Plot Synopsis: Counselor Troi’s investigation into the suicide of a crewman suggests a murder was committed aboard the Enterprise while it was being built, and that the murderer is still aboard. (Psst, he’s not)
Plot A and B Analysis: The teaser is weird. The ship is at red alert as something is wrong with the right warp nacelle. Riker and Worf get there in time to see a suicidal officer about to off himself by jumping into the plasma in the tube. Riker tries to talk him down but can’t–el muerto! Picard wants an explanation to give the officer’s parents and assigns Troi and Worf to investigate. Troi has a strong emotional reaction in the tube while nobody’s there, which freaks her out. She and Worf return and this time she seems to witness a murder back on Utopia Planitia where the Enterprise was built: two people are kissing who then laugh at her, and another man that was creepy. The creepy guy is currently serving on the ship and an interview with him isn’t productive, so Troi and Worf go back to her quarters and start having sex?! Yeah, it really comes out of nowhere. Their investigation turns into a murder investigation, but Troi’s new relationship with Worf seems to parallel what happened. It all ends with the audience realizing we’ve been taken for a ride and it’s all in Deanna’s head due to an ’empathic echo’ from an actual murder 8 years ago.
Favorite Scenes: There’s not much in this one. Data does say something that I think is valuable advice for us all, in figuring out to deal with what seemed like insurmountable problems and considering deactivating himself:
Data: I decided against the procedure. I chose instead to treat the problems I was having with my systems as challenges to be overcome rather than obstacles to be avoided.
Use of Cast/Characters: Data gets a little character development, as we learn some of the difficulties he had in becoming sentient in the first months following his activation. Worf and Troi do have some development, as in the course of their investigation Worf starts having some naughty feelings for the ship’s counselor! He starts thinking about her romantically in this episode following what he experienced back in Parallels. I guess you could say this is a Troi episode, but Marina doesn’t really do her best work in this episode. It’s a little painful to watch her act in a couple of scenes. Geordi, Data, Beverly and Picard don’t have much to do. Riker doesn’t have a lot either, except failing to save a guy in the teaser and sort of giving Worf permission to date Deanna without knowing it. The guest stars are all pretty much forgettable.
Blu Ray Version: If you freeze at 24:39, one of ensign Eckridge’s specialties is “cellular peptide extraction”, a reference to Phantasms.
Nitpicks: In the 6th minute–“warp speed limitations” from back in Force of Nature rears it’s ugly head. Argh. The infamous line in the trivia section below occurs in the 11th minute, and it’s not as bad in context.
Overall Impression: What a weird, forgettable episode. It’s supposed to be a murder mystery with a Star Trek twist I suppose, but it fails to entertain. We don’t realize only the first 20 minutes of this episode are ‘real’, and everything else only occurs in Deanna’s head. I don’t generally like stories like that. I think the producers are testing the waters for a possible Troi/Worf romance here, but nothing else is significant. The guest stars are bland, Marina gives a lackluster performance, the Worf/Troi scene comes off as awkward and even the recurring “Data learning about facets of humanity” with Geordi doesn’t seem to work. Even the explanation at the end of what really happened seems like an afterthought. I rate this episode 1.5 out of 5 stars.
Behind the Scenes/Trivia: Rene Echevarria, who wrote the teleplay for this episode said one of the worst things he’s ever written was when Ensign Calloway said, “It’s not like Dan to take his own life. As I thought I about it, it seemed pretty hilarious for anyone to say that. I mean what does that mean, it’s not like him because he’s never done it before?” Marla Finn, the woman who gets murdered eight years ago is played by Marina Sirtis’ stand-in. Worf referring to seeking visions in fire is a reference to Rightful Heir.
Missable/Unmissable? Missable. The next one might be the last good episode before the series finale.