In the fifth episode of the second season of The Next Generation, Deanna Troi and Data become invaluable when a negotiator requires their assistance in order to do his job. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.
Trigger Warning: For discussion of disability, specifically blindness/deafness.
The more I think about this episode, the more I like it.
Now, it’s important that I don’t act as if I have any sort of qualification to claim that the representation here is worth of praise. I don’t know if the actor playing Riva is deaf or if the sign language is real. If they are? Then goddamn, I’m impressed. Too often, non-disabled actors are given roles playing disabled characters. Too often, the experiences of disabled people are used for humor, or to make non-disabled characters learn something, or to give them character development. I don’t feel like that’s the case here, with the exception being Levar Burton playing Geordie. But hell, even that story doesn’t go the ~mystical healing~ route!
But let’s back up a bit. I’ve commented on this specific thing that “Loud as a Whisper” does, but it’s worth talking about once more. Point blank: The Original Series could not pull off this episode. Despite that a chunk of the stories for that show were oddly paced or slow, it was rarely done in the way we see here. The Next Generation is far more willing to devote time to character studies like this one than The Original Series. For real, there is not a single major conflict until more than halfway through this episode. We know that the Enterprise needs to bring Riva to Solais V, but it’s an ambiguous conflict. We don’t even see these characters for twenty minutes! When Riva is first introduced, what do the writers decide to do?
They build up his character.
And by gods, WHAT A FASCINATING CHARACTER. Initially, I thought the friction and awkwardness between Worf/Riva would become a greater part of the story, but “Loud as a Whisper” jettisons off into a completely unexpected direction. We spend a great deal of time being taught how Riva communicates as a deaf man. While he does utilize American Sign Language from time to time, as well as lip reading, he uses a chorus, one of the COOLEST fucking things Star Trek has ever done. Representing three different parts of Riva’s personality, the chorus are a three-person set of empaths, all of whom can communicate telepathically with Riva. But the telepathy is layered, something that even Deanna Troi lacks. It’s not just thought or speech that’s communicated; Riva’s chorus can convey deep, complicated emotions as well.
I admit that this episode made me ENDLESSLY curious about how Riva came across these three people. How long did he have them as his chorus? Did he have to learn ASL before he met them? Are their others of his species that utilize the chorus? Regardless, there was a point to all of the worldbuilding/character building in the first half of this episode: we had to be shown that the chorus were absolutely vital to Riva’s communication skills. There wasn’t any “magic” to his flawless negotiation aside from good ol’ empathy and his technique of turning a disadvantage into an advantage. But everyone believed that there had to be something special or unique or mystical.
I think that contributes to the big twist right in the middle of “Loud as a Whisper.” It adds that air of mystery on top of the certainty that the chorus is indisposable. They are an integral part of Riva. So it is immensely fucked up and downright shocking when THEY ARE EVAPORATED RIGHT IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. Y’all, Riker actually yells in terror when it happens, NO ONE EVER REACTS THAT WAY IN THIS SHOW. Thankfully, the writers deal with this twist with the appropriate respect towards how traumatizing this would be for Riva. Losing three friends is hard enough for anyone, but Riva lost three spiritual, telepathic companions. He lost his ability to communicate with the people on the Enterprise, where ASL is basically an old, obsolete language to them.
And it’s terrifying for Ria. Howie Seago is unbelievable here, and his performance is so integral to the story itself. That frantic terror has to be on the screen, and Seago is able to convey it with ferocity. Because of this, the other cast members give stronger performances. Brent Spiner, Marina Sirtis, and Patrick Stewart all shine working opposite of Seago.
Perhaps it’s that urgency that makes this episode feel so thrilling and so different. Like I’ve mentioned many times before, The Next Generation‘s cast is a lot more muted when reacting to literally everything, but that’s not the case here. Look at Picard’s “You are not alone!” scene for a great example of that. But it’s not just good acting; I think there’s a value in seeing these characters come together to help Seago. I think there’s only one moment here that seemed strange or out of character: Deanna Troi demanding that Seago continue working to help those Solais V. She comes across as wholly unsympathetic to the fear and grief that he’s experiencing, and it didn’t make sense to me for her character to have those lands.
Anyway, even the solution to “Loud as a Whisper” is satisfying. There never could have been an “answer” to the war on Solais V that would be solved with a snappy one-liner or a quick montage. These species have years of work ahead of them. So I loved that Seago’s plan would force these two opposing forces to re-think how they communicated, much like he had to do at the end of all of this. He took a traumatizing disadvantage, and he worked it to his advantage, helping out two groups of people in the process.
That’s pretty incredible.
The video for “Loud as a Whisper” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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