PATRON TIER LIST TNG S4E18

I did not care for this one much when it first aired, but it has really grown on me over the years. Just a great mystery story with outstanding effects and good use of the holodeck. Definitely a solid A rating for me.

They should add a tag to the polls, it is difficult to find them.

This is one of the few episodes featuring Geordi where he isn't awkward and creepy around a woman. Black light effects were really big around this time so I enjoyed the makeup thoroughly. And I can still remember the feeling of intense goosebumps when the shadow in the holo-deck becomes tangible.

This is a good B from me. It's nice to see a bit more about Geordie before he came to the Enterprise.

Without spoilers, there is an upcoming series that reused this concept only much worse than this episode to the point that it caused me to quit that series. It was too bad as the pilot had looked so promising.

What a cool special effect! Oh sorry, was there an episode?

It's nice to get a Geordi episode and one with some horror elements but there are too many plot holes, inconsistencies, and oddities for it to reach A level. Good use of the holodec.

The only part I like is the holodeck investigation of the shadow. That was really well done. The rest just bugs me.

I liked this episode...until the end. I always have a problem with how easily the mutation gets solved with no side effects. It's perhaps my least favorite sci-fi trope.

Definitely one of the least re-watched episodes for me.

This episode represents one of my favorite kind of episodes in TNG, the feeling that we are part of this crew and we also would do anything to save our friends in this crazy sci-fi setting. Yes the episode has its problems, but who cares when Geordi is safe at the end?!

Personal note, in almost 60 years and close to 1000 episodes, this is the only episode of Trek that aired on my birthday. Might be generous, but A for me. The horror works better for me than Night Terrors, especially that holodeck scene. Imagine watching a video of a family gathering years before, and even though everyone who was there was either in front of or behind the camera, you notice a shadow moving in the corner that couldn't possibly come from any of them? Shivers just thinking about it.

This was actually the last episode of TNG that I watched. The time before Netflix was annoying because sometimes they just would not replay certain episodes for whatever reason. The episode was decent, probably one of the better Geordi episodes overall.

Better episode for Geordi! This one is elevated by that great holodeck scene. Finally, the holodeck is used to solve crime, and it's not a Rashoman rip-off.

Good mystery with a visit to the past and a good Geordi episode for a change.

S. 100% my favorite Geordi episode.

This is a legit good Geordi episode, and I remember being really made to feel uneasy the first time I watched it as a child. The deep friendship between Geordi and his former associate is really nice as well. The one thing that always stands out for me in this episode is that--at least from memory--I recall all of the scenes shot on the surface of the planet being cast at a weird, higher FPS than the rest of the show's standard cinematography... as if the unit responsible for filming the setpiece had to use equipment from a 90s soap opera. I dunno if that translates to current streaming media, but it always struck me as odd back in the day. Perhaps it's just a twisted, unreliable memory.

I don’t revisit this one often. It’s okay. The mystery doesn’t bear rewatching.

This is another great atmospheric episode to watch around Halloween. It's also nice to have a Geordie-centred episode so soon after the last one. Levar Burton's ability in this role as basically a voice actor has always been underrated in my opinion.

This episode is... creepy... memorable... I like it. It's just so... DIFFERENT.

A VERY mixed bag, but I love the sensible use of the Holodeck.

Very nice Geordi centric episode for me a guilty pleasure amongst the s and a tier episodes if Alex and Josh enjoyed remember me I reckon they’ll like this one too but probably won’t rate as high in tier ranking

After Galaxy's Child, Geordi had to evolve from a cringe monster to an actual one. Feels very much like a ChatGPT script, not horrible but mostly forgettable.

Good B- (7.1//10). The makeup was top-tier in this one, and the idea of the alien's reproduction method was pretty ingesting. Would have been a C-Tier if not for that awesome holodeck scene, as this is another one where not much happens.

turd sandwich

Ah, the one where Geordi goes from being invisible to women to just plain invisible.

Geordi becomes a Predator (no not that kind of Predator).

This episode has one s-tier scene which is Geordi in the holodeck exploring the mystery of the shadow, genuinely creepy.

I'll be honest, this episode is freaking me out. I feel like I'm suffering from sort of Mandela effect, because I've seen all of star trek TNG, DS9 and Voyager at least 5 times through. But I cannot remember this episode ever existing. Not a single thing about is familiar. What a creepy feeling.

This would nominally be a B for me but I give it an A just for giving us a Geordi episode that wasnt trying to shoe-horn him into some romantic situation.

Another Geordi episode! And this is a good one where he uses the holodeck in a scientific and logical way while transforming into another species. I think he has good chemistry with Susanna but they really are just friends. My rating for this is "Excellent".

I tend to rate them highly if I like re-watching them, and I always like re-watching this one. It just flows together really well, you enjoy following Geordi and Suzanne's thought process and deduction, and the first time the ending is a total stunner. But it again stays pretty strong through a rewatch and I don't feel like the characters are being obtuse it's a genuine mystery.

I only vaguely recall this episode, and it didn’t even come back to me until I saw Georgie in mutated form. I liked it. It suffers from the slower pace that seemed common in this period of Trek, but it had great character moments and the guest star was great. I loved the non romantic friendship, an almost sibling like friendship, between the two. I thought I had it figured out and Geordi’s visor would be the key, but I was wrong. A solid B. It had some flaws but was character driven and a fairly interesting mystery.

Gave it a C the episode was good but nothing really special.

Geordie using the holodeck and NOT being a perv, hooray! The atmosphere on the planet and it's holodeck recreation was great, that's two creepy, horror-esque eps in a row. Loved the uniform continuity. But this one is a bit slow at points. Or maybe parts of this episode is just really good ASMR, cause I HAVE fallen asleep watching it.

Ensign Graham was played by Mona Grudt - the reigning Miss Universe at the time of filming

Thanks, Star Trek, now I'm afraid of shadows.

Another spooky episode, and another B from me. Nothing especially wrong with it that I can recall, but it's not an episode I look back on with much fondness, either. I do remember the first time I watched this (probably 12 years old or so), some aspects of this did creep me out, starting with the shadowy figure on the holodeck when Geordi is recreating the scene.

Another episode that is a little all over the place for me in terms of how I feel about it after I walk away. Caught between a C and B on this 1, but I'm feeling generous, so B-tier for me.

Definitely a mixed bag here, and while I really appreciate giving Geordi a nice, non-romantic friendship, I wish Susanna had been seen or mentioned previously to give the ending a bit more weight. Recently, I have wondered if it would have been better for Data to have brought Geordi back and solidify their friendship instead. Would that have been better, do you think? Anyways, cool alien design though.

Absolutely don't care about this one at all. The premise is weird, and it's just boring. It's inoffensive, but very skipable and forgettable. One of the worst of the season for me. Absolute snoozefest.

A great Geordi episode in my opinion with a really interesting premise. Gets an A from me for the holodeck scene alone but it’s a good job they used a recording device on that away team. This episode is also notable for being one of the early Brannon Braga scripts. Watch this space. 😉

This episode has the grand honor of being the first episode i ever watched of Star Trek.......kind of. I only saw the last 15-20 min of it. I thought Geordi figuring out the shadow thing in the holodeck was super clever. Decent introduction, could've certainly been worse.

Maybe not the best story, and we might feel differently if Suzanna had appeared before (like K’Ehlyr) but I think the execution was spot on, and Geordi’s holodeck scenes hit. How do you guys feel about guest characters who are brand new holding the emotional anchor for the episode?

This one is a no from me dogg. They seem to be trying to give a little more back story to Geordi and at the same time try to give us some high stakes, oh noes are they going to kill off a main character. this episode failed to do either of those things. I gave it a C cause even bad trek in Season 4 is good trek.

Ugh. Just...ugh.

I guess we’re just lucky that this virus didn’t start to manifest itself during the events of Best of Both Worlds or something…

It’s fine, effective scene in the holodeck aside there’s not much to this one.

This is another one that terrified me as a child, and is one of the few episodes of its type (science fiction obligatory: normal person turning into a monster) that I can tolerate. It actually rates an A from me. YMMV. The holodeck investigation into the colony using the recordings from when Geordi was there is implausible, but pretty cool. It's always fun when they're able to use the holodeck in a helpful manner, without it malfunctioning in some dangerous and bizarre way. They must have a different way of recording video logs of missions now, becuase nobody from the Enterprise ever wears one of those things.

Another perfectly fine episode but not a banger. Cool to see the early season uniforms return! C tier