ST:TNG Haven

This is a curious episode... a first season episode that builds up lore that will be mined heavily in later seasons, as usual. Its a Troi episode, the first Troi Episode, and of course it brings up a lot of troubling  thoughts about the Federation.

Well, troubling thoughts if you had ever bought into Gene Roddenberry's insanely utopian ideal from the beginning.  If, like me, you always thought the worst parts of Star Trek were the high handed moralizing about how much better the Federation was than the people of today then...

So we have the Captain's Log, blah blah, haven the world of mystical healing. Data's soul lacks poetry, but we knew that.

Riker is a pervert, watching hologram chicks play harps. Clearly this was before his Jazz turn, more Gene Roddenberry's idea of evolved humans, maybe? Yar interrupts him over the comm to summon him to the transporter room.

In the Transporter Room Yar reveals that an unknown object is beaming in from Haven. The nameless mook on the panel says something about approval from the surface station.

Point of Order: A starship, that is to say a warship, even a federation exploratory, family holding, warship would not allow unknown packages of unknown providence to be beamed aboard simply because the First Officer was there to observe. The Outgoing beam station saying 'yo, its cool' does not change that.  Point: What if it were a bomb?

Anyway: they get the beam, its a really creepy box. A box with a face on it. Troi walks in for no reason... maybe she was summoned by Yar to empathically scan the unknown object? Well, really she walks in because the box is for her, but no one actually knows that on the Enterprise, so that's just lazy writing.  Anyway, the face animates and talks for a moment, way too cheerful for a box to be, and then the box spills... um... rock candy? No, Yar says they are Jewels, so they must be that instead. Really, given the setting premise, why would anyone care?

Well, I guess it is an unreasonably large amount of jewels, the sort you'd probably see if they were fundamentally worthless trinkets, but still appreciated for being sparkly.  Anyway, Troi is horrified.

Sure, why not? That box was REALLY creepy.

And Troi does the whole "I'm getting married" reveal so we can cut to Title.

So: Troi briefs Picard in the Ready Room. Betazeds practice 'Genetic Bonding', or if you prefer Arranged Marriages.  Riker is understandably jealous (see my ending comments on Hide and Q...), and Picard wants to know if Troi will remain with the ship after she gets married.

Unpack a moment:  Troi's husband to be is not a Betazed, he's a human. Which was true of Troi's father, yes. I fail to see how 'Genetic' bonding is called for in this case, so it is misnamed. This is a pretty literal arranged marriage, only mollified by the presumption that no money exchanged hands, since the Millers were friends of the Trois.  Troi clearly doesn't want to get married, but will against her wishes for tradition's sake.  Generally the Betazeds are held up as exemplars of Federation culture... a bit more enlightened than the rest of us, possibly because of telepathy.

Now, I'm not really a critic of arranged marriage, or any other cultural curiosity that doesn't apply to me. Forced? yeah, I'll fight that tooth and nail... on the other hand the Cathedral has spoken, long ago, that Arranged Marriage is a savage and barbaric practice akin to systemic rape or genital mutilation (discounting, naturally, male circumcision).  Yet, at no point will the Betazed system be criticized except by Riker, who can be discounted because of his clear bias. In fact, his jealousy will be more savagely attacked as primitive.

More: does Star Fleet so readily allow its officers to come and go from service?  This isn't Troi resigning her commission (though: No uniform, and she is never called by rank...so?)... this is an external event being pushed on her that interferes with her duty.  Eh, thats a minor detail compared to the whole arranged marriage, which I'm not done with just yet... but lets let the episode move on for a bit.

Picard exits, clearly to allow the unhappy couple to have a private conversation.  For once I'm not going to chalk this up as directorial framing (which it is, as everything on set must be), but an in character choice.  Troi pulls out the exceptionally rare "Bill", and basically establishes him as Kirk Jr, wedded to his ship.  Riker points out that he's a man, with a man's needs, and Troi points out that she's an empath, so she really knows...

This is good practice for Sirtis as an actress. She's lagging behind Frakes here, but they are both doing heavy lifting for this intimate little scene.

Still, I've noted previously how terrible an Empath Troi winds up being most of the time. For all her protestations of "I feel" in this scene, she carries on that tradition... or the older tradition of women basically treating men as emotionless beasts.  Mind you: Troi doesn't even want to get married here, but she more or less forces Riker to man up and dance at her wedding. Picard's protestations of humanities evolution are as hollow as ever, this dance is older than language itself.

Data walks in as Riker leaves, and its clear that Data, the emotionless machine is reading Riker's emotions better than Troi.

Ha.

For some idiot reason he is here to personally request Troi's permission to let the Miller Wedding Party beam aboard.

Sloppy. Surely he is here to inform her (they have those cute badges, don't they?) so she can go meet them, but that's not how it reads. Eh... I may be reaching for this one.

So Picard and Troi greet the Millers. Papa Miller incidentally looks a bit like Picard, with the same silver fringe and similar height and skin tone, though a bit heavier. Mama Miller has a Diva Hat and Cloak combo going on, with similar mannerisms.   Hubby Miller is an artifact of 1987, with long feathered hair and a sort of twee but not actually twink air about him. Like so many TNG guest stars he is severely testosterone deficient by any measure, at least among potential love interests of the various female crew.  He's a skinny, short guy, with the air of a sensitive soul...  He gives Troi a Mood ring... I mean Mood Rose, and silently shuffles his Plot Important sketch pad around in his arms.

No one tells us what blue means (the color it is for hubby miller) or White (the color it settles on for Troi), which is a missed opportunity. Troi is pure?  Hubby has soul?  The world will never know.

There is a bit of set up, when they awkwardly reveal that Luxanna Troi will not beam in until the Miller's leave... the transporter room?  Yes, I'm glad the writer understands how important it is to begin setting up events early, now if only he'd figure out a way to not make it so damn obvious that's what he's doing.

So Mrs Roddenberry, voice of the Computer beams aboard with Lurch.  There is a bit of business with telepathy, and Troi's refusal to indulge her mother, and then the Computer insists Picard (clearly understanding he is the captain, mind you) carry her luggage. This is a setup for a gag about how heavy her baggage is that will play out in the halls, but seriously... its just bad form, as is having Picard actually do it.  This is going Full Retard with the 'eccentric' angle.

As they cross into the turbo lift, once the gag plays out, I see the distinct outline of uniform skirt, but in the foreground, so we don't actually see it. Oh well.  Luxanna starts in with her patented sex talk at this point. Seems harmless fun, but I'm reminded of the relentless debasement of our culture on behalf of the Cathedral, and I realize I should be outraged. Eh, whatever.

I've never liked the character of Luxanna. She is just too over the top... too busy. Like I said: Full Retard Eccentric.  Having her non-stop blather simply be bait to draw out Troi's telepathic talk is not payoff either.

The curious bit is why Picard indulges her in treating him like a flunky?  No explanation is ever given, and he far exceeds what would be expected of him for respecting the family of a crew member...hell, for that matter so does agreeing to host the wedding at all!   For the slower parts of my audience: Remember that the Enterprise is not Picard's ship. Its the Federation's ship, he is merely their appointed potentate. Hosting the wedding is acceptable in military tradition, but not at the cost of 'the mission'.  We can assume, for the sake of argument that the Enterprise is currently idle for some reason (the Log doesn't actually place them here for any specific purpose... a failure of the writers).  I wouldn't have even noticed that if not for the weirdly servile way Picard acts.

I could mention that I've seen criticisms leveled at Picard as an emasculated feminist interpretation of a man, but I've generally dismissed them. While Picard's leadership style is wildy different than Kirk's that doesn't mean Picard is less of a man... Kirk's leadership was hardly indicative of idealized manhood from an earlier age. However, with this episode that accusation seems to gain some teeth.  For now, I'll chalk this up as an anomalous aberration.

Finally, after a bit more telepathy busy work and obnoxious commentary about how superior honest telepathy is to human two faced lying, Luxanna at last drops out of being a caricature into being... Troi's Mom.  This is really so we can get a minor plot exposit that the Millers were the ones pushing for the marriage. It doesn't move the train forward, but it does at least establish where it's coming from.

Seriously though: when its down to just the two of them, Luxanna actually seems like she could be someone's mother and not that crazy bitch that starts talking about sex all the time. Troi doesn't quite carry her weight just yet, but then she's still stuck holding that god damn mood flower (permanently stuck on white? Did she break it? Does she only have one mood, regardless of circumstance?)

On the bridge they push the plot train as Haven calls.  The leader of Haven is a really pretty woman in a dreamlike flowing robe, demure and all that. She's got one hell of an accent on her... greek maybe?  No... IMDB says she's swiss.  So there you have it.

Ok, so a ship has entered the star system and hasn't communicated.  She says failure to communicate is inherently hostile, which Picard lets pass without a word. That explains a lot about Star Trek, and not in a good way.  Haven, it turns out, is not just amazingly pretty to the point of being rumored to have mystic healing powers (from the opening log) but is utterly defenseless.  Good thing Klingons don't care about the Pretty, I guess?

That means it is up to the enterprise to blow those non-talkers to smithereens then, according to treaty.

So, Troi and Hubby have a scene in his quarters. Troi apologizes for her mother, but Hubby Miller is so inoffensive that he can't find anything offensive. No, seriously. He totally appreciates Luxanna's honesty and the way she talks about his dad's boner.  Troi more or less admits that Betazeds are shunned throughout the galaxy like lepers, since Luxanna is normal by their standards. that might explain why we never see any others running around.   Hubby drops a plot hint that probably goes unremarked, since we lack context yet, when he reveals he is a doctor.  I could make a jewish mother joke here, but I won't.

Troi suddenly remembers Riker, and assures the utterly not offended Hubby Miller that Riker really just loves captaining starships, once again proving how much she sucks at her job.

Neither one of the seems terribly excited by marriage, which only reminds one of how out of place arranged marriages are on this show, and Troi makes the awkward transition to commenting on Hubby Miller's art on the table.  Like earlier I'd make comment about awkward scene framing, but like earlier, this seems more like honest character behavior. Troi wants to push the conversation along, out of the rut, so change the topic.

So, Troi figures out that the woman in drawings is what Hubby expected her to be. This scene did not need empathy lines to work, but there you have it.  So, we are in plot train territory, as Hubby explains how he's always dreamt of this woman, and assumed she was Troi... possibly explaining why the Millers were eager to follow through with the arranged marriage, since their son was basically an obsessed wacko for 'troi'.  Also: Predestination, not usually a good scifi plot point. Just saying.

So, Troi seems like she buys the idea that the random drawings must be of a real woman, which seems like an odd leap of faith, but maybe I'm reaching again, mostly to avoid dissecting Hubby's body language and dialog, since its mostly hammering on a theme that this guy is just so very swell and nice and all.

Captain's Log: This is pretty much the closest condemnation of arranged marriage that you'll get, when Picard simply states is unwise and unworkable in modern, 24th century life.  Yeah... that's the only problem anyone ever has with it, guys.

Anyway: Plot. They see the ship, its moving slowly... sublight speeds, giving us hours to resolve this plot... plenty of time for wedding plot, and Picard instantly, visually, recognizes it as Terellian, which actually doesn't really make sense but since it cuts down boring plot exposition I'll let it pass.  Given his fascination with the horrors of human history, maybe he likes reading up on human like species self inflicted genocides too.  Picard has creepy interests.

So, we don't get to learn much about this problem yet. Riker calls them 'poor devils', meaning they are sympathetic, and Picard seems to think they are a threat to the Enterprise and the planet.

And another Captain's log. The only new fact is to explain that they are believed extinct, which was vaguely hinted in the previous scene.

Staff meeting in the conference room as they establish the ship must have been traveling so slowly for years to get here.  Data explains about biological weapons being unleashed in a political dispute that infected both sides.

Doc interjects, which I'd normally gloss but: she says something about this event causing one to question the sanity of humanoid forms.

I get that this is an adaptation of questioning the sanity of human in the face of doomsday weapons like nuclear weapons, etc, but it doesn't work.  She seems to be suggesting that being upright, bilaterally symmetrical bipeds is reason enough to drive anyone to self immolation. So, apparently Doc Crusher is secretly a spawn of Cthulu, wearing a human skin?  Who knew?

Curiously: Doc then goes on to explain that she's got four fucking centuries of medical knowledge on the Terallians, and that their bioweapon was just advanced enough to do the job, thus rendering their threat to Haven completely toothless, which is promptly overlooked.

Yar take the exposition ball and mentions that Terellia is taught in security school (lol!), and how some ships escaped, taking the plague to other worlds, and so people just straight merc their ships when seen, with LaForge taking over halfway through. Picard picks it up in turn and, at last, gives us a timetable marker... the last known ship was destroyed eight years ago.

There is a massive problem here. The Terallians were listed by Doc as only having reached late 20th century technology, which implies very strongly she, and any other Federation level race could cure them, rather easily (like, I dunno... headaches?!). So where the fuck did all those starships come from? Last I checked we, in the 21st century, did not have starships worth a damn.

Data provides the plot clock (13 hours and change) and Picard sums up the problem: Haven, and by treaty the Enterprise, needs to stop that ship, and the Federation demands they assist even the terallians. For once its a Federation directive that doesn't start with Prime and end with Stupid.  As a general policy its not bad.

So, Picard brings up the pre-wedding of Troi and Hubby Miller, amusingly pausing long enough for several reaction shots between Riker and Troi before Riker stalks out in mid announcement without a single reaction from Picard.  See? SEE??? Picard's working with half a loaf here!

So, reception in generic room. Lurch drinking in the corner as people wander about. As the millers approach the captain, Luxanna clearly stages herself for her cue. Awkward, really.  Mama Miller wants Picard to conduct, but Luxanna doesn't because, reasons.

This allows the two mothers to cat fight about what the wedding ceremony will be. Given that its only a day out that seems... odd.  Not the fighting, but the fact that no one planned this thing. Maybe people just don't marry in the Federation that often?  Hell, the idea that weddings are sort of simple, low stress affairs done on the fly is the sort of utopian dream I can get behind, for once.

Luxanna gives a non-sequitor insult about Mama Miller having gone down hill (because earth wedding? Really?), but I'll forgive her since it leads to her saying Lurch will conduct the Betazed ceremony on account of his awesome sign language skills! That bit is classic, even if the delivery is a bit stilted.

We do get Luxanna's full title, which I comment on because, well, like everything else I comment on its a bit lacking.  She starts with the stupidest part... something about member of the fifth house.

Fifth house of what? Of all of Betazed? Fifth house on seventh street? seriously, you can't just number the house and leave it at that... it doesn't work.

Then you've got something about being bearer of some chalice and holder of the holy rings of Betazed. I'll assume the first is like a knightly order (order of the garter, for example, is a real world high honor that sounds pretty flaky without context), and just for amusement I'll point out that a devoutly atheistic show doesn't mind dropping in 'Holy Rings' as an honor, which would be a religious artifact (unless... you know... swiss cheese?)

So, cut to the actual dinner in the same room. Lurch is still drinking in the corner, Picard makes a toast. I note that Yar apparently has 'party hair'. Given her signature style is so short this is perhaps shocking, but it seems to involve lots of feathering until she's got an impressive crest of airy hair hanging over her forehead.  Seeing as everyone is still in uniform that begs some interesting questions I suppose.  Data comments on Lurch's drinking.

Now Hubby Miller pushes the plot train by asking if the ship is Terellian. As he does Lurch starts to bang this terribly annoying Gong. I suppose its a gag, thus funny, but the sound is so obnoxious that it never gets above annoying for the audience as it is for the characters.

So: Hubby Miller and Doc start talking business, Data circles, Lurch Gongs, and Riker looks pensive.  The continuing cat fight starts getting set for the next round.  Clearly Luxana is a childish bitch as she has some sort of vine thing around her arm that is actually a motile pet. Mama Miller overacts (screaming blue murder) when it touches her arm on cue.  Er.. that is Luxanna sets Mama Miller up, then siccs her pet plant on her.  This is apparently too much for Riker's brooding, so he makes the worlds most awkward, transparent excuse to leave early.

Anyway: Data sets up the next part by asking about the betazed wedding ceremony. Luxana starts in with the nudity and then with how papa miller fancies her, prompty Troi to flip out.  Not her fault, but it just seems over the top, a bit like Riker's leaving. Sure, there were reaction shots aplenty and pensive brooding, but it doesn't build. It just sits there until she explodes out of the blue. Maybe a better actress could have used those reactions to subtlying build up, but really the director needed to give her something to work with here.  I like various reactions, Troi knocking over the gong on the way out is a good one, Yar grinning wickedly is fun, but Data asking everyone to continue the petty bickering is best.

Cut to Riker brooding on a desolate holodeck as Troi walks in.  There is an oddity that I think is unique to this episode, where the entry Arch is a permanent artifact in the scene, with the door inside it coming and going as usual.

Now I may not have commented before, but Troi's usual jumpsuit is not terribly flattering to her in general. I comment now because this particular one is somehow even worse.

Ah yes: Cathedral time.  So, Troi is here to sooth Riker's savage breast, though not with music. He calls her Deanna and she wonders about Inzadi.  Riker says it means 'my beloved' and this is where his jealousy is called out. 'The Human heart is too small for that?' or something like that.

You see? A real man should accept being rejected for another for any reason and still continue to love the woman in question.  They don't pull this stunt often, and honestly, given Riker's record with the ladies on the show, his jealousy is sort of bullshit... but I think the reason they don't try it more often is pretty simple: Put this baldly it is clearly bullshit.  Frakes is given reign, as he must, to play Riker's jealousy honestly.  The only way to sell the scene for the Cathedral would be for him to admit he was wrong and to apologize... and there is just no way to sell that scene without ruining Riker, and probably the show along with it.

Its rare to see them reach so openly and fail so spectacularly. One assumes the dialog remains because they hope that just putting it out there once might get some people to pick up what they are putting down, another brick in their golden road to hell.

Riker sticks that Inzadi in and twists like a knife, and good on him. Troi's comment about males and platonic love is rich given her history of bitchfacing every time some woman found Riker attractive. Seriously, the only reason this relationship ever worked was the magic of TV writers not allowing their mutual lying and callousness to drive them apart.  I mean: The chemistry was there, we could buy them as a couple just fine... but their behavior makes them a toxic couple, bad for each other... and in real life no writer would be keeping them from tearing each other apart emotionally eventually.

Anyway: enter Hubby Miller, who continues being utterly inoffensive and nice, no matter how awkward the scene gets.   Is it possible to be so inoffensive that you become inherently offensive? Hubby Miller answers that question with a definitive YES!

No, seriously: Troi cuts Riker off so she can point out that Riker is the 'other man' and Hubby Miller is all like 'Yo, its cool man. To each his own. Good luck with the ship captain thing, too...', which is about as unnatural a reaction as I can imagine, even if he doesn't actually love Troi. Also? Hubby Miller is fucking oblivious to social cues here.

Anyway, after telling a funny story about the upcoming wedding, Hubby Miller asks the obvious question about if Troi wants to go through with it, but never why, and they share a tentative kiss that is much more believable than the one Simon had with Kailee in Serenity... of course, in his favor, it is a much more old school Hollywood kiss, thus requiring much less chemistry between the actors.

So. Plague ship, still not responding. Something is techobabbled about receiver echoes? So they know the ship is listening, which is nice I guess but pretty much non-science.  Then the pretty lady with the robes calls back demanding they destroy the ship before it reaches transporter range. She's insistent, and either the editor or the script did her no favors with the repetitive dialog, but like her previous scene she's just here to push that plot train along.

The obvious solution is, of course, tractor beam. But no one can suggest that too early or we lose any tension in this plot.

Yar offers to shoot... saying she can disable them. Picard asks 'And Then?' like he just scored a debate point.

And then they won't be able to approach Haven and will be much more willing to answer the damn phone, jackass.  This time Yar is just doing her job... though she still has that way over the top delivery she patented in the opening scenes of Farpoint.

Oh, it must be time to drain that plot tension. Picard orders the tractor beam. So now we have as many more hours of time as we need to resolve Troi. Well, I'm so glad I set a clock on that 13 hours then.

So. LaForge repeats the whole Comm thing, and Data offers that they could all be dead, which naturally is the Cue for the Main Viewer to fire up with the response. Through the static a blonde in moderately revealing clothes appears, and from Troi's face we can definitively say she's supposed to be the spitting image of Hubby Miller's art.  Eh. I guess she could be the woman in the drawings.

I note that the Terallian ship must be pretty warm, given the vast amount of midriff she'd got going on, and also that they all wear the same shade of blue for some unknown reason.

Captain's Log; Picard's voiceover asks the question the episode won't answer: How do we explain Hubby Miller's woman appearing on that ship?

Cut to bridge. Immediately a notable character actor pushes the blonde aside to speak for the Terallians, which begs the question of why she was standing front and center in the first place? Luckily, this time we have an answer that makes sense, since we eventually learn she was dreaming of Hubby Miller too, and the Terallians a believers in destiny or some such. Clearly, they expected Hubby Miller to be on the other end of the comm, so they wanted her to be the first person he saw.

Hell, Ren, the Terallian, pretty much leads with asking for him by name. Cue Hubby Miller walking on the bridge with his art.

So... 8 people on the ship, and they sensibly ask for a nice sunny quarantine on a beautiful island. Sounds legit.  He points out that they are dead set on dying at Haven, one way or another. Again, seems legit.  Not that they look sick at all, mind you. This plague they carry seems to be an all or nothing affair. Well, I guess the hot chick would be less hot with boils and lesions and such.

So Hubby Miller goes to Luxanna Troi for a nice heaping dose of mysticism to explain all this. I guess I sort of like what the first part of this scene says about Luxanna's personality, since she clearly knows what's going through his mind, but she plays her usual role for a while anyway before getting serious with him.  Her explanation for the inexplicable is vague metaphysic blather, but there is an important key development she delivers in three sharp words that I can't make sense of... sounds like "That.Weren't.So." which, a: doesn't explain anything, and b: doesn't even fit the context of the scene.  Her next line is 'And no doubt so is Ariana' (The mystery woman), which only renders those three words even more impenetrable to me.

Look: Barring that one phrase her entire explanation, stripped of 'pathetic humans' blather comes to 'everything is connected'.  So, um... yeah.  She might as well have said 'Everything's Zen, baby.'

Having helped Hubby Miller, Luxanna, clearly knowing his mind is on getting on the other ship, goes back to ditz mode.

In medbay, Hubby Miller closes a tiny little box that apparently contains all the emergency medical supplies they meant to send, just as Doc walks in.  For no reason at all, other than a guilty conscience,  he starts nervously rushing around there room doing busy work.  His plan is clearly being improvised, as once Doc leaves he notices the hypospray and swipes it. Again, pushing a vial into the back causes unnecessary sciency sound effects.

Next stop? His parents quarters, where Troi is standing around uselessly, waiting for her scene.  He makes the obvious farewell comment, Troi says nothing. He compliments her and kisses her, but is again clearly saying farewell and she says nothing. Worst Psychic Ever.

No, seriously.  Luxanna clearly got what he hadn't even planned yet from him, but she has no motivation to stop him, no obligation to the ship. Hell, from her point of view she's actually being smart, since clearly Troi is only going through with this mess of a situation out of a misguided sense of duty.  Troi, on the other hand, owes it to the ship to not let Hubby Miller assault and drug their transporter officer, to give Picard the chance to actually control who leaves his ship and how. Its a military thing, I guess. So she either doesn't read him at all, or she neglects her duty as an officer.

And since its probable that Hubby Miller would be given permission after suitable hrumphing, she's not actually helping him by being silent. So: She doesn't know.

So: worst psychic ever.

So, no one is waiting for Hubby Miller, just some sketches that I guess are supposed to be him at various ages? They look less like him than his did of 'Ariana'.  Well, they are waiting, just comfortably offstage for a TV reveal. Blah, blah they are believers.  Clearly, Ariana got much better cosmic reception than Hubby Miller ever did. All he got was a face, she got his profession, his name and his future actions.

So the Millers storm the bridge demanding their son back, and Ren calls to reveal he is a damn dirty liar. Apparently they never wanted to get to Haven, so they'll be moving on with his new son in law.

lolwut?

So, all that dialog, once the reveal of the sketch chick was already done, was a lie?  What purpose did that serve? Why not simply say they were there for Hubby Miller? I mean, that would have opened up some good old fashioned plot drama that was actually much more relevant than Haven was.  Think about it, alternate scene style:

Ren: We came for Wyatt, so he can treat our sickness and bang my hot daughter.

Picard: Yo, you can't demand I send over someone to your dirty leper ship, even if she's got some tight abs.

Wyatt: But captain, she is totally smoking, and I'm sure that's where I should be.

Picard: I'm sorry, I can't let you go. Its a death sentence, despite our super cool medicine.

Wyatt: I can make my own choices, and I'd like to die between her thighs, if you know what I mean.

Picard: Hmm... well, you aren't one of my crew or I would totally let you get away with that. I'll have to think about it.

Senior Millers: Wait! That's our son! No way can you let him go to a leper colony!



See? Drama galore! And in a fine Star Trek tradition at that, barring my little flourishes.  This way was just... meh.



Anyway:

Ren and Picard exchange Respects. Sure. Ren's just being polite, but seriously: He brought his crew across space without light speed drives and even snagged a doctor as a son in law to save his people. Man is hard core at this space captain shit, and even Picard knows it.

With that its time to shed the rest of the non-crew. The Millers leave just fine, so Luxanna can have her big scene. Must be nice being the wife of the show creator, eh?  She makes a comment about Picard's attraction to her, because reasons, then redirects to Riker. Troi's clearly possessive response puts the lie to all her bullshit about jealousy earlier in the show, which I chose to view as typical Cathedral hypocrisy. Women get to be jealous but men aren't allowed.

Lurch speaking is played like a big deal, and the fans seem to agree, since this is the only episode and the only line he ever does say, but really? I don't care.

Luxanna can't leave without one last sexual dig at Picard.  Prior to this round of rewatching I might have suggested she was lying, that this was out of character for Picard, but given my revelation about his relative intellectual depths I officially declare that it was dead honest, Picard is a secret horn dog. God only knows what he's thinking about when he sits on the bridge looking pensive.  We can pretty much garauntee its not astrophysics.


Mandatory bridge sequence and we're done.


So, you may disagree with my analysis, particularly the whole feminism/cathedral angle. I've put my cards on the table, explained my reasons... if you don't buy it that's your business, but don't try to claim I didn't make a case for it.  Interpretations may differ.

Personally? Luxanna is a nuisance character. Colorful but valueless.  Not valueless, but her only value is in shaking up the crew, not in any inherent traits she personally brings.   She does serve to remind me that the seemingly straight laced show is pretty depraved under it all, what with the winking references to the Holodecks less family friendly uses (which Barclay will serve to illustrate far more clearly in later seasons), Riker's manwhoring, their attitude towards bringing children to the Edo world...

Personally, I don't mind a little depravity now and then but I've started to see the deliberate destructiveness that causes it, motivates it... and that I can't stand.  I used to unthinkingly agree that there was something profoundly unhealthy in the lingering puritanism of America, but looking with a gimlet eye on history I can see the sexually repressed people accomplished some of the greatest strides of civilization, and I have to wonder if the two are somehow linked... if the inability to spend oneself freely in libertine pleasures somehow increases the drive to accomplish great things?  Does the chastity of women inspire men to do more for them?   Do men find fewer reasons to drink and party where there are no dancing co-eds on the bar, and thus spend more time in building and thinking deep thoughts?  Does a little rub and tug seriously deprive you of the need to lay a three thousand miles of telegraph cable across the ocean floor?

Its an interesting thought.   Right now the trends in our society are all bad, except for the one that makes it easier than ever to just get laid... no strings, no shame.  My balls thank the stars, but my mind worries.

Heavy shit for a fluffy scifi show with notoriously bad science.

Oh.

Crap, i was supposed to overview the episode here.  Right: Troi Episode, the first.  Gives us a chance to 'grow' the character, but not much of that happens, sadly.  Writing was all over the map, plotting and pacing were tossed in exchange for eccentric characters and amusing scenes.  For the most part the tone was consistent overall, but not flowing from scene to scene.  So you have a nice even tone, sort of grimly humorous, then you drop in Troi and Riker dealing with heavy shit like a rock in a bed sheet, then back to the grimly humorous tone so Wyatt and Troi can work on their DOA relationship...

Its better than the previous episodes, but still not great.  The last ten minutes or so clearly needed a bit more thought, if not more time.

And... we're out.