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Old 10-13-2022, 05:47 PM
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October 5th, 1992, "Man of the People"

No fiver

The Episode

MAYLOR: You think he's attracted to you, but he isn't. You offer him nothing.
...
MAYLOR: Don't pursue him. I won't have it. I'll stop you.

Just like I'm not a fan of times when a main character is thought to be crazy, I hate it when characters are so enigmatic when pursuing their objective that they deliberately sabotage their own efforts. Just say "if you pursue this guy he'll suck your life away!"

TROI: I would imagine that your self-discipline helps you in your work.
ALKAR: I don't know about that. I think maybe my biggest asset is patience. I let everybody else talk until they're exhausted, and when I start, they're too tired to argue.

This sounds good in theory, but absolutely awful in practice.

TROI: Curiosity. What I sense from you is very unusual. Calmness, serenity, tranquillity.

Those three qualities seem a bit redundant, but maybe she's talking in Betazoid and there are secondary meanings we're not getting.

ALKAR: Mother, I told you that I'd be gone for over an hour.
MAYLOR: You're late because of her. Have you mated with him yet?
TROI: What?

If Maylor wants to stop Alkar's violations, why is she perpetuating this "mother" deception? I'd be miffed at the use of "mate" instead of "sex", but I'll chalk this one up to Universal Translator weirdness.

RIKER: Hi. It's that time again. The dreaded crew evaluation reports.
TROI: Does it have to be today?
RIKER: It's not going to be any easier tomorrow.

First, either of them should be able to delay these things when an important mission is in progress. Second of all, it's stuff like this that makes the early season weirdness more prominent. You're not allowed to grieve, but you can complain about work? You're not allowed to have money, but you can gamble? You're not allowed to be racist against humans, but you're allowed to be racist against aliens?

TROI: I've just had a disturbing encounter with Alkar's mother. She frightens me, Will. The feelings I sense from her are malevolent. They're out of proportion. They're evil.

Evil? Where did that come from? And in any case, shouldn't Troi be able to detect when something is messing with someone's thoughts?

TROI: Computer today's appointment calendar.
COMPUTER: Oh nine hundred hours, counselling session with Ensign Janeway.

The year is 2369. None of Captain Janeway's relatives are the right age to be this Ensign. It might be a cousin, I suppose. Amazingly the expanded universe never connected them.

CRUSHER: We'll have to sedate her. Twenty cc's of melorazine.

Melorazine makes many appearances in the Expanded Universe. Even an Okudagram in Discovery. In Star Trek Online it will cleanse someone of mental debuffs.

OGAWA: Doctor Crusher? I think you should see these readings, Doctor. Her neurotransmitter levels are three hundred percent above normal.

Wouldn't it be easier to say "Her neurotransmitter levels are at four hundred percent?"

ALKAR: Hear me out, Captain. It's important you understand. You see, I discovered long ago I had the ability to channel my darker thoughts, my unwanted emotions, to others, leaving me unencumbered.

Even given the wonders of the Trek universe, this seems a little silly. Furthermore, I'm reminded of Santa's bottle of evil in 1986's Babes in Toyland.

ALKAR: Captain. do you know how many people have died on this planet in the last forty eight hours? Thousands. Deanna Troi is just one individual.
PICARD: That does not justify brutalising her, nor any of the others you have used.

As Picard has said elsewhere, "I refuse to let arithmetic decide questions like that." At the end of the day Alkar isn't responsible for casualties in this war as long as he's doing his best to bring peace.

ALKAR: Ask the Seronian and Rekag children who go to bed each night in fear of their lives. Captain, I get no payment, I have no power base, no agenda. I am willing to risk my life simply to help others.

No agenda? The quest for fame is an agenda. This guy has no right to put himself up there with Riva and Sarek.

RIKER: Wait a minute. You're talking about killing Deanna!
CRUSHER: I'll be able to resuscitate her, Will, as long as it's not more than thirty minutes.

How did Crusher arrive at that number? I'm really interested.

PICARD: I intend to make certain that you answer for what you have done.
ALKAR: Your own Federation Council has granted me safe and timely passage back to my planet. I expect you to honour that, Captain.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the Federation Council will retract that promise when they hear what's going on. For that matter, diplomatic immunity may extend to laws broken while on alien planets on a mission, I don't think it extends to Starfleet vessels.

Memory Alpha

* The creators were definitely homaging "The Picture of Dorian Gray", but I don't think they knew what they were doing. Dorian was using a painting, an act that he thought had no repercussions. Alkar is using up the life of another person.

Nitpicker's Guide

* Phil wonders why Crusher can only "kill" Deanna for thirty minutes when people who have been in stasis for hundreds of years can be revived. This is one place where he really drops the ball. Deanna can't be put in full stasis as long as her brain is connected to Alkar. Thus Beverly has to keep Deanna's vital functions suppressed while still keeping her cells alive. A much more difficult task.
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mudshark: I don't expect Nate to make sense, really -- it's just a bad idea.

Sa'ar Chasm on the 5M.net forum: Sit back, relax, and revel in the insanity.

Adam Savage: I reject your reality and substitute my own!

Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Crow T. Robot: Oh, stop pretending there's a plot. Don't cheapen yourself further.
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