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The Next Generation (TNG) Season 6
Season 1 - Season 2 - Season 3 - Season 4 - Season 5 - Season 6 - Season 7
Full reviews to be added soon.
Time's Arrow II See TNG season 5
Realm of Fear Stardate
46041.1: Beaming back from the disabled U.S.S. Yosemite, Reginald Barclay, who
suffers from transporter psychosis, is confronted with his worst fear when
creatures touch him in mid-transport. Barclay, aware that no one would believe
him anyway, keeps the story secret until he discovers that the spot where the
creature touched him is glowing. It turns out that Barclay encountered one of
the missing Yosemite crew members who was caught in the transporter beam and
that they can be saved by someone who grabs them in mid-transport.

Man of the People
Stardate 46071.6: Lumerian ambassador Alkar comes aboard the Enterprise to
conduct peace talks between Rekag and Seronia. He is accompanied by his mother
who dies soon after. Alkar performs what he calls a "funeral
ritual" with Deanna, and soon she exhibits a strange behavior and,
moreover, begins to age rapidly. Alkar actually uses Troi as a
"receptacle" to dump his negative emotions on her in order to keep his
own mind clear. The old woman was not Alkar's mother
but just his previous victim. Picard and Beverly fake Deanna's death, so that
Alkar would have to seek a new victim among his aides, but they have been beamed
out so that there is no one he could link to. Alkar ages quickly and dies just
like his victims.

Yet another boring diplomatic mission, yet another guest who is keeping a
secret, yet another time of suffering for Deanna, yet another miraculous
recovery. A TNG episode couldn't be more stereotypical. Much worse, it was
deemed necessary to cheer the well-known plot up with a dose of sex (Deanna and
the young crewman) and action (Deanna attacks Alkar with a knife and hurts
Picard). There are only a few interesting aspects about the episode. I like the
scene when Deanna, already under Alkar's influence, is very uncooperative to the
young female officer who is seeking her advice. More than most that we have seen
of Deanna's work before, this shows how important the counselor's position is on
a ship with 1000 crew members with their individual problems. I also appreciate
how it is Riker all the time who is concerned about Deanna's misbehavior.
Surprisingly, although the basic course of action is predictable, the episode becomes quite
exciting towards the end when Picard, against all orders, decides to end Alkar's
misdeeds and help Deanna. Although it doesn't make the medical miracle in any
way more credible, it is quite satisfactory to see Alkar age as Deanna regains
her youth.
Remarkable fact: Lumerians are empaths, but only among each other.
Rating: 3
Relics Stardate
46125.3: The Enterprise discovers a Dyson sphere, an immense artificial
structure built around a star. The starship U.S.S. Jenolan has crashed on this
sphere, and surprisingly its transporter is still operating in a continuous
diagnostic cycle after 75 years, preserving the pattern of one survivor: Captain
Montgomery Scott. Scotty is sad that he isn't of much help in the 24th century,
so Picard assigns him to help Geordi examine the Jenolan, while the Enterprise
is studying the Dyson sphere. The Enterprise, however, is drawn into the sphere
when the automated doors are accidentally activated. On the Jenolan Scotty and
Geordi devise a plan to free the Enterprise by reactivating their ship and using
it as a "doorstop". The Enterprise escapes, and the two officers are
beamed out from the Jenolan just when the shields begin to fail and the ship is
about to be crushed by the door. Picard borrows Scotty a shuttle so that he can
engage in new adventures in the 24th century.

Schisms Stardate
46154.2: Many of the crew are plagued by inexplicable amnesia, exhaustion and
anxiety and also Data's memory of ninety minutes is missing. In the holodeck Deanna recreates what seems to be a common memory
of all victims: an alien lab of some kind. Meanwhile,
one crewman even dies in agony. Armed with a stimulant
and a homing beacon, Riker volunteers to track where the missing people are
being taken. He is abducted into subspace and awakes in a lab with solanagen-based
creatures who are trying to seal the rupture that has been re-opened from the
Enterprise's side. Riker grabs the last missing
crewmate and dashes back as the rupture closes.

At first sight, there did not seem to be much special about the episode whose
plot, regarding Riker's sleep problems, reminded me too much of "Night
Terrors" when I first saw it. In this light it was definitely a good
decision of the author to focus on a secondary plot at first (Data's problems of
putting emotions into his poetry), and only slowly build up the main plot with
its two aspects (the crew's nightmares and the malfunctions on the ship).
Although both of them are already overused ideas, the writing is skillful in
that it gradually increases the suspense, from Riker's sleepiness over Worf's
sudden panic when he sees Mr. Mot's scissors to the key scene, the scary
reconstruction of the alien lab in the holodeck. The episode proves that a
horror motive may be incorporated in a very intelligent fashion and that it doesn't
always need people running through shady corridors with rifles fighting eerie
creatures (as they don't appear until the end of this episode). The episode's
score and the unusual camera positions and movements (often filming from the
ceiling) add perfectly to the overall mood.
At the end, the impression is created that the aliens, who have left a probe in
our universe, would return. But as it was already with the creatures in TNG:
"Conspiracy" whose ending was very similar, this won't happen. A
missed opportunity in both cases, as I think.
Remarkable poem: Data recites his "Ode to Spot".
| Ode
to Spot
Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature, I find myself intrigued, by your subvocal
oscillations, A tail is quite essential, for your acrobatic
talents. Oh Spot, the complex levels of behavior you
display, |
Remarkable fact: When Riker seeks Dr. Crusher's advice
about his sleepiness, she mentions to him a possible lack of REM sleep (cf. TNG:
"Night Terrors"), as well as (Picard's) Aunt Adele's recipe.
Rating: 7
True Q Stardate
46192.3: Young Amanda's world is turned upside down when she realizes that she is actually a member of the Q Continuum. Q
appears to take the girl back but then agrees to let her decide on her own where
she would like to stay. When Data discovers that her supposedly natural human parents
were killed by a very localized tornado that should have been prevented by the
weather control system, Q has to admit that they were actually members of the
Continuum who were executed for being renegades - which included begetting
Amanda the natural human way. The girl is furious about this and is tempted to
give up her powers to stay with the humans. That seems an easy task until Amanda can't
help intervening in a planetary disaster on Tagra IV, and sadly realizes the best
choice for all is for her to go live among her own kind.
Rascals Stardate
46235.7: After they have been beamed off an endangered shuttlecraft through an energy
field, Picard, Laren, Keiko, and Guinan are turned into the physical equivalents of
twelve-year-old children. Riker assumes command for the time being, but the ship
is soon captured by renegade Ferengi. The four apparent children stay on aboard,
together with the actual children. Picard poses as "Number One's" son
and Riker gets him access to the children's computer in the school room while
confusing his Ferengi guard with technobabble. The four "children",
supported by Alexander, beam the Ferengi into confinement. O'Brien and Beverly
finally find a method to reverse the rejuvenation, using the transporter.

A Fistful of Datas Stardate
46271.5: While Geordi is testing if Data can be used as a backup to the
ship's computer, Alexander coaxes his father and Deanna into taking part
in a holodeck Western program. Soon some glitches become obvious when Data's
"Ode to Spot" shows up in one of Beverly's (usually far more serious)
plays. Things become worse when the holodeck safety protocols go offline,
outlaws show up which all look like Data and have Data's abilities, and kidnap
Alexander. The situation is finally resolved through a progressive memory purge
that restores both Data's mind and the Enterprise computer.

The frequent holodeck malfunctions in TNG and later in Voyager might still be
plausible if not every time the safety protocols would fail as well. For this time it
was still acceptable though, because the episode didn't take itself too
seriously. At latest when Data, just after he had been disconnected from the
ship computer, handled his tricorder like a colt, was a clear hint that it
should become a fun episode. It was cute to see how Worf tried to fit in his
role somewhat awkwardly - although he was totally in character as the
indefatigable enforcer of the law. Deanna, on the other hand, played a filthy
guy in strong contrast to her real character and had a lot of fun with that.
Well, Data's travesty roles on the holodeck were on the verge of becoming
tasteless, but fortunately at least the scene when he appeared as the barmaid
was very short. I was as relieved as Worf when the holoprogram was finally over.
The real Data's transformation into a Western outlaw, on the
other hand, was quite entertaining.
It is also nice how this episode created strong intra-series continuity. It
picked up Data's "Ode to Spot" from "Schisms", Crusher's
theater group which will also appear in "Frame of Mind", Geordi's and
Data's friendship and, finally, Worf's and Deanna's emerging relationship which
was hinted at for the second time since "Ethics".
Remarkable quote: "Most replicators only produce cat food." (Riker)
Remarkable dialogue: Worf (looking up to the prostitute on balcony): "You
wrote this program yourself?" - Alexander: "Lieutenant Barclay helped
me."
Rating: 6
The Quality of Life Stardate
46307.2: Director Farallon of the orbital mining station Tyrus VII-A has
developed Exocomps, smart robots that take over tasks in hazardous environments.
When one of the Exocomps refuses to carry out an order, Data examines the case.
He finds that there was no malfunction, but the robot acted to preserve itself.
Data thinks Exocomps are alive and strives to prove this with the same
determination Picard helped Data to be accepted. An experiment with a simulated
danger fails - until Data discovers that the Exocomps were aware that the danger
was not real. When Picard and Geordi are trapped aboard the station, only the Exocomps can help by forming a transport window, but one of them has to stay
behind, sacrificing itself for the two other Exocomps.

Data's attempt to confirm that Exocomps are sentient lifeforms is definitely the
most important and most exciting part of the episode. I would only wish that it
had not been supplemented with the seemingly unavoidable action-loaded "technical
malfunction" plot, as this doesn't suit the episode. "The Measure of
a Man", where Data's sentience was acknowledged, managed to do without
anything like that. How the test of a revolutionary technology, namely the
particle fountain, (almost) ends up in a disaster, has already become a bad
cliché of TNG by now. Only the fact that one Exocomp had to sacrifice itself,
in order to save the two others (and Picard and Geordi), did require such a
situation. This reconciled
me with the action elements in the end. Once again I liked how TNG managed to
discuss an ethical conflict in a civilized fashion, with pointed arguments on
both sides. Considering the controversy between Data and Dr. Farallon, it may
have been more interesting to involve Geordi in a personal conflict. After all,
he is Data's friend but, as was briefly hinted at in a scene in Ten Forward, he
also seemed to be attracted to the woman who may have reminded him a lot of Leah
Brahms. Considering how Data disobeyed Riker's direct orders, I would only have
expected consequences for him, even if Data's decisions turned out right in the
end. Well, maybe it is the reason why Data is never promoted?
It is interesting to notice how the episodes are linked to each other in this
season. "The Quality of Life" continues with the weekly poker
game. One week after Data's remark about it, Geordi's beard is again hinted at,
and Beverly's complaint about the male habit to grow beards is the incentive for
a bet: if Beverly wins, the men will shave their beards; if Beverly loses she
will have to dye her hair. Unfortunately we never learn who loses. Beverly is
also shown as she is hurt after what has obviously been a Mok'bara fight with
Worf.
A nitpick (or a bad error?): When Riker notices that the particle fountain is
out of control, he issues "Red alert." But if I'm not mistaken, red
alert includes raising the shields. This does not get along with Riker's
very next order to beam the crew up to the ship.
Rating: 7
Chain of Command I/II Stardate 46357.4/46360.8: Picard, Crusher and Worf are assigned to a classified mission
to uncover the presumed production of Cardassian metagenic weapons on Celtris
III. They are discovered and while Worf and Crusher can escape, Picard is taken
prisoner by the Cardassians. Picard is tortured by Gul Madred who was already
awaiting him because the whole scenario of metagenic weapons was a trap,
supposed to let the Federation take the first step to a new conflict. In the
meantime Captain Jellico has taken over the command of the Enterprise. The crew
can't get along with his strict regime and his seemingly inappropriate behavior
towards the Cardassians which seems to lead directly to a war. Jellico also
refuses any attempt to rescue Picard. Jellico's tactics, however, eventually prove
successful when he traps a Cardassian invasion fleet in a nebula by laying mines
around the ships, which puts him into a position to demand their retreat and Picard's release.

Ship in a Bottle Stardate
46424.1: Dr. Moriarty's routine in Data's Sherlock Holmes holoprogram is
accidentally reactivated. The holovillain is angry that the crew have forgotten their promise to transfer him to the real world some day. He then
puzzles Picard and Data when he walks outside the holodeck and stays in one
piece. After a while Data discovers inconsistencies. He finds that everything is a
ruse and he, Picard and Moriarty are still on the holodeck, so the rest of
the ship is not real, including all other persons. Unfortunately Moriarty has
now the access codes to the real ship, after Picard was forced to use them,
which is especially dangerous since the Enterprise is very close to two
colliding gas giants. The crew, however, outwit Moriarty using his own trick
when they just transfer him and the Countess Barthalomew to the holodeck in the
holodeck instead of beaming them out to the real world. Now stored in a small
module, the two are provided with lots of adventures in what they think is the
real world.

Aquiel Stardate
46461.3: The two crew members of a Federation relay station close to the Klingon
border have mysteriously vanished. One of them is the attractive Aquiel Uhnari to whom Geordi
has developed some affection after viewing her log entries. She suddenly
reappears on a Klingon ship, and she becomes the main suspect, for she didn't
get along with her crewmate Keith Rocha and manipulated the station logs.
Beverly, investigating DNA residues from the station, is shocked when a sample
assumes the shape of her hand. Rocha was actually killed by a coalescent
lifeform that assumed his shape and then killed Aquiel's dog, Maura. Geordi
barely escapes the attack by the dog which is actually the shape-shifting
creature.

Face of the Enemy Stardate
46519.1: Deanna wakes up and finds her face surgically altered to look like a
Romulan. She was taken to the Warbird Khazara in the disguise of a Tal Shiar
officer to help smuggle out three high-level defectors to the Federation via a neutral Corvallen freighter.
As "Major Rakal" Troi has a hard time dealing with
Commander Toreth,
whose father was secretly abducted by the Tal Shiar, and only Subcommander N'Vek
is going to support her. When Troi/Rakal senses the Corvallens are traitors, N'Vek destroys the
ship but doesn't really have an alternative plan. The cloaked Warbird and the
Enterprise are facing for a battle, and Troi manages to get the defectors beamed
over to the Enterprise. When Toreth notices the plan, N'Vek is killed, while
Deanna can be beamed out in time.

Tapestry Stardate not
given: Picard, seriously wounded by a phaser discharge, finds himself in a
bright empty environment and he is welcomed by Q who claims that Picard is dead
and he, Q, is God. After Q tells him that with a natural heart he would have
survived, Picard regrets the mistake he made in his young days when his heart
had to be replaced after a fight with three tall Nausicaans.
Instantly, Q whisks him back to the day before the accident happened. Picard
wants to do everything right this time, and he even surrenders to the desire to
be more than just a friend to his classmate Marta Batanides. Finally, he
prevents his other friend Cortin Zweller from starting the fight with the
Nausicaans. Back in his time, Picard has to bear the consequences: He has become
a different person, one who was never willing to risk anything, and he is only a
junior grade lieutenant on the Enterprise. Picard asks Q to take him back
again. This time Picard allows the fight to take place, and history is reset. In
the Enterprise sickbay Beverly manages to save Picard's life despite the bad
damage to his artificial heart.

Birthright Stardate
46578.4/46579.2: While the Enterprise is docked to Deep Space Nine for a Bajoran aid
mission, Worf learns that his father may be still alive in a Romulan prisoner
camp - which would be dishonorable since Klingons have to escape or to die when
they are captured. He urges the Yridian Shrek to take him to the camp on Carraya
IV. Upon his arrival Worf is captured himself, but soon notices that this is not
really a prisoner camp, but the former Romulan guards and Klingon prisoners have
started an attempt to live in peace, unbeknownst to their respective
governments. Worf's doesn't find his father. He is unhappy that the Klingons
have abandoned their heritage as warriors, and he is disgusted by the fact that
there are marriages between Klingons and Romulans, even more when he discovers
the pointed ears of his love interest Ba'el. When Worf is going to
"infect" the young people in the camp with his ideas, camp leader
Torath decides to have him executed, but eventually many of the Klingons decide
to stand with Worf. Worf takes some of the young people with him, who he claims
are survivors of a ship crash. In the meantime, on the Enterprise, Data is
experiencing dreams, which were implanted into him by his creator Soong as a
further stage of his development.

Starship Mine Stardate
46682.4: When the Enterprise is evacuated for a baryon sweep in the Remmler
Array, Picard discovers that terrorists are going to steal highly volatile
trilithium from the ship's warp core. The gangsters also capture the planet base
and kill its commanding officer, Huchinson, while they hold the Enterprise crew
hostages. On the largely disabled ship which is being swept by a deadly beam
from the stern to the bow, Picard begins a cat-and-mouse game to prevent the
terrorists from completing their plan. He manages to kill or disable all of
them, until he and gang leader Kelsey meet in Ten Forward, the last location on
the ship which is not yet affected by the beam. Kelsey escapes with the
trilithium, but her shuttle explodes because Picard has removed the stabilizer.
After the crew has turned tables among the terrorists, they can beam out Picard
in the last moment before the baryon beam reaches him.

Lessons Stardate
46693.1: Picard falls in love with Neela Daren who is heading the stellar
cartography department of the ship. They find a common interest in music and use
the excellent acoustics of the Jefferies tubes for their private concerts with
one piano and one Ressikan flute. Their relationship is put to a test when Neela
is missing after a dangerous away mission to evacuate a Federation outpost on
Bersallis III which is threatened by firestorms. Even when she is eventually
saved, Picard realizes that he shouldn't be in love with someone who is his
subordinate, and Neela opts for a transfer to another ship.

The Chase Stardate
46731.5: Picard turns down the tempting offer of his old archeology professor,
Richard Galen, to accompany him on a quest that could have an impact on the
whole galaxy. Galen leaves, only to be deadly wounded after an Yridian attack.
Picard traces Galen's travel, and he finds a puzzle composed of DNA fragments
Galen has been collecting from various planets in the galaxy. There is something
like a coded message in these fragments. Not only the Enterprise, but also
Cardassians, Klingons and Romulans are seeking for the missing fragments to
decode the message, which could be the plan for a weapon or something equally
powerful or valuable. When finally the different parties meet on a desert planet
and struggle for the possession of the code, Picard and Crusher feed a tricorder
with the last fragment which they find in the ground of this long-dead planet,
and a message is replayed. A humanoid appears and declares that their race was
the first to emerge in the galaxy. They found themselves alone, but they
preserved their legacy by spreading DNA fragments on many planets, to trigger a
development that would finally lead to the formation of humanoids just like
them. In a way, Klingons, Cardassians, Romulans and humans are all related to
each other. The message of peace, however, isn't received very well by the
various species. Only the remark by the Romulan commander who was obviously
impressed and is looking forward to future common missions is a sign of hope.

Frame of Mind Stardate
46778.1: With a few days rest before leading an undercover mission on Tilonus IV, Riker takes on the
demanding role of a patient in a mental hospital in the play
"Frame of Mind". Soon Riker finds himself in what looks like a real
mental hospital, and he is not sure if the asylum or the starship is the
reality. He finally submits to the idea that he is actually mentally ill. When
he is rescued from the hospital by Data and Worf, Riker still can't believe that
he is on the ship. Actually, he has been captured by the Tilonians who have
drugged him, and only after he drops both illusions he wakes up and manages to
arrange for an emergency beam-out.

Suspicions Stardate
46830.1: The Ferengi scientist Dr. Reyga has developed a metaphasic shield that
can protect a starship inside the corona of a star. Beverly has arranged a
meeting of Reyga with skeptical Vulcan and Klingon colleagues and a Takaran
scientist named Jo'Bril who demands to test the device which is installed in a
shuttle. Jo'Bril dies, and after some time Reyga is found dead after what
appears to be a suicide. Against Takaran customs, Beverly performs an autopsy,
upon which she is relieved of duty. In an effort to solve the case, Beverly
takes the shuttle herself to test the shield, but Jo'Bril is already waiting for
her. He is not dead because his race is capable of a death-like stasis, and he
was going to steal the prototype. Beverly gets the upper hand in the following
fight, and Jo'Bril is killed, while Reyga's and Beverly's reputations are
restored.

Rightful Heir Stardate
46852.2: Worf spends some time in a monastery on Boreth to await the return of
Kahless. He is disappointed that he doesn't have any visions like the other
Klingons, when suddenly Kahless actually appears. Worf is skeptical, but a DNA
comparison with blood on the Knife of Kirom reveals that this is indeed Kahless.
Chancellor Gowron is not lucky at all, and he questions Kahless's right to be
the Klingon leader, and his suspicion proves right when Kahless exhibits only
very faint memories of his former life. The cleric Koroth finally has to admit
that they cloned Kahless. Nonetheless, knowing that a renewal of Klingon society
is due, a solution is found to make Kahless the Klingon Emperor, while Gowron
remains the head of the government.

Second Chances Stardate
46915.2: Riker is surprised to find a second version of himself on the planet
Nervala IV. He visited this planet years ago, while still a lieutenant on the
Potemkin. When his beam-up through the unstable atmosphere was about to fail, a
second beam was locked onto him. When Riker materialized on the Potemkin, no one
was aware that one of the beam had been reflected, creating a second Riker on
the planet. This Lt. Riker spent many years on the lonely outpost and has taken
a completely different development than Cmdr. Riker - including that Lt. Riker's
love to Deanna is still alive. The two can't get along with each other, but they
finally work well together when the last data from the outpost has to be
retrieved just as the transport window is about to close for a long time. Lt.
Riker decides to leave for the U.S.S. Gandhi, and he is going to use his second
name, Thomas.

This episode is interesting in two aspects. First of all, it sheds a new
light on Riker's character. Commander Riker always appeared as one of the most
curious and open-minded crew members, as opposed to Worf or Picard, for
instance, who were often very reserved. Now that Riker meets his other self, he
couldn't be more defiant and negative about him. He first avoids any contact
with Lieutenant Riker, even avoids to talk about him to others. When they have
to work together, he lets him feel his disapproval about each and everything.
Since he sees in Lieutenant Riker the person he once was, it is like Commander
Riker is accusing himself of his errors of the past, or of which he sees as
errors. Maybe it is also a bit of hurt vanity because he is not unique any
longer, but Commander Riker definitely thinks he has to prove that he is the
better Riker, which makes him consistently unlikable here.
Regarding Lt. Riker, he is embracing the world and expecting the world to
embrace him after eight years of loneliness. But he definitely has the worse
perspective for the future, as Cmdr. Riker has been promoted in his place, has
given up Deanna in his place, has come to terms with their father in his place.
There is hardly anything left he could have or could do on his own, and the
stubbornness of his other self to accept him makes it even harder. On the other
hand, Lt. Riker should realize that he, being the same person, would have done
exactly the same if he had been given the chance. With a certain complex of
inferiority (quite like Cmdr. Riker too), he thinks he must question everything
that has happened in the past eight years and that he was not able to
participate in. The key scene is the poker game in which both Rikers make aggressive
bets and think they can mutually guess their thoughts. Finally Lt.
Riker loses. Annoyed about it, as if the poker game would mean anything for his
life, he leaves the room with the remark that Cmdr. Riker always had the better
luck.
The second interesting aspect is how two complete human beings may materialize
from only one pattern. Like already in TOS: "The Enemy Within" and
later in DS9: "Our Man Bashir" it seems as if not always the very
matter of a person or object were transferred, but only in an ideal case. This
may also raise questions about the ethics of the transporter, concerning of
individual rights that may be harmed if someone is "split" or missing
matter complemented.
Notwithstanding the above revelations, the episode focused too much on trivialities
right after the astounding teaser when the second Riker was
discovered. The climax when Commander Riker saved Lieutenant Riker's life was
too contrived, and the ending when the latter leaves the ship to seek fortune on
his own was quite predictable.
Remarkable fact: Lt. Riker will call himself Thomas Riker. He will return in
DS9: "Defiant" where he operates for the Maquis.
Rating: 6
Timescape Stardate
46944.2: Returning by runabout from a conference, Troi, Picard, Data and La
Forge are puzzled by areas in which time is elapsing with different speeds. They
find the frozen scene of a Romulan Warbird firing a disruptor beam at the
Enterprise. With the help of modified transporter armbands they beam over to the
Enterprise while remaining in their own frame of time. They discover that the
ship is apparently boarded by Romulans and, even worse, a warp core breach is in
progress. Picard, suffering from side effects of the time shift, has to return
to the runabout. On the Warbird the other officers discover strange lifeforms in
the ship's quantum singularity which they are using as a nest. The presence of
the lifeforms interferes with a power transfer from the Enterprise which
endangers both ships. Geordi is hurt and Deanna saves him by removing his
armband so that there will be enough time to treat him. Data manages to turn
back the time so as to prevent the warp core breach, but not far enough. To stop
the power transfer, Picard steers the runabout between the two ships where it
disrupts the beam and explodes.

Descent I/II Stardate
46982.1/47025.2: The Borg have attacked a Federation outpost, but these Borg are
different in that they have a strategy, they seek vengeance and they have
individual names. Data is obviously different too when he kills a Borg in rage.
When Data is abducted by a Borg some time later, their trace leads to a planet
whose shielding doesn't allow to scan for lifeforms. While most of the crew take
part in a large-scale ground search, Beverly remains in command of the ship.
Picard's team is captured by the Borg, and he is shocked to see Data and his
evil twin Lore as the new leaders of the Borg. The new individuality brought to
the Collective by Hugh has left a vacuum Lore was able and willing to fill. Lore
takes Geordi to perform experiments on him, but despite Lore's mind control
Data's conscience kicks in. In the meantime the Enterprise is attacked by a Borg
ship, but Beverly manages to lure the Borg into the sun's corona where they
destroy it while the Enterprise is protected by the metaphasic shield. Hugh
helps the crew to defeat Lore who is finally deactivated, while Data takes his
emotion chip.

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