The Good: Acting (that's about it)
The Bad: Takes itself too seriously, Absurd plot, Ridiculous characters
The Basics: When Picard is stranded on a planet with a madwoman, the Enterprise finds itself plagued by crazy ambassadors.
While Star Trek The Next Generation had many fine episodes, it did suffer some at the beginning of the seventh season when it seemed to be drowning in itself. Unlike previous seasons that were highlighted by innovative storylines and such, the seventh season began with ridiculous ideas and was plagued by being thematically heavy-handed. While the season premiere illustrated the latter, the follow-up, "Liaisons," illustrated the former.
When a group of alien ambassadors arrive on the Enterprise, Picard goes to visit Iyaarans on their turf. His shuttle, however, is soon lost and Picard finds himself on an inhospitable world in the company of a nurturing woman who rather rapidly forms an emotional bond with him. It becomes clear that she wants nothing more than to love Picard and for Picard to love her. In contrast to the deranged woman, aboard the Enterprise, Worf must deal with an abrasive ambassador and Troi must deal with a gluttonous one.
"Liaisons" is an episode that will never make it to the top ten Star Trek The Next Generation episodes ever and truth be told, it has no business there. It takes two weak scripts - the Picard abandonment story feels like it has almost no relationship to the Enterprise tale of ambassadors gone wild - and combines them for a result that is unsatisfying and unconvincing. When the two storylines do come together, the explanation is far short of satisfying.
Instead, the reasons for the strange woman and the strange ambassadors are silly and they insult the intelligence of the regular viewer of Star Trek The Next Generation. It's a rare thing that the writers of this series make something that might surprise non-Trek fans, but seems commonplace to those who regularly watch their stuff. This is one such episode that any good Trekker or science fiction fan can call the end within five minutes.
In fact, the only thing that keeps this episode near the map is that the acting is decent. Michael Dorn and Patrick Stewart especially give performances that clearly illustrate their acting caliber by virtue of neither revealing their disdain on-camera for such a weak story. Indeed, both actors convince the viewer that their character is alive, well, and . . . dealing with the problems they find themselves facing. All with a straight face.
I wish I could say that those who like stories of people lost in disasters or stories about different cultures would like "Liaisons," but I cannot. The only thing this episode may teach the viewer is how two quality actors may swallow their pride and work through something horrible. What's worse is that the something horrible takes itself seriously. And a plot this absurd does not deserve even that.
[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Complete Seventh Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the final season by clicking here!
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3.5/10
See how this episode stacks up against other Star Trek episodes by clicking here! There, you'll find an index page with access to the reviews in order from best to worst!
© 2011, 2007, 2003 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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