Search
Cookie Usage Statistics Colour Key Sudden Death Monthly Poll Caption Comp eMail Author Shops
Ships Fleets Weaponry Species People Timelines Calculators Photo Galleries
Stations Design Lineage Size Charts Battles Science / Tech Temporal Styling Maps / Politics
Articles Reviews Lists Recreation Search Site Guide What's New Forum
Bioship Planetbuster Assault Ship Fighter Emissary Kendra Pagh Prophet Solar Sail Additional Cube Probe Singularity Ship Sphere Tactical Cube Transwarp Prototype Yacht Dreadnought Freighter Galor Hideki Keldon Breen Frigate Attack Ship Battlecruiser Battleship Dreadnought Karemma Ship Air Tram Akira Ambassador Antares Centaur Challenger Cheyenne Class F Shuttle Constellation Constitution Constitution Daedalus Danube Defender Defiant Delta Flyer Endgame Nova Endgame Shuttle Excelsior Excelsior II Excelsior Variant 1 Federation Class Raider Scout Trainer Freedom Gagarin Gage Galaxy Galaxy Yacht Griffin Hermes Holo Ship Intrepid Kelvin Luna Miranda Nebula New Orleans Niagara Norway Nova Oberth Olympic Orbital Shuttle Peregrine Polaris Prometheus Ptolemy Raven Refit Galaxy Reliant Rigel Ross Saber Sagan Saladin Shelley Sovereign Sovereign Yacht Soyuz Springfield Steamrunner Sutherland Sydney Travel Pod Trident Type 3 Shuttle Type 6 Shuttle Type 7 Shuttle Type 8 Shuttle Type 9 Shuttle Type 10 Shuttle Type 11 Shuttle Type 14 Shuttle Type 15 Shuttle Type 17 Shuttle Type 18 Shuttle Warp Sled Wells Work Bee Yeager Additional D'Kora Additional Ares Conestoga DY-100 Intrepid J Class Neptune NX Class NX Test Ship Saturn V SS Enterprise The Phoenix Type 0 Shuttle USS Enterprise Valiant Y Class Additional Raider Predator Additional B'rel D'tai D-5 D-7 Early Bird of Prey K'pak K'T'Inga Bird of Prey Cargo Ship Tanker Negh'var Raptor Regency Voodieh Vor'cha Additional D'Deridex Early Bird of Prey Narada Norexan Bird of Prey D7 Science ship Scout Shuttle Scimitar Scorpion Additional Battleship Collector Destroyer Additional Cell Ship Module Ship Salvage Ship Additional Observation Ship War Ship Additional D'Kyr Sh'Raan Suurok Vahklas Lander Additional Aquatic Cruiser Arboreal Ship Insectoid Assault Ship Insectoid Fighter Insectoid Warship Primate Ship Primate Shuttle Reptilian Warship Additional Dauntless Doomsday Machine Kumari class Angosian Ship Cravic Ship Yonada Hirogen Ship Husnock Ship Krenim Patrol Krenim Timeship Krenim Warship Malon Ship Mawasi Cruiser Eymorg Ship Nihydron Ship Pralor Ship Promellian Battlecruiser Tarellian Ship Early Tholian Ship V'Ger Whale Probe Varro Ship Zahl Ship Additional

The Outrageous Okona

ReviewImagesDatapointsQuotesMorals
TimelinePreviousNextYour View
Title :
The Outrageous Okona
Series :
Rating :
2
Overall Ep :
29
First Aired :
12 Dec 1988
Stardate :
42402.7
Director :
Year :
Writers :
Season Ep :
2 x 04
Main Cast :
Guest Cast :
YATI :
When the comic mentions a briefcase shaped like a fish, Data refers to it as an 'amphibian' briefcase. Fish are not amphibians.
Great Moment :
I like Okona, he's a welcome change from the usual stuffy Federation types.
Body Count :
Zero.
Factoid :
William O. Campbell also played the Rocketeer in the movie of the same name, and was the second choice for the part of Will Riker in TNG! The transporter operator he lusted after was played by Teri Hatcher, shortly before she landed the role as Lois Lane in "The New Adventures of Superman".

Plotline

The Enterprise-D is traversing the Omega Sagitta system when it encounters a Class-9 cargo ship piloted by one Captain Thadiun Okona, an independant trader. Okona's ship, the Erstwhile, has a malfunctioning guidance system and Captain Picard offers help with the repairs. Okona proves to be a charmer who is an instant hit with the ship's female population. He chats to Data about humour, prompting Data to wonder whether it would be possible for him to master this field of Human behaviour. Whilst Okona heads to engineering to oversee the repair of his guidance module, Data heads to a holodeck and calls up an image of a Human comedian to try and learn how to be funny.

The Enterprise is approached by another vessel. Although technically a warship, the ship is tiny and primitive enough to be completely harmless. Nevertheless the ship's captain, Debin, demands that Picard hand over Okona, who he claims is a wanted criminal on his planet of Altec. As Picard talks to him another vessel arrives, similarly weak. Captain Kushell, from the Straleb also demands that Okona be handed over to him as he is a wanted man.

Picard has Okona brought to the bridge - with Worf having to practically drag him there - to discuss the sitation. Okona denies any criminal acts, and a furious Debin reveals that Okona has impregnated his daughter, Yanar. Kushell in turn claims that Okona stole the Jewel of Thesia from his planet.

Realising that whoever he hands Okona to, the other Captain will start firing, Picard decides to release his guest to go his own way as soon as his ship is repaired. But after a talk with Wesley about his rootless life, okona decides that for once he is going to face the consequences of his actions, and decides to hand himself over. Picard invites both captains aboard the Enterprise and in a heated discussion, it emerges that Okona is guilty neither of theft nor sexual infidelity. In fact Kushell's son Benzan is the father of Yanar's child, and Okona was carrying the jewel to her as an engagement gift from him. Although the two Captains are initially reluctant to accept the relationship between their children, they come to accept it and start making plans for the upcoming wedding.

Data, meanwhile, has been attempting to exercise his comedy skills - but to no avail. His efforts to make his shipmates laugh end in failure, so Guinan suggests he perform a comedy routine in front of an audience on the holodeck. This seems to be going well at first, until Data realises that the computer-generated audience will quite literally laugh at anything, funny or not. The android reluctantly ends the program and admits defeat.

With Okona and the two warships heading their own ways, the Enterprise-D continues on course.

Analysis

A bit of a mixed bag, really. Okona is an interesting character and the Enterprise-D crew do tend to look a little stuffy next to him, as intended. But the story involving his pursuers really doesn't gel. It's nice to see Picard having to deal with a diplomatic situation, where he has all the firepower on his side but is restrained from using it. But really, it all seems to be a bit of a fuss about nothing. I know that was the intent, to have the mighty starship having to deal with a tiny problem, but it really just doesn't work that well.

Data starts his exploration of comedy, and that makes for a nice B-story. Spiner does his usual bang-up job as Data, and manages to be both funny and ultimately sad.
© Graham & Ian Kennedy Page views : 48,918 Last updated : 24 Nov 2014