The Loss

Season 4, Episode 10, Aired
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Episode Summary

Stardate: 44356.9
Troi loses her empathic abilities when the Enterprise is caught in a cloud of two-dimensional beings heading towards a cosmic string fragment.
6.8
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Fan Episode Reviews (7)

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  • Troi Loses Her SIxth Sense

    6.0
    "Fair"
    By Celedorian, Jan 05, 2012 Report Abuse
    This Troi episode, a disability allegory, comes across as preachy and somewhat annoying. (Or at least, Troi is annoying, as she seemingly develops a wicked case of interstellar PMS.) Whoopi Goldberg has some good moments as Guinan, and the cloud of two dimensional beings isn't a bad concept but overall this is a weak fourth season offering that doesn't offer much of interest.

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    0 1

  • Troi is like nails on a blackboard

    1.5
    "Abysmal"
    By Zelig504, Aug 18, 2011 Report Abuse
    The bottom line with this episode is that it made the Troi character, never one of my favorites along with the always pathetic Wesley, one that I thoroughly detested.

    When she loses her power and starts to rail and pitch hysterical fits at her crew mates who are trying to show concern, well it gets to be way, way too much emoting from an actress who's simply not that talented.

    Ryker nailed her when he described her as having a superior attitude and frankly, I always found her "empathic" abilities to be a cheap and lazy writer's crutch to supply a quick way to know what the opposition was feeling instead of making the writers, actors and yes the viewers figure it out without her method of cheating.

    This episode exposes the actor's weakness, much as any Data episode where he has any type of emotions expose Spiner's inability to be anything more than the emotionless Data - which he is perfect at. If he gets to emote as Lore or then in films with his emotion chip, well it was worse than a very special Wesley episode.moreless

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    1 6

  • While not a great episode, this is one of the better Troi-centered episodes.

    7.0
    "Good"
    By pharoahsdance, Jun 03, 2011 Report Abuse
    Of all the character-oriented episodes on TNG, those focusing on Troi were among the weakest. The writers rarely put her in interesting situations, instead relying on typically "feminine" stories.

    In this case a sort of hybrid between "Loud as a Whisper" and "The Child" Troi loses her empathic abilities. The plot is not especially interesting (nor is the sci fi device underlying it). However, Marina Sirtis shines at points particularly when stoic and not over-emoting. There are some good sequences interacting with the other characters. The conversation with Guinan is particularly strong.

    I would emphatically recommend this above "Loud as a Whisper" as a less preachy commentary about disability. But it's only a decent episode, not a great or even good one.moreless

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  • A very two-dimensional episode.

    6.0
    "Fair"
    By adarascarlet, Jun 03, 2011 Report Abuse
    Most of this episode is filler. It's clear the writers wanted to do a story about Troi losing her empathic abilities, a very good idea, but then couldn't figure out how to make it work. It's always pretty lame when the main story is supported by some cop-out side story just to make things work, such as in the previous episode "Final Mission" with the garbage ship. However, the difference is that usually the side story is just a minute here and there, not the majority of the episode. Then, after all that, they barely even explained how Troi lost her powers. I guess a plot device just came and snatched them, then gave them back. The only way the resolution could have been any worse is if it had all been a dream. I think the lesson here is if you have a good idea but can't find a way to incorporate it into an interesting story, just throw it away.

    The episode is still watchable thanks to the chemistry between Riker and Troi, and it had a couple of high points. I like when Riker points out to Troi that she's on equal footing with everyone now. I also like Mirina Sirtis. I realize I'm pretty much alone on that one. She has a very distinct style of acting, and it's the kind of thing you either love or hate. I think both she and Wil Wheaton did the best they could with some pretty crappy material from the writers. Troi is the eye candy of the ship, with her special cleavage-cut suits. It's unfair to her character, because the way they dress her and just use her as a backdrop in most episodes, when she has an episode of her own it's hard for her to make herself more three-dimensional. It's like the writers wanted a bimbo AND an empathic ship's counselor, and combined them into one character. One day they want her to stand there and look pretty, the next day they want her to suddenly have depth. As an actor, how is she supposed to work with that? I'd much rather they would have developed her character more and ditched the cleavage.

    There was one part of this episode that made me cringe: When the blonde ensign said "Cosmic... string?" UGH. It takes effort to be that bad at saying two words.moreless

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    2 0

  • People need to give both Troi and this episode a chance. Troi loses her powers and has trouble dealing with the new way of life.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By darkwolfette, Jun 03, 2011 Report Abuse
    At the risk of sounding pretentious, this episode was a perfectly executed case study of someone dealing with an extreme life change. The fact of the matter is that everything that the Doctor stated to Troi in the sick bay is one hundred percent accurate. Troi has neither ever been counseled, nor has she ever faced such a distinct loss. Anyone that is accustomed to a certain way of life can face any number of emotional responses when faced with a traumatic incident. Many people have been lost within themselves, and many feign happiness. The most common reaction to extreme change, however, is anger and heightened emotions. The problem with people judging episodes like this, comes when people have a lack of understanding for human behavior as a whole. While it is not my intent to start a war with this next comment, I feel it must be said. The fact of the matter is that this has happened to male characters on the show; not in the same fashion, but they often exhibited extreme behavioral changes and the episodes were praised. It is easy to see her as an annoying chick just overreacting to what may be perceived to regular people as nothing more than a minor, if not major, wound. As the doctor said, however, it would be like losing an arm or sight, or an appendage/sense of your choice. She literally lost a piece of herself, part of her essence, and what makes her who/what she is. It is well within her rights, as well as expected by/from psychologists for her to lose control. She has never had her needs attended to, and has never really needed them attended to in such a way. She simply went through the stages of grief caused by an extreme loss. While it may not have been how everyone reacts, so many people watching this episode lack the ability realize that actors become other people when they step on screen. Counselor Deanna Troi would react in that way. It does not make Marina a bad actress; quite the contrary, it makes her great to be able to understand how her character would react and portray it to that level. Now, if you understand all that and still don't like it, then I respectfully back off. But for those of you out there that are ignorant to these things, you might want to take a better look at your reviews, and just give her a chance. Like I said, from a psychological standpoint, this episode was flawless.moreless

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    • (Deanna is upset. Riker hugs her) Deanna: Is this how you solve all of your personnel problems? Riker: You'll be surprised how far a hug goes with Geordi, or Worf! Edit

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