Face of the Enemy

I had been a fan of Deanna Troi from the start, but I found myself wanting to eventually see this side of her character, especially after each time they would set her up to be either led on by complete strangers or a victim or her own empathic ability.

My only complaint is that my suspension of disbelief would be thrown off a bit with how quick and perfect she would react to each problem as they would happen, but her performance (as well as the performance of the guest actors) was still enjoyable to watch.

I just rewatched this episode after not having seen it for many, many years. It still holds up brilliantly. It is one of the best episodes of the entire series, and by far the best Troi episode. Carolyn Seymore is wonderful as the Romulan commander, to the point that one regrets that the character never reappeared in another episode. The whole thing is deliciously edge-of-your-seat suspenseful, and I'm not going to give away one iota of it, for anyone who hasn't seen it.

I was astonished to find only one review of it here; I had expected that surely many people would want to weigh in on this one. It easily makes my Next Generation top-10 list.

This is one of my favorite TNG episodes and I think it's underated. It's Troi's best episode and I think it shows that Troi could have been a better TNG character if she had been a little bit more of a tough telepath who didn't stand for people's crap than an emotional counselor too afraid to use her powers.

The acting in this episode for all the Romulans is excellent, especially Troi and Commander Toreth. From beginning to end this is a fantastic episode that never bores once and has a satisfying conclusion. It is definitely one of my favorite TNG episodes and I think it should be ranked in the top 10.

When the episode begins, Counselor Troi awakens and looks into the mirror--only to discover that she's become, inexplicably, a Romulan! Why?! What's going on here? She has no idea but one of the Romulans comes to her and tells her that she MUST go along with his plan and pretend to be a member of the Romulan Intelligence, the Tal Shiar. Fortunately, since the Tal Shiar is much like the KGB, the commander of the Romulan ship is forced to acquiesce to whatever demands Troi makes--as the commander is scared not to!

I loved this episode because it allowed Marina Sirtis (Troi) to step WAY outside her usual roles on the show. Normally, she's an incredibly passive and dull character but here she is AMAZING. As a member of the Tal Shiar, Troi becomes a very scary woman! She is tough, demanding and even a bit ruthless!! These are all things I loved seeing her character do! Additionally, the show is very exciting and very different from the norm for the show. One not to be missed.

When the episode begins, Counselor Troi awakens and looks into the mirror--only to discover that she's become, inexplicably, a Romulan! Why?! What's going on here? She has no idea but one of the Romulans comes to her and tells her that she MUST go along with his plan and pretend to be a member of the Romulan Intelligence, the Tal Shiar. Fortunately, since the Tal Shiar is much like the KGB, the commander of the Romulan ship is forced to acquiesce to whatever demands Troi makes--as the commander is scared not to!

I loved this episode because it allowed Marina Sirtis (Troi) to step WAY outside her usual roles on the show. Normally, she's an incredibly passive and dull character but here she is AMAZING. As a member of the Tal Shiar, Troi becomes a very scary woman! She is tough, demanding and even a bit ruthless!! These are all things I loved seeing her character do! Additionally, the show is very exciting and very different from the norm for the show. One not to be missed.