{"id":6244,"date":"2015-10-15T03:54:20","date_gmt":"2015-10-15T03:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/410-The-Loss"},"modified":"2015-10-15T03:54:20","modified_gmt":"2015-10-15T03:54:20","slug":"410-the-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2015\/10\/15\/410-the-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"4.10 — \u201cThe Loss\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

4.10 — \u201cThe Loss\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Plot:<\/strong> The ship’s unexpected encounter with a two-dimensional entity floating in space causes Deanna Troi to lose her empathic abilities. Troi must adjust to life with a \u201cdisability,\u201d as the ship is caught in the gravity well of a superstring, or something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thoughts:<\/strong> This is a rare circumstance–I\u2019m not sure what I think of this episode. It\u2019s messy. But then life is messy, is it not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We start with Deanna actually doing a job. Her job! Grief counseling for a traumatized member of the crew. Of course that’s her job. You can sense the writers straining to turn this wooden character they inherited into a real, three dimensional person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And it works, to an extent. Remember how awful 1.11 \u201cHaven\u201d was? Troi was prepared to succumb to an arranged marriage with a stranger and leave the Enterprise<\/em>, but then just shrugs when he ditches her for a girl he said he had dreams about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Therapists don\u2019t really hug their patients though, do they? I also don\u2019t know many patients who have therapy sessions on consecutive days. These are nitpicks, though, she’s perfectly plausible in these scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The magic music box that opens a window into the past is a TV trope I remember seeing before. Because music boxes! There is documentation here: http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/NostalgicMusicbox<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Troi loses her empathic powers, and worse, is confronted with Beverly Crusher\u2019s Worst. Bedside. Manner. Ever. I\u2019m not sure which factor pushes her over the edge, but she flies off the handle. I’m tempted to call this writing, with Troi\u2019s meltdown and precipitous resignation as ship\u2019s counselor, a bit much. Haven’t we all been there, though, at some point?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Likewise, Riker does not exactly put his best foot forward when he comes to Troi\u2019s quarters, allegedly to comfort her, and immediately pivots to airing old grievances about their relationship. I should be annoyed at his boorish behavior, but truthfully this may be the first time I have ever believed the Riker\/Troi relationship, and understood its dynamic.\u201cYou always had an advantage. A little bit of control of every situation. That must have been a very safe position to be in. To be honest, I’d always thought there was something a little too aristocratic about your Betazoid heritage. As if your human side wasn’t quite good enough for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Maybe Troi shouldn\u2019t be portrayed as being so infantile, but I love her for saying exasperatedly to Picard, \u201cSpare me the inspirational anecdote!\u201d Is she being diminished by foolish hysterics, or is this just a heightened dramatic reality for television?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Memory Alpha quotes Marina Sirtis saying that fans with disabilities reacted well to the episode. “The handicapped people came up and thanked me. That’s exactly the way they feel, it’s the way I expressed their emotion. ‘The Loss’ was very, very popular.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I really like the idea that not having empathic ability is akin to being disabled (from a certain point of view). Perhaps another being would feel the same way about human inability to perceive ultraviolet light, or hear sounds outside a limited spectrum .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I also like this exchange:\u00a0Riker: \u201cImzadi.\u201d Troi: \u201cOh, please!\u201d The writers had some fun with this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Guinan makes a solid case that she could serve equally well as ship\u2019s counselor. Guinan is one people turn to for help, not Troi. Thanks to Riker, we know that the problem is Troi’s “aristocratic manner.” Nailed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The technobabble is insufferable, but there are still some nice grace notes in that side of the story, like the expression on Picard\u2019s face when he orders the torpedo volley to be fired directly into the two-dimensional entity, not knowing whether it might be killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the end, Tori\u2019s loss of empathic ability is temporary. So why did Crusher misdiagnose brain damage? She\u2019s the worst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Also, why is Riker trying to kiss Troi again? Are they dating?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3 out of 5 deadly cosmic strings<\/p>\n\n\n

http:\/\/memory-alpha.wikia.com\/wiki\/The_Loss<\/a>