Spoiler Synopsis - "The Loss"
Mark H. Anbinder
Subject: Spoiler Synopsis - "The Loss" Date: 1/1/91
Spoiler Synopsis: "The Loss" -- Episode 184
WARNING: The following posting contains a complete synopsis of this
week's TNG episode, "The Loss." If you have not yet seen
the episode, it may spoil your enjoyment... and at the very
least will spoil any surprises the authors may have wanted
to catch you with. Proceed at your own risk. Tim Lynch
would probably wish you a Happy New Year if he were here, but
since I'm doing the synopsis for him, I'll wish you a Happy
New Year myself.
It's been a while since we've seen Counselor Troi counseling someone, but
that's how this week's episode opens. She is speaking with Ensign Janet
Brooks, whose husband died in an accident five months before. The woman has
never really come to terms with her loss, simply denied its effect. She
chastises herself for having insisted that all her husband's personal effects
be taken away after his death, and when Troi produces one item that she'd
saved, Brooks starts to break down and finally face the loss.
On the bridge, Picard is suggesting that Riker try a wonderful new holodeck
program, one that offers horseback riding in the Himalayas, something Riker
feels may be beyond him. Picard suggests that they could program a docile
steed, but Worf interrupts to report "a vast field of..." something, that
appeared directly in their path but vanished as quickly. Meanwhile, Ensign
Brooks is leaving Troi, but notices Troi wince. Troi brushes it off, saying
she's just tired, but after the Ensign leaves, she stumbles back into her
quarters, clearly more than tired. Data, on the bridge, reports that an
"aggregate field of plane-polarized objects has just appeared... and
disappeared." Picard calls a full stop to investigate, as Troi collapses in
her quarters.
Sensor diagnostics show nothing odd, and the anomaly has not shown itself
again. Attempts to resume the original course to the destination, though, have
no effect except a brief lurch. Moments later, the Ensign at Con reports that
the ship is moving again... they're being pulled. Troi, in the meantime, calls
a busy Dr. Crusher to say she's feeling very dizzy. Crusher tells her she'll be
there as soon as she can, though she's getting calls from all over the ship.
An attempt to break away from the slow one-tenth-impulse pull accomplishes
nothing. When Crusher arrives, Troi's pain is gone, though she's feeling a bit
foggy. Riker's voice over the intercom interrupts, calling for a Senior Staff
meeting; the ladies head upstairs, though Troi gets a confused look on her face
for a moment.
At the staff meeting in the observation lounge, it is only when Picard asks
Troi whether she senses a life form "out there" that she realizes she can't
sense ANYTHING... anything at all, outside the ship or inside.
Down in Sickbay, Crusher's diagnosis is brain damage, though she's not sure
whether it can be treated. Troi comments that Betazed brains are very good at
regenerating themselves, and that the condition might clear itself up. Crusher
is less optimistic, saying that it might, but that Troi is, after all, half
human, and she doesn't want to give her any false hopes. "It's just hope,
Beverly, not false hope," says Troi. Riker wonders if Troi's problem might
have anything to do with the anomaly, since it arrived at the same time as
Troi's problem. Dr. Crusher suggests that Troi go to see one of the other
people on board with a degree in Psychology... since she can't, as she usually
would in such cases, recommend that the patient go see Counselor Troi.
Later, Riker goes to visit Troi, who comments coldly that she's always noticed
that people treat handicapped people differently... and that she does NOT want
to be treated that way. She will adapt... or she won't.
Up on the bridge, Geordi and Data are examining data being collected by a probe
they've launched to examine the ship. Nothing unusual shows up until they
overlay virtual particle trajectories on the display. The ship appears to be
surrounded by a cloud of moving particles that Geordi comments reminds him of
what he saw while skin-diving off some coral reefs on some planet or other.
Troi is again conversing with Ensign Brooks, who reports that she feels like a
new woman. Troi comments that one night of crying can't make up for months of
denial, but Brooks tells her she's wrong.
Data and Geordi report that the objects surrounding the ship exist in two
dimensions... they have length and width, but no height, which is why the
ship's sensors did not detect them, since they were being seen edge on. Only
the probe, above the horizontal plane of the ship, could see them. Data says
that they appear to be alive, but the only explanation as to why the ship is
being dragged along is that the ship's graviton field is being polarized.
Geordi says, "It's a shame we can't tell if they're sentient," which Troi takes
as a personal insult. She storms out as soon as Picard adjourns the meeting.
Troi goes down to Sickbay, and pleads with Crusher to DO SOMETHING. "How do
you people live like this?!" She yells at the doctor, telling her she has no
idea what such a loss feels like, and that she should have come to help Troi
sooner, rather than wasting her time on skinned elbows.
After going to her quarters to think, Troi goes up to the Captain's Ready Room
to resign her position as Counselor, since she has no idea how to do her job
without her empathic abilities. Picard tries to convince her that empathic
awareness is not a requirement of the position, and that she'll be able to
adjust. He adds that when humans lose a sense, as when a man becomes blind,
the other senses grow stronger to compensate. Troi snaps back that this is a
myth with no scientific basis, no doubt created by "normal" people who felt
uncomfortable around the disabled. She is disabled, she says, and she can not
perform her duties. Picard tries to tell her about a teacher at the Academy
who'd been confined to a wheelchair from birth, but Troi interrupts, saying,
"Captain, spare me the inspirational anecdote, and just accept my resignation."
Riker goes down to Troi's quarters to talk to her. When she says she'd really
rather be alone, he answers, "Too bad." As she starts to cry, he hugs her.
She asks, "Is this how you handle all your personnel problems?" "Sure," Riker
responds. "You'd be surprised how far a hug goes with Geordi... or Worf."
Troi complains about the hollowness around her... how the people around her,
including Riker, seem to have no more substance than characters on the
holodeck. Riker comments that this puts her on equal footing with him... that
she'd always acted aristocratic, as though her human half weren't good enough
for her. He is interrupted by Geordi, who reports via Commlink that they are
ready to try another breakaway attempt.
The attempt again fails; they are lucky, Geordi says, that the hull is still in
one piece. Data reports that the movement pattern of the cluster changed for
an instant during their attempt, but then immediately returned to its previous
dynamic. Picard suggests that they filter the reaction through the Universal
Translator to see whether the creatures might be trying to communicate.
In Ten Forward, Guinan surprises Troi, who clearly is not used to having people
be able to sneak up behind her. Guinan off-handedly comments that she's going
to talk to Picard about the position of Counselor, now that it's open. Troi
tries to tell Guinan that the position involves more than letting people cry on
her shoulder, but Guinan thinks she can handle it. Troi realizes that Guinan
isn't being serious... and realizes that even without her empathic abilities,
her instincts were able to "read" Guinan's feelings.
On the bridge, Data notices a new phenomenon. It turns out to be a "cosmic
string fragment," 107 km long, no wider than a proton, but with gravitational
fields as strong as those around a black hole. The two-dimensional beings,
Data notes, are heading right for the string fragment, the Enterprise in tow.
Only seven hours remain until the Enterprise will reach the cosmic string
fragment, and the two-dimensional beings have shown no indication that they are
aware of the danger. Worf suggests firing a spread of photon torpedoes into
the field of creatures, but Picard, hesitant to risk hurting them, opts for
Geordi's suggestion... a spread of torpedoes in their path instead. This has
no effect, so Picard decides to try the torpedoes in the middle of the graviton
field. This, too, accomplishes nothing.
Down in Troi's quarters, Brooks arrives for her appointment. Troi apologizes
for forgetting to cancel their appointment, that clearly she can be of no help
to her any more. Brooks says that this is nonsense, that Troi had been
right... that she was STILL hiding from the pain of her husband's death. Troi
might not have been able to sense her feelings, but she helped. Picard calls
Troi to his office, and tells her that, with the situation critical, she is the
best-qualified person on board, empathic abilities or no, to help Data try to
communicate with the entities, to warn them of their impending destruction.
It's an hour until the ship's destruction, and Troi joins Data. While telling
him how little help she'll be to him without her empathic abilities, not
knowing how to draw on her human instinct, she realizes that the entities might
be acting instinctively, following their inherent, inborn forces. If they can
discover what drives this species, they may be able to find a solution. The
only evidence is the brief change in course and speed when the Enterprise tried
to break away... perhaps this will provide a clue. If the entities have chosen
a course towards the string fragment, a simple, instinctive stimulus response
like a moth driven to a flame, then, Data hypothesizes, a cosmic string
fragment simulated BEHIND the cluster might draw the entities away from the
cosmic string. They won't be able to simulate the gravitational equivalent of
a hundred stars, but they can simulate the string's vibrational frequencies,
with Geordi controlling the ship's parabolic dish. When they increase the
intensity beyond that of the cosmic string, the graviton field collapses, and
the ship is able to move away.
Troi suddenly smiles, and announces that the creatures are all right, even
though they've entered the gravitational effect of the cosmic string fragment;
they're home. The cosmic string was "the one place in the galaxy they most
wanted to be," rather than a danger. Yes, Troi responds to Riker's unvoiced
question... she SENSED it.
In Ten Forward, Troi explains that the overwhelming intensity of emotion of the
cluster of entities must have short-circuited her empathy's ability to process
emotion. Crusher accepts Troi's attempt to apologize, interrupting it, and
commenting that therapists usually make the worst patients... "except for
doctors, of course." Troi tells Guinan that she'd never fully appreciated how
difficult and rewarding it is to be human... but she had a lot of help. She
thanks Riker for making her face her other half... and comments that he was
right that there's something to be learned by not being in control of every
situation. Riker welcomes her to the human race, and leans in to kiss her.
She dodges, and says, "By the way, the next time you call me aristocratic..."
--
Next time, on "Data's Day," O'Brien gets married, and Data tries to find his
place in the universe. "Will he ever feel life's most cherished emotions?"
Stay tuned for the return of Lynch's Spoiler Synopsis... next time, on Star
Trek: The Next Generation.
--
Mark H. Anbinder STARNET - The International Star Trek Fan Network
1063 Warren Road #6 Memory Alpha BBS
Ithaca, NY 14850 m...@memory.uucp 607-257-5822
--
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