Does Having Troi On The Bridge Make TNG Seem Dated?

[sonak]

On either the "Generations" or "First Contact" DVD commentary track by Braga and Moore, they mention that one of the aspects of TNG that makes it seem dated now is having a therapist on the bridge of the Enterprise.

This remark kind of surprised me, because while I agree that it is silly for the ship's therapist to be on the bridge with other officers who actually have bridge functions, I'd always thought the reason why Troi was on the bridge was because she was an empath, NOT because she was the ship's counselor.


Her being on the bridge was about giving Picard that little edge, because she could tell him if someone they were encountering is lying or not.(I know her role has come to be caricatured as only telling Picard the blindingly obvious, but I'm trying to be fair to the concept of the role.)

So what do people here think? If every Starfleet vessel was putting the ship's therapist on the bridge with the captain and the first officer during the TNG era, then yes that is pretty ridiculous. But if Troi was on the bridge of the Ent-D because of her empathic abilities, then I don't think it makes TNG look any more or less dated than other factors would.

 

[BlobVanDam]

I always assumed it was purely because of her empathic abilities that she was on the bridge. Most times they had someone on the viewscreen, Picard would defer to her for an opinion if possible.
And never have I thought this dates the show. As you said, it was giving Picard an edge, and if anything I think it makes it more futuristic to be concerned about feelings and trust a new race from the start, rather than to take a more military minded approach.

 

[Ro_Laren]

I really doubt Picard would have had her on the bridge if not for her emphathic abilities. One would assume that she had better things to do then sit on the bridge since the Enterprise had over 1,000 people on it (lots of people to counsel!). It would be a waste of time for a counselor to sit on the bridge... but not an empath who could help the captain have empathic insight into those the Enterprise encounters.

 

[Winterwind]

It doesn't date it in the least. On a ship the size of the Enterprise, with all that is encountered in the line of duty, people are going to need a little extra help coping with certain issues from time to time. I'm sure most non-empathic counsellors just work out of their office however. Troi's only use on the bridge was her empathy. Too bad she was written so poorly she did little more than state the obvious.

 

[GalaxyX]

I think what dated the character is the fact that they basically had Marina Sirtis be the sex object of the show, with that hideous pink catsuit and huge wig like hair (both screaming "80's!!").

They "should" have just played her off as a regular member of the crew, like they did with Crusher (which ended up being 10 times as hot as Troi)

 

[Pauln6]

I have more of a problem with Starfleet allowing an empath to impose her abilities on unsuspecting individuals - how is that not a violation of their rights? Troi should be on the bridge because she is a senior officer (Lt-commander) and because she is a skilled diplomat. Whate dates it is the fact that she was put in a non-standard uniform to show off her boobs and she should never have been referred to as 'Counselor' Troi except when engaging in her (part-time) work as counselor off the bridge

 

[sonak]

I have more of a problem with Starfleet allowing an empath to impose her abilities on unsuspecting individuals - how is that not a violation of their rights? Troi should be on the bridge because she is a senior officer (Lt-commander) and because she is a skilled diplomat. Whate dates it is the fact that she was put in a non-standard uniform to show off her boobs and she should never have been referred to as 'Counselor' Troi except when engaging in her (part-time) work as counselor off the bridge

I don't think all senior officers need to be on the bridge if they don't have an actual function there. Geordi stayed in engineering a lot, because that's where it made sense for him to be.

Troi may be a skilled diplomat, but the captain handles viewscreen encounters with other ships. Troi might be needed if there were face-to-face conferences, but certainly not on the bridge.


Again, I don't think it makes sense for her to be there except for her empathic skills. But it is a good point about the invasion of privacy issue. You'd think Picard, who's given to speechifying pompously about rights and morality at the drop of a hat, would be sensitive to privacy concerns.


They could still use her to detect lifesigns that sensors can't detect I suppose, though that's an awfully limited and specific role for her.

 

[Shon T'Hara]

You actually buy that "therapist" crap? Clearly she's a political officer placed on the ship to keep the crew in line with proper Federation ideology. Her counseling sessions are inquisitions to detect any crew-members who are committing thought-crime. She sits on the bridge to keep the senior staff under her thumb.

 

[RyuRoots]

I think what dated the character is the fact that they basically had Marina Sirtis be the sex object of the show, with that hideous pink catsuit and huge wig like hair (both screaming "80's!!").

They "should" have just played her off as a regular member of the crew, like they did with Crusher (which ended up being 10 times as hot as Troi)

I'm in complete agreement with GalaxyX on this one. This is pretty much what I was going to say, and in fewer words, too.

 

[Skellington]

Yes, having a therapist on the bridge makes it a very Eighties show. It's looked dated for about fifteen or twenty years now. What were they thinking?

 

[Trekker4747]

I really doubt Picard would have had her on the bridge if not for her emphathic abilities. One would assume that she had better things to do then sit on the bridge since the Enterprise had over 1,000 people on it (lots of people to counsel!). It would be a waste of time for a counselor to sit on the bridge... but not an empath who could help the captain have empathic insight into those the Enterprise encounters.

I would hope that all 1000 people on the ship didn't need constant counseling. If that was the case it would seem humanity has lost a lot of mental stability in the intervening time between now and TNG.

Troi honestly could not have had that busy of a schedule and had some other duties that we never see or heard of mostly likely dealing with First Contacts and interacting with alien cultures and understanding their ways.

But in a ship with 1000 people on it I'd be flabbergasted if even 10 of them needed any kind of constant psychological care.

 

[scottydog]

I think having Wesley on the bridge makes TNG seem more dated than having Troi there. Although Troi herself served a somewhat useful purpose, her low-cut neckline was pretty absurd and unnecessary -- this despite the fact that I did enjoy looking at it.

 

[RandyS]

I think what dated the character is the fact that they basically had Marina Sirtis be the sex object of the show, with that hideous pink catsuit and huge wig like hair (both screaming "80's!!").

You say that like it's a bad thing.

I agree with you about Crusher though.

 

[KB24]

I agree when her empathic abilities are used on the bridge and in diplomacy with Picard, it is not dated at all, an intriguing concept in fact.

However, when she is just there wearing the teal dress, not doing anything and just looking stylish, then maybe that is a bit amusing of the time. Or when she sensed something but got all dramatic and got a headache and provided nothing but over the top suspense, that was kind of silly.

But no big. I would think the effects of the first two seasons date things worse! If anything, the progression of the character out of the sitting silent and pretty and growing into having more to do turned out to be worthwhile the uniform, though, not the Worf romance!

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

Its not dated. It was dumb when the show first aired.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

So she just sits there all day waiting until they talk to someone? But she also has counseling sessions.. but is conveniently on the bridge whenever some newbie ship shows up. So it's not like she just gets called down for diplomacy.

 

[TheLobes]

I think what dated the character is the fact that they basically had Marina Sirtis be the sex object of the show, with that hideous pink catsuit and huge wig like hair (both screaming "80's!!").

They "should" have just played her off as a regular member of the crew, like they did with Crusher (which ended up being 10 times as hot as Troi)

Im not sure her being a sex object makes it dated, that's becoming more important than ever!

 

[C.E. Evans]

I've always been of the opinion that the only reason Troi was on the bridge was because Picard wanted her to be there, primarily because of her empathic ability to "read" people. On other Galaxy-class starships, the third chair may otherwise be occupied by the second officer or there may only be two chairs in that command well to begin with. In that capacity, the Enterprise-D may have been among the few Galaxy-class ships to have three there.

But in addition to dealing with the various concerns and issues of the crew, I think the ship's counselor serves as a diplomatic advisor with non-Federation races. But whether a ship has a counselor or not may depend on the particular ship and its mission (long-term versus short-term deployments), IMO.

 

[AJBryant]

Wasn't there an episode -- or a movie -- where a character made some comment about "not like today when counselors are on the bridge"?

I swear I remember a line like that, and it seemed to suggest (IIRC) that the Federation was all touchy-feely and counselors were standard on bridges.

 

[Rom's Sehlat]

I'm not sure which episode you're discussing, but it would probably be a time travel episode. Perhaps the one with the Enterprise-C?