143. The DauphinFORMULA: Elaan of Troyius + The Undiscovered Country (I realize this is retroactive)
WHY WE LIKE IT: The cast seems to be having fun with their romance advice to Wesley.
WHY WE DON'T: Cheesy effects. A sappy little love story. Anya is an incredibly annoying character.
REVIEW: It couldn't last. After two spactacular episodes, we're given this turgid piece about love at first sight between a warp theory nerd and a shape-shifting blob of light. Oh, Salia's played well enough by Jaime Hubbard, but it's never a good idea to give too much emotional material for Wil Wheaton to play. It's all a little ridiculous, and then you have the classic switch where he's angry at her for being an alien, and then does the right thing. Spare me.
To add to the problems, there's the Anya character. As a governess, she's mean and unreasonable, but worse, she's always saying stuff like "I'm more powerful than all of you", with extra grand-standing when Worf is nearby. I'm glad the Klingon doesn't let himself be intimidated, and though those scenes go on too long, Worf is at least interesting in them. But Anya does have other forms, and they just don't make sense in the context of her character. What's with the girl Salia's age? And what about that teddy bear form? Is she teacher, friend, guardian AND pet? It's needlessly confusing. The Trek canon is also extremely fond of creating mythical shape-shifter races. Never the same one, but everyone is always amazed creatures like this exist (chameloids, changelings...). Anyway, in this case, the effects are pretty awful, between hairy rubber suits (about Man Trap caliber), claymation-type morphs, and cheesy bluescreen effects.
If there's saving grace, it is those scenes where Wesley seeks advice about love. Riker and Guinan make a fun double act, engrossed in their little improvisation, parodying flirting, but at the same time enjoying it. Guinan returns later with good advice, though there's nothing new here. Worf's discussion of Klingon mating rituals is so over-the-top, you have to wonder if he's not having a bit of fun with Wesley, but over-the-top in a good way. Still, it's hard going for the rest of the episode.
LESSON: Girls are icky.
REWATCHABILITY - Low: Despite a couple of cute moments (I am NOT including Wesley's kiss in there), this romance is dead on arrival, and the episode is further sunk by over-reaching effects, an OTT performance by Paddi Edwards as Anya, and the lack of a decent B-plot to take refuge in.
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