The Next Phase
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"The Next Phase" is the 124th episode of the
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
syndicated
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', the 24th episode of the fifth season. It aired in syndication on May 18, 1992. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the
Starfleet Starfleet is a fictional organization in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Within this fictional universe, Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conduct ...
crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, the ''Enterprise'' responds to a distress call from a
Romulan The Romulans () are an extraterrestrial race in the American science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Their adopted home world is Romulus, and within the same star system they have settled a sister planet Remus. Their original home world, Vulcan ...
science ship. Lieutenant Commander
Geordi La Forge Geordi La Forge ( ) is a fictional character who appeared in all seven seasons of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and its four feature films as well as the third season of '' Star Trek: Picard ...
and Ensign
Ro Laren Ro Laren is a fictional character appearing on a recurring basis in the fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons of the American science-fiction television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''. The character returned for the third season of ...
are lost in a transporter accident when returning to the ''
Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...
'' with a faulty generator from the Romulan ship.


Plot

As the
Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
starship ''
Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...
'' responds to a distress call from a Romulan ship which has suffered an on-board explosion, Ensign Ro and Lieutenant Commander La Forge are seemingly lost in a beam-in from the Romulan ship to the ''Enterprise''. Ro and La Forge find themselves on the ''Enterprise'', unable to interact with the ship or the crew, but able to interact with each other. While La Forge believes they are still alive, Ro sees Dr. Crusher make out their
death certificates A death certificate is either a legal document issued by a medical practitioner which states when a person died, or a document issued by a government civil registration office, that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death, as ...
and believes they are dead; she tries to make peace with her former crewmates as they prepare a funeral service. Lt. Commander Data traces the cause of the transportation accident to the Romulan ship. Ro and La Forge go along with Data and Lt. Worf as they fly a
shuttlecraft A shuttlecraft, also known as a shuttle spacecraft, shuttle ship, drop shuttle, drop spacecraft, or dropship, is a type of spacecraft described in theory and science fiction. Serving the same purpose as a ship's tender, it is a smaller vessel that ...
to the Romulan ship. Aboard, La Forge discovers a phase inverter device, and theorizes that he and Ro are out of phase, and thus undetectable. He also overhears the Romulan crew discussing a plan to transmit a signal to the ''Enterprise'' that will cause the warp core to explode the next time the ship enters warp. The two return with Data and Worf to the ''Enterprise'' to try to warn the crew, unaware that a Romulan, also out-of-phase, is following them. On board the ''Enterprise'', La Forge watches Data as he analyzes the data from the Romulan ship, and discovers high levels of chronoton emissions, part of the failing of the transporter system. La Forge recognizes that by passing through objects on the ship, he can create those emissions, and tries to encourage Data to study them more, but fails. Ro encounters the Romulan, armed with a disruptor, and leads him on a chase through the walls of the crew quarters, releasing more chronoton radiation that catches Data's interest. When Data enters the room where the Romulan has cornered Ro, La Forge rushes the Romulan, causing him to fly through the external hull of the ship into space. La Forge recovers the disruptor. Although
Captain Picard Jean-Luc Picard is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, most often seen as the commanding officer of the Federation starship . Played by Patrick Stewart, Picard has appeared in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Gene ...
orders the ship into warp after their investigation is complete, Data cautions him to not do so until he completes a sweep of the ship with "
anyon In physics, an anyon is a type of quasiparticle so far observed only in two-dimensional physical system, systems. In three-dimensional systems, only two kinds of elementary particles are seen: fermions and bosons. Anyons have statistical proper ...
" particles to remove the chronoton radiation. Knowing that time is short before the ship will enter warp, Ro and La Forge head to their funeral—for which Data has planned a jazz funeral—and attempt to phase through objects. They fire the Romulan's disruptor to attract the attention of the attendees. When this does not work, Ro sets the disruptor to overload, causing a large burst of chronoton radiation. Data instructs the computer to sweep Ten Forward with anyon particles, causing Ro and La Forge to temporarily become visible in front of Data and Picard. Data deduces the fate of the crew members, and orders another massive flood of anyon particles, which brings Ro and La Forge back into phase. La Forge is able to warn Engineering about the warp core in time. He and Ro then join their "funeral" and celebrate with the rest of the crew with a much more joyous tone to the occasion.


Cultural references

The website Women at Warp compares the mutual-invisibility situation with the ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...
'' episode " Same Time, Same Place." "When LaForge and Ro end up out of phase with their timeline, they walk around witnessing normal life happening all around them, no one able to see or hear their cries for help. Following her stint in "magic rehab," Willow returns to Sunnydale out of phase with everyone else around her. In this scenario, however, it's not just that Willow's friends don't see her—she can't see them either. While the mechanics may differ, the internal struggle is the same as each character grapples with what it's like to be forgotten."


Reception

In 2017 this episode was noted as one featuring scary and/or eerie ''Star Trek'' content. The fact that the characters could walk through solid objects, but not pass through the floor, has been criticized and mocked in the ''
Stargate SG-1 ''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction Adventure fiction, adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wrig ...
'' episode " Wormhole X-Treme!".


Awards and nominations

The episode was nominated at the
44th Primetime Emmy Awards The 44th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, August 30, 1992. The ceremony was broadcast on Fox from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California. It was hosted by Tim Allen, Kirstie Alley and Dennis Miller, and directed by Wal ...
for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Drama Series.


See also

* " The Pegasus" - a seventh season episode involving a Federation phase-shifting cloaking device * "
Vanishing Point A vanishing point is a point (geometry), point on the projection plane, image plane of a graphical perspective, perspective rendering where the two-dimensional perspective projections of parallel (geometry), parallel lines in three-dimensional ...
" - a second season '' Star Trek: Enterprise'' episode in which a character disappears


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Next Phase, The Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5 episodes 1992 American television episodes Television episodes written by Ronald D. Moore Emmy Award–winning episodes Television episodes about funerals Television episodes directed by David Carson (director)