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Friday, January 21, 2022

Star Trek: Cost of Living

Episode: "Cost of Living"
Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 5, Episode 20
Original Air Date: April 20, 1992

via Memory Alpha

Lwaxanna Troi is getting married!  To keep herself amused while en route to meet her intended for the first time, she takes young Alexander Rozhenko underwing.  She encourages the boy to adopt her own carefree ways, directly undermining both Worf's parenting and Deanna Troi's counseling.  Meanwhile, parasites are devouring the ship.

A Lwaxanna episode and an Alexander episode combined into one?  What's more, they're enabling one another's most annoying tendencies?  Oh, joy!

Nope, I'm not a fan of this one.  Worth noting, though, it won two Emmys: costume design and makeup.


Acting Notes

via Wikipedia

Brian Bonsall (Alexander) was born December 3, 1981 in Torrance, California.  Trek was actually his second high-profile television gig.  In 1986, he was cast as Andy, the youngest Keaton child in Family Ties.  He won three Young Artist Awards for that part.  He made his big screen debut in 1992, starring in Mikey.

Bonsall retired from acting at the ripe old age of 14.  Since then, he's been active as a musician, most prominently as lead guitarist for the Ataris for a few years.  He's had more than his fair share of legal troubles, both assault and drug charges.  He is married with one child, born in 2019.
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6 comments:

  1. CygnusJanuary 21, 2022 at 10:18 PM

    And here we are... possibly the worst episode of all Trekdom... rivaling Spock's Brain, that one Voyager where Janeway and Paris turn into lizards... and all of Lower Decks.

    Is that fair? Maybe I'm just too much of a fan of Auntie Mame, which this episode tried its best to imitate. Certainly not Bonsall's fault though.

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    Replies
    1. The Armchair SquidJanuary 22, 2022 at 6:11 PM

      Wow! Yes, I agree it's pretty bad. The worst? There's some tough competition there. I'll have to think about that...

      There's always Code of Honor.

      Delete
    2. CygnusJanuary 22, 2022 at 10:57 PM

      I forgot about that one. Maybe just like it's hard to rank the very best, it's equally hard to rank the very worst. :-)

      Delete
    3. The Armchair SquidJanuary 23, 2022 at 7:09 PM

      And, of course, it all depends on one's own pet peeves. For me, with the originals, it's "The Way to Eden." Oh my god, those songs...

      Delete
  2. BirgitJanuary 24, 2022 at 5:16 PM

    I sort of remember it but I may have blocked it out of my brain. I hated the kid but I like Troi's mom especially her silent servant. I still think the tar monster that killed tasha Yar is one of the worst as well as the "drugs are bad" episode from the first season. Yes, Spock's Brain is horrible but The Way to Eden is the worst for me. Hippies in space is not a good way to bring in the young viewers.

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