Conundrum

DVD, TNG S5 (Conundrum)

If anyone should have been embarrassed it should have been Ro Laren, who was the instigator of the attraction between Riker and her, and Troi had no right to be so smug either - she doesn't usually get upset at Riker when he shows attraction for people other than her, and yet she's acting as if he's her boyfriend or something, yet in the previous episode she was off being romanced by the leader of a planet and Riker kept his own thoughts in check! A case of women ganging up, I fear. It was meant to be a funny scene, and Riker is a bit overly romantic, and in another situation might have deserved it I must admit, but it demeans his character a bit too much (like in 'Star Trek IV' when the 'TOS' crew are made to look like fools in the 20th Century). I thought Ro would have been disgusted with herself, unless she secretly is drawn to Number One?

As an episode it was quite good, with 'Clues' being the closest story to it in terms of personal mystery. This didn't have the intense fascination, and failed to keep the tension at the end for more than a few seconds, preferring to get it over with swiftly, with just enough time for a candid chat between Picard and Riker, about why the Sartaarans needed the Enterprise, then it was done. Though they suggest the Sartaarans needed the ship because their weapons weren't as powerful, surely if they could make their enemy lose all memories that would be an incredibly potent form of attack in itself!?

Importantly, it was a study of character, like an alternate reality, but with the real characters enacting events, often not in the way that might have been expected. They all quickly came to their rightful positions, their skills naturally to the fore, but we also find out what they might be like without rank. Picard, though he gets things moving is too diplomatic to worry about who holds the reins, while Worf's security-minded consciousness leads him to fill the gap of Captain because he trusts himself and isn't backward in coming forward. Riker and Ro prove that they might have been friends if it weren't for the chain of command, though she also comes across as a bit pushy. Troi is the one among Ten-Forward to answer to the bridge, and feels a connection with Riker that is quite charming, while Crusher and Geordi soon fall into their integral roles.

Data is the only one to end up in a comically ridiculous position, as bartender. I so much wanted to see how Guinan would have reacted to the situation, but unfortunately neither she nor the O'Briens show up. I didn't understand what, or if there even was a link between the main story and Troi beating Data at tri-dimensional chess. I didn't believe in that, as Deanna isn't that brainy, and Data could see so many moves ahead. Technically Troi lost the match because she took the pieces off the board before she'd won, so she should forfeit the match! The Samarian Sunset drink was an excellent effect, and, for a bottle show, the episode had plenty of good effects, such as MacDuff's inner alien being revealed in phaser blasts, and the model work for ships, drones and the station. I didn't twig MacDuff was a plant until the crew manifest came up as I thought he was just a bridge crewman, not noticing his pips, so that was clever, but I was expecting Picard to work out that his Executive Officer was the one who was always at the forefront of urging on the mission, even though he felt it wasn't right. I also wondered how Crusher managed to restore their memories when they couldn't get to the medical files, because that didn't change even after MacDuff's plot is foiled.

A good idea, competently exercised, but needing a little more friction between the characters, and maybe more fumbling around before they slotted neatly into their rightful positions. Then they wouldn't have been Roddenberry's idealised, 'perfect' humans, so I can see why that was kept to a minimum, but such experimentation could have gone a long way to making it a classic had the opportunity been used to the full. Even so, a mystery plus people acting out of character, plus a dangerous mission equals entertainment.

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