LogFAQs > #970268712

Episode 17: Samaritan Snare

Not even a tough act to follow. This episode would have been problematic even if it came earlier.

Being an episodic show, there is an expectation that the characters will settle into certain standard modes. Put on any random episode, in any random order, and you shouldn't be too lost. Yet, they've flirted with continuity and arcs before, so, while Picard's pride is a little on brand, coming after Q Who is a very strange place for this episode to be. We do get a good peak into Picard's cocky backstory. I quite like his discussion about warmth and other strange sensations after being stabbed. Adds an extra human touch to the whole thing.

Riker is in idiot mode here. His stupidity and dismissiveness of the Pakleds helps with the theme of pride, but he still veers into out of character territory. Liked his exaggerated manner when speaking in code, though.

La Forge tries to put on Burton's teaching hat when dealing with the Pakleds. Doesn't help his exasperation. Has some fun with his own exaggeration when tricking the aliens.

Worf has a brain and rightly asks why the chief engineer has to make the trip. There's some fun in his own overacting in the coded message.

Troi also has a brain and announces that the Pakleds are up to no good. She gets snottily dismissed for her trouble.

Data provides some decent encouragement to Data and has the most seamless time of lying to the Pakleds.

Wesley isn't awful, here, but I did find some of his questions and statements to Picard a bit too probing and awkward (and im not sure that all of the awkwardness was intentional). He veered into annoyance on a few occasions, but was mostly alright. The scene between them when Picard describes his injury is honestly great. It's remarkable that I have to praise an episode for not falling into this trap, but I was dreading the possibility that Wesley might be pulled out of his exams to perform Picard's surgery. He's already highlighted as more special than most, so, it seemed like a real possibility.

Pulaski continues to magnificently clash with Picard's personality, which is made all the better by the fact that she's in the right. Having her be the one to perform the surgery is marginally better than what I was dreading, but it's still one of those lazy contrivances.

Gomez has a pretty good line of listing all of Picard's interests. Otherwise, there's not much. Like every character, she had potential, but I'm kind of glad she doesn't recur again. Depending on how you count Guinan and O'Brien, we could have as many as ten main characters here. That's a pretty bloated main cast, already.

The doctors hovering over Picard are stock tropes and technobabble machines. The Pakleds are an unfortunate race. The idea of an unintelligent species that possesses a base cunning they can use to steal tech is interesting, but attaching stilted language and facial expressions (oh, and they're mildly fat, too) makes them read as a mockery of a fascinatingly broad range of mental disorders and disabilities. Having Riker sneer at them does not help at all. And when the resolution boils down to outsmarting an idiot, it just feels like mean spirited punching down.

I have little to say about the production that wasnt already discussed with the characters. The Pakled ship interior has a dullness that is mildly interesting at first in comparison to the Enterprise. The shuttle scenes do a decent job of conveying awkwardness. The doctors' technobabble extravaganza is a masterpiece of blatant padding and lazy contrivance. And what the fuck are they wearing? Capella iv must be in fashion, apparently. But we did get one cool shot of La Forge being beamed out of the screen onto the bridge.

There's a lesson to be learned in swallowing pride. A lesson that was communicated far better and with far more other ideas attached in the last episode. Nothing goes much deeper than Picard and Riker learning a lesson they shouldn't need to. Wesley gets an stock plot of exams aren't everything and lived experience is at least just as valuable. It's one of the better clichs, but there's still not much to discuss.

Could have slotted this episode anywhere and I wouldn't have cared much for it. But after Q Who? We're plummeting.

Going Up the Long Ladder, tomorrow.