Star Trek: The Next Generation
"Realm of Fear"
Air date: 9/28/1992
Written by Brannon Braga
Directed by Cliff Bole
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
Based purely on longevity, Star Trek gets around to a story about everything eventually, and in "Realm of Fear" we get a 24th-century analogue for the fear of air travel. Our resident neurotic, Lt. Reginald Barclay, is in mortal terror of going through the transporter, particularly in this case where the interference is bad and the transport cycle will take longer than usual. But despite the fact that going through the transporter disassembles you "molecule by molecule" and puts you back together again, Geordi nevertheless reassures Barclay that the numbers over the decades (and centuries) are irrefutable: "It really is the safest way to travel."
If you're going to do a transporter-phobia episode, I guess it makes sense to use Reg Barclay. Dwight Schultz is suitably game, perhaps even excessively so, taking his ever-twitchy persona into the realm of fear, panic, and hypochondria. One mildly amusing scene shows him convincing himself he has "transporter psychosis" when he listens to the computer list all of its symptoms while he realizes to his horror that maybe he's experiencing all of them. And how I love that Troi is able to prescribe for his anxiety the treatment of "plexing" — tapping with his finger behind his ear on a bundle of nerves. Whoa — I guess 24th-century medicine has totally evolved beyond the need for pharmaceuticals! (But of course it hasn't evolved past the point where Troi can relieve Barclay of duty simply for being somewhat on-edge. Sigh.)
If you care about the plot of "Realm of Fear," you are likely to be sorely disappointed, as this is a pretty low-octane affair. It features little in the way of compelling procedural TNG problem-solving and instead a lot of meaningless technobabble for technobabble's sake. The mystery surrounding the missing crew of the crippled science vessel is developed with so little urgency that it plays as background noise. The real point here is Barclay's transporter fear.
Naturally, the key to the mystery ties into Barclay's strange experiences while in the transporter beam, thus forcing him to confront his fear while simultaneously solving the mystery of the missing crew members. Unfortunately, the pedestrian plot is not compensated for by a compelling character story or any real psychological drama. It's all just kind of there in front of us, forcing us to shrug. Watchable, sure. But it doesn't leave so much of a minute's lasting impression.
Previous episode: Time's Arrow, Part II
Next episode: Man of the People
44 comments on this review
Sat, May 26, 2012, 10:02pm (UTC -5)
Even in the early episodes of Trek, when they took an idea for a subject, the usually mined the content for character substance or a morality play or at the very least an exercise in visceral science fiction. From here-on-out on TNG, the case would frequently be a rather boring concept attached to a weak and superficial character outing, which perfectly describes this episode. The excuse that the franchise was so "old" as to be reaching for new concepts is a lame one. In DS9, Voyager and Enterprise (with mixed success), seemingly "done" and new concepts were put to very good use for another 11 years after TNG ended.
In other news, welcome back! Thanks for the review nuggets. A shame this season is so rife with crap (a fact which I for one believe is a good reason to understand and forgive the long wait for reviews).
Sun, May 27, 2012, 12:31pm (UTC -5)
@Elliot: You don't like "True Q", "Ship in a Bottle", "Birthright", "Starship Mine", "Lessons", "The Chase", "Rightful Heir", "Second Chances", and "Timescape"?
I remember being pretty excited about the "Descent" cliffhanger too back when it first aired.
Sun, May 27, 2012, 5:40pm (UTC -5)
I'll save individual criticisms of those shows when Jammer publishes their reviews, but suffice it to say, No, I did not.
"Descent" was awful.
Mon, May 28, 2012, 3:02am (UTC -5)
Tell me you haven#'t had some ailment and then goggled the symptons only to find out you have minutes to live.
Overall not an amazing episode but passable.
Mon, May 28, 2012, 3:18am (UTC -5)
"Realm of Fear" I also liked. It's an amusing and somewhat silly episode that doesn't take itself too seriously. Making Barclay the central character helps maintain an air of freshness throughout the hour.
Tue, May 29, 2012, 11:04am (UTC -5)
Let me amend slightly : I enjoy "Ship in a Bottle," but I can't defend it as a good show; I'll say the same about "Lessons." Even if they were good shows however, that's not a stellar season by any means. I should also probably add that, as a sane human, I do not count TNG's 1st season in any assessment of it.
Tue, May 29, 2012, 11:19am (UTC -5)
Are you forgetting fistful of datas? timescape? the wonderful ship in a bottle? and many more....
The only thing I'll say is that after Birthright Part 1 {another great one unlike anything we had seen prior-fresh} the good episodes were few and far between. And that was aggrivating. Personally I like a ssn to end strong {see ds 9ssn 2}. But the first half of the ssn was just so packed with creativity. Even 2nd half episodes I didnt care for like the chase attempted to do something diff. and explain the likeness of humanoid races....
Mon, Jun 4, 2012, 2:16pm (UTC -5)
And to Jammer--could "plexing" simply be Deanna's placebo for Reg to distract him? That's what I always thought.
Mon, Jun 4, 2012, 2:23pm (UTC -5)
I wish the plexing were a placebo--that would have been a lot more fun, but we see D'eanna plexing herself (doesn't that sound PG13?) in "Timescape."
I'll say for this episode that if it were anyone except Barclay, it would be unwatchable. While I'm not as big a fan of it as others, "Nth Degree" was an infinitely better use of him and his neuroses and also featured and ending which "proved him right." This episode seems to exist to give us a 1st person perspective on transporting.
Mon, Jun 4, 2012, 4:37pm (UTC -5)
Oh barf. Thought there might be a plausible explanation for that idiocy.
Nth Degree is indeed a much better Barclay outing--I just meant that I don't mind this one since I like him (and the others) so much.
Sun, Jun 10, 2012, 5:19pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Jun 25, 2012, 12:32pm (UTC -5)
The episode relies too much on technobabble as a substitute for actual storytelling (duh), and it is rather unbelievable that Barclay could have hid this completely debilitation phobia until now. It's a shame, because I do think Barclay is a good character to explore mental health issues (in space!) and he is allowed character flaws which the main cast are not at this point. If I squint at the outlines, I do like Barclay's arc in the episode, even if it is both superficial and hard to believe.
Sun, Jul 22, 2012, 3:49am (UTC -5)
As said by an earlier poster, I like these people (especially Reg) and I enjoyed spending the time with them. TNG's quieter episodes can still be truly enjoyable simply because of the characters.
Some people might think the "twist" or the resolution at the end of the episode is weak but I think it's got a touch of Twilight Zone to it and that's a good thing.
My Trek friends and I really like the moment Reg scurries out of Troi's office while plexing and nearly runs in to a crew member walking down the hall. "In through the nose, out through the mouth. Thanks again!" (nearly hits crew member) "Awwwgh." LOL.
Mon, Aug 20, 2012, 4:04pm (UTC -5)
Fri, Sep 7, 2012, 10:05pm (UTC -5)
2) I'm going to defend plexing. I've know those who suffer from anxiety, and there are tapping techniques that offer relief in ways that can't possibly be placebo.
Tue, Jan 15, 2013, 11:41am (UTC -5)
This episode was just a hot mess. And Barkley's presence drags any episode down.
Tue, Feb 5, 2013, 8:15pm (UTC -5)
Only Star Trek TNG would care about the fate of microbes.
Sun, Jun 16, 2013, 9:45am (UTC -5)
I did enjoy the hypochondria scenes though, and Miles' pet tarantula, but that was about it.
Fri, Jul 26, 2013, 4:31pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Aug 15, 2013, 9:36am (UTC -5)
I like the Barclay/O'Brien scenes, too.
Anyway the episode is telegraphed, drowning in technobabble, slow-paced, etc., etc., etc. So, yeah, 2 stars -- but I still like parts of it, more than in other 2 star shows, perhaps.
Wed, Aug 28, 2013, 3:34pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 12:23pm (UTC -5)
Mon, May 12, 2014, 3:36pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Oct 9, 2014, 12:59pm (UTC -5)
Hell, I don't care how safe transporting in the 24th Century would be, there HAS to be plenty people around the Alpha Quadrant with neuroses about it.
I do think the grabbing the microbes = saving the other ship's crew was a little odd. And I also wouldn't have thought that you'd see or feel anything while being transported, except that one instant your on the Enterprise and the next you're somewhere else. Unless we're supposed to believe that your conscious mind can somehow perceive things even when all your body's matter has been disassembled and converted into a data stream?
Tue, Oct 28, 2014, 6:28am (UTC -5)
Fri, Dec 5, 2014, 7:18pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Apr 5, 2015, 9:15pm (UTC -5)
Wed, May 6, 2015, 10:57am (UTC -5)
The transporter plot was filled with so much junk science, it was embarrassing. Your atoms are scrambled, yet your eyes can see and your brain can register visual input? I think the writer was the one who was afflicted with transporter psychosis. I like Barclay and find him amusing in small doses, but this episode was a 1 star for me.
Thu, Jun 18, 2015, 2:06am (UTC -5)
There's memorable images, and a nice, smooth band of tension throughout. Remember when TV had a train of thought?
Fri, Jul 17, 2015, 9:02am (UTC -5)
Fri, Sep 4, 2015, 9:14am (UTC -5)
What was the point of this episode? To do a science fiction version of the fear of airplane travel? If that's all it was then I'd probably just say it's average and more on, giving a third episode in a row a 5 score. But I don't think that was the main intention. I think the main goal was to make Barclay look like an idiot. So, he starts seeing his arm glow blue after something funky happens during transport and what is his response? To go to Sickbay, like a rational person? NO. It's to convince himself, with the help of the computer, that he's just hallucinating due to a rare psychological condition. Brilliant! Then, what's his response when he thinks he has a mental problem? To go to Troi for help, again like a rational person would? NO. He decides to just ignore the problem, hope it goes away and actively resist help from Troi when it's offered. Fucking brilliant! Look, I get that Barclay is supposed to be a little neurotic and generally phobic (that's why I like him), but this is just ridiculous. Dude, if your arm is freaking glowing, go see a damn doctor!
Then there's the fact that the resolution almost comes out of left field. There is so little energy and urgency to this plot that I almost forgot about the four missing crew members who turn out to be the entities in the transporter stream. The fact that four missing people are deliberately mentioned early in the episode didn't help either. There's one reference to them and then we're off to spend the rest of the episode on Barclay's stupidity. When Barclay re-materialized with one of them in tow, it took me a while to remember that they were name-dropped earlier. And, Barclay sure seemed to come to the conclusion that the worm-things are really people rather suddenly, didn't he (not to mention that it's never explained why they look like that instead of like people).
But, I am going to be generous to "Realm of Fear" for one scene - the scene of Picard talking to an admiral in the Ready Room. It's a rather unnecessary scene for this anemic story, but I like the fact that it name drops the Cardassians as antagonists for the Federation and Ferengi. DS9 would premier a little less than half-way through this season of TNG and it's nice to see them doing what they can, even in this small way, to set up the Cardassian threat for that show. It's a nice little bit of world-building to throw into the mix. It's so small that it would probably go by unnoticed at the time, but looking back you can see how your subconscious was subtly being prepared for something else. Nicely done!
4/10
Fri, Oct 2, 2015, 2:02pm (UTC -5)
2 stars.
Fri, Jun 24, 2016, 4:35pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Sep 5, 2016, 11:24pm (UTC -5)
I did want to comment though that this episode can be a lense through which retrospectively we see the warning signs related to Brannon Braga (the writer of this episode). The lack of respect for physics, or for human drama (turns the chance for meaningful examination of mental health in the future to a joke with that "plexing" thing- I remember Braga out of all the writers being the most vocal complaining about having to write lines for Counsular Troi, a "psychologist!" Oh, no! Looks like maybe you might have to do some research for this character, Braga, since you are obviously very ignorant on the subject of psychology and mental health. But since as we know Braga is not exactly one to do needed research we just get that plexing nonsense.
Other patterns that are complained about in Voyager and Enterpise begin to be noticeable here too, and since Braga was such a driving force behind those shows it is an interest angle to consider his writing from.
But at this point thankfully Braga still had people above him to veto ideas that got too off the wall (thank god for Michael Piler) and keep him focused (the guy can actually make good episodes when he works under Piler's authority and his episodes benefit for Piler's re-writes, and when he has talented colleagues like Ronald Moore to bounce ideas around with (like how Moore had the idea in Frame of Mind to have the episode be oriented around a play) . So in other words Braga was a guy who never have should have became an executive producer on Star Trek. He does have some good, high concept ideas, but he needs the support of equal ranked peers and the editing of a boss like MP to be at his best. Unfortunately one of his talents was being good at kissing Rick Berman's ass and being a good company man, so he got promoted way before he could handle it and go look at Voyager for evidence of the resulting harm.
Final note on this episode, for me anyway it's still watchable and decent episode to me despite the flaws in the writing and that's a testament to TNG's standards of quality
Tue, Sep 6, 2016, 12:20am (UTC -5)
Solid analysis. I concur.
Thu, Dec 1, 2016, 11:34pm (UTC -5)
Fri, Jul 14, 2017, 10:56pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Sep 4, 2017, 8:50pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Oct 10, 2017, 4:34pm (UTC -5)
Troi was also terrible in this episode -- she can really just relieve Barclay of duty? But then Barclay still gets O'Brien to transport him and he calls all the senior staff for a meeting? I think this downplays Troi's importance and role -- which is not a bad thing, for me. I also found myself tapping myself behind the ear while watching...
So were the crew from the other ship turned into those fat worm-like creatures in the transporter field and Barclay had to overcome his fear and grab onto one of them to save the crew? If that's all it comes down to, it's pretty lame. The whole plot is overly simplistic. This isn't a good example of TNG problem solving logically and sensibly. Heavy on technobabble and entirely reliant on one person's trusting his instincts in an instant.
Barely 1.5 stars for "Realm of Fear" -- while it is good to shine the light on a crew member's unusual issues, this episode exaggerates it such that the normal person can't take it seriously. TNG has treated this kind of topic much better in prior episodes. I didn't find it compelling at all to see Barclay going through all the self-diagnosis etc. TNG S6 not off to a stellar start.
Mon, Nov 20, 2017, 7:49pm (UTC -5)
Pretty good idea and Brannon didvgreat job nailing the mannerisms and characterization of someone suffering from a phobia and generalized anxiety. He really nailed the details from Barclay freaking out as moment of transport nearing to The embarrassment he has for flaking out when the rest of the away team managed to beam like no big deal to suffering internally and mind mulling all sorts of worst case scenarios. That all was realistic and well done
I also Liked Riker’s act of kindness telling Barclay that he was glad Barclay joined them.
I also thought fresh to finally see what it is like to transport from the transportee’s point of view.
The mystery was intriguing as to what Barclay saw on beam, the reaction from the dead crewman and Barclays glowing arm. BUT the payoff was really really underwhelming and not very satisfying. The whole “the Yosemite crew looked like monster worms was due to distorted spatial relationship” I didn’t buy and felt similar to it was all a Dream.
If the payoff had been better—cause it is the weakest part of a solid episode of have given it 3 or 3.5 stars
Fri, Mar 16, 2018, 11:53pm (UTC -5)
Anyway, I finally had to say something because of conversation between Reg and Geordi.
Reg: Commander, has anything strange ever happened to you during transport?
La Forge: Like what?
Reg: I don't know. Anything out of the ordinary.
Geordi: No, not really.
Well, except for the time he and Ro Laren went out of phase with the rest of the universe a couple episodes back. Other than that, smooth sailing I guess.
Sat, Dec 1, 2018, 11:35am (UTC -5)
And this episode probably gave him the most speaking time until he joined DS9; he got to keep repeating the same technobabble steps in the transporting process, 3 times. Boring...
Wed, Feb 6, 2019, 3:01pm (UTC -5)
Oh no don't worry.
The missing crewmembers idea and out of phase slug like aliens all feature in 'The Vanished' a scenario for Fasa's Star Trek rpg written in 1983-oops!
Sat, Apr 27, 2019, 7:58pm (UTC -5)
I remember the slug things in the transporter. Yes there is a lot of technobabble here and I lost the plot a bit at the end when the slugs turned out to be people.
But it is a good premise and it is good to show that basic human disorders don't go away too easily when shame is involved and prevents a person from seeking help.
I am in Reg's corner in general. It is also good to show the life of a manager (Geordie) who must put aside his impatience and assumptions and reach out. I have been a manager and it is a thankless job often.
I will say that one way that the bridge crew really shines is in their ability to put aside annoyance and keep an open mind and remain objective. That takes some practice and leads to better solutions. They did it in this episode despite Reg hiding his observations until the middle of the night.
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