Weekend Trek “Face Of The Enemy”

Hey, what’s this?  Two Next Generation chats in a single weekend?  That hasn’t happened in a while!

Yeah, Jimmy and Tom got two chats done in a week.  That used to happen more often, so come back next week for another Deep Space Nine write-up.  I’ll probably be on Voyager before I know it…

“Face of the Enemy”

Troi wakes up on a Romulan vessel with a Romulan face!

jimmy:  Maybe Troi should go undercover more often.

tomk:  Maybe if someone asks her first.

jimmy:  Maybe. But where’s the fun in that?

tomk:  It would make her better prepared.

jimmy:  Yeah, it seemed to be a bit of a sloppy operation.

tomk:  I blame Spock.

jimmy:  It was his plan.

tomk:  Yeah, but he sent the guy with the bad haircut as a messenger. That cut really only works on Romulans.

jimmy:  And Vulcans?

tomk:  Well, not on that guy.

jimmy:  Or on Troi.

tomk:  Troi had to deal more with those Romulan shoulder pads.

jimmy:  They were out of control.

tomk:  Which is weird since Romulans often say they’re very much in control.

jimmy:  Not of their shoulder pads apparently.

tomk:  They’re a treacherous bunch. Really, Troi blends right in.

jimmy:  Is Troi treacherous?

tomk:  No. I deployed sarcasm.

jimmy:  Ah.  I get jokes.

tomk:  Yes. Yes, you do.

jimmy:  And why grab her at all?  Because she could tell one guy was lying?

tomk:  Theoretically, Troi’s empathic powers probably give her an advantage in a situation like that.

jimmy:  And there are no other empaths in the Federation.  Was she just the easiest one to kidnap and deploy?

tomk:  That too. That Romulan was probably looking to grab someone who could adjust quickly, but finding the right person alone doesn’t help when so many people on their own might be more than capable of defending themselves.

jimmy:  I’m sure someone like Picard would have been a better choice, unless they thought he’d be recognized.  Though, I know they had the identity of that deceased Tal Shiar officer to make use of, so I guess it had to be a woman.  If they picked Picard, it would have be a very different episode.

tomk:  Picard does seem able to better deal with Romulans. He might even date one on a future series we won’t talk about here.

jimmy:  That’s logical.

tomk:  That’s for Vulcans.

jimmy:  Can’t they all just get along?

tomk:  That’s what Spock wanted to know.

jimmy:  Spock’s name got dropped a lot, but he never made an appearance.

tomk:  Yeah, it’s almost like Leonard Nimoy only agreed to one two parter.

jimmy:  That’s so Nimoy.

tomk:

jimmy:  He knows the score.

tomk:  A musical score?

jimmy:

tomk:  There’s worse he could know.

jimmy:  You always find the most…interesting videos.

tomk:  I didn’t tell you to watch it. I even said it was worse.

jimmy:  If you tell me that you know I gotta watch it!

tomk:  Do you always watch Garbage Day?

jimmy:  I don’t need to. It’s burned into my brain forever.

tomk:  Like Troi in that outfit?

jimmy:  No.  Not nearly as traumatic.

tomk:  Like Picard when he learned Spock wasn’t coming?

jimmy:  No one expected that. It would have been in the preview.

tomk:  So, like the Spanish Inquisition?

jimmy:  No one expects that.

tomk:  Previews must say too much. It makes me glad I stream these.

jimmy:  That’s why I stopped watching them. But if Nimoy was to appear they would have hued the hell out of this back in the day.

tomk:  Oh obviously.  These days they can hide stuff like surprise cameos on Lower Decks.

jimmy:  Animation is certainly a bit easier.

tomk:  Yeah, but George Takei is one of the last surviving members of the original cast.

jimmy:  Has Shatner appeared?

tomk:  Of course not. The Shat doesn’t do cameos.

jimmy:  That’s what I figured.

tomk:  You figured correctly. You just earned a bacon sandwich.

jimmy:  I do love bacon.

tomk:  Then have two.

jimmy:  Wow. Thanks!

tomk:  You deserve them because you don’t give away any surprise cameos in chats.

jimmy:  I’m good like that.

tomk:  It’s why you bring home the bacon.

jimmy:  Sounds like you bring it home, cook it and serve it on sandwiches.

tomk:  But then I give them to deserving Canadians.

jimmy:  You are a gentleman and a scholar.

tomk:  And that gets you a side of eggs that are delicious to Klingons.

jimmy:

tomk:  That’s how you befriend the MVP…who doesn’t have much to do in this episode.

jimmy:  He’d be hard to disguise as a Romulan, and the main drama is not on the ship.

tomk:  But he hates Romulans. More dramatic potential.

jimmy:  True. Probably wouldn’t help with the mission though.

tomk:  Unless he needs to take care of the defector. Or give one a blood transfusion.

jimmy:  That’s why they picked Troi. In case of the blood transfusions. Or something.

tomk:  Also, it makes up for all the episodes where her scenes were cut out.

jimmy:  It helps with that too.

tomk:  And she doesn’t have to wear a pair of pajamas this week.

jimmy:  And surprisingly, she had more total screen time than Worf among others during the run.

tomk:  I can’t imagine why

jimmy:  That data is highly suspect. As hanging around in the background doing nothing shouldn’t really be counted. And they excluded Geordi as the facial recognition software couldn’t pick him up with his visor on. Poor Geordi.

tomk:  Well, I have it on good authority he got far more screen time on Reading Rainbow.

jimmy:  No visor, see.

tomk:  No,he needs the VISOR to see.

jimmy:

tomk:  Yes, Troi knew how to give Picard signals so there wouldn’t be any shooting.

jimmy:  She’s good at giving off signals.

tomk:  That’s what Riker says.

jimmy:  Bow wow chika bow wow.

tomk:  Still, that Romulan ship was gonna fly under the Enterprise and then maybe blow it up. That’s crafty.

jimmy:  Romulans are a crafty bunch.

tomk:  They were probably targeting the daycare too.

jimmy:  Crafty and jerky.

tomk:  Well, some bright individual decided to put children on a ship that could see combat, so who’s the real jerk?

jimmy:  Starfleet?

tomk:  Judges?

jimmy:  Yes!

tomk:  Still, Troi was lucky the others trusted she hadn’t defected.  Or that they didn’t recognize her with her new face.

jimmy:  I was going to say that Troi was lucky they didn’t have any way to look up a picture of her or the fact that she was dead.

tomk:  Also good no one stopped to think they needed to look up Picard’s personal therapist.

jimmy:  Well, the Romulans probably wouldn’t think of that.

tomk:  That seems foolish. Don’t they know she’s part of the main cast?

jimmy:  They don’t get Earth TV on Romulus.

tomk:  Too bad. They’d probably love Full House. Romulans have a terrible sense of humor.

jimmy:  Lol

tomk:  They think there are hidden agendas everywhere and try to dissect things.

jimmy:  They should have dissected Troi’s story more.

tomk:  You don’t question the Tal Shiar.  They have powerful friends.

jimmy:  Those are powerful.

tomk:  I have powerful friends too.

jimmy:  You’re pretty brave.

tomk:  He was asking me to do a dental exam.

jimmy:  Are you a dentist?

tomk:  No, but most dentists are cowards.

jimmy:  I hope no dentists are reading this.

tomk:  They’re mostly afraid of gamma-based rage monsters.

jimmy:  And non-dentists aren’t?

tomk:  Well, yes.  But me, I have powerful friends.

jimmy:  You do indeed.

tomk:  Like you.

jimmy:  I’m powerful?

tomk:  Friend of the Moose, ally of the Beaver, and tolerated by Cousin Minka, so yes.

jimmy:  I’m powerful!

tomk:  You can throw ’em back with Captain Jake, you’re a man who knows his Spider-Man, and also you got that Canadian health care.

jimmy:  I’m nigh-unstoppable.

tomk:  Well, I wouldn’t say that.

jimmy:  Unstoppable!

tomk:  The Ms. might want you do the dishes.

jimmy:  I better go do that.

tomk:  I think I found a weakness.

jimmy:  That’s why Spock didn’t recruit me.

tomk:  I think he recruited the Ms.

jimmy:  She is crafty.

tomk:  Is she likely to read your comment there?

jimmy:  Very.

Unlikely.

tomk:  Well, good.  She’s probably disguised as a Romulan, one who’s helping Troi fit in.

jimmy:  That explains the shoulders.

tomk:  You know what?  I don’t need to know what that means.

jimmy:  You’re better off.

tomk:  Anyway, Troi kept herself alive, and Picard was able to beam her out before the Romulans left without O’Brien manning the transporter.

jimmy:  And more importantly, she got her hair fixed.

tomk:  Yeah…that didn’t make sense.

jimmy:  Maybe they replicated it?

tomk:  She wore a Romulan wig?

jimmy:  They can do amazing things in the future.

tomk:  I don’t know about that.

jimmy:  Different quadrant.

tomk:  Like the Gamma Quadrant?

jimmy:  Sure.

tomk:  So, it’s really the Dominion’s problem.

jimmy:  But that’s for another time.

tomk:  Like when I finish Deep Space Nine in another eight or nine episodes?

jimmy:  Like that.

tomk:  The Dominion seems to be run by assholes anyway.

jimmy:  Most bad guys are.

tomk:  Then they got what was coming to them.

jimmy:  Like the Romulans here?

tomk:  Nah. They’re just sneaky.

jimmy:  Maybe next time.

tomk:  Well, next time is a Q episode.

jimmy:  Speaking of assholes…

tomk:  What if he was legitimately doing Picard a favor?

jimmy:  Sounds unlikely.

tomk:  We could find out.

jimmy:  We should.

tomk:  We shall!

Next:  “Tapestry”