THE PLOT
Returning to the ship after two weeks of grueling negotiations over a peace treaty that's completely irrelevant to this episode, Picard is strained and grumpy. Dr. Crusher prescribes a vacation, and Riker knows just the place: the paradise world of Risa, with two suns and a host of women who are as imaginative as they are willing. Nevermind that this vacation probably sounds ghastly to someone of Picard's intellectual temperament; the captain allows himself to be badgered into going, though he seems determined not to have a good time.
Picard really just wants to sit in the light of the suns, read the stack of books he brought with him, and be left alone until his unwanted vacation has run its course. But he's barely on the surface before he meets Vash (Jennifer Hetrick), a pretty young archaeologist who is trying to dodge Sovak (Max Grodenchik), a Ferengi who wants an artifact she is pursuing - and wants her as well. Picard is also contacted by the Vorgons, aliens from the distant future who tell him that he is fated to discover the artifact - a device from the 27th century, with the power to shut down a sun. With a mission to undertake, Picard's focus returns, and he teams up with Vash to find this device. But Sovak isn't going to give up so easily...
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: Though he's still the proverbial "smartest guy in the room," in this episode that's mainly because everyone else is a moron. Picard's intelligence seems to take a severe dip. He trusts the Vorgons far too easily, it apparently never crossing his mind that they have any kind of potential hidden agenda until Vash mentions it. He's taken by surprise by the idiotic Sovak at least twice, the second time being an instance that could have been guarded against simply by having himself and Vash alternate digging and standing watch (Sovak following them was hardly unforseeable). Despite this, Patrick Stewart is as good as ever, and he appears to be having a good time playing romantic lead opposite a (much younger) attractive co-star.
Riker: Is back to being Season One, horndog Riker. From the moment Dr. Crusher prescribes a vacation for Picard, Riker decides that the perfect place for him to go is Risa - a peaceful world with beautiful and willing women. Nevermind that this sounds more like a perfect vacation for Riker than for Picard, he pushes it on the captain as if he's receiving some kind of Risan commission. He then talks endlessly about "how imaginative the women are," and leers that the captain's "going to have a great time." With this being the version of Riker on-hand, it's very much as if Picard is leaving the Enterprise in the hands of a stereotypical frat boy.
Ferengi: Max Grodenchik, who would go on to play a progressively very well-characterized Ferengi in Deep Space 9, here portrays Sovak... who, to all appearances, is the Ferengi village idiot. And in a gene pool that includes the likes of Letec and Bok, that is quite the accomplishment. Sovak is foolish and impotent and, as the episode's main adversary, hardly feels like a worthy foe for even Vash, let alone Picard, though I'll admit that Grodenchik is intermittently amusing.
Hot Space Babe of the Week: The first of three appearances by Vash (Jennifer Hetrick), the space archaeologist with a mercenary streak. In an episode that's a poor man's Raiders of the Lost Ark, I suppose an archaeologist was needed. I found Hetrick as appealing here as in Deep Space 9's Q-Less, but the character is thin. Other than Hetrick's appeal, it's difficult to see why this character was worthy of return appearances, and it's easy to see why she was partnered with Q and Quark in later episodes. Hetrick simply does not have the same screen chemistry with Patrick Stewart that she would later share with John deLancie or Armin Shimerman. Vash/Quark was a delight. Vash/Picard is no more than mildly amusing.
THOUGHTS
The teaser is commendable, in that everything about it seems geared to almost purposely lowering viewer expectations. After a brief but laughable bit on Risa (apparently, relaxing entails abandoning all privacy and security), we cut to Enterprise to receive some horrible cardboard expository dialogue before Picard enters. Picard then communicates through overacted grunts so as to make sure even the slowest member of the audience gets that he's In a Foul Mood. This isn't the same show that gave us Sins of the Father and The Defector. It's a lot closer to being the show that gave us Justice and Manhunt - giving you an idea of the kind of territory we're in this week.
I love the way Dr. Crusher dismisses the idea of Picard relaxing on the holodeck. Isn't that what the holodeck is for? Someone of Picard's temperament would probably gain more relaxation from visiting his Dixon Hill fantasy world, or from attending the demonstration that Dr. Crusher shoots down as being too "serious," than from Riker's Playboy Paradise fantasy vacation. Surely forcing someone on a vacation whose setting goes entirely against his temperament is the last way to get him to truly relax?
So... yes, Captain's Holiday is an episode that's mediocre at best. Despite all its flaws (and I could go on with many more, trust me), I found it enjoyable. Perhaps because I find Jennifer Hetrick's Vash appealing, perhaps because Patrick Stewart by this point in the series elevates weak material simply by being present, perhaps simply because I caught myself laughing at several of the gags.
There were no real surprises, the dialogue ranged from "functional" to "laughable," and the characters were cut wholecloth from the K-Mart Character Cliche Catalog. But... I found it fun to watch. And because of that, I'm giving it a score that's higher than what it merits by any semi-objective critical standard.
Overall Rating: 5/10.
Returning to the ship after two weeks of grueling negotiations over a peace treaty that's completely irrelevant to this episode, Picard is strained and grumpy. Dr. Crusher prescribes a vacation, and Riker knows just the place: the paradise world of Risa, with two suns and a host of women who are as imaginative as they are willing. Nevermind that this vacation probably sounds ghastly to someone of Picard's intellectual temperament; the captain allows himself to be badgered into going, though he seems determined not to have a good time.
Picard really just wants to sit in the light of the suns, read the stack of books he brought with him, and be left alone until his unwanted vacation has run its course. But he's barely on the surface before he meets Vash (Jennifer Hetrick), a pretty young archaeologist who is trying to dodge Sovak (Max Grodenchik), a Ferengi who wants an artifact she is pursuing - and wants her as well. Picard is also contacted by the Vorgons, aliens from the distant future who tell him that he is fated to discover the artifact - a device from the 27th century, with the power to shut down a sun. With a mission to undertake, Picard's focus returns, and he teams up with Vash to find this device. But Sovak isn't going to give up so easily...
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: Though he's still the proverbial "smartest guy in the room," in this episode that's mainly because everyone else is a moron. Picard's intelligence seems to take a severe dip. He trusts the Vorgons far too easily, it apparently never crossing his mind that they have any kind of potential hidden agenda until Vash mentions it. He's taken by surprise by the idiotic Sovak at least twice, the second time being an instance that could have been guarded against simply by having himself and Vash alternate digging and standing watch (Sovak following them was hardly unforseeable). Despite this, Patrick Stewart is as good as ever, and he appears to be having a good time playing romantic lead opposite a (much younger) attractive co-star.
Riker: Is back to being Season One, horndog Riker. From the moment Dr. Crusher prescribes a vacation for Picard, Riker decides that the perfect place for him to go is Risa - a peaceful world with beautiful and willing women. Nevermind that this sounds more like a perfect vacation for Riker than for Picard, he pushes it on the captain as if he's receiving some kind of Risan commission. He then talks endlessly about "how imaginative the women are," and leers that the captain's "going to have a great time." With this being the version of Riker on-hand, it's very much as if Picard is leaving the Enterprise in the hands of a stereotypical frat boy.
Ferengi: Max Grodenchik, who would go on to play a progressively very well-characterized Ferengi in Deep Space 9, here portrays Sovak... who, to all appearances, is the Ferengi village idiot. And in a gene pool that includes the likes of Letec and Bok, that is quite the accomplishment. Sovak is foolish and impotent and, as the episode's main adversary, hardly feels like a worthy foe for even Vash, let alone Picard, though I'll admit that Grodenchik is intermittently amusing.
Hot Space Babe of the Week: The first of three appearances by Vash (Jennifer Hetrick), the space archaeologist with a mercenary streak. In an episode that's a poor man's Raiders of the Lost Ark, I suppose an archaeologist was needed. I found Hetrick as appealing here as in Deep Space 9's Q-Less, but the character is thin. Other than Hetrick's appeal, it's difficult to see why this character was worthy of return appearances, and it's easy to see why she was partnered with Q and Quark in later episodes. Hetrick simply does not have the same screen chemistry with Patrick Stewart that she would later share with John deLancie or Armin Shimerman. Vash/Quark was a delight. Vash/Picard is no more than mildly amusing.
THOUGHTS
The teaser is commendable, in that everything about it seems geared to almost purposely lowering viewer expectations. After a brief but laughable bit on Risa (apparently, relaxing entails abandoning all privacy and security), we cut to Enterprise to receive some horrible cardboard expository dialogue before Picard enters. Picard then communicates through overacted grunts so as to make sure even the slowest member of the audience gets that he's In a Foul Mood. This isn't the same show that gave us Sins of the Father and The Defector. It's a lot closer to being the show that gave us Justice and Manhunt - giving you an idea of the kind of territory we're in this week.
I love the way Dr. Crusher dismisses the idea of Picard relaxing on the holodeck. Isn't that what the holodeck is for? Someone of Picard's temperament would probably gain more relaxation from visiting his Dixon Hill fantasy world, or from attending the demonstration that Dr. Crusher shoots down as being too "serious," than from Riker's Playboy Paradise fantasy vacation. Surely forcing someone on a vacation whose setting goes entirely against his temperament is the last way to get him to truly relax?
So... yes, Captain's Holiday is an episode that's mediocre at best. Despite all its flaws (and I could go on with many more, trust me), I found it enjoyable. Perhaps because I find Jennifer Hetrick's Vash appealing, perhaps because Patrick Stewart by this point in the series elevates weak material simply by being present, perhaps simply because I caught myself laughing at several of the gags.
There were no real surprises, the dialogue ranged from "functional" to "laughable," and the characters were cut wholecloth from the K-Mart Character Cliche Catalog. But... I found it fun to watch. And because of that, I'm giving it a score that's higher than what it merits by any semi-objective critical standard.
Overall Rating: 5/10.
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I saw this episode on TV yesterday. The stand-out bit of dialogue for me is when Picard says "there are some subterranean caves 26 kilometres away..."
ReplyDeleteErm... is there any OTHER sort of cave, captain?