ST:TNG Season Three, Episode Eight "The Price"

ST:TNG Season Three. Episode Eight "The Price"
Production Order: 8
Air Order: 8
Stardate: 43385.6
Original Air Date: November 13, 1989

This week's mood board is all about Troi having a shitty day. You've had this day, too. Everyone is either an asshole or an idiot, and you're glad that it's over, but you're so freaking drained that you can barely muster the enthusiasm for being home.
She slunks in through the door of her quarters, and asks Majel for the mail.
"Some journal in Canada wants you to contribute something to them," says Majel. "Also, your mom called three times."
"Fuuuuuuck," says Troi, and she goes to her laptop to get those calls.
Same, Troi. It's the end of the day, and you just want to hang out with a cat and watch Netflix in your sweats, but some extrovert is all up in your Skype, and it's like "...why?"
Troi decides that if she has to deal with Lwaxana, then she's gonna get her something good in return, and sassily tells the replicator that she wants "a real chocolate sundae with real whipped cream."
"What the hell does that mean?" asks Majel.
"I don't want your fake-ass Splenda sundae that's secretly made of cauliflower. I want chocolate that's made from actual cacao beans and vanilla with an alcohol content."
"Lol, we don't have that," says Majel. "Only that crap from The Matrix that's been determined to be nutritionally adequate, but has been flavored to be the thing you asked for."
"Getting real sick of your shit, Majel," Troi starts. She's gearing up for a big argument with the computer. (And really, how satisfying can that be? You'll never win and spend every shower for the foreseeable future thinking up better comebacks for that argument.)
Picard calls.
She literally mutters, "now what?" before answering her comm badge in her best customer service voice.
And Picard is suddenly that friend who wants to go clubbing on a Tuesday night because they refuse to acknowledge that they're 35 and that 10 pm is Pajama Time.
"Come out with us!"

She tries to get out of it gracefully. "I'm not really dressed for that, sir."
"Just throw on any old thing! Come check out this wormhole!"
And because he's her superior officer and not some rando she can blow off, she agrees.
Sassy Troi Moment #2: "God forbid I should miss my first look at the wormhole."

"Please tell me there's some fucking chocolate at this dumb party."

Troi arrives in Ten Forward, and Picard introduces her to this week's guests stars. There's Adult Braces, Very Tall Guy, Hispanic Dude, and Hired Gun.

Through conversation, we glean some info: the E is orbiting a planet that's sitting next to the only known stable wormhole, which appears every few hours. Adult Braces, who lives on the planet, is auctioning off control of the wormhole to the highest bidder. Very Tall Guy is one bidder. Hispanic Dude represents the Federation. The guy Hispanic Dude refers to as "the best hired gun in the business" says his name is Divononi Ral, and explains that he's here repping for the Chrysalians (they'll never be mentioned again outside of this episode).
"Let's look at the wormhole," says Premier Braces Bhavani.
So they all go to the window, and it opens, and Troi looks at Ral, who is staring at her.

Dramatic music! Opening credits!

Picard's Log 43385.6: "So we're orbiting Barzan II, which has a stable wormhole next to it. It's totes a shortcut to the Gamma Quadrant. People are bidding to see who gets to control it."

Everyone is gathered in the Obs Lounge, while Premier Bhavani gives them all the exposition for this episode: her planet is hella inhospitable to other other species, so her people are pretty dependent on others for stuff. But now this wormhole has shown up, and while they don't have space travel yet, they feel like this is a good natural resource for them to exploit.
*raises hand*
Yes, hi. If you're pre-warp, why don't you fall under the Prime Directive? Did someone not from the Federation discover your people and introduce you around at parties, so you had already been influenced by the time the Federation showed up? Also, this is your only "natural resource," were you planning on just selling it, or charging rent each moth as well? How does that not make you dependent on someone else?

Anyway, she thanks Picard for hosting the bidding, as no one can go down to her planet.
Riker shows up and tells Picard that some Ferengi have popped up, demanding to be included.
"Were you expecting them?" Picard asks Bhavani, knowing that Ferengi are about as welcome as unsolicited dick pics.
"No," shrugs Bhavani diplomatically, "but if they want to join us, I'd be okay with that. They can bid if they want to."
Picard has O'Brien beam them directly into the Obs Lounge.
A trio of Ferengi appear and the one in the middle starts bitching without preamble about how they've been excluded.
Bhavani smoothes it over by telling them she didn't realize they were interested, and of course they are welcome to join in the bidding.
Dude in the middle introduces himself as DaiMon Goss, and his friends are Kol and Dr Arridor.

Picard introduces himself and says he is hosting.
"Good, get us chairs," replies Goss.
Picard is trying to be patient, and explain things, but Goss is all, "Fine, just have your Klingon servant get us chairs."
"I'm head of security," barks Worf.
"Then who gets the chairs?" demands Goss.
Picard starts to lose his cool, and it ends in a Sassy Moment. "Look, everybody else only has one rep here. I'll get your buddies some accommodations -"

He excuses himself, and once in the corridor, lets out the same kind of sigh as Troi earlier, because everyone on this ship is 1000% done with this shit already. This is clearly a week of Mondays.
In the Obs Lounge, Goss takes a bag from his departing friends, then announces that they can exchange pleasantries later, but now he'd like to do business. Ral rolls his eyes. Goss opens the bag. It's a shit-ton of gold.
"I'll match any offer, plus all this gold," he says.
There's been no fucking offer yet, Goss. What the hell kind of terrible businessman are you? At least get the feel for the room, idiot.

Troi is in her office, Googling Ral, and then he shows up. She lies and tells him she was going over personnel files to cover the fact that she got caught.
"I'd like to negotiate dinner," he says.
"What about your traveling companion?" she asks delicately, referring to the girl who was hanging off his arm earlier like a Bond girl.
"She's... traveling," he smiles. "I sent her home."
"Why?"
"You know why."
"Weren't you getting along?"
"Don't do "Counselor Troi"," he replies. "Who are you when you leave the office?"
And he suddenly kicks into apex predator mode, slowly circling her chair, leaning in to talk to her from above, sliding the headband from her hair, running his fingers through her hair in a suggestion as to how she should wear it, shushing her when she tries to protest.
"Oh, you never do leave the office, do you?"
She's super uncomfortable, and pushes him away, but he's just "Dinner at 8?" before leaving.
This guy is an abuser. Run, girl!

Serial killer music! Commercial break!

Picard is in his ready room with Data, Riker and Mendoza, the Hispanic dude who is repping for the Federation. Data explains that, because the Barzans don't actually have any kind of space travel, they sent a probe into the wormhole to check it out. The probe sent back info from BFE, Gamma Quadrant. Picard is impressed.
"It would take us a century to get there at warp 9," he muses.
Riker posits a future where the Ferengi win control of the wormhole and impose tolls to use it.
Mendoza thinks that the Ferengi don't have a lot to offer the Barzans, and Riker thinks they should watch out for Ral instead.
Mendoza thinks he's right, but asks how Riker figured that out.
"He was the most comfortable dude at that table."
Mendoza: "You must play poker, Commander."
Sassy Riker Moment, completely straight-faced: "Poker? Is that a game of some sort?"
"Lol, Riker hosts weekly games," says Picard, and Riker smiles.
Mendoza says the skills they share are similar.
The conversation switches direction, and they tell Mendoza that the wormhole may not end up being as stable as they hoped, as stable wormholes are virtually unheard of.
I'm really surprised that the Federation didn't do this much research ahead of time, then inform Mendoza of it before going to the negotiation table. You would think that in his job, he would want all of this info before bidding on what could turn out to be a total waste of time and money.
Picard uses the term "proverbial lemon," which Data starts to define, but Picard stops him.
Picard says that before they make an offer, he wants to do a full scan of it, then send Data and Geordi in to get a good look once they determine it to be safe.

The Ferengi are in their quarters doing something shady, because why not? The doctor uses a horse syringe to get genetic material from Goss, then mixes it with something, and pours the concoction back into Goss' palm. It turns blue as it dries. Dr Arridor explains that the mixture will produce a severe allergic reaction in Mendoza, though it won't kill him. (Because they want us to think of Ferengi as opportunistic dicks, and not cold-blooded killers.)
The plan is for Goss to shake Mendoza's hand, spread the mixture onto his palm, and give him a reaction that will knock him out of the running.
They laugh.

Ral shows up at Troi's quarters. She's wearing her hair down, and her dress is fitted and off-the-shoulder.
"Much better," he smiles.
I cringe.
Throughout this scene, Troi moves between uncertainty and deciding that she wants to impress him, so she's going to be forward and impulsive. It's kind of awful to watch. They kiss, she pulls away. He asks if he's moving too fast for her, and she says no, that she's moving too fast for her.
"Even better," he replies with a smile.
This guy's face is Martin Shkreli-level punchable.
They end up skipping dinner to have sex instead.
Ugh.

Mendoza weaves drunkenly through the corridors, then stumbles through the doors of sick bay, where he collapses on the floor. Crusher and her team spring to action.

In the ready room, the Ferengi are vociferously complaining to Picard about the "unfair advantages" that the Federation is taking with these negotiations. They've heard about Picard's intention to send in a manned ship to get information about the wormhole, and they're outraged.
"Bhavani approved the plan," says Picard, "and we plan to share everything we find with the other delegates."
"Liars!" shouts Goss.
"Then send in your own fucking probe," snarls Riker.
"We will!" yells Goss, and they sort of dance out of the room because they're the drunken gnomes of space.
Riker leaves, and Crusher pages Picard to sick bay.

Picard and Riker go to sick bay, where Mendoza is unconscious. Crusher reiterates that his illness isn't life-threatening, but system-wide. He can't go back to negotiations.
Picard and Riker leave sick bay.
Now that we've gotten rid of Mendoza, Picard tells Riker that he'll have to rep the Federation. For story's sake, Picard can't do it, because he's the host. Riker also has poker skills, which is what that set-up in the ready room was all about, with Mendoza praising said skills. The story wants the E crew to be involved with this wormhole thing, so they had to take down Mendoza so Riker could do it instead.
Riker protests that the stakes here are much higher than just a few poker chips, and Picard smiles and says that's when the game gets interesting.

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

The wormhole opens, and Geordi offers to let the Ferengi go first.
"After you," says Dr Arridor.
"I don't like the idea of spending the rest of my life in here if something goes awry," Geordi tells Data.
"It's okay," says Data cheerfully. "If that happens, you'll have me to talk to."
I... think that was a Sassy Data Moment?
Geordi gives him a look that says yaaaaay, and they fly in.
The bridge loses contact with them after a few moments.

We go to the Obs Lounge, where they've decided to start negotiations without waiting for any data to return first.
Ral decides to be a Mean Girl.
"Wow, this must be so awkward for you, Commander Riker. Like, not knowing what to do or anything? Don't be embarrassed, you can totes ask me to explain anything you don't get."
"I think I got a good handle on it," replies Riker civilly.
"Ooh, starting out on the defence," says Ral. He uses this as a segue to talk about violent and war-faring the Federation is, compared to the Chrysalians, who have had peace for ten generations. He rudely turns off the viewscreen showing the Federation proposal. It's clear that Bhavani is eating this shit up.

The next scene starts with oily hands rubbing an oily foot, and we hear Troi and Ral talking. I guess he's giving her a foot massage, but we watch this shot of the foot massage for an oddly long time.

Going back to a shot of them, he's shirtless, and she's wearing some kind of shapeless shift that looks like it'll fall off at any moment. She asks him a question about himself, which he deflects by asking her what her Betazoid senses tell her.
"Not a lot, actually," she admits. "That's never really happened to me before. I can usually sense something, but my physical human emotions must be blocking it."
"I like that I'm harder to read than all of your other guys," he says.
GIRL:

He's fishing to see if you're seeing someone else, as well as being unnecessarily secretive.
"I'm not seeing anyone else right now," she says.
"What about Riker?" he asks.
After demanding who he's been talking to, Ral says he just sensed something between them. She insists that they were once an item, but they're not together anymore.
She circles around: "How come we're not talking about you? Why are we only talking about me?"
And his next deflection: "You have to listen to everyone talking about themselves all day. I thought maybe you'd want to talk about you for a bit. Who counsels the Counselor?"
Her confession: "When I first saw you, it was like I had been waiting for you my whole life."
GIRL, NO.
He decides to tell her something about him, but he makes a big deal about the fact that it's a secret, and she can't tell anyone else.
"I'm three quarters human, one quarter Betazoid. None of my other siblings were empaths, but I am." He decides to go all Vulnerable Vinnie on her. "I didn't really want the ability or need it, and it was overwhelming, so I left Earth. It's kind of isolating to tuck your heart away and feel nothing all the time, especially at the negotiating table, but you can't have a heart. I never thought I would need it, until I met you."
Dude. Spare me.
And she hugs him, because that's how sociopathic seduction works.

The wormhole spits the shuttle and the Ferengi pod out of the back end, and they turn around to go back so they can be ready when it opens on their end again. Geordi calls the pod to check to see if both Ferengi are okay.
"None of your beeswax!" spits Dr Arridor. "Fuck off!"
Sassy Geordi muttering: "Yeah, happy landings to you, too."
"So, hey," says Data. "We're not where we're supposed to be."
"We're at the end of the wormhole in the Gamma Quadrant, right?"
"Nope, we're in the Delta quadrant, like 200 light years from where we should be."
"Maybe the Barzan probe was wrong," says Geordi.
"Or maybe it was right, and the wormhole shifts," Data suggests.
"Um, VISOR's getting weird readings of the wormhole site," says Geordi.
"Yeah, the instruments are showing weird readings of other stuff, too."

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

Crusher is exercising in some kind of small gym space when Troi hurries in, apologizing for being late. Then they fail the Bechdel test, as it's obvious that these women are friends, but all they talk about is guys. Troi admits that she's doing Ral, and that it's some kind of whirlwind romance, and that she fell for him instantly, and Crusher talks about doing the same with another guy, but that it took months for her to figure out how she felt about her late husband. Troi considers slowing down, but then they both echo, "nah."
Also bugging me about this scene: they're in tight work-out outfits, stretching, doing the splits, leaning over. Girl talk while providing eye candy for the male viewers in the audience who clearly don't want to hear about Troi's romances.

Ugh, Male Gaze in spades.

The camera pans across Ten Forward. Goss is at the bar, harassing female Starfleet officers. Ral is sitting with Leyor, the Tall Guy from Caldonia.
"Really surprised to see Caldonia here," Ral remarks, turning up the ol' Betazoid empathetic skillz. "You guys are super into research and all that, but man, think of the administrative bullshit you'd have to deal with if the wormhole is given to you."
"Oh, I've actually been more concerned about that as things go on," admits Leyor, who seems to not recognize that he's being played.
Does this guy not negotiate contracts regularly, or...?
"Yeah, probably a lot of red tape involved," nods Ral.

We cut mid-sentence from their convo to the Obs Lounge, where Bhavani is announcing that Caldonia is bowing out of the race.
Everyone is surprised except Ral.
Riker immediately breaks in, telling Leyor that the Federation wants to enter a trade agreement with Caldonia for some mineral the Caldonians have a ton of, which it would then add to the Federation's bid for the wormhole.
"Nah," says Leyor, standing up to leave. "I already made that trade agreement with Ral."
He leaves, and Riker politely accuses Ral of insider trading.
"Maybe they just didn't want to do business with the Federation," shrugs Ral easily. "Also, I want to add Caldonia's mineral supply to my bid."

Back out in BFE, Delta Quadrant, Geordi is arguing with Arridor over the comm system.
"Dude, I can see with my VISOR that this end of the wormhole isn't stable. It probably switches a lot. You can see on your own instruments that we are not in the Gamma Quadrant."
"I will neither confirm nor deny those findings," says Arridor smugly.
Ugh, I hate people like that, people who think that unnecessary secret information gives them power. Fuck those guys.
"We need to leave now," says Geordi. "I can see it getting worse."
"No, the wormhole isn't opening for another 40 seconds," Arridor insists. "We'll go then."
"I can guide you in, you just have to follow us -"
But Arridor hangs up on him. Frustrated, Geordi moves forward into the event horizon, and they enter the wormhole. Arridor remarks that the Federation panics under pressure, and congratulates himself on waiting.
The wormhole appears.
He keeps talking. "...right on schedule, just as I said it -"
The wormhole closes up and takes off like Wile E Coyote on rocket skates.
They make this face.

Troi and Ral are having dinner in her quarters, and she brings up the fact that he pretty much stole the Caldonian bid.
"Commander Riker didn't know how you did it," she says, keeping her voice light.
"He's the most dangerous man in that room to me," admits Ral. "He has some skills."
"But not your edge," she mentions.
What follows is actually a really productive argument about ethics. She accuses him of using his empathic powers to get a leg up on his competition because no one at that table knows he has them. He says that he doesn't tell people that he's an empath because it makes them uncomfortable.
"I think you keep it a secret because it gives you an advantage," she replies icily.
"You seemed okay with it when I was using my advantage to get ahead with you."
This is clearly not a thing that she wants to be reminded of, especially because she was sleeping with him before he told her. She let herself be seduced by him, then he told her to gain her sympathy. Dude wanted to get laid. But now that he's being called on his shit, he's gonna lash out at her.
"You're manipulating people by reading their inner selves!"
And now for his "everybody's doing it, why are you attacking me" argument: "People have been doing that for thousands of years, just by reading body language, or listening closely. I just happen to be better at it." Then, just to twist the knife in: "You do it."
"I'm doing it to help my crew," she argues. "And everybody knows that I'm an empath."
"Oh, yeah?" he demands. "Don't you use that to give your side an advantage? Do you tell the attacking Romulan that he's bluffing? Or do you just tell Picard?"
"I'm protecting my crew!"
"Yeah, it's a matter of life and death when you do it, but I deal in properties and exchanges. Nobody gets hurt when I do it."
Translation: "I steal little stuff from mom and pop general stores, but at least I'm not stealing AIDS medication from hospitals!"
Ral: "So you tell me, which one of us has more of a problem with ethics?"
*narrows eyes at Ral* You gaslighting fuck.

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

Riker is sitting by himself in Ten Forward, reading some little padd, when Ral approaches him. They're both putting on the cheerful, "hey, how's it going, buddy?" act.
Sassy Riker: "Bought out the Ferengi yet?"
"No, do you think I should?" asks Ral jovially.
"I think you'll try, either way."
"We both know it'll be just the two of us in the end," remarks Ral. "You're actually pretty good at this, better than you know."
Sassy Riker: "I'm hoping that I'm actually better than you know."

"I'm ready to bring out the big guns and make an offer before your guys come back with the information. Are you?"
Riker is silent. He plays a bit conservatively, as does the Federation. If he played that way, he could either win big or lose big.
"Oh, I guess not. Is that why you're second in command of this ship?"
Riker is looking less jovial and more annoyed.
Ral smiles. "You know, I feel responsible for you, in a way... related."
The hell?
"Deanna," he replies in response to Riker's confused look. Then he pretty much talks about how he's fucking Troi, and how Riker could have had her, if only he was willing to do more.
"And now I'm here," says Ral, " and I'm going to take her too."
A moment passes, then Riker grins. "Lol, you fucked up. If you can make Deanna happy, that would make me happy. You're really not a bad guy, minus the fact that you don't have any values. If you stay with Deanna, she may just be able to drag your sorry ass out of the mud. But only if you're smart enough to take it."

Riker swallows his drink. "Later, loser."
And he walks the hell out.

On the bridge, Worf tells Picard that Goss has left the E and is now moving his ship next to the wormhole entrance. They're also powering up the missile launchers. Picard calls Goss.
"Dude, what are you doing?"
"You guys have been working the back side of this negotiation, and you've signed a secret contract with the Barzans. You never considered us a serious bid."
There's some posturing between the two, and Goss fires a missile at the wormhole. Worf uses his phasers to blow up the missile before it reaches its target.

Bhavani is meeting with Riker and Ral in the Obs Lounge when red alert klaxons go off, and Riker calls Picard. Picard tells Riker about Goss, and says he needs to get to the bridge.
Ral pounces. "Wow, it seems like your wormhole might be used as a pawn in the power struggle between the Federation and the Ferengi," he says to Bhavani.
She looks alarmed.

"WTF?" Picard demands of Goss.
"If we can't have the wormhole, no one can!"
"Again: WTF? You can't blow up a wormhole with a missile," reasons Picard. "But if you detonate one near the shuttle or pod, you could kill them."
"Whatever," shrugs Goss.
Troi stands up. "Dude is lying. He doesn't mean any of this."
The doors to the corridor that leads to the Obs Lounge open, and Bhavani and Ral ask to enter the bridge.
Ral puffs up his chest and says that he's in a better position to fix this thing with Goss than Picard is.
Picard agrees to let him speak to Goss.
Ral moves toward the viewscreen and tells Goss that he's just reached an agreement with the Barzans that the Chrysalians get control of the wormhole. He offers Goss free access to it in perpetuity, in exchange for Ferengi convoy privileges.
"Cool," says Goss.

Bhavani addresses Riker: "Sorry you had to learn about it this way. But Ral represents a people who are peaceful, and the Federation isn't as peaceful as they are."
"Hey, Bhavani, I think you're missing a few pieces to this puzzle," announces Troi.
Everyone turns to look at her.
Sassy Troi to Ral: "I'm sorry, was there something you wanted to say?"
Get him, girl.
"Nope," says Ral quickly. "Just tense. The situation was tense. Missiles and stuff."
"Yeah, no," says Troi. "I didn't sense tension from you or Goss. I think that shit was made up."
Goss starts protesting how he was totally tense, and he was gonna super blow the wormhole up, blah, blah, and Picard shuts off the viewscreen.
"Pretty sure that was all an act." She turns to Bhavani. "Ral has empathic powers and was manipulating you, preying on your fear of conflict by highlighting the fact that the Federation has enemies. And I think that he set this little act up with Goss so that you would pick him over the Federation."
Ral gives Troi a death stare. She flings that shit right back.

"Beat it, fuckboi."

The shuttle comes out of space in front of them.
"Hey, just got back, by the skin of our teeth," Geordi tells Picard.
"Where's the Ferengi pod?"
"Trapped in the freaking Delta Quadrant," says Geordi. "I tried to warn them, but they wouldn't listen. This end of the wormhole is stable, but the other isn't. It shifts locations. The Barzan probe wouldn't have had that info. Eventually, this end will become unstable, too. It's totally worthless."
Bhavani looks disappointed.
Worf tells Picard that Goss is asking where his men are.
Sassy Picard Moment: "Advise him to set his coordinates for the Delta Quadrant. He may run into them in 80 years or so."
Sassy Riker Moment: "Congrats on winning the rights to a worthless hole in space, Ral!"
Ral tries to cover the hideous previous ten minutes by saying that he takes risks and stands by agreements.
Oh, yes, good job. You can now offer the Ferengi a free trip to the middle of nowhere for as long as they like.

Troi answers the door to her quarters to find Ral on her doorstep. She invites him in, but I'm not sure why.
"I'm being called back to give explanations as to why I bought a worthless thing in space," he tells her. "They'll probs forgive me. They know the risks." There's a pause. "I had to do it, Troi."
Oh, not Deanna anymore? "Troi"?
"I had to do the thing," he says. "Bhavani was gonna go with the Federation."
"And you knew I couldn't let you do that," she replies.
"I asked you once to run away with me," he says. "I'm asking again. Run away with me. I want to change."
Bullshit.
"You can help me change, be my conscience."
Victim. She can be your victim.
"I already have a job as the ship's Counselor," she answers.
Translation: I'm not your private therapist.
He leaves, and she looks kind of sad.
I guess that was bound to happen. She escaped a sociopathic monster.

Okay, let's just get into this. I have no idea whether Ral or the show was more full of shit in that last scene. Ral is like, "I want to change," which is crap, because generally, older sociopaths don't think anything is wrong with their behavior, and are not interested in changing. That's just shit they tell their victims to get them to fall in line and come back so they can continue to victimize them. And "you can help me change"? Nope, that's another line, again to comfort that victim and make them think that everything will be alright, when really, said sociopath does not want to change.
But here's the thing: the show never admits that Ral is a sociopath. They set up all of the red flags that say "sociopath," but then end things in such a way that make him seem like some little lost lamb who just wandered down the wrong path, and can be lead into the light again, if only Troi will go with him. The show plays soft, sad music while he tells her that he's glad she outed him, because he doesn't like what he sees when he looks in the mirror. So, is Ral more full of shit, talking about how he wants to change, and how he can help her; or is it the show, pretending that Ral is some nice guy who was lead astray by his job? Either way, fuck off, show. You can't introduce that kind of character, and then whitewash over the shitty stuff he does. I mean, this episode was not going to end on a high note. Ral's comeuppance is that he bought a worthless hole in space for his bosses, but it's not like he won't go right back to it. He's not going to meet Troi in the future, and proudly tell her that he stopped manipulating people for fun and profit, and that he's now a puppy-raiser for Guide Dogs For the Blind. And yes, Troi was always going to be upset at the end. Whether the show admits to it or not, dude emotionally manipulated her. She was going to be upset if he walked away and never said another word to her, she was going to be upset if he said he wanted to be pen pals, she was going to be upset if he came to her and said "run away with me." Part of me wants to know how she managed to miss all of the red flags that surrounded this guy and his creepy behavior. Surely, she's encountered this before? At least in training to be a counselor? But then I start to wonder if people in that profession are more or less susceptible to people of that nature. Sociopaths need someone trusting to prey on, and certainly counselors are out to set up a trusting relationship with their clients so that the client will open up to them.
Before I get a bunch of people commenting on how he couldn't have possibly been a sociopath because he seemed so sincere in liking her: he absolutely benefitted from seeing her. Possibly at first it was just, "the counselor looks like a good lay," but it then it may have moved onto "it would be fun to mess with her," before becoming "ooh, she has info I can harvest concerning Riker!" I don't buy that he had sincere interest in her. He admitted to manipulating her.

And that brings me to something that I've been thinking about for a while now, and which the show has been kind of vague on before admitting it in this episode: having Troi on the bridge falls into the area of grey ethics. Ral is correct that it's a bit dodgy that she's constantly able to give Picard that leg up on other people. The crew knows she's empathic, but others do not. Would it be more ethical to not have her on the bridge at all? Probably. There actually isn't another reason for her to be there. She isn't technically a senior officer, but was added to the bridge crew at Picard's discretion... most likely because her empathic skills are so useful. She'll take the bridge officer's test, but not for several more years. She's just... handy to have around.
It also leads me to wonder if empaths are barred from holding certain jobs around non-empaths. Counselor seems like a good one, maybe doctor, medical in general, but then you have someone like Ral who doesn't divulge this talent to anyone. Do I believe him when he says that he doesn't do so because it makes others uncomfortable? Yes. It probably does. But I do I also believe that he hides it to give himself an advantage? Hell yes. Are there jobs out there like Ral's, where having an unfair advantage could severely screw things up? Where a person could take advantage of others in a nasty way? On Betazed, the natives all have the same talents (possibly with varying degrees), so any job would be open to them, but in the case where no one does but you, could this cause a problem similar to that of Ilia from The Motion Picture, where she is forced to sign a contract saying that she won't do certain things?
It's an interesting thought, and one we'll touch on a little further in the season.



Fun Facts:

- Think you've seen they guy who plays Leyor before? That's Kevin Peter Hall, and he played Harry on "Harry and the Hendersons," and the Predator on "Predator."

- There were several scenes cut from this episode: O'Brien having trouble with some girlfriend we never meet; Wes wanting to go to an overnight party on the holodeck; and more stuff on the Chrysalians.
- The Chrysalians never show up again, and the man they hired to represent them was human, so no one knows what a Chrysalian looks like.
- The Googling that Troi does on Ral reveals that he was born in the European Alliance, which means such a thing still exists in the 24th century. *cough, cough* fuck you, Brexit *cough, cough*
- The little gym where Troi and Crusher exercise is actually Engineering, with mirrors hiding the panels, and the pool table console removed.

- Michael Piller thought this was a great Troi episode and a good script overall, but thought the episode itself was less than fabulous.
- Prior to the episode airing, people were all up in arms over the fact that Troi has sex with Ral, but after it aired, no one complained, much like that infamous kiss between Kirk and Uhura.
-This was the first time that it was firmly established that the galaxy is divided into quarters.
- We'll see the Barzan wormhole again in Voyager. We'll also see Arridor and Kol again in that episode.
- This is the second time we've seen Troi's office.
- First mention of Troi's love of chocolate.
- First introduction of the Ferengi pod.

- Here, Troi says she sensed no tension from Goss. It will be later established that she can't read Ferengi.
- The Ferengi still think that gold is valuable in the Federation, as Goss offered a bunch of it up at negotiations, and expected the others to be impressed.


Red deaths: 0
To date: 0

Gold deaths: 0

Blue deaths: 0
To date: 1
Unnamed color crew deaths: 0

Obnoxious Wes moments: 0

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

Sassy Geordi moments: 1
To date: 8

Sassy Wes Moments: 0
To date: 0

Sassy Worf Moment: 0
To date: 2

Sassy Riker Moments: 3
To date: 7

Sassy Picard Moments: 2
To date: 5

Sassy NPC Moments: 0
To date: 0
Sassy Data Moments: 1
To date: 2
Sassy O'Brien Moments: 0
To date: 0
Sassy Crusher Moments: 0
To date: 1
Sassy Troi Moments: 3
To date: 4
Sassy Guinan Moments: 0
To date: 2
Sassy Guest Star Moments: 0
To date: 0

Number of times that it is mentioned that Data is an android: 0
To date: 7

Number of times that Troi reacts to someone else's feelings: 4
To date: 14

Number of times that Geordi "looks at something" with his VISOR: 2
To date: 4
Number of times when Data gives too much info and has to be told to shut up: 1
To date: 2
Picard Maneuvers: 0
To date: 13

Carol Brady the Pocket Cat