Attention on heck! Don’t try to adjust your viewscreens, person-hell and boo-tenants! What you’re seeing isn’t a creepy clone, a hellish hologram, or a strangely specific alternate universe! For the month of October, we’ll be taking a spine-chilling stroll through Trek’s most horror-iffic outings and spooky adventures! Now why don’t you sit back and try not to let that green blood of yours run cold! If things get a little too intense, don’t hesitate to ask Scotty to SCREAM you up! Hehehehehehehehehe!
Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 7, Episode 6
The surrealism of dreams is one of their defining qualities, the ways in which our brains become untethered from reality and spin off into weird places. They make for interesting (as well as disturbing) subjects for pop culture entertainment. All of the Spooky Treks for this year have been based upon dreams and mental realities, and hey, here’s another one! “Phantasms” is one of the most memorable Next Generation episodes because of its bizarre imagery, horror sensibilities, hilarious moments, and the warm characterization that was endemic of the series. It’s a curious mixture of so many different elements that shouldn’t work as well as it does, but makes for one of TNG’s most unique and adventurous outings.
I think most would remember this as one of the series’ sporadic forays into horror, but as I rewatched it I was struck at how sublime of an episode it is outside of that spooky appeal. There are all sorts of cute little character bits and a great number of laugh-out-loud moments. It’s a strange and wonderful alchemy that “Phantasms” is able to achieve – telling a horror-esque tale of disturbing imagery while remaining within the general domain of TNG‘s storytelling style and being a very fun bottle adventure.
Data’s dreaming program was one of the series’ best developments for his character. Introduced late in the series, it didn’t figure into too many episodes, but is the basis for “Phantasm’s” story, and to great effect. While dreaming of walking down one of the Enterprise’s corridors, Data randomly encounters La Forge, who mentions some real-life work they need to do. The specialized camera lens gives the scene an appropriately dreamy, off-kilter feel, as does a bemused Geordi calling after Data as he walks away. It’s a nice meta piece of dialogue that lets us know that this episode is going to be very wacky indeed.
Data encounters some old timey workmen destroying one of the ship’s power conduits with pick axes and crowbars. While talking to them, Data’s voice becomes a high pitch screeching that seems to irritate the chaps, and they attack him, yanking off his arm and finally his head.
Data is preoccupied with what has become his first nightmare, so much so that on La Forge’s recommendation Troi visits him to talk about it. I love the beginning of the scene as Data stares at Spot and muses to Troi that his cat seems to have very active dreams, despite never having seen a mouse or chased by a predator. What could he possibly be dreaming about, Data wonders? It doesn’t figure into the plot at all, but that’s also why I love it. It’s endemic of TNG’s style of writing to just ask questions for the sake of asking questions. The show very much prizes curiosity and exploration for its own sake, and I think that influenced me so much as a person growing up. And it gives some nice color and nuance to the characters.
Data is so weirded out by the experience that he’s avoided dreaming since, but Troi encourages him to not shy away from the darker thoughts that may arise from dreams. She theorizes that there’s some part of Data’s unconscious (if he has one) that could be trying to express itself, and suggests he not stifle it. Data immediately takes her advice to heart and goes to bed to dream again.
Now finding himself in Ten Forward, he runs across Worf happily devouring a “cellular peptide cake (with mint frosting!).” And Dr. Crusher also happily sucking some bright pink fluid out of a straw embedded in Riker’s temple. Riker seems irritated by the sudden ringing of an old school telephone and demands to know if Data is going to answer it. The entire sequence has a wonderfully weird Lynchian quality, and the episode recalls the symbolic dream storytelling of Twin Peaks. Everything in Data’s dream means something, and the eventual reveal that explains it all is satisfying as a result.
Data finds the three old timey construction guys gathered around a table, and once again makes the high-pitch sound. They tell him to shut up, and then hand him a large knife so he can cut the cake they’re admiring. The visual of the Troi cake is one of the series’ weirdest and most haunting ones – there’s something very reminiscent of Eraserhead about its implied body horror. It’s so disturbing the way Troi turns her head towards the camera as Data approaches the table; she’s an inanimate object (as a disembodied pastry torso) but is still a person with thoughts and feelings who can only watch what is done to her. If I really wanted to get all film school dissertation, I could go on about the implication of how the dream speaks to the objectification and consumption of women’s bodies in culture.
She begs Data not to hurt her, and he apologizes for doing so as he sinks the knife into her shoulder. She reacts in pain and her cries grow louder as the dream ends. It turns out the real life Troi was actually calling out his name, and he finds her, Worf, and La Forge standing over him in bed. He was late for his duty shift and they’ve been trying to wake him for several minutes. Uh-oh!
Diagnostics on Data reveal nothing out of the ordinary that would explain his “oversleeping.” La Forge theorizes that it could be an intentional part of the dream program and the human experience. Later on in the holodeck, Data lies on a couch and is psychoanalyzed by Sigmund Freud. Which if you’re playing your TNG bingo sheet, you can mark off the “character consults a famous historical figure on the holodeck” space! I didn’t make the connection until I rewatched the episode, but Troi mentioned a quote by Freud in her and Data’s first conversation, which is what prompts him to conjure up the doctor here to try and gain more insight about his dreams.
It’s a very silly scene in the best way – LOL at Freud’s ears perking up when Data mentions the “very large knife” in his dream. Freud sums up Data’s dreams as a conflict between his mechanical nature trying to reassert itself against his humanistic qualities. Honestly, that’s not a bad interpretation. Less helpful is his diagnosis of Data having an Oedipal complex and sexual inadequacy. Excuse me, doctor, but maybe you haven’t heard how fully functional this guy is. Data doesn’t find much use in Freud’s hypotheses and exits the program.
In addition to this whole business with Data’s dream, the episode also manages to squeeze in two subplots. Maybe even three! The more important one (which ultimately relates to Data’s dream) is the installation of a new warp core in the Enterprise which for some reason keeps failing and can’t make the ship go. This dovetails into Picard’s extreme disinterest in attending a Starfleet Admirals’ banquet – an extremely boring affair he’s managed to dodge for the past six years. I mean, given the track record of Starfleet admirals, I can’t blame him. I can just picture it now – big convention center banquet hall, a band playing license-free classical music, plates of colored cubes everywhere, silent nodding waiters, 50 admirals that are gruff assholes, and 50 other admirals that are as somehow corrupt and evil as any modern day CEO. And literally nothing in between. I’m gonna go with “Make it… no.”
Picard is continually pestered by Admiral Nakamura (hey, we remember that guy) about showing up. Riker deduces that he’s very suspicious about Picard’s convenient string of no-shows. It’s honestly a cute, low-stakes way to round out the plot and give some drive (heh) to the efforts of getting the Enterprise’s engines up and running. And on a slightly more serious level, once again emphasizes how not cut out for being an admiral Picard is, as it’s the death of fun and the end of being on the front lines of adventure.
ALSO ALSO is a peppy young new member of La Forge’s engineering team, Ensign Tyler. She’s very sweet on La Forge, and he’s very uncomfortable with her affections. As with nearly every plot that features Geordi and a woman, it’s very odd and awkward. But at the same time, there is some delicious karmic justice at play – oh hey La Forge, is there something that’s bothering you about the inappropriate affections of someone of the opposite sex? Yeah, it’s not fun, is it? Oy.
Anyway, Tyler is super adorable and doesn’t really do anything out of line here at all. But La Forge keeps huffing and puffing to Data that he needs to TALK TO HER ABOUT IT. Yeah, that won’t make things any more weird. I’ll just chalk it up to Star Trek‘s generally awkward (if not outright horrific) handling of sex and attraction.
While working alongside La Forge, Data sees a tool that reminds him of the knife from his dream. And like… literally what else could this tool possibly be? I normally love all the gadgets on Star Trek, but I gotta give the prop department a D on this one. You guys did not even try on this one. At least put a blinky light on it! I remember being initially confused about it – is that what it actually looks like, or is Data already hallucinating? Nope, it’s literally just a slightly futuristic steak knife. Can I get a hyper-fork and some polarized A1 sauce so I can get some eating – I mean, engineering done? 😋
As Data talks to the back of La Forge’s head (and who hasn’t from time to time?), he sees a sinister little mouth open and close on his neck. It’s a neat little effect, and super eerie. Suddenly, engineering is totally empty of everyone else. A straw-headed Riker pointedly demands if Data is going to answer that damn ringing. I love how bothered Will is in these dreams. He’s not a happy camper! Data pops his chest open which reveals a big empty cavity holding an old-fashioned telephone. He reaches in and answers it, only to hear Sigmund Freud ordering him to “Kill zem, you must kill zem all before it’s too late!” Always a good omen when the voices in your head tell you that!
Data is woken up by La Forge in the middle of engineering with the knife not knife held up to his ear like a phone. Also a more good sign!
Troi isn’t sure what to make of what’s happening to Data, and since all the diagnostics have shown him to be operating perfectly she’s concerned he’s become too obsessed with his own inner workings and may be developing a neurosis. Data – god bless him – seems excited about that, which is so gosh darn cute. She suggests regular counseling sessions to work through it (“Daily???” Data excitedly asks, LOL).
As La Forge struggles to get the Enterprise’s warp engines up and running, an impatient Picard hovers over his efforts in engineering. It’s such a cute moment, as he continually meddles and tries to make himself useful. Fortunately, Tyler steps in and distracts the captain with some pointless busywork which he happily accepts. I love that she shows some emotional intelligence in giving Picard what he needs and helping La Forge with the distraction. This show’s wholesomeness is off the charts sometimes. And in this episode of all episodes. Because what happens next…
Troi waltzes down a corridor, but keeps looking over her shoulder as if sensing someone following her. It’s such a great horror scene – it’s not quite as bone-chilling as The One Scene from “Night Terrors,” but it’s very well done and truly shocking. As she enters the turbolift, Troi gets a jump scare as Data’s hand darts into the closing doors. Standing in front of her, he stares intently at her shoulder and lifts the knife not knife above his head, Pyscho-style. “Hold very still,” Data says chillingly as he stabs her with it. Troi screams as the tool penetrates her flesh, and continues as a dead-eyed Data brings it down over and over. It’s a truly terrifying moment, and the perspective of the shots really amplify it.
After the commercial break we get to hear Worf complaining to Riker about some apparently god-awful music program he gave to his son, which turns out to be jazz, of course. There’s just something about this episode; it’s like the writers were going for broke in how many cute non-sequiturs they could fit in. But it helps to round out the world and characters and I love it all. I also love the complete tonal dissonance of the moment as the turbolift doors they’re waiting for open to reveal Data standing over Troi with a bloody knife bloody not knife. We’re just having this fun little moment and then BOOM – Riker’s smile immediately disappears as he sees that the robot has gone crazy and is stabbing people. Data immediately lunges toward Riker but seems to come out of it in time. It’s a good thing he did before he put that thing where the straw goes!
Data is relieved of duty by Picard and confined to his quarters. Troi wakes in sickbay, having lost some blood but none the worse for wear. Or maybe not, since she has a nasty, unexplained rash where she got stabbed.
Worf escorts Data to his quarters, who asks Worf to care for Spot as he is afraid he might hurt him if he has another waking dream. Oh man, this episode. I imagine the writers were like “Should we make this episode very dark and disturbing or extremely silly and lighthearted?” And Rick Berman was just like “Yup.” And then did something gross and shitty to a woman.
Handing Spot to Worf, Data begins listing out all of his cat care instructions. Dorn makes Worf look like he’s dying inside with each passing second. It’s so hysterical. “I will feed him,” Worf rumbles. As he leaves Data’s quarters he immediately sneezes and Spot meows angrily. Good god, this episode is so wonderful.
Not so wonderful is what Dr. Crusher has found. Using an interphasic scanner, she reveals a gross invisible bug where Troi was stabbed by Data. Like in “Identity Crisis,” the alien threat is right in front of the crew’s eyes, but shifted out of their reality enough to be undetectable by their senses. They look like discolored, pulsating little tumors with tendrils. So gross! Even worse, Crusher has found them on almost all of her staff and when she waves the device over Riker and Picard, reveals them on their skin, as well.
They’re basically phantom alien leeches that are feeding off the crews’ blood and flesh. They aren’t affected by anything the crew tries on them, and unless they’re removed, will kill everyone. Picard realizes that Data must aware of them on some level, because the locations of the creatures on Troi’s and Riker’s bodies correspond to the surreal visions he had in his dreams.
La Forge’s idea is to hook Data’s brain up to the holodeck so that he and Picard can explore Data’s dream and try to figure out what the connection is. It’s an inspired choice of involving them in Data’s weird dreams. And it’s always more fun when everyone can share the same dream.
On the holodeck, Picard and La Forge follow Data into Ten Forward where they see the Troi cake. Data cuts another piece out the same shoulder he stabbed her in IRL. Except this time she must be dead in the dream, because her eyes are closed and she doesn’t react. Which is probably for the best! Data states it’s a “cellular peptide” cake. “With mint frosting!” Worf adds with his mouth full. LOL. Picard makes the connection that cellular peptides are what the aliens are extracting from the crews’ bodies, and that the cake and Will’s brain straw represent eating/consumption.
Riker is really at his wit’s end with the ringing! Crusher continues to slurp his brain juices out and even offers Picard and co. some. “It’s delicious!” she says. La Forge pops Data’s torso open and answers the phone. The caller asks for Picard and tells him to “Kill zem!”
Ten Forward changes into Sigmund Freud’s office, who interprets his presence as Data’s subconscious mind trying to warn him about the dangers he is perceiving. Also, a huge penis.
Speaking of dicks, the three old timey dudes burst into Freud’s office and put a cap in his ass. Sigmund seems more afflicted by heartburn than an actual gunshot wound and just relaxes back into his chair for the big sleep.
They move the couch Data is lying on to reveal an Enterprise power conduit behind the wall. They begin banging on it with their tools, and when Picard asks who they are, they begin to converge on them with their weapons. “We are your enemies,” the lead guy says menacingly. Data gets up to stop them and once again makes the high-pitched noise with his mouth. The dudes react in pain again, but Picard encourages Data to keep it up. He does, and the three men collapse to the ground.
Having pieced it all together, Data wakes himself up from the dream and instructs La Forge to use his noggin to administer an interphasic pulse to the entire ship. He explains to Picard that he somehow subconsciously detected the presence of the aliens, who were represented by the dudes in his dream dismantling the ship. His brain also realized a way of stopping the aliens, symbolized by the high-pitched noise – basically like an immune response. As La Forge activates the pulse, Crusher observes the aliens flicker away into nonexistence. Like putting too many symbolic phallic objects into a condom!
Not only that, but La Forge discovers that it was the aliens’ presence on the ship that was disrupting their engines. One of the new conduits they installed was created with an interphasic process that must have attracted the creatures. It recalls how the fish monks of “Schisms” were attracted across dimensions by some weird power thingy the Enterprise was doing in that episode. Except the aliens in this episode didn’t seem to be intelligent, just attracted to an energy source like mosquitos to a bug zapper. It’s a nice change of pace that the little fuckers weren’t actively malevolent, just unintelligent bugs trying to suck everyone dry.
Troi stops by Data’s quarters and doesn’t seem to bear a grudge about him, y’know, stabbing her with a not knife actual, literal knife. And then she whips out a cake she made of Data’s body so that they can cut it up and devour it together. Which is about the cutest and most wholesome way for a stabbing attack to end. Meanwhile in the holodeck database, dr_sigmund_freud.exe scribbles in his notebook furiously.
“Phantasms” is such a weird, spooky, and silly episode. I had good memories of it, but rewatching it I was bowled over by how successful it utilizes the classic TNG formula while seamlessly incorporating a compelling horror story. It’s an episode that’s absolutely stuffed with all sorts of good moments and none of them feel extraneous. The plot is a well-crafted piece of work that is more than just weirdness for weirdness’ sake.
Stray Observations:
- You know, I actually feel bad for Spot if he’s never seen a mouse and doesn’t have a window to look out at. He needs some holodeck enrichment!
- Picard’s ambivalence about attending the admirals’ function recalls him desperately escaping the boring gathering in “Starship Mine.” He’s not a party guy!
- In his fumbling attempts to help, Picard suggests that he reconfigure the isolinear chips, which causes La Forge to bolt out of his chair to stop him. It seems like a subtle reference to “The Naked Now,” in which the unplugging of all the isolinear chips is almost what gets the ship destroyed.
- Worf chowing down on Troi foreshadows him taking a big bite out of her in “Genesis.”
- This wouldn’t be the last time someone in Trek gets stabbed with an engineering tool!
- I think Nakamura is probably the most consistent admiral shown in TNG. Maybe tied with Nechayev?
- Hey, for realsies: you’re on the holodeck and Data hands you a slice of Troi. What are you doing with it??? I mean, it would be rude to turn it down… The only downside is developing even more of a taste for human flesh.
- LOL, check out Spot’s stunt double:
- Presented without context:
“Only if you hold me!”
- Freud Fun:
Well, I don’t know about you, my space-FEARing cadets, but I’m certainly beat! All this looking at the viewSCREAM has given me quite the headache. As much as I’ve enjoyed this month long trek-or-treat, I think I’ll head down to sickbay and see if Bones can do anything for my Guts. Until next time, Live as Long as you can and Prosper! Ahehehehehehehehe!