It would be tempting to lump this episode in with the magical transformations that are created by some mundane science thing the writers once heard about. But in this case no, it is just left as an unexplained mystery how the aliens could make Barclay into the greatest genius man has ever known. Had there been a line about how we normally only use 10% of our brain and that he is now using more this would have been an automatic 1 out of 10, but by leaving the mystery unanswered it leaves more time to think about the characters and story and less time to rant about how incredibly ignorant the writers are.
The episode opens with Barclay acting in the role of Cyrano de Bergerac for a small audience of seniors staff. After making it through his scene we learn Barclay has been taking acting lessons from Dr. Crusher as a way of replacing the fantasies he used to live on the holodeck. Meanwhile the Enterprise has arrived at an important deep space telescope that has stopped working for reasons unknown. When they scan the area they find an apparently dead probe of unknown origins. Geordi and Barclay take a shuttle to investigate but none of their normal techniques work. Then suddenly there is a flash of light which knocks out the shuttle computers and Barclay. Back on the ship Barclay is being checked out on sickbay but appears to be fine. As he is leaving he tells Crusher that the scan she is trying to do would be much faster if she did it a way no one has ever done before.
After encountering the shuttle the probe apparently wakes up and starts chasing the Enterprise. It apparently has warp drive and their attempts to shoot it with phasers don't work. In a TOS callback they can't use photon torpedoes because they are too close (this was a constant problem in TOS and is largely ignored in TNG). The probe is releasing energy levels so high they will be destroyed if something isn't done. Then Barclay calls the bridge from engineering, they can go ahead and use photon torpedoes since he modified the shields to be three times stronger. No one knows what to say but it works and they are all saved. At a senior staff meeting the situation is discussed and Geordi tells them sure, it is scary, but they need Barclay's super intelligence to repair the telescope. The two of them get to work but the reactors start overloading and to get things done faster Barclay builds a direct brain interface on the holodeck and stops the overload.
But of course this also links his brain to the computer and he takes over the ship. He starts messing with the engines and even Worf and a security team are unable to stop him. Geordi tries to work around him, but he is too fast and smart for that. Eventually he throws the ship 30,000 light years to an unexplored system where the bridge crew are greeted by a giant floating head that asks them questions. Barclay shows up and explains the probe was sent by the planet to teach people how to reach the planet so they chill with the head for a few weeks before heading home. Barclay is back to normal other than a few new talents he picked up along the way.
Review: A slightly above average episode. The scenes with Barclay and Troi are alright but the reaction from Riker when he finds out is priceless. Plus one for not coming up with an incredibly stupid reason for Barclay being super smart.
6 out of 10
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