PATRON TAKES - TNG S6E14
Added 2025-04-19 16:31:56 +0000 UTCTAKES WILL BE READ 4/24
Comments
Finally, after six and a half seasons of holding her back, they let Troi (and Marina Sirtis) really show what she can do. Fun fact: originally this was supposed to bring back Joanne Linville as the Romulan Commander from TOS "The Enterprise Incident," but she was unavailable. She was great, but I'm glad they didn't use her, that's just too much of a coincidence and would make the world feel small.
Jen A. Blue
2025-04-23 21:30:36 +0000 UTCJosh mentioned after the last Barclay episode that he wondered how he would feel about a new encounter with the Romulans.
Paul D
2025-04-23 15:45:46 +0000 UTCIt's the film "Dave" all over again! hahaha
Jovet
2025-04-21 04:05:17 +0000 UTC#mirrorTroi
Jovet
2025-04-21 04:04:06 +0000 UTCReminds me of The Schutzstaffel.
Jovet
2025-04-21 04:02:00 +0000 UTCLOL! I really never thought about that before ...
Jovet
2025-04-21 04:00:24 +0000 UTCTrue words! This one is very entertaining despite its absurdity.
Jovet
2025-04-21 03:59:26 +0000 UTCThe commander lady is a great actress in this!!
Jovet
2025-04-21 03:58:21 +0000 UTCThis is a really shocking fish-out-of-water episode. I find it pretty entertaining despite its complete absurdity. If I could have vetoed this one getting made, I would have...not because I hate it (I don't!) but because it's just silly in the grand scheme of things. Sometimes the "what if we have _____ do _____" pitches completely lose track of the big picture. This is a "B" grade from me.
Jovet
2025-04-21 03:57:39 +0000 UTCBut that was while he was traveling via shuttle alone, all by himself. This time the way Riker asks where Troi is makes it sound like everyone thought she was still on the Enterprise the entire time.
Kristopher
2025-04-21 03:02:24 +0000 UTCI like this one a lot, and I usually hate Troi episodes. She spends so much time doing essentially nothing in the series and every time they try to give her something to do it winds up with a very poor episode, but this time they actually pull it off and it works very well.
Shane Coombs
2025-04-21 01:36:26 +0000 UTCNot the first time Romulans have kidnapped an Enterprise bridge officer (Geordi in “The Mind’s Eye”), so, for me, no need to depict that part again.
Matt Everkoul
2025-04-20 22:48:12 +0000 UTCDespite its issues, one of my top 10. Always a delight to see and hear Carolyn Seymour. We can take for granted having a show lead by two strong female characters now, but it was unusual in the 90s. Loved not even seeing the ‘D’ for so long into it.
rear adm. crackbiscuit
2025-04-20 19:30:31 +0000 UTCI think mentioning Spock and not showing him was a little bit of a mistake in my opinion. I know… I know, it’s not that easy and he probably was like “ get out of my house “ , but it would have been nice, no?
Sixto
2025-04-20 16:07:07 +0000 UTCI think you guys may like this one but I just can't get over the stupidity of it. Kidnap Troi? Troi? Troi passes as a CIA agent? seriously? Sorry it is a leap way to far for me.
Prof Moff
2025-04-20 15:25:56 +0000 UTCIs it kinky if I find female Romulan commanders sexy? Since 'The Enterprise Incident'?
Sam Langanke
2025-04-20 14:28:40 +0000 UTCBut you could see their lips are wrong. Cross-cultural espionage makes zero sense in Trek. Which I can get over, but it always knocks me out of it. That and “Only ship in the quadrant”
John M.
2025-04-20 13:01:46 +0000 UTCAnother episode where Marina Sirtis gets to stretch her legs, but the way the episode is set up and completely skips over how she got kidnapped in the first place always bothered me. How does a bridge officer of the flagship get abducted without anyone noticing?
Kristopher
2025-04-20 13:01:12 +0000 UTCGeneral question about season 6. How are you guys finding it? Another consistent "good" episode. I've always been surprised at how people say that you can feel the show start to decline in season 6.
Mordock_Vapelord
2025-04-20 12:59:58 +0000 UTCThe writers toyed with the idea of it being Spock in one of those containers. Ultimately they went another direction. One weakness of the episode is Deseve: I just don’t feel like this guy ever lived with Romulans. Just too weak. A for “Always bring an empath to a phaser fight”
Column Meanie
2025-04-20 05:48:05 +0000 UTCWell, she was still kidnapped and surgically altered without her consent, so I'm not sure we can say it's "not about her being assulted." But at least it isn't a form of deviance this time.
Nolan
2025-04-20 05:43:25 +0000 UTC"Meamorphosis" in TOS established that the Universal Translator had a telepathic element that allowed complete translation by reading the speaker's mental intent.
Nolan
2025-04-20 05:40:51 +0000 UTCI imagine it's a lot easier to keep tabs on the people already IN a survelliance society than keep track of those from OUTside it, especially if they've got a false document to mask themselves. Especially if those from with in are of note themselves.
Nolan
2025-04-20 05:36:58 +0000 UTCReferred to by many, including myself, as "the Good Troi Episode". She is given a plot without her reproductive system or falling in love, makes use of her abilities, and Marina Sirtis is given a chance to really act. Fan-fucking-tastic. This could easily have been any character, but giving it to Troi just gave her a great episode. Thank Christ.
Thomas Cole
2025-04-20 03:51:02 +0000 UTCIndeed, finally using Deanna well.
Thomas Cole
2025-04-20 03:47:39 +0000 UTCThis is a episode that I never really liked much even though there is nothing in particular about it that I dislike. Just one of them things
Greg Quinn
2025-04-20 03:29:22 +0000 UTCWe are perfectly capable of kidnapping you from the Enterprise, surgically altering you, and smuggling you into Romulan space and aboard this Warbird. We are, however, completely unable to smuggle these people OUT of Romulan space without your help, so you must bluff your way through as a duplicitous member of the secret police you know nothing about. Who cares, though, this episode rules.
JStrong
2025-04-20 03:06:31 +0000 UTCDeanna's best ever f%#ing episode. This is good Romulan intrigue. Standing ovation.
Nolan
2025-04-20 02:59:54 +0000 UTCPicard, seeing Deanna as a Romulan: oh god this isn't ANOTHER half-Romulan daughter of an officer I sent to their death in an alternate timeline, is it?
CaptainJZH
2025-04-20 02:17:46 +0000 UTCLike most people I know, I saw all of TNG out of order in syndication. The Romulan defector (DeSeve) feels like a character who has had a continuing story line, and I was surprised this was his first appearance.
Loot Narsbaar
2025-04-20 01:56:36 +0000 UTCI loved Carolyn Seymour every time I saw her. (Which wasn't much on television. I think she's primarily a stage actor.)
tyranusfan
2025-04-20 01:39:02 +0000 UTCI enjoy this one. The only complaint I have is that the lighting on the Romulan ship should be darker, a little more dramatic than the Enterprise.
tyranusfan
2025-04-20 01:38:10 +0000 UTCAwesome Troi episode!
Ron Hubbard Jr
2025-04-20 01:26:10 +0000 UTCNot a episode I watch much , but Dianna dose a great job acting the roll of a Rumulan
DataL0re
2025-04-20 00:13:50 +0000 UTCSuch a rare treat for Troi's character to be written well. Love this episode. You get to see a rare peak into how the internal workings of the Romulan Empire. Tal Shi'ar reminds me of Cold War USSR political officers. Does Alex and Josh have a Political Officer looking over their shoulders?
Nathan Walker
2025-04-19 23:57:05 +0000 UTCThe best part is when Troi has had enough and says exactly what is going to happen, including a death threat. She's developed some much needed strength; something missing when reluctantly in charge in Disaster.
JoeCensored
2025-04-19 23:44:36 +0000 UTCThe Enterprise-D(eanna) Incident. Troi as a Romulan is a bit of a gimmick, but this spy-adventure is entertaining enough. B-. Carolyn Seymour is (once again) great as a Romulan after playing minister Mirasta Yale in Season 4's "First Contact".
TinMan_7B9
2025-04-19 23:18:48 +0000 UTCI like this a little less than most people because I have a hard time getting past how the language barrier would stop this story in its tracks (same issue I have with The Enterprise Incident). B.
John M.
2025-04-19 23:09:23 +0000 UTCIt's in the top 5 of the entire show for me. Sirtis nails this performance so brilliantly it redefined her character for the remainder of the series. The dazzling performance by Seymour as Commander Torreth and the brilliant score make this a go-to episode to rewatch for me. "WHY did you destory that vessel!?" and, "I'll have you ejected into space!" are dynamite moments :-)
Gavin Scott
2025-04-19 23:07:18 +0000 UTCTroi did a much better job pretending to be Romulan than Picard and Data and she had no time to prep for it!
David Clamage
2025-04-19 22:57:13 +0000 UTCTroi getting a bit of character development and a story not about her being assaulted? Did something go terribly wrong in the writing room? I like this one.
EnigmaticPenguin
2025-04-19 21:31:25 +0000 UTCThey accidentally let future Matrix composer Don Davis sneak in a fantastic score. How much has this show been missing Ron Jones?
bab
2025-04-19 20:33:50 +0000 UTCThird appearance forr Carolyn Seymour on TNG second time as a romulan captian. This is just my opinion but, I got the distinct impression that she was playing it like Picard.
Keith S
2025-04-19 20:29:37 +0000 UTCDianna not as a counselor, but as the ruthless political commissar she was always meant to be!! And Picard gets pay back for when he had a defector beamed off HIS bridge!! GOD TIER EPISODE
#MaxwellDidNothingWrong
2025-04-19 20:01:06 +0000 UTCMy sole memory—Troi makes for a very attractive Romulan.
Aramis Calcutt
2025-04-19 19:48:03 +0000 UTCLove this episode, it took 6 seasons but they finally seem to take Troi seriously. Plus we get another amazing Romulan commander. Toreth is another of Treks great characters for me.
Darren Seal
2025-04-19 19:21:36 +0000 UTCBy far my favourite Troi episode. I'm telling you, as soon as they put her in a uniform, it felt like the writers started to take the character seriously. It's not just Troi either. N'Vek and Toreth both bring some different perspectives to the romulans than we're used to seeing, especially talking about what happened to her father. To political intrigue, the tension, and the soundtrack all work well IMO. It's not quite The Defector, but it does a lot of the same things right. S tier.
Timothy Nikiforovs
2025-04-19 18:12:47 +0000 UTCS for Spy Troi! Fantastic score, plot, callbacks, guest cast, and something I'm sure Alex mentioned this before as something he wanted: an episode from entirely another perspective (in this case, almost all Romulan). And Marina hits it out of the park, against the great Carolyn Seymour as Cmdr Toreth (who we saw as another character in S2's "Contagion").
The Ninth Doctor
2025-04-19 17:34:19 +0000 UTCYou will probably enjoy this one.. personally I never liked it much, but that's probably because I'm just not the biggest fan of Troi.. I personally never liked people who had to shout and scream to show authority. It gets a small bonus point for continuity with "Unification" and Spock's presence on Romulus, but that's about it. D-Tier for me
Andreas Schmitt
2025-04-19 17:34:17 +0000 UTCLove the moment when Troi snaps at the guy who put her in this situation and bosses him around, finally a badass moment for her
Fedora The Explorar
2025-04-19 17:29:26 +0000 UTCI wonder if the crew thought “Is this another Tasha Yar situation?” when they first saw Troi as a Romulan on the viewscreen.
Evan Guthrie
2025-04-19 17:13:23 +0000 UTCTroi the Spy! This episode is freaking FIRE! Troi gets the spotlight, the Romulans are on point here, and Marina Sirtis steals the show. I love this episode. Easy S tier for me.
Paul O'Neal
2025-04-19 17:04:45 +0000 UTCOne of my favorite episodes of the season. It's great to see Marina Sirtis given an episode like this, and she does a great job portraying Troi getting past her initial fear and discomfort and taking on the role.
Steven Linden
2025-04-19 17:02:04 +0000 UTCMarina Sirtis’ best work on TNG. I love that this episode took Troi seriously and didn’t dismiss her as just a therapist. She plays the part of romulan intelligence officer quite well.
Phil Ken Sebben
2025-04-19 17:01:44 +0000 UTC
