Realm of Fear

TNG Season 6 Episode 2
Air Date: September 28th

Another Lt. Barclay episode. This time the Enterprise is performing a rescue operation on the USS Yosemite which got stuck in a plasma discharge between two stars. Lt. Barclay suggests that they link the transporters from each ship to facilitate transport, only when he is asked to join the away team, his transporter phobia causes him to have a minor meltdown. The USS Yosemeti appears abandoned with only one dead officer.

With Counselor Troi's help he is able to make the trip but on his way back he encounters a creature in the transporter beam which even bites him. He keeps it hidden at first but eventually it starts effecting him physically. Lt. Cmdr. La Forge and Doctor Crusher's only treatment for his injury is to enter the transporter one more time and be held in the beam for 30-40 seconds so the pattern buffer can remove some organisms that seemed to be caught in the transporter beam from the two stars.

Only when in the transporter beam, Lt. Barclay realize that what he was seeing wasn't these organisms but other people trapped in the transporter buffer on the USS Yosemite. He grabs on and brings him back. Worf and his security officers then do the same to get the rest.

I was able to relate to this episode more then most. I have a fear of heights that can be debilitating. When I visited the Eiffel Tower, I was unable to stand near the edge on the bottom third section let alone go to the top, even though they had fences to prevent me from falling. Lt. Barclay has a similar affliction in this episode regarding transporters. While the episode does have him face his fear, the reaction that he has in the episode is very similar to how I feel when I am up high.

The episode also gave us a perspective of transpiration we haven't seen yet. We get to see what it is like to be transported from the first person perspective.

Chief O'Brien

During the series Chief O'Brien has worn many different rank insignias. In the first episode he wasn't even playing O'Brien. Since then we generally see him with the rank of lieutenant, but in this episode I noticed he was wearing the rank of ensign. This was needed as Lt. Barclay needed to give him an order and he only has the rank of lieutenant junior grade. Right from the beginning he is referred to as Chief O'Brien though, and in DS9 his insignia shows him as a non-commissioned officer with the rank Chief Petty Officer.

Red Shirts

The engineer of the USS Yosemite was the only death in the episode. But I noticed that the crew of this ship were not Starfleet officers which was odd as it was a Starfleet ship. He was wearing a bluish grey jumpsuit.

Quotes

"The idea of being, deconstructed molecule by molecule, it's more than I can stand. Even when I was a child, I always had a dreadful fear that, if ever I was dematerialized, that I would never come back again whole. I know, sounds crazy, but" - Lt. Barlcay
"It's not crazy at all. You are being taken apart molecule by molecule." - Counselor Troi

"Commander La Forge wants some tricorder readings on those fluctuations." - Lt. Barclay
"We can do that from right here." - Chief O'Brien
"No, I, the transporter sensors may not be sensitive enough. Now, I'm giving you an order Mr. O'Brien." - Lt. Barclay
"Aye, sir. You don't mind my making an observation, sir? You forgot to bring a tricorder." - Chief O'Brien