Amazon.com

Original airdate: 5/8/95. Stardate: 48784.2. Veteran makeup artist Michael Westmore does double duty for this episode, in which a Vidiian scientist--suffering from the deadly, hideously disfiguring "Phage" disease (from episode 5)--genetically engineers an all-Klingon version of Voyager's Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres, to prove Klingon resistance to the Phage virus and, hopefully, create a cure for his own infected species. The experiment results in two B'Elannas, the aggressive all-Klingon version and the skillful but comparatively weak and cowardly human version, now devoid of Klingon DNA. This provokes some debatable questions about stereotypical portrayal of Klingons and humans, but it's a fine showcase for series regular Roxann Biggs-Dawson, who convincingly portrays the separate halves of her bispecies character. The situation is played too broadly (echoing the original-series episode "The Enemy Within"), and a prison-escape subplot (requiring Chakotay's temporary transformation into a Phage-stricken Vidiian) is a bit too reminiscent of the penal-planet sequence in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Still, this is a fine episode for B'Elanna Torres fans, who will readily agree that Biggs-Dawson can shine when given the chance, and remains highly attractive with or without Westmore's Klingon prosthetics. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A Vidiian scientist splits Torres into a Klingon and a human
If you remember the first season episode "The Enemy Within" from the original "Star Trek" series, then the main idea behind "Faces" (Story by Jonathan Glassner & Adam Grossman, Teleplay by Kenneth BillerAired May 8, 1995), Episode 14 of "Star Trek: Voyager." The Away Team of B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Biggs-Dawson), Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill), and the expendable Lt. Durst (Brian Markinson) has disappeared on the planet "Voyager" is visiting, which leads to a second Away Team consisting of Chakotay (Robert Beltran), Tuvok (Tim Russ), and Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) to go down and investigate. Of course this puts the entire command crew in jeopardy, but this apparently does not worry Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). However, the trail leads to some caves where a force field stops them from proceeding further. Meanwhile, on the other side of the force field a Vidiian scientist named Sulan has created an all-Klingon version of Torres. Searching for a cure for the Phage (See Episode 5, "Phage") Sulan's plan is to inject a pure Klingon with the deadly disease and see if that works (pretend this makes sense). Meanwhile, an all-human version of Torres ends up in the cell with Paris and Durst.

Not only do we have two Torreses for the price of one, it seems that Sulan is attracked to the Klingon version. So much so that he finds a rather gruesome way of having Durst help the Vidiian scientist more attractive. Since several seasons later Torres will marry Tom Paris and have a baby in the final episode of "Star Trek: Voyager" this thing between Sulan and the ship's Chief Engineer is not going to work out. Aside from watching actress Roxann Biggs-Dawson play her split personalities (one with considerably more makeup and the other with virtually none) the resolution is rather easy to anticipate and the lesson in "Faces" has not changed since Captain Kirk went through the same thing (It does make you wonder what what would have happened if they had tried this with Mr. Spock). The result is rather entertaining and allows the Torres character to get some needed depth, but is not a great episode. However, Torres will address being half-Klingon and have-human again, most notably during her pregnancy ("Lineage").

some missed opportunities
B'Elanna Torres, Voyager's Klingon-hybrid Chief Engineer, has resented and resisted her warrior heritage all her life. In this, the best Klingon episode of the series, she has an opportunity to reconcile with her two "faces". Torres and some of her crewmates are captured by the villainous Vidian, an alien species which has suffered for generations from a loathsome flesh-eating plague called the Phage. In their efforts to combat the disease, the Vidian have developed medical technology far in advance of the Federation's. But whatever morality they might have once possessed has been long abandoned, as they raid the Delta Quadrant "harvesting" other inhabitants' tissues and organs as replacements for their own. To the Vidian's delight, the Klingon physiology, with its exceptional hardiness and unique redundancies, promises new breakthroughs in finding a cure. So they separate Torres' Klingon half from her less valuable Human half. For a while there coexist two distinctly different B'Elannas, who must join forces to rescue their crewmates and escape their captors. The Klingon doppelganger is brawny and brave, but brash. The Human entity is brainy, but wimpy and annoyingly whiny. Unlike the Vidians, B'Elanna's comrades, (including her boytoy-to-be, Tom Paris) prefer the timid Torres over her volitile counterpart. Personally, I believe the writers missed their golden opportunity to dump the hybrid character altogether and keep the more impressive full-Klingon version. What they did not miss was the opportunity for some leering innuendo about Klingon females' indiscriminate sexual mores, which have provided a sophomoric source of titillation for the Franchise. And of course, the fate of the formidable warrioress was totally predictable -- Klingon women have replaced the unfortunate "red-shirts" in token Trek expendability. Ultimately, Klingon B'Elanna had little impact on the character, the series, or the Star Trek mythos. But for her sole episode, she was pretty terrific, and so popular with the fandom, that she even got her own collectable action-figure.

B'Elanna Torres explored
Certainly, this episode is one of the most important to the character development of B'Elanna Torres. In this episode, B'Elanna discovers how important her Klingon half is...and comes to peace with the part of herself that she's always struggled with most.

I also feel that this episode is the real beginning of the friendship between the characters of B'Elanna Torres and Tom Paris...very important to the future storyline of the show.

Personally, I feel that it is a "must see" from Voyager season one.

Finally, Some Character Exploration!
VOYAGER never lived up to the potential promised in the premise, THE CARETAKER, but this stand alone episode could've played anywhere in the series seven year run and would've still been one of their finest hours. Through genetic experimentation by the Phage (evil organ-stealing space villains), B'Elanna Torres is split into two halves ... one Klingon, one Human ... and, in the process of getting to know one another, these two unique personalities realize how much they make her what she is. Some fine acting by Ms. Dawson, and one helluva script.

'Yam' erific!
I can't believe some people didn't like this episode! (Or am I remembering the other reviews wrong?) I think this was one of the greatest episodes as far a characterization goes . . . . or that could just be me because B'Elanna's my favorite character. Anyway, I liked having a look at her Klingon side and her human side! Wow! She's actually kind of cute when she cries (what am I talking about? She's always pretty) and it's really sweet how Tom's always trying to comfort her (foreshadowing to . . . ah . . . Blood Fever, Day of Honor(my fave), Vis a Vis, Alice, Drive, etc, I could go on & on) Anyway this is a great episode and I think I'm gonna buy it so I don't have to wait for UPN to show it and it won't get taped over after a week! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Romantic!
Probably the most romantic series - or movie - I've ever seen! The spin it puts on the "Beauty and the Beast" scenerio points out what is truly important in a relationship. A second aspect of the series is that I find it also fuels the imagination for what might really be going on in the great cities' underground subway systems. You never know.....

"I'm Not One of the Bad Guys, Cathy"
So says Elliot Burch to Catherine Chandler, a woman who has made it clear that she wants nothing to do with him. Before long Vincent and Father become trapped when a section of the tunnels caves in, and Catherne finds herself in the awkward position of begging for help from a man she has previously judged unfit for her company. She needs equipment from Elliot (no questions asked) in order to have hope of excavating Vincent and Father from the cave-in. The episode has some sharply-written dialogue between Vincent and Father as they endure their difficult circumstances in the best humor possible. The interaction between Catherine and Elliot is also well-done, and there is a memorable ending between Vincent and Catherine.

In 1998 I conducted a poll among Beauty and the Beast fans asking them to rate the 44 episodes of the first two seasons on a 1-to-10 scale. 31 fans participated. "Shades of Grey" finished 6th out of the 44 episodes.

I placed "Shades of Grey" 17th in my own personal 1-through-44 rank-ordering of the episodes. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Picard and crew do the time warp again
While returning to the Enterprise in a shuttle, Picard, Data, La Forge and Troi take turns being momentarily frozen in time. They are in an area of space pocketed with temporal distortions. When they get to the Enterprise there is a warp core breach in progress, which has something to do with a nearby Romulan warbird and, in turns out, aliens from another continuum. Picard and his cohorts have to figure out the mystery before every goes "ka-boom." "Timescape" is an average STNG episode, with some interesting variations on temporal distortions, but the series has done much better (e.g., "Cause and Effect," the classic Episode 119).

Great acting, good plot, and a terrific episode in general.
I think that Timescape is a wonderful episode due greatly to the fact that it more realist than most episodes. Now of course I like all of the episodes being a trekker and all, but sometimes the science is a bit looney. This episodes only science flaw was the ability to isolate the crew so well, but I guess it had to be done to keep the show interesting. Still, science aside, the acting was the most important part, you really could feel the tension and the surprise of the crew when they found the Enterprise frozen in time, {well slowed way way down at least} and because of that I keep watching it over and over again. The plot is also excellent, with complexities being added in every ten minutes or so, thus keeping you suspence about what is actualy happening. All in all an excellent performance and definantly worth buying.

The Enterprise and a Romulan War bird frozen in time
This is a rather intruguing episode about what we consider to be the natural progression of time, and how we sometimes view it as going too fast or too slow. While Picard and company are returning to the Enterprise from a mission, Troi suddenly sees the rest of the crew on the shuttlecraft freeze. Later on, when the crew returns to the Enterprise, they notice that their ship was fired upon by a Romulan Warbird, but it's frozen in time! What will happen to the Enterprise once time is restored to its normal progression? ... Read more

Amazon.com

Somewhere along the way, Quark's idiot brother got smart. First, Rom's innate mechanical genius was magically revealed (remember "The Spatula"?), and now he's displaying Un-Yawn tendencies and organizing fellow workers in his brother's bar. Either this Ferengi's as dumb as a fox or there's something in the water on DS9.

The idea for a union comes up while Rom (Max Grodénchik) is being treated for a life-threatening ear infection. Rom's unionization may be accidental, but it's also righteous. Working conditions in Quark's Bar are awful--mandatory wage cuts, no paid overtime, no benefits, and certainly no sick leave--and when the employees strike, it means something. Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney) gleefully fuels the fire with tales of Sean Aloysius O'Brien's 1902 anthracite union martyrdom. Quark (Armin Shimerman) arms himself with 10,000 years of Ferengi Tradition. Rom stands up to his brother; O'Brien, Bashir, and Worf end up in the brig for brawling over workers' rights; and since unions are both an obscenity and an offense punishable by death on Ferenginar, Brunt, F.C.A., makes a return appearance with Nausicaan thugs in tow. Watch for that kiss, Sisko's gift for extortion, and Nausicaan Darts. For once, Max Grodénchik really gets to shine. The actor always accepted Rom and liked him, and fans came to like him, too. "Bar Association" is a very funny episode that's also brave and kind of wise. Hidden behind the laughter is a good story about brothers--and a reminder that workers' rights are a hard-won privilege. --Kayla Rigney ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Rom leads the first strike in Ferengi history against Quark
Quark is obviously the focal point of every internal challenge to the Ferengi way of life. His mother wears clothes and turns a profit and now his brother Rom is trying to start a labor union because Quark has cut salaries by a third to increase his profits. Quark tries to laugh it off until his entire staff goes on strike and Liquidator Brunt of the Ferengi Commerce Authority shows up with two Nausicaan enforces to end the dispute. Now, I freely admit that this episode just rubs me the wrong way, even though it does have Rom getting the best of Quark, which is always good to see. But it makes it seem like the Rules of Acquisition have no foundation in basic economic theory (I know, I am aghast to see myself providing an economic critique of DS9). It would be one thing if the Ferengi system was committed to slavery or some form of socialism, but once you start paying workers you have to treat them well enough that you do not waste money hiring new ones. I could say more on this subject, but I will stop. Suffice it to say I find "Bar Association" a below average DS9 episode.

An example of what made this show great
Firstly, I fully acknowledge that Deep Space Nine was the least popular (sadly) of all the Star Trek shows among fans. It was, however, my favorite (to date) and this episode is one example of why that is so. Character development! Not just the main characters, week after week after week but in the shows last four seasons or so they developed the secondary characters (and adversaries) to have their own depth, dimensions, and drives. For the first few seasons Rom was nothing more than Quark's moronic brother and lackey. In this episode he finally stands up for not only himself but for the other employees of the bar, defying his brother. This not only earns him the repect of his brother Quark (grudgingly), his coworkers (especially dabo girl and future wife Leta), and the fans, but gives him the realization that he can be more than just his brother's employee. Okay, I thought being named the next Grand Nagus near the show's finale was a bit too much but hey, it's good to see a nice guy finish on top. There are many other episodes and lesser story arcs in this series that evolve the secondary characters, including villians, from flat, 2-D persons to beings just as intriguing as the main ones. The other shows did not do this to the extent done here (except for maybe Guinan and Chief O'Brien on STNG). This helped keep the show from getting stale and redundant.

GREAT EPISODE
Rom goes against ferengi tradition and forms a Union. This Episodes explains how Quark lost his business licence, and how Rom got his Starfleet job. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Welcome to the wonderful and wacky world of Reg Barclay
"Hollow Pursuits" introduces us to Lt. Reg Barclay (Dwight Schultz), quite arguably the most popular guest star in the Next Generation universe after Q. Come to think of it, Barclay is just about the perfect counterpart to Q since he lacks confidence, . When La Forge complains about Barclay's performance to Picard, the captain insists his chief engineer find a way to motivate the man. What neither knows is that Barclay is spending a lot of his free time on the holodeck, where he acts out inspired fantasies that cast the Enterprise crewmembers in supporting roles and allow him to act out his unrequited love for Counselor Troi. Of course the man is totally addicted to the giant interactive game. However, when Troi, La Forge and Riker are about to do an intervention the Enterprise suddenly starts accelerating faster and faster. The ship is going to self-destruct unless La Forge can fix the warp engines and you will never guess who is suddenly needed to help save the day . . .

Not only does "Hollow Pursuits" have a great title, it deals with two realistic problems of the Star Trek universe, namely the great danger of being addicted to the fantasy world of the holodeck and the fact that not everybody on the Enterprise can be as capable and confident as the bridge crew. In that regard it is very easy for most traditional Trekkers to identify with the character of Reg Barclay. During the last part of the third season on STNG, there were several episodes with absolutely hysterical scenes, and Barclay being caught on the holodeck with his fantasies out is one of the best.

My favorite Star Trek episode
This is my favorite ST:TNG episode, mainly because of the introduction of Reg Barclay, the extremely shy lieutenant with a crush on Troi. Dwight Schultz (Murdock on "The A-Team") plays Barclay very well. Having shown a talent for playing insane pilots and murdering psychiatrists("Diagnosis Murder"), among other things, Schultz reveals his versatility through his portrayal of Barclay's awkwardness and social anxiety. His behavior in the holodeck, as he fences with Picard and flirts with Troi (the Goddess of Empathy) make this episode hilarious.

Beyond Schultz's performance, I enjoyed the attitudes of the rest of the crew during the show. Their initial mockery of "Broccoli" gave way to offense when they saw how they were represented in the holodeck. Troi's indignation alone made the episode worth watching (she's funny when she's mad!). I would recommend this video to any Trekkies, of course, but also to fans of Dwight Schultz, as his acting is a large part of what makes this such a good episode.

"Hollow Pursuits"- Absolutely Hilarious!
This is one of my all time favorite episodes. Barclay, a junior officer who suffers from social anxiety and an extrememly nervous disposition retreats from interaction in the real world to the holodeck, where he creates alternate personas for the main crew of the Enterprise. Picard, Riker and (I think!) Data are the three musketeers, Crusher is a pastoral maiden who feeds Barclay grapes, and, best of all, Troi stars as the "Goddess of Empathy" dressed in Greek robes. When the crew finds out about this program, you can guess how they all repsond to their holodeck counterparts. The best point of the show- when Troi tells the Goddess of Empathy, who is spewing comforting pyschobabble to "stuff it." A must-see episode! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Paracelsus sends Vincent on an Unexpected "Trip"
The tunnel dwellers find themselves in a dilemna as the producer of a dangerous recreational drug responsible for many deaths Above turns out be a man (called Paracelsus) whom they exiled many years ago. How can they stop Paracelsus without taking the risk that he will expose the existence of the tunnel society to the authorities Above? Vincent takes this task upon himself, but he finds Paracelsus to be a formidable foe. There is some good drama here, and this is the episode that introduces us to the enigmatic Paracelsus.

In 1998 I conducted a poll among Beauty and the Beast fans asking them to rate the 44 episodes of the first two seasons on a 1-to-10 scale. 31 fans participated. "The Alchemist" finished 24th out of the 44 episodes.

I placed "The Alchemist" 27th in my own personal 1-through-44 rank-ordering of the episodes. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Trek trickster Q (John DeLancie) puts a spin on It's a Wonderful Life when he gives Captain Picard a chance to replay the follies of his youth. Picard lies dying on the operating table after a freak energy discharge damages his artificial heart when Q shows up like a devilish Clarence the Angel, offering him a do-over of his destiny and save his heart. Suddenly the older, wiser captain finds himself a young ensign of 21 (still played by Patrick Stewart, though his twentysomething comrades seem not to notice), fresh from the Academy and ready to take on the world. Picard is determined not to make the same mistakes again on that fateful day at the Academy, but immediately feels the repercussions of his decision when he slingshots back to the present a changed man, careful and cautious and no longer the sum of youthful mistakes. Stewart carries through with his usual dignity and confidence, but the episode really comes alive when he embraces his inner rascal and lets the impulsive ensign out with a smile and a mean right hook. The impish Q really only came into his own in later seasons, when his devious tests revealed an odd, usually well-hidden benevolence, and this is one of his more thoughtful outings. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (7)

What if Picard never took chances?..He wouldn't be captain.
This one shows how if Picard never got into a bar room fight in his acdemy years...he would have never taken chances that would have led him to be a starship captain. Q shows Picard what would have happened had he not taken the big risks that led to his career. I love the scenes with him in a blue starfleet tunic as a researcher for the Enterprise. Another priceless scene is when he asks Riker how he can gain advancement in his career. He essencially gave Picard the brush off. You could see his career was going to be one of redundant reports and endless monotony.

This one is a keeper. It's the ultimate Picard episode that gives you a lot of insight into the character.

Sometimes a second chance is not all its cracked up to be...
The Away Team beams up a badly injured Captain Picard, who dies on the operating table because of problems with his artificial heart. In the proverbial bright light of the afterlife Picard encounters a godlike figure--who turns out to be Q. They are going to spend eternity together, but first Q would like to know if there is anything Picard regrets. After all, if he had a real heart he would still be alive. Q refers to an incident that Picard told Wesley Crusher about in "Samaritan Snare" (Episode 43), where his heart was damaged in a bar fight with some Norsicans. When Picard does indeed express some regrets over having been so headstrong as a youth, Q gives him a second chance: Picard is again a young ensign, two days before the encounter with the Norsicans that will end up with him having a dagger piercing his heart. If Picard can avoid that fight, he will not die 30 years later. The "mature" Picard finds a way to avoid the fight and Q congratulates him and returns him to the present--where "Lieutenant" Picard discovers he is an assistant astrophysics officer, described by his superiors as hardworking but not command material. Jean-Luc has to wonder if maybe he would rather be dead than live out the rest of his life like this.

I have thought about it and I have considered it, and I think "Tapestry" is the best of the episodes featuring Q. We have all seen movies and television shows that deal with the big difference made on lives by little things, but that does not take away from the high quality of this episode. The scenes between Picard and Q have a certain sharpness to them missing in other encounters because of the significance of the subtexts here: this is not only about Picard's "life" as in the opposite of death but also his "life" in terms of who he is at his core being. This is definitely one of the top 5 STNG episodes focusing on Picard. Discuss Topic: It seems the best episodes with Q are the always the ones that do not have Q in their titles. Talk amongst yourselves.

Excellent Episode With A "Dead" Captain Picard!
I must comment on this wonderful episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It involves my favorite , and probably most other Star Trek fans' favorite character, the abominable "Q". In this episode, Capt. Jean-Luc Picard faces death for the first time (and the last time) in my favorite Star Trek series. He perishes on the sick-bay table from a fighting accident and goes to heaven to meet.....who else than God himself, Q! Q welcomes him with open arms (actually, an open handshake) into his eternal world and Capt. Picard is surprised to see him, and does not believe the heavens is run by HIM! But, it is, and Q gives him a chance to make changes and right the "wrongs" that he did as a younger man.....a cadet fresh out of the Academy. This is to relieve Capt. Picard of any regrets that he had when he was alive, so Q doesn't have to hear him...."whining and complaining through time!" "How much time?" says Capt. Picard. "Eternity", replies Q! Q is humorous and witty as usual in this episode and transports him back in time to his Academy days. It is at the point in time just before he got stabbed through the heart by a Nausican where he was transported back to....to his dormitory room. If he can manage NOT to get stabbed through the heart, Q would bring him back to the present day. All of this is REAL, not an illusion that Q made up for his amusement. After many a disillusionment and losing his former friends from the Academy, he DOES manage not to get stabbed through the heart by that Nausican, and is brought back to the present day. But it's not the present day that HE remembered! In his NEW "afterlife", he is just an ordinary crewman serving under Capt. Thomas Halloway as an astrophysics officer! He doesn't like this one bit, and asks Comm. Riker and Counselor Troi if he can be more.....like captain of the ship. Comm. Riker replies, "....We'll see"!. Funny. Capt. Picard mumbles to himself my favorite line that he gives in this episode, "All right Q, you made your point. Having a good laugh now?" He then goes into the turbolift to give his assignment to Lieut. La Forge and is brought back to heaven by Q. He and Q have a one on one confrontation with Q giving him a verbal war of how good he has it now...."with a real heart beating in your chest!" Capt. Picard admits it was a mistake, and that now...."I would rather die on that bed than live the life I just saw!" Q grants him his request and Capt. Picard is revived on his sick-bay bed chuckling at his experience! Was it a dream, or was it a real after-death experience?

A philosopher's episode?
Great episode - brimming with Neitzsche's concept of eternal recurrence - Star Trek TNG seems to find philosophically pregnant themes like this often, to its credit!

100% Compliments! by Elliott Lewis UK
I am no major fan of Star Treck, however I watch it when I can, and thank the lord I did! This was by far the best episode of Star Treck Gen. to ever be showen. The story line is complex and gripping and it realy ilustrates an important fact of life... You have to take chances. In this particular episode "Q" gives the Captain a chance to re-live a part of his life, which indirectly lead to his death, but also helped him become the captain of the Star Ship Enterprise. This was a truly fantasic episode and strangley ironic. SO RECOMENDED! ... Read more

Amazon.com

By the end of season 2, DS9 was a force to be reckoned with. The only thing the series lacked was a really good villain. It got three for the price of one. Turns out the Dominion is a trinity of evil: the Founders, the Vorta, and their enforcers, the Jem'Hadar. This episode marks the first appearance of the Jem'Hadar, those born-and-bred really bad guys whose mission in life is to serve the Founders. We're talking guys who are so bad, they'll ram into a retreating ship just to make a point.

What is supposed to be a working vacation in the Gamma Quadrant for Sisko and Jake turns into a surreal commentary on life and war when Nog and Quark go along for the ride. Sisko's prejudice against Ferengi is laid bare, and Quark calls him on it with remarkable candor. In fact, when the two are captured and imprisoned by the Jem'Hadar and it becomes obvious Quark's particular talents are needed for escape, the little Ferengi defiantly speaks his mind before giving in and contributing. Avery Brooks's Sisko is a very human--and fallible--cCaptain, and Armin Shimmerman really hits his stride with Quark, who is at his best when he has nothing left to lose. (This is the first time Quark serves as the "Greek chorus" for the series, and it's not the last.) Special kudos to Molly Hagen as the creepy Eris. "The Jem'Hadar" is an intelligent, powerful episode that reveals all--and nothing--about the Dominion. --Kayla Rigney ... Read more

Reviews (7)

A jaw-dropping ending propels this one to the top!
"The Jem'Hadar" stands as one of DS9's most intense episodes, introducing the viewers to the one-dimensional "policemen" of the Founders in the form of the title characters and the conniving and sinister Vorta. Both would be a staple for the duration of the show's run.

The kamikaze attack during the installment's final minutes still remains one of the most shocking scenes in Trek history.

The Jem'Hadar make their presence known to the Federation
All throughout the second season of Deep Space Nine there were stories and rumors about the Dominion, the great power of the Gamma Quadrant. In the season finale Quark joins Sisko, Jake and Nog on a planetary survey mission, where for the first time they run into the Jem'Hadar, the savage soldier enforcers of the mysterious Dominion. The Jem'Hadar then deliver an ultimatum to DS9 that the Federation is no longer welcome in the Gamma Quadrant. Starfleet sends the Odyssey, a Galaxy class starship, to investigate, only to see the ship destroyed by the Jem'Hadar.

This episode does not exactly constitute a cliffhanger, but it does set up the third season with the promise that the Jem'Hadar are going to be coming through the wormhole to attack DS9. The series also manages to keep the mystery going regarding the Dominion because all we are seeing at this point are their shock troops. But these are pretty good shock troops, although it is more a matter of being told than being shown at this point. More impressively, this begins the Dominion/Founders story line that will continue all the way until the end of the series. This is an important transitional episode for the show.

Q View - The Trip Sisko Never Planned
Quark and Nog take off to the Gamma Quadrant with Captain Sisko and Jake. At this point you know its going to be one big old treat to see just what happens on this so called science project for Jake and Nog. Ha! You know your about to get some scientific laughs outta this one ... Then Sisko says the coolest thing" lets get going before anyone else shows up" Ha! And zoom thru the wormhole they go! As soon as they land on the planet Sisko is singing the blues having to deal with a good idea gone bad and poor Quark is covering his lobes in some green goo...something about he is allergic to nature! ha! Then a little time passes, darkness falls and O NO! A campfire scene, it might not be row, row, row your boat material, ha! In reference to Star Trek: 5 with Bones and Captain Kirk trying to teach Spock an old earth song, but its funny enough seeing old Quark complaining about bugs and bad food and getting himself caught on fire! Suddenly bad gets worse...THE JEM'HADAR! Captain Sisko and Quark are taken as prisoners, Jake and Nog take over a shuttle and its funny to see those two taking command.. You would swear Jake had been into a case of Romulan Ale with his horrific flying. The tension builds rapidly because of certain events that take place at DS9 and the present situation of Captain Sisko and company. DS9 to the rescue, but at what cost? Jailbreaks, starship fights the action builds! What will happen? Set a course for this episode a must see for any Star Trek fan !

Jem'hadar... ATTACK!
This episode centres around Sisko and Quark and how they are forced into camping together on a lonely planet, a comical account that really kicks into high gear when an alien with a personal cloaking device emerges from the trees and reveals himself as a Jem'hadar. Sisko, Quark, Nog and Jake are kept in a prison camp surrounded by a deadly forcefield, in there they encounter another trapped individual who reveals fascinating information about the Jem'hadar and a powerful new force... brilliant!

DS9 Finds It's Way
This episode starts like any other slow, character driven episode and ends with awesome action and a new 'bad guy' to menace the Federation! This finally shows the rumored Dominion who then became one of the more interesting enimies in Star Trek lore. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Booby Trap: A story about a guy in love with his ship!
Geordi's long awaited date with Christi on the holodeck doesn't go as well as he planned; sadly he strikes out again with yet another woman. He laments about this to Guinan in Ten Forward who offers him comfort and reassurance before he returns to duty. Meanwhile the Enterprise is exploring an asteroid belt that is the site of an interstellar battle between two warring alien races and has been over for nearly 1,000 years. They pick up an alien S.O.S. and in tracing it to the source find a battle cruiser left over from the war and still intact. They board it to conduct research and also to determine the cause of the demise of that ship's crew. When they attempt to leave the asteroid belt it is discovered that they are now caught within a minefield that is draining the ship's power and is impossible to attempt to navigate out of. Geordi's effort to determine a means of escape leads him to recreate the Enterprise's design labs on the holodeck. When Geordi asks for some assistance from the computer on the holodeck it fabricates a replication of Dr. Leah Brahms, the starship's designer - who Geordi falls for.

'Booby Trap' is a superior second season episode that is brilliantly conceived and soundly delivered. Though the premise of finding an ancient alien warship floating in space amidst an undetected minefield is intriguing on it own, the creators concern themselves primarily with Geordi and his pursuit of a relationship. In less capable hands the story may have concentrated on the discovery of the antique hardware and the ship's eventual escape; however, the writers of 'Booby Trap' dealt with the dimension that Trek always places the highest importance on - what it is to be human.

Geordi is experiencing some painful feelings that a lot of people do, namely that life has unfairly dealt him lemons in the love life department. He also suffers from the same sense that many do in his situation, acutely aware of his loneliness, struggling to do something about it and having to continually reassure himself of his qualities when he doesn't succeed. The writers use this to their advantage having Geordi meet the proverbial "girl of his dreams" in the form of the starship he cares for beyond anything else. As Dr. Leah Brahms, Susan Gibney is both perfectly ethereal in appearance and gorged with all the same intimate knowledge of the Enterprise as is Geordi. Naturally the two begin to feel a strong attraction to one another but do realize the limitations of their relationship, which the writers emphasize in the credible and sensitive ending to the show.

Other elements worth mentioning include Picard's alluding to his childhood hobby of building ships in a bottle that gets a variety of quizzical and humorous responses from the crew; this theme would be brought back later for the aptly titled sixth season episode 'Ship In A Bottle', that dealt with the holographic Sherlock Holmes nemesis, Professor Moriarty. Dr. Leah Brahms would make a later appearance, in the flesh, in the fourth season episode 'Galaxy's Child' and inadvertently discovers Geordi's holographic representation. Also the incidental music used here is a cut above the usual, though still familiar sounding.

Can Geordi find true love before the booby trap hatches?
In the previous episode, "The Bonding," one of the Enterprise crew was killed when a land mine from a war long ago exploded on the surface of a planet. In this appropriately titled episode, the Enterprise encounters a much more sophisticated "Booby Trap." In a debris field from the last great battle a thousand years earlier between the now extinct Promellians and Menthars, the Enterprise responds to a distress signal and finds a pristine Promellian battle cruiser. When their engines suddenly fail and the Enterprise is surrounded by a high intensity radiation field, Picard realizes they are caught in the same trap of 100,000 aceton assimilators draining power that originally caught the derelict ship and killed off its crew. The clock is ticking, or whatever it is clocks do in the 24th century, and the race in on.

This episode provides a simple but effective deep space problem to be solved by the crew, but the most interesting part of this episode involves the sub-plot with Geordi La Forge, who has been having a real bad streak of luck with the ladies. While working on how to increase the ship's power to save their lives, La Forge recreates the original prototypes of the engines on the holodeck. Surprised it is an option, La Forge also has the computer create a representation of Dr. Leah Brahms, one of the key engineers on the original design team. While "Leah" helps La Forge solve their dilemma, the Chief Engineer finds himself drawn to this holographic creation. On the one hand this episode is another chapter in the interactions of the ship's crew with the wonderful creations of the holodeck (e.g., "11001001," Episode 16), but it also sets up a very interesting episode down the road when the REAL Leah Brahms the following season in "Galaxy's Child" (Episode 90). ... Read more

Amazon.com

This curious episode re-introduced the meddling Q (John de Lancie) to the show, following the quasi-villain's key role in The Next Generation's two-part pilot, "Encounter at Farpoint." Establishing a pattern for all his visits to the Enterprise, Q simply pops up on the starship's bridge while Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) makes haste for an important mission. In this instance, Q transports key personnel (Data, Geordi, Tasha, Wesley, Worf, and Riker) to a barren planet, where they battle horrid creatures wearing the uniforms of Napoleon's army. Most importantly, Q bestows his powers onto Riker (Jonathan Frakes), who then struggles not to use them--and fails spectacularly. The script by series staff writer Maurice Hurley (under the pen name C.J. Holland) was stripped of action by Gene Roddenberry in favor of a talky, philosophical approach to questions concerning human destiny. Things look and feel even more dry on the alien planet set, which looks like a holdover from the zero-budget third season of the original series. More positively, a climactic scene in which Riker attempts to grant his Enterprise friends their most cherished dreams is quite singular in its ensemble work and drama.--Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (5)

We learn about the ethical code of the "Q" continuum
This episode is in many ways a combination of two of the episodes of the original series. When "Q" is on the desert planet with Riker and some of the other officers, his speech and mannerisms are very similar to those of Trelane in "The Squire of Gothos." Riker is granted the power of the "Q", which is similar to what happened to Gary Mitchell in "Where No Man Has Gone Before." However, unlike Gary Mitchell, while Riker grows very arrogant, he maintains his fundamental humanity and does not turn into a monster that must be destroyed.
The most significant event in the episode takes place in the conversation between Riker and "Q" on the surface of a desert world. "Q" admits to Riker that the "Q" continuum is concerned that humanity is advancing quickly and they believe that over thousands of years, the human species may even advance beyond what the "Q" can do. At first, this seems absurd, as the relative evolutionary development between humans and the "Q" is roughly equivalent to that between humans and microbes. However, this demonstrates that the "Q" are governed by a very severe code of ethics when it comes to their interaction with humans. Even though "Q" treats the Enterprise and her crew like toys, the fact that the continuum is concerned about the potential of humans means that he is essentially powerless to affect it in any substantial way. With their tremendous power to alter time and space, it would be a simple matter for the "Q" continuum to eliminate any potential threat that humans may pose.
In the end, Riker renounces his powers and "Q" is forced to return to the continuum against his will, much like Trelane was forced to do. Nevertheless, we learn that even the "Q" have their limits, although we do not know if they are self-imposed or a requirement of an even more powerful authority. I rank it barely in the top quarter of TNG episodes.

"Oh, your species is always suffering and dying."
John de Lancie has always done an outstanding job whenever he has guest-starred as the mischievous and omnipotent Q. The unique interplay Q had with the crew, especially with Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), was always amusing to watch as he never failed to cause some trouble whenever he could. In fact, Q-episodes actually developed into its own sub-genre of Star Trek: The Next Generation with many of them still remaining fan-favorites. Yet, every now and then there came along a clunker Q episode and "Hide and Q" was one of them.

Q intercepts the Enterprise-D as it is heading to a planet that has just experienced a terrible mining disaster. The entity grants Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) the powers of Q so that he can be studied by the Continuum. Eventually Riker comes to the conclusion that being a God is not all it is cracked up to be and declines Q's gift in order to remain with the Enterprise.

"Hide and Q" is one of the more serious Q outings that just comes across as too heavy-handed and too narrow in scope. The notion of having God-like powers given to Riker is intriguing but instead of exploring how this development will redefine his place in the universe and the implications of accelerated evolution, we are treated to Riker performing parlor tricks for his fellow crew members. "Hide and Q" had a chance to explore genuinely profound ideas but instead chose to limit its ambition by only exploring how Riker's friends would react to his new place in the galactic food chain.

Hide and Q ..........or Q Number 2?
Q Number 2?

In this poignant episode; the notorious Q decides that Riker is to become another member of the continuum. He takes his away team and Wesley and Worf perish in the first half of the episode! It's how Riker decides to bring them back that makes this story a keeper. This is what tempts him to the dark side.

Aboard the bridge, Picard has to deal with a first officer with the power of a God. Riker takes it upon himself to attempt to cure Geordi's blindness, make Data human and Wes into a mature man. It's the outcome of this tele-play that makes this one that I call a Q classic.

The Last Temptation of Riker, Courtesy of Q
One thing you have to admire about the Next Generation series is that they showed admirable restraint when it came to appearances by Q (and the same for Lwaxana Troi). Apparently the Q Continuum finds some hope for humanity on the basis of the Farpoint Station test and have decided to invite Commander Riker to join the Q. Given the power of the Q, Riker uses them to restore Worf and Wesley to life after the pair are killed during one of Q's little tests. Picard persuades Riker not to give into the temptation, but Riker's will power is put to the test during a particularly brutal rescue mission to Sigma III when he looks at the dead and wounded. Rethinking his decision, Riker uses his power to provide "gifts" to the bridge crew: Wesley becomes ten years older, Geordi is given sight, and Worf is provided with a Klingon female. However, when Data refuses the chance to be human, Riker and the others rethink exactly what they are being offered.

"Hide and Q" is one of the more thoughtful episodes from the first season although I always think Jonathan Frakes looks so baby-faced without his beard in these early episodes. The idea of Q as a meddlesome presence to the Enterprise's mission is being developed, but without the constant comic twists that will become standard fare. This is not only the second episode with Q, but also the second time the series explores the Riker character (see: Episode 7, "The Last Outpost"). At this point in the development of the Next Generation, Commander Riker is the Away Team Leader as the series tries to avoid the "Kirk beams down into danger" paradox that has the captain repeatedly putting himself into harm's way because he is the hero of the show and that is what heroes do. Eventually Riker's leadership abilities will be developed in other ways. The brief look into the hopes and dreams of the various characters is much more satisfying that the too little, too early examinations in "The Naked Now" (Episode 3).

Hide & Q
This episode marks the second appearance of the entity known as Q. Q gives Commander Riker the power of Q in an attempt to make Riker one of the Q. To this end, Q places the crew of the Enterprise in some 'games' to tempt Riker to join with him.

All in all it's not a bad episode for the first season. ... Read more

Amazon.com

"The Naked Now" is a must-own for all TNG fans. Who cares if it's basically a retread of the original series' "Naked Time" or that it breaks out every Star Trek cliché in the book? This episode lays the groundwork for fundamental relationship story lines that take seven years to unfold. Thanks to some nasty alcoholic space bug, the crew of the Enterprise-D loses all inhibition and has a good ol' time. See Picard and Doctor Bev get hot and heavy. Watch in awe when Troi asks Riker "Don't you want to be alone with me in your mind?" Find out what "fully functional" really means whether you want to or not. Of course, all good things must come to an end. (Un)fortunately, Dr. Crusher finds a cure and Wesley saves the day. "Naked Now" is so joyously and transcendentally bad, it's good. A number one guilty pleasure among TNG fans everywhere. --Kayla Riggney ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Interesting Episode Quite a crowd pleaser.
This is the second episode of TNG's first season making it the Second episode of the series. Officially is is listed as episode 3 because the pilot episode was a 2 part or "double" episode.

This episode is a spin-off of the TOS episode "The Naked Time" Basically the same type of thing happens. In this episode the Enterprise meets up with the U.S.S. Tsiolkovsky, in observing a star that is about to go nova (Named after the great Russian physicist and rocket scientist, Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky if you look closely you will notice that one of the plaques on the ship is written in Russian) The crew is acting in a strange manner. They then, in their drunken-like state blow out the hatch, decompressing much of the ship. The Enterprise crewbeams over to find the ship is a mess. The entire crew is dead, there are clothes strewn all over the corridors, naked people in one of the crew quarters with the environmental controls set to a winter-like condition. One crew member is found in a shower stall fully-clothed. The Enterprise crew returns to their ship and the ship is contaminated.

The Transporter's Bio filter and decontamination is unable to filter out the contaminant. It is a set of water-based molecules that are in a chemical like state that when passed on to a human, will affect the human body like alcohol. Now eventually the whole crew becomes "drunk", the star is about to go nova at any minute and the ship's controls have been taken over by Wesley!

This is a great episode and in it we leard about Data's full functionality. and the "multiple techniques" he is programmed with. The documenatry "Trekkies goes into this as well"

A poor retread of an episode in the original series
This is the first episode of Star Trek TNG that I saw and I was not impressed. It is a remake of episode 7, "The Naked Time" of the original series, so my first impression was that TNG would consist of storylines from the original series. Secondly, it lacked the panache of the original episode, having nothing to equal the dash of Sulu swashbuckling his way around the ship. Furthermore, and by far the worst feature, was that once the crew of the new Enterprise found the historical reference, all they had to do to stop the spread of the disease was to avoid touching each other. It was like they had never heard of biological isolation suits. They go around touching each other and then saying, "Oh no, I touched you and now I have it." These are not the actions of Star Fleet officers and they appeared to be pathetic bumblers.
Few of the actors seem able to carry off the role of acting intoxicated, and that is another problem. When the crew of the original series were infected, they acted out their repressed psychoses, which is quite different from pretending to be a stumbling drunk. Sulu was never more dynamic than when he was chasing his shipmates around with a sword. Captain Kirk was never more troubled than when his fears were uncontrollably bubbling to the surface.
Fortunately, the producers were wise enough to avoid doing this again, creating story lines either independent of the original series or having only a secondary relationship. The only redeeming feature of this episode is that it forces the characters to interact with each other, so we are able to see some of the underlying dynamics in their relationships.

I Liked The Episode!
Star Trek: The Next Generation is one of my favorite television shows and when they were still making new episodes it was the only show that I would be unhappy if I missed an episode. The Naked Now may not be the best episode of the series but I think it was pretty good and I enjoyed watching it and I like that they played homage to the Original Star Trek series episode The Naked Time. It was a nice tie-in to that show! As everyone knows this is the episode where the crew is exposed to some kind of highly contageous virus that makes the infected individuals act as though they drank too much booze and are very drunk. I'm not sure if the humor in this episode with Data the android acting as though he was drunk was intentionally funny or not but it sure was funny! which resulted in some I have this episode on video and I'm hoping to someday buy the complete seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation on DVD.

"It never happened."
It is still not clear whether "The Naked Now" was meant to be a homage to the original Star Trek episode "The Naked Time," a sequel to that episode, or whether it was just a plain repeat performance of it, but it is clear that this was one of the less inspired episodes of the first season.

After beaming over to the derelict U.S.S. Tsiolkovsky, Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) starts to exhibit some curious behavior upon returning to the Enterprise-D. It turns out that LaForge has become infected by a substance that causes anyone infected by it to lose their inhibitions. Eventually most of the Enterprise's crew becomes infected and the ship is placed in imminent danger as it finds itself in close proximity to a collapsing star with its engines disabled.

The decision to go with this story so early in Star Trek: The Next Generation's run seems a little puzzling. "The Naked Time" was noteworthy because it showed viewers aspects of Captain Kirk's crew that we had never been privy to before. However, since most of the characterizations of the Next Generation's crew had not been firmly established yet, showing the "other" sides of these characters had a rather muted dramatic effect since we were not yet used to the "normal" personas of these characters. This episode might have worked better had it been saved for one of the later seasons. Still "The Naked Now" was not a total lost cause as it did put to rest all questions over just how compatible Data (Brent Spiner) could be with a humanoid.

Sequels from the Original Series
The third episode, "The Naked Now", is the sequel to the Original Series episode, "The Naked Time." The story opens with a Federation science vessel, the U.S.S. Tsiolkovsky, studying a star, on the verge of going supernova. During the mission, the crew of the ship is exhibiting strange behavior, until one person of the crew blows a emergency hatch, killing the Tsiolkovsky's entire crew. The U.S.S. Enterprise is ordered to investigate, and finds that most of the crew are frozen, someone has been playing with the environmental controls, letting the heat suck out into space. Not long after, Geordi complains that Sickbay is too hot. It prompts Dr. Crusher to keep Geordi under observation.

Slowly, more crewmembers fall prey to the same strange feelings, prior to the Tsiolkovsky crew's deaths. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The starship Voyager wasn't the only vessel with a problem of finding itself too far from home. In "Where No One Has Gone Before," the Enterprise ends up at least a billion light years from Federation territory (compared to a measly 70,000 light years for Captain Janeway). The mystery of how it happened follows the arrival of an arrogant Starfleet consultant (Stanley Kamel) on the Enterprise. The insufferable guest claims he can increase engine efficiency, but the result plunges the ship into a dimension where the borders between time, space, and thought disappear. Meanwhile, Wesley (Wil Wheaton) realizes it isn't the consultant who is gifted but his subordinate, an advanced alien called "the Traveler" (Eric Menyuk). A somewhat wondrous episode, "Where No One" takes the Enterprise (and us) well beyond the usual black backdrop of space into extraordinary and beautiful territory. (Particularly haunting is a crystalline region that looks a bit like an ice cave.) The drama ratchets up when Picard and the others find their thoughts becoming reality; a tender moment between the captain and his late mother is quite special. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Where Wesley goes from a boy to an Ensign
The Enterprise is to be the subject of an experiment. An arrogant Starfleet propulsion expert comes on board with his alien assistant, claiming to be able to boost the output of the ship's engines. Even though his formulas appear to be nonsense, Picard rather tartly consents to the test, over the objections of his crew. They certainly get more than they expected, being propelled millions of light years beyond their goal. Everyone puts it down to a malfunction, but only Wesley Crusher understands that it was somehow the result of the actions of the expert's assistant.
That assistant is the only one who can return them, but in the first attempt, they enter a nether region where thoughts can become reality and the assistant, who is actually a "Traveler", grows sick and is on the verge of dying. Nevertheless, by marshalling all their thoughts, the crew of the Enterprise provides enough assistance to the Traveler so that they are able to return to their own galaxy.
This is the episode where Wesley Crusher makes the transition from "the boy" to Ensign Crusher. At the start, Picard and Riker refer to him as the boy, to the point where he has to remind them that his name is Wesley. Picard is also much more rigid in this episode than in others, until the end when he "promotes" Wesley, he is unwilling to accept dissent, cutting off all who try to explain circumstances to him.
Like some of the other early episodes, the principals are rigid and overly authoritative in their behavior. In my opinion, one of the primary reasons why the quality improves in later episodes is that the main characters become much less rigid in their actions, no doubt due in part to the actors adjusting to their roles. This episode is not one of the best, I rank it right in the middle of the group. It is most memorable for the fact that Wesley becomes a full member of the crew, opening up many plot possibilities for future episodes.

"Is Mister Kosinski what he seems? A joke?"
Certainly the most interesting development in Wesley Crusher's (Wil Wheaton) character during the first season was his initial meeting with the Traveler (Eric Menyuk) in "Where No One Has Gone Before." Not only was the Traveler the most interesting alien introduced in the early going of the series but the special bond he would form with Wesley would be integral to the evolution of the latter in future episodes.

Specialist Kosinski (Stanley Kamel) boards the Enterprise-D with boastful claims that he can magically improve the efficiency of the ship's warp engines. Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frankes) and Chief Engineer Argyle (Biff Yeager) are skeptical of their visitor but they allow him to continue with his upgrades. Wesley becomes intrigued with Kosinki's assistant, an alien called the Traveler, who turns out to be the secret behind Kosinki's past success. The truth behind the charade is exposed after the Traveler accidentally hurls the Enterprise into another dimension.

"Where No One Has Gone Before" starkly illustrates another difference the new Star Trek series would have from its predecessor. The special effects that depict the Enterprise's journey into the unknown are of feature film quality and easily outdoes anything seen on the original series. The guest stars are strong also with Menyuk turning in a very memorable performance as Wesley's future mentor. It is no surprise that the producers decided to make him a recurring character after his work in this episode. In sum, "Where No One Has Gone Before" was a welcome outing that broke a run of average episodes.

The outer regions of the Universe.
Original air date: October 26, 1988
Stardate: 41263.2

The U.S.S. Enterprise and crew bring aboard a cocky warp engines mechanic and his assistant to do tests on the starship’s new warp engines and even more.

The U.S.S. Enterprise has intercepted the U.S.S. Fearless and brings aboard a cocky warp engines mechanic named Kosinski and his assistant on board the Enterprise.

They head to Engineering and begin the first test, with the Enterprise going at warp 1.5. The assistant does a mistake and begins to dematerialize in the engine room. After that, the Enterprise goes into super-warp, going past warp 10. On the viewscreen, quasars and pulsars go flying past the Enterprise. Picard orders the starship to come to a full stop. The starship Enterprise ends up in a different galaxy than their own. La Forge calculates that the Enterprise has ended up on the far side of the Triangulum Galaxy, also known as M-33 and they left their own galaxy and passed two other ones. Picard asks Data how far they have traveled. Data says that the Enterprise has gone 2,700,000 light-years from their former position. That’s impossible! La Forge calculates that it will take the starship three centuries even at their fastest speed. Kosinski explains what happened to the Enterprise when they were in warp.

Picard asks Kosinski to do the same thing as before to get back to the galaxy they live in, and Kosinski agrees and heads back to the Engine Room. They do it again and the assistant begins dematerializing again and this time Riker sees what is happening to the ship. The Enterprise goes into super-warp and suddenly, disappears from the Triangulum Galaxy. The starship starts to shake violently. They stop again, and they aren’t in their galaxy but in another strange one. Picard asks what the place is called. Data says for his friend, “Where none have gone before.” The U.S.S. Enterprise’s present position is at least over a billion light-years from their own galaxy. Picard heads to the Engine Room and sees the alien dying. Later, in Sickbay, the alien calls himself a “traveler”. The reason the Enterprise is in this galaxy because the warp formula had thought in it. He also tells him that Wesley is special and must get the best attention like Mozart, the famous composer of the 17th and 18th centuries. As Picard tries to get to the Bridge, a crewman is thinking of fire and is trapped. Picard tells the crewman to put it out in his thoughts. It works, and he continues his duties. Picard talks to the crew to think of the Traveler or his or her duty, it might be enough to get the crew back to the Milky Way Galaxy.

Picard puts the starship on Red Alert and gets ready to go back to the Milky Way Galaxy. Counselor Troi and Lt. Yar tell Picard that there will be stress and general fear by the crew. Picard orders La Forge to set a retroactive course to get back to the Milky Way Galaxy, and The Enterprise goes to warp speed. They are getting faster and it is not enough yet. What’s worse, is that the alien is trying to dematerialize again. It was enough, and the alien disappears. What’s also great, is that the Enterprise is back in the Alpha Quadrant and back in their galaxy.

La Forge calls this trip through the universe a “sleigh ride.” Captain Picard summons Wesley and has been commissioned “Acting Ensign” Until Starfleet Academy can accept him. He is greatly pleased and accepts the offer.

This is my favourite TNG first season episode.

fan of tng
This is avery good season one episode.It was made when star trek The Next Generation was only six episodes old so the special effects and the way the actors play the characters is still a little shaky. That is the reason why I did not give it a five. Despite the things that I have just mentioned above this is a very good episode! I reccomend it to anyone who likes science fiction and appreciates good story telling. The acting is good in this episode but not as good as in other first season episodes like Heart of Glory or The Big Goodbye.However, those episodes are outstanding for the entire 177 episode run of the series.All in all it is worth getting due to the exitment and interest that the script brings to the viewer. This is a good episode to buy.

One Of My Favorites!!!!!
Where No One has Gone Before is one of my favorite TNG episodes, maybe it's just me but I actually felt sorry for Kosinski as he actually thought he had found a way to improve the warp drive and when the test backfired and they were propelled into a strange dimension he thought he had been the one who did it and when it turned out to be his assistant The Traveler who really did it he was humbled but also quite emotionally upset about it. OK, Kosinski was arrogant and standoffish but I still felt sorry for him! ... Read more

Amazon.com

This somewhat patchy drama never quite comes to life until late in the episode, when Patrick Stewart gets a chance to play Captain Picard as a man literally possessed. While escorting delegations from two feuding planets to a Federation outpost, the Enterprise passes through a mysterious cloud containing intelligent life in the form of pure energy. One such entity alternately enters the bodies of Worf (Michael Dorn), Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden), the ship's computers and, finally, Picard. The script by Dorothy Fontana, based on a story by Michael Halperin, burns up a lot of time treating the basic idea as a mystery, with Data (Brent Spiner) even going so far as to adopt the mannerisms and vernacular of Sherlock Holmes. (A dubious element, though Spiner does get some great comic mileage out of it.) Again, it's Stewart's ingenuity that makes one forget the story's problems, playing Picard in a way that seems off by a few, unsettling degrees. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (7)

An attempt to do too much in an hour
This episode suffers from attempting to do too much, and what it chooses to do is predictable. The mission of the Enterprise is to transport delegations from two different warring planets to a peace conference. One species is feline in nature, using live animals as food and obviously playing with that food for some time, as a cat does, before killing and eating it. The other species is reptilian, and each would much rather kill the other than make any attempt at peace.
The Enterprise crew is obviously disgusted with their behavior and it would have been possible to create an interesting story using this as a premise. Unfortunately, while the two species hunt each other while on the Enterprise, a truly preposterous notion, a different storyline is the main one.
On their way to the peace conference, the Enterprise alters course to investigate an energy cloud that is traveling at warp speed. As the Enterprise passes near the cloud, an energy being comes aboard, takes possession of several members of the crew and causes many systems to malfunction. The members of the crew all appear to be dunderheads, totally unable to understand what is happening. Finally, the alien takes possession of Captain Picard and embarks on a course of action where the outcome is obvious.
In no way is this one of the better episodes of TNG. It would have been a much more interesting story if the energy being had been left out and the emphasis placed on the crew's attempt to make peace between two deadly enemies, where both have applied for membership in the Federation. Despite all the time spent on the two different species, we learn nothing about what happens at the peace conference.

"Sorry, wrong species."
If there is any lesson to be learned from "Lonely Among Us," it is to steer clear of strange clouds in space that have the ability to travel at faster-than-light speeds. You never know when a discharge from the cloud will attempt to take over your body so caution is strongly advised.

The Enterprise-D beams aboard delegates from the Antican and Selay governments in order to transport them to Parliament for diplomatic negotiations. On their way to their destination, the ship encounters a cloud in space. An energy bolt from the cloud boards the Enterprise and quickly takes over the bodies of various crew members as it jumps from host to host.

The often-used "body possession" story premise produces lackluster results in "Lonely Among Us." The drama that the episode strives for is undermined by our knowledge that nothing serious is going to happen to Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) once he leaves the ship and the strange B-story involving the alien delegates which vacillates between horror and comedy. In fact the entire notion of the ship being attacked by a cloud can't help but come across as goofy. Record "Lonely Among Us" as another bump in the road in Star Trek: The Next Generation's early going.

I like this video.
This movie is great. I like this movie because I'm a Star Trek fan. I like all the things this episode gives. I like the action, characters, and the acting. I highly recommend this to future fans.

One Of The Best Season 1 Episodes!
Lonely Among Us is one of the best TNG sesaon 1 episodes. A strange energy cloud briefly takes over the minds of several crew members including Worf and Dr. Crusher before finally taking over Captain Picard's mind which has him acting very strangly indeed. A very good episode!!!!

The Mysterious Cloud
The Cloud Creature

This is one of the first of what I call the mysterious cloud....or writer's block episodes. This was done better with the original series episode "Obsession." It's Star Trek tradition when ideas run dry.....throw in the mystery cloud! However, as opposed to the ones done on Voyager; this one was exciting to watch.

Picard was possessed by this cloud and it takes control of the Enterprise. Blue lightning bolts are emitted from his body when he holds the bridge members hostage. With all this happening; the cannibal diplomats aboard the ship were trying to eat one another on their way to the planet, Parliament.

I wish the writer of this episode; D. C. Fontana, was asked to stay on staff. As a former member of the original series writers; she had a tremendous amount of experience to offer. I often wonder how different the show would be with her input.

For all intents and purposes this one is worth the price of the video. It doesn't suffer from lack of action/adventure elements. The story shows us how the crew pulls together when our favorite captain is incapacitated. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

A Very Good Wesley Crusher Episode!
I'm a big fan of Star Trek The Next Generation and Wesley Crusher is one of my favorite characters but I do admit that they did go a little overboard at times with the whole Wesley the boy genius thing but I still like the character anyway. The First Duty is one of my favorite Wesley Crusher episodes and I believe it was the second episode that guest-starred Wil Wheaton as Wesley after he left the show as a fullfledge member of he cast. In this episode Wesley messes up big time when he is part of a coverup involving the death of a fellow Starfleet Academy cadet and this episode shows that even Wesley the boy genius can make mistakes.