While rival, enemy races vie for membership in the Federation, the crew of the Enterprise-D falls victim to a strange energy cloud that infects various of its members one by one. At the same time, areas of the ship malfunction, seemingly affected in a similar manner as the crew. I groaned a little when Lieutenant Commander Data took on the guise of Sherlock Holmes in an attempt to understand the situation. Can you imagine Spock resorting to such silliness during the original series? The danger to the Enterprise reaches its zenith when Captain Picard becomes affected by the weird electrical pulse that previously impaired Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn) and Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden). Reversing the ship's course to study the energy cloud, Picard finds himself bonding with it and almost succumbing to its hypnotic power, as he beams himself into potential oblivion. Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) makes the save in this episode, having the Captain beamed back aboard, and for his effort, is rewarded with the unenviable task of dealing with the furry Anticans, who are preparing for dinner by way of their reptilian enemies, the Selays.
Review of Lonely Among Us
