquiet. It's a small point, but an important one; instead of milking his internal conflict for more obvious drama, Meaney stays on the level throughout.

In addition to helping make that final scene (which ends with Maxwell and O'Brien singing a song together, which could've been mawkish, but is instead one of the most striking moments I've seen on the show, as it's just so simple and direct) work, unexpected subtlety benefits the rest of the episode as well, primarily in our introduction to the Cardassians. This is the first we've seen or heard of the race, and while it helps to know how important they'll become to the franchise in the future, specifically on  Deep Space Nine , the few we meet here are interesting enough in their own right, with or without context. We've met warlike races before, and initially, that's what the Cardassians seem to be. There's a treaty between them and the Federation, but it's only a year old, so things are still tense, and when the  Enterprise  moves into Cardassian space, a ship fires on them without provocation or warning. Not a good sign. When the  Enterprise  takes out the attacking ship's weapons and finally makes contact, we get our first glimpse of the Cardassians, and they don't look friendly. It's one of the coolest alien designs we've had on the show, really. They just look like monsters.

Which makes it all the more interesting when they don't actually  act  like monsters. Like I said, warlike races are a dime a dozen on the show, and it's been so long since I watched  DS9  that I fully expected Gul Macet, the Cardassian captain of the ship that attacks the  Enterprise  in the first scene, to start yelling and posturing and making a fuss. He's icily polite, however, and he maintains that detachment throughout the entire episode. Of the three Cardassians that beam over to the  Enterprise  to help Picard, et al., on their hunt for the  Phoenix , only one ever really displays an emotion, and he's quickly reprimanded and dismissed by his commanding officer. Clearly, this is a race that prides itself on maintaining equanimity whatever the cost, and the tension this creates between the intensity of the situation and Macet's measured response helps keep the audience off-balance.

Another point in "Wounded's" favor is how far Maxwell goes before the  Enterprise  is able to catch up with him. We hear that he destroyed the science station, but we get to "see" (in a science fiction kind of way) him take out a Cardassian battle cruiser and a supposedly un-armed cargo ship as well. It's not a huge point, but destruction does raise the stakes, and it's effective because it's a strong choice from a dramatic perspective. We don't see the Cardassians dying, and we certainly don't know anything about them before they explode, but their deaths can't simply be waved away as a mistake or tactical error. I also like that Picard eventually caves and provides Macet with the  Phoenix 's transponder codes, thus, theoretically at least, opening Maxwell's ship up to attack. He's forced into a situation where he has no other choice, and that he accepts this, rather than blustering, fits in with his character. That the codes prove ultimately worthless is just a bonus, plot-wise.

I'm not sure what to make of Picard's deduction that Maxwell really was on to something and that the Cardassians aren't being entirely forthcoming about their plans in the end. It does allow Picard to make some strong, difficult choices; he argues that Maxwell was still in the wrong, since his actions would've eventually led back to war. The only way to hold to the peace treaty is to keep an appearance of surface friendliness and hope everybody calms the hell down. Which is all very Cold War of Picard and so forth, but while I appreciate the attempt to add another wrinkle of moral complexity to the story, I'm not sure how well it works that the Cardassians really do turn out to be kind of evil. Although making them perfectly good would've been an over-simplification the other way. Hm.

Maybe it's better to focus on O'Brien's conversation with a Cardassian officer in Ten-Forward. It hits just the right tone; O'Brien is attempting to make up for his rudeness earlier, and the Cardassian, while uncomfortable aboard the  Enterprise , is likable and clearly trying to make a good impression. Things get awkward when O'Brien explains his bad feelings towards Cardassians, describing the massacre that killed Maxwell's family and led to O'Brien killing a Cardassian in battle, but what I love about the scene is that it doesn't get  too  awkward. O'Brien doesn't end his speech screaming or in a rage, and there's no fighting between him and the other officer. It plays less like something that's supposed to teach us a lesson about how war messes with people's minds and more like just an honest conversation between two individuals trying to find some mutual understanding in an impossible situation. This isn't the dramatic highpoint of the episode, but it works very well. It's moments like that which make "The Wounded"'s familiar ideas still seem fresh.

Stray Observations:

• "Maybe I'll have something special for you tonight, too." OMG, guys! I think Keiko is talking about S-E-X! Tee-hee, snicker, blush, etc.
• "I hate what I became because of you."
• Another nice touch: The song Maxwell and O'Brien sing is the same song O'Brien was singing earlier at dinner with his wife. A dead comrade used to sing it.

"Devil's Due"

Or  The One Where Picard Plays Daniel Webster

Well, that was  fun . And a nice change of pace after the somberness of "Wounded," to boot.

Did you know there was supposed to be a second  Star Trek  series with most of the original cast? Of course you did, because you know pretty much everything. But in case your memory is hazy,  Star Trek: Phase II  was planned in the late '70s, after numerous attempts to bring the  Trek  crew to the big screen had failed. The show folded before completing any episodes, but it gave us Will Decker and the bald babe Illia, who both popped up in  Star Trek: The Motion Picture . It also gave us a handful of story ideas that would eventually get recycled into episodes of  TNG . This includes "The Child," which means I have someone else to blame for that one, as well as today's far more palatable entry, "Devil's Due." (This brief history lesson provided courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Even if we didn't know this, it would be easy to mistake "Due" for an episode of the original series. It has the same broad tone, the pushy sexuality that's more than a little campy, the parable-style morality. Once we understand the central conflict, there's no real effort made to deepen that conflict or subvert our expectations for where the story will go. A thousand years ago, the people of Ventax II made a deal with Ardra, their version of the Devil, for a millennium of peace and prosperity. At the end of that millennium, Ardra would come back to take ownership of the planet and everyone on it. Funnily enough, that millennium is just about over when the  Enterprise  arrives to help a beleaguered science station (man, science stations are like the red-headed step-children of  TNG ). And a few minutes after Picard and a few others beam down to try and talk some sense into a paranoid government, a woman arrives claiming to be Ardra, demanding what's rightfully hers.

It's not hard to see where this is going. "Ardra" is a con-woman, and it's up to our heroes to prove she's a con-woman in a way that nullifies the contract with Ventax II. Science versus superstition, and all that rot. On the one hand, well, it's somewhat difficult to justify the  Enterprise  giving over so much time to such a silly conflict. The episode does its best to pretend that Ardra is a real threat, but given the sort of the threats we usually encounter on the show, I'm not really buying it. She mostly an irritant, and her ridiculous claim that she owns the  Enterprise  along with the rest of the planet only makes sense if you don't think about it too hard. Really, Picard is just picking a fight because he's annoyed, and while I'm not sure that would work as a long-term policy for Starfleet, Patrick Stewart is entertaining enough while irritated that that doesn't, ultimately, matter. (Maybe he's just happy to finally get a Q-like being whose ass he can kick.)

Past this, we already know Ardra is a fake, which means that in order for the episode to have any real tension at all, it has to spend most of its running time trying to make us doubt our assumptions. So we get increasingly impressive displays of Ardra's power. She can transport herself pretty much anyplace she likes, seemingly change forms, and cause earthquakes. Oh, and she can seemingly make the  Enterprise  disappear, which isn't too shabby. None of this is ever really convincing. It might've worked in  TOS , where the rules were looser and the frontier more wild, but on  TNG , reality is too well established. There's civilization. There are systems intact, and these systems don't allow for the existence of anything as tacky as the Devil. (Although it does allow for Picard's horrible beachwear, so maybe the laws of wardrobe are exempt.) Picard never doubts that Ardra is a sham, so why should we?

So, without any real drama, "Due" has to fall back on charm. How well that works depends on how much of a kick you get from seeing Picard playing Captain Kirk for most of the running time. Actually, Picard behaves much as he always does: smart, capable, and not much one for shenanigans. But Ardra is instantly smitten with his cue-ball good looks and general air of contempt and goes to great lengths to seduce him. She even makes him the prize in the bet that drives the episode's climax. Now, arguably, part of her efforts here are to try and get him to back off his investigations; if Picard was a little less scrupulous (and Ardra a shade hotter), he might have compromised himself and thus let Ardra go about her con without interfering. But Picard is so clearly disinterested that any strategic advantage to be gained from seducing him is basically moot. There's no way Ardra could have gotten away with her game for long, but she might have been able to maintain it long enough to rob the Ventaxians blind if she'd timed her efforts better. Maybe she could have waited until after the  Enterprise  left. At the very least, claiming the ship belongs to her means she's a "flimflam artist" with a perilously overstated notion of her own abilities. It's especially telling that, when she zaps herself into Picard's bedroom and starts trying on different bodies to please him, she turns into Troi (the  Enterprise  female crew member she's most familiar with), rather than the more appropriate-to-Picard Beverly.

Ardra isn't much of a threat, nobody's really in danger, and it's not hard to see how all of this plays out. But it's silly, goofy fun for the most part. Not remarkable and maybe a little disappointing in its unwillingness to bring  TNG 's now-expected complexity to the situation. (Wouldn't it have been cool to get more of a sense of how the Ventaxians were dealing with this? Maybe have a religious leader helping to fund Ardra's efforts as a way of grabbing power?) But it's nothing to be embarrassed about. And yes, I'm including Picard's ridiculously short .. what the hell is that, anyway, a bed dress or something? "Due" resolves in the expected manner; Picard and his crew managed to trace Ardra's powers back to their source, and they used that source to prove she was a fake by duplicating her effects. (I did like Picard's arguments that Ardra didn't really do anything to give Ventax II peace.) It's satisfying, in a "bazooka taking down a housefly" kind of way. The whole thing is a lark.

By happy coincidence, "Due" begins with Data and Picard engaging in theater games on the holodeck; this time, instead of Shakespeare, Data is playing Scrooge in a "production" of  A Christmas Carol . So what do you know? An actual Christmas moment on a show that generally avoids references to specific holidays or seasonal charms. (Generally to their credit.) "Due" isn't a Christmas episode, and arguably, the episode's main theme, the rejection of superstition in favor of logic and reasoning, is in direct conflict with pretty much every Yuletide-themed TV episode ever made. It almost makes me wish we  did  get a  TNG  Christmas show, although I'm sure it would have been awful. Anyway, it was a cute bit, and offers me the chance to say: Happy holidays, everyone. If you get presents, I hope you get what you want. And if you don't exchange gifts in your family, I hope you have neighbors who do, and that they don't always lock their doors. See you next week.

Stray Observations: 

• Picard tells Data that "flimflam artists" (I really can't get enough of that term) use fear. It's an interesting point; most stories about confidence artists focus on how they build trust with their marks, but I suppose fear also creates a bond. The drawback is that if your mark is afraid of you, they have every reason to want to end your relationship. If the mark  trusts  you, though, you get to decide when to move on.
• "On the contrary. I find you obvious and vulgar." Picard burn!
• Next week, we send off the old year with "Clues" and "First Contact."

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Devil's Due

Cast & crew.

Marta Dubois

Paul Lambert

Dr. Howard Clarke

Marcelo Tubert

Acost Jared

Devil Monster

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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E13DevilsDue

Recap / Star Trek: The Next Generation S4E13 "Devil's Due"

Edit locked.

Original air date: February 4, 1991

Data is performing a scene as Ebenezer Scrooge in a A Christmas Carol holoplay for Picard, who gives him a glowing review. Data states that he'd like to try Method Acting to gain a better understanding of human emotions. Picard is then called away as the Enterprise receives a distress signal from a Federation science station on Ventax II. The station's director, Dr. Clark, explains that the station is being attacked by the planet's populace, which has erupted into chaos over a belief that their world is about to end. Once the Enterprise arrives at the planet, the Ventaxians break into the station, and Dr. Clark is beamed aboard in the nick of time. Unfortunately, the rest of the scientists are taken hostage by the mob and the Enterprise can't get a lock on them.

In the ready room, Dr. Clark explains that the Ventaxians were a highly advanced civilization until 1,000 years ago, when they suddenly turned their backs on technology and reverted to an agrarian society. Despite their low tech level, Clark describes their society as idyllic—until a few months ago, when the people became increasingly obsessed with the legend of Ardra, the Ventaxian Devil figure who promised the people 1,000 years of prosperity in return for the planet's enslavement 1,000 years later. That was precisely 1,000 years ago. The crew beams down to the planet in an attempt to release the hostages and talk sense into the mob. The planet's head of state, Acost Jared, says that there's nothing he can do, as all the signs pointing to Ardra's return have occurred, including earthquakes and visions of the woman herself. As if on cue, a woman materializes in their midst and states, "Time's up!"

The woman starts talking and walking around like she literally owns the place, demanding a full census of the population with emphasis on productivity and economic forecasts. She takes special interest in the Starfleet crew, especially Picard himself. When questioned about her identity, she states that she is indeed Ardra as well as the devil figure on countless other worlds, changing her shape to demonstrate. Picard still isn't buying it and demands to see the original contract that bound the world to Ardra. Ardra magnanimously frees the Starfleet hostages, but Picard decides that he will not abandon the world to "that woman." He sets Data to examining the contract and beams away.

In the conference room, the crew discusses the possibility that Ardra is a member of the Q continuum—or even Q himself, disguised as a woman for kicks. Picard points out that Q wouldn't care about contracts or economic forecasts; he is convinced that the woman is a simple Con Artist , with tricks that can be easily accomplished via technology, seeking to take advantage of the legend of Ardra to take over the planet. Returning to the bridge, Picard orders a search for a possible base of operations, but stops short when he sees Ardra herself, sitting in Picard's chair. Worf tries to remove her, but ( predictably ) ends up bouncing off a force field. Data returns to report that Ardra's contract is ironclad. Ardra states that it also gives her claim over everything in the planet's airspace and orbit—including the Enterprise . Data confirms that this is true.

As Data continues to study the Ventaxian legal system, Ardra begins trying to seduce Picard, showing up in his quarters and changing her shape in an attempt to please him, but he rejects her. She teleports him to the starbase in his pajamas in retaliation, surprising Geordi and Clark, and disabling the transporters, forcing Data to pick him up in a shuttle with a spare uniform. En route back to the ship, Data relates that he found a legal precedent involving a contract dispute between a Ventaxian and a Klingon craftsman, where it was decided that due to one of the parties being alien, it was a matter for arbitration and not the courts. Picard notes that this is just what they need and that they will be able to lure Ardra into it by playing a con of their own... Unfortunately, as they're discussing this, the Enterprise suddenly vanishes.

Geordi tries to locate the ship but can't find it anywhere within one light-year. However, he did notice a jump of Technobabble Particles and claims that if they can get Ardra to do some more of her tricks, they might pinpoint her power source. Picard then goes to Ardra and explains the arbitration precedent. Ardra doesn't see why she should agree to this, prompting Picard to promise her a legendary priceless jewel if she wins. Ardra isn't interested and proposes a different offer: Picard himself, "heart, mind and soul." Picard reluctantly agrees, leaving only the matter of who should be the arbiter: Ardra chooses Data, under the rationale that as an android he is incapable of bias. Data takes Picard aside and confirms that he would not give Picard any special treatment should he be appointed, but Picard agrees on the principle that Data is the only person on the planet whom Ardra cannot intimidate.

The trial... er... arbitration of the century then begins. The beginning doesn't go well, since Ardra manages to use a few iffy yet acceptable-under-Ventaxian-law arguments, as well as intimidate Jared (the sole witness) to "prove" that she is indeed Ardra. At one point she demonstrates her powers again (testing Data's patience) and asks Picard if he can explain them. Picard cannot. Meanwhile, Geordi and Clark technobabble their way through tracking Ardra's power source with little success.

Picard decides on a different approach. Unable to prove that she is not Ardra, he disputes her involvement in the bettering of Ventaxian society in the 1,000 years that followed the dark days that prompted the deal. By questioning Jared, Picard proves that all of the improvements were made by the Ventaxians themselves without any help from Ardra. However, Ardra responds by asking Jared if the terrible conditions would have continued had she not intervened. Jared replies yes. This is taken as evidence that the contract was fulfilled.

Things look pretty grim for Picard until Geordi enters the room and Picard asks for a recess, under the guise of Geordi bringing evidence for review. Geordi explains that they have tracked the power source: a ship equipped with a "bad copy" of a Romulan cloaking device parked near the planet's magnetic North Pole. The Enterprise 's "disappearance" was accomplished by simply extending the cloaking field over it. Geordi has contacted the ship, and Picard and Geordi hatch a plan...

The arbitration resumes. Picard claims that Ardra has no powers whatsoever and decides to prove it by "stealing" them. Picard then causes some earthquakes of his own, makes Ardra disappear, and assumes the guise of Fek'lhr, all of which Ardra is powerless to stop. Picard explains that the Enterprise has seized control of her ship, where all the technology she used to perform her tricks was held. He also reveals that "Ardra" was telling the truth when she claimed to have many names: her crew revealed she's used 23 aliases in that sector alone. Data declares the contract dissolved and "Ardra" is arrested. She claims Picard would have "more fun" if he had lost and gives an "until we meet again."

This episode contains examples of:

• Abhorrent Admirer : How Picard sees Ardra. Not that she's really ugly... far from it .
• Actor Allusion : At the start of the episode, Picard is enjoying Data's performance as Ebenezer Scrooge. Around the time this episode aired, Patrick Stewart had appeared on Broadway doing a one-man stage adaptation of A Christmas Carol .
• Apocalypse Anarchy : Dr. Clark and his team get caught up in a riot, and Jared mentions that more chaos is going on.
• Ardra accuses Picard and company of this, since despite all the incredible and varied things Picard and the crew of the Enterprise have seen over the course of their careers, no-one ever considers the possibility that Ardra is what she claims she is. They briefly consider that she may be Q (or a Q), but dismiss it on the grounds that no Q would be interested in a planet's economics. It may be, however, that it's because of this experience, where all claims of supernatural beings always turn out to be some variety of Sufficiently Advanced Aliens , that they doubt her.
• Ardra repeatedly demonstrates a lack of any kind of extrasensory abilities. She did not know about the Federation hostages, requires a census of the population as well as economic forecasts, is unaware that Data is an android until told, and just generally asks a lot of questions that one would expect a genuinely godlike being to already know the answers to. This is an obvious tipoff that she is neither the "devil" nor an advanced alien. Ardra also flubs Klingon mythology by saying that Fek'lhr was the Klingon devil (he's not, Klingons have no devil.)
• Badass Fingersnap : Picard does this when turning Ardra's "powers" against her. Q would approve.
• Big Red Devil : When Ardra claims that I Have Many Names , she says "Devil" is one she hasn't heard in a long time. Later on (presumably after doing some research on Earth mythology), she transforms into a classic scarlet-skinned devil in an attempt to intimidate Picard.
• Blatant Lies : When Picard asks Ardra to stop the tremors he caused (having confiscated her ship), she claims "I like the tremors!"
• Bullying a Dragon : One has to wonder what Ardra thought was going to happen when she decided to mess with the Federation's flagship and its most accomplished crew, since she isn't what she claimed to be.
• Clarke's Third Law : Played with . Ardra's tricks are performed using technology, but it turns out to be technology that the Enterprise itself possesses (or at least knows of), dressed up to look more impressive than it is. (And the head scientist at the station actually being named Clark is very likely a sly nod to this.) Picard: Her powers are, at the best, unclear. Think about it, Mister Worf. Transporter technology can make things appear and disappear. The illusion that she can transform herself into a Klingon creature could be created by holographic projection. Clark: And creating a minor tremor could be the result of a low frequency tractor beam projected against the tectonic plates. Picard: We are capable of recreating all of these events. It's just that she dresses them up and she delivers them with more dramatic flair.
• Worf isn't fully successful at hiding his nervousness when Ardra takes the form of Fek'lhr— after all, he tortures the dishonored dead in Klingon mythology, and Worf is still suffering under discommendation . By Klingon standards, he's headed straight to Hell if he should die.
• In the TOS episode " Day of the Dove ", Kang told Kirk that the Klingons don't have a Devil. In this episode, Fek'lhr is not the Klingon Devil; he is the guardian of Gre'thor, the Klingon Hell, similar to Cerberus from ancient Greek Mythology.
• Courtroom Episode : With Data as the utterly impartial arbitrator. It makes you wonder if any other civilization has thought of using androids for arbitrators or judges.
• Deal with the Devil : The whole situation rests on the claim of a deal with Ardra that the Ventaxians made with her a thousand years ago that she would give them a thousand years of peace and prosperity in exchange for her enslaving the entire populace when the time period expired. The criminal known as Ardra appears at the present time to take advantage of this to make the planet surrender its resources to her.
• Don't Call Me "Sir" : Ardra, despite enjoying her power over the Ventaxans. Jared: Ardra, most powerful one, I am Jared, Leader of Ventax Two. I take responsibility for all that displeases you. Please, do not punish my people. Ardra: Punish? Who said anything about punishing? I merely expect your end of our contract to be upheld. Jared: Thank you, Ardra. Ardra: And don't talk like some ancient prophet around me, with "thee's" and "thou's" and "most powerful one's". It was appealing for a few centuries, but I bore easily. And stop cowering. When I want you on your knees, I'll let you know.
• The Dreaded : Ardra has an entire planet quivering in fear at her very mention.
• Evil Is Hammy : Ardra relishes her power over the Ventaxians and putting the moves on Picard. She seems to prefer the Cold Ham variety— she comes off soft-spoken and doesn't raise her voice too much, but she definitely carries herself like an Evil Overlord .
• Foreshadowing : Data's rehearsal of the Jacob Marley scene at the beginning introduces the two main themes of the episode: the power of fear, and how far you should trust what your senses tell you.
• The Ghost : We never see Ardra's ship or the crew helping her pull off the whole flimflam.
• God Guise : The criminal claiming to be Ardra has assumed the identity of the Ventaxian Devil.
• Holographic Disguise : Some of Ardra's tricks involve this, including temporarily taking over the appearance of an Enterprise bridge crew member. Picard uses this knowledge at the end during the arbitration by taking on the form of Fek'lhr with the same technology.
• Hot as Hell : Ardra wastes no time flaunting what she's got.
• Hypocrite : When Picard "steals" Ardra's powers, Ardra appeals to the judge despite having used the same antics earlier. Data declares that under the circumstances, Picard is allowed some leeway .
• Ignore the Fanservice : Picard isn't even the least bit tempted by Ardra.
• I Have Many Names : Ardra boasts this in her role as The Devil . Interestingly, this turns out to be true, though only in her criminal career.
• Invisibility Cloak : Part of Ardra's bag of tricks. Turns out to be of low enough quality for Geordi to penetrate it .
• Ironic Echo : A visual one: when Picard "steals" Ardra's powers, he replicates a trio of her prior tricks: First, he causes an earthquake (which Ardra can't stop), then he makes Ardra disappear briefly, and finally gives himself the guise of Fek'lhr.
• Leitmotif : Ardra has her own little theme tune, slightly seductive and somewhat creepy that plays whenever she appears unexpectedly on-scene.
• Loophole Abuse : Heroic variant: "Ardra", after being outed as a con artist, withdraws her claim to the planet. It's for this reason ("the advocate's withdrawal") that Data declares the contract null and void, even though "Ardra" is not the actual advocate as has just been proven. (It's not a loophole so much as an unenforceable contract, since no one else claiming to be Ardra showed up to stake her claim to Ventax II when the time came. Since the sole claimant has been exposed as an impostor, the contract is dissolved.)
• Magic Feather : Picard argues that the original deal with Ardra was a case of this, as there are no records of her actually helping to create the Utopian society the Ventaxians now enjoy, and their history actually indicates the idea of the deal helped the people put in the hard work necessary to create it themselves. Ardra doesn't dispute this, but argues it's irrelevant; the deal never specified how the planet would improve, only that it would.
• Ardra's tricks in the courtroom leave enough of a signature for Geordi and the Federation scientists to track.
• For that matter, Ardra's insistence on messing with the Enterprise rather than sticking with conning the Ventaxians does nothing but reinforce Picard's determination to expose her.
• No Such Thing as Space Jesus : Ardra turns out to be a regular human or alien using advanced technology to pose as a god.
• Satanic Archetype : Ardra proclaims to be several.
• "Scooby-Doo" Hoax : A 24th century version, as all of Ardra's tricks are merely the use of transporters, tractor beams, cloaking fields, and holography.
• Second Coming : Of Ardra, which the criminal posing as her takes advantage of. Interestingly, this Second Coming is a bad one; the one coming back is a Satanic Archetype here to collect on a society-wide Deal with the Devil .
• Shout-Out : After Ardra orders the release of the Federation hostages , Picard contacts Dr. Clark to let him know they're being freed, who responds "You did it, Captain. Thank goodness." Picard replies, " Goodness had nothing to do with it. "
• Speak of the Devil : The Ventaxians consider it unlucky to speak Ardra's name aloud.
• Unspoken Plan Guarantee : Picard tells Geordi he has a plan, but they have only one hour to prepare. The scene immediately cuts to an hour forward, and we see their plan being put into action.
• Vapor Wear : The outfit Ardra dons when she transports into Picard's quarters to seduce him is practically transparent. It doesn't work .
• Villain Ball : Though Picard was incited to meddle already (despite his claim of only caring about the hostages at first), Ardra goes out of her way to involve the already-suspicious Enterprise in her con, up to and including attempting to lay claim to the ship, all but ensuring that Picard would have to unravel her deception in order to settle the issue.
• Villainous Crush : Ardra makes it quite clear how attracted to Picard she is. Unfortunately for her, the feeling isn't mutual. Still, she does whatever she can to make him hers.
• We Will Meet Again : Ardra threatens Picard with this as she's taken away. While she never returns in the TV series, she does appear in a three-part story in the comics published by DC and the Star Trek: Prey novel The Hall of Heroes .
• Whole-Plot Reference : The episode is a 24th Century retelling of " The Devil and Daniel Webster ", with Ardra as the Devil, the Ventaxians as the defendant, Picard as the attorney.
• The Worf Effect : Worf is summoned to throw Ardra off the bridge and is so out-matched she doesn't even have to stand up. She just sits there as Worf bounces off her invisible force-field.
• Wrong Assumption : A subtle case as Picard doesn't actually mention anything about it, but Ardra assumes that Troi is the crewmate he's attracted to rather than Dr. Crusher.

Video Example(s):

I find you obvious and vulgar.

In "Devil's Due" from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Captain Picard has caught the eye of a con artist stylizing herself as "Ardra," who's laid claim to an entire planet and the starship Enterprise. She's certainly hot enough, but he very much wants nothing to do with her claim on him and his soul. He tells her that far from tantalizing, he finds her obvious and vulgar, but she warns him he'll regret rejecting her.

Example of: Abhorrent Admirer

• Star Trek: The Next Generation S4E12 "The Wounded"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Star Trek: The Next Generation S4E14 "Clues"

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Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 4, Episode 13

Devil's due, where to watch, star trek: the next generation — season 4, episode 13.

Watch Star Trek: The Next Generation — Season 4, Episode 13 with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

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Cast & crew.

Patrick Stewart

Capt. Jean-Luc Picard

Jonathan Frakes

Cmdr. William Riker

LeVar Burton

Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge

Michael Dorn

Gates McFadden

Dr. Beverly Crusher

Marina Sirtis

Counselor Deanna Troi

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Ardra was the alias used by the female antagonist of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Devil's Due".

She was portrayed by Marta Dubois.

History [ ]

A member of the Circle of Jilaan, in the mid 24th century this woman had become aware of the Ventaxian mythological entity Ardra and that in the 14th century the people of Ventax II had entered into a Contract with Ardra for 1,000 years of peace and prosperity at the end of which she would return to take control of Ventax II.

She prepared extensively for her role, studying the Contract of Ardra quite carefully. She then set about using technology such as tractor beams, holograms, and transporter effects to manipulated the people of Ventax II into believing Ardra was about to return.

On the day the contract came due, she appeared as Ardra in the capital city. She demanded a census and economic forecasts from the Ventaxians. At first the Enterprise crew speculated about the possibility of Ardra being another refugee from the Q Continuum, or Q himself, but Picard noted that Q would never bother with contracts.

Picard and the Enterprise crew worked with a Federation science team on Ventax II to determine how Ardra was creating all her "magic" effects, especially after she claimed the Enterprise as her own ship.

Picard was able to manipulate Ardra into entering into an arbitration with him over the validity of the Contract of Ardra. Meanwhile Geordi LaForge was able to pinpoint her cloaked ship that provided Ardra with all her magic tricks. The Enterprise crew took over Ardra's ship and exposed her scam to Data, who was acting as a judge for the arbitration.

Realizing she was exposed, Ardra said she was releasing the Ventaxians from the contract and began to move towards the door. Before she could escape the Ventaxians arrested Ardra for her deception.

Ardra was later retrieved from prison by the crew of the USS Aventine to assist the crew of the Enterprise in resolving a series of attacks on the Klingon Empire where a group of criminals was using illusions similar to the ones she had used. She was offered parole on the condition that she undo the damage the Circle of Jilaan had done over the years. Finding that preferable to going back to the prison where she had spent the past 20 years, she agreed to that condition.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation

Set almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers sets off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on its own mission to go where no one has gone before. Set almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers sets off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on its own mission to go where no one has gone before. Set almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers sets off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on its own mission to go where no one has gone before.

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• Trivia Almost everyone in the cast became life-long friends. At LeVar Burton 's 1992 wedding, Brent Spiner served as best man, and Sir Patrick Stewart , Jonathan Frakes , and Michael Dorn all served as ushers. Man of the People (1992) (#6.3) aired on that day.
• Goofs It is claimed that Data can't use contractions (Can't, Isn't, Don't, etc) yet there are several instances throughout the series where he does. One of the first such examples is heard in Encounter at Farpoint (1987) , where Data uses the word "Can't" while the Enterprise is being chased by Q's "ship".

[repeated line]

Capt. Picard : Engage!

• Crazy credits The model of the Enterprise used in the opening credits is so detailed, a tiny figure can be seen walking past a window just before the vessel jumps to warp speed.
• Alternate versions The first and last episodes were originally broadcast as two-hour TV movies, and were later re-edited into two one-hour episodes each. Both edits involved removing some scenes from each episode.
• Connections Edited into Reading Rainbow: The Bionic Bunny Show (1988)

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