Tin Man

Harry Groener's remarkable performance as Betazoid telepath is the highlight of this TNG story. The two on the crew Groener bonds with are his fellow telepath Marina Sirtis and Brent Spiner who being an android he can't read the mind at all.

I really felt this character and the torment he was going through. As Deanna Troi explains it her people for the most part develop their abilities as adolescents. But some like Groener develop it almost from birth. The rush of hearing emotions and not developing proper filters is too much and many become unstable.

In a sense Groener is on a mission of life because the Enterprise is sent to contact a space creature who is orbiting around a star about to go supernova. The Romulans are interested as well and their intentions are less benign.

I won't go any further, but this gifted and troubled telepath at last finds peace and content in a curious symbiotic relationship with the orbiting creature.

This is one TNG story that will stay with you.

Mildly obnoxious overacting, one-shots brought in to make one par, and thus low-quality, episode of a television program. Standard stuff for this crew of writers. Only thing missing from standard efforts is an overzealous progressive bent. On the plus side some pointlessly evil Romulans die.

A gigantic organic spacecraft has come to the attention of both the Federation and Romulans--and the craft is dangerously close to a star that is about to explode. Attempts to contact it have been unsuccessful and so the Federation wants to have Tam Elbrun make contact. After all, he's the greatest of all the Betazoids when it comes to reading thoughts. Howevrer, Elbrun's gift is also a horrible curse, as he reads EVERYONE and cannot shut them out--a rare condition that often drives Betazoids like him insane. He's on edge and Picard and the rest of the crew are worried that he's losing it. Their confidence seems real, as Elbrun once was in therapy with Counselor Troi and suffered a nervous breakdown during one disastrous assignment. Can Elbrun keep his sanity and help the Federation?

This is an extremely static episode and like the duller episodes, it's set completely on the Enterprise. It's extremely talky, slow and the overall theme is shockingly uninteresting.

This episode returns to a more accepting version of the human future (in stark contrast to the season opener "Evolution"). Gifted, reclusive telepath Tam Elbrun joins the Enterprise to communicate with a new life form that's been dubbed Tin Man.

Tam is reclusive and telepathic, being able to hear the thoughts of the 1000+-member crew. Though, he's drawn to Tin Man, so he tolerates being on the Enterprise with all those people in order to make contact with Tin Man.

The message here is that it's OK to be different. You'll always find some place to belong.

Of course, this wonderfully touching episode is slightly marred by the usual space-opera nonsense involving Romulans who want to destroy Tin Man.

I had not seen Tin Man in 20 years. It was one of my favorite NG episodes so I watched it on BBC today in anticipation of enjoying it again. It did not disappoint. The special effects for the creature Gomtuu were Emmy nominated and still shows. The story still captivates and the brilliant, empathetic performance of Harry Groener carries the show.

I did not like most of.the earlier NG episodes, (the pace was slow and Picard was not Kirk), but the slower pace was correct here. Everything was on point. This was pure Sci-Fi and I loved it!