Changes: Transfigurations (episode)

Revision as of 19:11, 13 January 2016

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The Enterprise rescues a critically injured amnesiac who is undergoing a mysterious transformation.

Summary

Teaser

"Captain's log, stardate 43957.2. We are charting an unexplored star system within the Zeta Gelis Cluster. This routine assignment has made for a refreshingly quiet time aboard the Enterprise."

Worf, La Forge, and Henshaw — Awkward conversation

The Enterprise is exploring an uncharted star system within the Zeta Gelis Cluster, when the ship discovers a faint life sign and debris from a small ship on one of the planets.

La Forge is in Ten Forward with Worf and he says that he is interested in Christy Henshaw who is sitting at a nearby table with a friend but he is too shy to approach her. Christy comes over to the bar to leave her and her friend's empty cups. She tries to strike up a conversation but La Forge is tongue-tied. Then Commander Riker contacts him from the bridge and he leaves Worf.

Energy transfers to La Forge — A strange burst of energy

On the surface, the away team finds the crashed vessel, with a single badly-injured occupant. Dr. Beverly Crusher scans him and says that his brain stem has been damaged and his involuntary nervous functions are not stable enough for transport up to the ship. She asks for a volunteer, and La Forge steps forward.

She establishes a neural link between La Forge and the alien, to allow La Forge's brain to regulate both nervous systems and stabilize the alien until they can beam up to the Enterprise. When the connection is made, an energy discharge enters La Forge's mind, and he inhales sharply, but assures Crusher that he's fine. As soon as the alien stabilizes, all three of them are beamed directly to sickbay.

Act One

In sickbay, Dr. Crusher works tirelessly with her staff to stabilize the severely wounded mystery man. On the bridge, Commander Riker reports to Captain Picard that the crashed vessel appeared to be an escape pod, which means that the ship it came from must have been attacked somewhere close by. Data detects debris and refined metals in orbit of the planet, indicating the ship was destroyed. Worf also picks up residual phaser fire. Riker shows Picard a small module which is all that is left of the pod's computer system, and Picard gives it to Data for analysis.

John Doe physical therapy — A speedy, fragile recovery

Picard visits sickbay to check on the patient's progress, and Crusher reports that he will make a full recovery, due in no small part to his body's quick recuperative powers. She is also troubled to note that his undamaged cells are mutating, a process that does not seem to be connected to his injuries.

La Forge is in Ten Forward sitting at a table with Worf and Data discussing the salvaged computer module. La Forge and Data present various theories on how to decode it, but Worf is unhappy they are talking shop and not relaxing. La Forge says he is relaxed and has never felt better. He then spots Christy and decides to escort her out of Ten Forward to the ship's arboretum. "I have been tutoring him. He learns very quickly", a proud Worf tells Data.

In sickbay, the mysterious alien has been removed from intensive bio-support and most of his major organs are functioning on their own after only 36 hours. While Dr. Crusher monitors his life signs, he awakens and touches her hand, surprising the doctor. His first words to her are "I am alive". Crusher remarks that he certainly is. He follows this up by asking "Who am I?"

Act Two

"Captain's log, stardate 43960.6. Our mission to map the Zeta Gelis star cluster is proceeding on schedule. Meanwhile, Dr. Crusher reports that the recovery of the patient she has named John Doe continues at a remarkable pace."

When the alien, now named John Doe, finally recovers enough to awaken, he does not know who he is or what led him to be on that planet. The bridge crew attempt to ascertain the mystery of John's origins while continuing their work on the charting of the Zeta Gelis Cluster.

John Doe has been aboard for over a month, his recuperation speedy and successful, but the doctor is still puzzled by his continuing mutation, which now elicits pain and a glowing energy pulse from his torso. Beverly is frustrated at her inability to solve the mystery or halt the pain, while John is contrite about not being able to remember.

Riker is waiting for the turbolift, and when it finally comes, he sees La Forge and Christy in a long kiss. Riker comments that he is having a lot of luck with her. La Forge says that he's still the same old Geordi, but Riker says he's changed. La Forge admits he is a lot more confident than he used to be.

Chief Miles O'Brien comes into sickbay with a dislocated shoulder, after kayaking on the holodeck. While Crusher is preparing the necessary equipment, John drifts over and touches his shoulder. There is another glowing energy pulse, and O'Brien's arm is completely healed, to Beverly and her son Wesley's astonishment.

O'Brien and John Doe — *"The pain is gone!"*

Over dinner with Wesley, Beverly admits that there is something oddly compelling about the mysterious man, but denies anything like a "Florence Nightingale" effect (i.e., that she is falling in love with her patient). She feels that she has a spiritual connection with John that is different than a romantic one. She tells her son she probably is not making much sense, but Wesley tells her he understands somewhat.

As the bridge crew grow closer to discovering the origins of John Doe, including discovering the coordinates of the planet from which he came from, the alien is starting to remember fragments of his past, namely that he was escaping his planet and that there were others with him. He asks Picard not to return him, at least not yet. Picard states that the Enterprise will not be in the vicinity of the planet's star system for three weeks, giving John ample time to discuss the problem further. After Picard and Crusher leave John alone, a powerful yellow glow briefly appears on his body.

Act Three

John and Dr. Crusher have some drinks in Ten Forward celebrating John's first day out of sickbay. John marvels at the diversity of the Enterprise crew, many different species all working together freely. He tells Crusher that his species is different from this somehow. Crusher tells John how fond she has become of him and he vice-versa. John tells Crusher that he believes he is on some kind of journey and that his mutation in his body is connected to it. He knows he must complete his journey before anything else.

Worf announces to Picard that the Enterprise will soon joined by a ship heading to intercept the Enterprise at high warp. It refuses to answer hails and will intercept in ten hours.

Now nearly two months on board, John's painful and accelerating cellular mutations cause him to fear that what is happening to him may hurt people around him. He flees sickbay after telling Dr. Crusher he must leave the Enterprise. While chasing him down a corridor, Dr. Crusher reluctantly calls for security. As he tries to escape in the shuttlepod El Baz, Worf is mortally injured by John when he accidentally unleashed his power on him. Worf's neck breaks on impact after falling hard from high up onto the shuttlebay's floor. He is miraculously healed by John Doe.

Act Four

In Picard's ready room, Picard gets John to admit he was going to steal a shuttle and asks what is happening to him. John does not know, but believes he has to leave the ship before he harms another individual. Picard asks that John be kept under constant surveillance.

The Zalkonian Commander Sunad finally answers the Enterprise's hails and demands the delivery of the stranger from Captain Picard. Allegedly, he is a dangerous criminal who is disturbing the normal order of society on Zalkon and deserves death. Sunad demands that the Enterprise leave the Zalkonian system and return John Doe to them. He gives them two hours to make their decision before he fires. Captain Picard, Riker, Troi, and Dr. Crusher discuss what John Doe could be accused of and whether or not they can let personal relationships affect their decision to return this so-called criminal. Crusher remarks on the irony of having saved John's life and now to give him back to his people to die for his alleged crimes.

Act Five

Beverly suffocating — *"I... can't breathe..."*

Picard tries to negotiate with Sunad, but Sunad does not want to listen, so he makes everyone suffocate aboard the Enterprise. John finds Beverly suffocating on the floor and heals her. John and Crusher then find another crew member on the floor and John heals him as well before healing everyone else on the ship simply by touching a panel, speading his power all throughout the Enterprise.

What John finally remembers upon seeing the Zalkonian is that Sunad and those like him in power have been murdering members of their society who experience the cellular mutations in an attempt to prevent what we discover is the inevitable evolution of the species. It is shown that Sunad is afraid of him and even more so when actually facing him in person aboard the Enterprise.

John Doe leaves Enterprise — Leaving for parts unknown

John finally evolves into the next step in Zalkonian evolution and proclaims to Sunad that he cannot be stopped in his crusade to let Zalkonian society know what lies beyond the painful cellular mutations. Sunad is returned to his ship by John and the Zalkonian ship leaves the airspace and heads back home.

John expresses how glad he was to have found people like those on the Enterprise but also apologizes to the people on the bridge for needing to leave, especially to Beverly. Captain Picard states his pride in being present at the birth of a new species, and the new energy lifeform says goodbye to Beverly before he wafts up and out of the ship into space.

Memorable quotes

"You must let her see the fire in your eyes."

- Worf to La Forge (who has no visible eyes)

"But what would I say?!"
"Words come later. It is the scent that first speaks of love."

- La Forge and Worf

"What happened to you?"
"Oh, I was kayaking on the holodeck again..."

- Crusher, when O'Brien comes into sickbay with a dislocated shoulder

"I have much to teach you about women."

- Worf

"Less talk, more synthehol. We came here to relax."

- Worf

"I've been tutoring him. He learns very quickly."

- Worf

"Well, maybe I am a little bit more confident than I used to be."

- La Forge to Riker, after kissing Christy Henshaw in the turbolift

"Hey, doc! I'm dying out here!"

- O'Brien, complaining to Crusher about his shoulder

"Damn it, you nearly killed a member of my crew..."
"And healed him."
"I'm not forgetting that. That's the reason he's here and not in the brig."

- Picard and Crusher, after John Doe kills and revives Worf

"It is our mission to seek out life in all forms. We are priviliged to have been present at the emergence of a new species."

- Picard, to John Doe when he evolves

Background information

Transfigurations remastering — Re-editing the remastered episode in 2012

Story and script

This was the second episode written by René Echevarria. He recalled, "After selling "The Offspring" to the show, I went back to New York and Michael called me a couple of weeks later and said he had a story that was dead in the water. It was a premise they had bought involving us finding some crashed ship on a little moon and there's a man who's basically dead and we use miraculous 24th century medicine and bring him back to life. We practically grow him back, but who is he and what's the story? I thought about it for awhile and came up with the basic idea of 'Transfigurations,' that someone was evolving out of their Human form into an energy being. We've seen both of those stories before, but we've never seen the intermediate step." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages)
After completing the first draft, Echevarria was called back to help on the rewrite, which was divided by acts among the writing staff. The script then received a polish by Piller. (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages)
Michael Piller commented, "We wanted to do a show where we get to see 24th century medicine up close and personal. Beverly Crusher uses all her skills to save an alien, reconstructing him and putting him back together and sort of falling in love with him. It's a very spiritual kind of show." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages)
First UK airdate: 22nd April 1992

Production

Benko directing Transfigurations — Director Tom Benko with Julie Warner and LeVar Burton

The scene with John transformed was in fact done live with only minor post-production touch-up. Actor Mark La Mura wore a fluorescent orange suit that glowed on the special film used. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)

Sets, props and costumes

This episode marks the first appearance of the large laboratory set, later re-used as stellar cartography and a number of other laboratories.
A large transparent interface seen on the bridge of the Zalkonian warship was previously seen on the surface of Risa in the teaser of "Captain's Holiday". A second display that is seen behind the Risian one first appeared in Picard's alternate ready room in "Yesterday's Enterprise", and would later reappear in Benjamin Maxwell's ready room aboard the USS Phoenix in "The Wounded".

Music

The musical score in the final scene as John Doe leaves the ship was reused by composer Dennis McCarthy in the series finale "All Good Things..." as the poker game continues and we leave the ship.

Continuity

This episode was the first to establish Miles O'Brien's love of kayaking and the usual associated shoulder dislocation, both of which would be revisited many times in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Though only seen briefly, John Doe has actually lost his left arm during the crash. It is apparently later replaced with an artificial arm, however spoken dialogue suggests it was stored in stasis and later reattached. Furthermore parts of his facial skin and skull have been torn off during his crash, revealing his brain and his molars.

Reception

A mission report for this episode by Patrick Daniel O'Neill was published in The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine Vol. 14, pp. 48-51.

Video and DVD releases

Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 37, 17 February 1992.
UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment): Volume 3.8, 2 October 2000.
As part of the TNG Season 3 DVD collection.
As part of the TNG Season 3 Blu-ray collection.

Links and references

Starring

Also starring

LeVar Burton as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf
Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi
Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data
Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher

Guest stars

Previous episode:
"Ménage à Troi"

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 3

Next episode:
"The Best of Both Worlds"

@@ Line 207: / Line 207: @@
 * [[Kim (actress)|Kim]] as [[Unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) operations division personnel#Female engineering crewmember (2366-2368)|operations division officer]]
 * [[Mark Lentry]] as [[Unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) sciences division personnel#Candlelight lieutenant|science division officer]]
-* [[Tim McCormack]] as [[Bennett (Ensign)|Bennett]]
+* [[Tim McCormack]] as {{dis|Bennett|Ensign}}
 * [[John Milke]] as [[Unnamed Zalkonians#Bridge officers|Zalkonian officer]]
 * [[John Rice]] as [[Unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) sciences division personnel#Bridge science officer|science division officer]]
@@ Line 239: / Line 239: @@
 ===References===
-[[47]]; [[amnesia]]; [[arboretum]]; [[ATP]]; [[autonomic function]]; [[biochemical storage medium]]; [[bioscan]]; [[brain stem]]; [[brig]]; [[cc]]; [[code seven]]; [[cough]]; [[cryogenic stasis]]; ''[[El-Baz]]''; [[escape pod]]; [[Federation]]; [[feedback-loop controller]]; [[G-type star]]; [[heart]]; [[inaprovaline]]; [[joint dislocation]]; [[kayaking]]; [[magnetic inducer]]; [[matrix translator]]; [[medical tricorder]]; [[memory RNA]]; [[motor assist band]]; [[muscle]]; [[navigational chart]]; [[nervous system]]; [[neurofeedback]]; [[neurolink]]; [[neuromuscular function]]; [[neutron star]]; [[nucleic acid]]; [[osteotractor frame]]; [[parsec]]; [[phaser]]; [[physiology]]; [[plasma]]; [[protodynoplaser]]; [[pulsar]]; [[recuperative power]]; [[sector 9569]]; [[shoulder]]; [[storage capsule]]; [[synaptic induction]]; [[synthahol]]; [[trace element]]; [[transformational matrix calculation]]; [[tricorder]]; [[tutor]]; [[Zalkon]]; [[Zalkonian]]s; [[Zalkonian escape pod]]; [[Zalkonian warship]]; [[Zeta Gelis Cluster]]
+[[47]]; [[amnesia]]; [[arboretum]]; [[ATP]]; [[autonomic function]]; [[biochemical storage medium]]; [[bioscan]]; [[brain stem]]; [[brig]]; [[cc]]; [[chest cavity]]; [[code seven]]; [[cough]]; [[cryogenic stasis]]; ''[[El-Baz]]''; [[escape pod]]; [[Federation]]; [[feedback-loop controller]]; [[G-type star]]; [[heart]]; [[inaprovaline]]; [[joint dislocation]]; [[kayaking]]; [[magnetic inducer]]; [[matrix translator]]; [[medical tricorder]]; [[memory RNA]]; [[motor assist band]]; [[muscle]]; [[navigational chart]]; [[nervous system]]; [[neurofeedback]]; [[neurolink]]; [[neuromuscular function]]; [[neutron star]]; [[nucleic acid]]; [[osteotractor frame]]; [[parsec]]; [[phaser]]; [[physiology]]; [[plasma]]; [[protodynoplaser]]; [[pulsar]]; [[recuperative power]]; [[resuscitation team]]; [[sector 9569]]; [[shoulder]]; [[storage capsule]]; [[synaptic induction]]; [[synthahol]]; [[trace element]]; [[transformational matrix calculation]]; [[tricorder]]; [[tutor]]; [[Zalkon]]; [[Zalkonian]]s; [[Zalkonian escape pod]]; [[Zalkonian warship]]; [[Zeta Gelis Cluster]]
 ===External link===

Changes: Transfigurations (episode)

Revision as of 19:11, 13 January 2016

Contents

Summary

Teaser

Act One

Act Two

Act Three

Act Four

Act Five

Memorable quotes

Background information

Story and script

Production

Sets, props and costumes

Music

Continuity

Reception

Video and DVD releases

Links and references

Starring

Also starring

Guest stars

Co-star

Uncredited co-stars

Stunt double

Stand-ins

References

External link