I’ve rewatched “The Best of Both Worlds” (Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 3, episode 26 – season 4 episode 1). It’s one the most important episodes of those series – it’s a very Borg episode. (Spoilers!) It’s the one in which Captain Picard was kidnapped by Borg and transformed into a Borg himself – Locutus of Borg. It’s very creepy, especially considering that he had all his memories during the experience and that he remembered everything about being a part of Borg afterwards. How Riker has to become a Captain for some time and to make a young recently transferred commander, who reminds him of himself when he only began serving on the Enterprise and who thought that Riker’s going to become a captain on another ship and she’s going to become the first officer on the Enterprise, his first officer was also very tense and interesting to observe. The moment when Data has to connect to Locutus to connect to the Borg cube and take control over it was very cool too, especially when Locutus woke up and tried to attack people around him and Data just disconnected his hand. Wow. It was a great episode and a great way to keep people watching the series (splitting it in two and end the season on the first part).
I’ve rewatched “Future Imperfect” (Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 4, episode 8). It’s a very interesting episode, as any episode about some kind of parallel universe/unreal future. Riker, Worf and Geordi beam down on some weird empty planet, experience some transporter malfunction (of course, what else?) and… (Spoilers!) Riker wakes up in the sickbay and Beverly says that this weird planet happened sixteen years ago, when he was infected with some virus, which manifested only now and erased all his memories of those sixteen years. So, now he’s the captain of Enterprise, he has a son, whose mother died two years ago. Federation is in the middle of the process of negotiations with the Romulan Empire – they are going to sign the peace treaty (peace treaty. With Romulans. Surprise!). Picard (who’s an admiral now) and Troi (who’s serving with the admiral in command) are persuading the Romulans are sincere and that Riker is a clue person in negotiations. Well, the moment I saw the Romulan ambassador, I remembered the main plot twist, but then it turned out that it was not the last twist. Riker sees Tomalak and doesn’t believe him, but it’s not all. He spends time with his son and decides to see his late wife and she turns out to be Minuet. Riker rushes to the bridge, shouts at Geordi that his diagnostic is taking too long, he asks Data to do some calculations and he’s also doing it too slow. William asks Tomalak directly if it’s enough? Tomalak agrees and Riker finds himself on the Romulan base, he is held hostage and Romulans were using some mind-reading device to find some strategic information. Then it appears that the boy is real and was used to produce those illusions for Riker. The boy helps commander run, but then some more inconsistencies appear, the Romulan base also disappears and Riker stays alone with the boy, who’s member of some extinct race, who was left of the planet with the mind reding devices to provide him with pleasant illusions, but he feels lonely and that’s why he kidnapped Riker. Commander, of course, isn’t offended and takes the boy with him on Enterprise. (I’ve noticed, that more emotions I had while watching/reading something, the longer the post about it is. As you could have noticed I liked that episode very much.)
I’ve rewatched “Legacy” (Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 4, episode 6). The episode is pretty interesting and dramatic. The plot – a rescue mission for a crewman, who was taken hostage on the planet Tasha was from. Seems simple, doesn’t it. Well, it would be, if the planet wasn’t being torn apart by some kind partisan civil war and if one of the fractions, which promised to help Federation (Enterprise) rescue the crewman didn’t have Tasha’s sister among them. (Spoilers!) She came on Enterprise to help, she got injured on a mission, grew close to Data, whom she reminded of Tasha, and even started thinking about joining Starfleet and made Worf think that Starfleet will be lucky to have her because she’s brave and selfless. She led them to the final rescue mission and then… betrayed them – it turned out that she led them inside the base of the other fraction not only to get the crewman back but to disable their defence systems and let her comrades attack this base. She was even ready to kill Data to do so. He and Riker didn’t let her, took her on the Enterprise and then returned. Data has experienced his first-ever friend betrayal and doubts if the trust is worth “feeling” this.
Series:Imzadi Fandom: Star Trek: The Next Generation Author:vegawriters Pairing: Deanna Troi/Will Riker
“Imzadi, you taught me that word means Beloved.” - Will Riker
Summary: In 2361, Lieutenant Deanna Troi was on leave from Starfleet while finishing up a degree in interspecies psychology. Already a trained psychologist and First Contact Specialist, she was hoping to use her education to bring the 5th House of Betazed off the planet, giving them a further reach than the planet’s government and diplomatic corps. When she meets William Riker, a striking Lieutenant who is assigned quite against his choice to the planet, they begin a relationship that will change each other forever.
A/N: It’s time to correct the record on Deanna Troi and Will Riker. Who they were on Betazed (let’s ignore that book by Peter David, shall we?) Who they were on the Enterprise. And who they are to each other. You want your soulmate romance, I’ll give you your soulmate romance.
