2.05 Loud as a Whisper

Rating: 2.5

The Enterprise escorts Riva, a famous negotiator, to bargain for peace among two warring peoples. Riva is deaf and communicates completely through his accompanying ‘chorus’ of three people. When the chorus is killed, Riva must learn to communicate without them.

Comments

Chief O’Brien (Colm Meaney) makes a brief appearance

This episode starts strangely. Picard, Worf, and Troi beam down to the planet into an empty room and are greeted by no one. They look around, and, suddenly, the scene fades and the credits start! No dramatic music to indicate drama or tension – just an empty room. Mistake?

Nits

When Picard speaks, Data signs for him. Data signs ‘one’ (by holding up one finger) long before Picard says, ‘One’. Then Picard continues speaking, but Data just keeps holding up that one finger!

Pulaski sure gives out information in dribs and drabs. First she tells Geordi that he could have ‘eyes’ that would perform the same function as the visor. Upon further questioning, she admits there would be a 20% decrease in his eyesight. Then she mentions that he could have normal eyesight – and in fact she has performed this operation twice before. Geordi has a think about that – and, after a while, Pulaski mentions that there are risks and that it is a ‘one-shot’ bargain. Maybe she should prepare some written material for Geordi to study.

For his dinner date with Troi, Riva only brings ‘libido-man’. Wouldn’t it seem that for him to be a more interesting dinner companion, he would like to speak with all his voices? And then, libido-man starts spouting what sounds to me like poetry: "Allow the surroundings to flow over us, to dwell on each separate part – to allow it to fill you." Yet earlier, libido-man interrupted arty-man to complain that he was long-winded and poetic. Or is poetry okay for libido-man as long as its sole purpose is to woo Troi? J

Currently, sign language is an extremely important tool in understanding indigenous cultures (and communicating with deaf people). It seems amazing to me that no one on board the Enterprise knows it except for Data.

Riva says, "Put the table over there" and gestures to an area. Riker then tells Geordi to beam the table down, but doesn’t tell him where to beam it to. It could have ended up on the wrong side of the cave.

Memorable Moments

•    When Riva says, "And do not respond, even if you are provoked", Riker turns around and looks at Worf. Worf does a great double take.

Quotable Quotes

Riker: You will be careful, sir.
Picard: Oh, cluck cluck cluck, number one.
Riker: Sir?
Picard: You’re being a mother hen.

"You read me well enough to sense how I feel about you and what you do on this ship, but I just wanted to say the words: Thank you. Well done."
- Picard praising Troi