LogFAQs > #883724513

#66. Lwaxana Troi

In Lwaxana's nine appearances over the course of TNG and DS9, she managed to irritate a lot of people - certainly Picard, Deanna Troi, and Odo, but also me, and a large portion of the rest of the audience. Lwaxana is, frankly, a huge problem. Part of the entire concept of the character would appear to be that she's unbearably annoying to the people around her, which should have sounded warning alarms to everybody in the writer's room as soon as she was pitched. But there also felt like there was this sense of obligation to her yearly appearances, rather than a sense of the writers having fun writing her or wanting her to be there. It's Gene's wife's character, we've got to give her episodes.

Now it's important to note that I DON'T think Majel Barrett is a bad actress. On the contrary, on the rare occasions where Lwaxana is actually humanized a bit (most of which happened on DS9), Barrett absolutely shines. She was also really good on her guest spot in Babylon 5 (which has a lot of crossover with Trek so expect me to mention it a couple more times). But so much of her presence is broad, slapsticky comedy scenes that, at best, might get a chuckle or two (such as when Picard ends up reciting Shakespeare at her in 'Ménage à Troi'), but at worst end with her getting naked for a wedding ceremony or mud bathing with Alexander Rozhenko (in the previously-referenced heap of garbage that is 'Cost of Living').

There was a time when I would have ranked Lwaxana in last place. Deep Space 9 can't make up for just how awful most of her appearances on TNG got, and to be honest, only one of the DS9 episodes she's in is even all that good - but the character does still feel a little different. She still has the same personality traits, but again, you start to see an actual human (well, Betazoid) underneath the big, loud exterior. She hangs out with Odo in an elevator. It's great. And even in the rest of her appearances, the problems with the episodes honestly aren't her (she shows up in the widely-reviled Season 4 episode 'The Muse' and actually manages to be the highlight of the episode - a far cry from what would have happened in the hands of the TNG writers' room). These things did improve her... a little. But the fact remains - she can't save a mediocre episode and she can cause a horrendous episode all by herself. Making her perfect Bottom 10 fodder.

Best Episode: The Forsaken
Worst Episode: Cost of Living (I'm trying not to list too many episodes twice, but this episode is just flat-out appalling and both Alexander and Mrs. Troi are a part of the abject horror)