Yes, I know. This episode epitomizes everything that's wrong with the first two seasons by my own standards. But, I love Lwaxana, so this episode gets a pass.
Like most of the others, it shows great promise. We've got a very different looking alien species for a change. They travel in a catatonic state so they have to be moved to sick bay to stay until they reach diplomatic conference they'll be attending. Later when they awake they eat what looks like fish bait from large drums. Fitting since they look like giant fish. But, alas, that's the only effort made in creative science fiction writing for the show.
The primary focus of the story is Lwaxana Troi. She arranges to have herself transported to the conference on the Enterprise because she's on a manhunt. Look, I know there's no middle ground with Lwaxana. You either like her or you don't. I consider this a "for fun" episode that could never be meant to be taken seriously anyway. It is a shame that although it further develops the Betazoid culture somewhat, it doesn't get beyond this juvenile man-chasing, but Majel Barrett made it fun and believable.
It's explained as "The Phase" that occurs in mature Betazoid females. It's like a second adolescence almost when hormones tend to rage. Once she reaches a certain age, she feels the overwhelming urge to find, not just some hanky-panky, but a husband and new life mate. It's not made overly clear how this works if she's still married - presumably the poor husband would just have a hard time keeping up with her "second wind" as it were - it's just a catalyst for the comical nature of the show. Naturally her sights are set on Captain Picard, and why not? Picard's love affairs are few and far between because his nature is opposite of Captain Kirk.
But he's still a gentleman. After Lwaxana tricks him into a seductive dinner, he doubles down on the trickery by getting Data invited along to ruin the moment. It's so funny and is another form of demonstration of how Picard utilizes brains over brawn. He can let her down without directly hurting her feelings and is able to escape her advances.
He hides in the holodeck in his Dixon Hill program and here we see how his personality has been improved upon in this season. During his first moments on the holodeck he's annoyed with the action laden parts of the program and opts for more atmosphere instead. This seems right as opposed to his first foray into the Dixon Hill world. Much more comfortable and more like Picard's style of recreation instead of shoot-outs and police interrogations.
Since she can't find Picard, she turns her attentions towards Riker which irks Deanna even more. The stereotypical humor of an over bearing mother isn't off limits yet and thank goodness. Is all of this humor as immature as the other humor I always complain about? Honestly, yes, but what appeals to me is the personality of Lwaxana and the friction of the mother-daughter relationship. All of the unspoken things that go into acting the parts. All of them were getting much better at it.
I also appreciate the way Lwaxana is portrayed as a vibrant senior. She a nagging mother, but she's not sitting in a chair with her knitting. She's alive with passion and pursuits that aren't unrealistic even though her character is deliberately flamboyant. It's hard to make a character like that seem real, but Barrett does it with apparent ease.
Riker hides out with the captain on the holodeck too and eventually she catches up to them. She's gotten the hint and isn't happy about it but finds herself intrigued by the bartender whose mind she inexplicably can't read. Her disappointment in finding out that he was only a hologram seems to help take the wind out of her sails about finding a husband and she leaves later with no hard feelings towards anyone.
Why didn't she know she was on the holodeck full of made up people? I don't know. Why did they bother with lessons about judging people by their looks? I don't know either. It seemed like back-stepping with Worf to just assume that he'd find the Antedeans a handsome race just because they're as unattractive as Klingons typically are. People shouldn't be shamed for being honest about their personal tastes and views of what beauty is. No, they shouldn't say it out loud which I guess was this week's after school message for kids, but the Antedeans weren't conscious, so what was the big deal? You didn't see Lwaxana feeling guilty for thinking they were ugly. Anther reason why I like her character.
I'm not sure at what point it's indicated that there will be an assassination attempt at the diplomatic conference, but as Lwaxana is headed out at the end with the Antedeans, we discover that their minds are very easy to read and she lets everyone know that they were the intended assassins, saving the day. Yes, it's awful. It's the sort of thing I always complain about and this time is no exception. This could've been a bigger and better plot point, but instead they went with the comedy only to wrap it up very quickly and shallowly at the end. Believe me, even though I like Lwaxana Troi, I see the flaws of the episode all too clearly.
For technical merit, I know this episode doesn't deserve more than two stars but my personal opinions go into these reviews too. Lwaxana is one of my favorite reoccurring characters and this episode makes me laugh, so I give it three.
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