1085. The Bajoran and the BeastPUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Next Generation #68, DC Comics, February 1995
CREATORS: Michael Jan Friedman (writer), Deryl Skelton (artist)
STARDATE: Unknown (follows the last issue)
PLOT: Ro is taken into a castle by a lonely, hooded man as his guest. Though she can't completely trust his assertion that he sent a message to the Enterprise, she still refuses to peek under the hood he uses to hide his "beastly" appearance when she gets the chance. The Tisatti attack and Ro fights them, but can't prevent the death of the old man. The Enterprise crew arrives just in time to save her life and the dying old man reveals he is a Cardassian ashamed of the part he played in Bajoran death camps. Ro, in tears, still calls him friend. Meanwhile on Altair III, Riker's party has survived the collapsing bridge, but tempers flare around an old love triangle from the old days. That night, one of Riker's old colleagues is found murdered...
CONTINUITY: See previous issue.
DIVERGENCES: See previous issue. The idea that Ro was in the Resistance is not corroborated by the show.
PANEL OF THE DAY - Planter's tried unsuccessfully to breach the Cardassian salted peanut market.
REVIEW: The Ro story tries to subvert the usual "Beauty and the Beast" Trek plot by not making the "beast" a villain, but it feels off. On the one hand, it's got its creepy moments that are continually deflated by there not being any danger at all from the old man. It's like a non-mystery. On the other, it tries to flashforward Ro through her own version of Duet, which just isn't credible given the length of the story. As for the Riker stuff, well... Yesterday I compared it to the Friedman novels Reunion and Saratoga. Today I can confirm that it has the EXACT SAME premise as those novels. A bit predictable.
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