Commander Riker is preparing for an undercover mission to an alien planet. He's also playing the lead role in "Frame of Mind," a psychological play set in an insane asylum. Just when the stress is threatening to consume him, he suddenly finds himself in an actual mental hospital. His doctor tells him that his life on the Enterprise has been a delusion he's been struggling to break free of. And as Riker begins to bounce back and forth between realities, he loses his certainty of just what is real.
The 22 episode seasons favored by network television shows can be quite demanding. Star Trek: The Next Generation actually produced even more than that -- 26 episodes a season. As each year was racing to the conclusion, creativity was often taxed to the limit, and the writers would get increasingly desperate for the next idea to put before the cameras.
In season six, with Deep Space Nine now also on the air, the late season crunch was reportedly the worst it ever got. In "The Chase," a year-and-a-half old idea was resurrected for lack of anything else to work from. With "Frame of Mind," episode writer Brannon Braga never even had time to develop his original idea. He had the barest of ideas: "What if Riker woke up in an asylum and was told he was crazy?" From the short memo pitching that idea, the staff developed the outline in three furious days, then Braga proceeded to write the script for production.
It's likely that in this mad rush, nobody realized just how much this episode was a fusion of two others that came before it -- Riker-centric episodes to boot. As in "First Contact," Riker is captured while undercover on an alien planet. And as in "Future Imperfect," he is made to believe in a false reality. Still, the details do count for something, and here they synthesize those repeated plot elements into something pleasingly different.
The psychological angle is a rather extreme departure for the show, considerably darker than most Next Generation episodes. Director James L. Conway, returning to the series for the first time since season one, uses a lot of clever staging and camera work to heighten the tension. The opening scene is a long single take on Riker as he performs the play, dropping us into a strange place and setting up the uncertainty the character himself will experience later in the episode. Quick cuts from one reality to another, the unsettling Greek chorus quality of the "reflection therapy" scene, specifically avoiding physical contact in moments that might confirm what is real... all are effective storytelling choices.
The behind-the-scenes departments really stepped up too, in telling this borderline horror story. The set of the play and the set of the actual alien asylum are created in just the perfect ways to make the former seem false and the latter real. The mirror hanging in the cell reflects an appropriately distorted image. Jay Chattaway's music makes everything seem just a bit "off," with more prominent stings and a melody for the asylum played on a tinny piano. And the "shattering reality" visual effects in the story's climax are an eye-catching image.
Of course, this being weekly television, the script can never truly make us believe that Riker imagined the whole series. Still, it has a lot of playful fun along the way -- the crazy "Starfleet officer" talking to her ship through her spoon, the different versions of Riker's performance in the play, and the ways that characters from one reality cross into the other. It's a solid script, which fellow staffer Naren Shankar praised as the best Brannon Braga wrote for the show. (And writers for other shows seemed to like it too. "Main character wakes up in an asylum" episodes later showed up on a few other series -- including another fan favorite, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)
Jonathan Frakes was very appreciative of the script, which put him in every scene of the episode after a season that had underutilized him. Generally, he gives a good performance, making Riker's breakdown seem quite real. (Alright, he does perhaps have one or two over-the-top moments, but screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" has become such a cliché that I don't think any actor could possibly sell it anymore.)
Frakes is supported here by several guest stars that might be recognized by Star Trek fans. Susanna Thompson had already appeared as a Romulan on The Next Generation, and would later appear on both Deep Space Nine and Voyager (taking over the role of the Borg Queen in the latter). Actor Andrew Prine would also later appear of Deep Space Nine. And Riker's "doctor" is played by David Selburg, who had appeared as the historian Whalen back in "The Big Goodbye."
Other observations:
- Data makes a truly bad actor in this episode. Oh, not in his performance as the doctor in "Frame of Mind." (His dispassionate delivery seems more than appropriate, in fact.) No, his crime is when he jumps in during a break in rehearsal to suggests notes to Riker, his fellow actor. Proving to be a skillful director, Dr. Crusher gracefully nips that in the bud and steers her star back on course.
- Jokes about Picard being a bad or reluctant actor always work. Here is no different, when he worries about having to replace Riker in the play.
- The Blu-ray edition of this episode includes a commentary rather different than the other Next Generation episodes to receive one. This is by episode director James Conway, and director of photography Jonathan West. You don't get a lot of insight into the creation of this episode's script, but they have a lot to say about the actual process of filming, from preparation to execution to editing -- and including comparisons to other television series. If you're a fan of how movies and television actually get made, you'll likely find it interesting.
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