Product Details

• Actors: LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden
• Directors: LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Gabrielle Beaumont, Robert Becker, Cliff Bole
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English, French
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: May 31, 1995
• Run Time: 46 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303115217
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #462,805 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Why should randy William Riker get all the ladies? When 16-year-old Salia (Jaime Hubbard) boards the Enterprise in order to be escorted to Daled IV, the planet she is destined to rule, Wesley Crusher gets an immediate crush on her. She seems to like him, too, much to the displeasure of her overprotective guardian Anya (Paddi Edwards). Wesley roams the ship asking for dating advice while Anya tries to lock Salia in her room. Of course, Wesley is following that unwritten Enterprise rule that encourages flings with people and aliens from outside of the ship, which guarantees they will be short-term affairs. It's a pattern established by Picard (see episode 24, "We'll Always Have Paris"), where duty and ambition always take precedence over personal relationships. Back to Wesley, though. When Wesley discovers the true nature of this alien life form, he must come to terms with the fact that looks aren't everything. --Andy Spletzer

From the Back Cover

The Enterprise receives orders to escort a beautiful 16-year-old girl named Salia (Jaime Hubbard) and her guardian Anya (Paddi Edwards) from Klavdia Three to Daled Four, the planet Salia is destined to rule.

It's love at first sight for Salia and Wesley (Wil Wheaton), much to the annoyance of Anya, who forbids Salia to have any further contact with Wesley. Meanwhile, Troi (Marina Sirtis) senses that the ship's new visitors are not whom they appear to be.

Defying Anya's wishes, Salia visits Wesley in his cabin, where the two share an intimate moment. The romantic spell is broken by the apperance of Anya, who sparks a violent confrontation - one that holds a horrifying discovery for Wesley.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wesley falls in love!, June 25, 2000

By 

John Berkebile (Medford, Or) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 36: The Dauphin [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is a stellar episode of the second season. The Enterprise beams aboard a beautiful woman who is destined to rule an alien planet. Wesley Crusher has a chance encounter with her and falls in love with her, much to the disapproval of the girl's caretaker. This episode gets especially suspensful when Wes learns that the woman he's fallen in love with isn't what she appears to be.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE DAUPHIN (Wesley in Love), April 4, 2002

By 

Chris Maybury (Columbus, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 36: The Dauphin [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is one of my all-time favorite episodes of TNG. Wesley falls in love with Salia, a beautiful girl on her way home to rule over a planet. Ignore the silly monster costumes and enjoy the genuine heart and emotion of this episode dealing with first love!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Teenage glandular activity leads to interspecies crush, January 23, 2004

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 36: The Dauphin [VHS] (VHS Tape)

As humans move out into the stars and encounter other species, we will take our basic functions with us. Even though we may move around in giant ships faster than the speed of light, our bodies will still require that we eat, sleep, perspire, excrete waste and teenagers will still experience hormonal overload. In this episode, Wesley meets what appears to be a teenage girl (Salia) who smiles sweetly at him, immediately setting the glands working.
However, the girl is being ferried to a planet where she is to assume the throne and rule the planet. Two groups have been engaged in an ongoing war and it is hoped that the new monarch will be able to unite the planet in peace. Of course, the smitten Wesley has no idea how to approach her and he seeks advice from Worf, which is hilarious. His description of the Klingon mating ritual is wonderful to behold and of no use to Wesley. After experiencing that dead end, Wesley seeks out Commander Riker, who enlists the aid of Guinan. Their dialog over the table is some of the best in all of the Star Trek episodes. Clearly not to be taken seriously, the frustration on Wesley's face is superb.
Wesley finally manages to meet Salia, when she seeks help in using the food synthesizers. Unfortunately, her guardian (Anya) strongly objects and this is when Wesley learns that Salia is not human. This is devastating to his young heart, and he spends some time moping around licking his emotional wounds. To his credit, he manages to overcome his sorrow and sees Salia off in the transporter room. Worf and Anya also have a clash, and yet in the end, they clearly reach a level of mutual understanding and respect.
One aspect of TNG that I consider to be a dramatic improvement over the original series is the emotional activity between humans and other species. If we ever encounter other intelligent species, there is no doubt that passionate emotions will be involved and that will eventually lead to sex. In many ways, the first interspecies sexual activity with extraterrestrials may be even more traumatic to the collective human psyche than the existence of the other species. It may take some time before sex between species is not considered bestiality, as it is a near certainty that the extraterrestrials will have far less biology in common with humans than humans do with dogs, sheep and goats.
I rank this as one of the better episodes, because it deals with the emotional trauma of a human able to maintain an emotional attachment to a member of another species after learning that she is not human. Hopefully, this is a harbinger of the future and will not always be nothing more than a theme in science fiction entertainment,