Character – There’s a lovely titbit for Troi when she tries to comfort Jev and tells him how she keeps reminding herself that her mother and she are completely different people. It’s moments like this where Troi feels utterly naturalistic and I find her a delight to be around. It’s very telling that TNG feels that it cannot consummate the relationship between Troi and Riker because that would affect its status as episodic television and yet it shows in a tricky sequence that they do have intimate moments, which Troi resists because they are serving on the same ship. We all know now that Troi and Riker end up together after the series ends and so this material is some of their most vital because it shows just what happened behind the scenes between them. The attraction is there and the want to be together is there…Troi is behaving sensibly by holding back whilst it might affect them both professionally and yet it feels like the writers are ducking out of dramatic character opportunities.
For Riker, the choice to bring an isolation door and kill a member of the crew to save the ship weighs heavy on his mind and Jev invades that memory in the most sickening of ways. He looks Riker square in the eyes and tells him he is a murderer. It’s a deliriously edited and directed sequences, and it gets my heart racing every time I see it.
Picard is ever the diplomat and refuses to insult their guests by accusing them of attacking his crew without any evidence. As the episode progresses and more people fall foul, he has no choice but to investigate the planets that the Ulyans have visited. He’s a fair man and doesn’t want to cause a diplomatic incident and yet he wants to do everything he can to protect his crew. It’s a very responsible portrayal of his character.
Performance – Director Robert Wiemer chose Ben Lemon a little too well for the role of Jev because whilst he is softly spoken and appears the least offensive of the Ulyans, there is a quiet menace to everything that he does. He comes across as a man who has been beaten down by his father and in reality he has developed a taste for barging his way into people’s minds and messing about in there. It’s the eyes that get me. Every time the camera fixes on those creepy eyes of his, I shudder. What creeps me out most of all is how still he is in all of his scenes, and how he pounces during the dream sequences. It’s a startling contrast.
Production – Sometimes you have to wonder what the designers were thinking when putting together costumes for the guest characters and the Ulyan penchant for wearing white robes with holes cut across the entire fabric proves baffling in terms of practicality and design.
Best moment – Riker talking to Deanna in sickbay shows the real tenderness he feels for her. It’s beautifully played by Jonathan Frakes, who isn’t afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve. Dr Crusher interrupts the scene and is just as tender with Riker. The natural chemistry between these actors should never be taken for granted.
Beverley’s attack is the most terrifying of all and for a few minutes this episode is filmed like a particularly intense horror movie. The moment when the corpse opens his eyes gets me every time. What is it about Beverley and morgues? Between this and Night Terrors, they really show that she has a terrible fear of them.
Troi taking control of the situation at the climax by kicking the shit out of Jev and smacking him round the face with a padd. It’s rare for me to cheer out loud for Counsellor Troi.
Worst moment – Riker reminds us of Shades of Grey. Why would he do that?
Why would Jev suddenly decide to physically attack Troi when he has gotten away with his mental rape for so long? It is because this is a standalone episode of Star Trek and it needs to be wrapped up within 45 minutes. So Jev needs to make a mistake so they can catch and condemn him. It might have been far more disturbing if he had gotten away with it. Had the crew never found out which of Ullyans was responsible and only we knew. How the plot tidies up all of this a little too neat.
Should they have done that? – Should Star Trek be touching on subject matter as sensitive as rape? I would say so, because this has never been a show aimed at a family audience despite how dumbed down it might have been in its first couple of years. The Original Series took a stab in The Enemy Within but there were all kinds of uncomfortable sexual politics at the time that made that entire affair extremely discomforting to watch. TNG is the most sterile of all the Trek’s and I would have thought that it was the least likely to get something as disturbing as this right (to show the emotional and physical consequences). Whilst they do duck the consequences part (all of the crew who have been attacked go about their merry way at the climax), it does a good job of condemning such actions and making the scenes where Jev is raping the crew extremely discomforting to watch. The Troi mid rape is the most obvious parallel because it is about her and Riker having a moment on the Enterprise after a poker match and Jev literally stands in for the Commander and forces himself on Troi in her mind. It’s quite one of the most horrible moments in all of Trek.
A reason to watch this episode again – I’ve always found Violations to be a gripping and frightening episode of Trek that is let down by foreseeable plotting and a climax that drags it down. If this was a story about a man stalking people on the Enterprise and murdering them it would tired and cliched. Instead they take the science fiction route of having Jev commit mind rape on people (and intriguingly it is on both men and women), which feels far more threatening and personal. How he charms Troi so sweetly and then perversely delves into her memories and turns it against her is quite terrifying. The story plays out like a typical episodic procedural show; introducing the guest the guest characters, the first attack, an investigation, the second attack, getting some findings that point them in the direction of the attacker, the third attack, concrete proof of who it is, a final attack. There’s nothing stunningly original in the plotting, but it is the performances, the direction and the character revelations that standout here. Violations gives us great insight into the minds of Troi, Dr Crusher and Riker and I always like it when we get to see what is going on beyond the day to day confines on this ship. The way it twists those revelations into terrifying dream sequences that leave the victim comatose is riveting television, if discomforting. For TNG, this is really rather hard-hitting material but it is the character insights that thrill me. It’s the last five minutes that really let the episode down, as Jev has to be caught in the most predictable way possible.
***1/2 out of *****
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