[6.6/10] With one upcoming exception, Star Trek has never really been able to make Picard romances work outside of his attachment to Dr. Crusher. There’s a myriad of reasons for that, from poor writing in individual episodes, to middling on-chemistry between Patrick Stewart and people he was dating in real life, to the nature of network television in the late 1980s and early 1990s making each dalliance a glancing, fly-by-night operation by necessity. But whatever the reason, the franchise regularly falters when trying to turn stuffy Jean-Luc into a romantic lead.
Enter Kamala, an empath and “metamorph” who changes herself to suit whatever potential mate she encounters. Played by Famke Janssen, she is a beautiful young woman, giving off pheromones like a sprinkler, and eager to please any suitor who crosses her path. Kamala is also a “gift” (read: bargaining chip) to help make peace between two warring races. Raised from birth to be the titular “Perfect Mate”, she is rare and prized among her people, and Picard steps in to see that she is treated as a person and not as property.
Naturally, the show plays off an attraction between the two of them. Picard, true to form, does everything in his power to resist Kamala’s preternaturally alluring wiles, but finds her fascinating. Kamala likewise seeks Picard’s company and finds herself drawn to the only man who retreats from her charms rather than give into them.
There’s something there. In one of the episode’s best scenes, Jean-Luc and Beverly debate the morality of Kamala’s situation over breakfast. The situation plays on familiar divisions within Star Trek stories. There’s the usual tete-a-tete over moral relativism, with Picard pitching tolerance for her people’s arranged marriages and the need to end war and Dr. Crusher decrying it as prostituion. There’s the principled vs. the practical, with the question of whether Kamala should be free to roam the Enterprise so as not to make her a prisoner, with the reality that her strolling the bulkheads leaves everyone from ol’ horndog Riker to stoic Worf to a cadre of rowdy miners frothing at the mouth over her.
But “The Perfect Mate” is concerned with a division that’s explored less often -- between desire and duty. It’s a good in to a story about Jean-Luc’s personal life! From early on, the show’s hinted that Picard had to sacrifice certain things to get where he is today, some of which he regrets or at least wonders wistfully about. Showing the ways that the good captain, and his erstwhile paramour, are torn between what they feel for one another and what their roles demand of them is a rich vein to explore.
The problem is that it hinges on a connection between Picard and Kamala that just doesn’t work. Again, there’s plenty of reasons for that. Not for nothing, Patrick Stewart is nearly a quarter-century older than Famke Janssen. The age gap creates more of a paternal vibe that adds to the awkwardness of the pairing and saps the duo of the desired chemistry.
Likewise, Janssen isn’t great here. She’s proven herself capable in other roles, so I don’t want to slate her too hard as a performer, but Kamala is written to be enchanting on a near supernatural level. Janssen is stiff and delivers almost every line in the same way. The writing does her no favors, with her dialogue either consisting of cheap flattery or sappy bromides, but she doesn’t make much out of even meager material.
Frankly, the show falls into the trap so much entertainment does when trying to create romance -- throwing a strikingly attractive person out there and hoping that will be enough. Suffice it to say, it isn’t. Janssen is certainly beautiful, but we’re more told than convincingly shown why she’s so alluring that no man can resist her. The episode largely deals with clichés, and that extends to the relationship with her and Picard.
In short, “The Perfect Mate” needs their connection to be the unfailing backbone of this story. The two need to be so drawn together, to feel such passion for one another, that it tempts both of them to give up the lives they’ve worked so hard for in order to be with one another, and it’s just not there. We only see a few cheap smiles and thudding romantic dialogue that attempts to explain why the pair would grow so attached to one another so quickly beyond a chemical reaction. If you don’t buy the romance -- and the episode gives you little reason to beyond “Kamala is hot” -- the whole thing falls apart.
That’s not to say there’s nothing redeemable in it. There’s the core of a good idea to the notion that after spending so much time with Jean-Luc, Kamala better understands the pull of duty, which prompts her to sacrifice her own happiness in the name of ending a war for the greater good. There’s insight, albeit of the hoary variety, to Kamala liking Picard because he seeks to know who she is not in relation to anyone else, and Picard feeling seen by someone who gets to know him beyond his uniform.
Some clever framing (often utilizing mirrors) highlights these dualities, and the personal vs. professional questions add weight to a paper-thin romance. I even like the subtle twist at the end to suggest that even steadfast Jean-Luc couldn’t completely resist his urges and broke his own rules to “bond” with Kamala.
But again, “The Perfect Mate” means for their final separation to be unbearably tragic, two people who yearn to be together torn apart by geopolitical necessity and a desire to fulfill duties drummed into them since they were children, balanced against a personal want that can’t quite measure up. It’s a slanted reflection of “Half a Life” on that front, but can’t come up with anywhere near as convincing a connection or as piercing a parting. There’s not enough substance to Jean-Luc and Kamala’s relationship, just quick-fire clichés and bog standard longing looks.
What’s ironic is that the episode manages to generate a much more convincing connection between Picard and Dr. Crusher in the same episode. When Jean-Luc commiserates with Beverly, confides in her over this situation, there’s a familiarity and intimacy to their interactions that blow any interaction with Kamala out of the water. These two individuals challenge one another. They support one another. They offer a kind ear and a shoulder to cry on, who come to the other as equals. There’s a story worth telling of two people pulled together by desire but kept apart by duty. “The Perfect Life” just selects the wrong players.
That’s because The relationship with Beverly plays like one between adults, between peers, crafted across dozens of episodes and forged over years. The relationship with Kamala plays like a dopey teenager romance forged in about twenty minutes. The one is the stuff passion and poignance are made of. The other is mere fodder for an intriguing, but ultimately disappointing episode.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-06-06T21:02:01Z
[6.6/10] With one upcoming exception, Star Trek has never really been able to make Picard romances work outside of his attachment to Dr. Crusher. There’s a myriad of reasons for that, from poor writing in individual episodes, to middling on-chemistry between Patrick Stewart and people he was dating in real life, to the nature of network television in the late 1980s and early 1990s making each dalliance a glancing, fly-by-night operation by necessity. But whatever the reason, the franchise regularly falters when trying to turn stuffy Jean-Luc into a romantic lead.
Enter Kamala, an empath and “metamorph” who changes herself to suit whatever potential mate she encounters. Played by Famke Janssen, she is a beautiful young woman, giving off pheromones like a sprinkler, and eager to please any suitor who crosses her path. Kamala is also a “gift” (read: bargaining chip) to help make peace between two warring races. Raised from birth to be the titular “Perfect Mate”, she is rare and prized among her people, and Picard steps in to see that she is treated as a person and not as property.
Naturally, the show plays off an attraction between the two of them. Picard, true to form, does everything in his power to resist Kamala’s preternaturally alluring wiles, but finds her fascinating. Kamala likewise seeks Picard’s company and finds herself drawn to the only man who retreats from her charms rather than give into them.
There’s something there. In one of the episode’s best scenes, Jean-Luc and Beverly debate the morality of Kamala’s situation over breakfast. The situation plays on familiar divisions within Star Trek stories. There’s the usual tete-a-tete over moral relativism, with Picard pitching tolerance for her people’s arranged marriages and the need to end war and Dr. Crusher decrying it as prostituion. There’s the principled vs. the practical, with the question of whether Kamala should be free to roam the Enterprise so as not to make her a prisoner, with the reality that her strolling the bulkheads leaves everyone from ol’ horndog Riker to stoic Worf to a cadre of rowdy miners frothing at the mouth over her.
But “The Perfect Mate” is concerned with a division that’s explored less often -- between desire and duty. It’s a good in to a story about Jean-Luc’s personal life! From early on, the show’s hinted that Picard had to sacrifice certain things to get where he is today, some of which he regrets or at least wonders wistfully about. Showing the ways that the good captain, and his erstwhile paramour, are torn between what they feel for one another and what their roles demand of them is a rich vein to explore.
The problem is that it hinges on a connection between Picard and Kamala that just doesn’t work. Again, there’s plenty of reasons for that. Not for nothing, Patrick Stewart is nearly a quarter-century older than Famke Janssen. The age gap creates more of a paternal vibe that adds to the awkwardness of the pairing and saps the duo of the desired chemistry.
Likewise, Janssen isn’t great here. She’s proven herself capable in other roles, so I don’t want to slate her too hard as a performer, but Kamala is written to be enchanting on a near supernatural level. Janssen is stiff and delivers almost every line in the same way. The writing does her no favors, with her dialogue either consisting of cheap flattery or sappy bromides, but she doesn’t make much out of even meager material.
Frankly, the show falls into the trap so much entertainment does when trying to create romance -- throwing a strikingly attractive person out there and hoping that will be enough. Suffice it to say, it isn’t. Janssen is certainly beautiful, but we’re more told than convincingly shown why she’s so alluring that no man can resist her. The episode largely deals with clichés, and that extends to the relationship with her and Picard.
In short, “The Perfect Mate” needs their connection to be the unfailing backbone of this story. The two need to be so drawn together, to feel such passion for one another, that it tempts both of them to give up the lives they’ve worked so hard for in order to be with one another, and it’s just not there. We only see a few cheap smiles and thudding romantic dialogue that attempts to explain why the pair would grow so attached to one another so quickly beyond a chemical reaction. If you don’t buy the romance -- and the episode gives you little reason to beyond “Kamala is hot” -- the whole thing falls apart.
That’s not to say there’s nothing redeemable in it. There’s the core of a good idea to the notion that after spending so much time with Jean-Luc, Kamala better understands the pull of duty, which prompts her to sacrifice her own happiness in the name of ending a war for the greater good. There’s insight, albeit of the hoary variety, to Kamala liking Picard because he seeks to know who she is not in relation to anyone else, and Picard feeling seen by someone who gets to know him beyond his uniform.
Some clever framing (often utilizing mirrors) highlights these dualities, and the personal vs. professional questions add weight to a paper-thin romance. I even like the subtle twist at the end to suggest that even steadfast Jean-Luc couldn’t completely resist his urges and broke his own rules to “bond” with Kamala.
But again, “The Perfect Mate” means for their final separation to be unbearably tragic, two people who yearn to be together torn apart by geopolitical necessity and a desire to fulfill duties drummed into them since they were children, balanced against a personal want that can’t quite measure up. It’s a slanted reflection of “Half a Life” on that front, but can’t come up with anywhere near as convincing a connection or as piercing a parting. There’s not enough substance to Jean-Luc and Kamala’s relationship, just quick-fire clichés and bog standard longing looks.
What’s ironic is that the episode manages to generate a much more convincing connection between Picard and Dr. Crusher in the same episode. When Jean-Luc commiserates with Beverly, confides in her over this situation, there’s a familiarity and intimacy to their interactions that blow any interaction with Kamala out of the water. These two individuals challenge one another. They support one another. They offer a kind ear and a shoulder to cry on, who come to the other as equals. There’s a story worth telling of two people pulled together by desire but kept apart by duty. “The Perfect Life” just selects the wrong players.
That’s because The relationship with Beverly plays like one between adults, between peers, crafted across dozens of episodes and forged over years. The relationship with Kamala plays like a dopey teenager romance forged in about twenty minutes. The one is the stuff passion and poignance are made of. The other is mere fodder for an intriguing, but ultimately disappointing episode.