Shades of Gray

[TrekToday]

Plot Summary: LaForge finds Riker with a minor injury obtained from a swamp plant during a routine planetary survey. The transporter detects unknown microbes in Riker's body and refuses to transport him aboard, but after beaming down and deciding that the infection is likely not contagious, Pulaski authorizes an override and takes Riker to sickbay, where she concludes that the microbes are spreading from his sciatic nerve throughout his nervous system. The microbes have already caused Riker to lose feeling in his leg, and if they reach his brain, they will kill him. While LaForge and Data return to the planet and conclude that the vines on the planet are predatory, Pulaski tries to find a way to disrupt the microbes and discovers that stimulating different memories triggers the release of endorphons that affect the microbes. Memories involving pleasure or romance seem to encourage organism growth while frightening or unhappy memories suppress it, so Pulaski stimulates centers of Riker's brain that force him to recall basic survival fears. Riker's dreamlike fight for survival echoes the struggle of his body, which ultimately prevails, and the infection disappears.

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To read the full reviews, please click here.

[Chindogu]

TrekToday wrote:

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One gets the distinct impression that the writers were in a hurry to wrap the second season and get out of the office, coming up with this absurdly flimsy storyline that incorporates so many flashbacks, they couldn't have had more than a couple days' material to add. The producers must have been delighted to shoot on the cheap - besides the canned material and sickbay set, the only other scenery is a fake-looking swamp with silly swinging attack vines. And the director couldn't be bothered to cut the flashbacks so that they look like memories rather than badly patched-in bits of previous episodes. Riker couldn't have remembered Tasha Yar and Picard discussing Armus on the bridge of the Enterprise because he wasn't there, having been a prisoner of Armus at the time!

Yes, this is a horrible episode, but wasn't one of the main reasons it's so half-assed was because of the writers strike that was going on back then?

Also, isn't this episode related to Future Imperfect, in that Rikers illness from Shades of Gray was given for the reason of his memory loss by the pretend Beverly? I don't recall if it was this or just some random virus

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[diankra]

Was disappointed by this review (though it makes a few good points, mainly about the choice of clips, which is probably down to the editor more than the director - it's not a film, so the director doesn't have final cut).
For what it's worth, mine would be something like this...
"Nobody would ever claim Shades of Gray is a great, good, or even average episode. Actually a lot of fans would probably have to be reminded of its existence once they were one title short of listing the entire run of TNG. It's a clip show, and as forgettable as any clip show.
"But even when it went out, half the fan audience knew it was a clip show, and that it was only made because it was either that or a 21 episode season (this is episode 22). Plus, all the other first-run syndication series of the time - Friday the 13th, War of the Worlds - had a clip show each season, so you just groaned and lived with it.
"What struck me at the time was how hard the director had tried to make it interesting in spite of that. Like the opening - no captain's log, just Riker sitting creepily on a log waiting for the doctor to get to him.
"There's not much more interest, but it's a harmless episode (Shades of Gray or Voyager's Threshold? I know which one wasted more of my life) - either accept it as a bonus from a time when any Trek was rare, so a half-arsed episdode was welcome if the alternative was the season ending a week early, or forget it existed.
"And at least the next time they were supposed to make a clip show to balance the budget, they came up with The Drumhead instead."

[DorkBoy [TM]]

<comic_book_guy>Worst ... episode ... ever ...</comic_book_guy>

[Jack Bauer]

Jeez, did this suck... I've seen some good clip shows (specifically Alias's Q and A I think the title was) but this one just blows.

[tomalak301]

I kinda liked this episode

*quietly sneaks out of thread

[AntonyF]

tomalak301 wrote:

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I kinda liked this episode

*quietly sneaks out of thread

Me too. I hate clips shows normally, but this one somehow I liked.

I thought the "triggering of certain types of memories" was quite cool, and I think because I was an avid fan and before I had it on video, I felt it was cool to see loads of good bits from the first scenes thematically linked.

But what I also really liked it for was that it gave the doctor a good chance to be a real doctor. It's a problem that afflicts Star Trek quite a lot, that the doctors don't do doctoring. But this was a good swan song for the great Pulaski, showing her ingenuity and passion.

P.S. I can't believe Michelle is at the end of season two already!

[tomalak301]

AntonyF wrote:

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Me too. I hate clips shows normally, but this one somehow I liked.

I thought the "triggering of certain types of memories" was quite cool, and I think because I was an avid fan and before I had it on video, I felt it was cool to see loads of good bits from the first scenes thematically linked.

But what I also really liked it for was that it gave the doctor a good chance to be a real doctor. It's a problem that afflicts Star Trek quite a lot, that the doctors don't do doctoring. But this was a good swan song for the great Pulaski, showing her ingenuity and passion.

P.S. I can't believe Michelle is at the end of season two already!

Agreed about Pulaski. I thought this was her finest hour (In a god way) because it let her be the doctor figuring out how to cure Riker. Riker was great in this one too with his humor (Especially at the end) but this was a pulaski show in a clip show. I thought it really worked well.

[Pioneer]

As far as I'm concerned, the only thing "Shades of Gray" does right is make Riker the injured party, because I'd rather watch him in flashback than anyone else at this point.

Yes, we get it. MEG digs Frakes/Riker. There's no feminist diatribe where he's concerned. Let's list all the chicks he's had in the series up to this point, that's cool, no problem. Riker doing anything sexist is a real dilemma for MEG. Kinda like broccoli-flavored pork rinds for George Bush, Sr.

As far as I'm concerned, this was a mediocre clips episode rushed out the door so the crew could start their vacations. Not the worst episode but near the bottom of my list.

[Broccoli]

Chindogu wrote:

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Yes, this is a horrible episode, but wasn't one of the main reasons it's so half-assed was because of the writers strike that was going on back then?

Yes. But don't let things like "facts" or "historical perspective" get in the way of one of her inane reviews. This episode clearly stunk because the sexist male pig writers were too lazy to come up with a good story, but it is somewhat alright because Riker is the focus and he's hawt!

[Starkers]

There was one good thing about this episode. When BBC2 originally aired Conspiracy they cut the shot of Remmick being vaporised, but when they aired Shades of Grey they left it in! That was the first time I saw that scene

[RandyS]

[quote=tomalak301;1394862]

AntonyF wrote:

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[
Agreed about Pulaski. I thought this was her finest hour.

The only reason it was her finest hour is because it was her final hour.

I just had to say that.