"The Perfect Mate" (Spoilers)
Susan Gere
Wow! This episode was so good I had to come back to r.a.s.c. ...
Spoiler warnings...
- A Trek first: subtlety! A beautiful woman-of-the-week without
bare skin! (well... sort of. :^)
- Another, very welcome near-first: they didn't save the universe,
even a planet, or right some unbearable wrong.
- The mandatory plot elements (the Ferengi) were kept brief enough.
Though I await the day Security becomes worth its paycheck.
- Picard finally (for me) attains three full dimensions. There was
some "him" there.
I was worried when the obviously sexy female figure emerged from
the egg (an obvious Helen of Troy reference). It took a while to
like her, as she had been trained in that Royal Family way - as a
public person with hard-to-detect self. But by the time she asks not
to be left alone (which astonishingly does *not* turn out to be a
cheap seduction ploy), she is quite real. When she asserts that she
is *proud* to serve her people in a political match, I can believe
it. Even her betrothed is not- quite- tooo repulsive to be real.
The actress displays some formidable skill in the "metamorphic"
reactions to male crew (and civilians, let us hasten to emphasize).
Interesting, that they didn't show interactions with female crew.
I can attest that *I* am now in love. Completely. It's puzzling what
to make of the information that male metamorphs are "much more common"-
doesn't seem to convey a message about our own society; another oddity.
The writers overall did outstandingly well on this one. They managed
to portray a complete seduction without consummation - can the TV audience
handle it? Even Riker displayed self control for once, though incomplete.
The brief sequences with Riker's and Worf's reactions were priceless.
For me this episode also represents the final word on TOS vs. TNG:
Elaan of Troius is surpassed by Kamala, and Kirk by Picard, as a
sixpack - even of the good stuff - a fine wine whose time has come.
Crude, refined. Adolescent, mature.
Each has its place, but I fear I am won over to the new forever.
If only they would continue to give the others- notably Beverly-
the same, so far elusive, depth.
[I don't do ratings. Obviously an all-time favorite.]
Andrew Bates
>
>Wow! This episode was so good I had to come back to r.a.s.c. ...
Me too!
>Spoiler warnings...
>- Picard finally (for me) attains three full dimensions. There was
> some "him" there.
Agreed. Fantastic performance.
> For me this episode also represents the final word on TOS vs. TNG:
>Elaan of Troius is surpassed by Kamala, and Kirk by Picard, as a
>sixpack - even of the good stuff - a fine wine whose time has come.
It's kind of funny: two episodes with similar plotlines. 'Elaan of Troyius'
is, in my opinion, the WORST episode of TOS. And 'The Perfect Mate' is one of
the best TNG episodes. Fantastic.
> [I don't do ratings. Obviously an all-time favorite.]
Same here.
Andy Bates.
Stephen Wayne Miller
ba...@kronos.arc.nasa.gov (Andrew Bates) writes:
>And 'The Perfect Mate' is one of
>the best TNG episodes. Fantastic.
Finally!! I was beginning to think there were only two of us in the world!
--
__ | Internet address: | "Oh no! Toonces, look out! AIIIEEEE!" --SNL
(_ | ata...@cats.ucsc.edu | "This is only an exhibition. This is not
__)teve | (Delphi: ATARIO) | competition. So please . . . no wagering."
---------+----------------------+ --Late Night with David Letterman
Ren: DON'T TOUCH IT! IT'S THE HISTORY ERASER BUTTON, YOU FOOL!!
Stimpy: Soooo wh-what'll happen?
Ren: That's just eet! We don't know! Mayyyyybe something bad . . . mayyyyybe
something good! I guess we'll never know! 'Cuz you're going to guard it!