I just don't know about this episode. On one hand it's a genuinely interesting concept, and on the other it's so absurd it defies believability. I'd classify it as a Roddenberry Classic because part of it employs exactly the sort of TOS eye-rolling simplicity that made the first season of TNG a bomb. But the rest is a legitimate update of classic themes that are well written and performed with the experienced cast. I like it but I have a hard time accepting bits of it as well.
Fortunately, it's a relaxed change of pace with a lot of comedy to cover up the absurdities. The Enterprise is welcoming a group of Iyaaran ambassadors and all of the formalities are being observed. Worf is moodily trying to make his dress uniform look right. Riker shows up to get him moving and give him a hard time. I love the phrase "tactical delay" as opposed to procrastinating and I think I'm going to steal it from now on. Worf complains that the dress uniforms look like dresses. And after pointing out how sexist that sounds, Riker gets in on the fun by telling Worf that he looks good in a dress. This is the first time we see the rest of the main cast (the ladies and Worf) in dress uniforms, and although it's a fair cop to say they look feminine, let's be honest, they actually look a lot better than they did in the first season. They also look uncomfortable for everyone which most people can relate to when thinking about formal wear of any kind. They go to the shuttle bay to greet the ambassadors. Picard is dressed for traveling though since this is a diplomatic exchange of cultural customs and he is to go with one of the Iyaarans to their home world. One has to assume that he'd dress a little more formally when he arrives there. Before he and the shuttle pilot take off he assigns Troi to chaperone Ambassador Loquel around for the next three days. He's a short, plump, and good-natured sort of man. He assigns Riker to be the liaison to Ambassador Byleth, a taller man who is a little more abrasive. In fact, he asserts outright that he doesn't want Riker to escort him around, but zeros in on Worf who has no diplomatic experience and is already uncomfortable with these sorts of situations. He knows refusing would be impolite though, so he uneasily accepts the change of plans. Picard is content and he and the pilot leave. The reception is in Ten Forward. Troi and Loquel are getting along just fine. He's very inquisitive about the food and wants to try everything. This is my kind of guy! He's Troi's kind too because she introduces him to a delectable chocolate dessert and he thinks it's the best thing ever.
And poor Worf's experience just keeps getting worse. He's at a table with Byleth and Dr. Crusher. Byleth continues to test Worf's patience with his rude, belligerent nature. He then demands that Worf serve him food. Beverly tries to explain what a buffet is, but he is unrelenting. And isn't it great that buffets are still a thing in the 24th century? Worf agrees to cater to Byleth and another hysterical moment follows as Data is practicing small talk with Worf. When Worf complains about Byleth's bad attitude, Data comments that they have much in common in that regard and that they should get along just fine. He has no idea he's insulted him and it's so funny. Meanwhile on the shuttle, Picard, the master of diplomacy, can't get two words out of his Iyaaran. He tries to engage him in conversation about his home world with no response. He tries to get his opinions on what he should see when he gets there. He has none and appears to have no interest in talking at all. So he asks how long it'll be until they arrive and makes excuses to leave the cockpit after finding out that it'll be nearly a day. Just then the shuttle begins to fail. He jumps in and they begin to work together to diagnose the problem and try to fix it. The pilot is actually very friendly during these few moments, but we don't have time to think about that because they have to manage the shuttle as it crashes onto a nearby, uninhabited, class M planet. Picard is uninjured but the pilot has hit his head and is barely conscious. Picard tries to contact the Enterprise but they're too far away. He leaves the shuttle to try and find help. There are terrible storms outside. He's struck by a burst of lightening and knocked out. Then somebody comes out of the shadows to drag him off.
Worf continues showing Byleth around who complains about him being late when he's not and expects to be taken to places that Worf hadn't discussed taking him. He goes out of his way to get in Worf's face and bait him. Worf shows exemplary self discipline as he doesn't rise to any of his harassment. So he continues to further degrade him when they go to engineering. He asks him complex engineering questions that he is unable to answer. Geordi offers to answer, but Byleth is solely focused on Worf's inferiority and is eager to talk about it. Geordi is baffled. Troi is also becoming baffled with Loquel's growing obsession with desserts. He's carrying around another as she continues his tour on the Enterprise. Then they run into a young boy and his mother and Loquel is in awe of the boy because their people don't have children that grow to adults. They're born fully formed. It doesn't deter him for long though. He asks the boy if he likes desserts and then ascertains the mother's permission to get some desserts for him. I mean... it's a funny scene too but a little creepy. I don't know if I would've let him take my child to get desserts after he just helped himself to a physical examination of the kid although it was unobtrusive and innocent. It's reactions like this that seem to strain credulity and make me a little uncomfortable with the episode. But still, I guess it's not too much of a stretch since Troi is supervising it all. On the planet Picard awakes to a woman and pain in his side. She has a device attached that she tells him is healing his broken ribs. Of course he has a million questions but she insists that he rest. He asks about the shuttle pilot and she tells him that he's dead. Later she comes back and tells him her story. She was stranded from a cargo freighter that crashed there seven years ago and is the only survivor. Picard tells her that they can both leave in his shuttle. She's not as enthusiastic as he thinks she should be and she tells him that the shuttle won't work but he tells her to go get the shuttle's com panel so that he can rig it up to send a distress signal. She agrees to that as she seems very taken with him after having been alone for so long.
Worf finally gets a moment of peace with Riker and Troi to vent about Byleth. The stress of having to restrain his temper is starting to get to him and he feels like he's failed in his diplomatic efforts. He asks Riker to be reassigned but Riker denies it citing Troi's experience as an example. She tells him that Loquel's behavior is just fine and that he's taken a liking to chocolate. But, she admits that even he is starting to test her limits. She thinks it would be appropriate for Worf to start putting his foot down a little in regards to Byleth's behavior. So, Riker suggests they get together in a more informal setting; a poker game. Meanwhile Picard is up checking out the living space she's set up although he's still in a lot of pain where the device is attached to his side. He discovers that the door locks from the outside and he can't leave. At about that time, Anna comes back with the com panel. When he looks it over he finds it to be too badly damaged by a phaser to fix. She says she used a phaser to get it off the ship. He's obviously not happy about it and that upsets her, but he remains calm with her. He continues to reassure her that they'll get out of there. She then kisses him and professes her love for him before leaving the room. He's disturbed by this and the audience is disturbed as well. We know why we're disturbed too because this is an awkward situation that makes perfect sense - the woman has been stranded alone for seven years with nobody to talk to and she's probably lonely at best or starting to lose touch with reality at worst. Later on she comes back with some roots to cook while he's up trying to salvage some parts from the panel to recharge the shuttle craft. She tells him she loves him again but he decides to tackle this problem head on by gently telling her that he's grateful that she saved his life, but that her feelings are probably just confused because they haven't had time to get to know one another. She says she understand but it also seems that she doesn't when Picard is looking away; it's now looking like she may be closer to losing her touch with reality rather than just lonely. At the poker game things heat up pretty quickly. Loquel is as excited as a school boy and eating the whole time while he learns how to see and call the bets. Byleth continues to be rude but then blatantly takes a couple of Worf's chips from his stack to bet with. Worf calls him out for stealing and Riker doesn't interfere at first. When his continued provocation leads to accusations of cheating he tries to step in, but things then escalate out of control as Worf threatens the ambassador. Byleth encourages that and Worf throws him across the room. Byleth is winded but seems pleased and goes back for more. After another brief scuffle, Riker takes control of Worf and Byleth is now genuinely happy. They're all confused and dumbfounded when he thanks Worf graciously and leaves to document the experience. All except Loquel who is still trying to share more food with Troi.
On the planet, Picard has harvested a power cell from the panel and when Anna returns he tells her that he's ready to fix the shuttle. She tells him that the plasma storms are too strong and that they can't leave. She says it'll be a couple of hours, but the power cell is deteriorating with every minute and he's finally had enough of her excuses. He wonders aloud why she would be so careless as to damage the one piece of equipment that would've gotten them out of there a lot faster. She can't answer but tells him to rest some more. He then takes the healing device off of his side and realizes that his ribs aren't really broken. All she can do is continue to profess her love for him and wonders why he won't love her back as he realizes that she's been keeping him captive. She then forces herself on him with amazing strength, demanding that he love her. He gets free, but she gets to the door first and her necklace is torn off as she hurries outside and locks him in again. He searches around for a crowbar to force the doors open when he hears a different voice calling from outside. He calls back to the voice and explains that he's locked in from the outside. The person that opens the door is the shuttle pilot. Picard tells him that he thought he was dead but Voval describes how his species metabolic rates shut down when they're injured to help their bodies heal faster. Was it wise to insert an alien like this in so soon after Suspicions? Maybe, but they slip it in so fast that it's barely noticeable. He tells Picard that he saw a woman that looked distressed running from the shelter towards a dangerous looking precipice. They wonder if she means to jump off and the pilot suggests that they follow her. Picard offers to go alone but his companion insists on going with him. He's very friendly once again; much different from their first moments in the shuttle together. They come to the edge of a very large cliff at which point the pilot suggests splitting up to cover the large surface to find her.
After he leaves Picard sees Anna standing by the edge of the precipice. She threatens to jump because he doesn't love her. But Picard wants to tell her the good news that the shuttle pilot is alive. She's not interested in returning to the shuttle though, she's only interested in making Picard profess his love for her. He then notices that she's wearing the necklace that was torn off when she left the shelter and he's immediately suspicious. She begs him to love her and continues to threaten suicide, but Picard won't budge. He asks her what she really is and what's really going on. When he points to her necklace as the reason he's figured her game out she relents. She reaches to touch the necklace and the appearance of Anna disappears and standing there instead is Voval. It wasn't until afterwards that I realize that he was the only one of the three ambassadors at the beginning that had a metal plate on his uniform, so this was actually telegraphed at the start. But it's a surprise when you see it for the first time. Picard wants answers and the pilot introduces himself as Ambassador Voval. He explains to him that his mission was to take Picard to this planet to learn of human intimacy. The situation he'd set up was similar to one that had actually taken place according to diaries left behind by a woman who had been marooned on the planet and fell in love with a man that crashed there seven years later. These diaries were their first contact with the human race and they didn't understand the emotions of love as expressed in her journal. They also didn't understand the concepts of pleasure and antagonism that she wrote about and the mission of the other two that were left on the Enterprise was to study those emotions. He then asks if this was wrong in, I must admit, a very innocuous way. Picard guesses that the shuttle is working just fine and Voval confirms it. He informs Voval that he's technically committed a crime but his sincere nature makes Picard and the audience believe that he is truly clueless as to what harm he could've caused by setting up this charade. He doesn't understand the word "crime" either. So Picard looking more amused than offended tells him that humans would not take such extreme measures to study these things and suggests that they leave.
When they get back, the other two Ambassadors meet them and prepare to depart. Worf arrives with Byleth. They've spent 11 hours on the holodeck in one of Worf's programs on battle exercises. Byleth is satisfied that he's learned a lot about antagonism and they're both happy since fighting is a recreation sport for Worf. Loquel offers Troi some of the enzyme supplement wafers that their people eat for sustenance. He regrets that they won't be as delicious as chocolate, but Troi is ready for something a little bland. Voval apologizes to Picard again fearing that their diplomatic methods offended him. Picard is not offended but intrigued by their willingness to take an experience to it's fullest extreme rather than the balanced approach humans have to their experiences and they part as friends.
I guess it's that last reaction that leaves me rolling my eyes a little on this one. That dig at humanity seems like a swipe taken at the virtues of prudence and self control. I've always been offended at the digs taken at humanity and they hadn't been as frequent in the last few seasons as they were in the beginning so this was a let down. And the fact that he doesn't feel violated even though this was every bit as much of a violation as the mind raping that went on in the episode Violations seems unrealistic even if the Iyaaran was innocent and unaware. Like I said, it stretches credulity. However, I did like the episode. It's hard not to like it when you've got great scenes like the poker game and Picard calling Anna's bluff. I could be harder on it, but even though it's not top quality, it is funny as hell and I do love good comedy. I guess I'll just let this one slide and go with four stars.
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