94 – Qpid

Grade: B

Summary

Picard is to give a keynote address at the Federation archaeology symposium. Suddenly, Vash appears in Picard’s quarters. To make matters worse, Q arrives and tells Picard that he has come to repay a debt.

Commentary

This rather silly episode is one that I never tire of watching. I really enjoy a good swashbuckler every now and then, and this episode definitely has that part down pat. Patrick Stewart gives an excellent performance as Robin Hood, and I always like Vash and Q. Along with Lt Barclay, the three of them are my favorite recurring guest characters.

One thing that really makes this episode work well is all the great bits of humor that have been placed here and there. I love it when Worf says “I am not a merry man!” and after he takes Geordi’s mandolin and breaks it against a tree, he deadpans “sorry.”

It’s not a perfect story by any means. For one thing, why would a starship captain even be qualified to be a keynote speaker at an archaeology symposium? Attend the symposium, sure, but keynote speaker? That has always confused me about this episode, but whatever.

As I mentioned earlier, Vash and Q are some of my favorite Star Trek characters, and in this episode, we really see how much alike they really are. John DeLancie does a fantastic job, as usual, and it’s always going to be a good episode when he’s involved in it.

There’s not much sci-fi in this episode, but you may enjoy it anyway.

Of Note

Clive Revill, who plays Sir Guy of Gisbourne, also played the voice of the Emperor in the original Empire Strikes Back. This was changed later when George Lucas re-released the DVD of the original films with Clive Revill’s voice replaced by Ian McDiarmind. He also replaced some of the dialogue, but if you can see the “de-specialized” editions, you’ll easily recognize Revill’s voice.