The Mind's Eye
- Thread starter Supernuke
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It is a very good episode, and I like how they pre-introduced the character of Sela. Although one can easily tell that Denise Crosby is only dubbing - it's clearly not her standing there in the shadows.
Even more intriguing is the fact that the on-screen title omits the apostrophe - it says The Mind s Eye. Hmm...
Even more intriguing is the fact that the on-screen title omits the apostrophe - it says The Mind s Eye. Hmm...
Its a LaForge episode so I like it. It was actually a good use of LaForge. He's a a mild-mannered guy, but its cool that he's the assassin. I also like the scenes where Data is trying to figure out the mystery.
The scene where LaForge shoots O'Brien is pretty disturbing.
The scene where LaForge shoots O'Brien is pretty disturbing.
It's good to see some continuation of arcs in the Next Generation and this is a great episode that continues the Klingon-Romulan-discommendation arc whilst starting another in Sela.
One thing that irks me though is Data following the "Benzite doctrine" (A Matter Of Honour). He suspects LaForge is involved in something but before warning everyone he carries his investigation to the conclusion. This risks LaForge being able to carry out the assasination.
Worf is also out of character here. He is told that during the weapons beam-out LaForge was in his quarters, alone, without a witness. Worf simply accepts his word, yet he is the only suspect without a witness. Do security in the 24th century not know Holmes, "when you eliminate all else..."
And do you know what made me laugh? - The fake Geordi. I don't know why, it just looked nothing like him!
Anyway I don't want to pick it to bits! I like it!
One thing that irks me though is Data following the "Benzite doctrine" (A Matter Of Honour). He suspects LaForge is involved in something but before warning everyone he carries his investigation to the conclusion. This risks LaForge being able to carry out the assasination.
Worf is also out of character here. He is told that during the weapons beam-out LaForge was in his quarters, alone, without a witness. Worf simply accepts his word, yet he is the only suspect without a witness. Do security in the 24th century not know Holmes, "when you eliminate all else..."
And do you know what made me laugh? - The fake Geordi. I don't know why, it just looked nothing like him!
Anyway I don't want to pick it to bits! I like it!
Well, in this adventure, LaForge's reputation was at stake. Baseless accusations would have brought almost as much harm to him as letting him carry out the assassination... Data wouldn't risk that, not when the entire idea of a conspiracy against the Klingons was so unlikely to begin with.
And Worf certainly wouldn't dream of hurting a honorable companion warrior's honor if said colleague could be expected to sort it out in private. He might conduct private investigations, but not the Data way: he'd do that by cornering and challenging LaForge at a suitable opportunity. Perhaps he never got one?
Timo Saloniemi
And Worf certainly wouldn't dream of hurting a honorable companion warrior's honor if said colleague could be expected to sort it out in private. He might conduct private investigations, but not the Data way: he'd do that by cornering and challenging LaForge at a suitable opportunity. Perhaps he never got one?
Timo Saloniemi
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Really? Causing harm to one engineering officers reputation and career would be as harmful as the dissolution of the alliance with the Klingons?
No. But accusing LaForge would be as harmful to him as catching him. And that's all that would matter.
Screw the alliance - the threat to it was hypothetical in the first place, and proved to be false in the end. And LaForge was always a less likely suspect than some complete outsider; Romulans hadn't really acquired Starfleet rifles, but had merely brought copies into play from outside, so any other indication of an "inside job" would probably be a piece of Romulan misdirection, too.
Data wouldn't accuse his closest friend if other options existed. And if he did accuse LaForge, he could always do it face to face. He could personally overpower LaForge if he proved to be a bad apple in most cases - and if he couldn't, LaForge could overpower all other resistance as well, so telling Picard (let alone the Klingons) would serve no purpose.
This isn't even a discontinuity in Trek storytelling. Our heroes always tiptoe around the issue of a coworker possibly having misbehaved, even if said coworker is a guest star or an insignificant extra. And entire episodes are dedicated to the wrongness of openly flinging potentially baseless accusations.
Timo Saloniemi
Screw the alliance - the threat to it was hypothetical in the first place, and proved to be false in the end. And LaForge was always a less likely suspect than some complete outsider; Romulans hadn't really acquired Starfleet rifles, but had merely brought copies into play from outside, so any other indication of an "inside job" would probably be a piece of Romulan misdirection, too.
Data wouldn't accuse his closest friend if other options existed. And if he did accuse LaForge, he could always do it face to face. He could personally overpower LaForge if he proved to be a bad apple in most cases - and if he couldn't, LaForge could overpower all other resistance as well, so telling Picard (let alone the Klingons) would serve no purpose.
This isn't even a discontinuity in Trek storytelling. Our heroes always tiptoe around the issue of a coworker possibly having misbehaved, even if said coworker is a guest star or an insignificant extra. And entire episodes are dedicated to the wrongness of openly flinging potentially baseless accusations.
Timo Saloniemi
I recently watched season 4 again and really enjoyed this one. I think it may get overlooked as a lead-in to Redemption, but it's a fine episode in it's own right.
It's also a blatant homage to The Manchurian Candidate, so this episode can't go wrong for me.
It's also a blatant homage to The Manchurian Candidate, so this episode can't go wrong for me.
I love this episode. I love just about any episode in which Romulans show up. I thought their whole plan was clever and thought Data's investigation was equally clever. Federation, Klingons, Romulans, intergalatic politics... good stuff. :-)
Certainly the method of brainwashing him seemed to make use of his VISOR implants.
Also, we might surmise that it was more difficult to kidnap LaForge than it would have been to catch some other Enterprise officer whose duties took him away from the ship on a regular basis - say, some sort of a researcher who did these trips every month, not just once per season. So the fact that the Romulans did go for LaForge might suggest they had no other option, that only LaForge could be corrupted.
Really, there was no other obvious advantage to using LaForge. He wasn't the officer most likely to come in contact with the Klingon he was supposed to kill. He wasn't the officer least likely to do that, either. He wasn't in a particularly advantageous position to beam Federation hardware down to the rebels, either.
But it seems the brainwashing didn't take away LaForge's initiative or imagination. So his versatility in manipulating the ship and its functions would have remained intact, and would have made him very good at covering his tracks. Which is probably a good skill for a "standby" assassin to possess, until he's called to do his dirty deed.
Timo Saloniemi
Also, we might surmise that it was more difficult to kidnap LaForge than it would have been to catch some other Enterprise officer whose duties took him away from the ship on a regular basis - say, some sort of a researcher who did these trips every month, not just once per season. So the fact that the Romulans did go for LaForge might suggest they had no other option, that only LaForge could be corrupted.
Really, there was no other obvious advantage to using LaForge. He wasn't the officer most likely to come in contact with the Klingon he was supposed to kill. He wasn't the officer least likely to do that, either. He wasn't in a particularly advantageous position to beam Federation hardware down to the rebels, either.
But it seems the brainwashing didn't take away LaForge's initiative or imagination. So his versatility in manipulating the ship and its functions would have remained intact, and would have made him very good at covering his tracks. Which is probably a good skill for a "standby" assassin to possess, until he's called to do his dirty deed.
Timo Saloniemi
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