On the planet Solais V, two societies have been at war with each other for fifteen centuries! Why they suddenly wanted to negotiate a peace was never fully explained in the story, but that's neither here nor there. Both sides have requested a renowned peace negotiator to help them resolve the conflict, and he's been brought to the planet by the Enterprise and its crew. What's unusual about the negotiator is that he's deaf and mute, which obviously confounds Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his officers. Riva (Howie Seago), in order to communicate, travels with a trio of interpreters who are tuned into the nuances of his personality, in order to convey his thoughts into words. I have to admit, I thought the character of Riva was kind of creepy throughout the episode, seeming to imply an empathic but romantic connection with Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis), who for her part, maintained a wary association with him. This put her in good stead for the resolution of the story when upon first contact with the Solari, one of the violent members from one faction killed all three of Riva's interpreters! This was only assuaged by the fact that his companion immediately disintegrated him with a laser blast. Totally withdrawn and disconsolate at this point, and with no effective way to get his thoughts known, Riva was determined to return to his home planet and let the warring societies continue their animosity. With that, Counselor Troi and Commander Data (Brent Spiner) stepped up to convince the negotiator to rise above the situation and turn his disadvantage into an advantage. After that, it was a rather underwhelming resolution that found Riva returning to Solais V for a months long negotiation to put an end to the Solari conflict. A side story involved the possibility of Dr. Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) potentially offering a restoration of Lieutenant La Forge's (LeVar Burton) eyesight without the visor. That apparently, was a story left for another day.
Review of Loud as a Whisper
