The Enterprise is hosting a prestigious archaeology conference, and among the attendees is the roguish Vash, with whom Picard had a romantic adventure on Risa. But the relationship beings to show strain when Vash learns that the captain hasn't told anyone about her, and Picard learns that she's really there chasing an illegal score. At just this wrong moment, Q arrives on the scene, troubled by the debt he owes Picard after their last encounter. When Picard rebuffs his "advice" to cut Vash out of his life, Q decides to show the captain what one risks in love, by tossing the crew into a Robin Hood adventure.
The core idea for this episode, a love triangle between Picard, Vash, and Q, came as a pitch from an outside writer. But the writing staff then began to develop the concept themselves, soon deciding that the best approach would be to place all the characters inside some classic tale of love. Staff writer Ira Steven Behr initially suggested a setting of Camelot, but fellow writer Brannon Braga prevailed on them to use Robin Hood -- then quite in fashion thanks to the new Kevin Costner film. Piller gave Behr the writing assignment, as he was a huge fan of Robin Hood.
In particular, Behr loved the classic, swashbuckling films starring Errol Flynn. And it's this vision of Robin Hood that's strongly evoked in the finished episode. There's a cinematic scope to the hour, helped by one day of forest location shooting at the Descanso Gardens, and rather impressive castle sets expanded with some foreground in-camera tricks. The costumes, the swagger of the climactic sword fight -- all pure Errol Flynn.
This episode is tremendous fun. Worf gets some of his best one-liners in the entire run of the show, from "Nice legs. For a human." to the unforgettable "Sir, I protest! I am not a merry man!" There's also the moment where he smashes Geordi's instrument with a mumbled apology, a specific homage to Animal House that Behr threw in for laughs.
But the fun starts well before our characters arrive in Sherwood Forest. Indeed, even before Q appears, we're well on our way to a solid episode as Vash interacts with the crew. Beverly's playful inquisitiveness is delicious. Riker immediately noticing Vash in Ten Forward and making a failed pass at her is a wonderful joke at his expense. And the moment when Picard steps on to the bridge to find Vash literally curled up in the captain's chair is simply priceless -- as is his awkward unwillingness to kiss her in front of the crew.
This episode really marks the pinnacle of Q as a comedic character (on The Next Generation, at least). He started off quite serious, and he would become so again in later appearances, but here he's essentially a genie, quipping about how Picard is "the most impossible person to buy a gift for," remarking that he should have appeared as a woman now that he knows the captain's weakness, and whisking away Vash at the end of the episode like The Doctor with a new Companion.
But there is one way in which the episode misfires: in its unfortunate chauvinism. Vash at least acquits herself fairly well. Thrust into the role of Maid Marian, she is keen to save herself rather than be rescued by Picard, and is well on her way to doing it by the time he arrives. (Indeed, without Picard's interference, it's likely she would have been just fine by the end of Q's 24-hour game.)
But poor Dr. Crusher and Counselor Troi don't fare nearly so well. If it were just the "sad trombone" moment of Troi shooting Data with an arrow, you could forgive the schtick. But in the big assault on the castle, while everyone else is fighting with swords, Crusher and Troi take out guards by smashing crockery over their heads. Shameful. And to appreciate the extent of the shame, you should know that Gates McFadden and Marina Sirtis were the only two members of the cast who actually had extensive sword training earlier in their careers. Director Cliff Bole defended this sexist staging by claiming that the setting was the 12th century, and saying "I can't change history." But Robin Hood didn't have any "merry women." Given the conceit that they're in Robin's band, they should have been used in the fight equitably. At least Marina Sirtis didn't seem bothered ultimately by her role in the story;she thought it was a fun episode, and observed in later interviews that "the writing was really good on that show."
Other observations:
- Another big fan of of the episode was show runner Michael Piller, who thought this a good example of why the fourth season was stronger in his mind than the season that followed. Personally, I don't recall it that way (though we will see in time), but he liked the more eclectic mix of episodes, noting that "each week you were never quite sure what was going to come on."
- It's a big episode for Picard's hobbies. First, he's giving a keynote address to a group of noted archaeologists (even though he thinks of himself as only an "enthusiastic amateur"), and then later his fencing comes in handy as he duels as Robin Hood.
- Vash is a lefty, as we see when she writes her warning to Riker.
- Jonathan Frakes received a cut eye during filming, when a sword broke his prop quarterstaff. He was immediately rushed to the hospital, still dressed as Little John.
- During Vash's restless pacing in her first scene as Maid Marian, actress Jennifer Hetrick actually did trip over her own dress. The producers chose to leave the moment in, figuring that Vash would not actually be comfortable in such clothing.
- Some sci-fi trivia: actor Clive Revill, who plays Sir Guy of Gisbourne, provided the original voice of the Emperor in The Empire Strikes Back (before George Lucas later replaced both him and the on screen woman-with-superimposed-chimpanzee-eyes with Ian McDiarmid, the Emperor in all subsequent films).
- Relationship trivia: Patrick Stewart was dating guest star Jennifer Hetrick (Vash) throughout the filming of the fourth season. Some sources say he was even engaged to her at the time this episode was made, though the couple never actually married.
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