Inside Man: Troi’s threat

[Captrek]

I think I know where people will come down on this, but just checking.

Leeosa has valuable information. She is also a horrible person.

Troi needs the info, so she tells her, “I’m a psychiatrist and I can have you held for extended psychiatric observation.” Not that Leeosa appears to have of any of the psychiatric issues that would warrant it, just that this is a power Troi has as a psychiatrist. Leeosa caves.

Do you approve?

 

[Tosk]

Leosa is lying about the situation.
Deanna knows she's lying. For a fact. So she threatens her.
Leosa knows she's bluffing.
Deanna doubles down on her bluff, so Leosa gives in and tells her what she wants to know.

Do I approve of Deanna bluffing? Sure, I guess.

 

[Michael]

Certainly found that to be a bit of an odd out-of-character moment for Troi, who we’ve never before seen doing something like that. I guess this was supposed to both drive home the seriousness of what was going on with Voyager and make her appear a little more hardboiled and edgier than usual. If this were reality I would have more of a problem with a mental health counselor using her powers to coerce a criminal. But I view it as basically a variation of the old “Good Cop, Bad Cop” TV trope, where a detective would use intimidation and hyperbole to get a suspect to talk in the interrogation room. It certainly makes Troi appear more morally grey than we’re used to. Which, again, is a bit of an odd choice in an otherwise pretty light-hearted comedy episode.

 

[at Quark's]

Certainly found that to be a bit of an odd out-of-character moment for Troi, who we’ve never before seen doing something like that. I guess this was supposed to both drive home the seriousness of what was going on with Voyager and make her appear a little more hardboiled and edgier than usual. If this were reality I would have more of a problem with a mental health counselor using her powers to coerce a criminal. But I view it as basically a variation of the old “Good Cop, Bad Cop” TV trope, where a detective would use intimidation and hyperbole to get a suspect to talk in the interrogation room. It certainly makes Troi appear more morally grey than we’re used to. Which, again, is a bit of an odd choice in an otherwise pretty light-hearted comedy episode.

It's not as if we've never seen her do something like that before.

For example in Face of the Enemy. Sure, she was thrown into that situation and had to impersonate a Tal Shiar operative simply to survive, but she still managed to do so successfully. So we do know she's capable of it even when it isn't usually her way.

 

[Michael]

It's not as if we've never seen her do something like that before.

For example in Face of the Enemy. Sure, she was thrown into that situation and had to impersonate a Tal Shiar operative simply to survive, but she still managed to do so successfully. So we do know she's capable of it even when it isn't usually her way.

What do you mean, “something like that”? Acting tough/hardboiled/edgy or potentially abusing her position as a counselor? If the former, then yes, you are right, we definitely got glimpses of that before. If you mean the latter, I can’t off the top of my head remember any specific examples.

 

[at Quark's]

I indeed meant the first.

As for the second, I can't say for certain she never did, though I certainly can't recall any examples right now (well, that is, I can, but those are examples in which she wasn't in her right mind, e.g. possessed by an alien, or by someone else's emotional crap, so they don't count).

 

[Oddish]

Troi needs the info, so she tells her, “I’m a psychiatrist and I can have you held for extended psychiatric observation.” Not that Leeosa appears to have of any of the psychiatric issues that would warrant it, just that this is a power Troi has as a psychiatrist. Leeosa caves.

Do you approve?

Short answer... yes.
Medium answer... was she bluffing?
Longer answer... a woman behaving like that, willing to effectively commit mass murder for her own profit, is mentally unstable. Confining her for psychiatric evaluation is justified, under the circumstances.

 

[Captrek]

The clear implication of the episode is that Leosa was frightened and caved when Troi doubled down on her threat. However, we don’t see what doesn’t happen offscreen, so with a little imagination it can go something like this:

Leosa: “I can tell when someone’s bluffing.”​

​

Troi: “Try me.”​

​

Leosa: “Ha ha, good one!”​

​

Troi: “I’m glad you liked it.”​

​

Leosa: “As long as we’re swapping jokes, I’ve got one for you.”​

​

Troi: “Lay it on me!”​

​

From there they establish a rapport and develop empathy. Leosa starts to feel remorse and unburdens herself by explaining to Troi what she did and why. The threat was just a joke to break the ice.​

That’s how interrogation is supposed to work, so maybe I should imagine that’s what happened.