3.19 — “Captain’s Holiday”

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11 responses to “3.19 — “Captain’s Holiday””

1. 

   Randi Cohen

   July 30, 2015

   Ugh.  Totally agree.  I missed the resemblance to an Asian caricature, but totally there now that you pointed it out.  Double ugh.

   I did appreciate that there were scantily clad men as well as women on Riza.  And it did make me wonder what it would take to actually get Picard romantically interested (not Vash, that much I’m sure of).  Maybe someone more sexy and more vulnerable.  

   The overall concept of having Picard do a solo adventure and have a romance was cute.  Too bad the execution was so very terrible.

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2. 

   Walter Phippeny

   July 30, 2015

   Yes, it’s a stupid and cheap episode that doesn’t go anywhere particularly interesting, or try anything new. And it’s also very sexist. But tricking Picard into going there is kind of like tricking someone into a Thai style sexcation, isn’t it? What does that say about Riker? Is anyone else getting a creepy vibe here?

   But, this is our first encounter with Risa, and, unfortunately, this location is going to keep coming up, because “sex”. It’s worth watching just to get all the Risa references that are going to come down the pike, or recognize the horga’hns in the background. And really? horga’hn? That’s the best word you could come up with? Maybe we could have used a made up name that didn’t sound exactly like “whore”?

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3. 

   Randi Cohen

   July 30, 2015

   Haha, I get that vibe from Riker almost every episode! Character I would least want to be friends with. Including Lwaxana and Q.

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4. 

   Walter Phippeny

   July 30, 2015

   Randi Cohen I’ve never thought about which characters I would want to spend time with in real life before, which characters I would want to be friends with. An interesting idea!

   Thinking about it, I guess I would enjoy Data’s company the most. I like how he’s constantly engaged with the world and trying to understand society from an outsider’s perspective. Everyone else is a crack Ace at what they do, but Data, despite being a super genius, is still wrestling with the world around him and going down a path.

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5. 

   Kevin Black

   July 30, 2015

   Horga’hn also sounds like organ. This gets less subtle all the time.

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6. 

   R. Alex Reutter

   August 10, 2015

   Two slightly threatening people beam down to the planet of bad 80’s swimwear in search of Jean Luc Picard.  They’re willing to wait for him to show up on this particular pleasure planet, but it’s Picard; is this a reasonable strategy?

   Did Troi and Riker just hold hands on the bridge?  At any rate, Troi is calling for Captain Picard’s Day Off.  The part of Cameron Frye will be played by Captain John Harriman.

   I have to admit I like Riker’s turbolift pitch, complete with Picard’s “of course” following Riker’s paean to the women of Risa, but Deanna’s use of her mother as the stick to get him to take shore leave is nice, and even better that he sees through the plot, but goes along with it anyway.

   Picard arrives and is immediately kissed by a woman avoiding a Ferengi, and then walks right past the Slightly Threatening Couple.  

   After an unsuccessful morning trying to read his book in peace, Picard interrupts the the Slightly Threatening Couple searching his room.  They claim to be time travelers searching for the dingus.  Picard appears to take them at face value?

   Our guest actress is doing her best Karen Allen impression, and she and Picard go off on an Indiana Jones-inspired treasure hunt for the dingus.  It’s nice that they’ve previously established archaeology as one of his many hobbies (and perhaps his favorite).

   Picard is a sheet thief!

   Wait, I don’t understand.  Was the dingus actually destroyed, or did Picard beam it up to the Enterprise?  This is badly handled at the end.  I was expecting it to be shown somewhere, but the episode just ends without any further mention of it.

   Also, were the time travelers actually time travelers?  

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7. 

   R. Alex Reutter

   August 10, 2015

   I’m not hating this one as much as everyone else.  If the men and women of Risa are all there for our viewing pleasure, where’s the sexism?  It would make sense if one of the men came to offer themselves to Picard if the women were striking out, but otherwise, we’ve seen much worse from TOS and STNG.

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8. 

   Kevin Black

   August 10, 2015

   The details are already fading in my memory. You would make the case that the episode is lecherous, but in an equal opportunity way?

   One of the things that does stick in my memory is the way the opening borrows from this scene in “Shore Leave”:

   SPOCK: Very well, Captain. Something I did come to discuss.

   KIRK: Yes, Mister Spock, what is it?

   SPOCK: I picked this up from Doctor McCoy’s log. We have a crewmember aboard who’s showing signs of stress and fatigue. Reaction time down nine to twelve percent, associational reading norm minus three.

   KIRK: That’s much too low a rating. 

   SPOCK: He’s becoming irritable and quarrelsome, yet he refuses to take rest and rehabilitation. Now, He has that right, but we’ve found 

   KIRK: A crewman’s right ends where the safety of the ship begins. That man will go a shore on my orders. What’s his name?

   SPOCK: James Kirk. Enjoy yourself, Captain. It’s an interesting planet. You’ll find it quite pleasant. Very much like your Earth.

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9. 

   R. Alex Reutter

   August 10, 2015

   I had forgotten about that part of “Shore Leave”.  That was a great scene, worth stealing from.

   It’s not “equal” because there’s far more human female flesh viewed through a cis lens than any other available. 

   Sarahmac points out that Vash, who is a professional (female) archaeologist, is put into the spunky sidekick / love interest role by the amateur (male) Picard.  I think they’re doing better in the scenes where Vash is Picard’s equal, and failing when they cling too tightly to making her Marion Ravenwood.

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10. 

    R. Alex Reutter

    August 10, 2015

    Here’s another thought, though.  There’s a good argument that allowing Picard to “take charge” is part of Vash’s play to get Picard invested in finding the dingus and then convincingly disappointed when it’s not where they dig.  Taking the events in this light lends evidence to the proposal that Vash is a perfect mate for a Ferengi, or Picard, for that matter**.

    Perhaps Vash’s scheming gets lost a little here because there are so many sides: the Ferengi, the I-guess-they’re-time travellers, Vash, and Picard.  They’re really doing an Indiana Jones / Raymond Chandler mash-up, and there’s simply not enough film time to do both, especially since we know nothing about three of the parties prior to this episode.  Make this a two-parter, and you have 80 minutes to properly turn the Ferengi into Peter Lorre, the time travellers into a meld of Sydney Greenstreet and Elisha Cook, Vash into Mary Astor, and Picard into Bogie.

    ** I really am confused as to why Picard destroyed the dingus.  I fully expected him to take his leave of Vash, come aboard the Enterprise and take the good-natured ribbing from his officers, and then retire to his ready room, remove the dingus from the secure cabinet to which it had been directly beamed, and study it as he decides what to do with it.  But no, I forgot we are still playing by 80’s rules where everything has to be put back in its place by the end of the episode.  Sigh.

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11. 

    Randi Cohen

    August 11, 2015

    Sorry I just can’t get behind Vash as ideal mate for picard. That jag officer on measure of a man worked so much better… powerful, intelligent, repressed in her own way… I feel like that’s the type of woman picard would go for. Vash is way too loose for him. Plus that actress is just awful in the part and they have zero chemistry.

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