As this episode opens The Enterprise rescues Ambassador Ves Alkar and his elderly mother when the ship they were travelling on was attacked. His mother seems a little strange; as soon as she arrives she starts screaming at Counsellor Troi, warning her to stay away from her son! The ambassador was travelling to an important peace conference so the Enterprise is given the task of delivering him. Before they can get there the old woman dies and the Ambassador asks Troi to join him in the funeral rites for his mother. As she does something strange happens and afterwards she starts acting strangely; she is attracted to him but her advances are rebuffed; she then takes a crewman to her room and later claws Riker! Her behaviour mirrors that of the Ambassador's mother and both Riker and Dr Crusher wonder if she has caught whatever killed the old woman
unfortunately the Ambassador says his species beliefs forbid an autopsy. As time passes Troi's behaviour gets more extreme and she shows signs of aging
if she is to be saved Dr Crusher will have to find the cause but by now the Ambassador is engaged in the peace talks, which he refuses to return from.
This is a decent enough episode and it was nice to see Marina Sirtis's character, Troi, taking centre stage. The effects of her condition gave her the opportunity to act out of character. The aging effects were pretty good although her 'de-aging' at the end was far too fast to be believable; no doubt at the time this was made the effect was pretty cool but now it seems dated and unnecessary. Charles Lucia does a good job as the Ambassador; playing him in a way that doesn't make it too obvious that he is a villain despite his good intentions. Overall a solid enough episode but not a classic.
This is a decent enough episode and it was nice to see Marina Sirtis's character, Troi, taking centre stage. The effects of her condition gave her the opportunity to act out of character. The aging effects were pretty good although her 'de-aging' at the end was far too fast to be believable; no doubt at the time this was made the effect was pretty cool but now it seems dated and unnecessary. Charles Lucia does a good job as the Ambassador; playing him in a way that doesn't make it too obvious that he is a villain despite his good intentions. Overall a solid enough episode but not a classic.