Sub Rosa

Okay. I admit: after reading most of the very negative reviews, I'd planned on skipping this one (This is my first run through the series). The one element that changed my mind was the fact that Jonathan Frakes directed. As far as I can remember, I've enjoyed every one of his directorial episodes.

Then there were the occasional glowing reviews. So I sighed, and decided to give it a try.

A great episode? I wouldn't say so; and yet......the script, the direction, the performances were all so enjoyable. Perhaps it feels to be such a lightweight episode, that many viewers were turned off to its story; but what a nicely done ghost story (if you will), and yes, told with a light touch.

I sure am glad I overcame my resistance and saw this charming episode for the first time!

Fans of classic V will enjoy Duncan Regehr, as long as they don't mind doing so with jaws agape in disbelief. If you know someone who loves NEXT GEN but hasn't seen this one, i guarantee they will absolutely not believe that it isn't some practical joke created by a fan with too much time on his hands last Thursday. The only way for it to have been any bizarrer would have been for Beverly to get on a motorbike, jump a tank of naked Evel Knievels, and land in a threesome with Pinky and Leather Tuscadero. Note the "McFly" on the Scottish tombstone. I swear to you, if Ellen Dow (THE WEDDING SINGER) had started rapping from within her coffin, it would have fit right in.

This episode should have just been called, Beverly needs to get laid. Horrible episode from an otherwise great show.

At first this episode comes off as a romance novel with mysterious candles, ghosts, a gothic yet picturesque Scottish setting, and an exploration of sex from a female perspective. This last element is the most interesting, the rest is actually rather stupid and more 3/10 territory, especially a rather tacky resurrection sequence. The first thirty minutes or so will have you thinking "there is no plot here", and that is sort of true, apart from an 800 year old "ghost" trying to seduce Beverly Crusher, nothing actually happens apart from some whacky weather. The romance elements are rather predictable in all honesty and the idea of combining the genre with space opera is really a matter of personal taste, which might be why so many people find this thing plain awful. What salvages the episode is its treatment of female sexuality, utilizing Crusher and to a lesser extent her conversations with Troi. Although I found myself at times laughing at the episode rather than with it, this isn't a terrible episode. B-.

I've heard plenty about 'Sub Rosa', most of it negative; but there's still the possibility of something being so-bad-it's-good, right? Sadly, that doesn't really apply here . . .

It all starts off well enough with a solemn eulogy, eventually blossoming into a trashy romance novel. Throw in the brainwashing angle, and it just gets worse. Maybe it played differently pre-"Twilight", but that's out of my hands.

You have to credit Gates McFadden for making the best of it. How often does a Beverly episode come along - and here it is, complete with green vapor sex scene. It has a decent closing scene makes some of this worth while, but will I ever revisit this episode in the future? Probably not.

4/10