Coming of Age ( episode ) As Wesley Crusher faces the Starfleet Academy entrance exam on Relva VII , representatives from Starfleet Command conduct an exhaustive investigation into Captain Picard and the " Enterprise " - D crew . Summary . Teaser . Wesley Crusher runs through a corridor to catch up with his friend Jake Kurland and tell him he ' s sorry that he didn ' t make the final exam for Starfleet Academy . Jake was short just 32 points says it is okay and wishes Wes the best . The is in orbit around Relva VII , where Wesley is taking the Starfleet Academy entrance exam . Captain Picard ' s old friend , Admiral Gregory Quinn is also at Relva and he requests to beam aboard immediately . He brings Lieutenant Commander Remmick with him , and wants a private meeting with Picard , on official business . The three officers go to the ready room . Act One . Remmick is with the Inspector General ' s office and is there to conduct a thorough investigation of the " Enterprise " - D . According to Quinn , there is something seriously wrong on the " Enterprise " - D , but he won ' t tell Picard what . He orders him to cooperate fully with the investigation . On Relva , Wes is in the testing center examining a flux coordinating sensor , when a Human girl comes in . She introduces herself as Oliana Mirren , and she is also taking the test . Then a Vulcan , T ' Shanik , enters , along with a Benzite , Mordock . Wes has heard of Mordock ; he constructed the Mordock Strategy . The officer in charge of the test , Lieutenant , enters . He tells them that they are all top candidates , but only one of them can go forward to the academy this year . He warns them that the test will be challenging , as well as exhausting and wishes them the best . Remmick is on the bridge , watching the crew , who are not happy with his presence . Riker goes to the ready room to ask Picard what is going on . Picard tells him he doesn ' t know . Riker is unhappy with this , so when he returns to bridge and Remmick asks to talk to him , Riker refuses , saying he has duties to attend to . Act Two . Down on the planet , the candidates are finishing one part of the exam , the hyperspace physics test . Oliana comments how lucky Wes and Mordock are that everything comes so easy to them , but Wesley denies this , saying he has to study hard . Riker apologizes to Picard for his earlier behavior , and goes with Remmick when he asks him to . They go to the ready room , where Remmick questions Riker about discrepancies in the logs . Riker argues with him and is generally uncooperative . Remmick asks La Forge in engineering about the incident with Kosinski and the Traveler , and La Forge is forced to acknowledge that the captain lost control of the ship . He questions Troi about the incident with the , saying it demonstrated a mental lapse on Picard ' s part . Wesley is in an empty holodeck when Worf enters . Wes asks him about the test , saying he ' s most worried about the psych test . Worf tells him there ' s no point in worrying about something that you can ' t change . The test confronts you with your greatest fear , and Worf reveals that his own greatest difficulty is depending on someone else for his life . On the bridge , Tasha Yar detects an unauthorized entry to the shuttlebay . It is Jake Kurland , and he steals a shuttle , intending to sign onto a freighter at Beltane IX . Picard orders him to return to the ship , but then Jake unbalances the dilithium reactor , and his engine stalls . He is heading for Relva VII ' s atmosphere , where he will burn up . The tractor beam won ' t work and he ' s out of transporter range . He can ' t get the engine started as it needs time to cool down , and he starts to panic . Act Three . Picard orders him to point the nose of the shuttle towards the planet . Jake initially resists but then he does as he ' s told . Picard tells him to restart the engines and pull up when he reaches a certain speed . Jake does this and manages to pull out in time . All on the bridge cheer , and La Forge says that he built up enough speed , and then bounced the shuttle off the atmosphere . Remmick questions Picard on how he got access to the shuttle , but Picard assures him that he will get a refresher in discipline . Wes and Mordock meet a tall Starfleet officer called Rondon in a corridor down on Relva . He bumps into Wesley and starts to insult him . Wes apologizes , then Lt . Chang arrives . Wes stops apologizing and shouts at Rondon . All of a sudden Rondon ' s mood changes , and he laughs and leaves . Chang asks what happened , and Wes says he noticed from his web bed hands that he was a Zaldan , and Zaldans hate courtesy . They see it as covering up true emotions . Chang congratulates him and tells him it was part of the test . Mordock admits he wouldn ' t have passed . Remmick interviews other crewmembers , among them Worf and Data , who says that there is nothing wrong with Picard , despite Remmick ' s claim to the contrary . He also questions Dr . Crusher , asking her how she feels serving with the man who was responsible for the death of her husband . She says her personal feelings are irrelevant . He finally questions Picard himself about his violation of the Prime Directive with the Edo . Picard gets angry and goes to Quinn to ask him what ' s going on . Act Four . Picard demands that Quinn tell him what is going on . Quinn tells him Remmick ' s report is nearly due and needs more time , but relents and calls for Remmick . The candidates are taking the dynamic relationships test and Mordock is having trouble , so Wes helps him . Mordock finishes first , and Chang comes in and tells him his time was the second fastest ever . Mordock tells him that Wes helped him , but Chang knows this . There is only one test left – the psych test . Remmick makes his report to Quinn , and tells him he could find no problem on the " Enterprise " - D despite his best efforts . Quinn dismisses him , tells Picard he had to be sure about him . He says there are problems in the Federation and that someone is trying to destroy it . He says he needs people he can trust , and offers Picard promotion to admiral , as Commandant of Starfleet Academy . Picard says he doesn ' t think he ' s the best man for the job , but promises to think about it . Act Five . Wes enters room 101 where the psych test will take place . It is empty except for a chair . At first nothing happens , then he hears a noise outside . He goes out , and the corridor is deserted . He hears shouting coming from the environmental lab . He goes in and sees a technician trapped under a pipe . Another technician is frozen with panic and won ' t leave . He frees the trapped man , and drags him out , but has only just enough time to get him out before the lab is sealed off . He sees Lt . Chang standing over him . He tells Wes that this was the psych test , confronting his fear of having to choose between saving one man and leaving another . This was because the same situation resulted in the death of his father . Wes had overcome his fear and made a similar choice ; " whom " he chose was not as important as the fact he actually " chose " to save whom he could ; Wes had passed the test . Chang says he ' s proud of all the candidates and hopes they will all return next year . He reveals that Mordock has won , and tells him that Wes ' help wasn ' t the only difference between them . With this , Mordock became the first Benzite in Starfleet . The other candidates congratulate him . On the " Enterprise " - D , Picard is walking down the corridor when he meets Jake , who apologizes for what he did . Picard reminds him that running away solves nothing , but compliments him for keeping his wits about him . He finds Wesley in the observation lounge . He tells Picard that he failed the exam and let him down . Picard disagrees , saying that as long as he did his best , and would improve next year , he shouldn ' t worry . He then confides that he failed the test the first time himself . Quinn is leaving , and says he ' s sorry that Picard turned down the promotion . Picard promises that he will be ready if Quinn needs him . With that Quinn beams back down to Relva . Memorable quotes . " " Thinking about what you can ' t control only wastes energy , and creates its " own " enemy . " " " " Only fools have no fear . " " " " Expect the unexpected . " " " " My personal feelings about Captain Picard are irrelevant to this investigation . . . and none of your business . " " " " Just how did this contaminant come on board ? " " " " By accident , sir . " " " " Meaning that Captain Picard has no standing procedure for this type of situation ? " " " " No . Meaning by accident , sir . " " " " You don ' t like me very much , do you ? " " " " Is it required , sir ? " " " " Any problem with using your ready room , captain ? " " " " No , Mr . Remmick . Be my guest . " " " " How " dare " you ! I am Rondon , you despicable melanoid slime worm ! LIAR ! ! " " " " Who do you think you ' re bullying ? ! You bumped into " me ! " It was " your " mistake ! " You " were at fault ! Do you want this to become violent ? " " " " Mister Remmick , you have talked to every member of this ship . I think you ' ve had enough time to find out whatever it is you ' re looking for . " " " " Are you afraid if I keep looking that I ' ll find you ' re guilty ? " " " " The only thing I ' m guilty of is allowing this charade to go on so long . " " " " A very strange reaction ! " " " " Not really . When he raised his hand , I saw that it was webbed – the sign of a Zaldan . " " " " But " you " became hostile ! " " " " Zaldans are " infuriated " by courtesy – they view it as a form of phony social behavior designed to cover true feelings . " " " " Was this ' incident ' deliberate ? " " " " It ' s important to know how you . . . candidates deal with other cultures , other species . . . " " " " Then it " was " a test ! " " " " Yes . . . not all tests are announced or . . . what they appear to be . " " " " Zaldans have webbed fingers . . . hmph . I wouldn ' t have passed . " " " " Did you hear what she said , Mordock ? She said I was cute . " " " " Is that good , Wesley ? " " " " Yes . . . I think . " " " " Mr . Crusher . . . you ' re next . " " " " I failed , sir . I failed you , and I failed the " Enterprise " . I ' m sorry . " " " " Nonsense ! Did you do your best ? " " " " Yes . " " " " I failed the first time , too . And you may " not " tell anyone ! " " " " You ? You failed ? " " " " Yes . But not the second time ! " " Links and references . References . 2161 ; 2348 ; Algeron IV ; antimatter ; aquarium ; arch ; atmosphere ; Beltane IX ; Benzite ; Bulgallian rat ; cargo management unit ; cockpit ; commandant ; ; " " ; ; Deimos ; desktop monitor ; dilithium ; dynamic relationships test ; Edo ; elevator ; Emergency Manual Override station ; ; ; " Enterprise " models ; environmental maintenance lab ; fish ; flight emergency override ; flux coordinating sensor ; freighter ; ; glass ; guest quarters ; " Henry V " ; holodeck ; hyperspace physics ; hyperspace physics test ; Inspector General ; intermix ratio ; kilometer ; Kosinski ; Kurland ; lightning storm ; liquid hydrogen ; Livingston ; main shuttlebay ; maneuvering jet ; Mars ; matter ; Mellanoid slime worm ; model ; Mordock Strategy ; NCC - 7100 ; number one ; observation lounge ; Operations center ; orbit ; PADD ; painting ; prime directive ; promotion ; psych test ; ready room ; second ; shuttlecraft ; shuttle drone ; skant ; standard orbit ; Relva VII ; respiration device ; sculpture ; starbase ; Starfleet Academy ; ; Support Services ; TAC officer ; thought maker ; three - dimensional chess ; tractor beam ; transporter room ; turbolift ; Type 7 shuttlecraft ; unnamed plants ; viewscreen ; VISOR ; Vulcan ; Vulcana Regar ; warp drive ; web ; Zaldan Unreferenced material . adrenaline ; Benzite chess ; Galactic Computer Network