The Perfect Mate (TNG episode)
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| Star Trek: TNG episode | |
| "The Perfect Mate" | |
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| Episode no. | |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 221 |
| Airdate | 1992-04-27 |
| Writer(s) | René Echevarria and Gary Perconte |
| Director | Cliff Bole |
| Guest star(s) | Famke Janssen as Kamala and Tim O'Connor as Amb. Briam |
| Year | 2368 |
| Stardate | 45761.3 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous | "Cost of Living" |
| Next | "Imaginary Friend" |
"The Perfect Mate" is a fifth-season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
The Enterprise is en route to a peace meeting between two species, the Krios and Valt Minor Systems. The Krios leader, Ambassador Briam, has brought a secret, special gift for the Valt leader, Ambassador Alrik. While going to get Briam, some Ferengi, adrift, are rescued by the Enterprise. It's no coincidence, though -- the Ferengi are there to steal the gift, and upon damaging the container, a beautiful woman named Kamala is released. Highly empathic, she learns the desires and behaviors of the men around her, and after a while, statically forms as the perfect mate to whomever man she molds.
Picard, very attracted to Kamala, places emotionless Data as her escort around the ship. Upon seeing her effects on the males on board, she resigns to her quarters. Picard gives in to spending time with her, and falls in love with the empath. By the time they reach Alrik, Kamala has statically formed as Picard's perfect mate, but also having Picard's sense of duty, goes with Alrik for the benefit of peace.
[edit] Krios naming conflict
The fourth-season episode "The Mind's Eye" also features a planet named Krios. In that episode, Krios is a rebellious Klingon colony, which would suggest that it is not the same planet depicted in "The Perfect Mate" (as it is unlikely that a planet ruled by an external empire would be able to wage its own war against another planet). However neither episode explicitly settles this naming conflict one way or the other. (Memory Alpha offers conflicting information on this matter. Its entry for Krios claims that that name refers only to the "Perfect Mate" planet, and that the "Mind's Eye" planet is actually named "Krios Prime". However its entry for "The Mind's Eye" contains notes that suggest the two planets Krios are, in fact, one and the same.)
[edit] Trivia
- Patrick Stewart and Famke Janssen would later work together again in the X-Men films, playing Professor Charles Xavier and Jean Grey, respectively. In both stories, Janssen's character is referred to as being a mutant.
- Kamala is the name of the female courtesan in Herman Hesse's novel, Siddhartha). It is the Hindi word for lotus.
[edit] External links
- The Perfect Mate article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
| Preceded by: "Cost of Living" |
Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes | Followed by: "Imaginary Friend" |
