star trek tng suspicions cast

Suspicions (episode)

• View history
• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 1.6 Act Five
• 1.7 Log entries
• 2 Memorable quotes
• 3.1 Production history
• 3.2 Story and script
• 3.3 Cast and characters
• 3.4 Continuity
• 3.5 Video and DVD releases
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Also starring
• 4.3 Guest stars
• 4.4 Special guest star
• 4.5 Co-star
• 4.6 Uncredited co-stars
• 4.7 Stunt doubles
• 4.8 Stand-ins
• 4.9.1 Other references
• 4.10 External links

Summary [ ]

Doctor Beverly Crusher enters her quarters with a PADD in hand, feeling dejected and defeated. With a long sigh, she throws the PADD to her desk and decides to change out of her uniform , when her door chime rings. With reluctance, she allows the visitor and Guinan enters complaining of tennis elbow after Geordi beats her in straight sets. Crusher tells her she had better see Dr. Selar in sickbay , but Guinan refuses as she's very particular about her doctors and only wants to see Crusher. Crusher responds that she better look for a new one and then breaks the news that she is no longer a doctor on the ship.

Act One [ ]

Crusher expresses her frustration at the next few weeks as she will face Admiral Brooks . She clearly disagrees with the circumstances of the impending end of her career. In her usual style, Guinan insists on her elbow getting treated to calm Crusher down and starts to ask her about what happened. A Ferengi scientist , Dr. Reyga , has created a metaphasic shielding technique and had presented it at the Altine Conference , but his unorthodox methods have left most scientists in the field ignoring his work. Crusher remarks that Reyga was practically jeered off the stage at the conference. Dr. Crusher decided to play "scientific diplomat" and invite other scientists in the field to come to the USS Enterprise -D and view a demonstration of the doctor's prototype .

Dr. T'Pan and Dr. Christopher

Only four scientists were willing to come: a Klingon named Kurak , a Vulcan named T'Pan and her Human husband Christopher , and a Takaran named Jo'Bril . Crusher expected disbelief from the group, but the fact that they came made her hopeful. She gathered the group in the science lab and began by stating the vision that the group had for the potential benefits. Furthermore, Reyga was willing to share rights with whoever provided assistance to him. Reyga plans to perform a test using an Enterprise shuttle , the Justman . It is to be fitted with Dr. Reyga's experimental shield and flown into a nearby star , Veytan , a lofty goal as it is a particularly superdense corona , but Reyga is confident. As they are all skeptical, they decide that someone other than the Ferengi should pilot the shuttle, so as to provide an impartial analysis. Jo'Bril volunteers and Reyga thanks him.

At the test flight , all of the invited scientists watch from the bridge as Jo'Bril enters the Veytan's corona. Everything seems to be going as planned until suddenly Jo'Bril becomes short of breath. There are increased levels of baryon particles building up in the shuttle's interior. Jo'Bril barely pilots the shuttle out of the star and is beamed on the Enterprise before dying in sickbay, remarking " I saw… the sun!"

Act Two [ ]

Guinan says Crusher shouldn't take it too hard since she wasn't in control. Reminded of what Captain Picard said to her during the autopsy she performed on Jo'Bril, she recalled the frustration she felt at the unexplained nature of his death. His anatomy was very different from other humanoids . In fact, she cannot understand his physiology at all, especially why his cells seems to be decaying at such a slow rate. He also has no discrete organs , and they are all distributed equally throughout his body, which should make him incredibly resistant to injury.

" Reyga seemed angry, but I knew it was because he was so disappointed. "

Meanwhile, Data and La Forge analyze the Justman in the shuttlebay . Data informs Reyga that the plasma flow regulators , the field emitter coils , and radial force compensators were all functioning normally. La Forge found microcrystalline damage to the hull, confirming the shield was breached by the radiation . Reyga is livid and cannot accept that the shield was at fault.

Gathering the scientists in the science lab, Crusher explains she has no choice but to end the visit. She hopes that someday, when Reyga has perfected the metaphasic technology behind the shield, they may be able to try again. Reyga pleads with the other scientists to allow him a second test, but meets intense opposition, including from Crusher, who, as chief medical officer , refuses to put anyone at further risk. He seems determined to prove himself and leaves. A few hours later, he is found dead in Science Lab 4 from a plasma discharge.

Act Three [ ]

Worf judges the death was a suicide , but Crusher is incredulous as he had tightly clutched his hand on the plasma infuser instead of dropping it, the normal response. She plans on performing an autopsy on him, but after speaking to Picard about how unusual the death was, she learns the family won't permit it and arrangements have already been made to have his body returned home so they can perform the Ferengi death ritual .

Frustrated, Dr. Crusher explains the situation to Nurse Ogawa and decides to perform an investigation of her own. She confronts Christopher and T'Pan in their quarters , and Christopher becomes incensed. Eventually, he mentions that while he was in the storage room in the science lab, he heard Kurak and Reyga having a fiery argument shortly before his death. Dr. Crusher then confronts Kurak, much to her own peril, as the Klingon scientist throws her violently against the wall, yelling that she will no longer be subjected to Crusher's insinuations. But Crusher doesn't back down and she gets Kurak to confess that the argument she had with Reyga had to do with him accusing her of committing sabotage to his project but insists she didn't and says nothing else. As she determines Kurak also did not murder Reyga, Crusher finds herself stumped as she doesn't have any more insight than she did before she started.

Finally, knowing she will be disobeying a direct order, she performs an autopsy on Reyga, believing that it will answer her questions… and can find nothing. Crusher then goes to Picard's quarters and informs him what she did, and he is extremely disappointed and lectures her about how she not only disobeyed his orders, but she grossly violated the Prime Directive by interfering in another culture's burial ritual. Her actions put both of them in a very difficult position and that Reyga's family will have to be notified and Picard is most certain the Ferengi government will get involved. Crusher accepts the consequences of her decision and that he doesn't have to protect her. With a nod, Picard signals to her that she is relieved from duty and files a report on her conduct to Starfleet Medical .

Back to the present, Guinan recalls the move that caused her Tennis Elbow, and asks Crusher if she thinks Reyga committed suicide and if there's a murderer on board. Crusher pushes back on the idea of digging around again, but Guinan encourages her to continue her investigation, as she has only been relieved of her duty. With that train of thought, Crusher realizes she has nothing to lose.

Act Four [ ]

With less than 24 hours before she leaves the Enterprise for the board of inquiry, Crusher finds Data in the Justman making sure it wasn't permanently damaged by the radiation. She asks his help to determine a possible sabotage scenario. Data deduces that, if it happened, it must have been done during Jo'Bril's test flight, and it's unlikely he did it himself and put himself in danger. Another scenario is that a phased ionic pulse beamed directly into the projection matrix would result in a temporary system malfunction by forming a tetryon field. Realizing she could confirm the tetryon field from Jo'Bril's tissue, she heads for sickbay.

On the way, Commander Riker informs her that they've arranged for the shuttle to take her to Starbase 23 at 0700 tomorrow and apologizes for everything that's happened and tries to raise her hopes that it will work out in the end but warns her that if she does anything rash before the inquiry, it will be that much harder. Crusher tries to brush off Riker's concerns, but he knows exactly what's going on and strongly suggests she returns to her quarters and read a book , which she rejects. Riker pleads with her as a friend, but Crusher again refuses and pleads with him not to get involved as she can't quit now.

Ogawa finds Crusher in sickbay attempting to access the computer to look at autopsy files, but her access has been revoked, as she is no longer an active medical officer on board. When Crusher tries to leave without involving her, Ogawa decides to help anyway, activating the computer for Crusher. Crusher pleads with her not to get involved, and when she tries to pull rank on Ogawa, the nurse reminds her that she's not her boss anymore. They perform an additional examination of Jo'Bril's body and confirm the tetryon particles. It's not conclusive evidence, Ogawa reminds her, but it does indicate there may have been sabotage of the metaphasic shield.

On the bridge, Counselor Troi express great concern for Crusher and that she's been avoiding her every time. Picard concedes that and with surprise, Data picks up an unscheduled shuttle launch. Riker checks his instruments and finds no flight plan and learns from the viewscreen it's the Justman . Picard establishes visual communication and he and the bridge crew are horrified to learn that Crusher herself is piloting the shuttle, in an attempt to test a theory.

Act Five [ ]

Crusher explains that the shield does work, but it was sabotaged in the first test. Picard order her to come back, but she is determined and apologizes. She's already isolated the navigational system and is too close to the star for Worf to attempt to stop the shuttle with a tractor beam . Picard tries to reason with her to no avail even as the temperature rises. After a few minutes, it appears that the shield is working. Crusher is delighted and tells Picard that one of the three remaining scientists must be the murderer. She asks that he confine them to quarters and post security guards, but just then the communication terminates.

On board the Justman , Jo'Bril emerges from his hiding place in a compartment armed with a phaser and tells Dr. Crusher that his species are able to control their metabolic function to the point where they can simulate death. Crusher realizes he heard all her plans while lying "dead" on a slab in the morgue . Jo'Bril demands that she steps away from the controls; while he inputs a set of commands to send out a transient subspace signal which would simulate a warp core breach in the shuttle according to the Enterprise 's sensors. He thanks her and admits the metaphasic shield is real. He wanted to discredit Reyga to have the technology for himself. Now with a prototype, he'll wait until the Enterprise leaves (its sensors cannot penetrate the star's corona). Then, he'll take her and the shuttle back to Takara , his homeworld , to perfect the technique and weaponize it.

Dr. Jo'Bril is shot but not killed by Dr. Crusher

With surprise, Crusher attacks Jo'Bril and inputs commands to take the shuttle deeper into the star's corona. The sudden descent catches Jo'Bril off guard and backs into a wall, dropping his phaser to the floor of the shuttle. Both doctors engage in a struggle for the weapon after Crusher grabs it. Seeing an attack of opportunity, Crusher delivers an elbow strike to his face, dazing him long enough for her to follow up with a painful roundhouse kick to his chest, sending him down while training her newly-acquired phaser at him. Jo'Bril immediately gets up and Crusher fires at him, blowing a hole in his torso. To her shock, this doesn't slow him down at all, only serving to annoy him. Crusher quickly adjusts the setting and shoots him again at maximum level, killing Jo'Bril by vaporization. She immediately adjusts heading and returns to the Enterprise . On board the Enterprise , the crew are beginning a search for shuttle debris when the Justman emerges from the star's corona and Dr. Crusher tells them she finally has the answers about Reyga's murder.

Crusher returns to the Enterprise , where she is reinstated to active duty. In Ten Forward , she finds Guinan standing at the bar . Crusher opens the present she brought her as thanks for her encouragement – a tennis racket of the latest design she replicated, so that Guinan will never get tennis elbow again – but Guinan admits she has never played tennis .

Log entries [ ]

• Chief medical officer's personal log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
• Chief medical officer's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Well, you better go to sickbay. I think Dr. Selar's on duty. " " I don't want to see Dr. Selar, I always see you. I'm very particular about my doctors. " " Well, you better get a new one because I'm not a doctor on this ship anymore. "

" I can hear Admiral Brooks now telling me how I've disgraced Starfleet Medical. Then, a leisurely day and a half before the formal inquiry begins and my career ends. " " Beverly… my elbow. "

" You know, I've never been to a formal inquiry. " " Well, I'll see if I can arrange one for you. All you have to do is disobey orders, violate medical ethics and cause an interstellar incident. " " Well, I guess that would do it. "

" I saw… the sun! "

" I don't want you to get involved in this." " Is that an order, doctor? " " Yes! " " Too bad you're not my boss anymore. "

" Thank you, Doctor. This looks like a great racket but, uh… I don't play tennis. Never have. "

Background information [ ]

Production history [ ].

• Final draft script: 25 February 1993 [1]
• Premiere airdate: 10 May 1993
• First UK airdate: 6 December 1995

Story and script [ ]

• Joe Menosky 's original story, while involving the murder of a Ferengi scientist, ended with the revelation that warp drive was destroying the fabric of space. This element was later revived for the seventh season episode " Force of Nature ". ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 247))
• The story went through many versions. Originally, it featured Worf and included film noir elements such as flashbacks, dissolves and voiceover narration. Rick Berman only hesitantly approved this, feeling that the voiceovers would conflict with the captain's log . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 247); Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 277)
• Worf was replaced with Beverly Crusher as the staff thought that he was being overused. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 247)) Jeri Taylor recalled, " What I really wanted was a vehicle for Beverly. I felt we had given Troi some really nice things to do, Beverly has had more to do within a number of episodes but she did not have one that was all hers. We wanted to give her something atypical and not a female role. The idea of her playing a Private Eye or Quincy was very appealing. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 278)
• Michael Piller rejected several drafts as unexciting until the staff came up with the twist that the first apparent victim was the perpetrator. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 247))
• The producers learned that this would be Whoopi Goldberg 's last opportunity to appear in the season. Accordingly, further rewrites were necessary to insert Guinan . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 247))
• Ronald D. Moore commented, " It was just a never-ending, never-waking nightmare. Keep the murder mystery, lose the warp thing, move Worf out, keep the flashbacks, lose the film noir, insert Beverly – it was just arrgh ! " ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 247))
• Naren Shankar added, " It was a misery. It was a troubled script. There'd been two other attempts to do murder mysteries and they hadn't worked out – then we tried to do this and the whole thing was a clusterfuck. " ( Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , p. 304)

Cast and characters [ ]

• This episode marks the final appearance of Guinan on the series, though she remains on the Enterprise -D. She plays an integral role in Star Trek Generations and has a brief appearance in Star Trek Nemesis and would return in the first and last episodes of Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard .
• According to director Cliff Bole , several scenes with Dr. Reyga ( Peter Slutsker ) were reshot. " He was a scientist, so I said that means he's got a little more compassion, maybe he's not as oily as the rest of them. I think I went too far and the guys asked me to reshoot a few scenes. Rick Berman said, 'Don't forget, they're still Ferengis [sic] .' " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 278)
• Stock footage from the fourth season episode " Final Mission " is used, including Mary Kohnert as Ensign Allenby .

Continuity [ ]

• The metaphasic shield technology was later used by the Enterprise -D under the command of Dr. Crusher in " Descent, Part II " to combat the Borg. James Horan also guest starred in that episode, but as Lieutenant Barnaby , an Enterprise -D crewmember.
• In this episode, it is stated that Ferengi are to be buried after death and are very adamant that the body not be "violated" before burial. On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , a different Ferengi death ritual for Grand Nagus Zek and for Quark is shown involving vacuum-desiccated remains that are sold to the highest bidder. ( DS9 : " The Nagus ", " Body Parts ") However, since the Deep Space Nine episode refers specifically to the Grand Nagus' funeral as appropriate for a Ferengi "of his stature," it may be that death ritual of vacuum-desiccated remains does not apply to the Ferengi scientist in this episode because, as a disgraced failure, there would be no (financial) interest in his remains.

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 74, 22 November 1993
• As part of the TNG Season 6 DVD collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
• Jonathan Frakes as Cmdr. William Riker

Also starring [ ]

• LeVar Burton as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
• Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf
• Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher
• Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi
• Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data

Guest stars [ ]

• Patti Yasutake as Alyssa Ogawa
• Tricia O'Neil as Kurak
• Peter Slutsker as Reyga
• James Horan as Jo'Bril
• John S. Ragin as Christopher
• Joan Stuart Morris as T'Pan

Special guest star [ ]

• Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan

Co-star [ ]

• Majel Barrett as Computer Voice

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• David Keith Anderson as Armstrong
• Arratia as Alfonse Pacelli
• Debbie David as Russell
• Tracee Lee Cocco as Jae
• Robert Cox as Marquez
• Hal Donahue as command division lieutenant
• Goldie Ann Gareza as command division officer
• Christie Haydon as command division ensign
• Arvo Katajisto as Torigan
• Mary Kohnert as Allenby (recycled footage)
• Ron Large as command division officer
• Michael Moorehead as science division ensign
• Joycelyn Robinson as Gates
• Richard Sarstedt as command division ensign
• Oliver Theess as command division crewmember
• Unknown actor as operations division officer

Stunt doubles [ ]

• Tom Morga as stunt double for James Horan
• Patricia Tallman as stunt double for Gates McFadden

Stand-ins [ ]

• David Keith Anderson – stand-in for LeVar Burton
• Debbie David – stand-in for Brent Spiner
• Michael Echols – stand-in for Michael Dorn
• Nora Leonhardt – stand-in for Marina Sirtis
• Lorine Mendell – stand-in for Gates McFadden
• Richard Sarstedt – stand-in for Jonathan Frakes
• Dennis Tracy – stand-in for Patrick Stewart

References [ ]

2354 ; accusation ; Altine Conference ; autonomic functions scan ; autopsy files ; baryon ; bearing ; board of inquiry ; Brooks ; cabin ; career ; cellular level ; Celsius ; " contradiction in terms "; cortical stimulator ; data ; DNA ; Earth ; Ferengi ; Ferengi death ritual ; Ferengi government ; Ferengi ship ; field emitter coil ; field test ; fired ; forensic clues ; formal inquiry ; humanoid species ; Justman ; Kelvin ; Klingon ; medical logs ; medical personnel ; medical tricorder ; metaphasic shield ; Midsummer Night's Dream, A ; millimeter ; Mintakan tapestry ; medical ethics ; morgue ; organic tissue ; painting ; phased ionic pulse ; plasma infuser ; poison ; polarity ; Qo'noS ; rad ; radiation ; Reyga's family ; science laboratory ( Science Labs 1, 4, 16 ); science station ; scientific community ; scientific diplomat ; scientific diplomacy ; scientist ; security guard ; Selar ; sextant ; sickbay ; slander ; Starbase 23 ; Starfleet Medical ; subspace morphology ; subspace technology ; subspace theoretician ; methodology ; Takara ; Takaran ; temperature ; tennis ; tennis elbow ; tennis racket ; tetryon ; tetryon radiation ; transporter lock ; Type 6 shuttlecraft ; Vaytan ; Vulcan Science Academy

Other references [ ]

• Takaran anatomy: aorta ; bronchus ; carotid artery ; coronal section ; epigastric ; heart ; jugular vein ; large intestine ; lateral sternal ; liver ; small intestine ; lung ; parasternal ; stomach ; superior vena cava ; thyroid ; torso ; trachea ; umbilical
• Metaphasic Shielding Project: field density ; measurement probe ; metaphasic project ; metaphasic shielding report
• Metaphasic Project 33121: emitter array ; line amp

External links [ ]

• " Suspicions " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " Suspicions " at Wikipedia
• "Suspicions" at StarTrek.com
• " "Suspicions" " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• 1 Rachel Garrett
• 3 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-G)

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Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 6, Episode 22

Where to watch, star trek: the next generation — season 6, episode 22.

Watch Star Trek: The Next Generation — Season 6, Episode 22 with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV.

Popular TV on Streaming

Cast & crew.

Patrick Stewart

Capt. Jean-Luc Picard

Jonathan Frakes

Cmdr. William Riker

LeVar Burton

Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge

Michael Dorn

Gates McFadden

Dr. Beverly Crusher

Marina Sirtis

Counselor Deanna Troi

Episode Info

• The A.V. Club
• The Takeout
• The Inventory

Star Trek: The Next Generation : “Suspicions”/“Rightful Heir”

“Suspicions” (first aired 5/8/1993)

Or  The One Where Dead Men Walk And Beverly Desecrates a Corpse

Dr. Beverly Crusher should’ve been one of  TNG ’s best characters. She’s smart, she’s a doctor (doctor’s are cool, right?), she’s got red-hair—but most importantly, she’s a likeable, appealing nerd, more stable than Geordi, less alien than Data. In a just world, she could’ve been everything Deanna Troi wasn’t: a strong female character who didn’t exist solely to titillate male fans, someone whose passion and ability were outside the often narrow expectations for genre heroines. Instead, we got someone who was never given the opportunity to live up to her potential. Gates McFadden is a solid actress, but too often, her character has been relegated to back-up roles, interjecting occasional medical jargon to give color to scenes, or else worrying to one side about whether or not Wesley was getting enough fun in his life. Admittedly, she’s part of the ensemble, which means she’s not going to be center-stage all the time; there are plenty of episodes where, say, Riker’s primary contribution is grinning like a jackass, or Data exists only to misinterpret basic sayings. But, much as with Troi, Beverly’s solo outings rarely do well by her. “Remember Me,” whatever my reservations, had the right idea; none of this, “Oh no, I’ve fallen in love with an ambassador so my story has to be all about feelings!” crap. (Weirdly enough, I graded “The Host,” an episode with just that premise, higher than “Remember Me.” Sometimes, I don’t make a whole lot of sense.)

“Suspicions,” in concept, falls into the former category. It has Beverly getting passionate about science, which is all kinds of awesome, and it has her going on adventures and fighting crime—and I’m a fan of these things. Unfortunately, “Suspicions” is also mediocre. While Picard and Data and even Riker get to have grown-up adventures, Beverly is stuck Nancy Drew-ing her way through a mystery populated by uninteresting, generic characters, with a lot of chumped-up drama and a solution that seems clever, but doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The good doctor is likeable as ever, but the whole episode has the feel of a bizarre spin-off series that never quite came into focus. It’s the sort of story that works only as background television; occasionally smart, never too much of a downer, but best viewed with your mind largely focused on something else.

Oddly enough, “Suspicions” opens with a framing device. Beverly is in her quarters, wearing her civilian clothes and packing, when Guinan comes to visit. Guinan has a story all prepared—she and Geordi were playing tennis, and she thinks she’s injured her elbow—but what really happened is that Guinan’s magical mentor sense started tingling, and she decided to meddle where she was needed. Beverly brusquely informs Guinan that “I’m not a doctor on this ship anymore,” which is a shock, and after sufficient pestering, Guinan gets the good ex-doctor to spill some exposition. About half the episode is taken up with the tale Beverly tells next. It’s a not entirely unfamiliar structure, but I’m not really sure why it’s necessary. The mystery of just how Beverly lost her job, and just why she’s going up for a court martial, isn’t a bad way to start us off, but telling events in a more linear fashion might’ve created more suspense. Or maybe not. This one was never going to be a thrill-a-minute, however it unfolded.

Beverly explains to Guinan that a Ferengi scientist named Dr. Reyga had developed a process of multiphasic shielding. If it worked, the new kind of shield would have huge ramifications for, um, space science. But given that nobody really likes Ferengi (yes, that’s right, after nearly six seasons worth of sniveling cartoons,  TNG  has finally decided we need to learn a valuable lesson about judging sentient beings by their species), Reyga is having a difficult time getting the word out. Beverly is so impressed by Reyga’s work, and so frustrated by the lack of attention it’s getting, that she takes it on herself to invite Reyga aboard the  Enterprise,  so that he can present his work to a group of influential scientists from around the galaxy. Only four of those scientists answer Beverly’s evite, but it’s a start, and the doctor is so confident in Reyga’s work, she’s sure that everyone else will be too.

There’s a lot to like in this set-up. While a moderately attended conference about a made-up science fiction technology doesn’t scream excitement (especially since the importance of the technology is entirely abstract; “multiphasic shield” sounds cool, but it has no inherent meaning, unlike, say, “chronology shifting device”), it’s charming to see someone get so worked up about research and knowledge, without there having to be any immediate personal gain involved.  TNG  has all kinds of positive ideas about the future, but the one that always registers the strongest with me is the idea that tomorrow might be a place where people go to celebrate learning. There’s a certain degree of pettiness among the scientists Beverly invites—given the turn events take, that pettiness is necessary to make everyone involved a potential suspect. (Besides, considering how far she cast her net with invitations, and how few respond, maybe she just ended up with the dregs.) But that doesn’t take away the fact that Beverly was able to arrange all of this on board the ship with a minimum of fuss, for a gathering that wasn’t going to make her or the  Enterprise  any money. I’m not doing a good job explaining myself here, and I’m probably over-emphasizing the point as well, but given how much of our culture is suspicious or even hostile to knowledge and study, it’s nice to watch a show where the opposite is true.

Plus, there’s Beverly, pulling all of this together purely based on her own enthusiasm. In a way, it’s surprising that Beverly is the one running all this, and not Geordi, or even Barclay; shields seem more of an engineering concern than a medical one, although Beverly’s ability to perform autopsies will become important later on. But this does help add a bit of depth to her character, and it certainly doesn’t contradict anything we’ve seen before. (I even have vague memories of her broad range of interests in the past. Something to do with physics, I think.) And, for all the reasons I’ve already stated above, it’s just neat to have her working on this sort of thing.

But, in case the title didn’t clue you in, “Suspicions” isn’t just a simple tale of shared study and rigorous debate. To convince the others that his work is a success, Reyga proposes a test drive of the system. Jo’Bril, a Takaran scientist, the first one Beverly’s ever met (if this isn’t setting off alarm bells, it should), volunteers to pilot a shuttle into the corona of a nearby sun to test the multiphasic shield’s strength. The test goes well, right up until the point where it doesn’t, leaving Jo’Bril apparently dead. The other scientists assume that the shield failed, but Reyga refuses to accept this, pleading with Beverly for another test run so he can prove the original failure was a fluke or act of sabotage. But before he can follow through on this, he winds up dead, an apparent suicide, only Beverly doesn’t think it  is  a suicide—and of course she’s right.

Jo’Bril’s the bad guy here, trying to discredit Reyga’s research so he can steal it for himself. After his “death,” “Suspicions” makes a point of calling to our attention just how odd his corpse is, how there’s little cellular degeneration, and how Beverly doesn’t know a whole lot about Takara physiology. It’s not screamingly obvious—”killing” the criminal is a decent way to throw off the scent, and for a while, I thought the lady Vulcan and her human husband might be responsible, although that would mean disregarding some other clues. (I never thought it was the Klingon.) Beverly’s confrontation with Jo’Bril in the shuttle at the end was intense enough, and while Jo’Bril was on the mustache-twirling side, he at least had a halfway decent escape plan. But how the hell did he get out of the morgue? While Jo’Bril was faking his own death, he had to lie in the morgue for days on end. Beverly did an autopsy on him at some point, even, which can’t have been comfortable.

While I would’ve been willing to accept that future autopsies are much more invasive than modern ones, the reason Beverly temporarily loses her job is because she goes ahead and performs an autopsy on Reyga’s corpse against his family’s wishes. Which would seem to imply that future autopsies affect the body about as much as modern ones do, so how the hell did Jo’Bril survive it? But okay, Beverly didn’t know much about the Takarans, so maybe she didn’t really do an in-depth, hole-poking study of the so-called corpse. (Although you’d think a doctor would be even more thorough on a body from an unfamiliar species, if only for her own records.) Plus, we’re never given specifics on just how resilient Jo’Bril is when he’s playing possum, so who knows. That still doesn’t explain the ease with which Jo’Bril was able to extricate himself from his corpse drawer, sneak through the ship, and stow away in the shuttle Beverly ends up stealing for her final attempt to prove the shield works. How did he know which shuttle to pick? How did he know what time to break out of Sick Bay?

Jumping back to the main story, there’s also the fact that no one here outside of Beverly really behaves as they normally do. People are initially supportive, but as situation grows more tense, and Beverly becomes increasingly determined to get to the bottom of what’s happening, Picard, Riker, and Troi all do their best to get in the way. Picard becomes a sort of impotent father figure, offering promises of threats and moral instruction without putting much effort into backing it up; Riker actually takes Beverly aside and tells her, basically, to shut the hell up and let it go; and Troi is actively worried about Beverly’s mental health. They tell her she’s obsessed, that she’s pushing too hard for answers, and while the episode does it’s best to make it seem like they have a point, these attempts to create more drama and tension—oh no, will Beverly find the killer before she’s taken off the case for good—are too artificial and strained to work. Beverly crosses a line when she breaks down and autopsies Reyga against his family’s wishes, but she’s never irrational or unhinged. In fact, the behavior of the non-Crusher  Enterprise  crew (excluding Guinan, of course) is surprisingly similar to the behavior of the imaginary crew in “Remember Me.” But where those characters were constructs of Beverly’s mind who could only behave as she believed they would, the Picard et al. of “Suspicions” are as real as they get.

So, basically, this could’ve been cool, but isn’t, mostly. The mystery relies on sci-fi magic to work, and even then requires a heftier-than-justified suspension of disbelief. The characters, both crew and guests, are shallow and uninspired, and by and large, this feels tossed off; it’s understandable that you get the occasional less than perfect episode in a batch of 20-plus, but seems a shame for it to happen to someone who really did deserve better.

Stray Observations:

• Yes, yes, I know: “Just wait until you get to ‘Sub Rosa.’”
• Convenient how Beverly got her job back and the Ferengi family no longer had any problems with her. I thought her career was in danger because she disobeyed orders, not because she hadn’t solved the case yet. (I guess the Ferengi were so happy she proved Reyga was murdered—and that she executed his killer—that they were able to move on. That still doesn’t cancel out the fact that she disregarded Picard’s commands.)
• This was Guinan’s last appearance on  TNG . Which is something, I guess.

“Rightful Heir” (first aired: 5/15/1993)

Or  The One Where Worf Looks To Find A Reason To Believe

Faith is the art of investing in expectation. You believe in something in the hope that, someday, you’ll find that belief confirmed, either by achieving some kind of transcendence in the afterlife, or by having your regular existence transformed for the better. What’s fascinating is that having that expectation fulfilled means an end to the faith that brought you to that fulfillment. That’s fine if you’re just having faith in, oh I don’t know, becoming a professional writer—once you start publishing your work, you don’t need faith anymore. (You need confidence, which is like faith, but dresses better.) And if you believe in the divinity of Jesus, well, odds are you’ll be able to hold onto that until you die, at which point who cares if you’re thrust into an existential crisis. But what would happen—if you believe Jesus was the Son of God—if you were to open your door tomorrow morning and find him on the stoop? Once you cleaned away the doubts and the second guessing, once you were absolutely sure this was Christ in the flesh, sipping your coffee and complimenting you on the decor… what happens next? And what happens when you try and bring Jesus back to the world?

In “Rightful Heir,” it’s Kahless we’re dealing with, not Jesus, but while he isn’t really a “turn the other cheek” kind of guy, Kahless serves much the same purpose for his people as Jesus did for his. Kahless is a symbol of all that’s good and right in Klingon culture: He defined the warrior spirit, he helped turn violence into something more than just chaos and blood, and he gave his followers an ethos to commit to, a belief that made them a part of something bigger than themselves. Given the sad state of Klingon affairs, with its government struggling to get beyond decades of institutionalized corruption and decadence, it’s only natural that the people may be clamoring for greater spiritual guidance. But that doesn’t mean Gowron, the current head Klingon, is going to be all that happy when Kahless shows up, demanding to take his rightful place on the throne. That’s the problem with these damn heroes of myth—no respect for due process.

“Heir” is another Worf episode, and a much better one than the two-parter from earlier this season. It addresses a problem that’s been building for some time in our favorite security chief, in a way that recognizes the complexity of his situation, as well as allowing him to define his own path. If Beverly is a character who’s never been allowed to live up to her potential, Worf is the opposite, a secondary lead who’s put in his dues in the background, but has been rewarded with a run of showcase episodes that share a gratifyingly consistent level of quality and insight. There are bad apples in the lot (Remember Alexander? “Heir” sure doesn’t!), but not many, and if you were to pull out all the Worf-centric eps from the run of the series and watch them back to back, like a sort of stealth spin-off, I’d bet they’d hold up well. Certainly better than if you did the same with any other major character on the show, apart from Picard and Data.

Worf begins “Heir” in crisis. After the events of “Birthright,” he’s been adrift, missing something in his life but unsure of how to reconnect with his past. After he’s late for a shift on the bridge and nearly sets his apartment on fire doing a Klingon ritual, Picard puts him on mandatory vacation, kicking him off the ship until he can find what he needs and refocus on his duties on the  Enterprise . Worf heads to Boreth, to join a group of dirty Klingon hippies who spend their days staring into flames hoping for visions. Worf soon gets sick of the process and is about to leave, when one of the clerics who runs the place convinces him to stick around a little longer. And wouldn’t you know it, the next time Worf settles in for a good long look, Kahless appears. Except this isn’t a vision—everyone can see him. The Klingon who promised to return over 1,000 years ago has finally made good on his promise. Which is a bit of a head-screw, to be sure.

There are a lot of things that make “Heir” work—its clear, believable view of Klingon culture; the actor playing Kahless (Kevin Conway); and Worf getting a chance to put all the stuff he’s learned over the years about himself and his people to good use. What struck me hardest watching it for review was how expertly Ron Moore (working off a story by James Brooks) manages to build up belief in a seemingly impossible revelation. There’s no way this Kahless could be the actual Kahless. While  TNG  was never afraid to get vauge or semi-magical with its “science,” having someone return from the dead in a purely religious context is beyond the bounds of the show by a fair margin. There had to be some kind of sci-fi explanation for his re-emergence, and we do get one eventually—but until we do, Moore plays things close enough to the vest that I really wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Even if I knew, intellectually, Kahless was a phony, emotionally, I was in the same place as Worf—skeptical, but wanting to believe.

It doesn’t hurt that Kahless is an amazing guy, and not just because he has a century’s worth of epic tales to back him up. Conway plays him exactly as you’d want a Klingon spiritual leader to be: lusty, cheerful, passionate, and, when necessary, profound. There’s no sense of ulterior motive in the performance, which makes sense when we learn the truth: this Kahless is actually cloned from the blood of the original Kahless. The clerics on Boreth then implanted all their accumulated knowledge and lore of the real Kahless in the clone’s brain, and tried to pass him off as the Second Coming. The cloned Kahless doesn’t know any of this, and if “Heir” has a fault, it’s that we’re never really privy to how he handles the revelation of what he really is. Once the head cleric confesses to Worf, clone Kahless goes quiet, and when he does speak again, he acts much the same as he did before. His fortune changes dramatically in the span of a few hours, going from a reborn messiah to a test tube baby to the new Emperor and spiritual leader of the Klingon empire. That’s got to mess with your head.

But hey, this is Worf’s story, not Kahless’s, and “Heir” is probably better for that. Worf goes from desperate seeker, to skeptic, to passionate follower, to… something else, and Michael Dorn handles each transition ably and convincingly. Kahless’s sudden appearance sets off warning bells for Worf, because it’s too perfect. “Heir” understands that just because we pray for something (or, for us atheists, just because we yearn for something really, really hard), that doesn’t mean we expect our prayers to be answered literally. When Worf travels to Boreth, he’s trying to regain the unquestioning devotion to Klingon culture that defined much of his life. He grew up apart from his own race, and that outsider status, as a Klingon in the Federation, meant that his knowledge of who he was supposed to be came purely from books and theory. He aspired to be the purest, most idealized version of Klingon-hood, and it was inevitable that when he’d finally reconnect with actual living Klingon culture, he would be disappointed. His time teaching young people in “Birthright”—young people who, while still being raised by Klingon parents, were still in their way as orphaned from their society as Worf had been—reminded him of the purity of faith he once had, while at the same time failing to resolve the disillusionment that has been eroding that purity ever since he got involved with actual Klingon politics. So he goes to Boreth, because that’s what a Klingon in spiritual crisis is supposed to do, and he gets exactly what he’s supposed to want, and it gets awkward.

There is a period of time when Worf does believe, but it’s telling that what converts him (for a while, anyway) is Beverly’s scientific proof of the new Kahless’s connection to the old one. (She matches his DNA with the sword blood DNA, and of course, they match.) Worf has passed beyond a point where he will blindly accept anything—he wants to believe, he says to Kahless, but the fact that there’s a gap between wanting and actual belief shows how much he’s changed over the years. He brings Kahless aboard the Enterprise  to transport him back to the Klingon home-world, and tries to convince the rest of the crew that it’s possible they’re witnessing a true rebirth. Worf seems convinced himself, but it’s a conviction he sheds at the first sign of doubt, when Kahless, supposedly the greatest Klingon warrior to ever live, loses a fight to Gowron. When Worf learns the truth, he’s so amazed by the gall of it that he laughs. The knowledge, the final nail in the coffin of his belief in Klingon idealism (First the government lets him down, now Jesus?) could’ve made him bitter, but doesn’t; and after talking with Data, of all people, he realizes that this is an opportunity. Just because Kahless isn’t “real” won’t stop people from believing in him. And the Klingon people desperately need someone to believe in.

The episode deals with the potential ramifications of a savior reborn, bringing Gowron back into the picture and showing how reluctant a political leader would be to embrace a spiritual power—but mostly, this is Worf’s show. He watches, he considers, and in the end, he’s responsible for guiding the Klingon empire back on its course. He begins the story adrift; then he gets what he thinks he wants, and realizes it isn’t what he needed it to be. But instead of losing his way again or giving up entirely, Worf realizes that faith is what matters, not the fulfillment. His own faith goes from an unquestioning devotion to something more mature. He respects the ideals Kahless represents, without the need to invest in the man himself. That gives him the maturity to recognize what the others fail to see: The cloned Kahless is still a symbol of what could be. For someone who’s spent much of his life blindly worshiping a culture that continually failed to deserve such commitment, Worf is someone who understands how important ideals can be, even if they remain forever outside your grasp.

• Picard and the others, except for Data, are skeptical of Kahless’ legitimacy. While they’re right to be skeptical, the way the episode is constructed, I felt more on Worf’s side then theirs; for once, that seemed like an intentional choice.
• Data is terrific in this episode. His speech—about deciding to try and raise above the limits of his programming by believing himself to be capable of more—was unexpected and powerful. (“Unexpected” just because the rest of the episode was so Worf-centric, I didn’t think Data would get the spotlight when he did.)
• “So I chose to believe that I was a person, that I had a potential to be more than a collection of circuits and sub-processors.”
• Every time I see Gowron, I want to cup my hands so I can catch his eyes when they pop out of his skull.

Next week: We see if there are “Second Chances,” and then explore the “Timescape.”

• The Original Series
• The Next Generation
• Deep Space Nine
• Strange New Worlds

If Memory Serves

Such sweet sorrow (part 1), si vis pacem, para bellum.

The crew of the USS Enterprise-D, while on a mission to investigate a mysterious new radiation source, discovers a scientist named Dr. Reyga, who is attempting to research potentially groundbreaking technology. Dr. Reyga is quite a unique individual, as he is a Ferengi, a species who are usually considered to be untrustworthy, and is working on a project involving metaphasic shielding. Meanwhile, Dr. Crusher worries for the safety of her patient, as he has been exhibiting unusual symptoms which the other members of the crew believe may have something to do with the radiation source.

The crew soon discovers that the radiation source is in fact metaphasic shielding, and they are able to replicate the technology with the help of Dr. Reyga, creating a prototype metaphasic shield that is able to protect the ship from the hazardous radiation. However, Dr. Crusher’s suspicions are confirmed when she discovers that Dr. Reyga is exhibiting the same symptoms as her patient. It is soon revealed that Dr. Reyga has been attempting to hide the truth from the crew, as the prototype metaphasic shield is extremely dangerous and could potentially kill anyone who interacts with it.

Dr. Crusher is then put in the difficult position of having to decide whether or not to trust the Ferengi doctor, despite his untrustworthy nature. However, she is ultimately convinced by the fact that Dr. Reyga genuinely believes in the power of the technology, and is willing to take on the risks of using it. To prove his trustworthiness, Dr. Reyga volunteers to be the first to test the metaphasic shield, but the experiment quickly begins to take a turn for the worse.

Desperate to save the life of her patient, Dr. Crusher devises a plan to use the metaphasic shield in a modified form to shield the patient from the radiation and restore his health. However, despite her best efforts, the patient’s condition worsens and he eventually passes away. Though Dr. Reyga and the rest of the crew are devastated by the loss, they are relieved to find out that the metaphasic shield was not the cause of the patient’s death.

In the wake of the tragedy, Dr. Reyga is accepted as a member of the crew and his metaphasic shield is installed on the ship, allowing them to explore the radiation source safely. Dr. Crusher also learns to accept the risks that come with trusting others, understanding that it is sometimes necessary in order to save lives. In the end, the crew of the USS Enterprise-D have gained a valuable ally in Dr. Reyga, and have proven that even the most untrustworthy individual can still be of use.

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Recap / Star Trek The Next Generation S 6 E 20 Suspicions

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Guinan pays a visit to Doctor Crusher to get treatment for tennis elbow, only for Crusher to explain that she is no longer a doctor on the Enterprise. Cue opening credits.

Doctor Crusher explains that she hosted a scientific conference on board the Enterprise so the Ferengi scientist Reyga can test a shield that will allow a shuttlecraft to survive in a star's corona. Also attending the conference are the Klingon scientist Kurak, the Vulcan scientist T'Pan, T'Pan's human scientist husband Christopher, and the Takaran scientist Jo'Bril. Jo'Bril volunteers to test the shield.

The test flight appears to be going well, but suddenly the shielding fails. The shuttle survives the experiment, but Jo'Bril does not.

Doctor Crusher performs an autopsy on Jo'Bril, but her inexperience with Takaran Bizarre Alien Biology means she can't get any conclusive results. However, she decides to cancel the conference and forbids any further experiments with Reyga's shield.

A few hours later, Reyga is found dead in an apparent suicide. Crusher suspects that Reyga was murdered, but she can't learn more without performing an autopsy. Unfortunately, Reyga's family refuses to allow Crusher to "defile" Reyga's corpse.

Crusher asks the surviving scientists about Reyga's death. T'Pan and Christopher have alibis, but they overheard an argument between Reyga and Kurak shortly before Reyga was found dead. Crusher confronts Kurak, who attacks her. Crusher is undeterred and intimidates Kurak into telling her about the argument. Kurak reveals that Reyga accused her of sabotaging the experiment. Kurak denies Reyga's allegation, but refuses to answer whether she killed Reyga.

Crusher, seeing no other avenues to continue her investigation, defies Picard's orders and performs an autopsy on Reyga's corpse, only to find nothing useful. Crusher admits what she did to Picard, who relieves her of duty pending a hearing at Starfleet Medical.

Back in the present, Guinan convinces Crusher not to give up her investigation. Crusher asks Data about how a saboteur could have sabotaged Reyga's shield. After a bit of technobable, Crusher concludes that if the shield was sabotaged, Jo'Bril's corpse should have tetryon particles. With Nurse Ogawa's help, Crusher examines the autopsy report for Jo'Bril and finds that the particles are indeed present.

Doctor Crusher steals the shuttle used in the experiment so she can repeat the experiment and prove that the shield works. After flying in the corona, she finds her communications jammed. Jo'Bril reveals himself: it turns out that Takarans have the ability to pretend to be dead while remaining conscious. Jo'Bril reveals that he murdered and discredited Reyga so he could create the shield himself. However, Doctor Crusher has presented him with an even better opportunity: he will fake the shuttle's destruction and take the shield to his people, where he will turn it into a weapon. Crusher overpowers and disarms Jo'Bril and kills him in self-defense.

Later, Doctor Crusher visits Guinan in Ten Forward to inform her that she has been reinstated as Chief Medical Officer and to give her a tennis racket that will help prevent her from getting tennis elbow again. Guinan sheepishly admits that she doesn't actually play tennis.

This episode was Whoopi Goldberg 's last appearance as Guinan in the Next Generation television series, although she would later appear in Star Trek: Generations and make a cameo in Star Trek: Nemesis before returning to the role again for Star Trek: Picard .

• Action Girl : Doctor Crusher manages to stare down Kurak after she attacked her as well as disarm and kill the nearly invincible Jo'Bril.
• Bizarre Alien Biology : The biological functions of Takarans are much more evenly distributed among their organs than in most other beings, so that they are far less susceptible to injury. They can also feign death. This comes in handy for Jo'Bril, who fakes his death and even survives an autopsy afterwards.
• Caught Monologuing : At the climax of the episode, Jo'Bril is so busy explaining his Evil Plan to Crusher that she is able to kick the phaser from his hand, giving her the chance she needs to overpower him.
• Early-Installment Weirdness : Picard mentions that Ferengi bury their dead. Deep Space Nine would later establish that Ferengi sell all of their body parts to the highest bidder when they die. It could simply be that Reyga's family doesn't share the same customs as most Ferengi (Reyga himself already breaks a few stereotypes), though the wording in some places seems to imply that ritual burial is commonplace.
• Faking the Dead : Jo'Bril, whose species has the natural ability to simulate death so perfectly that Doctor Crusher performs an autopsy on him while he's still alive. He also had half his midsection removed by a phaser and it barely slowed him down.
• How We Got Here : Most of the episode consists of Doctor Crusher telling Guinan why she is no longer Chief Medical Officer.
• Implacable Man : Jo'Bril can survive an autopsy as well as getting a hole blown in his torso. Doctor Crusher is forced to disintegrate him to stop him.
• Klingon Scientists Get No Respect : Reyga is looked down upon by his fellow Ferengi for being a scientist and not picking a more profitable career. According to Kurak's actress, Kurak is also a victim of this, as Klingons don't have much respect for intellectuals - in-universe, Beverly suspects this as well, thinking "I don't think Klingons regard scientists very highly; [Kurak] always seemed a little defensive."
• You would think that Beverly would involve Worf in her investigation, since it's one of his primary duties. Worf is a main character, but in a focus episode, everyone gets pushed out.
• For that matter, why is a medical doctor so interested in the development of shield technology to enter a star? Wouldn't this fall under the more broad sciences division, where Data is the Chief Science Officer?
• Mistaken Death Confirmation : When Enterprise retrieves the shuttlecraft, Jo'Bril is supine and inert, and Doctor Crusher declares him dead, moving his body to the morgue. As it turns out, Jo'Bril was only mimicking death , aiming to take credit for the Ferengi scientist's invention.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much : Reyga knows how unusual it is to see a Ferengi scientist, which he jokes "is almost a contradiction in terms."
• Never Suicide : Jo'Bril kills Reyga and attempts to make it appear as though the Ferengi committed suicide over his experiment's failure.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! : Why Crusher bucks orders and performs the autopsy on Reyga.
• Talking to the Dead : When Crusher proves that Reyga's metaphasic shielding works. Crusher: Congratulations, Dr. Reyga. You did it.
• That's an Order! : Played with when Ogawa decides to help Crusher. Crusher: I don't want you to get involved in this. Ogawa: Is that an order, Doctor? Crusher: Yes . Ogawa: Too bad you're not my boss any more (grins).
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill : Inverted; the phaser's regular "kill" setting isn't enough to stop Jo'Bril, so Dr. Crusher has to use the maximum disintegration setting to stop him.
• Wrongful Accusation Insurance : While trying to prove that Reyga was murdered, Crusher causes an international incident by performing an autopsy on Reyga's corpse without his family's consent, and also steals a shuttlecraft. At the end of the episode, she is cleared of all charges and resumes her duties.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation S6E19 "Frame of Mind"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Star Trek The Next Generation S 6 E 21 Rightful Heir

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Star Trek: The Next Generation: Suspicions

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"Suspicions" is the twenty-second episode of the sixth season of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation .

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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode Guide - Season 6

In 1992, Star Trek: The Next Generation heading in to season 6 – while another show called Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was about to launch (so to speak) its initial episodes. This expansion of the ST universe resulted in a few changes for the flagship enterprise (sort of) for TNG.

Among these were definitely a more somber tone for the series in general, as well as more personal-type of storytelling, as opposed to the cosmic politics and ruling-class machinations of the Klingon civil war story arc.

Season six also plays as a bit of a “greatest hits” compilation at times. Returning to the Enterprise to take over an episode or two are Lt. Barclay, Q, Alexander Son of Worf, sentient hologram Moriarty and Klingon badass Gowron. Crossing over from Deep Space Nine is Dr. Bashir, and beaming in (literally) from the original Enterprise crew is Montgomery Scott.

1. Time's Arrow, Part II – The time-travel romp concludes in satisfying enough, though not particularly deep, fashion. The crew gets some funny bits as fish out of water in the 1890s and Lt. Commander Data saves the day while literally getting his head blown off. Minus points for Jerry Hardin’s Mark Twain, which descends into cartoonishness with a one-note, nearly shrill interpretation. ***

2. Realm of Fear – Lt. Reginald Barclay, the timidest dude ever to serve on a starship (how did this guy get through Starfleet Academy, anyway…?), is also afraid of transporters. While using one in routine fashion, he sees strange worm-like beings living in the transporter stream – or are they merely hallucinations…? ***

3. Man of the People – As a Lumerian ambassador and his posse are en route to a negotiation, said ambassador’s aged wife dies. He then gets with Troi, who begins acting wantonly and dangerously before beginning to age rapidly. **

4. Relics – Montgomery Scott of the Enterprise (repeat after me: No bloody A, B, C or D) is found within a repeating transporter signal near a crash site on a Dyson sphere. The Enterprise becomes trapped in the sphere, a ridiculous feat of engineering that houses an entire solar system in order to exploit all possible energy. Despite knowledge a century behind the times, Scotty finds his inner miracle worker once again … ***

5. Schisms – Wait a minute … an alien abduction story in a series set aboard a starship? Come on, now. *

6. True Q – Everyone’s favorite otherly-dimensional trickster is back on the Enterprise, this time revealing that a newly boarded intern is in actuality a member of the Q. And she’s hot for Wesley Crusher. This subplots may or may not be related. ***

7. Rascals – Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Ensign Ro Laren, Keiko O’Brien and Guinan are magically turned into children via a transporter accident (no, really) – and then the ship is taken by Ferengi pirates. Episodes of this sort within any TV series depend on the humor value of the cute kiddoes; there just ain’t much here. *

8. A Fistful of Datas – Some neat use of the Holodeck in this episode, plus much chance for Brent Spiner to flex the ol’ thespiary muscles for our amusement. Lt. Commander Worf, his son Alexander and Counselor Troi spend some quality time playing out a Western on the holodeck when LaForge and Data’as experiments go awry, causing the holodeck to – get this – malfunction. ****

9. The Quality of Life – Mining tools called Exocomps have become sentient, thereby inspiring Data to lead a quasi-worker’s revolution against mining interests who would exploit them. **

10. Chain of Command, Part I – This midseason 2-parter starts intriguing enough, with Picard sent on an undercover mission in Cardassian territory, but it’s the completely different concluding episode that everyone remembers. ****

11. Chain of Command, Part II – Regarded as a class, despite the extremely dark storyline and dependence mostly on a conversation between torturer and tortured reminiscent of the final act of George Orwell’s 1984. But maybe that’s what does it: Patrick Stewart and David Warner, old Royal Shakespeare Company comrades, are incredible, and the dialogue they’re given is amazing. Even when Warner’s Cardassian is explaining his culturally-relative normal belief in racism to his daughter, the viewer cannot take his/her eyes off. *****

12. Ship in a Bottle – The sentient Moriarty character again takes over the holodeck and finds a way to manipulate the Enterprise itself. A couple of neat twists, including the capping scenes, keep things interesting. ***

13. Aquiel – One of the primary rules of The Next Generation is this: LaForge Does Not Get Any. Apparently by season six, ol’ Geordi still hasn’t learned this fundamental fact and herein gets interested in the title character, who seemingly offs a traveling companion shortly after getting aboard. She’s exonerated but, when given an offer to join the Enterprise crew by LaForge, she turns him down. **

14. Face of the Enemy – Counselor Troi is given an undercover assignment aboard a Romulan vessel, but stealing the show from the go by Commander Toreth, who gets some fantastic dialogue vis-à-vis Romulan culture and what it’s like to serve the Empire. Probably the best Troi-centric episode. ****

15. Tapestry – Nearly an entire episode primarily devoted to banter between Picard and Q? Yes, please! In this episode, Q offers to help Picard correct foolish mistakes he made in the past, once again finding that any gift from Q is a double-edged sword at very best. *****

16. Birthright, Part I – Crossover episode! Well, sort of. While docked at Deep Space Nine, Dr. Bashir assists LaForge and Data in investigating a mysterious bit of hardware and Data’s “dreams.” In a parallel plot line, one Jaglom Shrek provides Worf with the location of a Romulan base where his father is held captive. ***

17. Birthright, Part II – Definitely one for Klingon fans. In the prison camp, Worf finds two generations’ worth of Klingons, including a younger generation which knows nothing of Klingon culture, traditions, bloodlust, etc. Worf teaches a bit but more importantly leads a peaceful (!) revolt against their Romulan taskmasters. ***

18. Starship Mine – An episode that’s equal parts funny and suspenseful. While attempting to escape a diplomatic meeting, Picard unwittingly stumbles upon a plot to plunder the Enterprise. Whether it’s Data developing a “small talk subroutine” or Picard outwitting the bad guys while racing against time as a deadly baryon sweep sub-atomically cleans the Enterprise, this is good stuff. ****

19. Lessons – Schmaltz reported dead ahead red alert, shields up! Picard falls for an attractive Lt. Commander who almost becomes a Red Shirt, but survives a dangerous away mission long enough to bid Picard adieu and leave the ship. Pretty pointless. *

20. The Chase – In a case of unofficial canon becoming official canon, several prominent Alpha Quadrant races, including the humans lead by an archaeology enthusiast Picard, learn something about their ancestry thanks to a stunning find. ***

21. Frame of Mind – Commander Riker’s dark head trip: Kinda like “Future Imperfect” but more mysterious and creepy. Riker cannot tell whether he’s in a play about a mental patient, *is* a mental patient and/or has awoken some 20 years in the future. ****

22. Suspicions – Dr. Crusher hosts a test demonstration of a new shield technology by a Ferengi scientist. When the first test pilot, Jo'Bril, dies due to a test flight, Dr. Crusher plays detective in hopes of clearing her friend’s name of accusations of murder. A pretty decent detective story with a clever twist or two. ***

23. Rightful Heir – At a Klingon holy site, Worf meets with a warrior resembling and claiming to be the legendary Kahless. ***

24. Second Chances – Season 6 of The Next Generation may definitely be considered the greatest season’s worth of transporter-malfunction episodes – until Voyager, when the damn things never seemed to work. In this one, a malfunction results in a duplicate Riker aboard the Enterprise, which certainly gets Troi thinking along interesting lines … *

25. Timescape – An away mission finds itself in an area of space in which time moves at varied rates in different areas. With time frozen from their perspective as an away team, Picard, Data and LaForge note what appears to be a Romulan ship firing a lethal blow at the Enterprise. A wacky time paradox sorta episode, even by ST:TNG standards. ****

26. Descent, Part I – After Stephen Hawking smokes Data, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein in a hand of holodeck poker, an away team is accosted by a guerilla army of Borg; Data, apparently feeling anger, kills one. Another attack happens in which a Borg individual manipulates Data’s emotions again. Ultimately, an away team of Picard, LaForge and Troi, in a quest for Data on an uninhabited planet, is captured by the Borg and their leader, Lore. ****

Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series)

Suspicions (1993).

• User Reviews
• There is no reason someone needed to pilot the shuttle. Do they not have Autopilot in the future?
• There is no way a test like this would be performed without any planning and contingencies in case of failure
• There's no way a major scientific advancement would be handled Willy- nilly by ONE scientist, Ferengi or not.
• There's NO WAY Beverly Crusher would even be involved in this.

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Screen Rant

Data's star trek: insurrection story was set up in tng.

Data befriended a young girl in Star Trek: The Next Generation and saved her planet, setting up his story with a Ba'ku boy in Star Trek: Insurrection.

• Data's friendships with young children on TNG drive his desire to be more human, setting up his journey in Star Trek: Insurrection.
• Sarjenka and Timothy's connections with Data lay the groundwork for his creation of a daughter named Lal in a later TNG episode.
• Data's capacity for sentiment and emotion is shown through his relationships with children, highlighting his human-like qualities.

Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) befriended a young girl and helped save her people in Star Trek: The Next Generation , setting up his similar Star Trek: Insurrection story. Data spent much of his time on TNG observing and learning from his fellow crew members aboard the USS Enterprise-D. As an android, Data wanted nothing more than to be human, and he learned more about his own inherent humanity as TNG went on. Because of his child-like curiosity and friendly personality, young children often gravitated toward the android, and they, in turn, offered Data insight into what it means to be human.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, episode 15, "Pen Pals," Data strikes up a correspondence with a young girl named Sarjenka (Nikki Cox) after she sends a plea out into space. Data later learns that Sarjenka's planet, Drema IV, will soon become uninhabitable due to volcanic activity. Although initially reluctant to violate the Prime Directive to save Drema IV, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) eventually relents. In the end, Sarjenka's memories of Data are wiped away, but the android never forgets his connection with this little girl.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Cast & Character Guide

Data's interest in helping children in tng sets up his star trek: insurrection story, data's friendship with sarjenka laid the groundwork for later stories..

Sarjenka is not the only child who finds a friend in Data throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation and the android's connection with children would go on to play a role in Star Trek: Insurrection . Through his friendship with Sarjenka, Data gets one step closer to being human . Data makes another young friend in TNG season 5, episode 11, "Hero Worship," when he rescues a boy named Timothy (Joshua Harris). As the lone survivor of an alien attack on a Federation research vessel, Timothy begins to mimic Data as a way to mask his own grief and pain.

Data admits that he has often wondered what it would be like to be a child.

Data's friendships with Sarjenka and Timothy plant the seeds for his later friendship with a Ba'ku boy named Artim (Michael Welch) in Insurrection . As the Ba'ku people have rejected technology, Artim is initially frightened of Data, but he later grows curious about the android. As Captain Picard and the USS Enterprise-E crew fight to help the Ba'ku people, Artim starts asking Data questions about what it's like being a machine. Data admits that he has often wondered what it would be like to be a child, and Artim reminds Data to "have a little fun every day."

Star Trek: Insurrection was the first film role for child actor Michael Welch, who went on to play Mike Newton in the Twilight films and Mack Thompson in Z Nation .

TNG's "Pen Pals" Also Sets Up Data's Daughter Lal

Data builds an android daughter in tng's "the offspring.".

Data's friendship with Sarjenka in Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Pen Pals" also sets up his eventual decision to create a daughter named Lal (Hallie Todd). In one of Data's best episodes , TNG season 3, episode 16, "The Offspring," Data decides to create another android like himself and raise her as his child. He then creates Lal and teaches her about humans and their behavior. When Starfleet threatens to take Lal away from the Enterprise for further study, Captain Picard fights for Data's right to raise his own daughter. Lal's programming eventually begins to surpass Data's, and she suffers a cascade failure when her new emotions overwhelm her systems.

Data's endearing connections with children on Star Trek: The Next Generation illustrate the android's capacity for sentiment and human-like emotion.

Everyone involved is moved by Data's obvious determination to save Lal, as the android fights just as hard as any parent would to save their child. Although Data is not able to save Lal, he does preserve her memories within his own positronic brain, ensuring that her legacy lives on. Data's friendship with Sarjenka back in TNG's "Pen Pals" gave him a glimpse of what it would be like to care for a child, and he does his best to be a good father to Lal. Data's endearing connections with children on Star Trek: The Next Generation not only set up his Star Trek: Insurrection story, but also illustrate the android's capacity for sentiment and human-like emotion.

Star Trek: The Next Generation is streaming on Paramount+

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek's Next Movie Reveals Shocking TNG Legacy Character In Section 31

• Star Trek: Section 31 connects to The Next Generation through legacy character Rachel Garrett, played by Kacey Rohl in a shocking twist.
• Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi and written by Craig Sweeny, the series uncovers the dark secrets of Starfleet's black ops agency.
• Michelle Yeoh's Georgiou time travels to confront the sins of Section 31, adding depth to her character's journey across the Star Trek universe.

Star Trek: Section 31 reveals a shocking connection to Star Trek: The Next Generation in the form of a legacy character who meets Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh). D irected by Olatunde Osunsanmi and written by Craig Sweeny, Star Trek: Section 31 recently wrapped production in Toronto. Yeoh's Georgiou, who was originally a popular part of Star Trek: Discovery, travels through time as she confronts the sins of Starfleet's secretive black ops agency.

A new Variety cover story about the Star Trek franchise reveals that Star Trek: Section 31 new cast member Kacey Rohl plays a young version of Star Trek: The Next Generation legacy character Rachel Garrett , the doomed future captain of the USS Enterprise-C. Check out the quote below:

Georgiou is standing with a young Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl), a character first introduced on “Next Generation” as the older fearless captain of the USS Enterprise-C.

10 Section 31 Things To Know Before Michelle Yeoh's Star Trek Movie

Who is rachel garrett in star trek: the next generation & section 31, the captain of the enterprise-c has a secret past.

Rachel Garrett only made one appearance in the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3 episode, "Yesterday's Enterprise." The Captain of the USS Enterprise-C is a tragic character as she and her Ambassador Class starship were doomed to die in order to repair the timeline and ensure a dark alternate reality where the United Federation of Planets loses a war with the Klingons. Captain Garrett was played by Tricia O'Neill in TNG , and she has never been forgotten by Star Trek fans.

Star Trek: Section 31 revealing that the young Garrett encounters Emperor Georgiou and may even be recruited into Section 31 in the early 24th century is a compelling and fascinating twist.

Captain Rachel Garrett's sacrifice was referenced at the start of Star Trek: Picard season 3. A statue of Captain Garrett, known as ''The Red Lady' , stood in front of a Starfleet recruitment center on M'Talas Prime that was destroyed by Captain Vadic (Amanda Plummer). However, nothing was known about Rachel's past. Star Trek: Section 31 revealing that the young Garrett encounters Emperor Georgiou and may even be recruited into Section 31 in the early 24th century is a compelling and fascinating twist on this Star Trek legacy character.

Source: Variety

Cast Humberly Gonzlez, Sam Richardson, Omari Hardwick, Robert Kazinsky, Kacey Rohl

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