There are some big ideas and questions in this episode that make excellent science-fiction subjects, but I found this episode dull and unengaging. Mysterious occurrences are a great way to start a trek episode, and keeping us in suspense is often a strength of TNG, but this one just takes too long to get to what's really going on. What should've been the centre of the story only comes up in the final moments of the episode. Data's poetry recital was a nice bonus, but unfortunately felt like filler here. I felt the cast had lost interest with a dry, slow script and direction that could've been a lot tighter.
