NIGHT TERRORS Well, I'm certainly not lacking in opening lines for this review. Here are a few I thought up: - I think TNG has finally found its calling: Terror/horror stories. - I sure hope I can sleep soundly tonight. - Gosh, I love ghost ship stories! - Okay, so there were some similarities to TOS "The Tholian Web" as I joked several days ago, but who cares? This was a damn good story anyway... It certainly was a seat-gripper! While I'm sure some will complain (again) about the energy-drain bit (though I think the circumstances here should be easier to swallow than those in "Galaxy's Child"), it didn't faze me. Almost from start to finish this episode had me clutching the armrest. The centerpiece of the story, of course, was the terrors (almost horrors) that the crew was experiencing, and some of them were handled exquisitely well. But, one of the episode's few flaws also turned up here. To wit, when crewmen first started hallucinating, I had a hard time plugging into the tension because they were presented as exposition, not as a dramatic scene. As usual, TNG resorted to telling us, not showing us. I, for one, think it would have been FAR more effective to have actually SHOWN the crewman running into the man in the old-style Starfleet uniform. As it was, the exposition just broke the episode's pace for a few minutes. But once the problems started catching up with the officers, it was all enormously effective. The highest kudos of the episode must go to Patrick Stewart, who I think has turned in his finest performance in TNG here. His slouching, despairing frame in the turbolift was incredibly powerful, and it was strongly underscored (in case anyone happened to miss it) by his story about his grandfather slowly becoming "a wisp of a man". The panic he displayed when hit by the sudden claustrophobia was likewise superbly moving, as was his final reduction to a near-catatonic state, staring incomprehendingly at people explaining problems and solutions to him when he no longer seemed capable of caring... A fine, fine performance. If I ever have any doubt about this man's acting ability, someone plop me back down in front of this episode to bring me to my senses. The other A+ performance, interestingly enough, was from Gates McFadden. A thin, bony woman to begin with, she played the role of the "skeleton" to the hilt, looking ever more wan and gloomy, and acting ever more exhausted. By the end it was hard to distinguish her from the cadavers from the Brittain (except for the blue skin, of course :-) And, oh! that scene in the morgue. The camera shots, the teasing us with the shifting sheets, and all the people just sitting there, unmoving. This breakdown doesn't do it justice. You've got to see it. You won't be disappointed. Actor number three who deserves kudos: Brent Spiner. His alert, intelligent figure was artfully contrasted at every opportunity with the deteriorating humans (A similar tactic was used, no less effectively, in the TOS episode "The Deadly Years"), and his artificial nature was made abundantly clear by the rote, mechanical way in which he delivered his analyses and proposals. He truly seemed inhuman, or perhaps superhuman would be a better word. This is a being who lacks most of the frailties that humans possess, and yet the humans on the show trust him with their lives. Lots of opportunities for contrast here, and they were taken advantage of. Finally, we have Troi. She was probably the least of the lot, but, as in "Remember Me" (a similar episode in some ways), she served well enough. She didn't have any outstanding scenes (indeed, her dream sequences seemed a little silly due to the clumsy "floating" effect she was given), but she had some good bits: Her persuading Worf not to commit suicide and her observation that she would eventually end up like the other Betazoid were both quite effective, especially the latter. Round-up for the rest of the crew: - The writers had Riker pegged in making him have trouble keeping himself from snapping at other people. I can see it, I can definitely see it. - Worf's decision to commit suicide was a natural one, though an unexpected one. He obviously didn't really WANT to, though, which is why Troi was able to convince him otherwise. And yet, he had obviously been broken by the experience, as was ably demonstrated when Troi told him to go to sickbay. I expected him to mumble "Very well", but instead he just hung his head and nodded faintly. - Geordi didn't get much air time, but did well enough for what he had to do. - O'Brien, ah, O'Brien. Why does he seem to get these cruddy scenes all the time? It must be his marriage. He was definitely the weak link here, as his confrontation with his wife was pedestrian and obvious, and he was part of the aforementioned exposition bit in Ten-Forward. Could have been better. - The crew: Hey! The Enterprise has more than 7 people on board! A decent look at what everyone else on the ship thought about what was going on. I'm glad they didn't drag it out into full-blown mutiny. That probably would have been tedious. - Guinan obviously wasn't affected by the lack of REM sleep. Why? Who cares? She's Guinan. She does these things. What more do we really need to know? As long as she doesn't suddenly become the focus of some episode, I'm perfectly happy to see her keep mysteriously in the background (and you know when she comes to the foreground - as in "Yesterday's Enterprise" or "The Best Of Both Worlds" that something galaxy-shaking is going on). I was amused by her gun. Now we know how she hustles people out at closing time, I guess... :-) Overall, I felt the plot hung together quite well. The solution had been pointed to earlier on ("One moon circles"), and yet was not obvious. Yet it did feel natural. I would have been happier if the voice in Troi's dream had been intelligible (I couldn't make it out until the humans told us what it was saying), but otherwise, it was fine. I especially felt Picard's "last line", "Troi couldn't reach them" (more or less) was nicely placed... just before the explosion! Two other scenes stand out in my mind: The early scene where they're aboard the Brittain and find all the bodies, and the log of the Brittain's captain, who turned in a nice bit of clear insanity and paranoia. One final gripe: As with "Remember Me", I found the ending a bit abrupt. I would have liked a final scene with several of the bridge crew having rested up and talking with the recovered Betazoid from the Brittain. It would have been a nice bit of closure for the episode, and some TOS-style "last words" would have been appreciated. In short, more denoument was warranted, I think. But not crucial. In totality, this was a gripping episode, tremendously entertaining. Not QUITE perfect, but certainly one of the best of the season (#2, in fact, by my reckoning :-) Next week looks like another foray into horror, with more emphasis on horror than terror (unlike this one; there's a reason it's not called "Night HORRORS"). Could be good. I do like TNG stories with a much darker bent to them... Bravo! (More!) Grade: A SEASON FOUR TO DATE: The Best Of Both Worlds Part Two: C- Family: A- Brothers: B Suddenly Human: C Remember Me: A+ Legacy: D+ Reunion: B Future Imperfect: D- Final Mission: B The Loss: D- Data's Day: B- The Wounded: C- Devil's Due: C- Clues: B First Contact: C+ Galaxy's Child: F Night Terrors: A --- Total Points: 38 2/3 Average: 2.275 = C+ (Rise of 0.108 from previous episode) (There, that should keep those who think I hate TNG quiet for a week or two... :-)