Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 147 (Frame of Mind)

Star Trek: The Next Generation tended to show a bright version of the future  Sure, we all had problems, but the episodes were usually pretty light.  Even the more moderate episodes weren’t that scary or much of a downer.  Then comes Frame of Mind.  In it, Riker is starring in a play that Dr. Crusher is directing.  (The play happens to be called Frame of Mind, as well.)  The play seems to be about a man trying to prove his sanity to a psychologist.  We only get to see the last scene of the play, but it’s pretty intense.  Riker’s character is yelling at the doctor about how he’s being yanked around.

The Enterprise is called to Tilonus IV. The government is in disarray after the assassination of a  leader.  Normally, the Federation wouldn’t interfere, but they’ve got a research team there and they want Riker to rescue them.  (While this isn’t Riker’s first solo away mission, it’s never been clearly stated why Riker is the one to do this sort of stuff.)  Before they get there, Riker will be performing in the play.  He gets a standing ovation to which he bows several times.  On the last bow, he arises to find that he’s in the psych ward of the play’s set.

He can’t remember the details of his life on the Enterprise, like his name.  However, Riker is told that it’s all a delusion.  He’s been imagining it all and that Starfleet has no record of him.  Is he crazy?  Riker still looks human.  He still behaves like you’d expect Riker to behave.  Since Riker goes on to finish the series, it’s not spoiling anything to say that Riker’s not crazy.  The question then becomes what’s really going on.

I remember being entertained by the story when it first aired.  It’s odd since we just came off of another episode dealing with layered reality, Ship in a Bottle.  Here, it appears to all be in Riker’s head.  He alternates between the Enterprise and the psych ward, each time thinking that his current location is reality.  It isn’t until Dr. Crusher shows up at the psych ward that things start to get confusing.

The problem, of course, is that you know Riker will work it out.  It would be an interesting way of writing someone out of a show.  How would that even work?  Would there be a real Will Riker?  How would our Riker have known?  Maybe he got mission reports or something.  It’s not the kind of plot device you can realistically use to write an actor out of a show.  Even doing it as a finale is kind of frowned upon by fans, having the entire show be a delusion.

This is probably one to have small children stay away from, or at least have the parents watch it first to decide.  There are some intense emotions shown.  It’s safe for teens and above, who should be able to understand what’s going on.  I don’t know that it would be scary, per se.  I didn’t find it that scary, but like I said, there’s the understanding that it’s not real, even in the context of a TV show.   To see someone yelling and slowly going crazy may be a bit much.

I don’t think I’d recommend this episode as an introduction to the series, mostly because it’s so atypical.  You could watch it without having seen any previous episodes.  You might even enjoy it.  If you were trying to do an abbreviated run, I’d recommend this episode as one that you watched, as it is well written and well acted.


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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 124 (The Next Phase)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

If you’ve been reading some of my other reviews of Star Trek episodes, you know that I sometimes pick apart episodes that have mistakes. This is going to be another such episode and I’m not going to be the first person to do so.

The Enterprise responds to a distress call from a Romulan ship. Apparently, it has sustained a lot of damage and is in need of a lot of repair. Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge discovers a component that needs replacing; he and Ensign Ro Laren beam back with the damaged component to see if they can replace it. During transport, something happens and the two people end up on neither ship. Since it’s not understood what happened, the ship has to take all of the transporters offline leaving everyone to use shuttles. Ro wakes up near sickbay and quickly realizes that no one can see her. Also, she can seem to pass through solid objects like walls. She finds La Forge in Engineering and the two realize that they must have somehow been phased, which basically means that they’re out of sync with the normal matter. They can see each other and everyone else, but no one else can see them.

To make matters more urgent, Ro and La Forge overhear a conversation between two Romulans. The Romulans have a secret and are willing to destroy the Enterprise to keep it. The Romulans mention how they plan to destroy the ship, but La Forge and Ro are in no position to tell anyone. La Forge eventually figures out that when he passes through normal matter, he leaves some sort of residue, which the ship is able to get rid of. When La Forge is exposed to some of the radiation, it becomes harder for him to pass through normal matter. He figures out that if he can get himself exposed to enough of this, he will return to normal. He does this by causing a phased Romulan disruptor to overload, flooding the entire room with the residue. He and Ro return to normal in time to warn everyone about what the Romulans did.

Ok. The big, glaring error that everyone points out is that if Ro and La Forge can pass through walls, they should be able to pass through the floor. Throughout the episode, you’ll hear the shuffle of their feet on the floor, which means that they are able to interact with it. Ro is also able to touch a control panel and a phased Romulan is actually sitting down. They shouldn’t be able to breathe since Oxygen is still normal matter. For that matter, should they even be able to talk? Sound is essentially vibrations transmitted by matter. What we hear is sound transmitted through the air, so if Ro and La Forge can talk to each other, then others should be able to hear them. There are all sorts of implications dealing with phased matter, including the fact that Ro and La Forge reflect in the windows.

I also noticed that if La Forge and Ro wanted to get someone’s attention, they could have used the phaser to ‘write’ their names on a wall or something. It’s possible that the sensors wouldn’t have been able to discern exact shapes or that no one would have been looking for letters, but it was worth a shot.

I’m going to have to give this episode three stars. This is another last-minute-save episode. The Enterprise can’t go to warp, so of course there are several points in the episode where the captain wants to, but is stopped at the last minute. I’m sure that you’ve seen this in a few movies or TV shows over the years. There’s also the quasi-religious aspect surrounding the apparent death of Ro and La Forge. Ro, having seen Dr. Crusher fill out a death certificate, is ready to accept that she is a ghost or spirit. La Forge isn’t and at least gets Ro to play along for the sake of not giving up. It was an interesting aspect to the episode. 

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