Memory Alpha Entry
Chrissie's Transcript
Today's episode is brought to you by Terry Devereaux, Tracy Tormé's second "other" name. Dear, dear Tracy. Your work in Star Trek has not only helped pave the way for some of the most annoying Star Trek stories yet to come, but also show that it's totally ok for writers to completely screw up on science facts even when the simple numbers are flat out wrong. You've brought us Haven, an episode that was made solely to give us one of the most "in your face" annoying characters in TNG and introduced the franchise to the ever annoying malfunctioning holodeck stories. I can safely say that despite all your efforts to distance yourself away from the series, you have left your mark in the TNG era of Star Trek. In the words of Commander Riker, "Congratulations, sir!"
Ok, Manhunt. Premise? Lwaxana Troi visits the Enterprise and wants to have sex with Picard. That is it. There is no drama, only hijinks. No properly established conclusions, just random convenient resolutions. I figured since this episode was written when the writer's strike was happening and it was Tracy's last episode as a writer, there would be a high probability that the episode will either suck, be a clip show or be about nothing. While we've had our cases of suck starting with "The Child" and "The Royale", a clip show soon to come (which actually encompasses all three of these categories), today's episode falls under the "about nothing" slot, and that's exactly what "Manhunt" is.
The big issue I have with this episode isn't that it took only one joke and built an entire episode around it, it's that it took a joke from a season 1 episode that wasn't good at all and decided to make it the focus of this episode. And adding in the "sexual" drive of Lwaxana's character really does wonders at making the audience feel uncomfortable.
Does all of this make the episode an unwatchable mess? Not really, but that doesn't really do this episode any favors in the long run. It's not awful to the point where some can enjoy it for the trainwreck like "Code of Honor", and it's not good enough to have any relevant discussions like "Pen Pals". Unlike "The Child" and "Up The Long Ladder", this episode doesn't involve any morally questionable issues that the characters simply brush off. It's just... pointless. BUT! There are some interesting tidbits in this episode that can be enjoyed. The Antedean design is very cool, we get to see Picard acting out Dixon Hill again, and it's the first Star Trek appearance by Robert O'Reilly, who would later play the reoccurring Klingon character Gowron in both TNG and DS9. Data also gets a nice moment when he helps Picard out by distracting Lwaxana away from him. And really, who cannot crack up at Riker telling Picard "Congratulations, sir!" when Troi pretty much says that all her mother wants to do is get it on with Picard.
CONCLUSION: Not a terrible episode, it's just utterly pointless. You can tell that Tracy didn't put much effort into this episode since he clearly wanted out of TNG. I would say that kind of professional behavior is unprofessional, but at least this episode is watchable when compared to someone else's "last episode" that will be written by our good friend Maurice. Not many episodes left to go.
Despite being totally skippable, I feel like I have to give this episode at least one last bit of credit. It's nice to have a story that features a long journey from one planet to another that doesn't take 30 seconds.STINGER:
