The science fiction of this episode was a little iffy, but it was action packed and interesting enough that I don't think anyone would care. I don't.
It begins with the Enterprise in orbit around an M class moon. That in itself is a nice touch because it's usually always a planet. The moon had been believed to be uninhabited but they'd picked up a faint distress signal. After some analyzing they discover that it belonged to a type of ship that hadn't been in service for nearly 200 years; a vessel call the Essex. It was reported that the captain had gone missing around this time and Data matches the distress signal to that of the Essex and they're ready to write it off as a cold case solved. But Troi is sure there's life down there. I'd complained in the first season that her character was misused by being too nosy. I know this is a more valid use of her talents, but I can't help but chuckle a little thinking about how she will get into trouble for nosing into this business too. Anyway, the severe storms of the planet make the electromagnetic interference seen too risky for beaming the away team down so they send them in a shuttle.
The high winds cause them to crash land and the shuttle is too damaged to work. Riker's arm is also broken. A storm front begins to move towards them and although Data's tricorder can't detect any life, Troi is sure the life forms are coming with the storm. In retrospect it seems irresponsible that they just charge on down there looking for unknown life without any research or attempts to communicate from above, but like I said, I find that I can't complain much with the pace and story of the episode. On the Enterprise, they find their coordinates however and decide to beam O'Brien down with transporter pattern enhancers... the first time they're used in the series. His chances of surviving the beam down are only 50-50 but he makes it and they start setting up the enhancers.Suddenly a big bolt of lightening hits them and they're all knocked unconscious. Four beads of light float down. Three enter Troi, O'Brien, and Data, but the fourth passes by Riker who regains consciousness and activates the final pattern enhancer so they can be transported away.
Troi wakes up screaming in sickbay, but since they seem shaken but unharmed, Picard takes them back up to the bridge. There's something wrong with Data's speech, but it's not seen as unusual. Troi asks to speak to Picard alone telling him that the life seemed to be centered in the southern pole region of the moon while on the bridge, Data suggests orbiting the same area instead of the standard orbit Riker requests. His reasoning doesn't seem quite right to Riker and when he walks over to discuss it further Data attacks, as does O'Brien from back at tactical while Troi knocks out Picard in his ready room. They manage to take down everyone on the bridge but not before Riker transfers the command authority to engineering. They leave and Riker gets the commands back on the bridge and the crew are all stunned and disheveled.
After a struggle of skill versus skill, the three possessed crewmen are driven into Ten Forward, where Keiko is with she and Miles' baby and take them all hostage. Worf's security team arrives but the phasers seem to have no effect on their bodies. They are quickly disarmed. Yes, in addition to the fact that a soul was able to possess Data, phasers somehow don't hurt them either. Neither scenarios make sense, but they don't stop to dwell on such things. Making contact with the bridge they order the ship to be taken to the southern pole region and Picard agrees but tells Ro to go very slowly so he can have time to negotiate. They figure out that strange lifeforms have taken control of their bodies but Crusher theorizes that Riker was left alone because he was in pain from his injury.
The questionable sci-fi elements are quickly forgotten as you see O'Brien start to badger his own wife because he's frustrated with the baby's crying. A lot of time is spent with the captors taking everyone's com badges and bullying the people in the lounge. It's always fun to see the good and lovable characters behaving like bad guys. And it's not the first time for Data or Troi, but the personalities are a little different than Lore or the Paxon that inhabited Troi in Clues. It adds variety to their work and you know they all love being bad for a change because it's just so much more fun. Crusher determines that if they could cause them pain, the beings may leave their bodies so the captain sends Ro and Geordi to set up a plasma shock that would hurt Troi and O'Brien and incapacitate Data. They go up to a conduit on the ceiling of Ten Forward to start setting that up while Crusher works on a way to contain the lifeforms once they're out of the bodies. Picard then offers himself in exchange for the wounded in the lounge which they happily agree to. The person possessing Troi claims to be the captain of the Essex and that others of his crew are in O'Brien and Data. Their demands are to have their skeletal remains beamed aboard and given a proper burial. Picard doesn't buy a word of it and when he has a brief moment to discuss it with Worf, Worf suggests that perhaps they've gone insane. But they can't talk for long. While O'Brien is obsessed with Keiko and the baby, Data is obsessed with Worf and constantly trying to provoke him into a fight
Geordi and Ro try their plasma shock and it works. Troi and O'Brien collapse and the entities leave their bodies, but they missed Data who begins to choke Picard until he agrees to stop them.
The Enterprise finally arrives at the southern pole area of the moon. Picard reminds them that O'Brien is the transporter chief and that he's the only one that can make the transporters work. But they need a bigger area for the transfer and Picard suggests cargo bay four. They argue at first. They don't trust him after the plasma shock stunt but they have no choice and they each take a hostage. Picard lets Riker know where they're going mentioning surreptitiously that this is the opportunity they're waiting for. Riker knows that the reason Picard chose cargo bay four was that they bridge could blow the hatch and decompress the cargo bay if necessary. Along the journey Picard asks Troi's possessor who he really is.
After the other lifeforms are beamed aboard Troi confesses that they and all the other entities are prisoners from the system Ux-Mal, who were brought to the moon over 500 years ago, separated from their physical bodies, and left to drift in the storms as part of their condemnation, effectively making this moon a penal colony. Their real intention is to use the Enterprise and the people on it to escape as they tried to with the Essex, except the Essex couldn't get back through the storms and atmospheric interference. Riker then orders Crusher to set up the containment field which traps them in the cargo bay. Troi threatens to kill Picard, but he tells them that the threat is meaningless since all of their people would die when the cargo bay hatch is opened. In response to the point that Data makes about everyone being killed including the humans, everyone steps up to proudly die for the protection of everyone else on the ship. Picard offers to send them back to the moon unharmed if they let go of his officers. They reluctantly do and warn Picard never to come that way again. It goes without saying that they most likely set up warning beacons and made sure the report of this incident was spread throughout Starfleet.
It ends with the explanation that the three possessed officers were aware of what the beings inside of them were doing and saying at all times but that they could do nothing to stop them. Troi doesn't seem too traumatized all things considered, and the moment for Data to apologize to Worf makes for a nice humorous release after a tense episode and the reunion of Miles and Keiko is touching.
I really liked this episode. I actually like it enough to give it four stars, but I think I should probably go with three and a half. It's not the fact that Data could be possessed that bothered me the most, it's the fact that they were somehow indestructible that was just too inexplicable when I stand back to think about it. But I have no real complaints about the intense, fun little story.
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