Friday, February 3, 2023

Star Trek: Liaisons

Episode: "Liaisons"
Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 7, Episode 2
Original Air Date: September 27, 1993

via Memory Alpha

The Enterprise crew is engaging in a cultural exchange with the Iyaarans.  Two ambassadors are visiting the ship while Captain Picard departs for a visit to their home world of Iyar.  En route, his shuttle crashes on a desolate planet where he discovers the survivor of a previous crash, a beautiful woman named Anna.  She has been stranded for seven years.  While Picard works to rescue them both, Anna professes her love for him.

Meanwhile, back on the Enterprise, one of the ambassadors, Loquel, falls in love with desserts, first to the delight but eventually the exhaustion of his liaison, Counselor Troi.  The other, Byleth, seems to delight in making his own liaison, Lieutenant Worf, miserable.

The primary Picard narrative was originally inspired by Stephen King's Misery though, fortunately for our captain, his own adventure is less gruesome.  It's still a dark tale by Trek standards, nicely offset by the frequently humorous secondary narrative playing out on the ship.  An interesting side note: the props department had to make some changes to Loquel's sweet treats.  The actor, Paul Eiding, is allergic to chocolate.


Acting Notes

Barbara Williams (Anna) was born October 19, 1953 in Vancouver Island, Canada.  Film credits include Thief of Hearts, Watchers, Oh, What a Night and Love Come Down, for which she was nominated for a Genie Award.  She has been married twice, first to actor Nick Mancuso, second to activist Tom Hayden for 23 years until his death.  

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