This is one of my personal favorite episodes. It's also my favorite Picard romance and I think it goes a long way towards fixing the old formulas they stubbornly clung to in the early seasons. And it's a formula they've tried many times beginning in TOS with Elaan of Troyius, which this episode most closely resembles. A similar story takes place in The Dauphin from the second season of TNG. Not to mention Riker's brooding over Troi's arranged marriage in Haven from season one. No, a crewman being in love with a woman in an arranged marriage is not new, but in this one the conflict is gentler and more romantic as opposed to melodramatic. To my mind, it's like they finally got it right.
So, once again we see the Enterprise engaging in diplomatic efforts to secure peace between two planets, Krios and Valt, that had been at war for several centuries. The Enterprise was chosen as neutral ground between the planets for negotiations to take place and they have an ancient temple from Valt Minor replicated in the holodeck for the formal proceedings since it is a place of historical value to both parties. An ambassador, Briam, is brought aboard to arrange the details. So, there are no incidents of people from the warring planets posturing and threatening. The peace is a done deal. There are only the final touches and symbolic gestures remaining. Also brought aboard are two Ferengi after the Enterprise answers their distress signal and beams them over just before their ship explodes. In this episode, the Ferengi are in the final form that they would be for TNG and ready to be further developed in DS9. Always conniving and scheming, but no longer a terrorist type of threat that they'd been classically portrayed as. They privately giggle with delight at how easy it was to find their way onto the Enterprise and we see that some plot is being hatched and that it most certainly has to do with gain. They finally gave up on trying to write the little trolls into a militant type of role. One of them forces himself onto Briam to talk about trading rights. The crew, as well as the audience, are mystified as to what the Ferengi could possibly want from this peace negotiation. Picard shoos the Ferengi away while the other one is lurking in the cargo bay.
He's scanning what looks like a giant light cocoon being held up by little tractor beams. Riker gets word of unusual scanning activity and sends a security team to the cargo bay. Picard and Briam arrive there at the same time as the Ferengi, startled by Worf loses his balance on a container and breaks the connections of the beams holding the cocoon in place. When it falls, it releases a beautiful woman who walks up to Picard to give herself to him, mistaking him for the Chancellor of the planet Valt.
It's explained that she is part of the peace package, arranged to be the bride of Chancellor Alrik of Valt. Picard is a little taken aback by the fact that a living woman is being transported as cargo, but the woman Kamala seems just as concerned as Briam for being prematurely released from her pod. She's obviously not an ignorant, childish princess or victim of the circumstances, but an intelligent adult with a business-like manner regarding her travel and marriage arrangements. She apologizes to Picard and tells him that she sensed his authoritative presence. He orders her to be escorted to comfortable quarters and wants to know from Briam why a person is being trafficked around as property. Briam explains that she is an Empathic Metamorph (I think they could've come up with a more creative term.) and that these female metamorphs only turn up once every seven generations. She's able to sense the needs and desires of a man and become exactly what he requires in a wife and she has been groomed from birth to be given to the Chancellor Alrik as a bride. As an aside, the makeup for Kamala is what the revamped Trill makeup for DS9 was modeled after, and the actress that played Kamala was originally wanted for the part of Jadzia. Anyway, the "metamorph" part of her genetic mutation comes into play as she describes more about her basic abilities to Riker. She is in the final stage of her sexual maturity and her elevated pheromones make her irresistible to most males since she'll adapt herself to please them. She'll do this with any man she comes into contact with until she bonds with a life mate at which time she'll imprint upon herself the requirements of him and him alone which is why they were keeping her in stasis. She tries to pursue Riker in the way that he finds most appealing, but being a little surprised, he resists. The next morning Crusher is equally offended by the idea of offering up a woman like a trophy, but at first Picard isn't overly concerned. He's not fussed with the idea of an arranged marriage since it's a common thing, but then Beverly tells him that she's been restricted to her quarters like a prisoner. And that, as with the idea of her being kept in that cocoon, bothers Picard enough to talk to her and Briam. Kamala makes him uncomfortable when she begins to bend her personality into something that would please him, but he still would not have her isolated with her freedom taken from her. Briam tries to tell Picard that her presence would be a distraction to the male members of his crew, but Picard offers Data as her chaperon.
So Data takes her for a tour of the ship where she changes to please whichever group of men she's around from some miners in Ten Forward to Worf when he comes over to help Data back them off. Most women in real life have this ability anyway if they're good at
reading people. And many women (and men as well) will typically do
anything to please a mate, at least in the beginning. This is one of the
ways she would seem to be "the perfect mate." Since she naturally yields to a man's desires, she's the kind of
woman most men dream of. Later on Picard attempts to make her understand that although he has confidence in his crew's ability to control themselves that there are civilians on board. Of course, that may be a conversation he should be having with Data, but no matter. It's here that we learn that she's not just some vapid, mail-order bride but a diplomat who has been educated in a wide variety of cultures, governments, sciences, and arts. She's able to easily discuss Shakespeare and archaeology with Picard as well as his birthplace of France on Earth. She admits to researching that last personal aspect about him since she feels drawn to him and wants him to visit her in her quarters. Although he's very drawn to her to her as well, he remains as cold and unreceptive as possible to her advances which only seems to make her more determined to win his affection. When he asks her why she's trying so hard she says that it must be because some part of him wants her to do so. She is exactly the kind of strong, intelligent, and mature woman that is perfect for Picard. Not a flake like Vash or the girlfriend of his youth like Jenice Manheim.
The Ferengi, meanwhile try to bribe Briam and buy Kamala for themselves which fits in with their degrading treatment of women in their culture. He not only declines but assures them that he'll tell the captain about this incident. They panic and attack him clumsily which leaves him incapacitated because he's so old. The negotiations can't wait until he recovers because of her premature removal from stasis, so Picard must step into the diplomatic role Briam was fulfilling, but he knows little of the ceremonial aspects of the negotiations. Kamala offers to help since she knows all about the rituals of her people and her offer is sincere so Picard gratefully accepts.
They spend a lot of time alone in the recreated temple on the holodeck going over the music and other rituals of the ceremonies that will take place. Picard relaxes a little but tightens up again when she seems pleased by it. She can't understand why she makes him uncomfortable even though he's clearly attracted to her and her behavior is everything that pleases him. Picard wants to know what she does when she's alone; what her own interests and hobbies are. She explains that she's never been alone but always tended to, tutored, and prepared for this event. She marvels that she should meet someone as interesting as him just before she's to be joined to Alrik. Picard is frustrated because he's done his very best to discourage her interest in him, but she figures that doing that is exactly the way to attract a metamorph. Later, he meets Alrik of Valt who is a short, ugly man who has very little interest in Kamala or even a wife, but is accepting her as part of the negotiation package. Picard is repulsed at his attitude and is uneasy imagining how Kamala's personality will change when she bonds with him and he confides these feelings in Beverly.
Kamala comes to Picard's quarters that night because she doesn't want to be alone. She just wants to spend the time in his company, nothing more. He knows it's a bad idea, but he can't refuse the request, presumably because now that he knows what Alrik is like, he wants her to be happy in the final hours before her wedding. He reiterates his laments about her situation to Beverly again the next morning before going to Kamala's quarters to escort her to the wedding. And then she confides to him that she will never be able to love Alrick because she has already imprinted herself on him and she will always be who she has become today, bonded to Picard. She will still be able to please Alrik since she is still an empath, but he will now have to deal with the fact that she likes Shakespeare. So, in essence, she's become her own woman independent of Alrik which truly makes her the perfect mate. The perfect woman that is able to please her man in every way while at the same time remaining her own person. And this plot device of absorbing Picard's personality as part of being bonded to him is not science fiction. I've often thought that if, God forbid, I ever lost my husband and someone tried to date me that they wouldn't only be dating me but him as well and all of the influence his personality has had on my own. I don't think people stop to consider these things moving from relationship to relationship as frequently as they do nowadays. In a heated moment Picard asks her not to go through with it, but along with his love for Shakespeare, she's also acquired his devotion to duty and that is why she must go through with it.
But Picard knows she's right and proceeds with the painful duty of handing her over to Alrik at the wedding. And Alrik still shows no sign that he's anymore interested in her than the surrounding furniture through the whole process. When Briam has recovered and is getting ready to leave the ship he is amazed that Picard was able to spend so much time alone with Kamala. He'd been chosen to work with her because he was very old and yet he still felt her charms somewhat. He wonders how Picard could resist her. Picard doesn't give him a straight answer and Briam leaves with the understanding that he may not have after all, but since the negotiations were carried out as planned, he says nothing of it. Picard is left heartbroken as the Kriosian ship departs.
I like unrequited love stories and since it was given to Picard, it was more special and believable than the many times that Kirk or Riker had been "in love." She's beautiful and in one episode they managed to work in a deep
connection between these character similar to the connection that had
been building between Picard and Beverly for four seasons. I can't think of a reason to not like this episode... not one. Five stars.
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