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I selected this episode because it sheds some light on the similarities of the various species in the Star Trek universe.

This science mystery brings together a number of Star Trek species on a biological scavenger hunt.
Character-wise, we learn a bit more about Picard, but really the focus of the episode is focused on solving the mystery.

Personally, this episode aired my senior year of college, while I was taking a class in Evolution.
This story is based on the idea of Panspermia.

As a Trek Fan, I liked this notion, that all species have a common progenitor.

From a practical point of view, the production crew needed to create different species but also keep special effects and costume costs down. So jokingly most Trek species have "stuff on their faces". Which makes sense, and honestly based on 80s/90s SFX, it was better that most species were simple but distinct.

This episode takes an evolutionary theory and uses it to give an explanation for all species' common looks.

The communication from the Romulan commander to Picard was a nice moment at the end, that gives a bit of hope that despite political ideology that we are all related.

I know there have been several sci-fi franchises that have gone with a variation on this theme. Marvel comics touched on this with the Celestials, the "space gods" that would travel from planet to planet "tweaking" the DNA of various species, then circling around a few hundred thousand years later to see how those experiments have been working out.

It is interesting that all of the fragments needed for the message could be found in the Alpha and/or Beta Quadrant, because I would guess that this "seeding" must have happened across the galaxy, since we've still seen a lot of similar humanoid structure in the Gamma and Delta Quadrants as well. That makes me wonder if there were some "repeated" fragmentary messages in similar species separated by quadrants. For example, maybe Kaizon based DNA provides a similar marker to Klingon DNA?

First of all, this is the most reptilian I have seen the Cardassians.

I also got a kick out of the Klingon Leader challenging Data and Data being nonplussed by the whole thing. And then the Klingon smiled.

I also am finding the Romulans to be an interesting foil for the Federation. They seem more civil than the Cardassians, Klingons, or Ferengi.

As for the revelation, I thought it was an interesting result and a fun little cultural tie in with Picard and the Romulan commander.