THE PLOT
A Starfleet outpost is attacked by The Gatherers, nomadic exiles from a world still recently united after centuries of clan warfare. Picard convinces Sovereign Marouk (Nancy Parsons), the ruler of that world, to reach out to The Gatherers to bring them back to their home world, thus ending the need for their thieving ways.
The Enterprise quickly journeys to the nearest Gatherer outpost, which is apparently very easy to find, and outmaneuvers an ambush orchetrated by Brull (Joey Aresco), the leader of this group of Gatherers. The Gatherers dress like they're auditioning to be staff at a pirate-themed gay nightclub, and behave as if their role model is John Belushi's Bluto in Animal House. To honor both Belushi and the wardrobe, Brull will henceforth be known as Bluto the Pirate. Bluto listens to Marouk and agree to take her to the Gatherer Leader, Chorgan (Stephen Lee).
But there's a third party involved, seeking vengeance for a crime committed a long time ago...
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: Deals with both the Sovereign and The Gatherers with admirable restraint, though some weariness at what must feel like managing squabbling children does show through. He does indulge in one display of power, when he tires of The Gatherers' potshots at him and orders Worf to just blast their shields. Other than that, he's largely acting as the Responsible Adult in the room, mediating the talks between the two sides.
Riker: Squarely in "Kirk-lite" mode this week. No sooner does he set eyes on Yuta (Lisa Wilcox), the Sovereign's pretty blonde chef/food-taster, than he starts moving in lasciviously. His "moves," such as they are, play like the setup portion of a porn encounter. But when Yuta actually offers herself, Riker rejects her because he doesn't want her to sleep with him "like a servant," but rather like an equal. Kirk would be deeply shamed by you, William.
Hot Alien Space Babe of the Week: "Tell me what you want, William. I will do anything you wish." No, Riker's not indulging in his favorite holodeck program. Yuta (Lisa Wilcox) is Marouk's servant. She's a very able chef, which anyone who'd compare Season One Riker to Season Seven Riker could clearly see would appeal to the commander. Wilcox isn't bad, but the role is underwritten given the backstory eventually disclosed, and there are no real opportunities for her to display any emotion in her performance. The romance between Yuta and Riker is never convincing, and that plus the lack of spark in her scenes keeps her from being the tragic figure the script would obviously like her to be.
SHUT UP, WESLEY
"You don't like me very much, do you?" Bluto the Pirate asks Wesley while, to all appearances, hitting on him in Ten-Forward. Wesley doesn't, and I can't say that I blame him. But his whining at Bluto about being "a thief" is grating. Then he softens at Bluto's confession that he has children. Because only good people have children, you know, so this tells us that Bluto is actually warm and fuzzy beneath the pirate costume and the chest hair. In fairness, save for the whining, this is far more a complaint about the scene (and episode) than about Wesley, who has been far more tolerable this season than in the first two seasons.
THOUGHTS
The Vengeance Factor has the dubious distinction of being the first Season Three episode that doesn't really seem to be trying. The proceedings here are tedious and cliched, the narrative is sluggish. Any scene involving The Gatherers becomes unintentionally comical, with the costuming recalling the worst of mid-1980's Doctor Who... about half a decade later on a much higher-budgeted show, leaving no excuse at all.
This is an episode that starts off very badly. Picard talks Marouk into reaching out to The Gatherers far too easily, given that she is initially presented as being entrenched in her belief that talking to them is pointless. Either Picard's persuasion of the Sovereign needs to be developed into a genuine struggle, or the Sovereign needs to be presented as someone who has already been giving such an action considerable thought. As written, the scene doesn't convince. Neither do Riker's romantic scenes with Yuta, effectively killing any interest in the episode's setup.
Then an amazing thing happens: It gets worse! We meet The Gatherers, whose wardrobe I've already commented on and whose behavior seems to draw inspiration from John Belushi in Animal House. There's also a bizarre structural choice, in that the middle of the episode makes Bluto the Pirate into a major character - but his only actual role is to bring the Enterprise to meet the real leader of The Gatherers, at which point he fades into being little more than an extra. Surely it would have streamlined the script considerably to have simply had Bluto negotiate with Marouk? That would allow the various elements already introduced - Riker's romance, the negotations, the vengeance plot - more room for development, without shoehorning in yet another element in the last 20 minutes!
There really isn't much here that does work. Nancy Parsons gives a solid guest performance in an underwritten role, and Patrick Stewart anchors the episode as reliably as ever. But what seems designed to be a strong Riker episode doesn't use the character of Riker well at all, and with too many subplots, the story never develops any momentum. At the very least, this script needed to be restructured almost top-to-bottom... though quite honestly, I see no reason why it shouldn't simply have landed in the "Reject" pile.
Overall Rating: 3/10. The first truly bad episode of the season.
A Starfleet outpost is attacked by The Gatherers, nomadic exiles from a world still recently united after centuries of clan warfare. Picard convinces Sovereign Marouk (Nancy Parsons), the ruler of that world, to reach out to The Gatherers to bring them back to their home world, thus ending the need for their thieving ways.
The Enterprise quickly journeys to the nearest Gatherer outpost, which is apparently very easy to find, and outmaneuvers an ambush orchetrated by Brull (Joey Aresco), the leader of this group of Gatherers. The Gatherers dress like they're auditioning to be staff at a pirate-themed gay nightclub, and behave as if their role model is John Belushi's Bluto in Animal House. To honor both Belushi and the wardrobe, Brull will henceforth be known as Bluto the Pirate. Bluto listens to Marouk and agree to take her to the Gatherer Leader, Chorgan (Stephen Lee).
But there's a third party involved, seeking vengeance for a crime committed a long time ago...
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: Deals with both the Sovereign and The Gatherers with admirable restraint, though some weariness at what must feel like managing squabbling children does show through. He does indulge in one display of power, when he tires of The Gatherers' potshots at him and orders Worf to just blast their shields. Other than that, he's largely acting as the Responsible Adult in the room, mediating the talks between the two sides.
Riker: Squarely in "Kirk-lite" mode this week. No sooner does he set eyes on Yuta (Lisa Wilcox), the Sovereign's pretty blonde chef/food-taster, than he starts moving in lasciviously. His "moves," such as they are, play like the setup portion of a porn encounter. But when Yuta actually offers herself, Riker rejects her because he doesn't want her to sleep with him "like a servant," but rather like an equal. Kirk would be deeply shamed by you, William.
Hot Alien Space Babe of the Week: "Tell me what you want, William. I will do anything you wish." No, Riker's not indulging in his favorite holodeck program. Yuta (Lisa Wilcox) is Marouk's servant. She's a very able chef, which anyone who'd compare Season One Riker to Season Seven Riker could clearly see would appeal to the commander. Wilcox isn't bad, but the role is underwritten given the backstory eventually disclosed, and there are no real opportunities for her to display any emotion in her performance. The romance between Yuta and Riker is never convincing, and that plus the lack of spark in her scenes keeps her from being the tragic figure the script would obviously like her to be.
SHUT UP, WESLEY
"You don't like me very much, do you?" Bluto the Pirate asks Wesley while, to all appearances, hitting on him in Ten-Forward. Wesley doesn't, and I can't say that I blame him. But his whining at Bluto about being "a thief" is grating. Then he softens at Bluto's confession that he has children. Because only good people have children, you know, so this tells us that Bluto is actually warm and fuzzy beneath the pirate costume and the chest hair. In fairness, save for the whining, this is far more a complaint about the scene (and episode) than about Wesley, who has been far more tolerable this season than in the first two seasons.
THOUGHTS
The Vengeance Factor has the dubious distinction of being the first Season Three episode that doesn't really seem to be trying. The proceedings here are tedious and cliched, the narrative is sluggish. Any scene involving The Gatherers becomes unintentionally comical, with the costuming recalling the worst of mid-1980's Doctor Who... about half a decade later on a much higher-budgeted show, leaving no excuse at all.
This is an episode that starts off very badly. Picard talks Marouk into reaching out to The Gatherers far too easily, given that she is initially presented as being entrenched in her belief that talking to them is pointless. Either Picard's persuasion of the Sovereign needs to be developed into a genuine struggle, or the Sovereign needs to be presented as someone who has already been giving such an action considerable thought. As written, the scene doesn't convince. Neither do Riker's romantic scenes with Yuta, effectively killing any interest in the episode's setup.
Then an amazing thing happens: It gets worse! We meet The Gatherers, whose wardrobe I've already commented on and whose behavior seems to draw inspiration from John Belushi in Animal House. There's also a bizarre structural choice, in that the middle of the episode makes Bluto the Pirate into a major character - but his only actual role is to bring the Enterprise to meet the real leader of The Gatherers, at which point he fades into being little more than an extra. Surely it would have streamlined the script considerably to have simply had Bluto negotiate with Marouk? That would allow the various elements already introduced - Riker's romance, the negotations, the vengeance plot - more room for development, without shoehorning in yet another element in the last 20 minutes!
There really isn't much here that does work. Nancy Parsons gives a solid guest performance in an underwritten role, and Patrick Stewart anchors the episode as reliably as ever. But what seems designed to be a strong Riker episode doesn't use the character of Riker well at all, and with too many subplots, the story never develops any momentum. At the very least, this script needed to be restructured almost top-to-bottom... though quite honestly, I see no reason why it shouldn't simply have landed in the "Reject" pile.
Overall Rating: 3/10. The first truly bad episode of the season.
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