hosts representatives from the Cardassians and the Klingons, and they all agree to combine the DNA samples that they have found so far, since all three parties have pieces of the puzzle that the others cannot find. Using the shared information, they determine a pattern in how several planets were aligned millions of years ago and extrapolate the position of a final planet. The Cardassian ship departs ahead of the others, firing at both ships and disabling them. However, Picard had already learned of the Cardassians' attempt to sabotage the Enterprises defenses; the ship is fully functional, and he takes the Klingon captain to the last planet. Upon arrival, they discover that almost all life is extinct, but scans by the Enterprise detect residual lichens located on a fossilised seabed, and they beam down to investigate with their tricorders containing all previously known information. The Cardassians arrive, as well as an undetected Romulan force, creating a standoff. Reasoning that the seabed may not be completely fossilised and may still contain some DNA, Picard and Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) scan the sea-bed using the tricorder while the other parties argue. They locate the final DNA fragment, which completes and runs the program. The program reconfigures the tricorder's emitter to project a holographic message. The recorded image of an alien humanoid (Salome Jens) is projected to the assembled company, and it explains that when the alien race first explored the galaxy there had been no humanoid-based life other than themselves, and so they seeded various planets with their DNA to create a legacy of their existence after they had gone. The alien ends its message by saying that it hopes that the knowledge of a common origin will help produce peace. The Cardassians and the Klingons are outraged by this; only the Federation representatives seem optimistic. As all parties depart, diverging to their respective homes, the Commander of the Romulan ship hails Picard and expresses his own optimism, intimating that "Perhaps, one day..." [there may be peace]. Reception In 2017, Popular Mechanics said that "The Chase" was one of the top ten most fun episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, noting that it offers an explanation of why most aliens on Star Trek are similar to humans. They note the episode includes Cardassians, Klingons, Romulans, and Federation members on a quest to solve a biological enigma. In 2019, Screen Rant ranked