Episode Report Card Keckler: C- | 1097 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to YesterTrek
By Keckler | Season 4 | Episode 22 | Aired on 2005.05.13
ENT. Galley. Riker and Reed roll dough together as Reed talks about Trip. "He was anything but tactful -- what his countrymen might refer to as a 'hick' -- and for the life of me, I couldn't understand what Captain Quantum saw in him," Reed natters. Riker tells him to roll the dough thinner. "Oh, right," Reed says distractedly. Riker wants to hear more about Trip. "Well, that's about it, really. I used to think first impressions meant something. I guess it's not always true. To be honest, I didn't think he was going to last a month -- old friend of the captain's or not," Reed thinks. His face gets pensive. "And now, I can't imagine what these last ten years would have been like without him," Reed says, gazing up at Riker. Man, I hope Chef has some Corned Beef Slash in the larder, because Reed's hungry for it! Riker asks, "Did you ever find yourself attracted to him?" BAH! So good! I mean, it was an Ironic Cutaway and now we see that he's actually asking Hoshi, but the implication that he was asking Reed was all there. And it was ALL thirty-five percent Bermaga, too. Hee. Hoshi also plays with the dough. "Maybe a little," she says. "I never really thought he was my type -- didn't even graduate college. He learned about engineering working on boat engines, I think." You think? Hoshi, it's been TEN YEARS! Hoshi says that Trip didn't care much about languages. "He could barely speak English," she laughs, "but he did have his moments. I still find him kind of cute." She orders Riker to keep that to himself. "Always do," Riker promises.
Next, Riker talks to Mayweather about Trip and finds out that Trip and Quantum have known each other twenty years and some scuba diving has been involved. Riker tells Mayweather to ease up on the dough. Mayweather apologizes and says, "They've got a shorthand they use sometimes -- comes from spending so much time together." They do? Since when? We never saw this? ARRGH -- SHOW, don't TELL! "Did Trip ever take a swing at Picard?" Riker asks. D'oh! "At who?" Mayweather boggles. "Quantum, Captain Quantum," Riker restates. Not that Mayweather knows of: "When push comes to shove, Commander Tucker usually ends up doing the right thing."
Next, Riker works with Phlox who predictably has fun with the dough. Ew, it's looking gray now -- what is that dough for? I don't want to eat it -- it's probably all tough and glutenized. Phlox says that Trip pushes himself hard and he's had to order him to relax several times. Phlox mentioned the Nymphomaniacal Neural Node Nudging, and Riker realizes that's when Trip and T'Pol got together. "One time, he became so exhausted, I had to demand he get six hours sleep -- he negotiated it down to four!" Phlox chortles. Riker laughs with Phlox. "So, did he follow your orders?" Riker asks. Phlox shrugs that Trip didn't have a choice. "You always have a choice," Riker says. Interesting that Riker never gets Quantum in the galley. Too much star power for one small screen? I can't believe that of Bakula or Frakes -- not from what I've heard about both of them. Big names, yes, but not big egos.