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.

This episode " Liaisons " got the total package, everything a star trek fan Can ask is there right here, A main character on an hostile planet , with a weird stranger there, this episode makes me think a bit to " all our Yesterday" with Spock and a woman.

But the Great thing about TNG is that there is always an other plot to the main one, in this one it is a very funny one with Work and Deanna.

9/10.

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.

Enterprise hosts three ambassadors.

For me this is quite a flat episode as it has a predictable story that is not the most interesting.

There are no scenes that are particularly badly made, I just struggle to engage with the plot and characters when they are depicted as failing to see what is being done to them in this type of situation. That being said the 'Misery' tribute is relatively fun and Picard makes an interesting observation at the end.

Performances are good and so are the production values, but it is mostly lost on me and I find myself at times willing it to finish. This is probably a matter of personal taste, so others may like it.

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.