Plot Synopsis: As alien dignitaries visit the ship, Picard’s shuttle crashes on a desolate planet where he meets a woman who has been stranded there for seven years.
Plot A and B Analysis: The teaser opens with some Worf/Riker banter about how each of them hates dress uniforms. The Enterprise is hosting the Iyaaran race for their first ever cultural exchange while Picard is taking a shuttle to meet them on their home planet. Riker consoles Worf that he will only have to spend a few minutes with them and that he looks good in a dress. Unfortunately, an ambassador picks Worf to be his liaison. Plot A is about Picard and his experience, plot B is about the Enterprise crew and their ambassadors on the ship. Worf’s guy is a total jerk and it’s fun to watch Worf deal with him, while Troi’s guy is obsessed with pleasure–specifically food. Picard’s shuttle is blown off course and crash lands on a storm-ridden planet. After being knocked out by some electrical energy, he gets rescued by a human female who tells him he has three broken ribs. She’s been marooned for the last seven years. She’s a little loopy though, telling him she loves him the first day they meet. Picard handles it like a pro, but he underestimates her level of crazy. He’s got a big surprise in store! The plot bounces between the three before we learn the truth: the ambassadors were sent to explore the foreign concepts of pleasure, antagonism and love. The pace of this episode proceeds at a steady pace until it’s conclusion, though there isn’t quite enough time to develop each of the three perspectives as fully as I wanted.
Favorite Scenes: Virtually all the best scenes belong to Worf. The single best scene is the poker game, it’s the best three minutes of the episode. There is a nice moment early on where Data gives Worf some advice:
Data: I have heard that in moments of diplomatic tension, it is often helpful to find elements of commonality.
Worf: Ambassador Byleth is demanding, temperamental and rude!
Data: You share all of those qualities in abundance. Perhaps you should try to build on your similarities.
Later on Worf tells us how he feels about his ambassador:
Worf: I am going to kill him with my bare hands. I will take him by throat and rip out his esophagus–
I love everything that happens at the poker game. The ambassador takes two of Worf’s chips to bet, and he’s had enough:
Worf: I saw you take two chips from my pile.
Byleth: You would dare to accuse me of stealing?
Worf: Yes!
Byleth: You are lying because you are losing the game.
Worf: I am losing because you have been cheating all along!
Riker *trying to salvage the situation*: Wait a minute. Calm down.
Byleth: Even if I were cheating, how would a plodding animal like you know it?
Worf: You are an insulting, pompous fool. And if you were not am ambassador I would disembowel you right here!
Use of Cast/Characters: Picard has about half the episode to himself, with what we think is a survival situation but is something straight out of Stephen King’s Misery. He does figure things out, but to me it’s the least interesting part of the episode. Riker contributes the most in the teaser; he is generally unused this episode along with Data, Beverly, and Geordi, who has only one line of dialogue. Don’t worry LeVar, you have the next episode all to yourself! Troi and Worf take up the other half of the episode, and while Troi has a few scenes they aren’t particularly memorable. Worf and Byleth are clearly the highlight of this episode. The guest stars are all pretty good, particularly Barbara Williams as Anna and Michael Harris as Byleth.
Blu Ray Version: The purple lightning on the planet is better defined and brighter now, and the orbital shot of the planet looks better too. There is a deleted scene. It involves Worf and Byleth, which means it should have been included! Worf is sleeping and Byleth comes into his quarters telling him he’s late, that Worf promised to take him on another tour:
Worf *still sitting on his bed*: I do not recall you saying anything about–
Byleth: Are you calling me a liar?
Worf *standing up, barely controlling myself*: No. I simply do not remember the conversation.
Byleth: I’m going to have to add that to your list of inadequacies.
Nitpicks: Worf whines because he doesn’t like ‘diplomatic functions.’ It’s not much of a function, they’re just meeting in the cargo bay! I thought there was some sort of formal reception in Ten Forward coming. Also, sure we’re in a fictional universe, but a civilization without a concept for love, pleasure, antagonism or crime? Not possible.
Overall Impression: This episode isn’t as bad as I remember. It is a little scattered, trying to spread time between three different perspectives. The plot would have tighter and more rewarding if they had eliminated the pleasure ambassador and given more time to the Picard and Worf stories. This is not an episode I look forward to watching, but as I said it is a bit better than I remember it. I want more Worf scenes! Overall I rate this episode 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Behind the Scenes/Trivia: The actual story was meant to be an homage to Misery, though it was pitched as what could happen with Star Trek-obsessed fans. If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, what’s wrong with you? Go out and do one of those things. In the original script there was supposed to be a subplot about Deanna earning the full Commander rank, but it didn’t fit with the story. As we know, this would be later used in Thine Own Self.
This is one of only three episodes in which no scene takes place on the bridge. The others are Family and Dark Page. This is also one of only five episodes in which no stardate is given.
Missable/Unmissable? Missable overall, the only memorable part of this episode for me is the Worf-related scenes. The next one is worse.