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Eye of the Beholder (episode)

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"Eye of the Beholder"
TNG, Episode 7x18
Production number: 40277-270
First aired: 26 February 1994
← 169th of 176 produced in TNG →
← 169th of 176 released in TNG →
  {{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 176 released in TNG Remastered  
← 312th of 727 released in all →
Teleplay By
René Echevarria

Story By
Brannon Braga

Directed By
Cliff Bole
47622.1 (2370)
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You might also be looking for the similarly named Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "The Eye of the Beholder".

Counselor Troi's investigation into the suicide of a crewman suggests a murder was committed aboard the Enterprise while it was being built, and that the murderer is still aboard.

Contents

[edit] Summary

Marla Finn

Riker and Worf are summoned to Nacelle Control where Lieutenant Daniel Kwan is on the catwalk about to jump into the plasma stream. Riker tries to talk Kwan down from the catwalk. Kwan replies by saying, "I know what I have to do." Kwan then jumps into the plasma stream. After Kwan's suicide the ship's crew is shocked.

Captain Picard states that he's had to notify families of Starfleet personnel deaths, but never a suicide. He puts Worf and Counselor Troi in charge of an investigation, in order to explain Kwan's death to his family and "help them put this in perspective." Picard gives them the right to look at Kwan's personal logs. One of the first people questioned in the investigation is Kwan's girlfriend Ensign Calloway. Calloway says that Kwan was pretty much happy and easy-going. Calloway also says that Kwan didn't seem like the kind of person that would take his own life. Worf and Deanna have already agreed that Kwan didn't seem the type to take his own life. In Kwan's personal logs he mentioned that he had pulled double shifts and looked forward to seeing Calloway.

Troi decides that it is time to see Nacelle Control. She examines his workstation, then climbs to the platform where Kwan died. There she is overwhelmed by a strong empathic impression. After being examined by Doctor Crusher, she returns to Nacelle Control with Worf. This time, she has a vision of a man and a woman, one of them in danger. She can tell it is in the cell where the plasma stream is held. After the vision Worf takes Troi to Dr. Crusher. Crusher assumes that because Kwan was half-Napean that he may have gotten the same vision as Troi. Since the Napeans are also telepathic it is a possibility.

Troi goes over the computer logs to see if anybody else aboard the Enterprise had worked with Kwan in the building of Nacelle Control. In the logs she sees the man from her vision: Lieutenant Walter Pierce. Troi and Worf decide to question Pierce about if he remembers anything about Kwan or from during the building of the Enterprise. Pierce doesn't tell Troi and Worf much of anything. Troi can't tell if Pierce is lying or what Pierce is really feeling, but thinks he may be lying.

Worf escorts Troi to her quarters. Worf says that maybe they should start earlier the next morning. Worf then says goodnight, but doesn't leave. Worf takes Deanna's hand, touching her hand to his face, then sniffing her hand. Worf then embraces Deanna in a kiss. The next morning Worf is still in Deanna's quarters. Crusher comms both of them to the infirmary. They walk in together. Troi notices the way Worf acts toward Ensign Calloway. This leads Troi to later ask if Worf is sorry for having been with her. Worf says no.

Troi goes to investigate the cell where the plasma stream is kept. Lieutenant Nara states that Kwan had been in the cell the day before he had jumped. After Geordi removes one of the bulkheads he detects Human DNA. Geordi and Data remove the skeleton of Marla Finn. Troi says that Marla Finn was the woman in her vision.

Troi finds Worf and Ensign Calloway in an embrace. The two start to laugh at her. She responds to the laughter by shooting Worf dead. Distraught, she then runs to Nacelle Control. She opens the plasma panel and walks up to the catwalk and stares into the plasma saying, "I know what I have to do." Just as she is about to jump into the plasma, Worf grabs her by the shoulder, whereupon it is revealed that her uniform has changed. The preceding events were a hallucination going back to the first moment she stood in the spot where Kwan committed suicide.

The interior of the nacelle.

The investigation ends with Troi telling Picard that Kwan had been affected by some sort of telepathic left-over. It turns out that Pierce had found his girlfriend Marla Finn in an embrace with another man. Pierce had shot them both. Pierce then ran to Nacelle Control and jumped into the plasma stream. The reason the account seemed to be sent telepathically is because one of Pierce's grandmothers had been Betazoid. Worf asks Troi why she said "Thank God you're alive." Troi replies by saying, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."


[edit] Background Information

Arlene Fukai (left) and Nora Leonhardt (right)
  • This episode continues the romance between Troi and Worf, albeit in illusory form since much of the episode takes place in Troi's imagination.
  • According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, it is usual only to show imaginary scenarios from the character's point-of-view. This episode breaks that convention by showing Dr. Crusher speaking in Sickbay as she pages both Troi and Worf on the morning after they begin their affair.
  • Because regular Marina Sirtis stand-in Nora Leonhardt was busy, filming her scenes as Marla Finn on Paramount stage 8, second assistant director Arlene Fukai got a wig from the hair department and replaced her for the light settings on stage 9, standing-in for Marina Sirtis.

[edit] Video and DVD releases

[edit] Links and References

[edit] Main Cast

[edit] Guest Stars

[edit] Co-Stars

[edit] Uncredited Co-Stars

[edit] Uncredited Stunt doubles and stand-ins

[edit] References

2363; 2368; 2369; Barson II; bulkhead; USS Enterprise-D; Galaxy-class; inter-species reproduction; Jefferies tube; Mars; nacelle; nacelle tube; Napean; plasma; plasma injector; plasma stream; psilosynine; Starbase 328; suicide; Tilamin froth; Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards; warp coil; warp drive; warp field stabilizer; Yridian tea

[edit] Okudagram references

Kwan's personnel file lists many details of his career.

Altair IV; Baton Rouge, USS; Beta Aquilae II; Beta Ursae Minor II; bioengineering; J. Bruce Award; Campbell Award; Chicago, USS; Clavin, USS; Donovan, USS; enlisted; Epsilon Indi II; Extended Tour Ribbon; Finn, Ellen; Finn, William R.; Jalhal Award; Hodges, William; interspecific reproduction; Kerrey Award; Kliever Citation; Kwan, Ronald; Kwan, Emiraa; life support; Malone, USS; Neils Bohr, USS; non-commissioned officer; Northridge, USS; Okuda Award; okudagram; optical data net; Omicron Ceti III; Pacelli, Alfonse; Pacelli, Helene; personnel file; Petersen, USS; Philadelphia, USS; primary hull; Pierce, Ambrose; Pierce, Anita; protoplaser; Psi Upsilon III; Psi Upsilon IV (Psi Upsilon system); Pueblo, USS; Salvatore, Giuseppi; Salvatore, Viola; San Francisco; Seaquest, USS; Seaview, USS; Sepek Academic Scholarship; serial number; Silversides, USS; specialist; Suleiman, USS; stabilizer; Starfleet OSHC; Starfleet Technical Services Academy; Syracuse, USS; Tolley Citation; viewscreen; Wallace, Dennis; Wallace, Laurel; warp field dynamics; Ziff, Benjamin; Ziff, Marsha


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