Character – ‘Escort our Ferengi guests to quarters…not too close to mine’ says Riker at the beginning of the episode, outwardly racist towards another species in public. It’s strange how DS9 is known to be the wild child of the Star Trek universe and yet when it comes to overt casual racism I think TNG is far more guilty. Maybe it is highlighted more shockingly because most of the time this crew heads around the galaxy claiming to be culturally superior. Really, Picard should have chewed him out for this but instead he seems to participate in it too. His face when Kamala comes out of the egg is something akin to lechery, too. I struggle with this character sometimes. Perhaps because I’m cannot empathise with his Alpha male tendencies. Why would anybody give a woman who has been designed to please men to Riker to look after? The second they are alone and she makes a beeline for him he is snogging her face off. Surely when this woman has been promised as a diplomatic gift to somebody it is dangerous to play about with her beforehand? Riker’s brains are in his pants most of the time so I’m sure ambassadorial courtesy never even came to mind. ‘I make it a policy to never open another mans gift’ he says, after he has let her stimulate him for some time.
Picard’s struggle to remain professional and not give into his feelings for Kamala is very well played by Patrick Stewart (as you would expect). In some ways I wish Picard would throw caution to the wind and take his chances – it would have been fascinating to watch the Captain have a romance for the last two seasons of the show (it worked wonders for Sisko). There isn’t much suspense when you know that Picard is devoted to his work and would never sacrifice that for a relationship. But watching the conflict reveals new shades of his character.
Performance – I realise that it might not exactly be the highlight of anyone’s career to play a transporter attendant but is there any reason why the woman manning that post in the cold open sounds like she is struggling to stay awake?
Framke Jansen has a difficult role to play in that she needs to shed her skin several times throughout the episode and play different versions of herself depending on who she is talking to. I thought the differences to her performance when she was talking to Riker and Picard weren’t particular pronounced by once she entered Ten Forward and started flirting with the rowdy guys propping up the bar I could see the character was in very safe hands. It’s an impressive turn for a single episode.
Hilarious Dialogue – ‘How can you deliver her like a courier into a life of prostitution?’ comes from Dr Bev! I think this entire scene, whilst interesting from a conceptual standpoint, gives Beverley dialogue that is far too on the nose and over the top (‘That slave trader you call an Ambassador!’). The argument loses its wind when your spokesperson for liberation is indulging in hyperbole.
Production – There’s an astonishing moment that could only come from an episode of science fiction where Picard, Geordi and visiting representative of the week walk the corridors of the Enterprise and into the holodeck and into a completely new environment. I know this is simply a matter of putting the two sets next to each other with the holodeck doors in between but it still has a wonderfully disorienting effect to go from one vastly technological environment to a far more natural and sedate one. Bravo.
I wish they hadn’t done that – To expose how TNG and DS9 treated the Ferengi differently you only have to look at this episode. And I won’t take any of the flubber about DS9 coming after TNG because there was a point where the two shows were running concurrently and this episode comes four years after their original appearance in TNG. They should have learnt from their own mistakes by this point and be attempting to give the species some level of depth and sophistication instead of continuing to treat them like one dimensional cartoon characters. The fact that Max Grodenchik played Rom in DS9, a genuinely awesome character who saw incredible growth over seven years (at one point he actually saves the Alpha Quadrant from being invaded by the Dominion at one point) and also plays one of the Ferengi in this episode (an excitable, unmemorable little worm who is only out for profit) is very telling. The first ten minutes are tainted by the Ferengi and their ridiculous antics.
A reason to watch this episode again – A very strange episode that made me feel pleased (that gender representation is being given a more balanced view on TNG), awkward (Riker’s behaviour in particular), uncomfortable (Beverley’s weird tirade in the middle of the episode that makes some pertinent points, really badly) and irritated (the Ferengi). It’s a middling TNG effort because it doesn’t quite feel like it knows what it is trying to say. Picard makes a bid to let this ‘slave’ roam free on the ship but immediately changes his mind when the Ambassador’s claims that she would be disruptive are accurate. The trouble with these romances of the week is that unless the couple has incredible chemistry (think Dax and Lenara in Rejoined) or the episode has something powerful to say (again Rejoined) then they wind up feeling quite disposable. The best parts of this episode – and often the best part of any TNG episode – centre on Picard, his loneliness and need for company, and how torn he is between finding Kamala agreeable company and resisting her because of what she is. It’s a sleeper episode and with a little more focus and drive it might have been a knockout. It is sensitively performed by the two leads, but the extraneous and distracting material surrounding them gets in the way.
**1/2 out of *****
Clue for the next episode -
No comments:
Post a Comment