The Mind's Eye (TNG episode)

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Star Trek: TNG episode
"The Mind's Eye"
"Geordi is brainwashed in The Mind's Eye".
Episode no.	98
Prod. code	198
Airdate	May 27, 1991
Writer(s)	René Echevarria and Ken Schaefer
Director	David Livingstone
Guest star(s)	Larry Dobkin as Ambassador Kell John Fleck as Talibak Edward Wiley as Governor Vagh
Year	2367
Stardate	44885.5
Episode chronology
Previous	"The Host"
Next	"In Theory"

For other uses of mind's eye, see Mind's eye (disambiguation).

"The Mind's Eye" is the 98th episode in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

While flying a shuttle on his way to a vacation on Risa, Geordi LaForge is kidnapped by Romulans. Meanwhile, the Enterprise heads to Kriosian system with Klingon Ambassador Kell. Krios, an outlying Klingon colony, is fighting for independence, and the Klingons do not wish to devote resources to such a trivial rebellion. The Governor of Krios claims the Federation is arming the rebels, and the Enterprise has been summoned to disprove the claim.

In the meantime, Geordi is being tortured by the Romulans and subjected to mind control techniques. A Romulan named Talibak removes Geordi's visor and hooks a machine directly to Geordi's visual cortex. Taibak beams images directly to Geordi's brain, to influence his psyche.

After Geordi kills a fake Chief O'Brien in a holodeck simulation, Talibak determines that LaForge is ready to be deployed on a secret Romulan mission.

Geordi meets the Enterprise at Krios, and the crew assumes he has just returned from Risa. While doing research Data detects some E-band radiation, which is a rare phenomenon, and Commander Riker orders him to check it out.

The Governor of Krios, a Klingon named Vagh, summons Captain Picard, Riker and Kell to see him. He explains Federation medical supplies have been found in the possession of the rebels, and he is furious. He also presents a Federation phaser rifle that was discovered. Picard promises to check it out.

Geordi and Data test the phaser rifle, and discover the energy output of the gun is too efficient. They conclude that the rifle was charged using a forced pulse, which is a technique used by the Romulans.

In one of the cargo bays, Geordi reprograms some computer chips, and uses a transporter to beam down a cache of weapons to the rebels. He erases the computer memory logs and leaves. Vagh detects the arrival of the weapons on Krios immediately and accuses Picard of smuggling arms to the rebels.

Data quickly ascertains that Vagh is correct, weapons were beamed down from the Enterprise to the rebels, but has difficulty tracking down the specifics. Geordi and Data search thoroughly through the power systems. They eventually find that the power was diverted from a replicator and sent to the cargo bay to run the transporter.

O'Brien examines the transporter that was used to beam down the weapons, and finds no evidence of any tampering. He suggests the computer must have had its memory erased. Worf asks who might be capable of doing this, and Geordi responds that only himself, Lt. Kosta, Data, and O'Brien would have the expertise. The list of suspects is narrowing.

Next, the viewers learn the identity of the Romulan infiltator as Ambassador Kell meets with Geordi in his quarters, and gives him orders to kill Governor Vagh.

Data, meanwhile, is gradually pinpointing the E-Band transmissions. He speculates that it's being used by Romulan agents, but needs more information.

In his quarters, Geordi picks up a phaser and leaves, headed to the shuttle bay.

Meanwhile, Data is examining Geordi's shuttle, and finds evidence it was captured by a tractor beam recently.

Data finds that the computer chips in the shuttle also have some flaws, caused by replication. Data now has enough information to determine who was present at the times the EBand transmissions were picked up, which he believes are linked to the attempts to assist the Kriosian rebels. Rapidly throwing out suspects through a process of elimination, Data determines that Geordi must be the spy.

After discovering that Geordi is in the shuttle bay, Data orders Worf to take LaForge into custody.

Worf attempts to do so, but is stopped by Vagh's guards. He calls out a warning, Picard deflects Geordi's shot, and Vagh is saved. Data arrives to explain that Geordi was acting under Romulan conditioning: the E-band signals were being sent directly to Geordi's brain. When Kell demands to know who was sending these signals to Geordi, Data replies that the signals must be very close-range and asks to search Kell. Kell refuses to be searched, and the Klingons offer to take on the task. Vagh leaves, convinced they have found the traitor in their midst.

The episode closes with Geordi and Troi in a counseling session going over this experience and planning out the long rehabiliation he will need to undergo.

[edit] Notes

• This episode is essentially a whodunit, employing some plot devices first seen in the novel and film versions of The Manchurian Candidate. The producers even attempted to secure cameos from some of the actors in that film but were unable to do so.
• The fifth-season episode "The Perfect Mate" also features a planet named Krios, but never addresses the question of whether it is the same planet featured in "The Mind's Eye". (Memory Alpha offers conflicting information on this matter. Its entry for Krios claims that that name refers only to the "Perfect Mate" planet, and that the "Mind's Eye" planet is actually named "Krios Prime". However its entry for "The Mind's Eye" contains notes that suggest the two planets Krios are, in fact, one and the same. Considering that the Krios depicted in "The Mind's Eye" is under Klingon control, and therefore unlikely to be able to wage war against another planet of its own volition as depicted in "The Perfect Mate", the former case would seem most likely.)
• The technique used by Geordi of diverting power from the cargo transporter through a replicator to beam down a crate of weapons is identical to the technique Captain Picard would use over a decade later to do the same thing in Star Trek: Insurrection In both instances it is Data who discovers the discrepancy.
• This episode is the first appearance of Sela, although she never leaves the shadows, and she is not played by Denise Crosby, the actress who played Tasha Yar, and who would play Sela in Redemption Parts I and II and Unification Parts I and II.

[edit] External links

• The Mind's Eye article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.

Preceded by: "The Host"

Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes

Followed by: "In Theory"