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| Riker fears he is losing his mind. |
The government of Tilonus IV has fallen, and a state of anarchy has engulfed the planet. Riker will be sent down to Tilonus alone to locate and retrieve the Federation research team hiding on the planet - a team that Picard warns will be a prime target to the many factions vying for control.
The trip to Tilonus will take several days, so Riker's mission will not get him out of the play he is rehearsing for Beverly. The piece is titled Frame of Mind, a two-hander in which Riker plays a man in an insane asylum, a man who insists he is innocent of a murder charge - something which makes his sinister psychiatrist - portrayed by Data - judge him to be all the more unstable.
The performance goes well, and Riker receives an enthusiastic ovation from the crew. But when he takes his bow, the Enterprise disappears. He finds himself inside the ward of the play, with his sinister "doctor" no longer Data but rather the alien Syrus (David Selburg) questioning him. Syrus greets him with the same line that closed the play:
"We have a lot of work to do..."
CHARACTERS
Capt. Picard: As the episode goes along, Syrus temporarily convinces Riker that the Enterprise and its crew are a complex delusion. He subjects Riker to a therapy in which a machine scans his mind and projects different parts of his personality. Troi is emotion, Worf is aggression. Picard, of course, is reason, dispassionately recalling the events that brought Riker to the hospital as Troi and Worf recall what he was feeling during that struggle.
Riker: This episode is a showcase for Jonathan Frakes, who by nature of the story is in virtually every scene. Frakes throws himself into this on-edge, emotional Riker, and does so in a way that doesn't compromise Riker's usual characterization. For most of the episode, he never stops thinking, trying to interact with both the ship and hospital realities. He is confused, increasingly so as he switches back and forth between both environments, but he tries to connect with whatever reality he inhabits and is able to draw connections between them. Those connections, along with a couple of convenient continuity errors, finally allow him to see the truth behind the strangeness.
Dr. Crusher: Pushes Riker to give a strong performance in the play, and one senses that her love of her little acting sideline has perhaps overwhelmed her a bit. We even see Picard urging Riker to go ahead with the performance even as he prepares for the mission. If Riker backs out, Picard observes, then Dr. Crusher will come after him to play it! Because of the connection between the play and Riker's hospital experiences, he tells her about it before anyone else, making her his sounding board for this episode.
THOUGHTS
Finally, an episode centered around someone other than Picard that's actually good! Don't get me wrong, Patrick Stewart's Picard is the show's most consistently strong asset... but the extended run of Picard-centric episodes, with the only break the mediocre Birthright, had become wearying. Having a genuinely intriguing episode that's centered around another member of the cast is definitely a good thing.
Given that this was written by Brannon Braga, I cannot help but notice how similar it is to Braga's Schisms from earlier this season. Many of the same trappings are present: a Riker who is sleep-deprived and emotionally on-edge, a first Act in which everything seems normal until a sudden reveal. But it's more smoothly executed this time around. While the first Act of Schisms was largely tedious, this episode captures the attention immediately. Even in the first Act, there's a definite sense of something being "off," from Riker's sightings of unfamiliar crew members in the corridors to Worf's over-aggressive briefing for the mission. The Tilonus mission itself creates a sense of structure that was lacking in Schisms' first act, while at the same time layering in some exposition and context for Riker's later struggles.
James L. Conway brings a strong visual style to his direction. For an episode partially centered around a stage performance, it's appropriate that he uses a lot of theatrical technique. The show opens on Riker performing against black. His scene from the play is allowed to carry the first few minutes before any context is given, and all we really see is Riker's face, with Data's voice off-camera. The actor and his emotional delivery keep it engaging, and we wait to find out exactly what is going on... Really, a perfect way to start an episode in which even the main character isn't sure what's really happening to him until very late in the story!
Conway also has fun with the scenes in which the Enterprise sets and the hospital sets are merged. At one point, Riker looks out onto a corridor and sees the hospital corridor instead of the ship. He closes his eyes, willing it not to be real, then opens them again to see the ship's corridor. He relaxes briefly, until he encounters a character from the hospital - then runs to his quarters, where he hears the door lock like a cell door. He looks up to see that he is standing back in the hospital, and there's a wonderful zoom in on Riker's face through the door, screaming to be let out.
Frame of Mind is genuinely creepy and atmospheric. It is well-performed by Jonathan Frakes, and it's stylishly directed. Definitely a good one.
Overall Rating: 8/10.
Previous Episode: The Chase
Next Episode: Suspicions
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