• SSTF@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Starfleet’s top therapist when she loses emotion reading and actually has to do therapy: “Oh god, oh fuck.”

    • VindictiveJudge@startrek.website
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      1 year ago

      I suspect she never learned how to read faces or tell tones of voice apart, which is why has so many problems when her empathic powers are supressed. She can sense sarcasm through an opaque soundproof wall, so why would she need to know that people sound different when they’re being sarcastic?

      • SSTF@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The same episode also did show her in a session when she still had her powers. She was giving rote, generic advice to a crew member that was obviously not impressed.

        The whole episode was her learning to do her job. Which is odd, the empathic power should have been a tool, not just something she sat around with.

        In conclusion, Troi is an underwhelming therapist, and that’s concerning since she’s on the flagship of the fleet.

        • whofearsthenight@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          I don’t think that any character got shittier writing than her, with the exception of maybe Yar’s death, and even then I think you still have to give it to Troi because she’s got many more episodes. But her episodes are the ones that are the most consistently bad. Data’s are mostly great, Worf’s also pretty solid, Geordi has some stinkers mostly because the only thing they could figure out to do with him is have him lust after an unavailable woman, Crusher only has a few that are hers and honorable mention for one of my bottom five TNG eps of all time, Sub Rosa, but Troi’s are pretty much all stinkers. The only one that I can think of off of the top of my head that I like is the one where she decides to take the command test.

            • FaeDrifter@midwest.social
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              1 year ago

              Yeahhhhhh, historically, the original Treks just did NOT understand how to properly utilize FEEEMAALE characters, from the writers to ahem the producers. coughfuckbermancough

              TNG: awful writing for the women

              DS9 and VOY: amazing writing, some of the best women characters in TV history

              ENT: nosedive back to awful writing for women

              DSC: awful writing for everyone

              PIC: tiny bit of redemption for the women mistreated in TNG

              LD&SNW: modern and consistently non-terronly writing

        • BeigeAgenda@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          Troi counselling with her powers: Suck it up lean to live without.

          Troi counselling without her powers: I don’t know just get better or whatever… I’m a failure!

      • StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website
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        1 year ago

        Great take. How many people who are not deaf or hard of hearing really read nonverbal communication as well as they do (excepting hearing kids raised in Deaf families).

      • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        [off topic] In the comic version, evil Barclay was the most successful at infiltrating Star Fleet. People were so used to ignoring Reg that he could do just about anything.

    • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      “They’ve had it going on, I’m just stuck in the middle. Shit’s awkward.”

      (Why have I never realized that until now.)

    • WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      They should’ve had an episode where they go to the Mirror Universe and for the rest of the series Troi would be replaced by her mirrorverse counterpart which would basically be Marina Sirtis playing herself.

      • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I’d assume the the Mirror Universe version of a counselor is a psychological torture expert; someone who can brainwash any subject.

    • Mrkawfee@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Yeah but no one knows what she’s all about. One moment she’s on familiar terms with Q, the next she’s popping up in 19th century San Francisco . Like who the heck is this bartender?

  • Norgur@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Honestly, I never understood why a counselor would be on that spot. A linguist? Why not. Historian? Absolutely biologist/chemist? Understandable. Counselor? Nah-uh

    • paintbucketholder@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Regular counselor? Sure, doesn’t need to be on the bridge.

      Mind-reading empath, though? Massive strategic advantage in any encounter, friend or foe! Put her on the bridge!

      • whofearsthenight@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Indeed. It doesn’t happen too often, but the writers occasionally remembered to do something useful with her empath powers, like in the Samaritan ep where she’s the first one to clock that the Pakled’s are up to something. Ofc this comes a few minutes after Worf says something like “bro we really want to send Geordi over there?” and Riker’s like “look at these dipshits he’s gonna be fine” and then Troi is the one that figures it out. So must have been opposite day in the writer’s room or something.

        • Ser Salty@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          To be fair, stating the obvious, which she does quite a lot, is also quite advantageous. Like, sure, that Klingon Captain seems angry and insulted, but what if he’s just a really good actor trying to deceive a Federation ship? When Troi goes “Yup, he’s angry and insulted” that would basically be the go ahead to assume he’s telling the truth and act accordingly.

          But TNG writers usually only seemed to remember there was an empath on the bridge at the last second, so they just wrote in she can’t sense anything

        • LastYearsPumpkin@feddit.ch
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          1 year ago

          Show was written in a time before streaming, before people could record TV. She was there to explain to the audience, who were assumed to not be aware of the previous episodes, who the bad guys are.

          • verity_kindle@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Good point! I had VHS tapes that had been recorded over too much…I often missed half an ep, because I set the timer wrong or I already had a good one and I tried to record a second on the same tape.

        • orbitz@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          The stories which her empathy abilities are more useful don’t make it to the show unfortunately, they’re over too quickly. That’s my theory.

      • fleeb@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        Yeah. She’s an empath that can size up the adversary over a FaceTime call. Pretty awesome advantage!

    • howsetheraven@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Uh what? Historian? The history of…where no man has gone before? Why would a biologist/chemist be on the bridge? They would be in a lab where they could actually employ their skills. Not saying Counselor is the best, but it’s pretty obvious it’s because of her abilities, not her title.

    • admiralteal@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      One would think that it is important for a ship’s counselor to remain pretty detached from the day-to-day decision-making of the crew. That it would be a very bad idea for the counselor to be regularly fraternizing with what are basically her patients.

      I wonder how this works in, for example, the Navy.

    • verity_kindle@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      She gotta handle the very high achievers of the flagship- they all have neuroses. It would be like managing a class of potential CEOs. Riker has typical dad issues, La Forge has anxiety, Crusher has…french and scottish issues…

    • Haus@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Once upon a time this was a subject that came up on the bridges of Navy ships.