I just watched this episode on Netflix. I have to say, I love this episode, and I feel that Star Trek was at it's best when it tackled strong, universal themes such as the value of life and what it's truly worth, what it means to each person. I also have to say that David Ogden Stiers put in a magnificent performance, and that while I love her character anyway, Majel put in what I feel is her best performance here. Your mileage may vary, but I do believe overall it was an excellent episode. Your thoughts?
I must admit that I went into this episode with some trepidation, not being especially fond of Lwaxana storylines, but it was much better than I was expecting. It raised an interesting dilemma and Lwaxana didn't bother me at all. In fact, I'd say she was a very good character in this episode.
I think the contrast between Lwxanna's culture and the culture of Timicin's people, with Timicin in the middle, made for excellent storytelling, and for me, even though I'm staunchly in favor of life (and the quality thereof), it made me think back and forth, examining the roots of both sides of the story. I still side with Lwxanna, but I can understand why it's so important to Timicin and all he cares about.
Probably the only Lwaxanna episode I enjoy. She's a fun character, but best in small doses, & not one I enjoy seeing episodes revolve around... except for this one. Here we have an episode that does a few things well. Firstly, the parts are written & acted well. Plus, instead of her free spirit philosophy being treated as its usual personal immaturity/denial issue, it's treated with more regard, as something of a cultural issue, placed in opposition to a contrary type of culture, and... neither of them are humans. It's always good to see non-human races interacting realistically, and playing off of the stereotypical attributes that Trek places on their alien races. It's one of the things that makes DS9 great, but TNG didn't have as diverse a group of regular aliens to draw upon in that regard, but once in a while they managed to pull it off anyhow, like in this episode This was the episode that made me see Lwaxanna in a different light. It actually made me finally think about her character, and I now knew what it was that Deanna's Starfleet father has seen in her, such that he would pretty well worship her. She & perhaps many Betazoid women were like one of the Trek universe's most alluring and disarming of women. They can make you appreciate life more I think all in all, of her 6 appearances on TNG, only two of them really did anything to develop the character in any meaningful way, this episode, & Dark Page. Cost of Living touched a bit on her denial issues, but just stands as a rather annoying episode, all around
This is a good episode and Majel Barrett is great in it. But I think Dark Page is probably her best performance as Lwaxana. Either that or the DS9 episode in the turbolift with Odo. They deepened her character later on.
I would have to agree with those who have stated that Half a Life and Dark Page are the two strongest Lwaxana eps. But I'm a big Majel fan, so I liked all of them.
Yeah, as a Majel fan, I love her in just about anything, though Lwaxanna can come on very strong to the point of annoyance. Now, as a character, that's fine, but if the audience gets annoyed, that's different, and I felt they pushed her too strongly at times, but it's episodes like these (and yes, Dark Page) where Majel really got to shine, and show how wonderful an actress she really was.
She was a terrific actress beyond loving her, I can understand why Gene put her in as much as possible (Number one, Nurse Chapel, Lwaxana, Computer voice, etc).