PATRON TAKES - TNG S6E14
TAKES WILL BE READ 4/24
Comments (53)
Josh mentioned after the last Barclay episode that he wondered how he would feel about a new encounter with the Romulans.
Love this episode and the tension of being in Troi's shoes in this situation. Great Troy episode and a solid A overall!
I'd add that this episode definitely established and explored a lot of backstory about Romulans and their complex society.
This one's awesome. Cool to see Troi in a more action-packed role, great hook, cool idea, exciting, well-written story, all in all a very good episode. 8/10, A Tier, Very Good. Below Conspiracy and above The Doomsday Machine
Finally, a juicy episode for Counselor Troi. Marina Sirtis must have been thrilled.
Reading a short summary or blurb of this episode does not make excited for it. The concept is kinda dumb, it has huge cringe potential (which i hate), and it reads like its gonna be a (potentially unintentional) comedic episode. But you know what, screw that, this episode slaps. Troi is awesome in this, the intrigue and the tension are great. As they say: EXECUTION!!! S-
This episode really highlights Troi's lost potential in the series. We see here that she is a capable and resourceful officer who can use her empathic skills and psychology training to navigate difficult situations. Instead, in the series she was relegated to eye candy that said the obvious.
This is a really shocking fish-out-of-water episode. I find it pretty entertaining despite its complete absurdity. If I could have vetoed this one getting made, I would have...not because I hate it (I don't!) but because it's just silly in the grand scheme of things. Sometimes the "what if we have _____ do _____" pitches completely lose track of the big picture. This is a "B" grade from me.
I like this one a lot, and I usually hate Troi episodes. She spends so much time doing essentially nothing in the series and every time they try to give her something to do it winds up with a very poor episode, but this time they actually pull it off and it works very well.
Despite its issues, one of my top 10. Always a delight to see and hear Carolyn Seymour. We can take for granted having a show lead by two strong female characters now, but it was unusual in the 90s. Loved not even seeing the ‘D’ for so long into it.
I think mentioning Spock and not showing him was a little bit of a mistake in my opinion. I know… I know, it’s not that easy and he probably was like “ get out of my house “ , but it would have been nice, no?
I think you guys may like this one but I just can't get over the stupidity of it. Kidnap Troi? Troi? Troi passes as a CIA agent? seriously? Sorry it is a leap way to far for me.
Is it kinky if I find female Romulan commanders sexy? Since 'The Enterprise Incident'?
The commander lady is a great actress in this!!
General question about season 6. How are you guys finding it? Another consistent "good" episode. I've always been surprised at how people say that you can feel the show start to decline in season 6.
The writers toyed with the idea of it being Spock in one of those containers. Ultimately they went another direction. One weakness of the episode is Deseve: I just don’t feel like this guy ever lived with Romulans. Just too weak. A for “Always bring an empath to a phaser fight”
Referred to by many, including myself, as "the Good Troi Episode". She is given a plot without her reproductive system or falling in love, makes use of her abilities, and Marina Sirtis is given a chance to really act. Fan-fucking-tastic. This could easily have been any character, but giving it to Troi just gave her a great episode. Thank Christ.
True words! This one is very entertaining despite its absurdity.
This is a episode that I never really liked much even though there is nothing in particular about it that I dislike. Just one of them things
We are perfectly capable of kidnapping you from the Enterprise, surgically altering you, and smuggling you into Romulan space and aboard this Warbird. We are, however, completely unable to smuggle these people OUT of Romulan space without your help, so you must bluff your way through as a duplicitous member of the secret police you know nothing about. Who cares, though, this episode rules.
I imagine it's a lot easier to keep tabs on the people already IN a survelliance society than keep track of those from OUTside it, especially if they've got a false document to mask themselves. Especially if those from with in are of note themselves.
Deanna's best ever f%#ing episode. This is good Romulan intrigue. Standing ovation.
Indeed, finally using Deanna well.
Picard, seeing Deanna as a Romulan: oh god this isn't ANOTHER half-Romulan daughter of an officer I sent to their death in an alternate timeline, is it?
LOL! I really never thought about that before ...
Like most people I know, I saw all of TNG out of order in syndication. The Romulan defector (DeSeve) feels like a character who has had a continuing story line, and I was surprised this was his first appearance.
I enjoy this one. The only complaint I have is that the lighting on the Romulan ship should be darker, a little more dramatic than the Enterprise.
Awesome Troi episode!
Not a episode I watch much , but Dianna dose a great job acting the roll of a Rumulan
Such a rare treat for Troi's character to be written well. Love this episode. You get to see a rare peak into how the internal workings of the Romulan Empire. Tal Shi'ar reminds me of Cold War USSR political officers. Does Alex and Josh have a Political Officer looking over their shoulders?
Reminds me of The Schutzstaffel.
The best part is when Troi has had enough and says exactly what is going to happen, including a death threat. She's developed some much needed strength; something missing when reluctantly in charge in Disaster.
The Enterprise-D(eanna) Incident. Troi as a Romulan is a bit of a gimmick, but this spy-adventure is entertaining enough. B-. Carolyn Seymour is (once again) great as a Romulan after playing minister Mirasta Yale in Season 4's "First Contact".
I loved Carolyn Seymour every time I saw her. (Which wasn't much on television. I think she's primarily a stage actor.)
I like this a little less than most people because I have a hard time getting past how the language barrier would stop this story in its tracks (same issue I have with The Enterprise Incident). B.
"Meamorphosis" in TOS established that the Universal Translator had a telepathic element that allowed complete translation by reading the speaker's mental intent.
It's in the top 5 of the entire show for me. Sirtis nails this performance so brilliantly it redefined her character for the remainder of the series. The dazzling performance by Seymour as Commander Torreth and the brilliant score make this a go-to episode to rewatch for me. "WHY did you destory that vessel!?" and, "I'll have you ejected into space!" are dynamite moments :-)
Troi did a much better job pretending to be Romulan than Picard and Data and she had no time to prep for it!
Troi getting a bit of character development and a story not about her being assaulted? Did something go terribly wrong in the writing room? I like this one.
Well, she was still kidnapped and surgically altered without her consent, so I'm not sure we can say it's "not about her being assulted." But at least it isn't a form of deviance this time.
They accidentally let future Matrix composer Don Davis sneak in a fantastic score. How much has this show been missing Ron Jones?
Third appearance for Carolyn Seymour on TNG second time as a romulan captian. This is just my opinion but, I got the distinct impression that she was playing it like Picard.
Dianna not as a counselor, but as the ruthless political commissar she was always meant to be !! And Picard gets pay back for when he had a defector beamed off HIS bridge !!
#mirrorTroi
My sole memory—Troi makes for a very attractive Romulan.
Love this episode, it took 6 seasons but they finally seem to take Troi seriously. Plus we get another amazing Romulan commander. Toreth is another of Treks great characters for me.
By far my favourite Troi episode. I'm telling you, as soon as they put her in a uniform, it felt like the writers started to take the character seriously. It's not just Troi either. N'Vek and Toreth both bring some different perspectives to the romulans than we're used to seeing, especially talking about what happened to her father. To political intrigue, the tension, and the soundtrack all work well IMO. It's not quite The Defector, but it does a lot of the same things right. S tier.
S for Spy Troi! Fantastic score, plot, callbacks, guest cast, and something I'm sure Alex mentioned this before as something he wanted: an episode from entirely another perspective (in this case, almost all Romulan). And Marina hits it out of the park, against the great Carolyn Seymour as Cmdr Toreth (who we saw as another character in S2's "Contagion").
Love the moment when Troi snaps at the guy who put her in this situation and bosses him around, finally a badass moment for her
It's the film "Dave" all over again! hahaha
I wonder if the crew thought “Is this another Tasha Yar situation?” when they first saw Troi as a Romulan on the viewscreen.
Troi the Spy! This episode is freaking FIRE! Troi gets the spotlight, the Romulans are on point here, and Marina Sirtis steals the show. I love this episode. Easy S tier for me.
One of my favorite episodes of the season. It's great to see Marina Sirtis given an episode like this, and she does a great job portraying Troi getting past her initial fear and discomfort and taking on the role.