Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series)

The Perfect Mate (1992)

Patrick Stewart: Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Photos 

Quotes 

• Kamala : When a metamorph finds you interesting, do not take it lightly.

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Oh, I'm not taking it lightly. I'm just trying... to be as dull as possible.

• Kamala : What is it about me you fear?

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Kamala...

  Kamala : Do you find me unattractive?

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : I find you unavailable.

• Ambassador Briam : I must admit, I'm curious.

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Curious?

  Ambassador Briam : I was chosen for this mission for a very simple reason: I'm 200 years old. The temptations of a beautiful metamorph do not easily reach me, and yet I would be lying if I were to claim that, even at my age, they... they do not reach me at all. But you, you worked with her, side by side, for days. How could you resist her?

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Ambassador, have a safe trip home.

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard : [after Kamala's "confession"]  You can't go through with the ceremony.

  Kamala : Would you ask me to stay, and ask two armies to keep fighting? Having bonded with you, I've learned the meaning of duty. He'll never know. I'm still empathic. I will be able to please him... I only hope he likes Shakespeare.

• Doctor Beverly Crusher : Penny.

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : What?

  Doctor Beverly Crusher : For your thoughts. Penny for your thoughts.

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Do you have one?

  Doctor Beverly Crusher : I'm sure the replicator will have one on file.

• Kamala : Please don't leave. Talk to me. I love the sound of your voice. I'll turn out the lights and just listen. I don't want to be alone.

  [after some hesitation, Picard agrees with a nod] 

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : The lights stay on.

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard : I barely know who she is - and... and who she is changes the moment the next man comes into the room... and I find myself hoping that the next man won't come in.

• [the "cargo" has been damaged and changes appearance] 

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : What is happening?

  Ambassador Briam : Emergence.

• Kamala : My empathic powers can only sense a man of deep passion and conviction... So controlled, so disciplined. I'm simply curious to know what lies beneath.

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Nothing. Nothing lies beneath! I'm... I'm really... quite dull. I fall asleep each night with an old book in my hands.

• Kamala : Are all captains' lives so... solitary or just yours?

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Don't.

  Kamala : What?

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Don't do this, this... this you do with men.

  Kamala : I'm afraid my premature emergence from stasis has left me a little... vulnerable to the desires I sense from men. Nevertheless, this is who I am, Captain. You might as well ask a Vulcan to forgo logic, or a Klingon to be non-violent. I cannot change, and I don't want to, until the time has come for me to bond with my permanent mate. Why does it bother you?

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Frankly, it's difficult for me, for many of us, to easily accept that a sentient being can live only to be what someone else wants them to be.

  Kamala : But that's what gives a metamorph pleasure.

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : But what about your wishes, your needs?

  Kamala : They are fulfilled by what I give to others.

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : But what about when... there are no others? When you're alone?

  Kamala : I'm... incomplete.

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Why're you doing this, Kamala?

  Kamala : There can be only one reason: 'cause some part of you wants me to.

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard : I don't want to use you as other men do.

  Kamala : But you're not other men. You could never use me.

• Ambassador Briam : Until we reach the rendezvous with the Valtese, may I ask the cargo bay be declared off-limits to all but the most essential personnel?

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : I trust, Ambassador, that this cargo is in no way dangerous?

  Ambassador Briam : Oh, no, nothing of the sort. I'm cautious because it's quite fragile, and... quite irreplaceable.

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Under the circumstances, I thought that it would help if I... if I learned more about you.

  Kamala : But you know me better than you realize. I am independent, forceful, brilliant, and adventurous. Exactly as you would have me be, Captain.

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard : I should go. And you have an appointment tomorrow morning early.

  Kamala : Light years away.

• Kamala : A starship captain must encounter all sorts of life forms. Am I one of the most unique you've ever met? Please say yes.

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Yes.

  Kamala : What a nice thing to say.

• Kamala : I will volunteer to stay in my quarters under one condition - that you will visit me.

  [Picard sighs] 

  Kamala : There it is again.

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : What?

  Kamala : The wall you put between us.

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Kamala, you are one day away from an arranged mating. Why would you want me to visit you in your quarters?

  Kamala : I said a visit. I didn't ask you to make love to me.