263. Gambit, Part IFORMULA: The Chase + The Most Toys + Face of the Enemy
WHY WE LIKE IT: Picard backhanding Riker.
WHY WE DON'T: "We're all hurting!" Troi at her most strident.
REVIEW: Gambit starts with a intriguing mystery surrounding the apparent death of Captain Picard, and tracks the reactions of the crew before it is inevitably revealed that Picard is alive and well. Similar scenes in The Most Toys were perhaps less effective because we knew exactly what Data was doing in the meantime. Here, we don't, and Riker obsessed with avenging his captain is a good turn of events. I could have done with less of the shrill Troi scene, and more reactions from other members of the crew (Crusher especially), but we really don't need to dwell on it because we know Picard will turn up eventually.
When Riker gets captured by Baran and his band of artifact thieves, Picard does turn up, in the guise of the brutish Galen (taking his name from his archaeology mentor). This "Galen" is the best part of the episode. Picard is perhaps too good at engineering ship problems to be solved by Riker (I guess Narik really sucks at his job), but it's the social interactions which are great. He manipulates Baran incredibly well by making himself such a big target that the target ironically becomes invisible (my thanks to Dr. Will for the expression). Lots of tension, a respectable phaser fight, and an uncompromising character created by Picard. I only wish the aliens other than Tallera were a little less generic (though their ship is really cool, and its piechart displays are fun).
Meanwhile, aboard ship, Data's been given the captain's chair, and does well with it. It seems like the android may be doing a Picard impression at times, and he's learned to explain his decisions a little more since the gaffes of Redemption Part II. This will hopefully pay off more in Part II, but already, he's able to decipher Riker's intentions at the episode's close. The freeze frame cliffhanger looks hokey, but it does work.
LESSON: Picard's been lying to Crusher. He IS a good actor.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium-High: What The Chase should have been more like. Great character bits, but also a tension-filled adventure story that moves at a brisk pace.
Comments
It was good to finally see Richard Lynch on one of the Trek series. He's one of the best character actors ever. I still remember him as the creepy Morgan Velosi on Buck Rogers.