PATRON TIER LIST TNG S4E24

I love how much this episode really feels like an escalation for the Romulans as villains. They have consistently played games and lured the Enterprise into traps, but this feels like a whole new level to their cruelty and trickery. The idea of having someone able to just make you see the most horrific and disturbing things you can imagine through your mind is truly terrifying and disconcerting.

The Manchurian Visor.

I would refer you to the episode Data’s day. Something is up. Romulans, Romulans… Love the breadcrumbs this episode lays out

Did not see the twist with the ambassador coming. Well played Mr. Echevarria, well played.

this episode give me chills. Geordi picking up that chair. Waking up, calling O'Brian. The endsequenz with Troi. Data's "this is an Order" CHILLS i say.

I always ALWAYS get this episode (by title) confused with another later one involving Riker. It's actually really frustrating.

I really do like Troi's talk with Geordi at the end of the episode, her calm yet firm determination, and La Forge's frustration and shock. Even his lips are trembling.

Ah, Star Trek: The Next Manchurian Candidate! Sure the story has been done before, but Trek handles it well. B-tier. Klingon cursing is always fun.

Stunning directorial debut by David Livingston. Includes one of the top 5 Data moments of all time : “That is an order”

I just can't wait to see your faces in the Romulan version of a holodeck when Geordie kills O'Brien. I also love Worf's reaction when Data tells him to place La Forge in custody. Definite high A, bordering on S!

One problem with this is I think Data takes way too long to try and stop Geordi. He's obviously started figuring it out. Maybe it's an editing issue, but he should've alerted someone long before he finally does.

New phone, who dat?

The reveal that the Klingon Ambassador is in on it, as he casually eats, is my favorite scene. Also we've got the shadowy figure..... good stuff.

Some solid political intrigue following up on the story thread of the klingon spy from Drumhead. Geordi's been having a rough go of it ever since Galaxy's Child. Still I can't help but laugh at him killing "O'Brien" and then just casually sitting down and having a drink with the guys who watched him do it. Even in the mirror universe I don't think they'd be that chill about it.

This episode is easily S tier. Very rewatchable.

S! SSSSSSS! “ that is an order” SSSSSSS++++

Data pulls rank on Worf!!!

Another great Geordi episode but in a very different way. His VISOR gets used against him. You think they would learn...

There is a lot more than meets the eye with this episode...

Another Geordi episode that's disturbing, but not in the same way as other episodes. Poor guy has no idea what's going on after he gets programmed and he probably feels about how Picard felt when he was Borgified. My ranking is "Excellent".

Every Trek series has its whipping boy. In TOS, it was arguably Chekov. In TNG, it's clearly Geordi. What I'm talking about is Trek's proclivity for picking a likable character and doing everything conceivably horrible to them for sympathy points. DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise (to some extent) do this too. (In NuTrek, the audience is comprised of whipping boys, f'naaa). I give this episode a B-Tier. It's objectively a good one, but I don't return to it that often. I feel that "torture" becomes a topic that is handled much more... discreetly(?) in future Trek to come, but here it's a means to an end to enact a dramatic plot with very little in the way of exploring the long-term consequences. But, I'm probably just being cynical. I really like the climactic moment of this episode, so there's that.

this episode has actor John Fleck who i find has a distinctive voice

My favorite scene is Data solving the mystery at the end. I also love when he pulls rank on people, since he doesn’t do it often.

I like this one... a lot. I like Romulan intrigue and I like explorations on how far they are willing to go, and how their methods differ from the Klingons... this is a perfect example.

As brainwashing episodes on TV go, this was written and performed well, building up the tension nicely. It sneaks into A territory for me, but why can't we get a good episode of Geordi just being Geordi?

A really good way to show how there’s always rumblings and underhanded politics/power struggles between the Klingons the Romulans and the federation in the background of our weekly adventures with our crew

Somewhere between B and A tier. All the right elements are there for an S-tier, but within the sub-genre of Star Trek polit-thriller there are so many stories that feel more impactful than this one that I want to leave some room for them.

A tier with the obvious ingredients, but just misses an S for the two huge issues I have. Where the hell was Troi in all of this, and why would anyone test out a phaser rifle right in the middle of Main Engineering 🤣

Really good, 7.7/10, A-. Pretty disturbing episode with Geordi' s torture. Has the really cool complex plotting I always love to see from the Romulans. And as much as I love slower, emotional, character-focused episodes, sometimes it's fun to just get a classic last-second save scene.

This was a good one. Even though I knew Data would stop him somehow, I was on the edge of my seat. I gave it a strong A. I think you will rate it S because it’s good writing, directing, and it has Klingons and Romulans. It’s like it was made for you.

A at least - could quality as S - however, i have to admit i can't re-watch - this is another on my list of "can't watch" when there is torture - but i do remember enough to give a solid A

Troi should have known Geordi was kidnapped by Romulan's and given false memories as soon as he told her he met a girl and it went great.

Romulan neural/brain technology is starting to seem pretty scary. The mind probe stuff we saw in "Future Imperfect" wasn't real, of course, but given what we see here, it seems like it was actually pretty accurate to what the Romulans can do.

THIS is Star Trek doing it's political intrigue thriller at it's best. Great tension, uncertainty and dread throughout. IMO modern Trek has tried to do intrigue like this, but it falls on it's ass every time cause it's too over the top. And shout out to that fish-eye lens tracking shot. *chef's kiss*

A. Geordie's brainwashing was totally unerving. Especially when he shoots "O'Brian" dead in "Ten Forward".

I think this one holds together for many, many re-watchings. I love getting a little piece of Geordi's life in there, what he does when he's got 'downtime' which is sit there and think about warp theory, lol. I think it's better background and character development for him than he's gotten in the past and pairs nicely with the "Identity Crisis" story we just had a couple of shows back.

D-tier for me, just like Identity Crisis. This episode should have everything that makes an episode great. How can an episode with both Romulans and Klingons in it be boring? But it is. I can never get invested in this one. This is The Vengeance Factor of Season 4. We're told right at the beginning that it's Geordi, and the entire episode is just waiting for everyone else to figure out that it's Geordi. Don't care about this one. It puts me to sleep. I may be biased though. I don't like watching anything with torture, so I haven't seen this one in a while. Maybe I'll appreciate it more with a rewatch. I had no idea the community loved this one.

Solid A tier for me. Great opener with Geordi and the Romulan Warbird startling me and him at the same time, and an interesting, if very dark, premise of watching him be successfully brainwashed to nearly kill someone like that. Most horrific being the part where the Romulan explains how they can use Geordi's implants to force him to see whatever images they want and there's nothing he can do to stop it. A missed opportunity is knowing Geordi is just presented as A-okay after this episode, where I feel like a more modern show, if written well, would have this episode change him for a long time with PTSD.

A-tier. Nice use of The Manchurian Candidate story ideas (check out the original version with Frank Sinatra sometime, if you haven't already). Interesting stuff with Geordi. Might have been an S-tier episode if not for Data being able to unravel the Romulan plot too easily at the end.

First Klingon episode since Reunion and......Klingons + Romulans????? Uh oh

Cannot wait for Alex’s reaction to the Chief getting shot.

I liked this episode a lot. After the horrible trilogy we just slogged our way through. this was refreshing. And it was a decent Geordi episode.

Romulans and Klingons working together? Surely not… oh wait didn’t they do that in The Enterprise Incident back in Season 3 of TOS?

Ya gotta love them convoluted Romulan plots. "They never come at you straight on; it's not how they think. They always come at you sideways." I enjoy the episode, though I have a hard time believing it takes them as long as it does to figure out that it's Geordi. Given how often it happens, the people are abducted or go off course to crash or whatever when they leave the Enterprise, if I'm them, I'm going to start asking for confirmation that my cremen arrived at their destination. That said, while not one of the best episodes of all time, it's still fun. And the mysterious woman in the shadows is an interesting teaser.

Great Geordi episode. I like the simulation in the Romulan holodeck. The ending scene where Geordi is talking to Troi is great, it shows that there are lingering traumas after something like this happens to our crew. Geordi has to work through that trauma, it’s not just wiped away between scenes. S tier

1: Worf: do you have a alibi Geordi : no sorry i dont, worf: understandable have a nice day 2:gotta love that worf jumping down from a ladder was enough of a threat to jump him 3: less dramatic ending: Data to security: priorty order beam commander la forge into the brig

Chief O'Brien saves the Federation from war without even knowing it.

Creepy lady in the shadows...

Picard most certainly knew that refusing asylum would result in a death sentence for ambassador Kell. His delivery of the line, “I will grant asylum… AFTER you have been absolved” was such a cutting way to doom him to execution.