WHY WE LIKE IT: The change of pace.
WHY WE DON'T: Peanut Hamper is such a terrible character.
REVIEW: Peanut Hamper, the crappy exocomp who joined Starfleet but refused to risk her own sacrifice to save the Cerritos on her first day, disappeared in a transporter beam at the end of the Season 1 finale "No Small Parts", and we never gave her a second thought. In this unusual episode, we return to that moment and see that she was just floating in space, witnessed the Titan's rescue, and was forgotten in the Pakled debris field. The episode plays as a sort of mini-movie - even eschewing the usual credits sequence - showing how she survived and found her way to a primitive planet of avian people, where all signs point to her learning about love and loyalty. NOT!
On the one hand, I like it when the show does something different. On the other, Peanut Hamper is such an annoyingly awful person that it becomes an extended joke about the resident a-hole. While in space, she makes a "Wilson"-type companion, but throws it under the bus at the first sign of trouble. She whines about the primitive culture she's found herself in and insults its people at every turn. She breaks the Prime Directive without a second thought. Yes, sure, she uses her exocomp powers to heal the village leader, replicates candy for the kids, etc., but that's as self-serving as anything. So when she finds love with the village leader's son - cue the suggestion of weird sex scenes, though full marks for the image of a heart in the waterfall - it's a little hard to believe. She's a liar and it's all part of a ploy to get off-world, but that HE would fall in love with her? As the Eurythmics would say: "Some of them want to be used by you."
As it turns out, these Avians once had warp capability, but their ancestors turned their backs on technology after suffering through too many wars. They buried their ships and built a village over it and here we are. So Peanut Hammer is just biding her time while she waits for the scavengers she called to show up, then feigns having to finally send a distress call to Starfleet, at last save the day by downing the scavenger ship, and having ingratiated herself to the Cerritos again, act like she's giving up love for duty. It's not THAT transparent when you watch it, but it's no surprise when she's exposed for the con artist she is. So if she fails as a protagonist we want to see succeed (or even just watch - I mean, she almost calls the Borg here), at least she gets her comeuppance and lands in the previously-seen A.I. prison. And that's the real value of this episode. We're sure to see her again, teamed-up with AGIMUS and perhaps others. A great hook for Season 4.
LESSON: You can't put a beak on a turd and call it a bird.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: I appreciate the ambition, but man, Peanut Hamper is hard to swallow.
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