Eye of the Beholder

In " Eye of the beholder" we are in Deanna hallucination for more than 50% of the episode, but we have no Idea, the plot in fashinating , work Deanna alchimy is great, some good scene with Worf and riker and finally a great plot twist.

Everything you can ask for a Star trek and a TV épisode 8.5/10.

When the show begins, one of the crewmembers walks into a reactor and deliberately vaporizes himself despite Commander Riker trying to stop him. Counselor Troi tries to piece together why all this happened and soon finds herself pulled into the same things that caused this other empathic crewman to kill himself. So is she next?

The only element of this episode I particularly enjoyed was the new relationship between Troi and Worf. However, like Worf's glimpse into the possibility of such a relationship in an earlier episode (one with MANY different realities), this one turns out to be unreal. Will the pair later become a pair?

Otherwise, I disliked the show because the ending seemed to come out of no where with lots of bizarre elements which make the viewer say 'what?!'. Like the Voltaire song, the "USS Make S&#@ up", the answer seemed contrived and explained with a long bit of exposition.

The quality of this episode can be summed up by this actual dialog ...

"Something terrible must have happened to him. It's not like Dan to take his own life"

By this point in the series some people weren't even trying any more

I found myself looking at my phone during this slow, uninteresting "mystery". Only one Troi centered episode works for me. This isn't it.

A good murder mystery always makes for a good story, and The Next Generation departs from both its own usual format and old school Kirk and Spock Trek.

Where there aren't a whole lot of fire fights nor fist fights, nor "the ship can't take it..." moments, and where there's the usual nonsense of character interaction coming to the fore (Worf and Dianna), the plot actually comes to the fore and takes precedent, as opposed to the subplots taking center stage in previous episodes to offer exposition on character interaction.

Having said that the show continues to offer soft music with an emphasis on synthesizer, horns and violin, and the usual soft lighting to give an "ease of viewing" feel in spite of the menace. And there's the Worf-Troi interaction which ... had it been in the context of the plot would have helped some, but instead is in the context of The Next Generation looking at interpersonal relations. Oh well.

Regrettably the episode ends with a "we got him off screen" moment preceded by a sort of confrontation between the characters involved. So, regrettably the plot ends with a whimper instead of a bang. As per previous reviews ... designed for a broader and younger audience.

Make of that what you will.