Okay, so the episode starts fine enough with the redressed shuttlecraft prop and our clique meeting the three aliens, after Riker and Worf wax lyric and whine macho over having to be diplomats because Star Trek. The three delegates come across as marginally interesting, especially Byleth, who refuses the chosen escort of Riker in favor of Worf. Must be the ridges (
), except it's clear that Byleth forgot to eat his bran flakes after drinking a 128oz bottle of distilled prune juice. So we already know that part of this episode will be a treat and not because of the limited alien wardrobe budget, oh my... but I should really be referring to him as "Worf's new Federation Wrestling Buddy", (FWB) but I won't - not because the acronym doubles on something you can read quite often on dating sites, but I digress.
...or how quick we get to the Troi comedy relief scene involving introducing her new pal, Loquel, to the biggest blop of chocolate ever. I mean, it's huge. It's the Jolly Green Giant's favorite niblet!! I don't know why but the Ktarian chocolate puff looks as edible as it looks hilarious. This segues into the third pairing, that of Picard and Voval. Why couldn't this be Riker since, whenever Ktarian-anything are involved, his libido then endangers the whole of Starfleet? Naah, we need to remember that Picard likes getting jiggy too no matter how austere he presents himself as being.
Now when did Picard get the time to learn dashboard technology from an alien shuttlecraft? He seems to operate it like a pro, thanks to the power of plot. So it was a fairly smooth landing, but the lack of forced perspective makes one wonder how the shuttle managed to land so smooth. It's nice to see an alien environment hostile to humans again, as we don't see that too often.
A quick segue - the incidental music in this one's surprisingly nice, adding some ambiance to the episode instead of coming across like when opening a bag full of farting ferrets.
And going back a notch, how does Troi know that the aliens of the week don't find chocolate toxic to their biological bodies? Sheesh, in Startrekland, make dogs sentient and have them order chocolate smoothies then. Actually don't, because chocolate is toxic to dogs. The power of plot armor ensured no Human or Klingon got poisoned when eating cuisine alien to their bio-structures, good gravy Marie...
Yup, as usual, Dr Crusher is the real ambassador to all of humanity yet again for this episode, teaching Byleth on how to behave. Now, at first glance, this is cringe-inducing. Thankfully, since Byleth is there for the real benefit of Worf, the reason will become apparent later in the story...
Okay, while Troi finally mentioning how it's now appropriate to set limits (she gets the best material in this episode, as well as double-act with Loquel and his choco-addiction there), Riker offering poker as a means to relax is surely the DUMBEST IDEA EVER BASED ON WHAT WE'VE SEEN SO FAR? AND TO SOMEONE WHO'S NEVER PLAYED IT?!!
Okay, the bit with Loquel meeting a child and his mom is genuinely smile-inducing - so the episode gets an uptick. TNG needed to do that sort of thing once in a while.
Anna's claim of wanting to be rescued and taken away... shades of Gillian from Star Trek IV and about a few million fans...
Speaking of Rescue,
(Dig that guitar and bass beat...)
Now there's a Rescue!!!
Now, let's talk about the pachyderm in the room... or is that the gassy group of uncles during football after dinner? The culmination of Loquel's newfound addiction to chocolate, Byleth's battle with Worf, and Anna's screeching "LOVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" I'm not sure if this story wanted to be a comedy, but for every scene that landed, so many other scenes were either cringe or unintentionally funny.
The idea of shapeshifting aliens wanting to learn more about is by honing in on a dominant personality trait (even inverted) -- well, only one shapeshifted... why not all of them? Okay, no budget, and they weren't going to redo that scene from "The Dauphin" where Worf had to battle the shapeshifter there... wouldn't it be cool if Loquel morphed into a candy bar vending machine and Troi would be addicted to that? Just don't ask Holly...
(Oh, the wonderfulness of good shows from the 90s, LOL...)
This is loosely reminiscent of a tenet from "The Royale" mixed with some of TOS's "The Savage Curtain", and has - or should have - a lot more potential than "We Excalbians have no clue what the difference between good and evil is, so we'll force you to fight and if you lose we'll kill you all, so this means we're really evil, probably" -- and yet, despite a lot of potential in this episode, the misfires just seem bizarre and the result is less than the sum of its parts. And yet it all feels... oddly original.
But it's not an entirely bad story. But not a great one, and for all the A-team effort in DS9, it's easier to rewatch "Move Along Home" than this one.
5/10
and now, I'm off to make a sugar-free chocolate cake, eat it all or if nothing else just spoonfeed myself the powder from the box directly, then go outside wearing overly-tight sweatshirt and pants, and scream in high-pitch "LOVE ME!!!!!" and see what happens... eh, or maybe I won't...
), except it's clear that Byleth forgot to eat his bran flakes after drinking a 128oz bottle of distilled prune juice. So we already know that part of this episode will be a treat and not because of the limited alien wardrobe budget, oh my... but I should really be referring to him as "Worf's new Federation Wrestling Buddy", (FWB) but I won't - not because the acronym doubles on something you can read quite often on dating sites, but I digress....or how quick we get to the Troi comedy relief scene involving introducing her new pal, Loquel, to the biggest blop of chocolate ever. I mean, it's huge. It's the Jolly Green Giant's favorite niblet!! I don't know why but the Ktarian chocolate puff looks as edible as it looks hilarious. This segues into the third pairing, that of Picard and Voval. Why couldn't this be Riker since, whenever Ktarian-anything are involved, his libido then endangers the whole of Starfleet? Naah, we need to remember that Picard likes getting jiggy too no matter how austere he presents himself as being.
Now when did Picard get the time to learn dashboard technology from an alien shuttlecraft? He seems to operate it like a pro, thanks to the power of plot. So it was a fairly smooth landing, but the lack of forced perspective makes one wonder how the shuttle managed to land so smooth. It's nice to see an alien environment hostile to humans again, as we don't see that too often.
A quick segue - the incidental music in this one's surprisingly nice, adding some ambiance to the episode instead of coming across like when opening a bag full of farting ferrets.
And going back a notch, how does Troi know that the aliens of the week don't find chocolate toxic to their biological bodies? Sheesh, in Startrekland, make dogs sentient and have them order chocolate smoothies then. Actually don't, because chocolate is toxic to dogs. The power of plot armor ensured no Human or Klingon got poisoned when eating cuisine alien to their bio-structures, good gravy Marie...
Yup, as usual, Dr Crusher is the real ambassador to all of humanity yet again for this episode, teaching Byleth on how to behave. Now, at first glance, this is cringe-inducing. Thankfully, since Byleth is there for the real benefit of Worf, the reason will become apparent later in the story...
Okay, while Troi finally mentioning how it's now appropriate to set limits (she gets the best material in this episode, as well as double-act with Loquel and his choco-addiction there), Riker offering poker as a means to relax is surely the DUMBEST IDEA EVER BASED ON WHAT WE'VE SEEN SO FAR? AND TO SOMEONE WHO'S NEVER PLAYED IT?!!
Okay, the bit with Loquel meeting a child and his mom is genuinely smile-inducing - so the episode gets an uptick. TNG needed to do that sort of thing once in a while.
Anna's claim of wanting to be rescued and taken away... shades of Gillian from Star Trek IV and about a few million fans...
Speaking of Rescue,
(Dig that guitar and bass beat...)
Now there's a Rescue!!!
Now, let's talk about the pachyderm in the room... or is that the gassy group of uncles during football after dinner? The culmination of Loquel's newfound addiction to chocolate, Byleth's battle with Worf, and Anna's screeching "LOVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" I'm not sure if this story wanted to be a comedy, but for every scene that landed, so many other scenes were either cringe or unintentionally funny.
Note: Anyone who had this movie in "pan and scan" was ripped off. The original detail left in without cropping it--
wait, that's not as important, sorta, as how "Liaisons" could show that the early-90s could be
just as wild as the late-60s... sorta.
The idea of shapeshifting aliens wanting to learn more about is by honing in on a dominant personality trait (even inverted) -- well, only one shapeshifted... why not all of them? Okay, no budget, and they weren't going to redo that scene from "The Dauphin" where Worf had to battle the shapeshifter there... wouldn't it be cool if Loquel morphed into a candy bar vending machine and Troi would be addicted to that? Just don't ask Holly...
(Oh, the wonderfulness of good shows from the 90s, LOL...)
This is loosely reminiscent of a tenet from "The Royale" mixed with some of TOS's "The Savage Curtain", and has - or should have - a lot more potential than "We Excalbians have no clue what the difference between good and evil is, so we'll force you to fight and if you lose we'll kill you all, so this means we're really evil, probably" -- and yet, despite a lot of potential in this episode, the misfires just seem bizarre and the result is less than the sum of its parts. And yet it all feels... oddly original.
But it's not an entirely bad story. But not a great one, and for all the A-team effort in DS9, it's easier to rewatch "Move Along Home" than this one.
5/10
and now, I'm off to make a sugar-free chocolate cake, eat it all or if nothing else just spoonfeed myself the powder from the box directly, then go outside wearing overly-tight sweatshirt and pants, and scream in high-pitch "LOVE ME!!!!!" and see what happens... eh, or maybe I won't...
) but I can't say that for sure.
