So my next rewatch, thanks not as much for my being too lazy to get up to swap out blu-ray discs after the other episodes on the disc, even "Imaginary Friend", but instead thinking "Well I've not seen this one since the blu+ray came out so why not", I sat through "The Perfect Mate".
After "Buck Rogers", Tim O'Connor probably wanted to be in a far less campy show, and unlike "Elaan of Troyius" from which this story may have had some inspiration from, "Perfect" doesn't feel campy at all.
Which is amazing, because the old standby camp comedic relief stylings of the Ferengi (who are still 2D caricatures at this stage in 80s/90s Trek) are brought aboard because the plot demands someone other than Barclay trip over a support strut and Barclay is too good to be used as a plot prop. Not to mention, the Ferengi in this are as reminiscent of getting into an elevator with a guy who had just eaten beans during lunch hour, you're asking why as a result.
How come the support struts have no emitters shown? (at least on the blu*ray, I'm too lazy to check the SD original.) I'll also get to the good stuff in the inevitable footnotes...
Gotta admit, the blu÷rays are awesome in having the teaser with the original episode - they also help demonstrate image quality differences firsthand.
How many more holodecks does the ship technically have? When brought up in the show, up to four are counted, save for early on when "the holodeck" was stated as if only one existed. But that's a season one snafu and I digress. Riker tells the Bridge he's going to Holodeck Four after prying himself away from "The Perfect Mate"*,**, and the implication there was so direct that nobody needed to spell it out for the audience with cheap dialogue -- even if there were zero censorship rules.
Oh, I have yet to mention how Famke Janssen pretty much steals the show with her acting range in every single scene, across so many different types of scenes... good grief, she should have won accolades for that episode - one for every scene she was in. Really great acting and sold the character more than perfectly. If there's ANY reason to ever watch this story, it's to see her act to the material and opposite everyone else in the cast.
So, yeah, the next time you whip out the blu^ray set for season 5, two of the episodes are probably skippable. One definitely is. But this one? I'd probably give it another go in the future, but it doesn't exemplify the best of what Trek (from the 90s, 80s, 60s, or today) can offer.
Lastly, I have to say it: Blu()ray. There, I got all that pesky PEMDAS out of my system. I feel better now.
After "Buck Rogers", Tim O'Connor probably wanted to be in a far less campy show, and unlike "Elaan of Troyius" from which this story may have had some inspiration from, "Perfect" doesn't feel campy at all.
Which is amazing, because the old standby camp comedic relief stylings of the Ferengi (who are still 2D caricatures at this stage in 80s/90s Trek) are brought aboard because the plot demands someone other than Barclay trip over a support strut and Barclay is too good to be used as a plot prop. Not to mention, the Ferengi in this are as reminiscent of getting into an elevator with a guy who had just eaten beans during lunch hour, you're asking why as a result.
How come the support struts have no emitters shown? (at least on the blu*ray, I'm too lazy to check the SD original.) I'll also get to the good stuff in the inevitable footnotes...
Gotta admit, the blu÷rays are awesome in having the teaser with the original episode - they also help demonstrate image quality differences firsthand.
How many more holodecks does the ship technically have? When brought up in the show, up to four are counted, save for early on when "the holodeck" was stated as if only one existed. But that's a season one snafu and I digress. Riker tells the Bridge he's going to Holodeck Four after prying himself away from "The Perfect Mate"*,**, and the implication there was so direct that nobody needed to spell it out for the audience with cheap dialogue -- even if there were zero censorship rules.
Oh, I have yet to mention how Famke Janssen pretty much steals the show with her acting range in every single scene, across so many different types of scenes... good grief, she should have won accolades for that episode - one for every scene she was in. Really great acting and sold the character more than perfectly. If there's ANY reason to ever watch this story, it's to see her act to the material and opposite everyone else in the cast.
So, yeah, the next time you whip out the blu^ray set for season 5, two of the episodes are probably skippable. One definitely is. But this one? I'd probably give it another go in the future, but it doesn't exemplify the best of what Trek (from the 90s, 80s, 60s, or today) can offer.
Lastly, I have to say it: Blu()ray. There, I got all that pesky PEMDAS out of my system. I feel better now.
* Perfect for the one on the receiving end, as much as Crusher has rather a great point, also notice her character assassination via story presentation after her big scene, considering how yon perfect mate there kept getting badgered by everyone because she was putting out more pheromones than a pack of skunks on a road during rush hour, only with skunks everyone ends up going in the opposite direction... but, dang, the way Famke changed tune right on cue - impressive. If anything, the one lout could have said "robot" instead of "android" about Data holding her arm...
** "Elaan of Troyius" is still a more fun action piece, this TNG episode being overall better despite the lack of action***, but neither is my bread'n'butter of Staaaaaaaaaar Trek (The Next Generation or otherwise 
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*** Not sure how they'd let any visitors on the ship wander around so freely or why they didn't have guards on the "precious cargo" stipulated in the first place and were those guards really well-built-- yes folks, in comes yet another tidal wave of whiny nitpicks and droolin'! 
(Well, I'm out of them now, phew...)
(Well, I'm out of them now, phew...)
