Just how good WAS Lwaxana anyway?

[Yeoman Randi]

I've been rewatching TNG (again) and am wondering something about Lwaxana's telepathic skills. In the Season Two episode "Manhunt", Lwaxana telepathically picks up the fact that the Antedian's are planning to set off a bomb at the Pacifica Conference site. Even Troi says that her mother's skills are exceptional.

And yet, she is always claiming that Captain Picard is having romantic or sexual thoughts about her.....which i seriously doubt.

So my question is, is she really picking up thoughts Picard is having or is she teasing or provoking him in some way? What do you think is the purpose behind these claims of hers?

 

[GalaxyClass1701]

I've been rewatching TNG (again) and am wondering something about Lwaxana's telepathic skills. In the Season Two episode "Manhunt", Lwaxana telepathically picks up the fact that the Antedian's are planning to set off a bomb at the Pacifica Conference site. Even Troi says that her mother's skills are exceptional.

And yet, she is always claiming that Captain Picard is having romantic or sexual thoughts about her.....which i seriously doubt.

So my question is, is she really picking up thoughts Picard is having or is she teasing or provoking him in some way? What do you think is the purpose behind these claims of hers?

I always though from Picards recations that he was having those thoughts.

 

[ipirate65]

I believe she may have found Picard attractive and was teasing him to get a reaction.

 

[SiorX]

I always imagined it was a bit like not thinking about a pink elephant.

As soon as Lwaxana suggests Picard is fantasising about her, it triggers mental images from Picard leading to amusement and an ego boost for Lwaxana, and mortification for the captain.

YMMV

 

[JustKate]

My impression was always that whatever small attraction Picard may have felt for her - and I really don't think it was very much, and maybe none at all, seeing as she has nothing in common with the women we saw who he was definitely attracted to - was more than counterbalanced by the irritation she caused him. I think her references were almost entirely her idea of a joke - a way of getting a rise out of him. It's more or less the same reason she kept calling Worf "Wuff," I think, and the reason she kept ogling Riker.

Above all else, Luwaxanna wanted attention. Irritation and embarassment are way better than indifference.

Edit: Oh, and SioX makes a good point, too - I had sort of the same idea but couldn't seem to put it into words, but she did it very well.

 

[Alrik]

I think the last three replies pretty well sum it up. She enjoyed messing with him.

 

[Whoa Nellie]

I always imagined it was a bit like not thinking about a pink elephant.

As soon as Lwaxana suggests Picard is fantasising about her, it triggers mental images from Picard leading to amusement and an ego boost for Lwaxana, and mortification for the captain.

YMMV

I agree with SoirX point on her teasing of Picard.
However, it might be that Lwaxana's general behavior is a bit more calculated on her part. I imagine most people would find being in the presence of a powerful telepath quite disconcerting and would be very guarded around her. Her outlandish mannerisms would be an excellent way of circumventing that reaction and getting people to drop their guard, almost like a telepathic Columbo.

Warmest Wishes,
Whoa Nellie

 

[Neutral Zone]

I always thought that she was teasing him in the hope that he would actually have thoughts for her.

 

[T'Girl]

When I first read the title, I thought this thread was about how she was in bed.

 

[Green Shirt]

When I first read the title, I thought this thread was about how she was in bed.

That must have been near impossible. I can't even think of how many times I replaced my wife's face with someone else's to keep me "going". Couldn't get away with that with a Betazoid.

 

[Myasishchev]

Betazoids probably wouldn't care. The sheer amount of "negative" and critical thoughts we're shielded from by virtue of not being telepathic would be a constant since birth on Betazed.

So either they're an angelic race, who would never think, "I hate cleaning this Goddamn baby" or "I wish that son of a bitch at corporate were dead" or "that woman's face makes me want to puke," or they're perfectly able to handle that sort of thing, psychologically. Which, I suppose, would make them angelic in a different way, since I'd suspect many humans would collapse into a squishy little ball with a few days' worth of telepathy.

 

[StarshipDefiant]

I always figured that he did have those thoughts, but some of these posts are making me think different now. I think that it could have been a little bit of both, he found her reasonably attractive (for whatever reason he had to with her), and she somewhat teased him about it because it could never be. Her teasing/attention calling to it would somewhat applify it, but it likely wasn't on the scale the she claimed. For evidence, I call attention to the episode that begins with Deanna's log simply saying "My mother is on board..." and the next shot is Picard peering around the corner for any sign of Lwaxana.

In short, I figure he felt some minor attraction, if not on a physical scale, but nothing he'd hav ever pursued (for one reason or another).

 

[Amaris]

I always imagined it was a bit like not thinking about a pink elephant.

As soon as Lwaxana suggests Picard is fantasising about her, it triggers mental images from Picard leading to amusement and an ego boost for Lwaxana, and mortification for the captain.

YMMV

Agreed, and I always found it so much fun to see the usually unflappable Jean-Luc Picard embarrassed.

 

[T'Girl]

Betazoids probably wouldn't care. The sheer amount of "negative" and critical thoughts we're shielded from by virtue of not being telepathic would be a constant since birth on Betazed.

Most Betazeds get their telepathic abilities at puberty.

 

[Yeoman Randi]

Interesting that most of you think Lwaxana was just busting Picard's chops for the fun of it. I honestly never saw it that way! I thought she really wasn't as good at her telepathic skills as she claimed to be. Thanks all for giving me another way to look at it!

 

[Nick086]

She was so good at it when you thought something sexual about her. She could make the eyes roll back of the head with pleasure. I'm sure Picard did have those thoughts about her. He couldn't date or fool around with any of the women on the ship. He out ranked most of them, It wouldn't be prefessional.

 

[Myasishchev]

Betazoids probably wouldn't care. The sheer amount of "negative" and critical thoughts we're shielded from by virtue of not being telepathic would be a constant since birth on Betazed.

Most Betazeds get their telepathic abilities at puberty.

Really? That's bizarre. It's like you were only able to open your eyes at age thirteen. I'd forgotten this was mentioned in "Tin Man."

 

[maneth]

I don't think it's bizarre at all, rather, it shields the developing minds of the children until they're old enough to distinguish between their own thoughts and feelings and those of others. I also would expect the ability to mature reasonably slowly, so that the adolescent Betazoid would have time to get used to it. Or else it would mean a tough rite of passage for Betazoid teens.

Lwaxana's a highly sensual woman who liked flirting. She also didn't mind making others feel uncomfortable. She irritates me.

 

[data_lover]

i thought it was that she was either teasing or going through that period in her midlife where her hormones go all wonky and it affects her empathic abilities?

 

[MEATLOAFr]

Betazoids probably wouldn't care. The sheer amount of "negative" and critical thoughts we're shielded from by virtue of not being telepathic would be a constant since birth on Betazed.

Most Betazeds get their telepathic abilities at puberty.

Really? That's bizarre. It's like you were only able to open your eyes at age thirteen. I'd forgotten this was mentioned in "Tin Man."

Wasn't there an episode that Troi said that she could hear her grandparent telling her stories as a child