I think she got better (and hotter looking) as the series went on. I liked seeing her in the final season of Voyager as well, when she was counseling Reg. And seeing her drunk in First Contact…
And I think it was a very good thing making a command officer out of her and giving her an actual commission. She and Riker had no place in the final episode of Enterprise, however.
Flame me all you want, she and Data had a great final scene in Generations.
“Counselor, I am happy to see Spot, yet I am crying. I believe my emotion chip is malfunctioning.” “No, Data, it’s working just fine.”
Well, she was written as an annoying person, I agree, but I thought she was a much more interesting character to watch as she interacted with the crew, certainly compared with Deanna.
The captain of Starfleet’s flagship has seated at his left a capable second in command and at his right, the ships fucking marraige/grief counselor? A mind reader would have been useful, but she’s only HALF mind reader. She never seemed to provide anything better than, “Captain I sense he’s hiding something, but I’m not entirely sure what.” Thanks, go get mixed up in Worf and Alexander’s buisness again, look after that hootchie mother of yours or bone ‘Number One’ again. There is nothing a stiff drink and a quick chat with Whoopie can’t solve.
I seem to remember she was moderately useful in sensing something or other on a couple of occasions when the rest of the crew weren’t even aware it was a lifeform they were dealing with and not just some energy field or crystalline resonator or whatever.
Actually SpazCat, if this is inspired by Hatin’ on Wesley to get the format for this thread right we’d have to answer the first question and then reveal two meaningless facts about ourselves. So one more time:
Do you like Counselor Troi: No
My favorite flavor is: banana
The celebrity pet I most admire is: ‘Twinkle’, Mary-Kate Olsen’s gold fish
Wait, is that the episode where some energy life form dupes Picard into becoming energy like him? And Picard spells his name out on a transporter console anyway? Or when Q lets Data feel humour (and didn’t the “emotion chip” ruin that bit of character) and Deanna tells us that Data was, y’know, having a laugh :rolleyes:
I think this would be a pretty weak thread to hang that accusation on. I don’t hate Deanna because she’s empathetic. I hate her because she’s incompetent. I hate her because I love the idea of a character whose sole purpose is compassion, and she ruined it by making empathy and compassion look useless and without merit. It is precisely because I value the strength of an open heart that I find her character so distasteful.
[B\Pepper Mill**, my SO, claims that she herself is the source for a fan meme regarding the Ships Counselor.
Upon first seeing a picture of her, in her deeply V-necked outfit (of which she seems to have the only one), she remarked loudly (at a Science Fiction convention) :
“What is SHE? Ship’s Cleavage?”
…and she’s heard that over and over again, at many conventions. “Deanna Troi – Ship’s Cleavage.”
I agree that Deanna Troi’s character was often under-utilized, but I didn’t hate her. If I had been writing for that show:
She would have been the smooth negotiator instead of just Picard. Yes, this would have weakened Picard’s character somewhat, but it would have given her a purpose.
Her empathy skills would have sometimes been used to reveal something that was not obvious.
She would have been an effecting commanding officer. How much more effective can you get than a leader who can sense your emotions?
Unfortunately, the writers chose to make her weak, which they didn’t have to do. Beverly Crusher was a strong character who wasn’t afraid to speak up when people were in danger. Troi sort of muddled along in the background. It’s very telling that they had to invent reasons to use her — excuses to center a show around her — instead of letting her be useful within the context of the show.
My circle of friends called her “Counselor Cleavage”.
It was her incredibly mannered way of acting which severely annoyed me (and yes the voice). Towards the end of the series she “loosened” up a bit, but that arguably was worse (her drunk scene in First Contact was cringeworthy). And yes she was a “Dunsel” to be sure.
I can’t give you the in-show reason but the behind the scenes reason was because they had no idea how to give her necessary face time. Her chair was originally meant for Data.
The more “Betazoid empathic powers” someone has, the worse their social skills. Troi is half-Betazoid and acts like your stereotypical bad therapist who couldn’t grab a clue with a tractor beam. Her mom is full-Betazoid and is an aging slut-wannabe you’d cross the street to avoid. Tam Elbrun has super-Betazoid powers, and it gives him an incapacitating disorder. What kind of empathy is that?
Trade her to the Ferengi for a case of scotch, and make Guinan ship’s counselor.
I didn’t hate her – her bazooms were a major part of what I liked about the show – but I certainly understand what people are saying. I often wondered if she really had any empath talents at all, or had just faked her way through : “I’m sensing that you were checking out my ass as I walked down the hall. I’m sensing that you are thinking about doing dirty things with my huge breasts.”
“Amazing Troi! You’re hired as ship’s empath!”
I really liked the first five seasons of TNG, but it hasn’t stood up well, and I think that the number of characters who don’t seem to have any real purpose is part of it. Reality Chuck probably has put forward a good explanation as to why that happened.
The thing is, they never managed to have the same kind of chemistry as Spock, Kirk, and McCoy again. They tried really hard to have Riker have a personality and failed. You see my problems with Troi - Uhura was more useful on the deck than her. Data was really interesting in some scenes and downright annoying in others. I liked Worf when he was badass, but other times he was kind of a pussy.
So basically I was watching TNG for Picard, which isn’t a problem, but I often felt he didn’t need a bridge crew.