Deanna Troi

[Arpy]

This one just because she's so pretty...

 

[Arpy]

Yet it feels closer to Trek in spirit than its competitor on the special-access-but-still-loaded-with-commercials-anyway channel that has a crew of glorified fast food cooks.

Weren't B&B also brought in under Roddenberry himself and trying to continue his vision of using people as sex objects? Listen to Roddenberry himself and the audience's response:

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Starts at 0:31 in. And, yes, people can and do evolve over time, noting this audio was recorded roughly 43 years ago. But B&B were also trying to keep some of Roddenberry's wishes? Or being caught in the middle and ditching ditch the habit after he passed or felt revered to continue it? I don't know.

B&B did it because sex sells, not because of any loyalty to Gene. Number One was hardly Seven of Nine.

Note that Gene said he'd continue using men as sex object too (progressive for the time), and would continue to because when he was younger and more agile he'd been used as a sex object too and it was great fun. I think the idea there is that we shouldn't be afraid to be three-dimensional sex-positive people, and that wasn't what was on TV at the time. Could you imagine Flash Gordon having sex on TV in the 30's? Gene was told by a studio exec that the crew couldn't be 50% men and women because it would make it seem like there's a lot of fooling around going on up there. Perish the thought! Today characters (in Trek, Orville, or in your bedroom) have sex whenever they want, and that's in part thanks to the public conversation on the matter aided by Trek.

I think there's a difference between being transgressive and being gratuitous. Uhura's short skirt was transgressive; Seven's catsuit was pandering.

 

[Paradise City]

Well Troi initially seemed to be some sort of "wellness" character. An alien(ish) mystic almost. That wellness was a kind of mysterious art form by the time of the 24th century.

Later on as the series developed, she becomes a more rigorous psychiatrist in the way we normally understand and we see her conducting more conventional counselor sessions.

The character was badly disrespected during the 2nd season with the possible exception of the Loud As A Whisper episode. She's was respected more in the latter seasons. For me her zenith was The Loss episode where she loses her powers and that throws her completely.

That was sublimely performed.

 

[Thanos007]

I don't think Ms. Sirtis was served well by the make up crew or the DP since it took them until about season 5 or 6 to get her make up right and figure out how to shoot her. Maybe season 4 at best.

 

[Sybok Was Wrong]

For me her zenith was The Loss episode where she loses her powers and that throws her completely.

That was sublimely performed.

Interesting! That was the episode that wrote her off for me, both as a sympathetic character, and the limited actress performing Troi.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

For me her zenith was The Loss episode where she loses her powers and that throws her completely.

That was sublimely performed.

Love that episode. It shows how much she took her inherited abilities for granted and relied on them over her instincts and training, and just how much it threw her when they suddenly weren't there anymore--just imagine how it would be to suddenly lose your sense of smell or taste, something you use all the time but take for granted.