‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘The Perfect Mate’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

It has often been said that we will never properly understand a person until we’ve walked a mile in their shoes and there is a lot of truth to that particular statement. Because we only understand the environment that we grow up and reside within and that definitely narrows our world view to the experiences around us. But the plus side of living in our modern world, is that we can in fact, travel and work to experience how others live and function around the globe and of course, stories are there to help us walk a mile in a different set of shoes as well. Since voices in print or on the screen can help to educate us on experiences we will never know and that’s another reason why Star Trek: The Next Generation is such an iconic and important series… since it often offered up stories that tried to help us to understand the diversity of the world, as evidenced by its next episode.
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For ‘The Perfect Mate’ is a story that sees the crew of the Enterprise preparing to take part in peace negotiations between two warring worlds, Krios and Valt Minor. And while those preparations are taking place, an unfortunate run in with two awful Ferengi, reveals to the crew that the Kriosian gift to the Valtese, is that of a woman named Kamala. Who was genetically crafted to be the perfect mate and her arranged marriage to the Valtese delegation is what will bring about peace since she is the perfect bridge to two warring worlds, and well… while her side love affair with Captain Picard is of note and powerful, since it shows us Jean-Luc’s softer side and reminds us of his sense to duty, it is what Kamala represents and what she goes through in this tale that has relevance and gravity in regard to how other people live. 

Because her journey serves as a fine reminder of the fact that women are treated in quite the unique manner in other parts around the globe. For some cultures still hold tight to the notion that arranged marriages are the appropriate way to handle love and that women are property over anything else and while that is appalling to some and weird, that is simply the way of things in their culture. And they are clearly not ready to change that just yet and seeing that on display here, regardless of how uncomfortable it might make the viewer, is a strong and silent way to point out the differences in our cultures and how lowering our guard and our offense to such surprises helps us to understand the world a little better and can also serve as a catalyst for change. Because when we approach someone’s way of life with respect, they too will lower their guard and learn from us, as we learn from them and enact change when trust comes into play.

But while that message alone could have carried this episode through and through, ironically, this episode also found a way to explore how toxic male behavior is unacceptable and needs to be called out on a more consistent basis. A feat that this story accomplished by way of just putting that crap on display. Since Kamala consistently has to deal with men lusting after her in an inappropriate manner when she heads out about the ship, and the Ferengi ironically lead the pack in regard to that. But at every turn, the crew are eager to point out the stupidity and uncomfortable nature of this behavior and they demand that it stops and that’s definitely a solid lesson to see on display on TNG, one that absolutely resonates in modern times since this topic has popped up often these days, making this story surprisingly ahead of its time.

Which is ironic since initially, it was viewed in quite the negative light. For Kamala’s journey was originally seen as anti-woman since it put her in a position that America worked to leave behind ages ago. But with time it is obvious now that this episode is quite in the spirit of Star Trek, since it speaks to respecting and understanding other cultures and using education to enact change and it doesn’t hurt that it points out that men should respect women at all times and to top it all off, it features some quality performances. For Famke Janssen is simply incredible as Kamala and puts forth a moving performance here, and she plays well off of a supremely vulnerable performance from Patrick Stewart. Who really does show us a side of Captain Picard that we’ve never seen before and well, now that this fascinating mission has come to an end, it is time to turn our attention to tale that revolves around the power of imagination. Until next time.  

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