Television Review: Identity Crisis (Star Trek: The Next Generation, S4X18, 1991)

Identity Crisis (S04E18)

Airdate: 25 March 1991

Written by: Brannon Braga
Directed by: Winrich Kolbe

Running Time: 46 minutes

Season 4 of Star Trek: The Next Generation may have lacked the relentless "classic after classic after classic" tempo that made Season 3 such a triumph, yet for fans watching at the time, the future of the series appeared entirely secure. The general quality of episodes remained satisfactory, and even the less celebrated instalments demonstrated a level of professionalism and competence that spoke to a production team at the height of its powers. A case in point can be found in Identity Crisis – an episode that is neither particularly memorable nor scientifically watertight, but which is nevertheless a generally well-executed piece of television that exemplifies the steady reliability of this period in the show's run.

The plot commences with Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge being confronted by his past. Five years earlier, he served aboard the USS Victory as part of an away team dispatched to Tarchanen III, tasked with investigating the mysterious disappearance of forty-nine personnel from a Federation outpost. That mystery was never resolved, and has now been supplanted by something altogether more sinister. Three of the five members of the original away team have deserted their Starfleet posts and stolen shuttlecraft to return to the planet. Fearing that she and La Forge might be next, Geordi's former colleague and friend, Lieutenant Commander Susanna Leijten (Maryan Plunkett) joins him aboard the Enterprise to investigate.

The Enterprise succeeds in tracking the shuttlecraft stolen by Lieutenant Hickman, only to witness it crash and burn upon entering the atmosphere of Tarchanen III. Upon the surface, the crew discovers traces of other landed vessels, and an away team is dispatched to investigate. They find only the torn remnants of the deserting officers' uniforms. Whilst on the planet, Leijten begins to feel unwell; her condition appears to improve upon her return to the Enterprise, though Doctor Crusher soon discovers traces of alien skin upon her body. Leijten's deterioration is rapid and alarming – she begins to transform into a bizarre alien creature, and Crusher finds herself at a loss as to how to arrest the process.

Dreading that he might suffer the same fate, La Forge is determined to examine the video logs from the away mission five years prior. In doing so, he notices an unusual detail: a shadow that has no apparent source. Utilising the holodeck to simulate the original away mission, Geordi eventually uncovers an alien creature possessing remarkable chameleon-like abilities that allow it to remain virtually invisible. It is this creature that has presumably infected the away team members with whatever agent is responsible for their metamorphosis – a transformation that compels them to return to the planet.

Doctor Crusher has by now identified the culprit: a parasite that fundamentally alters the victim's DNA. She performs surgery on Leijten and succeeds in reversing the transformation. However, the process has already begun in La Forge, who becomes invisible and manages to beam down to the planet before he can be stopped. Leijten, having recovered, returns to the surface and locates the transformed Geordi by means of ultraviolet light. He is amongst a host of invisible aliens – former away team members and colonists who have by this point been irreparably transformed into non-sentient alien lifeforms. La Forge narrowly escapes the same permanent fate thanks to Leijten, who approaches him and invokes their shared history and friendship, preserving just enough of his humanity for him to be returned to the Enterprise and have the process reversed.

Identity Crisis holds the distinction of representing the solo writing debut for Brannon Braga, a figure who would go on to become an enormously influential producer for both Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise. The script is indeed well-constructed, representing an effective combination of mystery elements, hard science fiction concepts, and palpable touches of body horror. The notion of losing one's identity and humanity to an unstoppable biological process is genuinely unsettling, and Braga handles the material with commendable assurance.

Director Winrich Kolbe acquits himself admirably, delivering strong work both in the atmospheric scenes set on Tarchanen III and in the more technically complex holodeck sequences. The episode features some genuinely impressive special effects for its era, and the makeup work – particularly the gradual transformation of Leijten – is executed with impressive craft and attention to detail.

Maryan Plunkett delivers a remarkable performance in her guest-starring role, successfully conveying the fear, anxiety, and creeping insanity that overwhelm her character as the transformation progresses. She also shares excellent chemistry with LeVar Burton, rendering the longstanding friendship between their respective characters entirely believable and lending the episode's climax its essential emotional weight.

What does not work, however, is the somewhat cavalier attitude towards biology and the apparent ease with which characters are transformed from humans into aliens and back again. The scientific foundations feel decidedly shaky, and the resolution arrives with a convenience that strains credulity. Nor does the casting of Mona Grudt – the Norwegian model and reigning Miss Universe who appears as one of the ensigns – do the episode any favours, her noticeably wooden delivery serving as an unwelcome distraction in an otherwise competent production.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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