Liaisons

Three "Larians" are visiting the Enterprise on a diplomatic mission. Each has an interesting being about him. One is gregarious, attracted to Troi and food. He gorges himself and acts as a glutton for pleasure. The second is a hostile, confrontational bully, who chooses Worf to attend to him and then abuses his powers (obviously, Worf can do nothing because these are their guests). The third goes on a mission with Picard on a shuttlecraft. He barely speaks to Picard, seeming to be quite annoyed at being with him. A malfunction in the shuttlecraft sends them to a planet that has intense storms. They are trapped and Picard, leaving his "friend" behind (he was badly injured in the crash) tries a bit of reconnaissance but is hit by a bolt from the sky. He is rescued by an attractive young woman who takes him with her to her hiding place. She nurses him, but keeps him locked up. I think that if there is a bit of a weakness in the verisimilitude in this series, it has to do with shape changing and out and out magical abilities of the aliens. I will not spoil anything, but even in science fiction, there are some things that are far fetched. It's a fun episode if one doesn't think too much.

Holy smoke is she terrible. Perhaps she's trying to be a dippy hippy character? Or perhaps she's just a bad actress.

The Federation is about to open diplomatic relations with the Ilarians and three emissaries come over to the Enterprise and each take an Enterprise crew member to work on an aspect of human emotions that they don't have.

Deanna Troi gets an eager to please Ilarian who falls in love with the human concept of desserts with meals. Marina Sirtis just keeps feeding him sweets of all kinds.

Worf gets an obnoxious twit of an emissary and let's baiting a bear is less hazardous to your health than baiting a Klingon.

And Captain Picard gets to fly with a third on a shuttlecraft that is forced down and he is held by a strange woman who's warm for his form. That one is truly revealing.

Interesting storym especially the Worf part.

While "Liasons" is a pretty good episode, I should also point out that the problems that the Enterprise crew have with the Ilarians are EASY to figure out...and it makes no sense that it takes everyone so long to figure out what's happening! This is a serious weakness in an otherwise decent plot.

When the Ilarian ambassadors enter the ship, one of the ambassadors requests that Worf escort him around instead of Riker. The other is escorted by Troi and he spends most of the show eating EVERYTHING that is edible. Later, Picard is stranded on a planet and is discovered by a screwy lady who is HIGHLY reminiscent of Kathy Batesin "Misery". What do these three things have in common? See the show.

As I said, the idea in of the Ilarians is novel and interesting. I just wished it had been handled a tad differently--making it all a bit less obvious.

Worf and Riker bro down while they put on dresses. Riker gets all SJW on Worf before complementing him. They meet up with Picard and Troi. Troi is wearing a dress too, but Picard just has on a snazzy jacket. They meet up with three aliens and then go to 10 forward for a party. Except for Picard, he and one of the aliens go for a bromantic shuttle ride.

Everyone at the party in 10 forward has a grand old time except for Worf who gets to play waiter for his alien companion. Data makes small talk with Worf and its pretty funny, in a Star Trek sort of way.

Meanwhile on the shuttle, Picard and his alien brodie are having an awkward moment when the power suddenly fails and they have to crash land on a desolate planet. Communications are out and Pircard's brodie is hurt so Picard goes outside to look for help. Its noteworthy how many breathable atmospheres there are in the Star Trek universe. He's hit by a plasma discharge and rescued by a stranger.

Back on the Enterprise Worf is playing nice with his new frienemy (Geordi is too modest, I'd have said yes because its so obviously true). Troi is out and about with her new alien bestie who's never seen a child before. They make a new friend and then go get desert. Its funny, in a Star Trek sort of way.

On the planet Picard awakens to find himself injured and alone with a mysterious women named Ana. She tells him that his Brodie is dead and then leaves the room for what I assume was a commercial break. Turns out she's been stranded herself for 7 years (since stardate 40812). Not to worry though, she's off to the shuttle to get a communications device.

On the Enterprise Worf is plotting a murder. Riker and Troi are quite pleased with his frustrations. Its actually pretty funny, in a Star Trek sort of way. They plan to play a game of poker.

Meanwhile Picard's new boo has destroyed the communications device with a phaser. She expresses her hopelessness, mulls over suicide, and confesses her love for Picard in an effort to get into his pants. Then she makes him dinner and starts forcing the issue while he works on a way off the planet. Its a little awkward.

Worf is still bad at poker. Not only does he lack a poker face but he keeps his chips in front of another player. The ensuing conflict is completely predictable and somewhat funny, in a Star Trek sort of way.

Hooray, Picard has MacGyvered a way off the planet but his savior would rather stay and bang him out. Her desperation is palpable. No means no Ana, no means no.

Spoiler spoiler plot exposition spoiler.

Picard and his brodie head back to the Enterprise where Worf and his new bestie have been fighting in the holodeck. Homeostasis is restored and the credits roll.

Over all this episode is pretty good as a one off, but its not very memorable. Every time I rewatch TNG I forget all about this episode until it rolls around. And then I end up enjoying the B-story on the Enterprise much more than the A-story on the planet. Its not badly written by any means, its just not quite to my taste.

Verdict: Funny, in a Star Trek sort of way.