Starship Nomadic, Northern Ireland STARSHIP NOMADICA NORTHERN IRELAND STAR TREK FAN GROUP
TNG · SEASON 22×10

The Dauphin

NOMADIC PICK · FOR COMPLETISTSWesley's awkward first romance.
FIRST SHOWN (US)
20 February 1989
ON
First-run syndication
STARDATE
42568.8
DIRECTED BY
Rob Bowman
PRODUCTION NO.
136

WRITTEN BYWritten by Scott Rubenstein & Leonard Mlodinow

IN BRIEF

SPOILER-FREE

Wesley falls hard for Salia, a young ruler the Enterprise is taking home to unite her divided world, but her fiercely protective guardian has secrets of her own.

SYNOPSIS

SPOILERS
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSISHIDE SYNOPSIS

The Enterprise is carrying Salia, the young heir of Daled IV, home from exile so that she can unite her world's two warring factions. She travels with her formidable guardian, Anya. Wesley is instantly smitten, and gathers advice on romance from his crewmates as he tries to win her over. Anya, however, proves far more dangerous than she looks. When she learns a crew member in sickbay is carrying a disease, she transforms into a hulking beast and demands he be destroyed, revealing that she is an allasomorph, a shape-shifter. Picard confines her to quarters. Wesley and Salia share a kiss, but he is horrified when Salia, too, takes on a monstrous form, and he realises she has hidden her true nature from him. On arrival, she reveals herself to him as she really is, a luminous being of energy, before beaming down to take up her duty and leaving a heartbroken Wesley behind.

DID YOU KNOW?

  1. 01Mädchen Amick appears briefly as a young version of Anya.
  2. 02Dan Curry created the shape-shifting effects with hand-animated transitions, and picked volcanic rocks from a building supply store for the asteroid shots.
  3. 03The electronic chess game was a rented prop originally made for RoboCop, and also appeared in Back to the Future Part II.
SOURCES WE CHECKED