Lonely Among Us

TNG Season 1 Episode 7
Air Date: November 2nd, 1987

Plot

The Enterprise is transporting two sets of delegates who hate each other to a peace conference. While en route, they pass a space cloud that is going at warp speed and fly by to investigate. In the process they pick up a life form that exists as energy in the cloud that is now trapped in the Enterprise. It jumps from person to person trying to get the Enterprise back to the cloud. Finally it ends up in Picard but when the crew realize that Picard is not himself, they challenge the energy creature who explains himself and claims that Picard wants to join him as energy in the cloud.

Picard beams himself into the cloud but doesn't rematerialize keeping him as energy. Troi senses Picards presence in the cloud and is able to bring him back using the transporters. His memory in the energy cloud is missing since the pattern used was when he transported into the cloud.

Commentary

The best part of this episode wasn't the main plot but the side plot of the two delegates. One set of delegates are from a species known as Selay that look like walking snakes and the other are the Antican that look like hairless rats. Throughout the episode there are scenes of the two factions bumping into each other or being caught spying and the encounters are comedic. At the end, there is a report that one of the Selay was missing and the Antican, who only eat freshly killed meat is serving a lizard dish.

While trying to investigate the issues they were detecting on the Enterprise, including crew with lost memory, Data becomes fascinated with Sherlock Holmes. He uses a pipe and words like indubitably.

This was the first episode where a crew memeber dies. The Chief engineer was attacked by the space creature. Engineers wear gold in TNG but they did wear red in TOS. So this could be considered a red shirt but I am going to tally it accurately and do an analysis at the end of the year to see if red shirts become gold shirts after TOS.

Quotes

"We no longer enslave animals for food purposes." - Riker
"But we have seen Humans eat meat." - Badar
"You've seen something as fresh and tasty as meat, but inorganically materialized, out of patterns used by our transporters." - Riker
"This is sickening. It's barbaric!" - Badar

"The immortal Sherlock Holmes would have an interesting view of our mystery, I believe." - Picard
"But I'm afraid we're going to have to find our solution without history's greatest consulting detective." - Riker
"Holmes?" - Data

"You're on notice that all of your weapons, no matter what their basic function, are being confiscated. Violence will not be tolerated on the Enterprise." - Riker
"Of course not. And if any does occur, let me assure you, it will not be we Anticans who start it." - Badar
"Thank you, sir." - Yar
"But we will finish it." - Badar

"A mystery is only a mystery as long as it remains uninvestigated, sir." - Data

"Sorry, Commander, but Security Team Two reports they've discovered a puddle of blood outside the Selay Quarters and they can't find one of the delegates and so" - Yar
"Lieutenant. This couldn't have waited a moment?" - Riker
"It's good to see you, sir. The problem is that one of the cooks has just been asked to broil reptile for the Anticans, and it looks like the Selay delegate." - Yar
"Riker, with the peace delegates and all, I think I do need a rest. Take charge Number One." - Picard