Wanderlust

2.5 — “Loud as a Whisper”

2.5 — “Loud as a Whisper”

Plot: The Enterprise is summoned to pick up an exceptional mediator, Riva, to transport him to a difficult mediation. The crew is surprised to find that Riva is deaf, and communicates through an entourage of telepathic interpreters. When his attempt at negotiation does not go as planned, Riva and Troi are forced to devise an alternative approach.

Thoughts: I believe this is the most unintentionally funny episode of Star Trek so far, edging out “The Alternative Factor” and “The Way to Eden” from TOS.

It seems odd that the script refers to Riva as deaf, when the obvious issue is that he’s mute. There’s even a scene in which Picard walks into the room and calls to Riva from behind and Riva reacts. The character’s telepathic abilities make it natural that he would not lean on verbal communication. So why deafness? It seems the actor, Howie Seago, is deaf. According to Wikipedia, the script was prepared after he pitched the idea of featuring a deaf interplanetary mediator.

One issue with the script is that Riva is transparently the worst negotiator of all time. (Apparently his race doesn’t age, because how in the world is he old enough to have been instrumental in negotiating the peace between the Federation and the Klingons? And wasn’t that the Organians in “Errand of Mercy?”) He’s got a huge temper, he’s a horndog, and he’s not interested in learning about the conflicts he’s supposed to be resolving. “The specific issues of the conflict have no relevance.”

It would be difficult to estimate how much of a handicap to effective negotiation Riva’s weird “chorus” entourage would be. It’s just not something that builds trust and rapport. And who can trust a mind reader anyway? NO ONE. In the first scene with the chorus, I wondered whether they bring their little risers with them everywhere so that they can stand perpetually on a stage.

I cracked up when Riva protested that being a negotiator without a voice is not that impressive by comparing muteness to haemophilia, and then reminding the crew about of “the leaders of Fendaus Five, who were without limbs.” No limbs!

Later, he says “I prefer to arrive with the smallest possible complement” BWAHAHA! You have three interpreters!

Riker says “Our job is not to police the galaxy.” Isn’t it? Which raises the question. Why is the Enterprise D out there, anyway?

This episode is terrible. Making Troi the focus of the plot and that horrible series of seduction scenes does not help. It just reinforces that, as a woman, she’s just there as a sex object in the minds of the writers. But I guess it’s not as bad as “The Outrageous Okona.” Warp 1.5.

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Loud_As_A_Whisper_(episode)

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6 responses to “2.5 — “Loud as a Whisper””

  1. Randi Cohen Avatar
    Randi Cohen

    Ha! I guess I chalked up the supposedly brilliant negotiating to offscreen magic of some kind. Some of the most empathic knowledgeable and charismatic people i have known when in a professional role have been a mess in their private life.

    Shame on you Kev, laughing at those poor limbless people! 😉

    I liked this one. Compelling guest actor, interesting symbiotic relationship with the “chorus”, Troi is actually good at her job for once and has better chemistry with Reba than she has with Riker. Weird that Picard feels compelled to thank her for doing her job. Can you imagine him thanking Worf for tackling someone who was threatening the crew? I can’t.

    Not really a fan of the gruesome special effects, it seems a little horror-y. A creative and interesting strategy of attempted peace-making at the end. Although surprising that he was willing to spend so much time and energy on the people that just murdered his friends. But I could buy it, he’s a peacemaker after all.

    Definitely not half as bad as Okona bc at least it is trying to be about something alien and different. Okona had nothing science fictional about it.

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  2. R. Alex Reutter Avatar
    R. Alex Reutter

    There is a war-torn system, and the Enterprise can put a stop to it, but first they have to pick up the Peacemaker.  O’Brien is back at the transporter.  I miss Teri.  Now I’m going to imagine what would have happened if they kept her instead of O’Brien.  Maybe Colm Meany would have been cast as Lois Lane.

    I like when the Peacemaker becomes annoyed with Picard.  This is a neat character.  I hope they make him a believable mediator, because he’s somewhat arrogant here.

    Hm…  the Peacemaker is macking on Troi.  Sigh.  As if that’s all she’s there for.  Hopefully Riker will bellow.  

    I love it when Geordi uses his Reading Rainbow voice.  He should be the mediator.

    A little dinner, a little charades, and Troi and the Peacemaker “find their own way of communicating.”  Gah.  They’re interrupted by arrival at the planet.

    Riva’s mouthpieces are killed by someone who doesn’t want peace, and Deanna has to pull him back together and find a way for him to be an effective mediator without his chorus.  This might Deanna’s finest episode so far.  [Lwaxana, of course, would have obviated the need for Riva and solved the problem on Solais V singlehandedly]

    There are problems with this script, but I like the concept of Riva and his chorus.  I think they could have taken the arrogant Riva and made him a more believable mediator (I think what they were trying to go for was someone who let his past successes go to his head, so we saw him at his most arrogant — recall that he blames himself and his arrogance for the deaths of his chorus — so this episode was focused mostly on his fall and “rebirth”), but he’s still loads better than any diplomat from TOS.  

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  3. Kevin Black Avatar
    Kevin Black

    Sarek? He was a good diplomat (not a great father, though).

    Reply
  4. R. Alex Reutter Avatar
    R. Alex Reutter

    I remember being told he’s a good diplomat, but don’t recall seeing it in action.

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  5. Kevin Black Avatar
    Kevin Black

    ISTR Sarek effectively resisting restive voices within the Federation even when we see him in “Journey to Babel,” but my memories of the details of the episode are somewhat dim presently.

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  6. sunny jim Avatar
    sunny jim

    Never really liked this episode.  Probably because Riva is such a self-involved narcissist.  On the other hand, we do get to see Troi actually being good at her job.  We’re supposed to believe that the Enterprise is a plum assignment, and that only the best get to serve here – so occasionally having someone show that they’re actually competent is nice.

    The costume designers are doing some interesting things with the chorus.  It’s sort of their trademark thing to put seams in places you wouldn’t expect, and move darts around, and use interesting textures.  Usually I find their fiddling to be useless and unattractive, but here, it’s actually kind of cool.  The tone-on-tone of the chorus actually works for me.  I’m also still very happy with Troi’s bodysuit.  While it’s still just a catsuit, the fabric is better, and the v-shaped neckline in black echoes the piping in the uniforms enough to make it look like she sort of belongs there.  I’m still confused as to why she’s not wearing a uniform.  The warring aliens, however, are pretty horrible – their prosthetic makeup alone makes them completely unsympathetic, and their costumes may well have been salvaged from a bad Planet of the Apes re-make.

    I think this is just one more of this writing team’s heavy handed attempts to be progressive.  With Angel One, they tried to show us how wrong sexism is…  here, they’re giving us their take on disability?  Poorly?  There’s also inexplicable bit where Data “demonstrates” his new knowledge of one of the sign languages in the Enterprise databanks. Overall, just not a good episode.

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