“The Game”

Ashley Judd?

"Ashley Judd?"

The very one.

One of my most disliked shows. It seems to dated, which is easy to do in sci-fi, but is something Star Trek usually managed to avoid. Not here though.

No more than 1 star from me! The alien threat/conspiracy story is simplistic and for one more time wesley Crusher is so smart that he understands everything and the others are just so stupid that they understand nothing! oh please!

"The game at the center of "The Game" is something Riker brings back from Risa. It's really easy to win ("It practically plays itself," one brainwashed player says), and when you do, you are given a heroin-like high of a reward, leading you to become addicted and wanting more more more, I tell ya. Eventually, the game is playing you, because you are turned into a puppet of the Nameless Aliens' plot, and will do whatever they tell you to."

I find this description, funny, as it's almost like how some people eventually become, seeking out achievements in video games nowadays, continuously playing till they get that Bleep-Bloop. Jammer, I think you've uncovered Microsoft's secret plan! =P

And would someone care to explain how LaForge got taken in by this?

I really *really* have to say that Ashley Judd look SO cute here :)

I remember being in geek love when I first saw this episode a long time ago.

I have always liked this episode for some reason. Maybe it is that it is pretty creepy. I can even buy Wesley not being taken in by the game, because he is a visitor, and wants to do more with his vacation than play a game. And based on how it got around (starting with Ryker, Troi, and Crusher, three of the most trustworthy crew members), I will buy that no one else looked into the nature of the game. It does have the improbable notion that Wes could find and repair Data when LaForge could not.

I do agree that Ashley Judd is super cute, which helps.

I hate this episode with a passion because the script requires Wesley to be stupid. Why did he or Robin not leave the fake game glasses on to fool the other crew members?

It's bad enough when Wesley's makes a visit to the show but he just happens to save the Enterprise yet again at the very same time, it's too much!

And how likely is it that when confronted by what appears to be a simple game, a kid is going to take it apart to see how it works before even trying to play it first?

And is it my imagination or is Wesley equally adept in physics, engineering, and now apparently, advanced robotics too?!

Afraid I have to agree with other commenters. I wouldn't give this one more than 1 star at the MOST. Why does everyone other than Wesley get hooked on this thing? Other than his apparent god-like abilities which are cemented by Journey's End practically turning him into a god literally, there is no good reason why he and a random ensign would not succumb. Do you REALLY believe ANYONE could get Picard to play... a game?! Not without holding him down; I suppose this is possible, but noone bothers to do it to Wesley until he's the last one left.

This episode would have more credence with me if it WAS something like Heroin. Perhaps the episode is a veiled metaphor for the way druglords can control people with drugs, or perhaps not; but I'd have believed the episode a bit more if the plot device were anything that might plausibly affect Starfleet officers. To peolpe who play 3D chess because regular chess became to boring, I can't imagine anyone seeing the "rush" that people have while playing this game and not find it so odd as to hesitate in trying it for themselves.

I just can't get over the fact that everyone is acting so goofy and stupid and yet someone non-affected people are still convinced to try this game? If it's THAT addictive, why hasn't this race attempted to take over anything else with it? or was it just recently invented and the Enterprise was the first target?

As TH indicated, being one of the first few is understandable, but when, say, 50 people are walking around stoned, wouldn't person 51 be suspicious, to say nothing of Person 551? If we assume th logic in this episode, the entirity of a population, even one as large as the UNited Staes, would be drug addicts in short order just because drugs exist.

Also...good catch from Vlad up above...how could Geordi play this game?

I used to love this one but I watched it the other day and it has not aged well. The only thing it has going for it is how sweet Ashley Judd's Robin Lefler is.

It's hard to believe that Guinan would succomb to this thing...

Geordi can see and he does it from the same part of his head that everyone else does, so, I see no reason why he couldn't play this game. Also, those who think Picard would never even think of playing a game are just wrong, or else they never saw him geek out as Dixon Hill.

However I agree that the Wesley-messiah factor is way too high in this episode, although Crusher does a fine job with it.

I remember disliking this episode just for depicting a clearly stupid game becoming so popular. Little did I realize. Although in real life it's operant conditioning that did the trick, not doses of space drugs.

Speaking of, maybe Wesley resisted the game so long because he took to heart that lecture about drugs from "Symbiosis."

The main problem I have with this episode is the same one I have with any episode where members of the flagship crew of the Federation get duped or otherwise compromised into doing something rouge or dangerous or treasonous: no one is punished or at least demoted or placed under suspicion or has their fitness for duty questioned. At all. Here, Picard and Co. are about to give away the Enterprise after falling for a simple "game" and what do you bet there was any sort of disciplinary investigation about such a colossal failure of judgement? Not much? Me neither.

I like this episode but it is a almost exact copy of one of the other episodes.It was good manly because it didn't go on and on like some of the others did.Why would picard play a simple game to only distract him from his duties!

So who was caring for the one-week old Molly O'Brien here? I'm guessing she wasn't addicted to the game, but she did need to be fed and changed.

Seems Starfleet needs to bring back those old public service ads from the early 1900s: "Stay away from her, boys; she might have syphilis!"

The first officer goes to the galaxy's red light district and hooks up with some strange woman (although this appears to be normal behavior, from everything we've seen about Risa), and comes back a junkie. Wonder how he's still on everyone's short list for captain after that.

Wesley Crusher's on the way! Here he comes to save the day! ... again ...

In the teaser, Riker runs around the room chasing Etana until she throws his communicator out the window. For a moment, he seems genuinely stunned. "I can't believe you did that." And then he gives back in and makes out. This moment probably covers what this episode is "about" (if anything): which is the way pleasure drives can sometimes overwhelm and trump one's sense of duty. The way various characters are introduced to the game play on this theme: Riker introduces the game to Troi when she's giving her speech about the delights of decadent chocolate, for example. The other main seductions into the game we see are Riker's using Geordi's grief and concern for Data against him -- suggesting escapism to deal with his pain; and the extra-creepy scenes in which people try to force the game on Wesley, especially Crusher's trying to push her orgasm-game onto her son (and playing with the toy she was going to get him), which is about the weirdest, sickest thing that has ever been on this show. What's interesting is that the things the adult crew are doing, while not terrible, all do feel like a tiny bit of a perversion of natural, healthy instincts -- Riker's love & sex drive is directed to sleeping with people who end up exploiting him, Troi's food urge manifests in the not-particularly-nutritious chocolate consumption, Geordi's friendly concern over Data leads him to escapism rather than trying to deal with the source of that concern, and there is that Beverly trying to pervert the son's trust in his mother.

All this contrasts with Wesley and Robin's willingness to do and be enthusiastic about hard work, and their engagement in building an actual relationship with actual other people rather than with strangers on Risa or chocolate sundaes. How wholesome are these two? They are so wholesome that Robin turns down Wesley's suggestion that they go get *coffee* and suggests dinner instead -- okay, so that one is a stretch, but you see where I'm going with this. This would be sickening, except that Ashley Judd is the cutest person alive, and Wesley is still recognizably Wesley but just a bit more relaxed with himself. We also learn that the Leflers basically abandoned Robin to herself as a child, which reinforces my feeling that Lefler's 2nd law (and the theme of the episode) really should be "don't trust anyone over 30." Despite her veneer of cynicism, Robin shares with Wesley a playfulness and work ethic and even idealism that makes them a good match (and a surprisingly effective love story, considering that the last time they tried a Wesley romance was "The Dauphin"); the two represent the best of youth in this story, and while kids are usually the ones associated with getting hooked on video games, it makes (a tiny bit of) sense that it's the young who can look with fresh eyes when adults starts taking their cues from each other and lazily accept their own failures. And I keep coming back to that last scene, Wesley being held down and forced into a world he doesn't want, like this is some version of that Fleischer brothers cartoon "Bimbo's Initiation" where being an adult means passing through into a seedy, kind of disgusting conspiracy of an adult world where there are no rules anymore. If you think this is too far to take this episode -- and I'm not convinced it isn't -- try for a second to imagine Wesley in Riker's place on Risa in the first scene, and maybe you'll see what I mean. Because he got Data reactivated, Wesley mostly manages to get through this episode with his innocence in tact and restores the adults to their thinking selves; his real loss-of-innocence, dealt with in tragedy rather than this episode's dreamy horror-comedy, is later in this season.

So! This episode is probably terrible, and I groaned through many of the scenes. As with most Wesley-saves-the-day episodes, the crew has to be put down to push Wesley up; Geordi's playing a game when he should be working on bringing Data out of a permanent-coma is probably the most ridiculous individual bit of characterization, but generally the idea that no one on the whole ship was capable of asking the simple questions Wesley and Robin come up with means that the whole crew was basically put out of character. And if it's possible to take over the flagship's Federation with this device, why are these people not basically running the galaxy? And yet, there is something primally effective about the idea that the whole world has gone crazy and that only the youngest ones are able to see it. Were it not for Lefler, this would be nothing but a Mary Sue story, but as it is it's a Mary Sue story that also has something like resonance. The dialogue is sharp and the chase at the episode's end is really thrilling. It really only barely seems to be in the show's actual universe, anyway, with Riker, Troi, etc. playing mostly as distorted, id-driven versions of themselves even before they get hooked on the game. But if (a big if) you can accept all that, view it as a weird horror allegory in which only Wesley and Robin (and I suppose Data) are "real," it's actually kind of good. I don't quite, but I agree with Jammer's 2.5 star rating (though probably for different reasons).

Troi makes me hate ice cream! She is just the worst.

What baffles me is not that Wesley is so smart, we already knew that, it's that he automatically says, "Let's analyze the game!" Rather than just try one out. An all too convenient leap of logic.

Speaking of convenient, it was the captain of the alien ship that seduced Riker? I guess they saved money on making a costume for a different alien.

Coming right after the episode where Jordi gets reprogrammed the theme seems a little redundant.

Reminds me of the old story about monkeys with a device implanted in the pleasure center of their brain. They have two buttons, one gives them food the other gives them an orgasm. The monkeys starve to death. I hear this story over and over but I wonder if it is just a myth.

The entire star and a half that I give this episode is entirely due to Data's hilarious fake laugh. Chop it out and it's zero stars.

Am I the only one who felt a little disconfort at times watching those orgasm-like rewards? I was like: get a room... Lol.

This is a brilliant episode. I found the plot was strong and the mystery interesting, the action sequences were also excellent. It explored the character of Wesley very well also and was a genuinely humorous 3episode at times.

On my scale of grading, which is A+ (The Best) to G-(The Worst), I gave "The Game" a "B." I thought it was very good, a highly underrated episode in my opinion.

On Jammers grading system I would give this episode a strong three stars out of four.

Ugh. This episode has two critical flaws that kills the whole "willing suspension of disbelief" thing. I could probably survive one of them, but both? It really hurts this episode, far more tan the whole "Wesley saves the day yet again" bit.

1) Clarke's theorem that any sufficiently advanced technology would seem like magic doesn't apply here. I don't care how sufficient it is, that game was magic. The Romulans spent a week with Geordi strapped to a chair, could only perform their brainwashing on him, and still needed a jolt of doodad rays every now and then to keep him in line. And even then, he only mostly acted normal when brainwashed. Yet, this game? One zap and you are perfectly brainwashed. You don't need to be told what to do, you don't need to be programmed. It works on any species instantaneously. And you act perfectly normal the entire time you are brainwashed. Very, very convenient. As others have said, how have they already not taken over the universe with this technology? And it can all be wiped away with a strobe light?

2) Even if you accept that (and admittedly, a few episodes later we get Conundrum, which I think does ok with such magical tech), the crew succumbing to the game so easily is rather contrived. OK, so Riker giving it to Troi made sense, as did Troi giving it to Bev. But then we see Bev creepily trying to push the game on her son in a scene that clearly show how wrong the game is. And we see Riker inappropriately pushing the game on LaForge after Data crashed. It's no wonder we don't see any attempt to get Picard or Worf into the game. Can you seriously imagine Worf getting addicted? The guy who's first instinct is to blow everything up? The guy who's reaction to going to a bar with his brother is to tell everyone to stop having fun? Yeah, I doubt a warrior would play Candy Crush. And Picard? The guy who refuses to go on vacation? The no-nonsense captain? Only Bev or Riker would have enough familiarity with him to suggest it, but does anyone really think the guy who loves Shakespeare and archaeology would play a simple game?

Given that, the episode (which is ok, as far as that goes) was hard to swallow.

Besides, there was another option that might have been fun to explore. It would admittedly eliminate any moral of the story regarding videogames or pleasures or whatever, but given how the story turned out it was basically a space whale aesop anyway. But anyways, why not replace the silly game concept with the silly bugs from Conspiracy? They are already established and set up for a sequel, why not do them instead? How about having Wesley come aboard while the bugs are halfway to taking over the ship? Wesley could come aboard, could hear from Robin that something is wrong, and then try to figure out what's going on and who hasn't been converted yet. Might have been a better story than what we have.

Besides, then the innuendo of Riker bringing back something from Risa would be even more funny with a parasite!

I don't get why they insisted on putting Wesley back into the show even for just this episode after having put him on a bus. Were they testing the waters for the next season? Why is he so important they had to constantly try to validate his 'Sueness'?
I wouldn't even mind so much if that didn't turn all the other officers into brainless incompetents. Fine, let Wesley be awesome. But not at the expense of the other characters.
Come on, it wasn't even a common, innocuous looking game, it was a fishy device that evidently fiddled with your brain, through your eyes (?!). And also it came from an unknown alien. It's not only weird because we're talking about the crew of a starship - scratch that, the starship. They're f*cking human beings with brains, excuse the expression.
That's pretty much the basics of Mary Sueing. Then there are the people at the academy aparently liking Wesley, in spite of, if not actually because of, having served on the Enterprise per recommandation. And then the nth attempt of getting him a hot gf.
I don't like bashing on characters, I swear. But this episode really threw me off because of it, probably because it was enjoyable otherwise. A good storyline, as opposed to some of the rest of the season. It's also surprisingly, maybe increasingly, actual; I'm talking about the addiction to the game obviously. If only...

Once again, Riker's penis causes galactic ramifications for the Federation.

SkepticalMI kind of said it all as to why this episode sucks. I was rolling my eyes almost the entire episode, exclaiming, "But video games don't work like that at all, and even hard drugs don't play with your ethical reasoning right away. Serotonin spikes alone ain't gonna do that!" I also though Lefler suddenly getting addicted at the end of the episode was lame - but I guess if both of them were captured, then Wesley wouldn't be as effectively isolated and repressed for story-purposes.

What's ironic: All the older adults get addicted RIGHT AWAY, but two kids who are barely out of their teens DON'T? Uh huh.

Also also: Sure, Geordi can see, but how are they supposed to hook that game up to his VISOR-connecting implants? Even if he had his VISOR on, how would the game fit his head properly? And I get the impression that the game's "rays" go directly through the pupil to the brain. How is the VISOR supposed to pick up that information the same way? Also, if Geordi was able to "see" the game, would its data necessarily be formatted properly to look like saucers and cones? That's a few too many leaps for me.

I think this episode would have been a little bit better if Geordi had been incapacitated in sickbay from an "accident", only to be ironically revived once no one was keeping him sedated. Then maybe his VISOR is disabled, and he has to tell Wesley what to do, step by step. That would have been more plausible.

The good parts of this episode were: Wesley coming home and getting that surprise party; his conversation with Picard about the Academy and Boothby; and his "smooth" moves on Lefler (or should I say, her smooth moves on HIM, plus their goodbye at the end. Those were actually GOOD Wesley moments - good character development. But him as the Boy Wonder saving the day again - AGAIN? How cliche and dull. Except for his capture at the end - that was nicely done, very "A Clockwork Orange".

** I mean that LaForge would tell Wesley how to fix Data, step by step.

What is it with Risa anyway, is it a kind of brothel? Everyone that goes there is having sex with someone he or she has never met before, or is al least supposed to do that.

And then Wesley, a total different story. Normal guys his age would like to be in bed with a cute sexy girl like Robin ASAP, but not Wesley. He wants to study some technical details with her.

When I saw this episode as a kid I thought it was awesome. Probably because as a kid I identified with Wesley, and also the part where he manages to avoid escape for a while seemed pretty exciting, and then Data comes out of nowhere and saves the day. Also. . . Ashley Judd.

Now watching this as 34 year old. . .. It's pretty flawed.

I still like this episode. It feels realistic to me, especially using the reward system of the brain as a method of mind control. Depicts a valid underhanded way to take over the Enterprise/Federation. I can fully understand why Wesley would rather date 20 something Ashley Judd rather than play some new fad game. By the time he started considering trying it his intuition was buzzing about something not being quite right about it and in Wesley fashion do an experiment and hook it to a simulator. The chase scene and creepy forced "feeding" after Wesley got caught were well done.
I know a lot of fans don't like Wesley and also don't like Wesley saves the ship. This episode in particular is robust and doesn't bother me.

Ashely Judd looked really young here. She's still wife material. Not a g/f or anything of that matter. Just straight up put a ring on that woman. Average episode though.

Wesley Wesley Crusher, Where are you?
We've got some work to do now.

Wesley Wesley Crusher, Where are you?
We need some help from you now.

Come on, Wesley Crusher, I see you
pretending you've got a game.

But you're not foolin' me, cause I can see
the way you fake that shiver.

You know we've got a mystery to solve so Wesley Crusher be ready for your act.
Don't hold back!

And Wesley Crusher if you come through you're gonna have yourself a Lefler Snack!
That's a fact!

Wesley Wesley Crusher, here are you.
You're ready and you're willing.

If we can count on you, Wesley Crusher,
I know we'll catch that villain!

---------------------------------------

Seriously folks, this is a "Scooby Doo" episode masquerading as a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode. It might as well of ended with an exchange like - "Why, it's Etana! The woman Riker was awkwardly frolicking with on Risa." "That's right! And I would have conquered the Federation if it wasn't for you meddling kids!"

Good grief, did we honestly need yet another "Wesley saves the day" episode? This time it's so bad that they literally have the entire rest of the crew brainwashed and villainous in order to make Wesley look good. Even the love interest character succumbs to the "make-Wesley-AWESOME!-at-everyone's-expense" cliche. I said it my comments on "Final Mission" and I'll say it again - "We get it, Wesley is awesome. But people, it is of paramount importance that as you feverishly fellate this character until he leaves a gland-shaped impression on your tonsils, you occasionally come up for god-damn air!"

I'm just going to skip over the technical problems with how the game works because, quite frankly, I don't care. Instead, I going to focus on something this episode does make me care about - why the hell is Robin Lefler interested in Wesley Freakin' Crusher?! Not only is she played by Ashley Judd (which means on a scale of 1 to 10 in the beauty department she's OVER FUCKING 9000!!!!!) but she's also warm, outgoing, intelligent, compassionate, self-less, etc. This woman is the catch of the millennium! And she's so interested in Wesley (who, by the way, has to be at least five years YOUNGER than her) that she's got friends at the Academy keeping tabs on him?! I just don't get it. I mean, for crying out loud, his idea of a first date is to show up late and then take her to a science lab to perform experiments on a new video game. But, hey, she's into it all, for some reason. I guess there's no accounting for taste. Where the hell can I find a woman like this?!

There are some intriguing moments on display here, but that's all they are - moments. They're moments like when we see Picard put on the game and when Data first emerges from the the turbolift (that is, before he starts with his strobe light nonsense). Okay, good attention grabbing moments, even if they only last for a few seconds. The problem is that what they're surrounded with is rather.... well.... boring. I was shocked when the first act ended and so little had actually happened. The only legitimately enjoyable part is the final chase through the Enterprise sequence. There is an true sense of suspense to it. But, I can honestly say the same thing about most "Scooby Doo" episodes. Other than that and those few, brief moments, "The Game" never really held my interest.

They should have left well-enough alone and kept Wesley off the show. *sigh*

4/10

You all are being too tough on Wesley. I'm not a fan of him saving the day (who is?) but in this particular case, it actually works pretty well. The things he does when he's running from the entire crew are all very Wesley Crusher type things, like the site to site transporters and the phaser pulse into force field. Ashley Judd being cute as hell definitely helped too. To me the episode is pretty fun. I give this episode 2.5 outta 4 stars.

I tend to agree with Pat - my problem with this episode was definitely not Wesley. I actually rather enjoyed Wesley in this one - his conversation with Data at the beginning of the episode was amusing, and his interactions with Robin were entertaining and often adorable.

What frustrates me most about this episode is that for once, a Wesley-saves-the-day plotline *could* have played out in a plausible way, based on the premise that if some addictive, brain-washing device/substance/activity were spreading on-board the Enterprise, it would be more noticeable and alarming to an outsider arriving suddenly than to those who had gradually grown accustomed. Furthermore, I felt that the "solution" to the brain-washing was actually well-handled; Wesley knew enough to analyze the problem and to repair Data, and Data handled the saving-the-day from there.

For me the problem was in the details of the addictive, brain-washing device/activity - "the game." Like some other commenters, I really don't understand how Picard was convinced to play, unless Riker, Troi, and Beverly pinned him down (in which case I wish we could have actually seen that scene...). Also, as Jay points out, "being one of the first few [to play] is understandable, but when, say, 50 people are walking around stoned, wouldn't person 51 be suspicious, to say nothing of Person 51?"

In short, if Etana had used a less moronic method of mind-control so that I could reasonably buy the whole crew falling for it, I would totally buy Wesley coming in as an outsider, recognizing a problem, repairing Data, and thus indirectly (!) saving the day.

OK, it's a hokey story-line, the practicality of which is sorely open to question., and we never quite learn what the actual point is. We also are immediately thrown out of the story by the now horribly ancient looking game effects. But that said, this is a fun if inconsequential hour.

The relationship between Wesley and Lefler is nicely played and credible enough, and there is an appropriately Invasion of the Body Snatchers type atmosphere as everyone else falls prey to the game. There is even some tension as the net closes in on Wesley. Data's hero entrance at the end is worthy of any highlights reel.

And if nothing else, the moment where Wesley walks in on his mother, um... pleasuring herself is an eye opener and not the sort of thing you see on TNG every day... 2.5 stars.

If "Unification" was indicative of the kind of stories DS9 would be telling, then "The Game" is indicative of the kind of forgettable fluff pieces (with questionable logic) that Voyager would be putting out for most of its run.

But in some ways, it's also reminiscent of TNG's first season, what with all the adults needing to act like dolts in order for Wesley to be able to save the day (I guess he came back just in time...)

So I recently watched this episode for probably the 100th time, and I'm trying to figure out how a blind man -LaForge- could have been brainwashed. Without the visor, he's blind, and adding the Game doesn't automatically make him see. We know the visor needs to send flashes in the eyes to work, that's basically HOW it works. I doubt the game would be attenuated to his Visor, and I doubt his visor can create the same effects as the game itself. It doesn't add up.

The ice cream scene with Troi felt like it was a thinly veiled metaphor for oral sex? The way it was edited, especially the shots of Riker reacting to Troi's description of how she would handle his peni- sorry, her ice cream was a bit our of left field, no? What was its purpose? Anyone?

Well the episode is about cravings and satisfaction so the ice cream scene was to emphasize the feelings people have in indulging. It also ups the ante when Riker calls the game "better than chocolate".

But hey, sex fits with the whole craving and desire motif so if you want to read that way more Freudian power to you.

I'd give it 2 stars if only for Ashley Judd, clearly the cutest officer in a Starfleet uniform. This was the only time I actually envied Wesley Crusher because he got to hug and kiss her. Yum!

Pokemon Go. :)

Google Glass too...

The episode is mostly terrible, but somehow manages to hold the attention all the way through. I actually give Wheaton and Judd the credit because I think they were a charming and believable pair. Two things annoyed me enough that it bothered me:

1. The "brainwash" effect the game has on the crew works purely in service of the plot and in an "on demand" fashion. Worf, for example, is never shown playing the game. He acts 100% of the time as though everything is normal, and while trying to capture Wesley its as though he were just another intruder or whatever - Riker is the same during these scenes.

2. The scene where Wesley and Robin hook the game up to the computer is just cringe-worthy due to Wesley's constant leaning over her. Give the lady a bit of space you maniac!

Ashley Judd alone gives this episode a star, another half for a good performance by Wheaton.

I see Leffler and Crusher as two very high-functioning autistic people with a high-degree of social awkwardness, which would make sense how the whole game thing kind of missed them until it they were the only ones left not hooked. The two of them play well off each others quirks, but I sense zero chemistry. They both read as asexual to me.

I liked this episode quite a bit.

* I hate "Wesley saves the day" scripts, but this wasn't one. Wesley didn't save the day. Wesley made it possible for DATA to save the day. An important difference.

* I thought the final chase sequence played Wesley's intelligence well. He was smart and resourceful enough to evade the Enteprise crew ... for a while. They caught him, but he made them work for it. It showcased his intelligence without making the ENT crew look like boobs.

* I can buy the idea that Wesley looked at the game, but others didn't. As another person remarked, Crusher and Riker -- two very trustworthy folks -- introduced the game to the rest of the crew. So they might take it with a grain of salt. And this wouldn't be the first game in the future that had a little bit of a pleasure effect ... maybe it didn't seem that unusual at first.

* I can buy Wesley deconstructing the game when other's didn't. He was on vacation, he had spare time, and he had no other duties. Besides, he's a nerd.

@pennywit I agree completely, this was always one of my favorite episodes. Only it and "The First Duty" come to mind as episodes where every element of a Wesley story "clicked" into place nearly perfectly. Wheaton and Ashley Judd had surprisingly good chemistry and the end chase scene is very fun - it shows Wesley being clever enough to pull off a few nifty tricks but also being captured at the end, which I makes it all believable and exciting.

I'm surprised that nobody has figured out the obvious - that Picard and Worf in all likelihood were forced into the game, rather than playing it voluntarily. Like Data, these two were probably seen as the biggest obstacles and so would have been targeted very quickly. In the case of Worf, it's likely that Crusher had to sneak up and inject him with some sort of paralysing agent - which would keep him conscious but unable to move.

"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" meets "Brain Damage". With a little nod to "A Clockwork Orange" at the end.

A pretty similar concept that predates this episode was shown in Red Dwarf, in a single episode subsequently expanded on significantly in the novel "Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers". The crew gets hold of a game in the form of a headset that implants directly into the brain and leaves the players helplessly addicted - so much so that they are essentially crack addicts who would have died if not tended to by Kryten.

I mention this partly because "The Game" brought the Red Dwarf idea to my mind, but also because I recall an interview Patrick Stewart gave about RD. Now I think Stewart is a legend and not just for his TNG work, but in this interview he slightly moronically describes his first experience of RD, unexpectedly flicking the channel onto an episode and his immediate reaction was to pick up the phone to get onto a lawyer because he thought that RD was ripping off Star Trek. Anybody who has seen Red Dwarf will know how ludicrous that notion is. To be fair to Stewart he did then say that he started laughing and put the phone down when he saw what the show was actually about.

I liked this episode. It is a brainless bit of fun. Of course the premise is laughable - if the device can instantly brainwash someone on the first go (as it clearly does given how immediately Judd turns on Wesley) then what is the point of the narcotic effect? Why bother addicting the crew to it if it takes absolute control of them on the first use?

And yeah, bullshit on Picard, let alone Worf ever picking up this doodad.

Sometimes I wonder how the idiotic Enterprise crew would ever survive without Data and Wesley to save the day. In all seriousness I found it implausible that no one besides Wesley even thought to ask questions before trying it. Beverly's always been incompetent so it's not a stretch to think she didn't, or that Riker forced it on her, but surely someone else would have? Geordi? How would the game even work on him if he's blind? Giving Wesley more than one other crew member working with him would have made this episode better, IMO.

Im once again struck by how normal and not weird Wesley's romances are in comparison to the other characters'. It's pretty sad that Wesley seems to be the only male character with normal romantic relationships. Looks like he really is the only one who doesn't have to find his women on the holodeck.

A highlight of this episode is Beverly forcing her kid to do drugs. That image alone makes the episode worth it.

They really ned to stop letting Riker vacation on Risa. This time he brought back more than just another case of space-AIDS.

**Troi gave the headset to Beverly, nevermind. They don't seem to hang out much except to talk about their sexual conquests so it's actually very fitting Troi gave the orgasm game to Beverly. I still question why Geordi would be susceptible to it, though.

I would like to thank outsider65 for the above comments, which are the possibly the funniest comments ever written about any episode. Bravo, 65!

I always liked the obvious implications of "The Game" in modern society......just look around, everyone desperately staring at their smartphones, addicted to the quick highs and instant gratification of texting and games.

The problem with "The Game" is that they should have introduced it much more slowly, just like smartphones, so that by the time people caught on to what was occurring it had already overtaken society's social norms. At that point, it's not only built into the culture but also a 'social status' symbol, because heaven forbid someone catches you NOT looking at your phone and thinks you're unpopular.

Thanks for finally saying it out loud, Outsider65. I think the turbo lift scene basically told us exactly what the game gives people for completing higher levels and giving up control of their own mind. In that sense, it is actually a pretty bizarre scene when Beverly wants her own son to partake of the device.

What I always enjoyed about the episode was Wesley's brilliant play at misdirection, meaning that the entire chase sequence was simply done to give Data enough time to study the device and come up with a cure. I thought this was well written, particularly when it came to Data's entrance onto the bridge when it seemed Wesley was the only normal one left onboard.

With Data incapacitated, I wonder just how many people it took to hold Worf down to force him to play the game. Maybe they fooled him by saying it was VR Klingon calisthenics, and he had to make discs fall into the cones to get the program to run. :-p

The aliens aren't nameless--they're kitary (rimes with atari, get it?).

2 stars. This didn't age well at all. I tried blotting out the fact that Ashley Judd is so annoying nowadays and still tried enjoying this episode but it still took too long. The first half felt like spinning wheels. I wasn't feeling Wes and lefler. The sundae scene with Troi left me cold. It wasn't until data was deactivated and We'd begab investugating the game that it picked. There was smart planning ahead with Wes as crew came after him and this section generated some tension. Too bad the first half wasn't as good

Not a fan of this episode -- plenty of slow parts in the early going, but seeing a young Ashley Judd and the chase scene where Worf/Riker finally catch Wesley are the 2 highlights.

It's a bit of a stretch for me to believe such a simplistic game (not talking about the graphics not aging well) could overwhelm an entire starship and I agree with Jammer on why it's only Wesley who has some healthy skepticism about it and he winds up saving the day. We've seen this type of idiocy before where he looks like the hero and the entire Enterprise crew look like dolts. That's not a good recipe for an episode, period.

The romance between Lefler and Wesley was portrayed well and it appeared to be natural as if it could happen for real. So that was believable and it worked that they initially go about trying to figure out what's going on. But overall, it's kind of silly with Data showing up right on time to start flashing some light that instantly cures them.

"The Game" just barely makes it to 2 stars for me. It's bordering on being a lousy episode because of its weak premise/plot. No issue with seeing Wesley again, but we're back to early TNG stuff where he's unexplainably the hero. Good chemistry between Judd/Wheaton saved this episode from condemnation.

Something nobody seemed to note above: the exploration of the Phoenix cluster which was so important that the scientists all over the ship were fighting for access to analytical equipment just...disappears. No mention of it by Picard at the end ("We towed the alien vessel to a starship and are on the way to drop Wesley off."). No mention by anyone after the brainwashing. Disappointing.

I don't hate Wesley as much as Jammer and most others seem to. The plot pairing him with Ensign Leffler worked, I think. Clearly an outdated and clumsy episode, I don't think I have much to add to the comments above. 2 stars for me.

@Doug

That's an interesting point, although it's a bit of a "What about the mouse?" thought if you will. Having Geordi and everyone under pressure from the mission did at least serve two purposes: 1) It made the crew on edge and more receptive to the game and 2) it gave Geordi a chance to boast about Ensign Leffler because he needed a competent science officer to help with demands of the scientists.

Anyway, I just wanted to add that while Jammer calls this one close to being a Deus Ex Machina, it's established early that Data would be a threat to the Ktarian's plan and that Wesley knew Data has been deactivated. If anything, I might call the ending anticlimactic, but I think the fast paced chase leading to the final resolution helped it out. Very much an "Invasion by the Body Snatchers" type of ending.

Ham-handed attempt at moralizing against video game & drug addiction. Meh. 1/5. Also knowing what Ashley Judd turned into(rabid leftist loonie), takes away from the enjoyment of the episode.

Episode: 2 1/2 stars
Lefler/Judd: 5 stars

TNG was good at tackling addictions and the way technology is abused and used to evade reality. With smartphone, internet, video games, binge TV and other mass media addictions being common place today, "The Game" feels much more relevant now than it did decades ago. I think it is a fun and creepy episode.

I also think the reason it generates hate is because people are taking it too seriously. To me, it clearly seems modelled on all those 1980s kids adventures, be they sleazy like Brian Depalma's Dressed to Kill, or sanitized like Matthew Broderick's Wargames, in which geeky teenage boys save the day with a cute female sidekick in tow. The episode is a giant kid's fantasy adventure.

I agree with Trent, that's always how I felt the energy of the episode. It's always been a 'great fun to watch' episode, up there with Disaster and Conundrum in terms of the general tenor of the show being offbeat and a cool adventure.

I like this one a lot too. It's different, engaging and really well-paced, and uses Wesley (plus Ensign Lefler) in a way that really works.

The episode also seems to go a long way into implying that sex, love and lust are themselves dopamine addictions. Crusher's love affair with Lefler provokes in him the same biochemical bursts as Troi's chocolate and Riker's Risa mistress, and the Game itself is very phallic, with pulsating dics entering probosis like mushrooms and then releasing orgasmic shudders. The fancy techno-addictions in the episode are really just layered upon humans who are prone to all kinds of more mudane bio-mechanical addictions .

Wesley being the last one actually really does make sense, as a couple have said.

He’s on a vacation that’s quite a lengthy trip for him and he would not want to play a silly game which he could do at home. And they didn’t force him until the end because he didn’t really seem like a risk.

Picard probably WAS forced by Riker/Worf etc.

I was more annoyed by the Data ex Machina ending because it seemed dishonest. Wesley is running around being chased in full panic mode with nary a hint they had actually fixed Data.

Riker's shexual shenaniganshs strike again!

For no other reason than Ashley Judd/Ensign Robin, this is a noteworthy episode! She was adorable in the role.

Oh yeah!!! Ashley Judd before she went insane. Smokin. Def. would have smashed that.

A bad start as Riker is acting like an annoying horny teenager again.

Having the entire crew brainwashed. subborned or possessed worked well in the old pocket books TOS novels but it was a cliche by the time of TNG.
The crew is too easily ensnared but as noted before TNG often turns into a seventies porn movie pastiche and that happens here as the crew are all getting off all over the place.
The erotic moment of the series goes to Marina Sirtis describing how she gets off with her sundae while Riker looks on barely containing himself.
Yes ,Marina you have to run the chocolate ice cream around the rim.
I think that is an arrestable offence in several states.

Interesting points by William B. I think Jammer said it best: " if you grant the episode it's implausible premise, the story execution mostly works. " What I really like is that there was no cliche "Mom, I'm your son! Don't do this to me! / Oh my God! That is my son! What am I doing?" There was no: "Listen to me! You have to fight it! Don't give in! Think about what you're doing! / No! I can't give up my ship!" The game completely had them hooked, overriding all survival or parenting instincts. Pretty creepy. TNG would have been a better show if they referenced this adventure later and tied up all these episodes - Geordi's brainwashing to assisinate the Klingon governor /The Game/ maybe the Pegasus adventure / and tied them in to Section 31 or some other grand conspiracy. That's not 1990s television, but it would have been great.

Started off cringe-worthy.

Riker having a romp with a weird alien.
Riker leering at the ensign in Engineering.
Riker grinning at Troi, even though he's probably already had 10 other women that day.
Troi getting intimate with her ice cream--seriously, are you eating a bowl of dessert, or describing an oral sex trick?
Riker: "I just got back from Risa with something."--yeah, an STD or three, Crusher should be the one you're saying that line to.

"Actress" Ashley Judd constantly talking with her head and neck instead of her mouth. Creepy chocolate-centric "character development" of Troi. And our episode star: Wesley!! What's not to love about "The Game"?! Remember Law 17: When all else fails, watch a better episode.

Several have commented on how it's difficult to enjoy this episode now, knowing how Ashley has morphed into an unhinged Socialist radical. I wonder if there was something in the water on the set, for I have witnessed----and in the case of Marina, it was my own one-to-one interactions with her on twitter---several of the cast members, including Patrick, Wil, Brent, and, famously, the always-irate bullfrog who, perhaps like no one else in the country, gives Ashley's deranged malignant narcissism a run for its money: Whoopi, have become outspoken Leftist lunatics.

Most actors are weirdos. That's obvious. The childhood rejection that drives them to want to spend the rest of their lives playing dress-up and pretending that they're someone---*anyone*!!---else is what leads them into the career in the first place. But the TNG cast takes the cake.

Speaking of narcissism...

Yes, of course, Peter G: everything that a radical Leftist doesn't like hearing is summarily dismissed as narcissism.

Or racism. ...But definitely *some* ism.

I don't even know what I am politically anymore (left, right or whatever) but I do know that if you find an episode less good because of an actor's politics or beliefs, you're not judging it as drama but on extraneous factors. Back in the 90s/2000s when I was more left-wing, I enjoyed watching the whole of Babylon 5 and it never once bothered me that Jerry Doyle was also a right-wing talk show host - in fact I considered him the best actor on the show. And Michael Pena is fantastic in the Ant-Man films whether or not you like the fact he's a Scientologist. I thought it was the young "snowflake" leftists that everyone mocks these days for constantly declaring people "problematic" or "over" and blacklisting/no-platforming them for their views - yet now people on the right are doing the same thing? Slating a 25-year-old TNG episode because of the guest actress's politics is just silly.

Wow, an actress got success early in her career and later devoted her life to humanitarian interests like treating AIDs and preventing poverty. What a tragedy...

"devoted her life to humanitarian interests like treating AIDs and preventing poverty"

this isn;t the tragic part. you can still do the above without a political affiliation...and without going full radical.

Yeah, Democrat != radical. Coming to a Star Trek board to slam unrelated politics you don’t agree with is just sad. It’s the same nonsense with that other section going off on Dwight Schultz.

no.... not Democrat. I'd say her insane ramblings about periods at the "Women's march" qualifies as radical.

Don't get me wrong she's still good looking and I would have sex with her. I'd probably even breed with her, so long as she was always supervised around the children.

Regardless of how you feel about her political opinions, she handled herself well in this episode. That’s all I’m really interested in talking about here.

Apart from the creepy sex references and the shite game graphics a well rounded episode.
.although the whole crew being took over by some weird alien force did get overdone along with visiting ambassador s (yawn).
Their is a lot worse in the ng series.

Hello Gentle Sentients

@JerJer, perhaps Riker was being shown as more of a randy male because he'd been exposed to the game, which seemed to trigger sexual responses when you "won" the round...

...Nurse Alyssa Ogawa always looked to me like she was having a mini-orgasm when she was in the turbolift...

Now, as far as bringing a STD home, wouldn't the transporter filter that out? And, since we've seen a transporter go back to a earlier version of folks, would that not be the secret of eternal youth? Put a hair into the machine from when you were 24, and have the transporter "fix" you back to then?...

I digress...

Riker was more than his normal "who-hoo" self because of the game. As far as what Troi was describing... even 27 years ago I knew she'd stopped talking about ice cream...

Regards... RT

I always enjoyed this episode. It's fun, well acted, and I enjoyed how Wesley was able to evade security.

To me, that last segment always the best "Game" in the episode.....Wesley having to think quickly on his feet, to outwit and elude a vastly superior opponent for as long as he could. His escape required athleticism, intelligence, strategy, read & react situations. Moves and countermoves.

There are some gaping plot holes in this episode (what exactly was the purpose of Elana's efforts?), and I understand the critiques of Wesley in general, but I always liked Wil Wheaton, and this was one of my favorite Wesley episodes.

++++++

That said.....there is arguably no greater Wesley Crusher move than to go back to work on the Enterprise during your vacation from Starfleet Academy, somehow manage to hook up with a young smoking hot Ashley Judd, and on basically your one and only date with Ashley freaking Judd, you.....take her to your mom's medical lab to conduct experiments on the potentially harmful side effects of a portable gaming device.

+++++

Also.....lol @ Luke's Scooby Doo parody. That was perfect!

8/10

A nice romance between Wesley and the Ashley Judd ensign. I liked this one for a light adventure highlighting Wesley as completely non annoying.

Highlight for me is Datas forced 'laugh' when Wesley 'save the Enterprise and crew again but this time with the assistance of the banging hot Ashley Judd' Crusher is suprised in the conference room thing early on in the episode. Worthy of a rewind and watch again several times 😄

First off, I love this episode for its general message about how people exert subtle social pressure on others to hook everyone on the same technological devotions. It was pretty strong stuff in 1991, and in retrospect I think it caused me to avoid video games almost entirely. I am thankful to the episode for that. I think that the writers were somewhat prescient in seeing 30 years ago how a cool techno-bauble could transform each of us until the gazingus pin is bought, then reached for first thing upon waking.

Late-adopters are seen made to feel like Luddites and eventually ensnared..... this is shown in the opening scene in Risa. Personally, even in the context of a wild weekend, I wouldn't welcome a net being twisted around my face, head and neck by a giggling space alien. Nor would I laugh along when my communicator badge gets thrown over the balcony, leaving me basically isolated....After these things "get done to me" would I then allow the perpetrator to sit on top of me and stick a game in my eyes?

A very watchable episode, but seriously, wouldn't Riker have been drummed out of the service for criminal stupidity ? Academy training, Day 1: if a space alien twists a net over your head and then throws away your comm-badge, its probably not a good thing . Even if she is practically naked. What a sap.

@Sigh2000

This probably wasn't the case in 1991, but at this point in time there is no doubt in my mind that between games and television, games provide the better value, artistically, creatively, educationally and as entertainment. Naturally, both mediums have their best and worst (many non-gamers are unaware of the diversity available beyond Grand Theft Auto or Tomb Raider) but at least games are not passive entertainment like TV, you can get a game published without necessarily having mass-appeal meaning there are some extremely interesting ideas out there, and they provide active, not passive engagement. The more creative young minds are now choosing game development and have no interest in the tv industry.

I'd take reading over both of them in an instant, but if I had to choose to eliminate one forever right now, it would be television. As such, this episode is horribly outdated and bordering on propaganda.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4e/be/d3/4ebed383d589bfc3859535c61d43d57e.jpg

@James
These are some strong statements, considering you wrote them on a board for the discussion of TV shows. The whole passive/active argument is fairly simplistic. Very few games have touched me as deeply as many Trek episodes did. In general shows provide far better writing because they are consumed passive or the be more precise because they are not interactive. Same goes for books. I could name 20 shows with great writing easily. For games I have a hard time coming up with 5.

You have good points, I should have emphasized "at this point in time". I have a lot of TV favorites too, mostly in sci-fi, but at the moment I'm seeing a lot more creativity coming out of the game industry, kids are being exposed to software that could easily be used in schools, instead of passive David Attenborough documentaries. Sci-fi TV is practically dead right now, cheap mass-produced entertainment compared with brilliant story concepts, philosophical concepts only made possible with the interactive, cooperative elements of gaming systems. Kids are creating their own creative worlds, learning the value of teamwork, using their brains to solve difficult puzzles and learning real physics and science. I just don't see that in the TV world, yes there has been some great TV, but I think it is well past its peak.

@James
I appreciate your remarks.
I agree that good television is a rarity, and some games do indeed impress.

My approach to television is to control content with DVDs to keep quality high. In Trek terms, the DVD player functions as my Atavachron. No outside sources admitted.

A good one this, not particularly memorable or dramatic - the alien villains aren't really threatening enough for that - but based on a decently solid plot.

It works quite well as an allegory on gaming addiction, or addiction in general. Of course it does have a few problems.

Firstly - does the idea of playing a game that literally gives you a hit in the brain's pleasure centre really not trouble anyone with the thought that it might be dangerously addictive? Riker would have left it on Risa. He must be sharp enough to know that it's asking for trouble, even without the mind control aspect and the evil plan.

I liked the scene at the beginning with Riker the giggly alien woman who turns out to be a villain.

It bothers me slightly that the crew who are under its control sometimes seem completely coherent - like Riker, Geordi et al when they're hunting down Wesley. Surely slightly crazed, drugged behaviour would be more appropriate? It just doesn't feel right that Riker and Picard have an apparently completely sober control of their senses while they're acting out a plot against their own interests.

The Morse code flasher that immediately restores victims of the game to full, conscious normality - come on, that's too easy. Lazy writing. Also, I don't mind Wesley and the specialist babe being super-sharp engineers and technologists, but we're asked to believe that they're pretty good at neuroscience, as well. It's a bit of a stretch too far.

Still - I liked it. Better than average for the fifth series, so far.

Speaking of Ashley Judd in Star Trek:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghVSZNYPXtw

@ Ari Paul

"Speaking of Ashley Judd in Star Trek:"

She's totally gone off the deep end.

@Yanks
This Ari really has it out for Judd.
More than two years ago he wrote:"Oh yeah!!! Ashley Judd before she went insane. Smokin. Def. would have smashed that."
mhhh that's class right there.

Oh and already the fifth comment about Judd's political views/calling her crazy. You get a free sub with extra smash sauce from Ari!

Uhh and look at the first comment under the vid:" Why do top hollywierd actresses bring up wage when most of them slept their way to the top? You know what that makes them don't you?" More then 300 likes yeah!

And the guy has many other great vids like:
- Lesbian Astronaut Commits First Ever Crime in Outer space
- LIE-berals: What the Left won't tell you
- Sea Level Expert Nils Axel Morner Debunks Man Made Climate Change
- Making America Muslim - In Their Own Words - Long Term Plans of Islamic Academia

These titles show that this is the new channel for real Americans.
Oh and that Judd is crazy. :)
(Man, clicking on these vids will again fuck up my youtube algorythm...)

Booming.

HAHA... but I stand by my statment :-)

@Yanks
Oh I would never suggest anything else. I personally on principle never listen to anything that a male or female actor says. Why you are not asking?! I tell you why.
Mel Gibson (and a few others). There is a certain threshold and if an actor crosses it then you can never watch their movies again because you cannot forget the person behind the act...
You don't want another name?! Oh I give you another name. Will Smith. Since I heard that he had payed people to attend the concerts of his wife I just see a super rich guy who really is into nepotism and don't get me started on the children...
Several are very close: Tom Cruise, Charlie Sheen, Russell Crowe, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lawrence.
hmmm i guess I now less about crazy female actors... puzzling.

And they'd have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those meddling kids. Christ on a bike I'd forgotten just how spchincter squeezingly shite this one was. I'd give it one star- but the presence of Wesley downgrades it to nil. Still, piss poor next gen still trump's bloody Voyager every time....

Troi makes eating icecream pornographic. Picard fell for Vash the grifter on Risa and now Riker has picked up an addictive sex toy at Risa. Seriously, these men are running the Federation and the Galaxy? And Dr Crusher having orgasms sitting around in the open for Wesley to walk in on her? Who wrote this pathetic episode? Wesley single handedly saving the day? Come on guys! Thank God for a beautiful stellar classy Ashley Judd saving this sorry ep from being a total disaster just by being in it.
Otherwise minus 7 stars.

Thought this was a really fun but I didn't make the connection with drug addiction or video games. I just thought of it as a cool Invasion of the Body Snatchers type story much like TOS' This Side of Paradise, but the game was a cleverer and more topical way to do it.

They could've hinted that Wesley or Ashley Judd had repaired Data but that's a small nitpick.

In the Worf/Kilingon Civil War episodes, it's sometimes difficult to tell what's exactly happening to who or what. This was very easy to follow and liked how silly it was.

Er, did Wesley get laid in this episode or not?

@Britz94

"They could've hinted that Wesley or Ashley Judd had repaired Data but that's a small nitpick."

They did, it was Wesley.

Light, silly and quite entertaining. Min my opinion a merge of (game) addiction problem and body snatchers.

@Ari Paul

I don't see what Asley Judds political ideas has to do with her performance in this episode. In my opinion the youtube clip is quite "low". As I understand she is interpeting a poem written by somebody else and she is acting. I agree that it does not seem to be conservative. But again, what has this to do with her role as Leffler?

It is just silly and unneccesary bashing.

Furthermore I am pussled over that quite many seems to mix the character with (the quality of) the actor. Dr Pulaski, a character which I liked was played by an actress that could do her well.

When they took back Dr . Cruscher they wanted to have a softer character and also use the romantic tension to Picard. I think Gates McFadden does that quite well.

In my opinion Patrick Stewart is an excellent actor who really was carrying much of the TNG. But his acting is sometime very theatrical. King Lear on the Bridge.

But of course , this is enterteinment, acting and theater.

One of the worst episodes, but almost comes back around to so-bad-it’s-good. I’d love to hear a Rifftrax type commentary.

Skip, why? Wesley saves the day just like half of the episodes of the first season. Kill me please

Wesley's Jumper - blue-grey; ribbed epaulettes and collar & cuffs. Nifty for that first date. Looks a bit odd tucked into the high waister pants though.
Again disturbing Dr Crusher ogasmic noises - 'why don't you and your girlfirend come & join me in my Risa sex game?'

Again with Risa Star Fleet Directive: No one must ever ever go anywhere near Risa ever as bad shit will happen.

Good grief, people. Wesley was the only one not to get hooked because Winners Don't Use Drugs™, and Just Say No™, and This Is Your Brain On Drugs™, and so on. Remember when this show was made.

But I do get why people hated the character of Wesley Crusher. The writers sure hated him. How clever they were, punishing a teenage boy because they had to suffer the indignity of writing a character they didn't like. Everyone in Star Trek from 1986-2000something owes Wil Wheaton an apology.

Also, just to prove I'm a total pig, all I wanted out of this episode was to later dream of being in a Wil Wheaton/Ashley Judd sandwich.

So. We go from the classic disaster movie to the classic conspiracy movie.. where everyone slowly becomes an enemy - except for Wesley “frigging” Crusher of course.

Ok. Yes, it’s well paced. Yes, the increasing levels of paranoia are effective. Yes, the denouement with Data is satisfying.

But… a really big problem with it, that requires a suspension of belief I can’t make. The game is addictive, hypnotic even, but there is nothing about it that involves joining in an alien conspiracy involving every other crew member. It works on the individual pleasure centre and the “player” functions as normal when not playing. So where are sinister instructions, eg to disable Data, coming from? And what is the motive of the alien race? Yes, there’s a crude attempt to explain this when Wesley and Robin discover that as well as being psychotropic, it also affects the reasoning centre of the brain. Well, DUH!! I’ve smoked enough dope in my time to know that psychotropic drugs can (though not always) cause severe intellectual deficiency on a temporary basis, and even paranoia, but none of the crew displayed these effects, nor behaved as if there was an alien ‘pulling their strings’. Yet we are supposed to accept that everyone was part of this giant plot? Oh please.

Yes, the episode was predictive of computer game addiction in the 21st Century, and therefore kudos for a certain amount of social commentary. But as a TNG episode it barely deserves 2 stars.

Oh, I forgot to say… the opening scene with Riker chasing the alien woman round the bed was embarrassingly horrible.

Great point, Tidd. The interesting and fun aspects here certainly weren't the shadowy alien controlling people remotely - it was the tension as the addiction spread and spread. A better version of this episode would see no outside controlling force, no conspiracy - just a very addictive game wreaking havoc on its own, its creator motivated only by latinum.

@Tomalak

100% agreed! The game on its own - perhaps created by the 24th Century equivalent of a hacker? - would have been enough on its own, spreading paranoia and malevolence.

So weird to watch this show looking backward, as it was supposed to be progressive having women in higher positions, but Riker is such a hound. It´s creepy. But I do love how the premise of the show all depends on Riker's hookup. Like an after-school special about STDs combined with video-game addiction.

Strangely I find this Wil Wheaton's best performance along with the First Duty. He's still awkward and looks like a kid but he pulls off the love interest in Leffler and he seems more comfortable as an actor.

But I completely agree with the ultimate takeover plot as being ridiculous and that no one on the ship could resist it except Wes / Robin because they're so smitten.

It's really horrible. In some ways it might have worked as a comedy – especially if it ended with an intervention about Will and his sex life.

These are supposed to be intelligent people, some of whom unless they had been held down would have said no. So ridiculous. And it all ends with a flashlight.

A zero for me.

@ Allon,

"But I completely agree with the ultimate takeover plot as being ridiculous and that no one on the ship could resist it except Wes / Robin because they're so smitten."

Don't forget that (a) Robin did get hooked, and (b) Wes only avoided it due to being such a dork. Ironically the dorkiest person on the ship was the one too busy to play videogames (probably not that unrealistic if you look at the tech industry). When looking closely at this indirect plot point, I actually like the notion that Wed is immune to the addictive game precisely because he is such an outlier of a person (too socially awkward to go with the flow). That's a nice perk, kind of like how Data sometimes saves the ship due to being the odd android out.

This was a zero star for me. Once watched, can’t be unwatched. I think the usually spot on Jammer got desensitized and tired of fighting on this one.

How does the game's orgasms give out evil instructions?

It would've made more sense -- both narratively and thematically -- for the game to make everyone so passive that they can't resist a takeover.

"How does the game's orgasms give out evil instructions?"

I always assumed the orgasms merely made the player receptive to whatever other subliminal messages were being transmitted by the game.

I don't get the visceral hate for this episode. I also don't get the bile exclusively reserved for Wesley. He overcame the death of his father at a young age and grew up into a clean, wholesome, intelligent, conscientious young man. He's a fantastic role model to any kid and even to much older folks.

As far as the main premiss, yes, there are some annoying inconsistencies and plot holes and outright silliness. Yet, the underlying principle is very real and very instructive. It shows just how easy it is to snow, manipulate, stultify, and, in effect, lobotomize people. Just give them mindless entertainment through dopamine hits and you're on easy street, able to do with and to them whatever you want and they won't even see it coming.

Now, gee, what recent inventions and events could that be applied to...? Hmm...

And Robin? Hoooooooooooo, mama!! Too bad she (Ashley Judd) went on to become yet another cookie-cutter privileged Hollyweird Leftist bore.

Well I have to agree with Michael here on all his comments. As time passes, this episode seems more and more prophetic. To the strong critics I would say the following

1. Re Rikers romp in Risa. Is it really a hard leap to think of a confident man in a position of authority and responsibility to allow his Wang to cause bid problems for himself and others when he goes on what he might consider a discreet visit to Risa. Say like desean Watson if it is ever known who besides prince Andrew went on those plane rides with Epstein, etc

2. The addictive nature of the came as displayed sure seems similar to when I see someone operating a 2 ton pickup down a speeding highway glued to their cellphone oblivious to their environment

3. The depiction of the game just I think is a vehicle to infer that the game is stimulating dopamine receptors. For all I know riker is actually seeing alien women he is scoring and worf is seeing a chamber where he is being stuck with pain sticks. Probably it's a bit more customized to the user I don't know in a similar fashion to our current cell phones. This was 1991. Btw also I think Wesley is not always depicted as a Mary Sue. Not here so much he is resourceful and collaborates w lefler (who wouldn't) to accomplish his goal not some of his earlier more magical depictions of ability. Also he has been shown to be callable like the episode where he inadvertently let the two nanites interact and then they ran amok in the ship. Fortunately for the ship, he fessed up and got help with good consequences. To bad for us peter daszak is no Wesley crusher.

4. The whole crew getting addicted. This is very similar to other kind of mass hysteria events. Strange events symptoms etc can occur in normal people especially when the place in which it occurs is hierarchical on nature and the initial symptoms whatever they are nuns possessed, nurses passing out around phantom odors etc. Anyway the whole thing takes hold when the initial symptoms start with those at the top of the hierarchy. So when riker, Beverly troi are all addicted, it seems quite reasonable to the rest and there you go.

5 the initial portrayals of riker Beverly troi and even Geordie are all plausible,and especially riker and troi with their vulnerability to certain pleasures humorous. And really we have to assume at some point some of captains kirks alien conquests might have had an adverse consequence. (There is a wonderful robot chicken episode to this effect.)

6. Piccard. Best they did not show that one but suffice it to say I can imagine a briefing in the ready room called by riker with Piccard Beverly troi and worf once he got addicted to the pain stick or whatever and then they give him the Wesley treatment. Now you have Piccard.

7. The whole premise of the Atari ...katari aliens what a nice touch. Given recent events with folks like Eric swawell, tik tok, ensnaring powerful men with a romp on Risa doesn't seem so far fetched to me.

I think the execution of the episode by the actors and the pacing was good too.

Even a crackhead like me finds it hard to ingest this insulting episode

I don't see Worf falling for this game. Maybe the writers didn't either because he was hardly noticeable in this entire episode.

Data saving Wesley from being gangbanged at the end was epic. Epically bad.

This episode is a nice little allegory on drug addiction but that's about it.

In it's defense, there is more drug addiction going on in the world today than ever before, and it's not an accident or a coincidence either.

Every time I rewatch "The Game" and "Perfect Mate" I like them more. They both dupe you into seeing a fairly simple story, while the real story remains hidden right in front of you.

So in "The Game" you have a surface story about tech addiction (games, computers, smartphones etc) and a crew that is blind to their "brainwashing".

Meanwhile, almost every scene is about how we're socialized to not see certain types of biological "addictions". Like Troi and her ice-cream at the start, or Riker having sex on the pleasure planet, Wesley throughout the episode is in a biochemical game of his own. He's as sucked into his little lover's simulation with the Ashley Judd character, and is as oblivious and blind to this as Picard and company are to their Game.

And the episode relentlessly emphasizes how humans "overlook" or are "blind" to this sexual game. The opening line is the sexually charged "don't make me come after you". When Wesley beams onto the ship he immediately starts talking about Miles' baby. Data then mentions the Sadie Hawkins dance, where "females choose men". Then Picard mentions failing "organic chemistry" because of a girl whose name he carved into a tree.

And on and on it goes. The episode ends with the crew escaping the grip of The Game, but Wesley remains unaware that he's locked in his. IMO this all echoes Picard in "A Perfect Mate", where our stoic, enlightened captain naively believes himself existing outside the "romantic simulation" conjured by an alien woman.

Incidentally, the aliens who programmed the game in this episode seem to direct their "captured ships" to the Cleon star system, which seems named after a famous star system in Asimov's Foundation series.

Outsiders providing a free and addictive brainwashing tool to infiltrate a federation? Sounds like the business plan for Tiktok.

If Robin Lefler would look _me_ in the eyes, my neutrinos would be drifting too.

The main plot of the episode is basically a moral guardian's wet dream: VIDEO GAMES ARE CORRUPTING PEOPLE, OMG!

That said, it is a sci fi series so it requires a slightly higher suspension of disbelief than some other genres. I can buy that some alien race out there has developed a game that makes its players behave like drug addicts and cult members.

And it's one of the only Wesley-centered plots where he isn't insufferable. He does have good chemistry with Lefler and I do appreciate that he technically doesn't save the day; that extended chase sequence really only accomplished buying Data more time to come back online and it's ultimately Data who saves the day.

Fun episode but the plot and science could have been much better.

1st of all, what kind of absolutely stupid 1980s style video game is that, that would interest 24th century people?

2nd, that's not how psychotropic addictions work. They don't make you go around chasing everyone who doesn't also try the drug for absolutely no reason other than "just because"

3rd, I don't get how the addictive aspect of it had anything to do with taking over the ship? Why would the game sending pleasure impulses to your brain make you want to accept any and all instructions from a random alien who wants you to give your ship over to them? Also if everyone was so incapacitated by it, how were they able to chase Wesley around the ship and everything, when other crew members were seen in a lopped over trance at a 10-foward table.

4th, minor plothole, but why would Troi start creepy-smiling like that BEFORE she was exposed to the game? Why did just mentioning the game make her react like that? She wasn't dosed by it yet.

5th, I agree with the comments that Wesley could have been smarter by wearing it constantly so no one would get suspicious. I also agree that it was absurd no one noticed anything and refused to try it, after seeing half the ship incapacitated from it.

6th, If Wesley had access to the security system, why didn't he release anesthetic gas or something.

7th, why was they so determined to get Wesley to try it? What did whether he tried it or not have to do with taking over the ship?

The whole Wesley-Robin thing didn't seem weird, except maybe when she was also creepy-smiling so much when she discovered what the vampire did with the sick bay computer.

8th, Heres probably the biggest plot hole of all. If Wesley had managed to reactivate data, why didn't he immediately go around disabling key systems in the ship, fighting back against the crew, why did Wesley go running around all over the place by himself? Why couldn't data secure the ship similar to how he did in "Brothers". Leaving it entirely up to Wesley made no sense.

Oh and why would "optical burst patterns" reverse a psychotropic effect? So 9 potholes. But I'll stove give it 2.5 stars for not being boring.

#10 (sorry I keep thinking if more and more points after I post lol, please add an edit option)

What is it with the Beverly-Wesley inappropriate relationship hinted at through multiple TNG episodes. Here she wants her 18-20 year old son to have a date with his girlfriend in her quarters, which she says as she's still orgasming from the game, them awkwardly wraps her arms around him (and they full body hug alot like at the end of "remember me") and are just too touchy-feely for normal mom-son relations. The whole troi ice cream sexualization was dumb enough, but the Beverly Crusher and her son weird incesty relationship is genuinely creepy in this series.

The episode is kind of famous for lots of uncomfortable orgasm face. Only Picard looks kind of stern after putting on the game but maybe that is his O. face.

Boring episode. One star from me.

Just noticed that while they are "holding" Wesley's eyelids open, he blinks - maybe he should've tried harder to keep his eyes closed!