The Game (episode)

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"The Game"
TNG, Episode 5x06 Production number: 40275-206 First aired: 28 October 1991
←	105th of 176 produced in TNG	→
←	105th of 176 released in TNG	→
	{{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 176 released in TNG Remastered
←	212th of 727 released in all	→

Teleplay By Brannon Braga Story By Susan Sackett & Fred Bronson and Brannon Braga Directed By Corey Allen
45208.2 (2368)
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Wesley Crusher visits the Enterprise only to see everyone behaving strangely on account of an addictive, mind-controlling game.

[edit] Summary

[edit] Teaser

Commander Riker is on shore leave on Risa, and he has been spending time with a woman he has met there named Etana Jol (a Ktarian). She holds his combadge and Riker desperately wants it back, chasing her around the room. She then throws the combadge out the window in Riker's disbelief. She introduces to him a "game", involving a device that fits over the ears, which projects an image of circles going into tubes. When the circle goes into the tube, the player is "rewarded" by receiving pleasure signals from the device. Etana says that the game can go as far as the player will take it, which curiously Riker goes to the next level of the game.

[edit] Act One

Captain's Log: Stardate 45208.2. Commander Riker has rejoined the Enterprise from Risa, and we are on our way to an uncharted area known as: the Phoenix Cluster. We're all anticipating this, historic first look at the region

Riker enters the bridge and notices that things are starting to get busy around the Enterprise. He says that five new science teams has just beamed in from the Zhukov with quarters filling fast. Captain Picard adds that on top of everything else, they only have two weeks to complete the exploration - something that Riker doesn't like, as he thought they had five weeks. The reason was because a diplomatic mission to Oceanis IV was added by Starfleet. Picard tasks Riker to ensure that all the science teams have an equal chance to complete their research, which would be a tough juggling act, says Riker. The good news is Picard also tells the first officer that they also have a scheduled rendezvous with a shuttle, carrying Wesley Crusher, who is vacationing from the Academy, and an extra hand would be welcomed here according to Riker.

In Engineering, Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge is up to his neck in observation schedules, and explains to Riker the biggest hurdle would be sensor availability, a task made more difficult since two new exobiologists and three stellar cartographers transfered from the Zhukov, explains Riker. With 15 science teams, a two week timeframe, and one long range sensor array; it makes it for one lousy combination, concludes La Forge. Getting down to business of availability, La Forge tells Riker that the lateral sensors are booked solid for planetary observation, and the Gamma ray scanner are being reprogrammed. A task being preformed by Ensign Robin Lefler, whom La Forge compliments here work in engineering, that she's the mission specialist for this mission. Lefler explains to Riker that they're increasing the avaliable bandwith of the sensors so more science teams can use the sensors at once. This is done by multiplexing the array, and Lefler assures the first officer that it will be done before they arrive. Riker smiles and tells her to keep it up, and turns to Geordi that he's brought something back from Risa and he has to try. La Forge reluctantly takes a pass as he is running a full sensor recalibration in ten minutes, but takes a rain check on it. Riker leaves the Lt. Commander to his work.

In Ten Forward, Riker eyes Deanna Troi and a bowl of chocolate ice cream, chocolate fudge, and chocolate chips. Asking if she was depressed, Troi replies "I'm fine, commander.". She offers a spoonful to Riker, but he politely declines, saying he doesn't like fudge. Troi smiles and tells Riker she never met a chocolate she didn't like. Getting technical, she divulges into the experience by explaining the best way to eat it and enjoy it, which Riker didn't know that eating chocolate ice cream was such a ritual. He then tells her about the game he brought back from Risa, which he promises would be "better than chocolate".

[edit] Act Two

With the Enterprise and an Oberth class starship parked, Wesley is transported and is greeted by Chief O'Brien, who congratulates Miles on his daughter, Molly. He says that she's a spitting image of her father. Asking where is everyone, the chief says that they're in a meeting, and was supposed to go to his mother's quarters. Asking if it would be OK to drop in, Miles hails the bridge and asks if it would be alright for Wesley to drop into the observation lounge to say hi. On the other end, Lieutenant Worf deems it acceptable. Wesley thanks Miles and heads off to the lounge.

A darken room awaits Wesley as he sets his bag down. Confused, he checks over to see if he can see anything. The lights go on and Doctor Beverly Crusher greets her son with a big hug, following soon after by Picard. He speaks to him in Latin and Wesley responds back, which Picard credits that his Latin has improved. Troi compliments the uniform as he is looking handsome, and Geordi says the uniform "drives the girls wild"". Worf introduces him to travokian pound cake which he made himself. Lt. Commander Data then asks if their attempts to make him uncomfortable affective, which Wesley concedes it was, ask wondered if he was on the wrong ship. Riker asks Wesley if he would assist the crew with the Phoenix Cluster survey which Wesley accepts. La Forge wants him to settle first and them to see him in engineering to get started. Beverly then asks Troi about the game, and she invites the doctor to come by her quarters and she will show it to her.

Wesley and Data talk about his time at the Academy, which Wesley found was surprisingly challenging, as there's more to know than starship operations. Data recites his first time at the Academy but his lack of human understanding was a disadvantage when it came to socializing. One example was practical jokes, which the android was a victim of several. Wesley completely understands and recites a practical joke that was played on him by fellow cadet Adam Martoni, in which Adam reprogrammed Wesley's sonic shower to cover him in mud. It took him a while, but Wesley was able to get him back, really good; which Data replies "good for you!". Another obstacle was the Saday Hawking's Dance; the Academy's annual dance. It was an awkward experience for both, which Wesley admits he's not a dancer. Data recites that his mother's an expert at dancing and taught him to dance (TNG: "Data's Day"). When offered a chance to be taught by Data, Wesley will let him know.

Getting right to work, Wesley begins to modify the planetary scans while keeping the datalines open for the stellar physicist, which he will compress the signal flow. Having difficulties with the sensors, Lefler walks over and gives him a hand by calibrating the detectors manually. They then introduced each other and before they had a chance to talk, Lefler points out that Wesley's neutrinos are drifting, leaving Wesley scrambling to get back to work. As he continued, Lefler glances over at the young cadet.

Conflicts arise between the stellar physicists and the planetary evolution team, with both of them wanting to be the first to use the thermal imaging array, Data reports. La Forge suggests they flip a coin and they won't be able to finish the mission without working together. Data then is called away to sickbay by Beverly as she needs help with something. As he enters, she is working on an experiment using bio-active silica and needs her tricorder modified to a certain specification, and apologizes for calling him away but is needed done quickly. Data accepts the help, but as he works on the tricorder, Beverly reaches behind him and turns him off, and puts him on a table. Troi and Riker enter sickbay and carry him to a bio-bed, and secure the doors to sickbay, while Beverly begins to work on the android.

[edit] Act Three

Enjoying some tea with Picard, Wesley details his instructors at the academy. Nevakiovch for anthropology, Horn for creative writing - which Picard interrupts him and is surprised that Walter Horn still teaches at the Academy, which Wesley credits for being good. Picard is pleased to hear that Wesley met Boothby on his first week. When asked how he was doing and hopefully he didn't tell any stories about him, Wesley concedes he didn't remember him, until he showed an old yearbook picture of him. He told him he was very proud that he's the captain of the Enterprise, and showed Wesley a grand tour of the gardens - the very same tour Picard got when he was at the Academy. Wesley asked about the initials "A.F" that Boothby caught Picard carving in his prized Elm Tree, which Picard admits was an old acquaintance of his. He then reminds Wesley that whenever he meets someone who's initials he would carve in that elm tree; should not interfere with his studies. The carving of "A.F" cost the captain a passing grade in organic chemistry. Picard then gets a call from Beverly to come to sickbay right away.

Explaining to the captain the situation with Data, Beverly explains that Data was complaining about a servo malfunction, and although her scans came up negative, he collapsed. La Forge determines that his higher signals are intact, but none of which are entering the rest of his body through his positronic brain, almost like a comatose state. Picard wants to be informed on the progress of what happened to his second officer.

In his quarters, Riker and La Forge end up with a dead end with no evidence to support a shut down. The personal, diagnostic, and duty logs all show normal and a standard security sweeps shows nothing out of the ordinary. Riker suggests they ask his cat, in which La Forge needs to head back to sickbay, but Riker assures him that Dr. Crusher has everything taken care of, and suggests that La Forge takes a break to unwine. La Forge agrees, which opens the opportunity for Riker to introduce him to the game.

Still working on the sensors, Wesley and Lefler discuss the technical situation, with two of the ship's power conduits down for testing, which Lefler suggests they reroute to Junction 14B. Wesley admires Lefler's view of conduit configuation which Lefler quotes Law #36: You have to go with what works. The laws are her personal laws so whenever she learns something new, she enacts a law so she would never forget it. To date, she has 102 laws. Wesley gets ahead of it when the starboard array needs a new processor, which Wesley has already done. Lefler credits Wesley's reputation for being good. Wesley crosses his arm and realizes that Lefler knows more about him than he realizes. She admits she has a few friends at the academy and his name is mentioned a few times. She also wants to know about the retaliatory prank he played on Adam Martoni which he reprogrammed the antimatter regulator to spray chili sauce. Wesley mentions there is another side to the story, which she asks about the truth of his birthmark. Wesley complains he is at a disadvantage that he hardly knows Lefler, which she quotes law #46. While he needs to work on the sensor relays, he offers a chance to even the score. She offers Lefler to join him in Ten Forward at 1900 for coffee, but she offers a counter proposal to him for dinner instead.

Captain's Log supplemental: We have arrived at the Phoenix Cluster, but it will take us several hours to determine the best possible location for which to conduct our survey. Commander Data's condition remains unchanged with no further indication to the cause of his collapse.

Playing a round with the game, Beverly clears a challenging level, but is interrupted by Wesley, who enquires what she was doing. Embarrassed, she concedes that the game was meant for him, but couldn't resist to play it. When offered a chance to try it, Wesley takes a rain check, and asks about Data. She says he's ok and La Forge has everything under control, and stops him from helping him, reminding him he's on vacation. Wesley's in a hurry cause he's late for a dinner date with Lefler. Beverly suggests she comes over to her quarters to play the game, but Wesley already has plans, and promises his mother he will have time to spend together while he's on board. She then becomes adamant for her son to try one round of the game, but he insists he needs to get ready for his date. She tells Wesley to have a good time and sets the game down on a table. Confused, he rummages the closet for something to wear for his date.

Lefler begins to talk about her life in Starfleet, as her parents were the only plasma specialists in the sector she was base hopping around, and found her self like luggage. Her entire career was around technical equipment with her first run with a tricorder, with Wesley's a warp coil. She concedes her parents didn't have much time to spend with her, even when she needed them, which caused her to enact her first law: you can only count on yourself. Then it gets to the topic of the game, which Lefler says all the engineers are going crazy over it. They glance over a crewman playing the game, in a trance-like state. Lefler dismisses it as a fad, but Wesley wants to go deeper into it before playing it. They team up to look into it, and as they leave Ten Forward, another crewman in a command red uniform begins playing the game.

The two begin to study the game, and what it does to the brain. The highest concentration of activity is the pleasure side of the brain, but discovers a key component in the game: it's addictive. Another unusual reading was located in the pre-frontal cortex - which handles reasoning. He concludes he needs to inform the captain about this discovery.

Picard sets something down behind him and turns to greet Wesley. Wesley explains to the captain what he and Lefler discovered with the tests on the game, and concludes is psychic-topically addictive, which concerns Picard. When he mentioned about the stimulation of the brain's reasoning centre. Picard takes action and starts an investigation immediately, and thanks him for bringing it to his attention, and mentions how good it is to have him back. As Wesley leaves, he turns around and picks up the game and plays it, unbeknown by Wesley.

[edit] Act Four

Wesley and Robin investigate the device in sickbay, and determine that it has a psychotropically addictive side-effect, and that it stimulates increased serotonin production. Most worryingly, it also stimulates the brain's higher reasoning area. They also investigate Data's mysterious "malfunction", and determine that someone has disconnected his positronic brain from the rest of his body.

After ensuring the entire crew has played the game (Wesley and Robin manage to fool Dr. Crusher by using fake game devices), Captain Picard signals Etana's ship that they are prepared to distribute the device to other starships in the sector.

[edit] Act Five

After communicating with Etana, the bridge crew discover that Robin and Wesley have been deceiving them, and attempt to trap Wesley. He eludes them for a while, but is eventually captured and brought to the bridge where he is forced to use the game device.

At that moment, Data appears from the turbolift and flashes a palm beacon to disrupt the mind-controlling effects of the game. After the rest of the crew are subjected to the flashes, Worf locks onto Etana's ship with a tractor beam. After making it clear to Etana that she cannot escape, the Enterprise takes her to Starbase 82, to let Starfleet deal with her and her crew.

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[edit] Memorable Quotes

"Would you like me to leave the two of you alone?"

- Riker to Troi and her chocolate sundae

"I never met a chocolate I didn't like."

- Troi

"Your neutrinos are drifting."

- Robin Lefler to Wesley, who is a bit slow in disengaging a handshake with her

"Each wishes to be the first to use the thermal imaging array."
"Well, tell 'em to flip a coin. We've got to work together on this mission otherwise we're never gonna get it done."
"A coin. Very good. I will replicate one immediately."

- Data and Geordi

[edit] Background

"The Game" was the first episode to air following Gene Roddenberry's death on 24 October 1991.
A suite on Risa, as it appeared in "Captain's Holiday", was recreated for this episode. It has the same architecture and similar decorations (including a horga'hn) as Captain Picard's room and even features the Risian ocean, seen through the window.
This was the second and last appearance of Ensign Robin Lefler.
This is the first appearance of Wesley Crusher's cadet-style Starfleet uniform.
Data references the events of TNG: "Data's Day" when he tells Wesley that his mother recently taught him how to dance.
The engineering laboratory is a re-use of the sickbay lab, also seen as the tactical laboratory. It includes the star chart seen behind Dexter Remmick in "Conspiracy".
The Ktarian starship is a re-use of the Zalkonian warship, which itself was a redress of the Tarellian plague ship.
Several parts of the bridge of the Ktarian ship, including the chair and the viewscreen, also appeared on Romulan ships.
The blue-grey shirt that Wil Wheaton wore as Wesley in this episode was auctioned off in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction.

[edit] Video and DVD releases

Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 53, 5 October 1992.
UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment): Volume 5.2, catalogue number VHR 4761, 22 July 2002.
As part of the TNG Season 5 DVD collection.

[edit] Links and References

[edit] Main Cast

[edit] Guest Stars

And

Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher

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