Ilarian ambassadors arrive on board the Enterprise on a diplomatic mission, but their real motive isn't revealed until the end of the story. Not knowing what human emotions are all about, two of the Ilarians who remain on the vessel are escorted by officers. Ambassador Loquel is shown around by Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Ambassador Byleth (Michael Harris) specifically asks for Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn). Voval (Eric Pierpoint) had the assignment of bringing Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) back to the Ilarian home planet for the assumed diplomatic mission. While en route, their shuttlecraft malfunctioned, and the vessel crashed on an M-class planet, with Picard leaving the vessel to find help for the injured and near death Voval.
Aboard the Enterprise, Counselor Troi is soon worn out by Loquel's voracious appetite, especially for sweet desserts that he's never had before. Byleth on the other hand, is nothing but surly toward Worf, and you know how that can infuriate the Klingon. When Worf can't take it anymore, he hands Byleth a serious beat down, but surprisingly, it seems like the Ilarian actually welcomed it. Meanwhile, Picard finds himself being tended to by an attractive woman on the far-flung planet, who stated that she's been marooned there for seven years. When she expresses her love for the Captain, he tactfully but firmly informs her that it's only the situation they find themselves in that had given rise to her feelings of attraction. Disappointed, it appears that she's ready to go off and harm herself, but the Captain sorts things out when Voval suddenly appears uninjured, suggesting they look for the woman named Anna (Barbara Williams).
The upshot of all this is that the Ilarians, unaccustomed to human emotions, were all in the process of examining such traits as pleasure, antagonism and love, with each ambassador targeting an Enterprise officer for how they reacted under the given conditions to elicit the responses they were each attempting to discover and understand. The story's most humorous moment occurred when Worf complained about Byleth being demanding, temperamental and rude, prompting Commander Data (Brent Spiner) to remark that Worf shared all of the same qualities, and to use those similarities to build a relationship!
Aboard the Enterprise, Counselor Troi is soon worn out by Loquel's voracious appetite, especially for sweet desserts that he's never had before. Byleth on the other hand, is nothing but surly toward Worf, and you know how that can infuriate the Klingon. When Worf can't take it anymore, he hands Byleth a serious beat down, but surprisingly, it seems like the Ilarian actually welcomed it. Meanwhile, Picard finds himself being tended to by an attractive woman on the far-flung planet, who stated that she's been marooned there for seven years. When she expresses her love for the Captain, he tactfully but firmly informs her that it's only the situation they find themselves in that had given rise to her feelings of attraction. Disappointed, it appears that she's ready to go off and harm herself, but the Captain sorts things out when Voval suddenly appears uninjured, suggesting they look for the woman named Anna (Barbara Williams).
The upshot of all this is that the Ilarians, unaccustomed to human emotions, were all in the process of examining such traits as pleasure, antagonism and love, with each ambassador targeting an Enterprise officer for how they reacted under the given conditions to elicit the responses they were each attempting to discover and understand. The story's most humorous moment occurred when Worf complained about Byleth being demanding, temperamental and rude, prompting Commander Data (Brent Spiner) to remark that Worf shared all of the same qualities, and to use those similarities to build a relationship!