7-7. Dark Page.

Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett) falls into a catatonic state.

THE PLOT

The Enterprise is escorting the Cairn, a race of telepaths who are learning to speak under the tutelage of Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett).  Maques (Norman Large), the lead Cairn, expresses concern to Deanna: When he communicates telepathically with Lwaxana, she hides parts of herself.

Deanna dismisses this as simple "privacy," a concept foreign to the Cairn. But after Maques' daughter Hedril (Kirsten Dunst) falls into some water on the holodeck, Lwaxana collapses into a catatonic state. Now Deanna must use a telepathic bridge, made possible by Maques' plot-specific powers, to travel into her mother's mind!

...Which is as dreary and unimaginative a place as you would expect.


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Supportive of Deanna's wish to try to help her mother, even if it poses a risk. As an authority figure, he is used by Lwaxana as the first barrier to try to turn Deanna away from her quest.

Troi: Marina Sirtis struggles gamely with some poor dialogue, keeping a straight face through lines such as:"Captain, I have to go back into my mother's mind. It's the only way we're going to get any answers." I once again find myself observing that Sirtis, in the series' earliest days a clear weak link in the cast, has become a very sympathetic presence. The story may be silly, much of the dialogue may be unintentionally funny, but Sirtis anchors it enough to keep it watchable. A big change from the days when I would have been happy to have seen the humanoid oil slick smother her to death.

Lwaxana Troi: Has carried a dark secret all these years, one which we never knew about before because... Well, because it never existed before! This somehow prompts her to attempt Matchmaking Session #372 between Deanna and Maques, then lash out at Riker when that fails. It's actually a relief when she becomes catatonic. Credit where it's due: Majel Barrett tries her best to make something of the episode's dramatic scenes, and she plays well opposite the very young Kirsten Dunst. But there's nothing here for her to work with, and her character is only marginally more tolerable here than at her all-time lowpoint in Season Two's Manhunt.


THOUGHTS

I am very hopeful that Dark Page represents the final Lwaxana episode. She's averaged one appearance per season, after all, and this is TNG's final season. Assuming this is her final bow on this show, that means that this review will allow me to bid the character an unfond but eagerly awaited farewell.

Dark Page is a bad episode - but more than that, it's a poorly-scheduled one. Coming on the heels of Phantasms, which centered around dream imagery, we get... another episode that centers around dream imagery. Did someone slip up here? Or by Season Seven, had it reached the point where nobody really cared anymore?

The scenes inside Lwaxana's mind make me appreciate how well Phantasms executed its dream sequences. There, while everything was a metaphor that eventually made sense when the plot came together, a sense of "strangeness" saturated the proceedings much like the quality of an actual dream. Images stood for things that were obvious once we were given the solution, but which seemed random and bizarre until then.

Here, everything is literal. Lwaxana's catatonic state is precipitated by a little girl falling into water. Sure enough, the solution involves a little girl and water. Deanna sees a dog and her father within Lwaxana's mind. Sure enough, this was all caused by a traumatic event in which both a dog and her father were present. It's not a metaphor if all it stands for is itself!

Director Les Landau does a workmanlike job with the material, which is quite good enough for the "real world" scenes. But despite using some distortion for some of the dream images, he just doesn't bring the level of atmosphere that was seen in Patrick Stewart's helming of Phantasms. With the two episodes coming one right after the other, it's really instructive to see how one show does everything within its dream sequences exactly right while the other does almost everything wrong.

Lest I lay this episode's failure entirely at Landau's feet, I should end by observing how poor the script is. It's slow and talky. It takes almost 20 minutes for the plot to really even start... and that's when it gets worse! We go inside Lwaxana's mind, and yet come out with no real additional insights into her as a character. Meanwhile, Lwaxan's traumatic secret should be a world-shaking revelation for Deanna, as well... But she shrugs off a major piece of information about her own family as if it was meaningless to her.

And why shouldn't it be? After all, this traumatic event will never be mentioned again; and when we next see Lwaxana on Deep Space 9, she'll be panting after Odo like a dog in heat just like she used to do with Picard on this show.


Overall Rating: 2/10.

Previous Episode: Phantasms
Next Episode: Attached


Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: The Next Generation


Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On Twitter:

Follow @RandomMusings09

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads

5-20. Cost of Living

Lwaxana Troi befriends Alexander.

THE PLOT

Shortly after destroying an asteroid on a collision course with a populated planet, the Enterprise takes on a visitor. Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett) is back again, and she's getting married. She hasn't actually met the man, but he's of "impeccable breeding," and their eHarmoney profiles match so very well.

As Lwaxana prepares for her impending nuptuals and does her best to ignore her daughter's exasperation, she also befriends young Alexander (Brian Bonsall), Worf's son. Seeing that Alexander is having issues (again), she decides to meddle by introducing her own special brand of joy into the young boy's life... much to Worf's consternation. Meanwhile, the destruction of the asteroid freed a nitrium-eating parasite that has glommed onto the Enterprise, and which is now devouring the nitrium in several key systems on board!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Despite his annoyance at his ship being used as a taxi service for Lwaxana's latest marital whim, he grants permission for the Enterprise to host her wedding - if only because "nothing will give (Picard) more pleasure than to give Mrs. Troi away." When the crisis with the parasite escalates, Picard makes a plan with Data.  He is left to trust Data to complete the plan, given that by the time the ship reaches its destination, the rest of the crew will likely be unconscious due to the failing life support.

Troi: Marina Sirtis gets some good nonverbal bits. When an annoyed Worf is pestered by a "guardian bubble" in a holodeck program, he finally just reaches out and pops it - much to Troi's amusement. Troi's attempt to negotiate a contract between Worf and Alexander is reasonably well-portrayed, and not far off what child counselors regularly do with troubled children. Unfortunately, the episode's focus is so squarely on Lwaxana, all Troi is left to do for most of the show is to react with exasperation. Just like in every episode involving her mother.

Worf: Spends the episode in "stern" mode, expecting to give his son orders and have them followed without question. Which seems a retrograde step for him after New Ground, but I suppose this script requires Worf to come across as a martinet. At least Michael Dorn's comic timing remains as good as ever. In addition to the bubble popping scene, Dorn milks the most amusement possible out of Worf's final line of the episode, with the expression on his face genuinely priceless.

Lwaxana Troi: Season Four's Half a Life showed a more thoughtful side to Lwaxana, which did wonders for the performance of Majel Barrett. This episode tries to continue that, but at the same time to return to the "wacky Lwaxana" antics of the character's early appearances. We're meant to recognize the wisdom in Lwaxana trying to teach Alexander joy, and I'll admit that Barrett does will with these scenes. Her warmth gives a boost to young Brian Bonsall, making Alexander less annoying here than he was in New Ground (admittedly, no great feat). But the attempts to make Lwaxana thoughtful while at the same time keeping her "wacky" falls flat, the content just not up to supporting the balancing act. 


THOUGHTS

Cost of Living might have the seed of an interesting story idea, with Lwaxana taking Alexander under her wing. But the script simply isn't up to making much of the character issues. It's downright cowardly when following up on Alexander's chronic misbehavior, established in New Ground. Instead of presenting a genuinely troubled boy, this episode reduces his issues to the normal, minor misbehaviors of any small child. Perish the thought of there being any controversy over Lwaxana's actions being potentially harmful - then we might have to actually think, and that would be just awful!

With Alexander's problems reduced to practically nothing and Lwaxana's wedding clear sitcom fodder, the story is left with nowhere to go. A character story can't do much if nothing is really at stake. So writer Peter Allen Fields is left to grasp for an external threat to the ship in an effort to provide some excitement. This... actually makes things worse. The parasite subplot is dull, and it has no connection through either plot or theme with the Lwaxana/Alexander material. You could create a 25-minute version of this episode that removed this strand entirely. Not only would you never know anything was missing, the episode that remained would actually be better for the excision.

Thankfully, Majel Barrett really raises her game in the Lwaxana/Alexander scenes. Thinking about it for even a few seconds, I shouldn't find anything Lwaxana is doing here to be charming... but while watching, I do find a lot of their interactions to be exactly that. Mix in a few bits of comedy that actually manage to be funny (particularly some of Worf's reactions), and parts of this episode just about work.

Leaving it below average, but not by as much as it probably should be.


Overall Rating: 4/10.

Previous Episode: The First Duty

Next Episode: The Perfect Mate

 Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On Twitter:

Follow @RandomMusings09

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads

4-22. Half a Life

Dr. Timicin (David Ogden Stiers) faces
the prospect of his imminent death.

THE PLOT

The Enterprise hosts Dr. Timicin (David Ogden Stiers), a scientist from Kaelon II, a world that has not previously had any substantial contact with the Federation. Timicin has requested Enterprise's resources to run an experiment that he hopes will revive his planet's dying sun. Modified torpedoes will be fired into a sun that is experiencing similar conditions to Kaelon II's as a test. But the test fails, resulting in the explosion of the test star and the destruction of Timicin's hopes.

Also aboard is Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett). She quickly sets her sights on Timicin, who seems to actually enjoy her attentions. But as their relationship grows, Timicin must tell her a terrible truth. Kaelon II has found an efficient yet terrible solution to dealing with the elderly. At age 60, all citizens are expected to commit suicide in a ritual known as "The Resolution." Timison is days away from his 60th birthday - which means that he is returning home to die!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: He stands up to Lwaxana when she urges him to ignore the Prime Directive and stop Timicin's "Resolution." He refuses to use his influence to interfere with another planet's social order. However, when Timicin comes to him to directly request asylum, he is unflinching in facing down the representatives of Kaelon II. When Timicin ultimately decides to return, Picard neither encourages nor discourages the decision, save to make sure that he isn't doing so simply "to ease diplomatic tensions."

Troi: Though early scenes see her reacting to her mother as usual - with exasperation - a softer side of their relationship shows in the episode's second half. Once Troi's mother becomes genuinely emotional, Troi is equally genuine in being supportive. A decent showing for Troi, and a good performance by Marina Sirtis.

Dr. Timicin: David Ogden Stiers' performance as Timicin is a huge asset. Though a one-shot guest character, Stiers invests Timicin with such a sense of quiet dignity that it's easy to become invested in him. There's a superb moment, right after the test fails, in which Timicin is visibly knocked back by the failure. His entire life's work has just gone up in smoke before him, and for reasons which will soon be made clear he will never get another chance. And yet he take a moment to thank Picard for the attempt, even as it is obvious that his expression gratitude is choked out through barely-suppressed tears.

Lwaxana Troi: It's that dreaded time again: The time of the annual Lwaxana Troi episode. Thankfully, writer Peter Allen Fields digs past the obnoxiousness of the character's previous appearances to examine the much more thoughtful woman underneath. The script is flawed, but this is still the best characterization that Lwaxana has received in TNG to date. We see that she can show restraint if she thinks it might be called for. After Timicin's test fails, Lwaxana goes to him with her usual bombast. But when he doesn't respond, she offers to leave him be, staying only because he asks her to. It's a nice moment, and she receives several others as the episode progresses - none better than in the final scene.


THOUGHTS

When I realized this was a Lwaxana episode, I cringed. Visibly. I relaxed fairly quickly, though, when I saw that this was scripted by Peter Allen Fields. Fields would go on to wrtie many of Deep Space 9's best early episodes. Half a Life, his first Trek script, is not at that level. But it's a lot better than either Manhunt or Menage a Troi. Even in his first run through the Trek-verse, Fields is already reaching for a substantial examination of a genuine issue cast in a science fiction setting. He would get better at it, but at least one is never in doubt that this episode is actually trying.

The episode gets a lot of mileage from the guest performance by David Ogden Stiers, and features some good work by Majel Barrett, finally allowed to show a more human side to the overbearing Lwaxana. The two of them have some very good scenes, and Lwaxana's moments of obnoxiousness are fairly few, mostly confined to the opening Act. Les Landau directs with accustomed proficiency, and it's all very competent.

But unlike Fields' best Deep Space 9 episodes, there really aren't very many shades of gray to this situation. First is the choice of cutoff age. Even when this episode was made, 60 wasn't really considered very old. Even in the early 1990's, more people were vital and active at 60 than not. Timicin's vigor is hardly the exception at age 60. The entire episode would make more sense if the age selected was 70. Even then, arguments for the "Resolution" would seem wrong-headed... but at least they wouldn't seem stupid.

Then there is Timicin's 11th hour discovery of Technobabble, which pushes him to seek asylum because he now sees a way to finish his work. Prompt melodramatic hysteria, as his world refuses to even look at his new research. Arguments that his work may save his world fall on deaf ears... which strikes me as unlikely. Any government in history has found exceptions for their rules. In a situation such as this, surely such an exception could be justified. Also, in a society in which it is known that a person's vital work will be cut off at age 60, wouldn't there be a younger apprentice working closely with the elder for a period of years before that age, ready to step in and take over? Timicin being "the only person" with the knowledge is a way of melodramatically loading an already loaded situation.

An honest effort, with strong guest performances and some good individual scenes. But I think the main thing notable about Half a Life, within Trek circles, is that it led to much stronger and more shaded work later by writer Peter Allen Fields. This is a far cry from DS9's Duet - but at least it's a first step down that road.


Overall Rating: 5/10.

Previous Episode: The Drumhead

Next Episode: The Host

Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On Twitter:

Follow @RandomMusings09

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads

3-24. Menage a Troi

THE PLOT

The Enterprise attends the closing of a trade conference on Betazed, which allows Troi a chance to reunite with her mother, Lwaxana (Majel Barrett). Also in attendance are the Ferengi, who - as a Betazoid delegate observes - "made a profit and behaved themselves," representing progress in relations with them. But the Ferengi Daimon, Tog (Frank Corsentino), has set his sights on Lwaxana. When she spurns his advances, Tog tries an even more direct approach: Abduction! And since Riker and Troi happen to be with Lwaxana at the time, they get to go along for the ride..


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: The episode's climax allows Patrick Stewart to indulge his hammier tendencies as Picard imitates a jealous lover by quoting random poetry lines at the viewscreen. Stewart appears to be enjoying himself, but I did not find his enjoyment to be contagious. He's much better in the more subdued scene that follows, in which he rewards Wesley for his service to the ship. I think underplaying suits Stewart's acting strengths a lot better than ham does. He is not William Shatner, nor should he try to be.

Riker: Trapped in a cell with both Troi and Lwaxana in danger, he focuses intently on escape. When Troi reports what Lwaxana is doing with Tog, his response is pragmatic: Lwaxana is buying them time, so they'd better make use of it. Unable to bypass the Ferengi security systems to send a direct message to the Enterprise, Riker comes up with a subtler way of achieving the same end.

Troi: Remains eternally exasperated by her mother, and is impatient at Lwaxana's endless pushing for her to get married. Still, when alone with Riker on Betazed, she shows a distinct inclination to enjoy herself in his company... at least, until Lwaxana's piercing, glass-shattering voice is heard not very far in the distance. Despite the aggravations caused by her mother, once they are captives of the Ferengi, she remains in constant telepathic contact with Lwaxana and is highly protective.

Lwaxana Troi: In possibly the first truly positive note the character has struck at this point in TNG's run, she is even more protective of Deanna than her daughter is of her. She is willing to do whatever it takes to secure her daughter's safety, a character beat that goes a long way toward offsetting the many intentionally obnoxious moments she's given in the first and last Acts of the show. Unfortunately, a recurring problem of Lwaxana Troi is that, though she may be intentionally obnoxious and irritating, the fact that it's intentional doesn't really compensate for her being obnoxious and irritating. Still, this episode does represent positive development for her, even if she's still well short of the kind of genuine character material she would get when stuck with Odo in a turbolift on Deep Space 9.

Ferengi: This episode establishes the Ferengi practice of oo-mox, in which they are manually pleasured by stroking their earlobes. Meaning that this episode, to the best of my knowledge, features the first televised handjob in the history of US network prime-time television. Beyond that, there's not much new here. The Ferengi are greedy, lust-filled, and cannot be trusted. But at least they make up for it by being stupid. It is amusing to see Ethan "Neelix" Phillips playing a sort of Ferengi Josef Mengele, eager to experiment with Lwaxana and potentially dissect her, but these Ferengi remain caricatures rather than characters.


THOUGHTS

Lwaxana Troi returns - and to add to the joy, it's a Ferengi episode too! All that's needed is a German-accented Laurence Olivier with a pair of pliers coaxingly asking, "Is it safe," in order for the picture to be complete.

In fairness, Menage a Troi is a substantial improvement over the previous Lwaxana episode. But given that her previous appearance came in the dismal Manhunt, that still isn't saying much. The first Act is surprisingly tolerable, even entertaining. Then the Ferengi kidnap Lwaxana, Riker, and Troi, and it rapidly degenerates.

The biggest problem is that there really isn't enough story here to sustain 45 minutes. The writers attempt to deal with this by using a subplot involving Wesley Crusher's imminent entry to Starfleet Academy, in scenes that are marginally more entertaining than the Lwaxana/Ferengi ones. But since we know Wesley isn't going anywhere, the resolution of this subplot is mostly a given - though the story does refreshingly and unexpectedly advance Wesley's position at the end, making the Wesley subplot ultimately more satisfying than the "A" plot.

That's right. The Wesley storyline here is the good bit.

The scenes aboard the Ferengi vessel begin amusingly enough, but rapdily become tedious. Once Riker bluffs his way out of his cell, there's nothing for Riker and Troi to do except tread narrative water for the next 15 minutes. Meanwhile, the plot connives for Lwaxana to act to keep her daughter safe by performing sexual acts for a man who disgusts her. The stuff of horror and nightmare, surely? But no - It's all played for laughs, complete with comedy music and exaggerated facial expressions. Sexual blackmail as comedy relief is just about forgivable in 1960's Trek, where it was part and parcel of the time period (heck, Sean Connery's Bond does much the same in Thunderball, albeit with a more willing victim). But in 1990's Trek, it's not only bad taste, it's significantly out of step with society.

It's also just not very funny, certainly not as funny as the actors and music seem to think it is. And in an already slow-paced episode, that's the final nail in this one's coffin. Season Three has moved the series' average quality significantly on from where it used to be. Unfortunately, this one plays for all the world like something from the last, horrible stretch of Season Two.

Overall Rating: 3/10.


Previous Episode: Sarek
Next Episode: Transfigurations

Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On Twitter:

Follow @RandomMusings09

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads

2-19. Manhunt

Lwaxana Troi is in heat. Which is different from any other episode featuring the character... how, exactly?


THE PLOT

The Enterprise is escorting representatives of the alien Antedeans to a conference on a distant planet. Having watched Samaritan Snare and Up the Long Ladder back-to-back, the aliens arrive already in a comatose state. This saves them from the tedium of this episode, at least. As the ship gets underway, they are hailed by an approaching vessel. They have one more ambassador to escort: Troi's mother, Lwaxana (Majel Barrett).

Lwaxana is going through a phase, a period that all Betazoid women experience in mid-life, in which her sex drive increases radically. She has decided to focus all her energy on one man, who will, according to Betazoid tradition, eventually become her husband. The man in question? Captain Picard.


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Deflects Lwaxana's advances by calling in the heavy artillery - Data, who proceeds to act as a fifth wheel in their private dinner, telling "anecdotes" of stultifying boredom until Lwaxana finally gives up for the night. Then Picard decides to deal with Lwaxana's unwelcome advances like a real man: He runs and hides, playing private detective in the holodeck. Not exactly a dignified episode for Picard, all told.

Riker: When Picard succeeds in evading Lwaxana, Riker finds that the older woman's sights have now fallen on him. He seems to actually find it rather amusing. He stops Troi from immediately setting her mother straight, instead preferring to let the captain deal with it.

Troi: Though she denies any ongoing relationship with Riker, she does become deeply upset when Lwaxana turns her focus to him. When Riker stops her from confronting her mother, she grumps at him that he's a "coward," acting for all the world like a jealous girlfriend. Marina Sirtis actually isn't bad at the comedy acting, and might even be good here if any of the material was at all amusing.


SHUT UP, WESLEY!

Wesley manages to offend Worf, first by passive-aggressively contradicting Worf's admiration of the Antedeans, then by admitting that he initially found Worf to be alien and ugly as well. Attempting to ingratiate himself, Wesley manages to dig himself in deeper when he tells Worf that he now thinks the security chief is "kind of handsome, for a Klingon." Worf shows admirable self-restraint in not demonstrating his warrior skills to Wesley first-hand.


THOUGHTS

Though I found the first Lwaxana episode to be enjoyable, lightweight fare, I found very little to enjoy in Manhunt. This is a deeply tedious episode, a series of sitcom-level set pieces that require our regular and recurring characters to alternate between stupidity and spinelessness in order to keep the "story" alive.

Much of the basic set-up here, with Lwaxana setting her sights on one of the regulars and chasing after him like Pepe LePew going after that white-striped cat, was recycled into The Forsaken for the first season of Deep Space 9. Even in The Forsaken, the notion of seeing one of our regulars being sexually harrassed as comedy fodder seemed dubious (how funny would anyone find it if Lwaxana was a man chasing after female regulars?). But there, the sitcom humor quickly gave way to some interesting character work.

Manhunt has no interest in character work. Lwaxana is one-dimensional in every scene, and shows no additional shading by the end of the episode. Also, for a well-travelled ambassador, she apparently has never heard of a holodeck (presented by this show as fairly standard technology) - or else the production team fell so in love with one fairly leaden gag that they didn't care about making her an imbecile for the sake of the joke.

Carel Struycken is still amusing, reprising his role as Lwaxana's giant manservant. But this episode is just a chore to get through. It starts out unpromising, and just gets worse and worse as it goes. Not quite down there with Loud as a Whisper or Too Short a Season - but just because it's slightly less awful than the very worst episodes of the series, that doesn't save it from being awful.


Rating: 2/10.

Previous Episode: Up the Long Ladder
Next Episode: The Emissary

Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On Twitter:

Follow @RandomMusings09

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads

1-11. Haven

THE PLOT

The Enterprise comes to the peaceful world of Haven, hoping for some shore leave - much needed after all those trying missions in which they had to have long conversations with all manner of uninteresting aliens. But their stay is not destined to be a restful one. No sooner have they arrived than Counsellor Troi receives a message from her family. A promise made by her parents when she was a child has been called in and, by Betazoid tradition, she is to marry Wyatt (Robert Knepper), the son of one of her late father's closest friends.

As Troi deals with her unexpected new fiance, Picard finds himself with a dilemma affecting both the Enterprise and the planet below. A Tarallian vessel is moving toward Haven, and even sub-warp speeds, it is less than a day away. The Tarallians are a race that wiped themselves out through biological warfare. Attempts by some of that race to escape their world resulted only in them spreading their infection to other planets.  Federation regulations require Picard both to protect Haven and to extend aid to the Tarallians. But how can he do both? And how can he extend any aid without risking infection to Enterprise?


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Though he disagrees with the traditions that allow Troi to be forced into a marriage, he does not attempt to intervene. He shows admirable forebearance in dealing with Troi's exasperating mother, Lwaxana (Majel Barrett). We also see Picard's thoughtful side in his efforts to deal with the Tarallian situation.

Riker: For a change, Riker is not elevated to the show's "heroic lead," but left in the background. This not only provides Picard with a better episode than usual, but minimizes the irritation of Jonathan Frakes' performance, which I'm sorry to say is his worst yet. Watching him find every excuse possible to leave the room when the subject of the wedding comes up, it doesn't feel like he's losing the woman he loves. It feels like he's a teenager, sulking over a crush moving on to someone else. Frakes is a decent actor when delivering dialogue, but his nonverbal performance leaves a lot to be desired. In this episode, I'd actually rate him as the weak link in the cast (then again, this episode is Wesley-free).

Troi: My dislike of the generally-useless character of Counsellor Troi should not be in any way mistaken for a dislike for actress Marina Sirtis. In this episode, she finally gets a chance to do something other than "sense hostility" or "sense confusion." Allowed to play a character for a change rather than a walking mood ring (a good friend of mine has dubbed her "Counsellor Moodring"), she delivers a genuinely appealing performance. She shows warmth and humor in her scenes with Wyatt. She does bungle a short emotional outburst at the end of the dinner scene... Then again, the outburst is so poorly-written, I'm not sure any actress could have pulled it off.

Data: Data clearly loves watching the emotional goings-on connected to Troi's wedding, causing him to circle the wedding guests "like a buzzard," as Picard notes. Data also gets the funniest line of the episode, when he urges the elder Troi and the mother of the groom to "please continue the petty bickering. I find it fascinating." Brent Spiner remains masterful in both his line deliveries and his nonverbal performance, and it's easy to see why his role expanded in future seasons while certain other cast members' roles... did the opposite.

Tasha: Not much to do this week. But I did find her reactions to hearing that the wedding ceremony would be performed nude quite amusing. She certainly didn't seem to object to the idea.


THOUGHTS

An episode centering around Counsellor Troi, the most useless member of the cast with the possible exception of Wesley. A story involving her mother and an arranged marriage. My heart sank as the precredit sequence ended, as I felt certain that this was going to be one of the worst episodes yet.

So imagine my surprise when I ended up rather liking Haven! Aside from the poor characterization and performance of Frakes' Riker, the spotlighted characters all get a good moment or two. The "A" and "B" plots are woven together fairly well (something that would not always be the case on this show), and both stories actually move along at a pretty fair pace. The comedy bits are even, by and large, funny, particularly those involving Data or Carel Struycken, as Troi's mother's valet.

There are still problems.  The plot with Troi's arranged marriage occasionally provokes some amusement, but there's never any tension or real possibility of it actually going anywhere.  The story takes pains to show Wyatt's paintings of the girl in his vision quite early on, so we have a fair idea of how everything will be resolved.  And it is all resolved far too neatly, far too easily, for this to rank as a particularly good episode.

Still, for the second episode running, I actually enjoyed a Next Generation episode.  As with Hide and Q, there is still plenty of room for improvement.  But Haven was fun to watch, and I now find myself guardedly optimistic that things may finally be looking up.

Rating: 6/10.

Previous Episode: Hide and Q
Next Episode: The Big Goodbye


Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On Twitter:

Follow @RandomMusings09

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads