4.21 — “The Muse”

4.21 — “The Muse”

Plot: Lwaxana Troi comes back to DS9 with a surprise… she’s pregnant! But on the run from the baby’s father. She asks Odo for protection, who in acquiescing may have to go farther than he bargained. Meanwhile, a space vampire comes to DS9 and takes an unhealthy interest in Jake Sisko’s writing talent.

Thoughts: I had the pleasure of watching this episode in person with +Randi Cohen, my faithful Star Trek correspondent, for the first time in the history of this community. That added pleasure helped sustain me through a desperately uneven episode. I would be tempted to give “The Muse” decent marks for its Lwaxana Troi story alone, but I can’t flunk it hard enough for the lead story involving Jake Sisko.

I am sad. Memory Alpha confirms this episode marks the last appearance of Lwaxana Troi in the Star Trek franchise. There’s little indication that anyone knew this at the time. Perhaps after making Odo Deanna’s stepfather, and then putting a definitive button on his relationship with Lwaxana, there was nowhere else to go with the character. Although she could have represented Betazed in the Dominion War! Alas. Majel Barrett, credited here without the Roddenberry surname (Gene died five years earlier, in 1991) would die 12 and a half years later, in 2008.

I was afraid following the teaser that this episode would herald a return to the vain, madcap, manchaser conception of the Lwaxana character prevalent in the early seasons of TNG. Fortunately subsequent development allows Lwaxana to retain her status, earned in episodes such as TNG 4.21, “Half a Life,” as the most emotionally intelligent character in Star Trek. She has great chemistry with Odo, and it’s a joy to see the two of them together. What would keep me from giving full marks is the dodgy account of why a public marriage ceremony with Odo is necessary, complete with fulsome emotional declarations. Can you imagine if a guest like Lwaxana’s husband came to your wedding? And heckled? “I’m not buying it. Come on! Prove your love to us!”

Lwaxana’s Tavnian husband, Jeyal, is played by Michael Ansara, better known as the Klingon Kang in TOS 3.7, “The Day of the Dove,” (which just had its 50th anniversary on November 1, 2018) and DS9 2.19, “Blood Oath,” which I find to be distracting.

As ballast, we have the Word Vampire subplot, one of the dumbest things Star Trek has ever given us (and I include Mr. Neelix). The producers made a grave mistake, in DS9 4.3, “The Visitor,” to declare that Jake is destined to become a seminal literary genius. The great thing about Jake used to be that he isn’t Wesley Crusher. Jake doesn’t want to be in Starfleet, he’s a regular kid with modest talent and a decent heart, and that’s fine. Now he’s supposed to be Truman Capote or something.

Writers: if your vision of a character is that he has things to say that could change a generation, you’ve got to write him that way. I like Jake, but it’s impossible to to believe he possesses penetrating insight. He’s happy-go-lucky and that’s okay, until you ask me to believe he’s a literary genius. Such a character would probably write about things that he knows–being orphaned by war, living on a dangerous backwater frontier, being raised by a danger junkie father for whom career always comes first. Why would he write a book called Ansalem?

Now we learn Jake only produced a good novel because he was psychically raped by a talent vampire. This is deeply disrespectful, both to Jake and to the intelligence of the audience.

2 out of 5 Shapeshifter blankets. Consider this an average.

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Muse_(episode)