The Next Generation 4x24 "The Mind's Eye"

rating: *

the story: Geordi is programmed by the Romulans to become an unwitting assassin.

similar to: "Babel One," "United," "The Aenar" (Enterprise)

my thoughts: This is such a roundabout way to lead into "Redemption" that it's almost not even worth commenting on in that regard, but it's probably the best way to talk about it at all.

And by the way, this is also the introduction of Sela, the Romulan daughter of the Tasha Yar from "Yesterday's Enterprise," and even in that it's kind of a needless tease for how little mileage the character ends up getting.  Denise Crosby famously exited the series in its first season because she didn't think she got enough to do.  These are the episodes where she gets to prove whether or not it was a horrible mistake on her part, because they're by far her most important.  Yet she never quite breaks the mold of being an actor who was arguably better suited to play Deanna Troi, as originally cast (Marina Sirtis makes a far better argument about deserving a shot at Yar in episodes like "Power Play" and "Face of the Enemy").

But since she's hardly in it, and not even officially so, let's not spend this review talking about Sela.  It's not even worth talking about Geordi, which makes this another episode featuring a character but not really using them as bedeviled the midpoint of the season.  Until the closing moments of the episode, in which Troi helps Geordi realize what's happened to him, he literally has nothing interesting to do except walk around on autopilot.  Based on the classic movie(s) The Manchurian Candidate, I'd say "Mind's Eye" was a horrible misfire in that regard, far more so than the Deep Space Nine episode evoking Casablanca, "Profit and Loss."

Anyway, again, this whole story is really just an excuse to set up "Redemption" two episodes later as a season finale.  It doesn't feature Worf, for whatever reason, but does have Romulans and Klingons awkwardly clashing.  It's important in a very minor way, almost like the series realized such a moment was necessary, but had no better way to provide it.  It's a place-filler of an episode.

Besides, the whole thing was done better in a three-part Enterprise episode concerning Romulans manipulating events behind the scenes.

criteria analysis: franchise - series - character - essential

notable guest-stars:
Denise Crosby (Sela)
Colm Meaney (O'Brien)
John Fleck