Plot Synopsis: Set against the backdrop of the installation of a new warp core, the crew help Data investigate when his dream program suddenly begins generating nightmares which make him act strangely.
Plot A and B Analysis: The teaser is short but effective: Data is walking the corridors of the ship in a dream sequence, we learn that the ship is installing a new warp core, and he encounters three workmen destroying a plasma conduit in the ship. When Data tries to intervene a high pitched sound erupts from his mouth and they effectively kill him! Plot A is about Data’s dreams and the new warp core, there really is no plot B. Picard is grousing to Riker because he might actually have to attend the Starfleet Admiral’s Banquet, wishing he could get out of it again. Data grills Geordi about nightmares, we learn that a new engineering ensign is pretty warm for Geordi’s form, and the new warp core doesn’t work. Stupid green warp core. The second dream is more disturbing than the first: Data is attending a sort of banquet in which Beverly is sucking on a straw connected to Riker’s head and Troi’s body is a cake, which Data cuts into. Awesome stuff. Data oversleeps, he tries psychoanalysis with Sigmund Freud, and the ship still isn’t going anywhere. In one of the most disturbing scenes Data actually stabs Troi with a kind of knife! It turns out to be helpful, since when Troi’s wound doesn’t heal Beverly figures out there are interphasic parasites on everyone. A clever solution is hatched: hooking up Data’s brain to the holodeck so the crew can see what he dreams. As a result we learn how to get rid of the parasites, and the good guys win–and Picard doesn’t have to attend the banquet. A creative plot that keeps us guessing until the end.
Favorite Scenes: Most of the dream sequences are great, and I love the imagery. It’s confusing as heck when you watch it for the first time, but upon rewatching everything makes perfect sense. That’s exactly how it should work. The scene where Data stalks and then stabs Deanna is shocking, and is probably my favorite.
Use of Cast/Characters: This is Data’s episode more than anyone else’s, and we see his character continue to develop. His ability to dream, which was introduced back in Birthright, is further developed here to great effect. Picard is involved but is not especially helpful until the very end, helping Data realize how to kill the bad guys. Riker has a straw sticking out his head, Worf eats a cake and later takes care of Data’s cat for him in a lightly comedic scene. Troi is helpful in a couple of ways: initially in encouraging Data to explore his dreams, and later by being stabbed so the rest of the crew realize there is a legitimate threat. Geordi explains several things to the audience, but he doesn’t actually solve anything in the episode. Beverly discovers the existence of the bad guys, and gets to suck on Riker’s straw (heh).
Blu Ray Version: Not much that’s new or fixed, at least as far as I can tell. The Starbase is absolutely gorgeous, I could look at it all day.
Nitpicks: This is another example of a brand new technology that just doesn’t work. Technically the warp drive should work, but we’ve seen this trope played out multiple times in the series. Also, this seems like the umpteenth time Geordi runs diagnostics on Data and can’t find anything wrong. At this point maybe they should just give up on that.
Overall Impression: Finally an unqualified good episode! This is a very creative entry, and while it rewards the viewer for having seen a previous episode it’s not required to enjoy. Not many remember that this episode aired just a few days before Halloween, and it is appropriately spooky and strange. There are lots of memorable scenes from this episode, an unpredictable plot, and it involves all of the cast in some way. I rate this episode 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Behind the Scenes/Trivia: We learn Data has had 111 dreams since the Birthright two-parter. While Data states he has no mother, he will in fact meet his ‘mother’ in just four episodes. The decapitated head of Data that we see here is a reuse from back in the Time’s Arrow two-parter. You might catch that Data refers to Spot as being male, but this is directly contradicted in Genesis where Spot gives birth.
Missable/Unmissable? I think it’s one of the best episodes of season seven, and unmissable. The next one, however, can be given a big miss.