83 lines
3.8 KiB
Plaintext
83 lines
3.8 KiB
Plaintext
WARNING: The following article contains spoiler information on this week's
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TNG episode, "Man Hunt". Those not wishing spoilage should not proceed any
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further.
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I mean it, now.
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They did it. They actually did it.
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They brought back Lwaxana Troi, easily the most unwanted character in ANY
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universe, and they made it enjoyable. Wow.
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But comments come later. Now, a quick summary. (I'm ignoring a subsidiary
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plot involving some Antedian (?) delegates, since it's very small anyway.)
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While transporting some Antedian delegates (there I go, breaking promises
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already :-)) to a conference on Pacifica (yay! there again!), the Enterprise
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suddenly is hailed by a shuttle carrying Lwaxana Troi, who just happens to
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be the Betazed delegate to the conference. As it happens, Lwaxana is currently
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going through a phase similar to human menopause. In Betazed women, however,
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this stage of life sends their sex drive off the scale. Lwaxana Troi decides
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to do the honorable thing, that being to devote all her prodigious energies to
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just one man, whom she will eventually marry. All well and good.
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Unfortunately, she decides that one Captain Jean-Luc Picard is that man.
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From there, as you might imagine, all hell breaks loose, _particularly_ because
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Betazeds in this condition are also very sensitive, so cannot simply be told to
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go away.
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The rest of the episode involves Picard trying to stay out of her way, and
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Lwaxana's "alternate" plan, or, more precisely, alternate MAN: one William
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T. Riker. I won't give away how they solve the situation, except to say that
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I definitely considered it just desserts.
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Now, for my usual ranting.
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There's one big problem with writing anything about Lwaxana Troi: you have to
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be careful not to do it too well. You see, she is easily the most irritating
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person in all the twelve galaxies. So, if you write her too well, no one who's
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watching will be able to stand seeing her. That's how it is with me.
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However, the writer of this episode (Terry someone; I've forgotten the last
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name) neatly avoided that trap, by focusing not on her, but on everyone else's
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reactions TO her, which tend to be "AAAAAAAIIIIIIGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!". In doing
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that, he managed to craft a very enjoyable episode.
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Some of the conversations were very interesting in this episode. Firstly, I've
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rediscovered somethig we always knew: Pulaski is one mean woman (well,sort of).
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When Deanna's wondering whether she should warn Picard about her mother's
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current condition, Pulaski's reply is absolutely priceless (no, I won't type
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it here--nyahh!).
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Also, the scene where Picard actually finds out about Lwaxana's condition, and
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the effect it has on her, was quite well played, and a scream to watch,
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particularly Riker's reaction to all this. He finds it wonderfully amusing...
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at least, until Lwaxana decides he's her man.
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There's not too much more to say about this episode. It wasn't particularly
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serious, or indeed at all serious. It was pure fluff, basically. However, it
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was an absolutely lovely piece of fluff, and I loved it. That's all.
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And now for something completely familiar: my ratings:
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Plot: 9. Well crafted.
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Plot Handling: 9.5. The ending with the Antedians left me a little cold, but
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absolutely wonderful otherwise.
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Characterization: 9.5. If they'd even showed Geordi once, it would be 10.
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Technical: 9. Nothing to complain about.
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TOTAL: 9.25---> 9.5. Real nice, folks.
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Next week:
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Worf's old flame...and our first glimpse of a NEW Klingon ship. This looks like
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a good one, folks.
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Tim Lynch (Cornell's first Astronomy Major)
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BITNET: H52Y@CRNLVAX5
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INTERNET: H52Y@VAX5.CIT.CORNELL.EDU
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UUCP: ...!rochester!cornell!vax5.cit.cornell.edu!h52y
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"A Betazed woman, in going through this phase, quadruples her sex drive."
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"Or more."
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"Or more? You never told me that."
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"I didn't want to frighten you."
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