10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Psycho without the shower scene . . ., December 3, 1999
This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 158: Phantasms [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Man! Data can be downright frightening when he wants to be! In his dreams, everyone's favorite android cuts a slice out of a cake that looks like Deanna Troi. Mere hours later, he begins cutting into the REAL Deanna Troi with a knife--a detached, blank look in his eyes the ENTIRE time! We are now entering . . . the Twilight Zone.
As an aside, this episode gives some indication that Deanna's not a big fan of Sigmund Freud.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
"A good cat. And a pretty cat.", August 9, 2002
This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 158: Phantasms [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Data finds himself very worried as he starts experiencing nightmares, but no-one takes his concerns seriously. When a strange discovery threatens the lives of the Enterprise's crew, it seems that Data's dreams may hold the key to saving everyone. But can they figure out what is going on in time?
The director did a good job in bringing a dream-like quality to many of the scenes in this episode, and all the dream imagery played out nicely in the real world. But the scene in the turbolift that was meant to be shocking wasn't half so scary as it should have been, and there were too many unanswered questions. There were some good comic touches in this episode, though, particularly those involving Worf, Data, and Spot.
One final note: Counsellor Troi got it wrong yet again! And I think they all owed Data an apology for not taking him seriously.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and sometimes it's a cake, October 11, 2004
This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 158: Phantasms [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Data's creator/father, Noonian Soong, was quite a character. Not only did he make Data in his own image - even to the point of making him left-handed, he also gave the emotionless android the ability to dream. In the 9 months prior to this episode, Data has engaged his dream program over 100 times, partaking in surreal imagery. At the opening of this episode, however, Data has a doozy of a nightmare that makes you wonder if he sat too close to a high-powered magnet or used the wrong oil on his circuits.
The dream sequences are shot with a wide-angle lens, which give all straight lines a slight and surreal curve. Data ambles into Ten Forward to see Worf gorging himself with a cake. Worf tells him that it is a Cellular Peptide Cake - with mint frosting. On a nearby serving table is a cake in the shape of Counselor Troi's body (sans cleavage), with the Doctor's real head at the "head" of the body cake. There are no arms and legs and Troi begs for Data not to hurt her. He coldly picks up the cake knife and slices into Troi's shoulder as she screams - although it would appear there are no nerve endings in the cake.
A telephone is ringing and Riker yells at Data to answer the phone. Riker is at the bar with a straw coming out of his head and Dr. Crusher is sucking from the straw like he's an icecream float. I can't imagine how many takes they had to do so they could film this scene without laughing to the point of peeing in their pants. Data wakes with a jolt, having experienced what he rightfully describes as "disturbing imagery."
He shares his concerns with Geordi who has Troi visit with the android Lieutenant. After allowing himself to dream again, Data encounters more disturbing imagery and activates a hologram version of Dr. Sigmund Freud to analyze him on the Holodeck.
When Data must be physically wakened by the senior staff because his internal chronometer failed to wake him, he runs several diagnostics on his posotronic net and everything looks peachy. Then he has a "waking" dream where he begins to act out his dream while he is at his workstation. This behavior continues until he is in such a trance-like state, he attacks Troi in a turbolift, stabbing her repeatedly in the shoulder - the same place where he cut her in his cake dream.
Meanwhile, Geordi and the rest of his engineering staff have continued trouble with getting their new Warp drive to work properly. After visiting DS3 to have it installed, they find themselves adrift, trying several times to turn the proverbial key to get the engine to turn over. As Troi recovers from her attack in Sickbay, Dr. Crusher finds something suspicious in her wound that begins to make Data's "unsocial" behavior seem more easily explained without just writing him off as a psychotic android.
Picard and Riker hook Data up to the Holodeck so they can participate in his dream with him and try to decipher what is going on. This is one of those episodes that has you on the edge of your seat - the surreal imagery, the totally out-of-character behavior of Data and the whole concept of dream interpretation will keep you on your mental toes. A great episode.
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