Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 170: Eye Of The Beholder [VHS]

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Lt. Dan Kwan commits suicide on the Enterprise by jumping through a force field into the plasma stream of one of the engines. As Troi and Worf are investigating, the Counselor experiences an emphatic jolt of fear, panic and rage. Shaken, Troi tries a second visit to the site and suddenly finds himself back at Utopia Planitia where the Enterprise was constructed, where she sees a couple kissing and a third person who turns out to be Lt. Walter Pierce, now serving about the Enterprise. But when they question the officer, he has nothing to say. That evening, Troi and Worf become a couple. But the next day when Deanna sees him paying attention to young Ensign Calloway (Kwan's girlfriend), she grabs a phaser and kills Worf. Then she goes back to the narcelle tube to throw herself in; just like Lt. Kwan.

The blossoming romance between Troi and Worf follows up on what was started in "Parallels" (Episode 163), where the Klingon saw an alternative reality where he was married to the Counselor. The idea that part of the Enterprise is haunted is a bit much, although like Dr. Crusher's encounter with a "spirit" in "Inheritance" (Episode 162) there is a rational (i.e., scientific) explanation. This is an average STNG episode, memorable mainly because Worf finally makes a move on Deanna.

Lieutenant Kwan, a partial empath, commits suicide while at his work station. The crew is shocked at this and everyone wants to know why he chose to end his life. The investigation is led by Troi and when she goes to where the suicide took place, she is overwhelmed with emotion. The conclusion is that she encountered an empathic echo from a terrible event in the past. Her first thought is that it was an echo from Kwan, but later she understands that the echo is from a Lieutenant Pierce, who was on the Enterprise when it was being constructed.
When Troi goes back to the location accompanied by Worf, she believes she is able to stabilize her response to the empathic echo and she learns that a body has been embedded in the wall. Worf and Troi begin a romantic relationship that quickly blossoms and Worf spends the night with her. However, Troi starts becoming very jealous when Worf is interacting with other women and when she discovers Worf in the arms of another woman, she kills him. Stricken with grief, she goes back to the place where Kwan committed suicide and prepares to do the same. At that point, there is a firm hand on her shoulder. The hand is Worf's, all that she had experienced since going back to the location has taken place in her mind as a consequence of her encounter with the empathic echo.
There are some very good moments in this episode. The first is where Worf is trying to ask Riker's permission for him to have a relationship with Troi. The second is when Troi is giving Worf hints as to what happened in her experience. She doesn't tell him that she killed him, just recounts the old saying about "Hell hath no wrath like a woman scorned. "
This episode is a good one, what makes it work is the intensity of the emotions felt by Troi as she carries out the investigation. Her involvement with Worf is also very well done; you feel the intensity of their romance and care about how they feel. When the episode ends, you know that the romance was a fiction, yet there is a hint that there will be more to it in the future.

This episode starts out in an interesting way, where everyone is wondering what is going on, and the story soon gives all the answers as it builds up in a very unique way, at the same time showing a deep affection of Worf and Troi, like Picard and Beverly in "Attached".

As the romance winds on, it appears to cause some trouble which is too shocking to talk about, and then that leads to the evidence of who started it all. So, don't miss this exciting mystery episode if you are a Star Trek: TNG lover!

One of the worst episodes from the final season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. After a crewman commits suicide by jumping into the plasma stream, Troi begins having strange empathic flashes when she investigates.