TNG S06E05

In this installment:
(viewed September 19th, 2013)

Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S06E05 - "Schisms"

---

"Schisms"

• Commander Riker's alarm clock is really, really wimpy.  I hope everyone else in Starfleet takes waking up in the morning a little more seriously.
• Ah, Lt. Commander Data -- poet laureate of good ol' NCC-1701-D.
  
  
  
  

  Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature,

  An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature;

  Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses

  Contribute to your hunting skills and natural defenses.

  I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations,

  A singular development of cat communications

  That obviates your basic hedonistic predilection

  For a rhythmic stroking of your fur to demonstrate affection.

  A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;

  You would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.

  And when not being utilized to aid in locomotion,

  It often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.

  O Spot, the complex levels of behavior you display

  Connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.

  And though you are not sentient and do not comprehend,

  I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.



• Riker's an even bigger d**k when he's sleepy.  I wasn't sure that was possible.


• A hot milk toddy?  Apparently they don't give people Ambien in the 24th Century.


• The La Forge Sensor Array


• "Hey, when we pump warp power to our sensors the EPS conduits explode.  That seems weird."


• WORF NO LIEK SKISSORS.


• It's freaky enough when a person forgets what they're doing for an hour and a half.  I bet it's doubly freaky for Data.


• I love that it takes them like an hour to figure out that they can go to the holodeck to recreate their weird collective "dream".


• "I've been in this room before."
  
  "We've all been here before."


• "It looks as though your arm has been severed and then re-attached."
  
  "WHAT?!?"


• The solution to every problem is to stick a homing device on Commander Riker and jack him up on speed.


• <ominous_riker>
  "Whoever it was who sent that thing was more than curious."
  </ominous_riker>
  
  ...except we'll never find out, because they'll never do another episode about the creepy subspace aliens again!

TNG S06E02, S06E03, S06E04

In this installment:
(viewed September 17th & 18th, 2013)

Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S06E02 - "Realm Of Fear"
Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S06E03 - "Man Of The People"
Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S06E04 - "Relics"

---

"Realm Of Fear"

(Seriously..."plexing?")

• In this episode, the Enterprise-D goes looking for (and locates) a missing science ship:  USS Yosemite (NCC-19002).  The Yosemite is of the venerable Oberth class, and its high registry suggests that it's one of the last ships of the class to be commissioned before it's replaced with the comparably-sized Nova-class science vessels.
• Lt.  Reginald Barclay:  You creepy, magnificent bastard.
• "I'll have to beam you over one at a time because of the bandwidth limitation?"
  
  No LTE in this part of space, eh?
• Lt. Worf isn't afraid of a bumpy transporter ride.  A bumpy transporter ride is a warrior's transporter ride.
• "I'm sorry, I just can't do this!"
  
  We know, Broccoli.  We know.
• Talarian hook spiders sound kind of awesome.
• "MY GOD, IT'S FULL OF STARS CLAYMATION SANDWORMS."
• I poke fun at the utopian "Roddenberry-esque" nature of TNG sometimes, but you know what's nice?  No one immediately assumes Barclay must be insane.  They're just like "Okay then, let's check this thing out."
• This episode features the first mention of the Heisenberg Compensator.
• "Transporting really is the safest way to travel."
• So, transporter psychosis seems...not fun.
• "From where did the ionization come?"
  
  Seriously?  Are you telling me that the one sign of intelligence that Commander Riker shows for the entire episode is not ending a sentence with a preposition?
  
  That's something up with which I will not put.
• I understand that she's a trained psychiatrist psychologist therapist "counselor", but who thinks it's a good idea for Counselor Troi to have the authority to relieve people of duty?
• And apparently they don't have Xanax in the 24th Century?  Seems like Barclay just needs some good old fashioned anxiolytics.
• "I'm giving you an order, Mr. O'Brien!"
• Man, that VISOR can do anything.
• I enjoy the fact that, when Barclay grabs a hold of the worm-thing in the matter stream (which turns out to be crew member from the Yosemite) and then comes back through, and tells the security team (headed up by Mr. Worf) that they have to grab the others...the security team is just like "Yep, okay!  No problem!" and jumps right in.
• O'Brien's spider, Christina, is said to be a Lycosa tarantula.  In fact, the spider used in the scene is a Brachypelma smithi.

---

"Man Of The People"

• "You think he's attracted to you!  But he's not.  You offer him nothing."
  
  Well, to be fair...this is Counselor Troi, who never offers anyone anything.
• "I let everyone talk until they're exhausted, and then when I start they're too tired to argue."
  
  That's exactly how you work your way into a conversation at a Ferguson family gathering.
• "Have you mated with him yet?"
  
  Well, things were going well but you're here.  So I think we'll wait.
• I can think of no two people that I'd rather weren't doing my performance evaluation than Commander Riker and Counselor Troi.
• "She was 93.  She lived a long life."
  
  Uh...not really--not really, for the 24th Century.
• Psychic vampirism:  Yet another reason to fear and hate telepaths.
• "What kind of woman do you find attractive?"
  
  Oh, you know.  Ones who are drunk on psychic energy and show up at my quarters in their bathrobes."
• It's not so much that I'm a fan of crazy, slutty Troi.  But she's certainly more interesting than regular, proper Troi.
  
  And Riker walking in on the junior officer in Troi's quarters, and the subsequent look on his face?  Worth every second of annoying Troi-isms in this episode.
• "Well, maybe he's just tired of hearing you complain."
  
  "Pardon me?"
  
  "I know I'm certainly tired of it.  How do you think it feels to sit and listen to someone whine about themselves all of the time?"
  
  I change my mind.  I'd forgotten about this part of the episode.  Crazy, slutty Troi is definitely my favorite--but more for the crazy than the slutty.  Pushing Riker's buttons, berating a counseling patient?  WIN.
• Oops.  Minus points for use of the term "Imzadi".  And it was going so well, too!
• ...and then she wins some points back by scratching the crap out of Riker's neck.  It's like a tennis match, this episode.  Back and forth, back and forth!
• "So then, you deliberately used Deanna."
  
  Well, he is a huge toolbag.  So...yeah.
• "You and your security chief will leave."
  
  You guys know that our ship is just, like...lousy with photon torpedoes, right?
• And Riker doesn't get the concept of temporarily "killing" Troi.  He's just all "HAY WAIT A SEC GUYS!"
• "If we could share the funeral meditation..."
  
  WHAT ARE YOU, STUPID?!?
• Worf does not look sympathetic.  He's just like "Yeah, this d-bag is dead."

---

"Relics"

• USS Jenolan (NCC-2010), whose distress signal sends our Enterprise-D into action in this episode, is a Sydney-class transport.  The Syndey class is an older design, sharing some design elements (notably the warp nacelles and bridge module) with mid-to-late 23rd Century designs like the refit Constitution class, the Miranda class, the Soyuz class and the Constellation class.
  
  
  
  (borrowed from Ex Astris Scientia)
• The Dyson sphere encountered by the Enterprise-D in this episode is based on a real-life theoretical concept (or, more aptly, a "thought experiment"), credited to 20th & 21st Century theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson.   
• And these sorts of transporter shenanigans could only be courtesy of...
  
  
  
• "The Enterprise?  I should've known.  I bet Jim Kirk himself hauled the old gal out of mothballs to come lookin' for me."
• "Well, I'll say this about your Enterprise.  The doctors are a fair sight prettier."
• When marveling over the size and luxury of his guest quarters aboard the Enterprise-D, Scotty references the pickiness of Elaan, the Dohlman of Elas (TOS, "Elaan Of Troyius") and his run-in with the law on Argelius II (TOS, "Wolf In The Fold"). 
• Later in engineering, after imposing his "help" on Lt. Commander La Forge, Scotty references the incident at Psi 2000 (TOS, "The Naked Time").
• "Yeah, well I told the captain I'd have this analysis done in an hour."
  
  "And how long will it really take?"
  
  "An hour."
  
  "You didn't tell him how long it would really take, did ya?"
  
  "Of course I did."
  
  "Oh laddie, you've got a lot to learn if you want people to think of you as a miracle worker!"
• I believe that Scotty's run-in with the "scotch" in Ten Forward is the first explicit explanation of synthehol.
• "Synthetic scotch, synthetic commanders."
• The non-synthetic liquor that Data produces and pours for Scotty is Aldebaran whiskey, given to Guinan as a gift by Captain Picard.
  
  
  
• "En-See-See One-Seven-Oh-One -- no bloody A, B, C or D."
• "Computer...shut this bloody thing off!"
• "This is not an order.  It's a request, and it's one you must feel perfectly free to decline."
  
  Yeah, 'cause that's going to happen.
• The interior of the Dyson sphere reminds me of the interior of the spacecraft in Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous With Rama, one of my favorite science fiction novels of all time.
• After they use the Jenolan to wedge open the hatch of the Dyson sphere and allow the Enterprise-D to escape, Geordi tells Scotty an old story of his own:  The time he and Leah Brahms "soured the milk" to remove "Junior" from the hull of the ship (TNG, "Galaxy's Child").
• You're going to just let him borrow a shuttlecraft?  I guess that's fair, given that he's Scotty and all.  And it's even one of the nicer Type 6 jobs, and not a crummy little Type 15.
• I love that Scotty gives Worf a little sideways glance as he's leaving.  Like "Uh, yeah.  Goodbye to you too, Klingon" O_o
  
  

'Sam Trek' Video Update No. 9: An Update About the Lack of Updates

Dear People on the Internet,

It's been a while since I made a video update for this blog, and my progress through TNG has been a little slower than I'd hoped.  Here's a video where I talk a little bit about that, and a little bit about having just finished up the fifth season of TNG.

To summarize:  Yeah, I'm behind quite a bit.  But I think I can make up ground, and my goal is still very much to finish watching ALL THE STAR TREK™ within the original one-year time frame (which ends in mid-February, 2014).

 

But if I can't do that?  I'm still going to finish this freaking thing, because I don't start a silly task on the Internet and not complete it.  That's not who my parents raised me to be, damn it.

 

Good night!

 

Love,

Sam

 

 

TNG S05E24, S05E25, S05E26, S06E01

In this installment:
(viewed September 15th & 16th, 2013)

Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S05E24 - "The Next Phase"
Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S05E25 - "The Inner Light"
Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S05E26-S06E01 - "Time's Arrow" (Parts 1 & 2)

---

"The Next Phase"

•  The Romulan ship whose distress call the Enterprise-D is answering at the opening of the episode is a small science vessel, similar but not identical to the Romulan scout ship first seen in the third season episode "The Defector".
  
  
  
• "This is not a bright idea."
• I think we could all guess that going through the transporter with a broken graviton generator with a "pretty strange setup" (La Forge's own words) would lead to some pretty serious shenanigans.
• It's nice to know that it's not just Federation warp core ejection systems that never, ever work when you need them.
• "Section 23-Baker" is an odd designation.  It conforms to the older United States military phonetic alphabet, rather than the current (and more likely to exist in the future) NATO phonetic alphabet.
• "We're dead, Geordi."
• Although no details are given, Captain Picard states in this episode that Commander Riker new Lt. Commander La Forge longer than anyone else on board.  We can only assume that the two of them had served together prior to their respective postings on the Enterprise-D.
• The interphase device and the concept of the "phased cloak" with which the Romulans are experimenting will be revisited in much more detail in the seventh-season episode "The Pegasus".
• "Muon Feedback Wave" sounds like a genre of ambient nerdcore music.
• Hang on a second.  So, because they're phased they can pass through solid matter (e.g. running through walls, etc.).  And apparently this includes the thick bulkheads and outer hull of a Starship (Geordi shoves the Romulan officer through the hull of the Enterprise-D and into space).
  
  How can they stand up on the floor?
• "We should build our own interphase device.  If it can teach Ro Laren humility, it can do anything."

---

"The Inner Light"

(apologies to David Byrne)

• Captain Picard seems to be alarmed by waking up in what seems at first to be another man's life, on the distant planet Kataan.  And yet he doesn't at all seem to be alarmed by the pants he's wearing.
• Kamin's good friend Batai is played by character actor Richard Riehle.  Riehle will make at least two more appearances on various Trek series, but is best known among my generation for playing Tom "Jump-to-Conclusions Mat" Smykowski in the cult comedy Office Space.
• "This is not my life!"
• One of the best parts of this episode?  Picard's hair as he gets older.  Seriously, go watch it.
• "But never, in all of your stories, have you mentioned anyone who loves you like I do."
  Yeah, he's not much of a heart-breaker back home.
• Oh, and of course he's Frenching the place up with "Frère Jacques".
• "Solid propellant?!?"
  
  Right?
• I don't know if it's just audience conditioning from years of seeing him portray a character with very little interest in having a family, but all of the scenes with Picard/Kamin and his kids are a little awkward and stiff.
• So it's not enough that you kidnap him and send him to live out another person's life in the blink of an eye, but you also gotta give the guy Space Alzheimer's? :P
• While well-written and fascinating in its own right, stories like this and many others produced during Star Trek's 47-year history often stretch the limits of what we imagine the human psyche can withstand.
  
  After his experience, Captain Picard is clearly impacted by it--but he is seemingly not traumatized.  He carries with him the positive part of the experience, but he doesn't even need a five-minute visit with Counselor Useless to work through any lingering emotional issues.
  
  But hey, at least he gets a cool flute out of the deal.
• One of TNG's most celebrated stories, "The Inner Light" was written by Morgan Gendel, who went on to write one more episode for TNG and two for DS9--all rather unremarkable.  But he won a Hugo Award for "The Inner Light", which was much-deserved in my opinion.
  
  This episode is a fan favorite, and widely held to be one of the best episodes of the entire Star Trek franchise and certainly one of the best of TNG.
  
  While I enjoy the story and think it deserves every bit of that praise, I'm not personally as fond of it as some fans.  Perhaps I'm just not very sentimental :)

---

"Time's Arrow" Parts 1 & 2

 

• Why would they recall the Federation flagship to Sector 001 because they've uncovered some artifacts indicating that extra-terrestrials had visited Earth in the 19th Century?  Even if the artifacts are quite remarkable (and even if Captain Picard is an amateur archeologist), I have to think they've got better things to do with that big, fancy Galaxy-class starship.
• The firearm which Lt. Commander Data identifies as a "forty-five caliber, double-action cavalry pistol, invented by Colt Firearms in 1873" actually appears to be a Colt Single Action Army (aka "Peacemaker").  It was introduced around 1872-1873, did come in (and was most commonly chambered for) .45 Colt, and--while it wasn't exclusively a cavalry weapon--was used by American Cavalry (and the cavalry of many other nations).  However, as its very name suggests, it was a single action revolver and not a double action revolver.
  
  
  
• "I'm curious, Doctor.  There are far greater experts on Earth to investigate your mystery.  Why bring the Enterprise all the way home?"
  
  THAT'S WHAT I WAS JUST SAYING.
  
  Oh, a severed Data head you say?  Okay, yeah.  That's pretty unusual.
• "Data, how can you look inside that, analyze the decomposition, without..."
  
  "Emotion, sir?"
  
  "Yes."
  
  I don't know.  Maybe because he's a freaking android.
• Data has a Type R phase discriminator.  I'm surprised Dr. Soong didn't spring for the decal.
  
  
  
  (I'm not proud of that graphic, if it makes you feel any better.)
• "Your head is not an artifact!"
  
  Get it together, Riker.  I know you're having trouble understanding things, so just shut up and let the big brains do their jobs.
• Data's reflection on how the foreknowledge of his own death brings him comfort (knowing that he is, definitively, mortal--and there for closer to "being human") is a really good piece of dialog.
• "It's just that our mental pathways have become accustomed to your sensory input patterns."
  
  "I understand.  I am also fond of you, Commander.  And you as well, Counselor."
• "Captain, there is no rational justification for this course."
  
  "Then I'll be irrational."
• "My god, Will.  They're human."
  
  Are you sure?  'Cause you've been really wrong about this sort of thing in the past.
• Data's description of the lifeforms he encounters when he is "out of synch" with the rest of the away team on Devidia II sounds like something straight out of a book about alien abductions or something from the old Art Bell radio show.
• Horses?  Well, that's certainly not what we were expecting.
• "I require large amounts of whiskey, as a liniment."
  
  "I am sorry, but I have no whiskey to give you."
  
  "I'll take a dime."
  
  "I am sorry, but I have form of legal tender."
• Hey kids, it's Marc Alaimo!
• The duty uniforms introduced in DS9/VOY really should've looked more like Data's post-gambling outfit.
  
  
  
• It's somehow comforting that alien, time-traveling serial killers mainly target hobos, too.
• Riker is really out of sorts in this episode.  He's all kinds of upset about Data, is about to jeopardize the safety of the entirety of 19th Century humanity to save Picard, etc.  If I were a sexist who implied that menstruation made women emotional and unpredictable, I would make a joke here about Riker being on his period.
  
  If I were a sexist.
• I love Worf's idea of a constructive comment:  "Hey, don't worry about it.  We may have lost Data.  But for all we know, the rest of us went down there and we're dead too!"
• It was suggested previously, in the episode "Yesterday's Enterprise", that--in addition to being extremely long-lived--Guinan's species (El-Aurian) have some property that allows them to be conscious of events occurring outside of the normal flow of time.  This will be further reinforced in the film Generations.
• Because of that "special property", I'm guessing that an unofficial general order for the crew of the starship Enterprise goes something like this: 
  
  "Always do whatever Guinan says, even if it seems wildly irrational.  She's our magic negro."
  
  (My apologies to anyone offended by that term--but it's what they call that literary and cinematic phenomenon.)
• This episode gave most of the cast, but especially Brent Spiner, a chance to ham it up a bit.  I particular enjoyed his attempt to fake having injured his arm when lifting the anvil brought to him by the bellhop (a young Jack London).
• "You have had a considerable spectrum of occupations."
• Samuel Clemens holding forth on the age of the planet and humanity's role in its history and prehistory is an interesting scene.
• "What ship was it?"
  
  "The Enterprise."
  
  "Is that a clipper ship?"
  
  "It is a starship."
• Mark Twain was kind of an a**hole, wasn't he?
• So, one a single away team (which ends up in the past, mind you), we have:  The captain, the first officer, the chief engineer, the chief medical officer and the ship's counselor (okay, so that last one's not that important).
  
  Who's left to run the ship?  Chief O'Brien and Nurse Ogawa?  Oh, and Worf I guess, after they make him go home.  But even then, that's TNG Worf.  TNG Worf is only worth 1/2-2/3 of DS9 Worf.
• Speaking of which, how pissy is Worf when Picard tells him to take a hike?  It's hilarious.  He's all like "But sir!" and Picard's all "Go back now, something something ship's security" and then Worf just pouts and goes "One to beam up" or whatever.
• The Devidians, when we finally see them, are every bit as freaky as when Data described them.
  
  
  
• Oh, so now Troi's one of the Ghost Hunters?  :rolleyes:
• "Don't go into the light, Carol Anne Captain Picard!"
  
  
  
• I learned all about cholera on this week's episode of Hell On Wheels, and I'm pretty sure there would be more poop if those people had died of cholera.
• I didn't want to say anything, but I think Dr. McCoy was better at being a doctor in the past than Dr. Crusher.
• Data's machine for detecting the time syncs looks like what I used to use to check my Juno account.
  
  
  
• Hey, douchebag!  You knocked off Data's head and almost killed Guinan.
• "A werewolf!"
• "I'll see you in 500 years, Picard."
  

TNG S05E23

In this installment:
(viewed September 4th, 2013)

Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S05E23 - "I, Borg"

---

"I, Borg"

• It's unclear what sort of Borg vessel crashed on the moon in the Argolis Cluster, but it's obviously not a full-sized Borg Cube of any known configuration.  It may be some smaller sort of scout craft, like the "coffin"-shaped ship encountered by USS Voyager some years later ("Dark Frontier").
• Post-assimilation Captain Picard is suuuuuuuper not on board for helping out injured Borg.
• "Kill it now!"
  
  Lt. Worf is right, as usual.  You toolbags.
• "Bridge to Engineering."
  
  "La Forge here."
  
  "We're bringing a Borg survivor on board.  We'll need to..."
  
  ...I'm sorry, we're bring a WHAT to the WHERE?!?
• Oh, wait.  Nope, Picard's totally on board.  FOR GENOCIDE.
  
  Cold-blooded Picard is my favorite Picard.
• "What exactly is total systems failure?"
  
  Killing them all, Dr. Crusher.  We're killing them all.
• "If I didn't know better, I'd think he was scared."
  
  Yeah, you don't know better.
• Picard and Guinan fencing?  I like it.
• Guinan trying to talk some sense into this "Let's keep a pet Borg" plan, then feigning injury to beat the Captain and prove a point?  I like that even better.
• Hugh's designation is "Third of Five", the first time we see this sort of naming convention that will later become famous with Seven of Nine.
• "You are not Borg."
  
  "That's right.  And I hope to stay that way."
• "I've been rationing his portions of energy.  I think he understands.  When he cooperates, he gets fed.  If not..."
  
  "Like a rat in a cage."
  
  Okay, dear Dr. Crusher.  Objecting to the genocide is one thing, but expecting them to treat a Borg drone like its any other patient is just a touch naive don't you think?
• "We are Hugh."
• "You named the Borg?"
  
  "It was easier to have something to call him."
  
  "Oh, so now you have a Borg named 'Hugh'."
• "Centuries ago, when laboratory animals were used for experiments, scientists would sometimes become attached to the creatures.  This would be a problem if the experiment involved killing them.  I would suggest that you unattach yourself from the Borg, Mr. La Forge."
  
  "Aye, sir."
• "It's not a person, damn it!  It's a Borg!"
• "You are many, I am one.  What I want is not important."
  
  It's the ex-Borg version of "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

TNG S05E21, S05E22

In this installment:
(viewed September 3rd, 2013)

Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S05E21 - "The Perfect Mate"
Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S05E22 - "Imaginary Friend"

---

"The Perfect Mate"

• The Ferengi shuttle which the Enterprise-D encounters "in distress" is of the same class that we've encountered previously and will encounter again.  Most famously, Quark's Treasure is of this design.
• "Mr. Worf, escort our Ferengi guests to quarters--not too close to mine."
  
  Racist.
• "The Captain dines alone."
• Max Grodénchik plays his second Ferengi, Par Lenor, before he finally plays a recurring role (Rom) on DS9.
• For a Starfleet lieutenant commander in charge of the entire engineering department on board the Federation flagship, Geordi La Forge spends a lot of time playing interior designer for stuffy diplomats.
• Hey kids, it's Famke Janssen!
• Damn it, Riker.  Can you not keep your hands off the woman for five f**king minutes?
• Picard's defense of arranged marriages, even taking the long view of history, is unusual for someone who should be about as progressive as possible.
  
  Moreover, his reference to the Prime Directive prompts me to ask this question:  If an alien culture is engaged in activities that violate the Federation's principles, I understand that they sometimes can't interfere because of the Prime Directive.  But does it mean that they have to help (e.g. giving them and their sex-gift a ride)?
• Androids solve so, so many problems.  Are you accidentally hosting a pheromone-spewing sexpot with a desire to please every man she encounters?  ANDROID CHAPERONE.
• Why are there so many random aliens drinking in Ten Forward?  And why are these idiots more afraid of Worf than Data?
• "There it is again."
  
  "What?"
  
  "That wall you put between us."
  
  That's not just you, lady.  He does that to everyone.
• "I'm really quite dull."
  
  We know, Jean-Luc.
• Way to go, Ferengi.  You nearly killed Grandpa Crabby-Pants.
• "Between you and me, Captain, I'm far more interested in the trade agreements."
  
  Well, man.  Like...you haven't met her yet, dude.
• Is there a more ridiculous tender moment in Trek history than Kamala gently rubbing Picard's bald noggin?  It's definitely in the top ten.
• So, Dr. Crusher's clearly enjoying having this conversation with Jean-Luc about the perfect woman that he's fallen in love with.  Right?
  
  
  
• Kamala:  "...as I've bonded with you."
  
  Com Panel:  "Data to Captain Picard."
  
  Picard:  "NOT NOW, DATA!"

---

"Imaginary Friend"

• We can determine from the get-go that this whole thing is Counselor Troi's fault.  If she didn't encourage this little kid's "imaginary" friend, none of this would go down.
• Huge portions of this episode remind me of some of my favorite horror movies with little girls and imaginary friends (e.g. The Amityville Horror, Poltergeist)
• When glowing lights from outer space enter the ship through the hull?  Yeah, that's never good.
• Nurse Ogawa exists solely so I have someone onboard to hate more than Counselor Troi.
• "Hello, Clara"
  
  @)_@)
  (@_@(
• "Given the selections, I prefer 'FGC-47'."
• No little kids in Engineering.  Duh.
• Who knew Worf was such a push-over?  Oh, wait.  We all dide.
• "Besides, it's clearly a bunny rabbit."
  
  Nothing is funnier than when Data screws with people.
• No kids in Ten Forward either?  WHY DO THEY EVEN HAVE KIDS ON THE SHIP?!?
• I kind of want a Tarcassian Razorbeast.
• "She said..."
  
  "Clara, tell me what Isabella said."
  
  "She said...she said you'd better leave us alone."
  
  @)_@)
  (@_(@
• They say it a lot, so it must be true...but I've never understood how going to warp could cause hull stress.  I mean, they're creating a bubble around the ship so they can rapidly expand space behind the ship and rapidly shrink it in front of the ship.  The ship itself shouldn't be touched at all.  WHATEVER.
• Every episode of TNG should've featured Counselor Troi getting zapped by a creepy little girl.
• "Or can you only communicate by threatening a small child?"
• So, what was the call sheet like for Isabella?  "Wanted:  One creepy-ass little kid."