Star Trek: The Next Generation — 5x20 — Cost of Living

Aired 1992-04-20

SpaceOpera.com rating:5

Average reader rating:3.26

Synopsis

Lwaxana introduces Alexander to her wild lifestyle.

Remarkable scenes

The Enterprise saving Tessen III from an asteroid.
Worf and Alexander negociating their problems with the counselor.
Lwaxana's appearance.
Worf's spiteful greeting to Lwaxana.
Lwaxana calling Worf "Wolf".
Picard: "I will not have that woman continuing to use this ship for her convenience simply because her daughter is one of my officers."
Picard: "Nothing would please me more than to give away Mrs. Troi."
Lwaxana and Alexander on the holodeck.
Worf smashing the clown ball.
The replicator givng Lwaxana strangs sausages with her Tea.
The scene is when Deanna, Worf, Alexander, Lwaxana, Campio and his assistant all encounter one another. They all have their own purpose for being there and no one reacts on anyone else's statements.
Worf: "You're just supposed to sit here?" regarding the mudbath.

Review

I would have liked to have known who the Enterprise was saving in the beginning. Anyway, Lwaxana's to be husband so nicely contrasts her personality. He's uptight and stuck on protocol and order. She's care free. It goes well also with the Worf vs Alexander conflict. The ending was appropriate. Lwaxana's lateness and nudity ultimately proves that the two could never be together. They're too unlike to relate to one another. Ultimately this episode serves little purpose but to develop the characters, which it does well. The B plot with the strange metal eating parasites was rushed and IMHO obtrusive, so I largely ignore it. An average episode.

5 reader comments

In my opinion, they feature Lwaxana troi waaaaaay too often on this show. Her character is NOT enjoyable dammit!!!
A really stupid episode
by Pete Miller | 05/03/2006 at 10:41 pm

Does it strike anyone odd that Troi - a person who has never had children and can't even get along with her own mother - is providing parenting advice to Worf?
During Lwaxana and Alexander's first mud bath, an almost nude dancer entertains them. Is this acceptable entertainment for a young boy?
After Geordi and Data discover the metal parasites, Data claims the sensors cannot detect the metal parasites. He also suggests a strategy to slow them down, but Geordi comments, "The problem is finding them." Why don't they scan the ship for nitrium, wait a few seconds, and scan the ship again? Wouldn't the parasites be wherever nitrium is disappearing?
Just before the Enterprise flys off to the asteroid field, Campio and Erco board the ship. After Data successfully cleans the Enterprise of the bugs, the wedding proceeds. There is no mention that Campio departed and rejoined the ship later. Did Picard drag Campio and Erco all the way to the asteroid field with them? During the trip, life support is lost, and people started passing out. The structural integrity of the dilithium chamber decayed, and the entire ship almost exploded. Picard knew the danger involved, and he allowed a person of royalty to stay aboard anyway?
As the Enterprise prepares to fly back to the asteroid field, Picard and Data board a turbolift for the main bridge. During this entire scene in the turbolift, Picard has only three pips on his collar.
by DSOmo | 10/01/2007 at 4:09 am

@DSOmo regarding: "During Lwaxana and Alexander's first mud bath, an almost nude dancer entertains them. Is this acceptable entertainment for a young boy?"
Lwaxana has no problem with nudity. It's even the preferred 'dress' to wear at wedding ceremonies. I suspect Betazoids are a lot less sensitive about their sexuality. And what else do you expect from the care-free holodeck people?
by Remco | 01/22/2008 at 9:25 pm

I generally like Alexander episodes, but this one is embarrassing. The wedding subplot is interesting (if you overlook the broadly-drawn Alien of the Week) but the whole holodeck thing is so stupid that it leaves a bad taste in my mouth for the whole episode. I can buy this as a holodeck destination, but I have problems seeing it as a real colony. Are there really that many lame performance artsts in the galaxy? this was absurd.
by JRPoole | 08/19/2008 at 3:40 pm

Overall this episode was pretty weird. I like how it sort of predicts online dating. However, I don't see how in the world Troi and Campio's profiles could in any way be compatible, seeing as how they're completely different. Also, I have no clue why they would jump straight to marriage when they've never even met. I mean who does that? Also, why would someone who's supposedly royalty need to hook up with chicks online? Also, even though Troi's nudity is understandably surprising to everyone to say the least, I'm confused as to why Campio and his assistant were so appalled at her, with the assistant shielding Campio's eyes. If she is to be Campio's wife, wouldn't he ENJOY seeing her naked? I'm sure one doesn't choose to marry someone they don't find attractive unless some ulterior motives are at play.
Most importantly, I simply didn't understand the point of either plot. The whole thing about the ship's malfunctions wasnt really a big deal, and I'm confused AF about the whole Troi/Alexander relationship. I agree with Kethinov that this episode is mostly filler, serving only to develop characters, but I agree with Pete up above that Lwaxana's character is simply insufferable and featured WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY too much on this show! She's not funny or charming, simply annoying AF!!!
by Maurice Randle | 01/14/2016 at 7:57 am