“The Price”
Written by Hannah Louise Shearer
Directed by Robert Sheerer
Season 3, Episode 8
Original air date: November 13, 1989
Star date: 43385.6
Mission summary
Troi has a fight with the replicator over chocolate, because she’s had an exhausting day or has her space period or whatever. But she can’t even enjoy it because Picard summons her to a diplomatic reception for a first look at a wormhole owned by the Barzans. The Barzan Premier, Bhavani, plans to auction off rights to the wormhole and so the Enterprise hosts delegates from several interested parties: the Federation, represented by Mendoza; the Caldonians, represented by Leyor; and the Chrysalians, represented by a humanoid named Devinoni Ral, with a sexy lady hanging off his arm. He and Troi lock eyes with the kind of vapid, sultry looks Calvin Klein models wear, making it really uncomfortable when Bhavani says “There it is, ladies and gentlemen, the first and only stable wormhole known to exist. It’s yours, for the right price. ”
I hope she means the space anomaly.
Negotiations begin, and are interrupted by a new delegation: the Ferengi. The leader, DaiMon Goss, takes a seat at the table and at Picard’s request dismisses his two consuls, Kol and Dr. Arridor. Goss offers to beat any price on the table with a bag of gold, which I guess he hasn’t realized is worthless yet. Meanwhile, Troi is Facebooking Ral in her quarters when he comes in. They exchange some smalltalk but he launches into full-out creeper mode, running his hands through her hair and asking for dinner at 8. Sexy!
The first round of negotiations didn’t end well for the Federation, who are concerned about the Ferengis and Ral, but that’s okay, because they want to learn more about the wormhole before throwing all their chips in. An initial probe shows that the wormhole leads to the Gamma quadrant, but Geordi and Data plan to run a manned test of their own the next day to kick all the tires first. You know those snake-oil wormhole dealers in the future… Well, they’re at negotiations, too, and because they’re Ferengis they distill some “pyrocytes” to cause an allergic reaction in the Federation representative and get a competitive edge. It works, and Mendoza is out for the count for the rest of the episode. Naturally the ship’s cardshark Riker takes his place because poker is basically the same thing as diplomacy, right? As we all know Kissinger was a killer poker player.
While the men do the real work, Troi invites Ral into her quarters for dinner. He goes straight to dessert and carries her off, romance-cover style.
The manned probe is well underway (in both storylines, I guess…) and so Geordi and Data leap through the wormhole, with a separate Ferengi pod in close pursuit behind them. But they find themselves nowhere near where they’re supposed to be. They’re in the Delta quadrant, not the Gamma quadrant, and if they don’t get back through that wormhole soon they’re going to be meeting Captain Janeway before they ever see the Enterprise again.
Ral’s own, um, survey has ended in a foot massage, body oil, and some totally casual needling about Troi’s relationship to Riker. She assures him they’re just friends now and tries to change the subject to him. He admits that he’s not really what he appears–he, too, is part Betazoid–and he uses that quarter of himself to gain a competitive advantage at the negotiating table to exploit others’ emotions. Like Troi’s, because she totally falls for his isolated quarterling persona. But she’s loving it, and the next day she and Dr. Crusher meet for calisthenics to talk about relationships, like an 80s version of a Upper East Side spinning class. Crusher tells her to go for it, proving her internal BFF red alert system is clearly down for repairs.
Ral, meanwhile, is off doing tough-guy real-life poker. He senses Leyor is nervous about the administrative aspect of running an interstellar toll booth, and so convinces him to drop out in exchange for a deal with the Chrysalians. When Troi learns what happened, she gently confronts him about being a con-man, and asks why he doesn’t disclose his empathic abilities.
TROI: I think you don’t tell them so you can gain an advantage.
RAL: Well, I gained an advantage by using it with you. You didn’t seem to mind that.
I did, does that count? He then tries to draw a parallel between the way he’s made a career of exploiting people’s emotions for money and the way she uses her abilities in her role as a counselor protecting a ship, saying she’s the more unethical one. This works on her, but no one else. As if to prove her point, he goes to Ten Forward and sits down with Riker. He tries to unsettle him first by insinuating he’s not man enough for his own command, and then going straight to the “guess where I was last night” routine. Riker is disgusted, calls Ral on his transparent attempt at emotional manipulation, and leaves in a confident twirl. Nice.
But Ral’s not done. Just as he and Riker make their final pitches to the Premier, DaiMon Goss, having stolen away in the night on his vessel, starts firing missiles at the wormhole. He claims that the Ferengi bid was never seriously considered. Ral seizes the chance to show the Premier that this is merely a power struggle between the war-like Federation and the war-like Ferengi. The Premier, duped into believing the Chrysalians can offer a more peaceful contract, decides to accept their offer. Ral, then, negotiates with the Ferengi to allow them free passage through the wormhole, leaving the Federation out in the cold.
Of course now everyone thinks something’s fishy, and it’s finally time for Counselor Obvious to shine. Troi outs her empathic boyfriend and his obvious ploy to secure the Barzan contract. But the joke’s on them, because at that moment Data and Geordi emerge from the wormhole and explain that it’s completely unstable and, thus, worthless. On the plus side, the two Ferengi consuls got trapped in the delta quadrant because they wouldn’t trust Geordi.
In the end, Ral packs up to face the Chrysalians and the lemon they just bought. But he wants Troi to share in his humiliation!
RAL: I’m very grateful for what you did, in a way. It’s made me take a hard look at who I am. I don’t like what I see. I once asked you to run away with me. Now I’m asking again. I need you. You could help me change. You could be my conscience.
TROI: I already have a job as counselor.
Analysis
I need to shower after watching this.
I wish I could just blame Ral, with his soulless dead eyes, total creeper vibe, complete inability to pick up social cues or respect personal boundaries, and general douchiness. But the problem here is Troi. She likes chocolate! And exercising in a leotard with her gal-pal who is the only other female on the ship with a name! And she has emotions and gets manipulated because of them! Any one of these things would be okay, they really would. But together, it’s the most ludicrous stereotype onscreen short of a Lifetime original movie, and given that Troi is given absolutely no other identifiable qualities it’s a degrading, offensive shortcut to character. I was sure the episode was going to end with a “Next time, on Days of Our Lives…” where we discover that Ral is really a twin and Troi has secretly been in love with the other one who’s also a spy and married but she has cancer and must tell her son.
Right.
This is right up there with the Dr. Crusher incubus episode. They both share this misguided idea that just because a main character gets laid, it must be sex-positive. Well, it’s not. First of all, Ral has a disturbing serial killer vibe going on (that voice goes straight to my flight reflex), then guilts her into sleeping with him by daring her to progress faster than she’s comfortable with. So empowering! Then, sex completely addles Troi’s mind such that she can’t see through this complete scumbag’s bag of pick-up artist tricks. Finally, when all was said and done, I felt like applauding. Not because she has that hilarious epiphany and tells him to get someone else to wipe his emotional ass, but because the thing was over. But I am glad she told him to get lost, too.
Aside from the cartoonish sexism (just a wee little aside…), there’s something inherently hilarious about trying to parallel 1) poker; 2) diplomacy; and 3) mind-reading. I love the way Ral does the “I’m not unethical, YOU’RE unethical!” table-turning. How is there even on its a face any kind of equivalency between being a woman specifically hired for her empathic ability to be a therapeutic counselor and a hired con-man? REALLY, TNG? And I love the little poker thing, mostly because it’s obvious that none of these delegates have any kind of “hand” to reveal but rather the Barzans are just picking the race they like the most, so it’s ultimately a meaningless comparison. Riker is just so good! At being… clean and well-behaved such that the Barzans will want him as a neighbor! POKER.
I do like the wormhole concept, as well as seeing various delegations vie for it. Too bad one of them is represented by Norman Bates, Pick-Up Artist, and the rest all drop out before it gets interesting.
Send this back to the daytime soap opera vault.
Torie’s Rating: Dead Stop (on a scale of 1-6)
Thread Alert: Our first look at the full-body spandex-plus-bathing-suit ensemble we will see again and again. The best part is Troi’s boob divider. Because who needs a sports bra when your boobs can flap around independently instead! The future, ladies and gentlemen.
Best Line: MENDOZA: You must play poker, Commander.
RIKER: Poker… Is that a game of some sort?
Trivia/Other Notes: If you think what they left in was bad, wait until you hear what they left out. First, a cut scene involved O’Brien getting dating advice about his then-girlfriend “Mitzi” (who I am assured was not a toy poodle). Wesley also got advice on how much his mom totally sucks for not letting him go to a sleepover. Oh, and the last scene was going to be Troi eating a tub of ice cream by herself while watching Gray’s Anatomy. (Okay it wasn’t, but if it had been there, would you have blinked an eye?)
Kol and Dr. Arridor return in Voyager‘s “False Profits.”
The original title was “A Price Far Above Rubies.” As in the Biblical proverb: “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.” SHOWER. NOW.
And my absolute favorite: Michael Piller remarked, “As far as servicing the character of Troi, it was quite a wonderful vehicle and she was marvelous.” She got serviced all right. Ugh.
Previous episode: Season 3, Episode 7 – “The Enemy.”
Next episode: Season 3, Episode 9 – “The Vengeance Factor.”
It’s rather impressive that the Ferengis are not the most loathsome, sketchy guys on board Enterprise, though I did see one of them striking out at Ten Forward. When Devinoni Ral started touching Deanna and doing his aggressive male thing, I just about lost it. I was completely stunned, then horrified, then angry, then dismissive. He reminds me of a smarmy Steve Carell; I haven’t seen the American version of The Office, but Carell usually plays likeable, awkward, but kind of romantic guys.
And no matter how cool the wormhole stuff is–especially how it sets up DS9 and how Voyager calls back to it (I had somehow forgotten that those Ferengi were these guys), I just can’t look past the giant step back in characterization this takes, and just how lazy the writers were to fall on such stereotypes. I actually didn’t mind the fact that Deanna and Beverly would talk about this kind of thing; a counselor needs someone to talk to, and it seems natural to me, more or less. But it feels kind of “Sex and the Starship”. And I knew instantly that those outfits would be featured in this week’s Thread Alert! I don’t understand the need to come up with “futuristic” versions of outfits that are not likely to change. A leotard is a leotard. I suppose we should be happy they weren’t wearing leg warmers.
I was frustrated by Deanna’s desire for chocolate–an easy joke to make, and it doesn’t even make any sense because she knows what the limitations of the replicator are. But the computer’s response is strange: It’s programmed to make nutritious things, so can it make an unhealthy chocolate sundae? Is everyone on the ship forced to live with these restrictions, or is Deanna running a diet app on hers? Anyway, I didn’t get really annoyed until Torie pointed out that these are the only things that define Troi, and unfortunately she doesn’t grow much beyond them until the last season.
(And by the way, how useless is an empathic counselor who can’t even tell when she’s near another empath?!)
I also don’t get that people are bidding on something huge like a stable wormhole that they haven’t checked out first–especially when it sounds too good to be true. I understand the need to get a jump on things and take a risk to gain a strategic and financial advantage, but this is just foolish.
My favorite thing about this episode though are the little moments like Deanna’s “What now?” when Picard summons her to the party, and Picard’s eye-rolling at the Ferengi. These are the things that make them perfect and less human. Ral had one good point: Who are these people when they aren’t performing their official roles? Too bad no one has come up with a good answer for the women on the ship, while all the male characters are much more well-rounded with hobbies and interests other than chocolate and sex. And this episode was written by a woman, too.
My rating is Impulse power, only because this episode actually contributed some things to the rest of the franchise.
What an awful episode. It’s like it fell through a time warp from the first season. Where compared to “Angel One” and “Code of Honor” we might have only considered it subpar.
I think Deanna’s special relationship with chocolate had already been established and it could have been used as shorthand in the time constraints of the teaser to establish that she’s had a really bad day. But the execution is abysmal and the whole thing doesn’t really feed into the rest of the story at all.
The space aerobics is awful. I think the scene was included just to keep male viewers from changing the channel (in the mistaken belief that female viewers were interested in the romance). And the only reason they aren’t wearing leg warmers is that the Flashdance look had already died. Eugene is right, though, that Troi needs a female friend to talk to about this sort of thing. OTOH, his comment made me realize that we appear to have one counselor for a ship with over 1000 people on board. There are at least 800-900 adults and only one person to talk to them. Not to mention that pediatric counseling is an entirely different discipline and requires somewhat different training. I guess Guinan takes up all the slack.
Finally, we once again see the complete failure TNG makes of these one-shot guest star romances. I could cut them a little slack and argue that part of the problem stems from them trying to make these relationships a little deeper than Kirk’s usual “Hey, baby”, but really the casting is as often to blame as the writing. I think the only time there is ever any chemistry between the regular and the guest is with Wesley and Robin Leffler. Otherwise, most of the time things are so awkward you’d expect them to decide between the salad and the entree to forget about the movie afterward and go their separate ways after they split the check.
Somehow, all I remembered from this one was the fanservice aerobics. I guess there’s a reason–there’s nothing else to see here.
My wife once said that the only thing that makes sense about this episode is Troi’s desire for chocolate. And then they messed that part up too.
Every time this episode comes up, I always feel terrible for Gates McFadden and Marina Sirtis in having to be frozen for all time in screencaps of those ridiculous leotards. I mean the entire episode is bad but that image above is just something that’ll haunt you forever.
In retrospect, all the call-outs toward the wormhole and the Gamma Quadrant makes it seem as though this episode’s entire purpose for existence was as a set-up for Deep Space 9 and the rest of it’s just last minute filler, written up at the last minute by people who had better things to do. Such a shame.
Yeah… I think Torie’s review pretty much nailed all the awful creepy aspects of the relationship plot. At least he didn’t (overtly) neg her or whatever… ugh.
What’s striking to me is that even the rest of it doesn’t make any sense. There’s no reason that Ral (or any of these delegates) would buy a pig in a poke, as far as the wormhole goes. If Ral is willing to bid on this before he even knows it’s real, he’s an idiot, and how in Space Pope‘s name did he ever get this job? Are we really going to believe anybody will actually honor the first agreement if Geordi and Data prove it unreliable? Why would we expect anybody to respect the claims of a “peaceful race” (of whozewhatsis whose names we’ll never hear again) that has no muscle to defend its expensively-purchased galactopolitically-important causeway? And why don’t all the bidders just form a coalition that can make a better bid? It doesn’t make sense because it’s just an excuse to get Ral onto the ship.
The point that to me emerges from all of this is the perils of disposable guest syndrome: lazy, fanfic-style writing leaning on these guest scarecrows, who dance on puppet strings as required by the plot. It’s a sign the writer wanted to tell a story that didn’t fit at all organically with the rest of the show, and thought the answer was to shoehorn it in instead of having a better idea. Note: this never works. It’s not even a syndication thing, just a bad ideas one–good writing creates new tools for later reuse. Instead of just making up Some Guy (and several Some Alien Race(s)) which have no definable character… The Romulans; Q and Guinan; we know them, and can have expectations about them, even though they only show up intermittently. They have character and thus contribute so many good episodes, even under the burden of syndicated storytelling. Throwaways, though? Instant filler.
Also, re: Mendoza: ALLERGIES DO NOT WORK THAT WAY. HAS NOBODY ON THIS SHOW EVEN MET A HUMAN BEFORE.
@ 1 Eugene
it is just SO GROSS. He’s a complete stranger. And he has such dead eyes. He isn’t even caressing her in a sexy way, he looks like he’s checking her head for lice.
My problem isn’t that Crusher and Troi are friends and talk about men, it’s that they HAVE to be friends because there are literally no other named female characters on the show, and the only time they ever talk to each other as friends is about men. And of course they do it while stretching for their jazzercise class.
@ 2 DemetriosX
And isn’t it weird that 100% of all dates seem to take place in people’s quarters? Does no one go OUT to dinner, or go to the movies, or do anything other than sit and gaze at one another six inches from their standard-issue bed? Oh right, they have no shared interests. It just strikes every false chord in my being.
@ 4 Toryx
I ultimately decided NOT to use the screencap where the camera is behind Troi and you watch her leotard give her a deeply unpleasant wedgie as she leans back and forth into Crusher. Ew.
@5 DeepThought
I can’t even figure out why they bothered incapacitating Mendoza (except to have Riker do something). Obviously he would be replaced, and they’re on a ship full of Federation representatives. Several of them even play poker, making them formidable opponents. He didn’t even seem like their worst competitor in all this, especially given how cautious the Federation was being. They probably should have tried that trick on Ral or one of the other delegates.
“OTOH, his comment made me realize that we appear to have one counselor for a ship with over 1000 people on board. There are at least 800-900 adults and only one person to talk to them. Not to mention that pediatric counseling is an entirely different discipline and requires somewhat different training. I guess Guinan takes up all the slack”
This comment reminds me of a quote about Troi in the latest issue of “Geek” magazine, which is having a “Trek-Tacular” issue. During a roundtable discussion featuring Mark Altman, Rod Roddenberry, David Goodman, Scott Mantz and Brannon Braga, the subject of therapy comes up and Braga makes this astute point:
” A therapist on a ship full of characters who supposedly had gone beyond human foibles and no longer succumbed to petty jealousy and anger. Why is there a therapist on board? ( laughter )”
Great point. If Gene Roddenberry’s mandate for these characters is that they are perfect, then why have a counselor? There are logical reasons I suppose, grief counseling etc., but it only points out the inherent weakness and flaws in the creation of the Troi character. Does Starfleet really have so little faith in the capabilities of the crew that they feel that a psychologist should have a permanent seat on the bridge next to the commanding officer? What does that say about the rest of the crew? In TOS McCoy often hung around on the bridge, but it was clear that he was there because he and Kirk were best buds, not because some might start bleeding any second.
Secondly, why bother making her empathic at all? Because every main character who is from another world, or partially alien ( and this includes androids ) MUST have something “SPESHUL” about them. They have to be either hyper-intelligent, super-strong, or quirky in some way…y’know cause they’re AALLIEENS! Unfortunately for Marina Sirtis, the sum of these parts do not make up for an interesting or compelling whole. The writers were so unsure how to use her that during the first season she was absent several times. Then she ended up becoming “Ship’s tramp, Deanna Troi” until they could figure out some useful way to employ her. At this point, she’s barely got more backbone than Marla McGivers and Carolyn Palamas.
This episode beautifully encapsulates the weakness of the entire character concept. At best she should have been a recurring charcter, who would show up when needed ( which wasn’t often ), then go back to her office…not taking up a prominent space on the bridge, contributing nothing.
@8 dep1701
I wonder whether the unexpected early departure of Denise Crosby didn’t unravel the whole “woman component” of TNG. In one sense you had the empathic in Troi, the physical in Yar, and the analytical in Crusher… maybe even the superego represented in the latter in her role as foil for the captain. In other words, each had a part to play and Yar’s early departure left the bridge deck awash with unbalanced testosterone.
I’m not saying the “troika” was a good or appropriate choice, only that—as Torie notes—its disruption reduced to only two women who could work off of one another. Seems like they tried to bring back some of that original energy with Ro Laren, with mixed results.
OTOH, almost every depiction of a woman in TNG is clumsy, maybe a casualty of the “producer’s couch” mentality of Hollywood 1980s…
—21/2—entertaining in parts–i personally enjoy seeing vulnerability in otherwise “perfect characters” like troi–and the captain says: “just throw anything on”–ha!–poor deanna she got wore out in this episode—the scene with dr. crusher i thought was amusing because it’s just girl talk, but from these professionals?—as long as we are talking about empathy –there is no empathy from me for this schmuck, ral–or the ferengi for that matter–it was a mistake creating them–not great at anything, not even comic relief–just a nuisance–i’m surprised that the ‘Q’ didn’t slap their over sized ear lobes around–just for fun–now that would be an episode i’d watch—
@6 Torie
Well, options do seem to be rather limited on board the ship. You’ve got Ten Forward, the holodecks, and various amateur performances by the crew. I think the idea of the in-quarters date is supposed to be like making dinner for your date, which is fine but certainly not first date material.
It occurs to me that we never have any indication of the existence of mass media entertainment: no movies, no TV show equivalents, no popular radio shows. They read books on their PADDs and call up prerecorded music from the computer (with no indication how anyone learns about new music), but that’s it. The only other option seems to be watching the XO play his trombone or the chief science officer give a dramatic reading. TOS at least suggested there were traveling troupes of stage actors. Can we really say that all these people have a common culture?
We do get a couple of instances of holodeck dates, though they’re both pretty disastrous. There’s Geordie’s abysmal date on the beach with the gypsy fiddler and Picard took his old flame that he jilted to a recreated Paris bistro. Other than that, though?
In my less than humble opinion the problem in part is that the creators never realyl thought about what it woudl mean to be an empath, and in particular an empathic attractive woman.
I do not think a real life Troi would be open, caring, and receptive. This would be a person who has time and time again seen through the masks that people wear. She’d be very aware that what we say so often doesn’t match up with what we really think or want. What should ould become very good at is calling people out on their bullshit, and not standing for it and not taking it. She could very easily be hard character that no one can fly a bluff past.
I wonder whether this episode would’ve worked better if played strictly for laughs, “Trouble With Tribbles” style.
Clearly, the sad trombone that happens to the Ferengi when the wormhole closes is actually the part that works best.
Don’t play it for laughs. Ditch the phony romance part (meaning he doesn’t tell her that he’s an empath) then let Deanna suspect something is going on, figure it out then worry over who to tell and who not to tell or just confront him. This would have given Deanna something to do and could have developed the character.
@ 8 dep1701
I would draw a hard distinction between therapy and capability. You can have a ship full of capable people who still suffer from depression, bipolar, PTSD (I would guess that’d be HUGE in the fleet!) or any other range of biological/situational issues that require help. Sure they’re supposed be beyond petty foibles, but I wouldn’t wrap those in with character flaws. Besides, maybe they’re all so well-adjusted and over petty jealousy and anger because they all get great therapy?
I think she’s on the bridge for a completely different reason: as a kind of shortcut diplomat, who can assess a situation quickly and give insight into an alien race. Of course, this is NEVER used to its potential and also makes no sense since she supposedly can sense by proximity…
@ 9 Lemnoc
I’m sure Yar’s departure didn’t help, but this wasn’t a vacuum–they could have brought in other women at any time, even as non-major recurring characters. But I just don’t trust Trek when it comes to women. When they tried to “fix” the gender issue in DS9, you wound up with a lot more women (yay!) who were all much more offensive stereotypes (boo!). So I just don’t think they knew what to do with the ladies, period. Voyager was a slight improvement in this area, but of course it was such a huge disaster in so many others it’s hard to notice. Especially when Janeway is playing out Regency romances.
@ 11 DemetriosX
I know we’ve talked about the lack of entertainment/media before and you’re right, it’s even more bizarre now that we’re looking at people’s love lives. Even pre-technological societies had, I dunno, balls/dances, concerts, plays, or speakers. I also love that no one reads contemporary books or listens to contemporary music. It’s all the stuff a 19th century British aristocrat would be forced to learn at boarding school. You’d think all culture ended long ago.
@ 12 bobsandiego
Deanna Troi, ship’s cynic? They kind of did this with Ro Laren, actually. Though I guess she was just prickly all around.
@15 Torie
I’ll cut them a slight break with the music, since otherwise they would have had to pay somebody to compose it. OTOH, we do get the occasional Klingon opera, though IIRC that’s mostly on DS9.
But seriously, it’s all amdram. Beverly especially seems to be into that, dragooning various members of the command crew into performing. Where is the Starfleet equivalent of the USO? Where are the movie (or equivalent) theaters? Modern aircraft carriers, which have a somewhat larger complement than the Enterprise-D but come the closest, have multiple movie theaters. Heck, the Red Dwarf had at least one, and that was in the early seasons when the crew was only 250.
I guess you could say they were being prescient, since we do tend to consume most of our media privately or in very small groups today. But I’m not sure that was an obvious trend in the late 80s/early 90s, certainly not for this bunch who mostly seem to be unaware of anything prior to about 1980.
Trivia note: Leyor was played by the late Kevin Peter Hall, AKA Harry from “Harry and the Hendersons”. I think he was also the original Predator. Correct me if I’m wrong.
And yes, this is one of the worst episodes in the series, mostly due to how I can’t comprehend for the life of me how anyone could be attracted to a skeezeball like Ral. Full Stop from me.
When Ral first came to Troi’s room, I assumed that they used to know one another and had been lovers back then; otherwise, Ral would have been acting like a creepy jerk. But no, they’ve never met before; he really IS a creepy jerk. And THIS is the guy they give Troi who’s supposed to curl her toes? This guy would make ME curl my fingers — so that I could punch him in the face. :-)
I read a lot of (TOS) fan fiction, and while much of it is dreck, some of it is really quite fine. If FAN FICTION authors can write better romantic dialogue than this, what is wrong with the supposedly professional writers who wrote this episode? It’s as if they’ve never gone on a date before or never met an actual female. No wonder Data was the breakout character, because the writers of this episode showed his level of understanding of humanity.
Marina Sirtis sure was beautiful, though, especially with those Betazoid eyes. She’s a better actress than I’ve given her credit for, if she could even pretend to be interested in this sleezebag.