Dinner Commandeered: Lwaxana Holds Picard
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Data drones through orbital mechanics until Deanna enters, and Lwaxana greets her with palpable relief, snapping the dinner’s focus away from Picard.
Sensing an exit, Picard rises to return to the bridge; Data offers to run interference, but Lwaxana cuts him off, insisting he’s needed elsewhere to keep Picard within her control.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Embarrassed and constrained — externally polite and controlled but privately eager to escape the inappropriate intimacy of Lwaxana's advances.
Picard rises from the meal, speaks stiffly and politely thanks Mrs. Troi for the dinner, states he must return to the bridge, and exits a little embarrassed — his physical departure marks a withdrawal from the social pressure.
- • Maintain decorum and express gratitude for the meal without encouraging further intimacy
- • Exit the intimate setting quickly and return to professional duties on the bridge
- • Personal boundaries should be respected even during diplomacy
- • Duty (the bridge) takes precedence over social entanglements
- • A polite, measured response will defuse awkwardness
Calm and observant with a brief note of uncertainty — using logic to assist socially while recognizing the human awkwardness he cannot fully interpret.
Data activates the computer screen and delivers a factual, literal astronomy diversion about co-orbital satellites, then offers to stay and continue entertaining the guest; he frowns, processes Mrs. Troi's rebuttal, and nods in acknowledgement when Picard and the captain prepare to leave.
- • Provide a polite, fact-based diversion to ease social tension
- • Support the captain and fulfill social duties without causing offense
- • Informational diversion can reduce social awkwardness
- • He should be of practical help to the captain and to guests
- • Obedience to social cues and crew priorities is correct behavior
Disapproving and protective — annoyed at her mother's breach of decorum and worried about diplomatic fallout for the captain and the ship.
Deanna enters the quarters, registers the exchange, and looks at her mother with a hard, accusing stare — her presence reframes the situation from embarrassment to familial rebuke and professional concern.
- • Curtail her mother's flirtatious behavior and preserve the captain's dignity
- • Ensure the ship's diplomatic mission and reputation are not harmed by personal antics
- • Public displays by her mother can damage professional relationships
- • Her role requires protecting both crew welfare and diplomatic protocol
- • Direct, clear expression of disapproval is necessary in private crises
Neutral and attentive — performing ritualized service without personal comment, his actions heighten the scene's formal absurdity.
Homn, silent and dutiful, strikes the large ceremonial chime at the moment Mrs. Troi takes a bite — the bright, crystalline tone punctuates the awkward interval and reinforces the ritualized cadence of Lwaxana's dinner style.
- • Support Mrs. Troi's social performance through ritual cues
- • Maintain his role as a composed attendant to reduce friction
- • Ritual and ceremony are important social instruments
- • Serving Mrs. Troi requires silence and precise, understated action
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The co-orbital satellites are invoked verbally and visually by Data as a precise, technical image intended to shift the tone of the conversation; they serve as an intellectual counterbalance to the emotional heat at the table.
The Betazoid ceremonial chime is struck by Homn at a precise moment, its crystalline tone slicing through conversation and accentuating the ritualized, slightly absurd cadence of Lwaxana's dinner — it functions as both comic punctuation and social cue.
The Betazoid dessert is a tactile prop in the scene — Mrs. Troi innocently takes a bite while continuing her flirtatious remarks. The dessert reinforces domestic intimacy and provides a physical beat for Homn's ceremonial chime.
Mrs. Troi's Quarters computer screen is activated by Data to display astronomy diagrams and the fact pattern about co-orbital satellites. It functions as a social diversion and logical counterpoint to Lwaxana's emotional theatrics, momentarily shifting attention from flirtation to neutral fact.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Mrs. Troi's Quarters provides a small, candlelit domestic stage that collapses diplomatic formality into intimate theatricality. The room's warmth and closeness intensify the awkwardness of Lwaxana's pursuit, restrict a graceful exit, and make the captain's withdrawal feel like a public embarrassment rather than a private choice.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
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Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"DATA: ... and at this point, the second co-orbital satellite avoids a collision with the first."
"PICARD: No, as a matter of fact, I need to get back to the bridge myself."
"MRS. TROI: Little One, the captain is every bit as charming as your father was."