There are a couple of plot holes in this episode, as another reviewer mentioned. Even so, it is one of my favorite ST:TNG episodes.
Howie Seago plays Riva, an extremely successful, deaf, peace negotiator. Very self-confident, but at the same time likeable. Piccard, Worf and Troi meet him, and are strangely unaware that he is deaf, and they almost act as if they had never met a deaf person before.
Riva has a chorus that speaks for him: one of the voices is the "scholar/artist," one is "harmony/balance," and the third is "warrior/Adonis." Riva is immediately attracted to Troi, and uses his "warrior/Adonis" voice to speak with her (the other members of the chorus speak to the other members of the crew).
They head to a planet that has had civil war for 15 centuries, and whose people look like cavemen. Unfortunately, one of these is against the peace process, and tries to assassinate Riva, but kills his chorus instead. Riva and the away team immediately return to the Enterprise.
The death of his chorus throws Riva into a tailspin. He is bereaved, his confidence is severely shaken, he is angry. He reacts as anyone would, and wants nothing more to do with the warring planet or its bloodthirsty people. He is also isolated, as his chief method of communication has been destroyed. At this point Piccard does something, which made me uncomfortable watching it: he grabs Riva by the head and shouts at him that he is not alone. Letting him know that he is not alone is fine; but I felt that grabbing him and shouting at him was inappropriate.
Data learns sign language so that Troi and Piccard can communicate with Riva. He is still unwilling to move forward with the negotiations, so Troi says she will try. The ensuing exchange between her and Riva is the best part of the episode, and a good solution is reached.
Howie Seago is a pleasure to watch in this excellent episode.
Howie Seago plays Riva, an extremely successful, deaf, peace negotiator. Very self-confident, but at the same time likeable. Piccard, Worf and Troi meet him, and are strangely unaware that he is deaf, and they almost act as if they had never met a deaf person before.
Riva has a chorus that speaks for him: one of the voices is the "scholar/artist," one is "harmony/balance," and the third is "warrior/Adonis." Riva is immediately attracted to Troi, and uses his "warrior/Adonis" voice to speak with her (the other members of the chorus speak to the other members of the crew).
They head to a planet that has had civil war for 15 centuries, and whose people look like cavemen. Unfortunately, one of these is against the peace process, and tries to assassinate Riva, but kills his chorus instead. Riva and the away team immediately return to the Enterprise.
The death of his chorus throws Riva into a tailspin. He is bereaved, his confidence is severely shaken, he is angry. He reacts as anyone would, and wants nothing more to do with the warring planet or its bloodthirsty people. He is also isolated, as his chief method of communication has been destroyed. At this point Piccard does something, which made me uncomfortable watching it: he grabs Riva by the head and shouts at him that he is not alone. Letting him know that he is not alone is fine; but I felt that grabbing him and shouting at him was inappropriate.
Data learns sign language so that Troi and Piccard can communicate with Riva. He is still unwilling to move forward with the negotiations, so Troi says she will try. The ensuing exchange between her and Riva is the best part of the episode, and a good solution is reached.
Howie Seago is a pleasure to watch in this excellent episode.