Power Play

This episode shows off how incompetently designed the Starship Enterprise is, but not much else. Basically having an operational understanding of how it runs means any attempt to control the ships functions, or even a secure a sub-section, from the bridge is doomed to failure. I get that they had the idea for the episode and then just needed to make it happen, but man, hard to believe a room full of professional writers given weeks to work out the details couldn't come up with anything more clever.

Then when the crew comes up with a good solution their bizarre penchant for waiting and talking interminably before ever doing anything cost them the chance. Which if this wasn't a TV show where no one ever actually gets hurt (if they matter) could have resulted in the deaths of a dozen innocent crew members and civilians. Which makes them seem as incompetent as their ship's designer.

It was a fine idea for an episode, but it just felt like the tension was drained away by the over-obvious hand of the creators.

When an away team which includes O'Brien, Data, Troi, and Riker encounter a severe storm on the surface of a planet, they start to beam up but are knocked unconscious before this can happen. While passed out, three little spots of light enter the bodies of three of them. Riker is spared and recovers quickly, though he has a broken arm. He has all four beamed aboard. It isn't long before the aforementioned gain control of the ship. They are ruthless and cruel. O'Brien, of course, doesn't recognize Keiko or his own daughter. They eventually take over 10-Forward and hold hostages after injuring several of them. Deanna seems to be the one in charge while Data is the most unstable. He particularly despises Worf an tries to get into a confrontation but the big Klingon resists. The remainder of the episode involves a plot to take of 10-Forward and disable the invaders. Unfortunately, there are many pitfalls along the way as these characters seem to be one step ahead of the crew. The conclusion is very satisfying, making this one of the better episodes.

A landing party from Enterprise return from a moon with their bodies inhabited by other life forms.

This is a fairly good episode with some decent character moments and opportunities for some of the main cast to play different roles.

The plot is a possession story that develops into decent hostage drama. There are some solid character exchanges, but no real suspense given that lives of main characters are at stake.

For me the most enjoyable aspect is seeing Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, and Colm Meaney playing antagonists. Troi and O'Brien make similar contributions in most episodes so this change is a breath of fresh air. Spiner is excellent, but seeing Data out of character is not that unusual as he occasionally plays other roles.

There are also strong moments for Picard, Worf, and (as ever) Ro Laren as the crew work to resolve the situation.

Visually it works well with some atmospheric set design, good special effects and tech concepts.

An away team consisting of Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, and Brent Spiner take a shuttle craft down to a very hostile planet with continuing ion storms and are stranded there. Colm Meaney beams down with a machine that will give them a small containment field to keep the effects of the storm at bay.

But when they beam back up Counselor Troi, Chief O'Brien, and Commander Data have been taken over by aliens who say they are the ghosts from a starship that went missing 200 years ago. They take over the nursery where among hostages are Rosalind Chao and the O'Brien baby girl.

Ghosts taking over live bodies quite hostilely. But Counselor Troi who is not behaving as a Star ship Captain should arouses Patrick Stewart's curiosity.

No more will I reveal other than to say these beings who've taken the bodies of the TNG regulars are not who they claim. And some very ancient civilization has found a punishment that beats the death penalty.