Star Trek Randomized Rewatch: A Matter of Perspective

TNG "A Matter of Perspective"

Yes, this is the episode that features the famous Riker facepalm. (Almost as well-known as the Picard facepalm.) It's one of many moments where Riker is made to squirm, as he is accused of the murder of a Tanugan scientist, and must sit through hostile testimony at a hearing. The hook is, the testimony is dramatized on the holodeck, so the prosecution and defense can powerfully and immersively illustrate their sides of the story.

In Tanugan justice, the defendant is guilty until proven innocent, a familiar idea from Cardassian justice later in the franchise, and indeed already seen in this rewatch: It was also the modus operandi of the mid-21st Century courts from the post-atomic horror, as shown in "Encounter at Farpoint". Of course, by episode's end Riker is exonerated, with Picard and Geordi proving his innocence in a very technical, Trekkian way.

From an optics perspective, it should be noted that on the face of it, the episode features a woman (Manua Apgar, the dead scientist's wife) lying about an attempted rape to stack evidence against a man (Riker). While depicting this tends to be a bad look, there is more to it than that. When Manua's testimony is given, Deanna doesn't sense deception from Manua's perspective. So the truth, between a violently exaggerated version of Riker's womanizing tendencies, to Riker's account of warding off her advances, lies somewhere in between. Understanding is a three-edged sword: your side, my side, and the truth.

Ron Jones' score is instantly more interesting than those for the Season 4 and 7 episodes the Randomizer has recently featured. (That's largely because producer Rick Berman wanted the scores toned down about halfway through the show's run.) A regal motif accompanies an amusing scene where Data the art critic assesses the work of Picard's art class (who are painting a nude model). The episode's main theme is waftingly eerie, though admittedly not very pleasant to listen to.

A novel use of the holodeck makes for an engaging look at space justice. 7/10.