Frame of Mind

TNG Season 6 Episode 21
Air Date: May 3rd, 1993

Cmdr. Riker is in a play where he plays a crazy man who commits murder but believes he is innocent. While being treated he falls down the rabbit hole. But as he is rehearsing and even performing the play he ends up in a real psych hospital. The episode keeps going back and forth until at the end he realizes that both realities are not real and that he is captured by an alien that is trying to tap into his memories to get information. He wakes up and is able to escape.

The episode is my second favorite episode of Star Trek. Generally I am not a fan of Cmdr. Riker as his roles tend to not be very interesting. But this episode shows what he is capable of. His portrayal of a man going insane, both in the play and even in the hallucinations at least to me was some of the best of the series.

Quotes

"Perhaps we should continue this discussion next week." Lt. Cmdr. Data
"No. I wanna talk about this now!" - Cmdr. Riker
"You're starting to sound angry again. Maybe you need another treatment." - Lt. Cmdr. Data
"What I need is to get out of this cell! I've been locked up in here for days. You've controlled my every move, you told me what to eat, what to think, what to say. And when I show a glimmer of independent thought, you strap me down, inject me with drugs and call it a treatment." - Cmdr. Riker
"You're becoming agitated." - Lt. Cmdr. Data
"You bet I'm agitated! I may be surrounded by insanity, but I am not insane. And nothing you or anyone else can say will change that. And I won't let you or anyone else tell me that I am. You may be able to destroy my mind; but you can't change the fact that I'm innocent. I didn't kill that man! And that's what's driving you crazy." - Cmdr. Riker
"I can see we have a lot of work to do." - Lt. Cmdr. Data
"Nothing you can say will change the fact that I'm innocent! I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy." - Cmdr Riker