N613

    Late 1993:

    FINE.

    This one has a nice twist or two, but ultimately it fails to do very much.

    At first I thought I was going to witness a rehash of that old Lou Grant / Quantum Leap episode where the hero (Angel in one, Sam in the other) becomes emotionally drawn to the woman whose death he is investigating. It was also used in the Popeye Doyle pilot movie. But, to my surprise, instead of Geordi falling in love with a dead woman, it turns out that she is still mad alive. That surprised me.

    So, what's it about?

    Well in this episode, we see the consequences when Geordi reads somebody's else's diary. We are shown how Acquiel hates being exposed like that. How anybody would feel. We also see how she feels when being 'bullied' by the klingon. This praise-worthy scene nicely puts across the feeling that a bullied person experiences.

    Interestingly, Geordi is well aware that Acquiel has flaws, yet he still falls in love. But, lest we go and credit him with being all deep and thoughful, notice how struck he is by her appearance. It bowled him over. How much does that have to do with things?

    Good climax, but I knew it was the dog. The director (Cliff Bole) overplayed his hand when he had Geordi lying beside the dog. That was so obvious.

    Also on the down-side, I hated seeing conflict between Riker and Geordi. Hated it.

    Overall, this is a solid, if unremarkable, entry in the Next Gen canon.

GRADE: B

 Review by Michael Leddy

Comments are welcome: dec@iol.ie

This page hosted by where you can get your own Free Homepage.