A Star Wars geek discovers TNG – CliqueClack Flashback

To be fair, I am not a complete Star Trek amateur. I’m a nerdy enough person to know the basics of the franchise: its different series and films (and the curse of the even numbered movies), the idioms (“Dammit, Jim!” or perhaps “KAAAAHN!”) and the beloved repetition of the red shirt deaths. I know so many of the references, I just never sat down and watched the shows. I did see the Abrams film and noted in my review of it that I was warming up to the Roddenberry universe(s). And I had seen bits and pieces of The Next Generation on TV when I was younger, but never a whole episode from start to finish. When I found myself with a bout of insomnia last week, I turned on the TV and hoped for a few channels free of infomercials. What I found was episode 204, “The Outragous Okona.”

So, the main story of this episode is the Enterprise finds a cargo freighter whose navigational system is on the fritz. The only crew member of the freighter is its owner, Captain Thadiun Okona. Picard assures Okona that the Enterprise doesn’t see his ship as dangerous, to which Okona cockily replies, “It’s a shame … I can remember when I was at least considered a risk.”

As I was watching, something seemed strangely familiar about this character. Deanna — who I figured out was psychic when she … started acting like she was psychic and the crew didn’t look at her like she was crazy — tells Picard that Okona is honest, but also quite a rogue. Between Data starting to list off the synonyms for rogue (“cad, knave, rake, rascal, scoundrel …”) and Okona coming on board and immediately charming one of the female crew members, it hit me where I knew this from. Handsome, charming rogue flying his bucket of bolts starship by the skin of his teeth? He’s the Han Solo of this universe!

Seriously, just look at him! Brown vest, white undershirt, feathered hair, smirk, devil-may-care swagger? You can’t see it in the picture, but I’m pretty sure he has a slung utility belt/holster, too. They might as well have named him Skruffi Nirrfhurdr.

Doppleganger aside, the character is actually pretty enjoyable to watch. Okona (played by The Rocketer star William Campbell) comes off as a decent, clever sort of guy, with better dialogue than I expected. Also, in the time it takes him to check on the conditions of his ship and then walk to his guest quarters, the pretty female crew member he just flirted with found time to change into a slinky dress and get into his room (this one-episode crew member is played by then-unknown Teri Hatcher, by the way). Yeah, that’s pretty smooth.

But it turns out two feuding leaders are hot on his trail so they can capture him — again, sound like a certain scoundrel we know? — for crimes against their individual planets. Of course, Okona was planning on just continuing to run until wide-eyed Luke Skywalker — I’m sorry, I mean wide-eyed Wesley — gives him some good advice about depending on other people for support. He decides to stay to reveal the truth: he was actually the liaison for the one leader’s son and the other leader’s daughter, who fell in love Romeo/Juliet-style. See, Skruffi Nirrfhurdr is a nice guy after all.

The weirder part of this episode involves Data wanting to learn comedy, thanks to a comment made by Okona early in the episode. He uses the holodeck to bring up a great 20th century comedian to teach him the subtle nuances of comedy. The thing is, he brings up Joe Piscopo. Really? Joe Piscopo? I know this was made in the 80s, but you couldn’t think of someone … better? Or at least more subtle? Even without Piscopo, Data trying to be Groucho Marx is painfully awkward to watch. I asked my fellow Clackers about this storyline with Data. Ruby noted, “I love Data when he is himself, not when he tries to be more human. His attempts at humor can be excruciating to watch, but when he just acts like himself, he is naturally endearing and funny.” Michael added, “Data [is] most likable when he’s himself, not when he’s attempting to live up to some ideal regarding being human.”

So, as a pro-wookie geek, what did I think of my first big plunge into TNG? … Not bad, actually. Data’s story struggled and the character of Okona was obviously drawn from other archetypes, but I found myself really liking the regular cast despite the fact that their job in the episode was mostly playing off this newly introduced character.

Ruby mentioned this wasn’t her favorite episode of the series, and I was able to get in touch with TNG cast member and CliqueClack supporter Wil Wheaton who could only recall a little about the episode’s guest stars: “I remember the Billy Campbell was really kind, and Terri Hatcher was really pretty. Beyond that, nothing stands out without me actually watching the episode.” Still, for a run-of-the-mill episode, it’s gotten this Star Wars fan curious enough to watch more.

Clacked by Katie Schenkel
on Mar 24, 2011 @ 14:00 EST5EDT