Man of the People is an awful episode about an intriguing premise. The problem stems from tremendously sloppy writing and a good deal of over acting from Troi.

The story centers on Ves Alkar, an ambassador and mediator whose mission is to reconcile two warring factions. It doesn’t even matter who the factions are because the episode makes no attempt to make us care beyond saying that the violence is threatening Federation trade routes. I guess the fact that thousands of people are dying from the violence isn’t enough to motivate the Federation — but they had better leave those trade routes alone.

Alkar transports to the Enterprise with his elderly “mother” from a transport ship called Dorian. This name is supposed to be our first clue as to the true nature of Alkar and his mother. And it ties into the episode’s premise about the separation of negative emotions and urges. But from here on out, it’s all downhill.

It turns out that Alkar’s “mother” is actually a thirty year-old woman who is the receptacle of Alkar’s negativity, allowing the Ambassador to be serene and patient and walk around like he has a stick up his turboshaft. Shortly after boarding, the woman dies and Alkar dupes Troi into becoming his next receptacle. This is accomplished by reciting some very silly sounding mumbo jumbo and clanging two rocks together like champagne glasses.

Seriously. I kid you not.

After which, Troi becomes all crazy like. She gets the hots for Alkar and, after he rejects her physical advances, she seduces the first young man she meets. Riker walks in on them. She goes a little crazier. He leaves. She has a counseling session with a crewmember. She goes crazier still. She shows up in Ten Forward doing her best Bride of Frankenstein impression (seriously … I kid you not …). And on and on and on … until she literally claws at Riker’s neck, drawing blood.

Oh, and she begins to look like one of those rabid grannies.

How no one notices the connection is beyond me but after Troi stabs Picard with a dagger (seriously … I kid you not …) they finally realize what’s happening. Alkar refuses to break his connection with Troi so they decide that the best solution is to kill Troi — which they do.

Seriously. I kid you not.

Alkar then tries duping another woman. Troi is revived. And somehow, inexplicably, his negative emotion is then turned back onto him, he overloads and dies.

Somewhere in the midst of all this is the one decent moment of the episode. It comes across as a bit pretentious, but Picard’s conversation with Dorian — er Alkar — about the immorality of using the ends to justify the means was pretty good. Of course, if this process is supposed to remove all negativity, why would Alkar still be left capable of acting in such a sinister way?

Man of the People continues a rather disquieting trend of bad episodes. The episode took a thoughtful premise and presented it in the most lazy, unthoughtful manner possible. And I have to ask: Why did we need another “Troi is going crazy” episode? And why did we need another “negotiator” episode? And why do all of the negotiators have to be some completely insane?

Filed under: TNG Reviews