Frankly this episode was a disappointment. Even though I always liked to see Troi led episodes she did have a tendency to over-act! Anyways, its still a good episode containing lots of tension, some action and a few minor to medium twists along the way. These do enough to bring the level of the story to an intresting one.

Its a basic delivery mission with what I consider a novel angle. Deanna is kidnapped while at a conference and surgically altered to appear Romulan. Waking aboard a Romulan ship she has no choice by to join a dissent in his secret mission to deliver a cargo to Federation space.

The layers of secrecy build up pretty well at the beginning, inviting viewers to take a setup into the story. There are several strained relationships which provide conflict; between Deanna and the ships captain and Deanna and the dissident. As tension and anxiety build up over the initial and middle acts the subplot onboard the Enterprise grows.

A former human traitor to the Romulans returns and is debrief. He provides the link to the main part of story and has Picard take the crew to rendevous with the freighter that is designated to deliver the cargo.

Its here were the pace of the screenplay picks up. Lots of drama, action, some combat intermingled with a few twist to raise the level of excitement.

Overall the latter middle and final acts of this episode are worth the mildly ludicrous beginning.

Its bad, but not as much as some of the other reviewers have stated. The basic idea of the plot is fine, but its the relationship aspect between Geordi and Ariel that bring this episode down.

Essentially the plot follows your standard murder mystery in space. Set on a remote isolated relay station, the Enterprise discovers that both members of the team are missing. They find a pet dog and a some dna residue that indicates that one of them was possibly killed by disruptor fire.

The team setups about investigating the scene ala CSI w/ Georgi taking on the logs of the missing female ensign. Its this particular sequence of rather benign log entries that takes slow this middle act to much. To be fair they do at least reveal part some of the backstory. It does get better though when Aquiel is discovered in the missing shuttle floating in Klingon space and is brought to the Enterprise to refute claims that a Klingon officer boarded the station and killed everyone aboard.

However, even with the potential diplomatic issue that could arise, the intensity of the story hardly registers above a 3/10, in what is essentially a filler episode.

Relying on Geordi's hit-and-miss in love device was done to much and with the expectent result being a dud again, even if you havent watched the episode you will almost certainly guess that they will never get together. I guess perhaps that the almost forbidden love is aluring in its own way, but it never gets going.

The twist at the end however - though stale 16yrs later was wonderfully done at the time and I remember my surprise at realising there was more to come - and with deadly consequences. Thankfully Geordi keeps a phaser in a bedside cabinet - like they all do!

One of those episodes that you will either like or not. No real action here, but the threat of destruction posed to the Enterprise does enough to add a medium level of urgency to the screenplay.

This is another of those intelligent episodes that delves into the phliosophical issues of existence and dabble into the subjects of consciousness and reality.

I did find the whole aspect of Moriaty's consciousness an interesting concept and wished theyd done more with, but alas it was just bad from a writing aspect that the crew had apparently forgotten about him. What was worse was just how conveniently they had done it and for how long - 4yrs.

However, the mischevious plot that Moriaty unleashes on the crew makes up for it and if you are watching it for the first time, I dare you to admit that you werent fooled too! :D

I also thought the added complication of having the Duchess (Beacham's character) was great. She does a spiffying job of convincing us that her character is Moriaty's eternal soulmate.

If the plot is the star of this episode, then the ending thankfully does a great job to match it. A clever little turn-the-tables ruse by Picard to get Moriaty to release the ship to him and leave him and the Duchess living in eternal bliss.

I wonder if they ever make a sequel to TNG-DS9-Voyager that they will revisit plot threads like this one and provide a suitable conclusion to them!

Again, dont expect hectic fight sequences, but an intelligent story will entertain you and the ending will leave you satisfied within.

First rate conclusion to this two parter. The Cardassian reveal their gambit to obtain a star system lost to the Federation in a previous peace accord.

Essentially the plot centres around the completion of the battle of wills between Picard and his captor/torturer, the Cardassian Gul Lemec. The battle of wills demonstrates several facets of the mental combat between a torturer and his target as you might expect on a basic level. It intelligently adds a scene with Lemecs daughter to convey more of the Cardassians hard nature and reveals an insight at the way they became cold and heartless (in human eyes), over the centuries as they fought to overcome their race's harsh existence but at a cost - the loss of their own innocence and any form of good will.

The conflict between the two is intensified further with the implanting of a device that allows Lemec to inflict pain in Picard at the push of a button. The dialogue between the two is a little too civilised for my tastes, but it does work very well in creating an undercurrent between the two that amplified the absurdity of the torture , almost like two friends whereby one has dominance over antoher in some petty dispute.

The exchange is framed perfectly by the apparatus of 4 lights shining behind LeMec. In the test, an ultimate measure of Picards remaining free will, Lemec sets about trying to convince Picard that there are 5 lights not 4, to gain control of Picards will, more than merely just extracting the tactical plans that Picard may know regarding the ?Midas? sector.

Meanwhile on the Enterprise Jellico, Riker and Troi are fed the news that Picard is captured. They are put in a difficult position of having to either disavow any knowledge of Picards action, which will leave him to his fate or claim knowledge, give Picard PoW status but forfeit the higher moral ground.

However, Jellico with the crews help esp. an obstinate Riker manage to discover a Cardassian battlefleet hiding in a nearby nebula (to the wanted starsystem) and mines the ships forcing the Cardassians to return to the negotiation table and give up Picard for safe passage of their ships.

One scene to remember is Data's apparent off-screen temporary promotion when Riker is relieved of command for insisting they must act to save Picard. Data wears a red command jacket instead of his his usual golden one.

A poignant ending results in Picard asking for Troi to join him in his ready room as Jellico departs. Picard then makes a disturbing if not unsurprising revelation about his experience.

An intelligent two parter, which excellent dialogue between the main antaganist and protaganist. Dont expect any combat or battles, though.

Monk takes on the G-man (or the FBI) or at least both pit their techniques against each other in a battle of the modern vs the past, to track down a vicious serial killer in less than 36hrs. Who will win?

I wasnt immediately grabbed by the episode's start, even by what is a horrific crime. However, once Monk and the FBI team get on the case, it does develop into a great episode.

The star of is undoubtably the crime. Not seeing the killer or having suspects shifts the attention on the actual buildup of drama. Its the scenes between the uber-efficient and techno-savvy FBI team and Monk's apparently antiquated method of deduction that fill this episode with simple but enjoyable screenplay. Of particular note are the scenes where all-a-phobe Monk's attempts to inteface with technology using Julie Teeger's laptop; When Monk succeeds in guiding the SWAT team to Julie's friends sleepover - that was hilarious!; Dr. Kroger's session when he bursts into song and Randy's scene as the only musician in town!

The overall tone of the screenplay sees Monk subservient to alpha's (FBI) domination until he can Natalie provides him with a epiphany that turns this case on its head - and that it does, but not before he is made to feel even worse as he is berated by the FBIs lead agent.

***** SPOILERS ******



I loved the way the writers incorporated a seemingly important piece of the serial killers MO, which proved to be the plot twist enabler at the end. Had me fooled!

An excellent episode that continues the trend of this superb season.