Geordi LaForge is traveling to Risa by shuttle for a vacation when he's abducted by the Romulans. Using the neural pathways in place for his VISOR, they brainwash him and return him to the Enterprise as an unknowing double agent. Picard is in the midst of mollifying a Klingon governor, who has accused the Federation of arming local rebels with weapons. LaForge's secret programming threatens to further undermine the situation and dissolve the Klingon-Federation alliance.
Star Trek has done a few episodes that are homages to classic films. While Geordi's torture at the the hands of the Romulans evokes shades of A Clockwork Orange, the main inspiration for the hour is The Manchurian Candidate. Geordi is the best character to use in such a story, as he has both the technical knowledge to cover his tracks and a built-in Macguffin that explains what makes him susceptible to Romulan control. (Data might have been a second choice, but he'd already betrayed or appeared to betray the crew twice earlier this season.)
The script is set up in a rather clever way. We're told early on that the Romulans will be "testing" Geordi once he returns to the Enterprise. This leaves a first-time viewer in some doubt as to what his ultimate mission really is; are the things he's doing part of the plan, or part of a test? There are also good little fakeout moments, juiced with sinister music from Dennis McCarthy -- like when Geordi intentionally pours a drink on O'Brien (mirroring the Ten Forward simulation in which he was programmed), or when he appears to be firing a phaser rifle for nefarious purposes. The tension gets even more Hitchcockian in the final act, when we've learned Geordi's real mission (and that Ambassador Kell is a mole himself), and are watching Data race to solve the puzzle before disaster strikes.
The director does good work here too. David Livingston, a unit production manager on the pilot, here take's the director's chair for the first time. He uses the camera in very interesting ways, including a great shot that shows only Geordi's hand and reflection when he arms himself to assassinate Vagh, and a neat use of a slightly fisheye lens as he robotically marches down the hallway to the cargo bay. Plus, the staging of Geordi's simulated murder of Chief O'Brien is a specific homage to a shot in The Manchurian Candidate.
As I mentioned, this episode is setting up a lot for the season finale. When the Klingon ambassador Kell comes aboard the Enterprise, he brings disdain for the dishonored Worf (reminding everyone of Worf's status within the Empire). He also, as in "The Drumhead," assumes that Worf would be susceptible to corruption; this time, Worf specifically calls out the Klingon who tries to tempt him. The episode also sets up the Romulan Sela as a mysterious character lurking in the shadows. Here, she's played by a body double (who is clearly not wearing a blonde wig), with Denise Crosby only dubbing in the dialogue later.
Despite the broad geopolitical landscape this episode must paint, and the heavy focus in must keep on Geordi LaForge, the episode does manage to offer up a few great moments with other characters as well. Picard gets to stand toe to toe with the Klingon governor Vagh and curse at him in his native language. Data gets to play an ace detective in the final act. Troi humorously pumps Geordi for licentious vacation stories. Troi also gets to do some genuine counseling in the final scene, when she cleverly begins to help Geordi unlock his real memories.
There are a few small misfires in the episode, though. I wish it could have showed us more of the long term impact of all this on Geordi. What are the emotional scars like for him? And how long will it be before he can really be trusted to be totally free of Romulan control? I also felt a bit disappointed that after all of Data's sleuthing, the assassination is ultimately averted by little more than Picard's quick reflexes. Reportedly, stunt doubles spent part of a day filming an actual struggle between Picard and LaForge, but this didn't make it into the episode.
Other observations:
- A minor quibble: how do the Romulans know where and when to intercept Geordi on his way to Risa?
- This is a big episode for visual effects. There are several shots from Geordi's point of view (looking quite different than they did in "Heart of Glory"). Also, transporter effects for both the Romulans and the Klingons are shown for the first time.
- To preserve the surprise of Sela for the season finale, Denise Crosby received no credit for her "appearance" here. But on the flip side, Majel Barrett was credited for providing the computer voice for the very first time in this episode, and would receive credit from here on. (Perhaps someone took notice here because she has a lot of dialogue, during the opening trivia game with Geordi, and Data's final act sleuthing.)
- Director David Livingston tried to further honor The Manchurian Candidate by getting one of the actors from it to appear in this episode, but wasn't able to make it happen.
- Speaking of directors, Larry Dobkin, the actor who plays Kell, directed an episode of the original Star Trek series, "Charlie X."
- This isn't the first time the shuttlecraft Onizuka appears on screen, but as I failed to mention it before, I'll do so now: the shuttle is named for Ellison Onizuka, one of the astronauts who died in the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986.
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