The Perfect Mate
- Episode aired Apr 25, 1992
- TV-PG
- 45m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
3.4K
YOUR RATING
Ferengi machinations unleash a diplomatic gift aboard the Enterprise - the rare, empathic perfect mate, ready to bond with any male around her.Ferengi machinations unleash a diplomatic gift aboard the Enterprise - the rare, empathic perfect mate, ready to bond with any male around her.Ferengi machinations unleash a diplomatic gift aboard the Enterprise - the rare, empathic perfect mate, ready to bond with any male around her.
Marina Sirtis
- Counselor Deanna Troi
- (credit only)
Max Grodénchik
- Par Lenor
- (as Max Grodenchick)
K.C. Amos
- Operations Division Officer
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFamke Janssen was supposed to play Jadzia Dax in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) the following year. Janssen turned down the role to focus on her film career, and it eventually went to Terry Farrell. When initial make-up tests with the original Trill make-up from The Host (1991) were thought to be unconvincing, the staff remembered Kamala's spots and used them on DS9, which is why Kamala almost looks like a Trill with her spots.
- GoofsWhen Picard meets the ambassador from Valt, the star field in the window slowly moves in shots focusing on the captain but does not in shots focusing on the ambassador.
- Quotes
Commander William T. Riker: [aroused from his encounter with Kamala] Riker to bridge, if you need me, I'll be in holodeck 4.
- SoundtracksStar Trek: The Next Generation Main Title
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage
Featured review
Turned out a lot more interesting than I expected
I apologize in advance that this will not so much be a review of this episode, as it is my opinion of what is wrong with the way many seem to be watching and rating TV shows and movies nowadays.
As for the episode itself, it was better than I expected from the single-sentence summary I read before watching it. The story has a tragic aspect to it, because it involves a woman who was specifically raised with the sole purpose of being nothing but a gift, to be handed over during the signing of a peace treaty. The story ends with a rather unexpected twist that makes it all the more tragic. What makes the episode particularly nice, is that it gives us a more personal look into Picard's personage than we're generally used to. Despite the serious subject matter, there are quite a bit of humorous scenes to lighten it up. Highly recommended.
Now, as I stated before, my only expectations of this episode were based on a single sentence that summarizes the plot. For the rest I know I am watching an early nineties show with a mid-sized budget and a tight schedule. I am fully aware it is not as refined as present-day shows written by people who studied all the flaws in all older shows in televised history. Therefore I do not expect the same rigor. There was a particular moment in this episode where I thought: "boy, that is some poor security for a 24th-century space ship." However, it was obvious that this part of the story was completely secondary to the main subject, therefore I immediately ignored it under suspension of disbelief. When going through the other reviews however, I find another recent one that completely disses the entire episode just because of that exact same shortcut in the plot.
Yes, a Ferengi simply walking into a cargo bay that was earlier on explicitly requested to have increased security, is sloppy writing. But no, this does not break the entire episode as the reviewer insinuates. Maybe if this episode would have been released today this would be unacceptable, but it is 24 years old. If you're going to apply present-day expectations to something from a quarter century ago, it may be better not to watch it at all.
This is not the first time I bump into a review like that. Even beyond TV and movie reviews I notice this same kind of behavior being on the march: creating completely unreasonable expectations based on either incomplete information or inappropriate frames-of-reference, or both; and then being extremely disappointed when those expectations are not perfectly met. That is one sure way to be disappointed with pretty much everything. If you want to go back to enjoying things, make minimal assumptions about them. Take things for what they are, not what you thought them to be based on whatever rigid models or misleading advertisements (like movie trailers, which I avoid if I can). Of course, whoever wants to turn themselves into a complete sourpuss, is free to ignore this advice, but I would appreciate it if one would not try to spread this kind of acidity across the world.
As for the episode itself, it was better than I expected from the single-sentence summary I read before watching it. The story has a tragic aspect to it, because it involves a woman who was specifically raised with the sole purpose of being nothing but a gift, to be handed over during the signing of a peace treaty. The story ends with a rather unexpected twist that makes it all the more tragic. What makes the episode particularly nice, is that it gives us a more personal look into Picard's personage than we're generally used to. Despite the serious subject matter, there are quite a bit of humorous scenes to lighten it up. Highly recommended.
Now, as I stated before, my only expectations of this episode were based on a single sentence that summarizes the plot. For the rest I know I am watching an early nineties show with a mid-sized budget and a tight schedule. I am fully aware it is not as refined as present-day shows written by people who studied all the flaws in all older shows in televised history. Therefore I do not expect the same rigor. There was a particular moment in this episode where I thought: "boy, that is some poor security for a 24th-century space ship." However, it was obvious that this part of the story was completely secondary to the main subject, therefore I immediately ignored it under suspension of disbelief. When going through the other reviews however, I find another recent one that completely disses the entire episode just because of that exact same shortcut in the plot.
Yes, a Ferengi simply walking into a cargo bay that was earlier on explicitly requested to have increased security, is sloppy writing. But no, this does not break the entire episode as the reviewer insinuates. Maybe if this episode would have been released today this would be unacceptable, but it is 24 years old. If you're going to apply present-day expectations to something from a quarter century ago, it may be better not to watch it at all.
This is not the first time I bump into a review like that. Even beyond TV and movie reviews I notice this same kind of behavior being on the march: creating completely unreasonable expectations based on either incomplete information or inappropriate frames-of-reference, or both; and then being extremely disappointed when those expectations are not perfectly met. That is one sure way to be disappointed with pretty much everything. If you want to go back to enjoying things, make minimal assumptions about them. Take things for what they are, not what you thought them to be based on whatever rigid models or misleading advertisements (like movie trailers, which I avoid if I can). Of course, whoever wants to turn themselves into a complete sourpuss, is free to ignore this advice, but I would appreciate it if one would not try to spread this kind of acidity across the world.
helpful•335
- DrLex
- May 21, 2016
Details
- Runtime45 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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