Plot Synopsis: As the Enterprise crew prepares for an unexpected wedding, the ship begins to experience strange breakdowns. Worf and Alexander struggle with their own family dynamic.
Plot A and B Analysis: The teaser may be the best part of the episode: we get to see the Enterprise firing photon torpedoes and then a particle beam at a runaway asteroid, the 24th century equivalent of skeet shooting. Plot A is about Lwaxana Troi’s visit to the ship and her impending marriage; plot B is about the parasites eating the ship; plot C involves Worf and his son, Alexander. Worf and Alexander are having some family squabbles and Troi is helping out. Within the next five minutes Lwaxana is on board messing everything up and bonding with Alexander, and announces she is engaged. It’s sort of hilarious that she met her fiancé through online dating, even though the internet wasn’t around yet! Plot B doesn’t get going until around the 20th minute, when food replicators start acting wonky. Something is converting metal in the ship into gelatin: metal parasites. Lwaxana’s boyfriend, Campio, shows up and he’s from the most Victorian-style prudish planet imaginable. Plot A is the better of the two, in that it is a source of some humor and attempts to have a point. Plot B is clearly filler because there needs to be something for the rest of the cast to do, and is a waste of time. The writers tried to add some tension by lowering the oxygen on the ship and making everyone sweat, but it’s not really felt by the audience. Lwaxana busts up her own wedding, the Enterprise pees the parasites out into space, and this one is over.
Favorite Scenes: The teaser isn’t bad. For the rest of the episode it is not so much scenes as moments that are good. There is a slightly amusing exchange between Lwaxana and Worf in the 8th minute, where she calls him “Mr. Woof” and he patiently replies, “It is Worf, madam,” in a way I’ve always thought was funny. A minute later Riker is informing Picard she wants him to give her away at her wedding: “Permission for an onboard wedding is granted, Number One. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to give away Mrs. Troi.” In the 15th minute one of the Holodeck guys intones, “The higher…the fewer” to which Lwaxana comments, “Well that’s a conversation-stopper if I ever heard one.” I think that’s where I first learned the phrase. Worf taking out the Wind Dancer is somewhat amusing. There is brief period in the 40th minute when everyone on the ship is unconscious and Data saves the ship. Finally in the last scene, we cut to Worf in the mud bath looking uncomfortable: “You’re just supposed to sit here?”
Use of Cast/Characters:. Other than the teaser, Picard doesn’t do much and Riker does less. Data and Geordi work together to piece together the mystery of the parasites, and Data does manage to save the ship. Beverly appears only at the wedding and does not have a single line in the episode! Worf and Alexander both get character development, as the writers remember he’s supposed to be on board. Some typical family dynamics get explored, which is good for both characters. Deanna’s role seems to be to try to help Worf and Alexander, and be stunned that her mother is marrying such an obvious prude. Tony Jay plays Campio, the fiancé, and does a reasonably good job. The actors on the holodeck also do good jobs. Majel Barrett starts out annoying but does become a more sympathetic figure as the episode progresses, which is nice.
Blu Ray Version: There are two deleted scenes. The first takes place when Lwaxana first meets Campio on the transporter pad. She talks a bit more, and it would have been fine to include. Second scene takes place after Alexander leaves Worf’s quarters saying “the higher, the fewer.” Worf and Deanna are commiserating about how much trouble they have managing their family, and trade a couple of memories. It’s alright, could have been included. The Blu Ray punched up the fire sculptor’s effects a bit. Watch the 22nd minute, and notice in one shot the mirror is working perfectly fine, and the next it’s completely opaque in order to hide the film crew. At 30:55 you have to look close, but when the camera is on Campio’s face, look at the bed in the background and you’ll see a script for the episode that was left out.
Nitpicks:. “If we project a particle beam, we may be able to produce a disruptive nuclear effect within the core.” Say what? Maybe Geordi or Data could think of that on the fly, but even as a 16-yr old I wasn’t sure Picard would be able to come up with that. I did try to find a screen cap of the particle beam, but it’s just too blurry to use. It’s also a bit of a stretch Lwaxana would want to have her wedding on the Enterprise. Her? No. Not sure how I’d feel about someone cussing in front of my young kid like Lwaxana does in the 15th minute. At about 18:20 the dancer looks right at the camera. In the 33rd minute the entire room Data and Geordi are in is red. We see it again in the 35th minute. It’s never seen before or again in the series. I guess the Enterprise needs at least one red room?
Overall Impression: Plot A is moderately interesting at best, plot B is not even that. This and A Matter of Time may be the only episodes in season five that are light-hearted. The fact that it can give you a chuckle in parts, and that Majel is perhaps her least annoying since Haven are about the only bright spots. It’s not a terrible episode–in fact it’s a bit better than I remembered it–but it is a forgettable one. Lwaxana fans will enjoy the eventual triumph of her ‘true self’ over the need to be with someone at the cost of who she is. Anyone with kids will be able to relate to Worf, anyone with embarrassing parents can relate to Deanna. Overall, though, it doesn’t live up to the standard I have for an average episode of TNG. I rate this episode 2 out of 5 stars.
Behind the Scenes/Trivia: This is the fourth of eight episodes in which Alexander Rozhenko appears, and the fifth season is by far the best for him. He’ll show up twice in season six and only once in season seven. I wonder if the scene where Lwaxana tells Alexander she’s alone was affecting for her, since Majel lost her husband only four months earlier. When Lwaxana is talking to the holodeck computer she’s actually talking to her own voice. This episode won two Emmys: Costume Design and Makeup, and was nominated for Hairstyling as well. Watch the girl dance during the 18th minute. It’s very reminiscent of the famous Orion Slave Girl dance from TOS pilot The Cage.
According to Larry Nemecek, the bits in this episode about naming Troi godmother to Alexander back in Ethics and their mutual concern for him here, were part of an idea the writers toyed with in having Troi and Worf hook up down the road. This of course, would come to fruition (sort of) in Parallels and the series finale. The special effect of the Wind Dancer balloon was achieved by filming a bowling ball without holes, the face of a made-up clown following in sync, and putting the two images together.
Missable/Unmissable? Missable, unless you’re a Lwaxana fan. I enjoyed the next one more.