4x13 Devil's Due

[5.7/10] “Devil’s Due” feels like an episode of The Original Series that somehow snuck its way into The Next Generation. There’s just something about the captain of the Enterprise, running into a flim-flammer who’s trying to deceive the locals on the planet of the week, and aims to seduce our hero along the way, that seems more of a fit for the adventures of Captain Kirk than of Captain Picard.

But I can see why the writers chose to pair Picard up with a trickster god (or at least someone pretending to be one). It’s always paid dividends when the visiting deity is Q, who gets name-dropped here. So there’s something to be said in hoping lightning will strike twice, and you’ll get just as much comic and dramatic juice out of a twist on the same type of persona, especially one who’s more explicit about her attraction to the good captain.

The results are simply strange, though. Guest performer Marta DuBois gives it her all, practically licking the scenery as Ardra, a being claiming to be the Devil. I’ll confess that, when I watched this episode as a kid, Ardra gave me what you might call “funny feelings.” But as an adult, her lascivious vamping about the Enterprise and local planet just plays as an odd tonal match for TNG. The series isn’t above conveying sexuality, but it’s rarely this cartoony about it (save for the abominable Space Irish episode), and it comes off as miscalibrated, even for something meant to be a disruptive force amid Jean-Luc’s normally more staid environs.

It also makes for a weird mishmash of the episode. I like the setup of Picard trying to prove that someone the locals take for a god or a demon is, in fact, just another mortal using advanced technology. It feels of a piece not only with Picard’s actions toward the Mintakans in “Who Watches the Watchers”, but with the humanistic ethos of the series. And yet, having him have to fend off the advances and, if we’re being frank here, sexual harassment from the woman trying to con the locals, makes for an odd marriage of plots and tones.

It’s frankly difficult to find positives that aren’t marred by that in some way. But one high point (and something I don’t mention enough in these reviews) is the costuming and design work. In terms of the flashy stuff, the Ardra’s satanic guise is a little goofy, but also an appropriately larger than life depiction of the Western version of the devil. The image of the Klingon devil is legitimately frightening, showing chilling levels of imagination and execution. And as outsized as Ardra’s look and demeanor are, her costuming is instantly memorable and distinctive, with a gothic flair and 1980s showgirl quality that seems oddly appropriate for someone trying to pull off this sort of gimmick-filled ploy.

In a similar vein, I am always a sucker for when Star Trek turns itself into a courtroom drama, even one as contrived as this. Watching Picard try to make sense of an archaic bargain between the locals and their ancient demon, Data preside over the proceedings, and Ardra have to be admonished not to express affections to the advocate is one of the few things in the episode that works, however loony it feels.

That’s one of the big issues with “Devil’s Due” though. It’s mostly a comedy episode, albeit one that feels like it’s aimed at thirteen-year-olds. There’s a lot of goofy schtick from Ardra and Picard’s reaction to it, coupled with her attempts to titillate. There’s nothing wrong with that in principle. Star Trek’s comedy episodes are hit or miss, but there’s some gems when the show goes for full blown laughs.

The catch is that “Devil’s Due” also wants to be serious, or at least tackle serious things. Picard aims to once again prove to a less technologically advanced culture that their cultural advancement and innovations over the past thousand years are a result of their people’s ingenuity and determination, not some mysterious but powerful figure. That’s true to form for Jean-Luc, but the gravity of his efforts to undermine Ardra’s illusions and lies are undermined by the episode’s attempts to go goofy or steamy with the wannabe devil.

It reminds me of “Catspaw” from TOS, another episode where our heroes work to undermine a powerful being with wild powers and a spooky demeanor, only to have that being hit on the captain. Here, as in that episode, the show tries to stretch out about half an episode’s worth of incident to a full hour. You can only watch Ardra taunt and tease for so long before it gets tiresome and you want the show to stop messing around and pull the trigger on what’s really going on here.

There is some satisfaction in Picard figuring out her tricks and using them against her. Having the Enterprise discover Ardra’s cloaked vessel and turn the tables with its technological features is a good bit, especially when Picard gets to be a little smug and self-satisfied in his ability to best her. But there’s not a lot of drama to the reveal, just a matter of fact explanation from Geordi that leads to Picard doing a magic show of his own.

Unfortunately, despite hoisting Ardra by her own petard, there’s just not enough chemistry, romantic or otherwise, between Picard and his adversary to make this outing work. Say what you will about the Q episodes, but there’s a great on-screen dynamic between Patrick Stewart and John DeLancie that could make even the least eventful script sing. “Devil’s Due” tries for a similar vibe, only with an affectionate con artist twist, and misses on both the playful back-and-forth and the efforts at romantic intrigue.

Maybe if Captain Kirk were still strollign the bulkheads, more the type to use romantic wiles against his adversary of the week rather than rebuff such advances, an episode like “Devil’s Due” could work. But today, and with the more dignified (and stuffy) bearing of Captain Picard, Ardra and her whole vibe feel like a relic of a bygone era. Jean-Luc tries to convince the locals to leave their old superstitions behind, and I wish TNG’s writers would likewise consign this sort of shtick to the dustbin of history.