This season has featured a few episodes that tried to go for a bit of a darker feel, but this is the one that works by far the best. The idea of one of the regulars on the crew being brainwashed by Romulans and forced to kill for them is a disturbing idea. So much so that it is almost like they realized the really messed up Future Imperfect by not having it be the Romulans in the end like would have actually made sense. This time they tap directly into Geordi's brain via his visor contacts which also makes more sense than I usually give them credit for. I had forgotten how much this series plays the Romulans against the Klingons and how Klingons are constantly betraying the empire for the Romulans.
The episode begins with Geordi on a shuttle flying to Risa for an AI conference and he is trying to make the most of his time. He is interrupted from his computer trivia game by a Romulan warship decloaking in his path and beaming him over before he can call for help. Back on the ship the Enterprise is working with Klingon Ambassador Kell to investigate weapons being given to a Klingon planet striving for independence. The Klingons have accused the Federation of the crime but Picard is vehement in his denials. Back to La Forge, the Romulans strap him to a chair and start feeding images directly into his brain via his visor contacts. We see inside their simulation and they are training Geordi to kill at command without hesitation.
Geordi returns from Risa and seems to have had a good time. He and Data work to figure out who made the weapons found on the planet and discover that the Romulans are producing fake Starfleet weapons and sending them to the planet. The Klingons aren't sure who to believe and start working on their own investigation. Meanwhile Data also picks up a strange hard to trace transmission and starts looking into it. We cut to cargo bay 4 where Geordi is preparing to transport a contain that we can assume contains weapons down to the planet and he is carefully covering his tracks rerouting power and erasing all the logs. The Klingons detect the transmission however and more of their ships decloak and they order the Enterprise not to leave orbit.
An investigation starts on the Enterprise with Geordi in charge of course. Geordi stops by Kell's quarters and we learn Kell is the puppet master giving him his orders. A Klingon governor in charge of their investigation beams over to the Enterprise to see how the investigation is going and we see Geordi getting his weapon ready to go kill him. At the same time Data has figured out that maybe something happened to Geordi and is looking into the shuttle. He determines the log chips are Romulan duplicates and calls Worf to stop Geordi just in time. Picard himself ends up grabbing Geordi just as he tries to kill the Klingon governor and Data arrives to explain it is either Picard or Kell who has been sending the transmissions and that a simple search of them for a transmitter will do. Picard is unfazed but Kell starts trying to negotiate asylum with the Klingon governor is quite happy to take him back to their ship for a thorough search.
Review: This is a dark episode both for what happens to Geordi and for showing how far the Romulans are willing to go to achieve their goal of driving a wedge between the Klingons and Federation. It is nice to have the dangers of space come from individuals rather than the monster of the week.
8 out of 10
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