Headscratchers / Star Trek The Next Generation S 7 E 11 The Pegasus

• The Treaty of Algeron banning the Federation from possessing cloaking devices has angered multiple fans, who wonder why the Federation would agree to such a treaty. However, Trek commentator SF Debris pointed out that we only know this one piece of the treaty. With every Romulan being The Chessmaster, it could very well be that they gave up several short-term advantages (such as a number of star systems in the Neutral Zone) just to gain this one long-term advantage.
  • Not to mention the Romulans are well known as nigh inscrutable. It's possible that the Treaty of Algeron was the result of the Federation erring on the side of caution, not wanting to risk what could have been a very costly war. All of this is speculation, though, since only the existence of the treaty, the existence of the Tomed Incident that incited the treaty, and the year said treaty was signed are indisputable canon (that is, on the show or in the movies). It's possible that there were a million other factors that influenced the treaty's terms.
  • As established in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, it did not take much for Kirk to overcome a ship that was perpetually cloaked. Even if the Romulans or Klingons came up with better cloaking devices, the Federation would likely not be slouches in detecting cloaked ships. And as established in several episodes, novelizations, and video games, use of a Cloaking Device would require a ship to drop their shields likely due to the massive amount of power required for the cloak. Perhaps the Federation decided that shielded ships are better than cloaked ones.
  • It's rather self-evident that the Federation got something in return for a concession. That's how treaties between evenly matched parties work.
• SF Debris also pointed out that this episode establishes that Riker served for six years in Starfleet before he was assigned to the Enterprise. Six years from ensign and Academy graduate to the first officer of the Federation flagship (which he only even took because he refused captaincy of at least one other ship) is an incredible meteoric rise, and SF Debris muses if Pressman may have pulled some strings to ensure Riker's continued silence. In fact, Riker might have rose even more, but the reveal of his involvement in this incident would explain why it would take another 9 years before he was offered (and would ultimately accept) another command.
  • Riker is described by Picard as the finest officer he's ever worked with. His meteoric rise is more likely due to simply being good at his job. It also doesn't really seem like Pressman and Riker have kept up with each other over the years. Also, Riker is very proud of his career and a very principled man. You'd expect him to feel very conflicted if it were clear that he'd received unearned promotions. And if Pressman was pulling strings for Riker, was he also doing it for the seven other survivors, who would all have been further along in their careers? It seems a little far-fetched that Pressman has been personally interceding in the careers of eight officers over the past 12 years.
• Might fall under more Fridge Horror than here, but an asteroid field as (unrealistically) dense as the one presented in the episode would not only be filled with huge visible bodies like the one the Enterprise-D flew inside, but also would be thick with dust- and gravel-sized particles. How many of those got fused with the Enterprise's internal structures and spaces when the ship transitioned out of the phase cloak in front of the Romulan warbird? It would not be a fun cleanup to accomplish and might well have structurally compromised the ship for the rest of its life.