281. BloodlinesFORMULA: The Wrath of Khan + The Battle + The Outrageous Okona
WHY WE LIKE IT: Picard's joke about his hairline.
WHY WE DON'T: The new and not improved Bok.
REVIEW: Everybody's gotten new family members this season, now it's Picard's turn. Except that since this bastard son turns out to be a hoax, the episode is ultimately pointless. I won't even make my usual "and he was never seen again" joke, because we don't really expect or need to see Jason Vigo ever again. [Hm... Vigo... Wasn't there a Vigo serving under Picard on the Stargazer?]
As a character, Jason is a bit of a jerk with Picard, but that seems par for the course with every surrogate son the captain's ever had (Wesley, Jono). He's another of those charming rogues that fails to really be all that charming, though he's ultimately likable, and I have to give props to Patrick Stewart for knocking his heartfelt talk on the holographic mountain ledge out of the park. See, even when there's no real substance to an episode, by now, we love the characters so much it's at least watchable. In a sense, making it about Picard and HIS father, is what makes it work. Certainly, a eulogy about a character we never meet (Miranda) does little for us.
One major disappointment is the return of Bok. Lee Arenberg not only doesn't look at all like Frank Corsentino in The Battle, but he doesn't portray Bok in the same way at all either. He's just a thug here, and unrecognizable aside from his motivation. And while his subspace transporting shenanigans are clever enough, the episode ends rather like The Battle, with the crew turning on their DaiMon. We've seen it all before, and with more personality.
LESSON: If you want Picard to give you something as a gift, make sure to say you think it's a piece of crap.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium-Low: As I said, the cast is always watchable here, especially Patrick Stewart, but there's no real point to it and the guest actors are miscast.
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