‘REALM OF FEAR’ (TNG)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This is one of my favourite episodes from Season 6 of ‘Star Trek: TNG’. It of course features the return of Dwight Schultz as Lt. Reginald Barclay who we have not seen for a pretty long while in this TV series.
‘Realm of Fear’ is an episode that focuses on Lt. Barclay’s fear of the transporter aboard the Enterprise. I found this interesting to discover, especially as Barclay has been trying to avoid using the transporter.
In this episode, the Enterprise comes across the science vessel called the Yosemite that’s trapped inside a gigantic dust cloud in space. The Enterprise is unable to transport anybody directly to the ship.
Thankfully Barclay comes up with a way by bridging the transporter systems of both ships in order to allow members of an away team to transport one-by-one. This they do, albeit it is a very ‘bumpy ride’.
Barclay gets chosen to join the away team over to Yosemite with Geordi, Riker, Worf and Beverly. However Barclay is afraid of using the transporter system and soon walks away before he attempts it.
I like how Barclay soon gets to overcome his initial fear of using the transporter when he talks about it with Counsellor Deanna Troi. She teaches him in using a Betazoid meditation technique to calm him.
Now I’ve used that Betazoid mediation technique called plexing where you apply two fingers to the nerve centres of your neck to calm yourself. And I have to tell you, it works well and makes me relaxed.
Eventually, when Barclay is about to try the transporter system again, Colm Meaney as Chief O’Brien (hey we haven’t seen him for a while) helps in giving him advice to overcome his fear. This was superb!
I like how Barclay and O’Brien get to interact as crewmembers before they become friendly to each other which is something rarely seen in the ‘TNG’ series. O’Brien would soon go to be in ‘Deep Space Nine’.
Anyway, O’Brien helps Barclay by sharing how he overcame his fear of spiders. There’s a really amusing scene at the episode’s end between O’Brien and Barclay to establish this, but that is for later.
Thankfully Barclay goes through with it and he beams over to the Yosemite to help investigate the ship’s crew’s disappearance. We even get to see Barclay experiencing transport in the matter-stream.
Eventually, Barclay makes the return trip to the Enterprise but it’s not as pleasant as the going over to the Yosemite. On return, he sees worm-like creatures in the matter-stream approaching to touch him.
Barclay is unharmed but he’s still uncertain whether what he saw was real or not. He comes to the conclusion that he’s suffering from transporter psychosis which hasn’t been diagnosed in a long while.
It was funny when he becomes paranoid about it, especially when he feels he’s dehydrated and drinks plenty of water. This soon leads to Deanna Troi forcing him to be relieved of duty to which he accepts readily.
Eventually, when Barclay is restless and can’t sleep, seeing his arm and body phasing out with transporter beam particles, he asks O’Brien to review the transporter logs. Something gets discovered.
It seems that there was a strange surge during Barclay’s transport. Barclay asks O’Brien to transport him again to recreate the surge. Once done, Barclay sees the worm creatures again the matter-stream.
I like how Barclay is insistent on O’Brien transporting him again to recreate the surge before saying he wants to be sure he isn’t going crazy. O’Brien understands this anxiety before he transports Lt. Barclay.
Barclay then calls for a meeting with the senior staff to explain what’s just happened. Eventually, Picard orders a thorough review of the transporter systems just as Beverly medically examines Barclay.
I like how the Enterprise crew soon take Barclay’s concerns seriously later on in the episode. It all comes together when it gets revealed what the worm-like creatures are and it becomes so interesting.
The episode also features Patti Yasutake as Alyssa Ogawa who helps Beverly investigate a dead crewman’s condition from the Yosemite. Some of the discoveries they make are unusually disturbing.
‘Realm of Fear’ is a great episode featuring Lt. Barclay. I like how his fear of transporters gets explored before he becomes helpful in solving a mystery regarding the Yosemite crew which was great to watch.
‘Realm of Fear’ rating – 10/10
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