The rough edges of the first season once again show themselves in this episode. The concept: crew being “possessed” by aliens is one that will be revisited later on in the series, and, quite frankly, the result is usually disastrous. Lonely Among Us is no exception. The acting (aside from a few scenes from Data) and VFX (usually strong even in the first season) are absolutely horrid. As is the plausibility that the Captain could beam himself into an energy field, then come back into the computer circuits and identify himself by rearranging the pixels into a ‘P’ and then materialize onto the transporter.

There is just one bright spot to this episode — which manages to keep it from being a complete failure: we get our first introductions into Data’s obsession with Sherlock Holmes, and Picard’s fondness for Private Eye stories. Both concepts will yield some great episodes further along in the series — and its no coincidence that Data’s scenes where he’s smoking a pipe and “acting” like Holmes are the best in the episode.

A poor concept that was poorly executed. Data’s Holmes impression keeps this from being one of the worst episodes of the entire series.

Topics: Sherlock Holmes
Filed under: TNG Reviews