ST:TNG Season Two, Episode Ten "The Dauphin"

ST:TNG Season Two, Episode Ten "The Dauphin"
Production Order: 36
Air Order: 36
Stardate: 42568.8
Original Air Date: February 20, 1989

Sorry about the late post. Apparently, my missing hour was supposed to be spent screen-capturing or something.

*******

Startin' out this week as an Uber: the E is going to Klavdia III to get a girl named Salia, whom they are shuttling to Daled IV. When they arrive, Geordi calls up to the bridge to ask if he can shut down warp for a few hours to do some routine maintenance stuff on the engines.
"Cool," says Picard. "We can cruise on impulse for a while."
The bridge crew scopes the environment of Klavdia III, and Troi declares it to be "inhospitable." Worf argues that security is more important than comfort, and Troi remarks that Salia has been there for 16 years.
Picard has Worf open hailing frequencies, but the response he gets back is garbled, because the atmosphere on the planet is interfering with the broadcast. Worf  "cleans it up" and a woman named Anya answers. She asks what species they are.
"Um, human?" says Picard.
"Okay, cool. Beam us up."
When she signs off, Riker sarcastically remarks that Anya is "friendly."
"Whatever," says Picard. "Salia is the head of state for her planet, so we have to be nice to them."
He, Riker and Worf go down to the transporter room to meet them.

When they appear on the pad, Salia excitedly chatters about how cool the transporter is, and asks to see the controls. Riker politely offers her a tour of the ship, which she says she'd like, but Anya interrupts to say that this isn't necessary. Salia looks disappointed.
They're in the corridor, walking to swanky admiral-level quarters, when Wes emerges from a storeroom with an uber-magnet. Salia doubles back to ask him about it, and he's surprised that she knows what it is.
"Been doing a lot of studying for the last 16 years," she shrugs cheerfully.
Anya interrupts again to keep her on the task of... walking down the corridor, I guess.
Salia turns to walk away again, and Wes asks Riker about Salia.
"Oh, I don't know if she'll have time for you, Wes. She's destined to rule an entire world."
I like the way that Riker says this. He isn't giving Wes shit about liking her, or saying that she's out of his league. He's telling Wes that someone like Salia is out of reach because of her job. It's not unkind, it's just the truth.

Neutral music! Opening credits break!

When we come back, Wes is in his quarters and Data enters.
"What's up, buddy?" asks the summoned android.
"Who's that girl?"
Data gives Wes a bunch of exposition. "Salia of Daled IV? We don't know a lot about it. She was born on Daled IV, which has been in the middle of a civil war for hundreds of years. Her parents were from opposing sides but died right after she was born so she was moved to Klavdia III to be raised neutrally."
"Oh," says Wes. "So she's going back home."
"Wes," Geordi interrupts over the comm badge, "where the fuck are you?"
"Huh?"
"Dude, I sent you to get that magnet like, years ago."
"Oops."
Lol. Wes got goo-goo eyed over a girl and just walked the hell off.

Up on the bridge, Picard asks Worf if their guests approve of their quarters.
Worf Sassy Moment: "I doubt anything would meet with that woman's approval." Then he remembers who he is talking to and hastily adds, "...sir."
Troi says that the emotions of their guests don't quite match up to who or what they are.
Picard calls Salia's quarters.
"How are your quarters?" he asks.
"Good," she replies. "Hey, who was that cute boy I met in the corridor?"
"You mean Wes Crusher?"
Anya enters the room, and Salia switches tacks.
"So, yeah. Thanks for the rooms and stuff."
She signs off.

"Still weird," remarks Troi.
"What's her deal?" Picard asks.
"She's supposed to bring peace to her war-torn planet," says Data. "The differences between her people is night and day."
Tiny, kind of funny Data moment:
Riker: "You used a colloquialism!"
"I did?" Data pauses. "Oh. Sorry. No. I meant that literally. Half the planet is dark and half is light, so they formed different cultures."
"She seems too small and cute to rule a planet," says Riker.
Worf gives him the Klingon version of the Shakespeare quote "Though she be but little, she is fierce."

Salia is in her quarters talking to some other teenage girl that we don't know, but who she clearly knows, which is weird, because she doesn't know anyone on this ship.
And she asks a really good question: "How can I be a good leader if I don't know anything about my people?"
The girl reassures her that both sides will accept her, but that she needs to go into the situation without any biases about either side.
Salia then points out that no one asked her to do this, she was just kind of forced into it.
"It won't be that bad," the girl smiles.
"Still blows," sighs Salia.

There's a whooshing noise behind Salia, and she turns away from the window to see that the girl is gone, but there's a creepy chittering teddy bear in her place.
The teddy bear makes a comforting squirrel sound at her. I guess the bear is trying to make her feel better, and amazingly, Salia speaks creepy teddy bear, because she answers back.

Down in Engineering, Geordi is growing frustrated. His maintenance checks aren't going to plan. He yells up to Wes, who is working on the top level of the warp core with a phaser-type tool.
Wes is startled and drops the tool. He apologizes for being a space cadet, and admits that he was thinking about the "perfect" new girl who just came on board.
"Oh, awesome," replies Geordi. "We went from Star Trek to Dawson's Creek. Quit dicking around, Wes."
Wes promises to be more careful, but when he goes to scan the equipment again, it sets off an alarm: he had it on the wrong setting.
"Okay, Scatterbrain Jane," says Geordi. "You need to leave Engineering, and go talk to this chick, because you're not being helpful here." And after Wes' near-fumble of the phaser thing, he adds a Sassy Moment: "Come down from there. Use the ladder."
"What should I say to her?" he asks as Geordi climbs the ladder to take his place.
"Don't know, don't care," replies Geordi. "I have work to do, go ask someone else."

I like this shot. Good composition and balance of color.

Whoa, that's...weird. And kind of inefficient. If someone is having trouble focusing on a task, you just relieve them of duty?
"Sorry, I can't report for duty today. I'm too busy wondering if we're actually saying anything when we pretend-bark at dogs."

Cut shot of Worf screaming.

Wes has asked the Klingon security chief for dating advice.
"I should yell at her?" he asks in confusion.
"NO," Worf clarifies. "The woman yells and throws things. The man reads love poetry."
Worf Sassy Moment: "He ducks a lot."
"How about no," suggests Wes.
Worf Sassy Moment:

"You should be biologically compatible with Salia," says Data. He starts to talk about how there might be minute differences in cell membranes, and Wes interrupts with a Sassy Moment:
"Data, I want to meet her, not dissect her."
Yeeeaaahhh, that's not what he meant by biologically compatible, kid.
Wes leaves the bridge as Picard enters.
Picard calls Salia. She shoos the creepy teddy out of the room and turns on the viewscreen.
"Hey, you guys want a tour?" he asks.
"Totes!" she smiles.
They sign off, and the creepy teddy runs back in, chittering.
"Why the hell not?" asks Salia. "I won't get another opportunity to see a ship like this again."
The creepy teddy morphs into Anya.
Anya was the creepy teddy AND the teenage girl!

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

We pick up where we left off.
Anya tells Salia that she needs to stay in their quarters, where it is safe. Worf shows up, and they leave without Salia.

Meanwhile, Wes is in Ten Forward, and the next person on his Advice List is Riker. Riker requests Guinan's help, and they sit at a table, Wes watching what they do.
Their conversation is fake, but smooth like Tumblr.
Riker starts by saying how he opens is important.
Riker: "You are the most beautiful woman in the galaxy."
Guinan smirks at Wes.
Riker: "...but that might not work."
Guinan: "Yes. Yes, it would."
Riker: "You don't know how long I've wanted to tell you that."
Guinan: "But you were afraid."
Riker: "Yes."
Guinan: "Of me?"
Riker: "Of us, of what we might become."
Wes: "Commander..."
Riker: "Or that you might think that was a line."
Guinan: "Maybe I do think it's a line."

Riker: "Then you think I'm not sincere?"
Guinan: "I didn't say that. There's nothing wrong with a line. It's like a knock at the door."
Riker: "Then you're inviting me in?"
Guinan: "I'm not sending you away."
Riker: "That's more than I expected."
Guinan: "Is it as much as you'd hoped?"
Riker: "To hope is to recognize the possibility. I had only dreams."
Guinan: "Dreams can be dangerous."
Riker: "Not these dreams. I dream of a galaxy where your eyes are the stars and the universe worships the night."
This is too much for Wes, whose own eyes roll back into his head.

Guinan: "Careful. Putting me on a pedestal so high, you may not be able to reach me."
Riker: "Then I'll learn how to fly. You're the heart in my day, and the soul in my night."
Wes, knowing he'll never have this kind of game, leans forward.
Wes: "I don't think this is my style."
Guinan: (thoroughly enjoying this) "Shut up, kid." (to Riker) "Tell me more about... my eyes."
Wes just gets up and fucking leaves, because this has gotten ridiculous.

Geordi is still doing Wes' maintenance job on the top level when Anyas tour makes its way into Engineering.
"What are you doing?" Anya demands.
Dude, first Wes and now Anya. Can't somebody cut Geordi a break and let him finish his job?
"Routine maintenance," he sighs.
"I wasn't aware that engine jargon, blah, blah, blah," asserts Anya.
Geordi turns at stares at her like, did that bitch just mansplain warp engines to me?

And Anya gets in that tiny warp core lift-thingy and comes up to inspect his work. They argue for a bit about engine jargon, blah, blah, blah, and Geordi is trying very hard to be patient, but Worf can tell from downstairs that he's about turn that phaser-thing on her, and calls her back down.
"I'll be back to check on your work later," she says smugly.

Wes is heading for Salia's quarters when he stops short. There's a security Gold cockblocking him.
The Gold is all, "What up, Wes?" and Wes just kind of "ummms" at him. He's about to leave when the door opens.
Salia smiles at him, and asks if he can show her how to work the replicator.
An in!
The Gold just lets him by, and I'm pretty sure that dude will be paying the price for that later.
She says she wants something sweet, and he orders her Thalian chocolate mousse. She says it's delightful, and they get to talking about Thalos 7. Salia longs to see some other planets, and Wes says the best part about being on the Enterprise is getting to planet-hop. He says he'll show her some.

Worf and Anya make their way into sick bay, where Pulaski is scanning a crew member who is sick with something serious.
"That illness is contagious!" says Anya. "Kill him!"
"The fuck?" demands Pulaski. "No way."
"Fine! I'll do it!" Anya morphs into what I guess is the adult version of the creepy teddy bear.

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

Pulaski screams for security as Worf wrestles with the scary teddy bear thing. Several more armed Golds come running in, as well as Picard. They're about to take aim when Picard screams for order. Everyone stops. The scary bear shrinks back down into Anya. Worf raises his arm to backhand the little woman, but Picard stops him.
"WTF is going on?" he demands.
"She wants to kill Hennessey!" says an aghast Pulaski.
"Salia could get sick from him," Anya barks back.
"Okay: you're not killing anyone," he tells Anya. "Salia isn't going to get sick, and you're sure as shit staying your quarters for the rest of this voyage. Also, you're stuck in that form until we get to Daled 4, so I hope you like being humanoid."
He has the other Golds haul Anya back to her rooms.
"What the hell was that?" Worf asks Picard.
"It's a species called an allasomorph," says Pulaski. She sounds like maybe she thought allasomorphs were a myth, but that their existence was just confirmed. "They can change their molecular structure to appear to be something else."
"That must come in handy, being a body guard!" says Worf. He sounds awed, and a little impressed.

Wes and Salia are on the holodeck, experiencing being on different planets. Salia thinks it's wonderful, but is a little sad that she can't explore the galaxy. Wes keeps telling her that she can have it all, and check out whatever planet she likes, because in his infinite teenage wisdom, she has no ties to her home planet, and no reason to have to stay there. he's being a bit obtuse here, but I think it's more that he wants her to be happy and travel the stars with him than anything else.

Worf and the Golds escort Anya back to her quarters. Anya decides to appeal to Worf as a protector to get him to lift her confinement.
"I can't protect Salia if I'm stuck in here."
"Yes, you can," he argues. "And I can protect her as well. I am in charge of security on this ship. She will be safe."
Then they start a pissing contest.
Anya: (smiling) "You know I'm stronger than you."
Worf: "I was unprepared."
Anya: "You underestimated me in your sick bay. That is usually fatal."
Worf: "Still, you are here, confined to your room."
Anya: "I ceased my struggle by choice, not because of you or your captain."
Worf: "I would have stopped you. If not me, someone else."
Anya: "No, you cannot control me."
Worf: "We will see."
And he walks the fuck away.

Picard and Troi are in the ready room, talking about Anya.
"Her emotional state is mother bear," asserts Troi.
"Well, that's terrifying," answers Picard.
Anya calls - Salia is missing.
Troi's face says, fuck, are you kidding me?

Salia and Wes are having more chocolate mousse in Ten Forward.
"This is awesome," she says, "but I'm kind of sad about that, because I have feelings for you, and I really want your life of traveling around, seeing things, but my life was isolation before, and it'll be isolation again when we get to Daled 4."
Wes is starting to sound like he's understanding a little. "How will you bring peace to your planet?"
"Dunno," she says truthfully. "But I'll have a lot of stuff to do, a lot of responsibility. I really want to hang out with you and go cool places, but that isn't in my future."
And poor, sweet, naive Wes thinks for a moment, then says, "You should stay here on the Enterprise."
Oh, baby Wes, how the hell is that ever going to actually work? She's just supposed to skip out on her own people?
And Salia, recognizing that she'd love to stay on the E, but that it's completely ridiculous, gets up from the table and runs away.

Guinan rushes toward a stunned Wes.
"Hint: go after her!"
He does and catches up with her in the corridor.
"I'm sorry," she sobs. "I really want this life, but I can't have it."
"Nothing's impossible," he insists.
Aw, sweet, 17-year-old optimism: what a lovely thing you were.
Unfortunately, they're interrupted by Picard, Anya, and a pair of Golds.
A tearful Salia goes with Anya, and Picard gives Wes a long look, as though sizing him up. Wes drops his back against the wall, because teen angst sucks.

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

Geordi calls the bridge. His maintenance is finished, and they can have warp now.
"Thank God," says Picard. "Let's hustle to Daled 4. I'm over the teen romance and the crazy shape-shifting."

Picard calls Wes into the ready room.
"Anya is an allasomorph."
Wes already knows what that means. "Damn, really?"
"Yeah. Look, I don't like to tell my crew members what they can and cannot do in their free time, and who they can see, but..."
"You want me to avoid Salia," guesses Wes.
"Yeah. Anya is scary, and a little crazy, and it's her job to protect Salia," says Picard. "If something happens, the safety of the ship could be compromised."
Wes pauses, then agrees and leaves.
Picard looks mildly troubled to have asked such a favor.

In their quarters, Anya and Salia are arguing.
Salia wants to know why she can't have a friend, and Anya tells her that it could be dangerous.
"He's not dangerous," insists Salia.
"There is always danger from one who is not your kind," Anya argues.
Shit, Anya. That's really xenophobic. Also: isn't that part of the problem they're having on Daled 4? An Us vs Them thing?
Salia's pretty pissed off that she isn't being given the choice as to whether or not she gets to hang out with Wes.

The E makes it to Daled IV and puts the ship in park. They try hailing frequencies, but everything is distorted, the same way that it was on Klavdia III. They figure out that the atmosphere is the same.
"How can anyone live on a planet so inhospitable to human life?" asks Riker.
I narrow my eyes at the screen. That statement seems pretty ignorant to me. Sure, Salia is humanoid, but that doesn't mean that she's human. Anya is clearly not. And nothing in the Trek universe says that humanoids can't survive in certain inhospitable conditions. That's just straight-up humans, Riker. It's possible that Salia's system is equipped to handle both.

Wes is in his quarters, playing 24-century Battleship by himself, when Salia comes in.
He tries to be a good boy and tells her that she shouldn't be there, but he gives in pretty quickly. When he asks how she managed to be able to leave her quarters, she replies, "I have certain rights."
"You snuck out," he laughs.
She tells him that Anya is asleep and they talk for a few minutes before sharing a small kiss. It's nice.

But oops.

"Oh, no!" says Salia. "Wes, you need to leave!"
Wes calls security and steps between Anya and Salia.
Oops again.

Ah, not humanoid at all.

They transform back, and Anya barks at Wes that he should have stayed away.

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

Picard's Log 42568.8: "Okay, so apparently Anya can become tiny, or something? She broke out of her quarters, so we sealed the door with a forcefield."

I know that they're waiting on some communication from the surface, but it seems weird that they made it to Daled IV, and instead of off-loading their guests, they're now just sitting in orbit, sealing Anya in her quarters. Why, for the sake of story, did they not seal Anya in and then arrive at the planet later? Seems backward to me.

The bridge crew finally gets a message from Daled IV, saying they've been expecting the arrival of the E. Data reports that an entire terawatt was needed to penetrate the atmosphere and send the message.
"That's more than our ship can generate," says Riker. "We can't answer back."
"It's cool," says Worf. "They sent beam-down coordinates."
Picard Sassy Moment in the form of Sarcastic Reply: "Splendid."

Worf goes to collect their guests, and Anya tells Salia that she isn't going. Anya's job was to raise Salia, protect her, and drop her off at Daled IV when she hit 16. Now she's going back to her own home planet, which is in this same system.
They have several nice moments, where Anya tells Salia that she knows that the teenager is going to make a great leader, and she's sorry for the times when Salia thought she was being too hard or unfair. She also apologizes for going all bear-thing in front of Wes earlier.
"I only wanted to scare him," she says.
"Will I ever get to leave Daled IV?" Salia asks.
"Probably not," Anya answers, and she seems sad about this. "But it's possible."
Salia smiles and says that Wes said the same thing.
"I'm going to miss you," Salia admits.
Anya smiles... and she Han Solos Salia.

Salia goes to the door, and leaves with her Gold escorts.
Worf comes in and growls that he's here to take Anya to another transporter.
"Glad to see me go?" she jokes.
"No," he admits. "You were a worthy opponent."
"Maybe next time we can fight together on the same side?"
"That would be an honor," he replies.
And spoilers: that doesn't ever happen, and it makes me really sad, because I ship them as war buddies.

Wes is moping in his room when Salia comes in.
"I'm leaving now." She seems sad but also glad to see him one last time.
But Wes is the Chill King, cold as ice.
"Was it fun playing humanoid?" he demands angrily. "I loved you!"
"Oh, I love you, too!" she says.
(Notice the differences in tense there?)
"Can you?" he asks harshly.
"Of course!" she says, taking all of his angsty crap and replying with a smile. "I have the same emotions as you. I'm sorry I hurt you. That wasn't intentional."
"Ugh, just GTFO already," he says callously.
She's sad, but leaves as he asked.

Salia is in the transporter room with O'Brien and Riker, waiting to beam down. She and Riker exchange some diplomatic niceties, and we're reminded that Daled 4 is not part of the Federation - the E is just their taxi cab this time.
She hops on the pad, and the doors to the transporter room open.
Wes rushes in with a bowl of chocolate mousse.
Seems dude changed his mind.
They say better goodbye this time, but then she asks him nicely to leave. She can't arrive on her home planet in the humanoid form, and she wants him to remember that form as being her.
"It's cool," he says. "I'd like to see your real form."
She transforms into a shimmery blob of light, and he's awed. he steps down, and Riker gives him the nod, the go-ahead to give the command.
"Energize," says Wes, and Salia beams down.

We go back to Ten Forward. Just to highlight how shitty Wes feels, everyone else in Ten Forward is laughing and smiling. Dude is staring at the bubbles in his drink. Across the bar, Guinan is watching him.
She slides into the seat opposite him, and they sit, chins in hands.
"I feel empty," he finally says.
"I know that feel," she replies. "After a while, that goes away and all you'll remember are the good parts."
"I'm never going to feel this way about anyone else."
"You're right."
He looks up in surprise. "Huh?"
"There will be others," she explains, "but every time you feel love, it'll be different."
"Knowing that doesn't make it feel better," he replies.
"Not supposed to."
And Guinan smiles a comforting smile, and Wes stares sadly out the window.

I feel like this is a good, middle-of-the-road episode. Not terrible, not fantastic, just a quiet little romance.
There was something I noted beyond that romance, though - the trope of "being a princess sucks." Now, Salia is not exactly a princess, but her "head of state" status is similar. Her parents were used because they were from opposite sides of the conflict, and were probably selected specifically. Salia was then raised away from the fighting, in isolation. And now that she's returning, she has to contend with the fact that she gets no choice in the matter. She meets someone who shows her how awesome life could be if only she weren't stuck in her position, and she longs to be part of that person's world, because the position of "commoner" comes with far less responsibility. The princess eventually realizes that the needs of the many are greater than the needs of the few (or the one), and that she can't shirk her duties no matter how much she might want to. Why does this trope still work? Because being a princess still sucks. Just ask Margaret and Diana.
Some things that worked for me:
- Riker and Guinan's fake flirting conversation. They're clearly both seasoned pros, and it was fun to watch.
-Worf's unusual friendship with Anya. They started out at odds, but found they had a lot in common. I would absolutely watch that spin-off.

Paddi Edwards and stuntman Alex Daniels

- Guinan's talk with Wes at the end. The idea that each time you feel love, it will be different - that makes a lot of sense, and I like that they didn't end the episode with Wes being fully cheered up by Guinan's speech. They left it at "it is what it is." It works.
- Wes' angry emo speech to Salia.
Before I get hate mail from that last one, let me explain. I have two reasons as to why that scene worked, for me at least.
Firstly, Wes has just found out that Salia is not a humanoid. He feels tricked. And I've noticed that people who have been tricked will go through many of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' five stages of grief. Once he's seen for himself that she isn't humanoid, he moves onto anger, and that's the stage he's in when she shows up to say goodbye. He feels like she wasn't upfront with him about her shape-shifting. Maybe that's a deal-breaker in his mind. If you recall, Zephram Cochrane reacted the same way to finding out that his non-corporeal friend was female in TOS' "Metamorphosis." I've also found this to be the case when people find out that their child is different than they thought that child might be (ie, gay, trans, of a certain mindset, ect). The image they had of that person has been destroyed. That fantasy did not match reality, and when the comfort of that image is gone, they get angry.
My second reason? Wes is sixteen. Aside from a few out-of-character lines written for him by writers who I think may hate Wil Wheaton, Wes is not really a d-bag. He's mostly a really smart kid who wants desperately to play with the adults and be part of their world. There aren't a lot places where we actually see him acting his age. And at sixteen, "acting one's age" means being a dick. They're not totally to blame, of course. Teenagers have shoddy brain development, and when it mixes with the volatile chemicals known as hormones... you get yourself an home-grown asshole. We've never really seen Wes be moody or emo up to this point, but it works for his age, so why not?
Don't get me wrong: what he said to Salia was some grade-A jackassery. He sneered at Salia when she said she loved him, and demanded "can you?" Truthfully, he's lucky she was nice to him following that comment, and that she didn't slap the shit out of him and leave. Also, I hope that when he relayed this story to his mother, that she chided him for being a bag of organic free-range dicks.
But when you're sixteen, you're gonna say some terribly emo shit, and it will probably be super dramatic. That's just the age. So I was okay with him being an asshole to Salia like that, because it felt age-appropriate.

So that's where I stand here: not the best episode ever, but we got some nice moments, and some character development from Wes.


Red deaths: 0
To date: 1

Gold deaths: 0

Blue deaths: 0

Obnoxious Wes moments: 0

Legitimate Wes moments when he should have told someone to go fuck themselves: 0
To date: 1

Sassy Geordi moments: 1
To date:3

Sassy Wes Moments: 1
To date: 1

Sassy Worf Moment: 3
To date: 3

Sassy Riker Moments: 0

To date: 4

Sassy Picard Moments: 1
To date: 8

Sassy NPC Moments: 0
Sassy Data Moments: 0
To date: 3

Number of times that it is mentioned that Data is an android: 0
To date: 16

Number of times that Troi reacts to someone else's feelings: 0
To date: 9

Number of times that Geordi "looks at something" with his VISOR: 0
To date: 1
Number of times when Data gives too much info and has to be told to shut up: 0
To date: 11

Episodes Left Until We Get Rid of Pulaski:

Fun Facts:

- When Wes climbs down the ladder, he does so half-way, then places the arches of his feet on the outsides of the ladder, and slides down the rest of the way. This wasn't in the script. Wil Wheaton had seen this move somewhere else and decided to try it. It stayed in the final cut.

- The unnamed teenage girl (who turned out to be Anya) that talks to Salia in her quarters is played by Madchen Amick. Amick was the runner-up to play Salia in this episode.

- This episode features Wil Wheaton's first screen kiss.

- Jaime Hubbard, who plays Salia, is ten years older than Wil Wheaton.

- "Dauphin" is French for dolphin, and is the title given to the crown prince of the ancient French Regime.

- The morphing sequences were hand-painted, using a technique that Visual Effects Supervisor Dan Curry used earlier in his career, on Friday the 13th, Part 4.

- Director Rob Bowman disliked the morphing and monster scenes, and tried to make it so they appeared on screen for very little time.

- Wil Wheaton described this episode: "I used to get a lot of mileage out of this joke I'd tell at conventions. The first girl that Wesley fell in love with turned out to be a shape-shifter who turned into a hideous monster, y'know after he had exposed his soul to her. Which happened a lot to me in my personal life. And I was glad Star Trek was able to capture that parallel."

- Paddi Edwards, who plays Anya, may look familiar - she was in an awful lot of stuff, starting in the 60's. But in her later years, she did quite a bit of voice work, such as Flotsam and Jetsom, the eels in The Little Mermaid; and she was the uncredited voice of Gozer in the original Ghostbusters movie.

Can't move. Cat is sleeping.