Qpid (#ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 4, Episode 20) Q and Vash and Robin Hood, Somehow

Rewatching ST:TNG

Who doesn’t like seeing stuffy Picard react to the quirky mayhem caused by the unpredictable Q? Who didn’t like seeing stuffy Picard react to the quirky mayhem caused by the unpredictable Vash? Certainly not the cigar-chomping network executive who burst into the TNG writers’ room and barked, “I want a Vash and Q mash-up script on my desk by 9am tomorrow or you’re all going back on the bus to Iowa!!”

Picard, drafting a stuffy keynote speech for an archaeology conference to be held aboard the Enterprise (because of course it would be), is comically unsettled when asking Troi for advice, and is comically unsettled to find Vash in his quarters. The next morning, he’s comically unsettled when Vash and Dr. Crusher start comparing notes.

I rather enjoyed the comically unsettling scene where Riker makes a pass at Vash, but her curling up like a cat in the captain’s chair and scolding Picard during a reception each earned a face-palm from me.

Sherwood Forest, for some reason! Ha! Data with a monk’s tonsure! Ha, ha! Troi accidentally shooting him with an arrow! Ha, ha ha! Troi and Crusher smashing pots over the heads of bad guys! Ha, ha, ha, ha! See, it’s funny, right?

The first Vash episode played out like a “real” archaeological escapade that just happened to be full of cheesy adventure movie tropes. Patrick Stewart and charming guest star Jennifer Hetrick do recapture their chemistry; however, the silly premise just didn’t hold my interest.

Worf stands in for all of us when he grabs a lute from LaForge and smashes it against a tree.