Star Trek Theater 3000: Power Play (TNG Season 5, Episode 15

Written by Stuart Cooper

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 Episode 21 "Power Play"

If you know me personally, or if you've ever seen me at a comic convention or nerd related event, it's usually pretty evident that I am a Trekkie. I've been a Trekkie for about a decade and I love it more and more every time I watch it. I think the show holds a lot of merit in terms of storytelling and underlying themes. The show can speak to you on a lot of different levels, and that's why I believe it has endured all these years. I decided to start reviewing one Star Trek episode a week. This will be coinciding with something I'm doing with my friends. My friends and I recently decided to randomly choose one Star Trek episode a week, watch it at the same time, and share our thoughts/and or riffs. This week's episode was “Power Play”, a gem from Season 5 of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The plot involved possession, ghost machines, a reserved Worf, and some pretty intense fighting. Let's dive into it.

In the episode “Power Play” the crew of the Enterprise intercepts a distress signal, which usually in science fiction means certain death, and of course they choose to pursue it. The crew arrives at a baron planet and Troi says she senses life on the planet, so an away team is sent down to investigate and possibly save whatever being is down there. This ignorant move results in Troi, O’Brien, and Data being possessed by orbs on the surface that are apparently the souls of a lost crew that was stuck on that planet. You still with me? I know that last sentence was heavy. After the orbs enter the bodies of the 3 crew members, they get back onto the ship and organize a mutiny of sorts. Troi, O’Brien, and Data hold crew members hostage in Ten Forward. It's soon after this that we find out the orbs from earlier were souls, and they are now possessing the crew members. One big question that has to be asked tho, how can a ghost possess Data? He has no organic matter to control, do souls have power over technology? This is never explained. I think it was merely a plot device that would give Brent Spiner another chance to act goofy and different. One cool little tid-bit. This episode featured Patricia Tallman (Night of the Living Dead 1990) as one of Worf's Security Officers! She unfortunately does not speak, and is only on screen for a few seconds.

After some tense hostage scenes, there is a confrontation between Worf and Data. A fight between the two is teased, but Worf backs down. Worf appears to be very weak in this episode, but at the end of the episode he implies this was only because he was “being reserved”. If you watch enough TNG, you know who would have won that fight. Another highlight in the episode was Miles snapping at Keiko and their crying baby. Data also threatens the baby at one point, just to emphasize how evil these ghosts are. Towards the end of the episode there is a huge moment of tension when Data picks up Picard and chokes him, then picks him up off his feet and holds him in mid-air by his throat. Just shows you that Data could really kill anyone he wanted, if he needed to. Soon after that scene the ghosts are hit with some type of wave and forced to leave the bodies of the crew members.

Overall the episode was a lot of fun and full of tension. The acting was spot on and tight. There were moments where main cast members really became vulnerable, and the villains proved to be rather menacing. I think this was a very effective story. It was also nice being able to see some of the actors act differently than they did normally. I'm sure Spiner enjoyed letting loose a bit. I would definitely recommend this episode to anyone who wants to watch a good one and done TNG episode. You get to see Evil Data, Evil O’Brien, and Evil Troi, what's not to love?