Trekking into "Lost in Space" Territory   April 2, 2003

While the credibility of the plot is stretched somewhat, the installment does allow Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, and Colm Meaney some time to chew the scenery. Many episode were devoted to "Data"; thus, "Deana" and "Miles" were highlighted, although not as their usual good-as-gold Federation officers.


Another case of possession by minds without bodies   February 17, 2001
  8 out of 8 found this review helpful

The fifth season of STNG provided the cast with ample opportunities to show off their acting ability. In "Power Play" the Enterprise picks up a weak distress signal coming from a supposedly uninhabited moon. The signal is apparently from the USS Essex, a ship that disappeared over 200 years earlier. When Troi insists she senses life on the moon's surface, Picard has to investigate. However, there are intense magnetic storms on the moon, which force him to send down the away team of Riker, Troi and Data in a shuttlecraft. When the shuttle loses power on the way down, O'Brien risks a transporter trip to the moon's surface to set up pattern enhancers to get the away team back. However, right before the group transporters, little points of light enter the bodies of Data, Troi and O'Brien (Riker has a broken arm). Back aboard the Enterprise, the three try to take over the ship. When they fail to take over the bridge (the best scene in the episode), the trio end up taking hostages in Ten-Forward. Picard trades himself for the hostages who have been injured and in formed by Troi that "she" is Bryce Shumar, the captain of the Essex and demands the Enterprise search the southern pole of the moon for their remains so that their consciousnesses can rest.

"Power Play" is an odd choice of an episode to follow "Conundrum" in the STNG series, since the previous episode had a beam from an alien probe stripping the entire crew of their identities. Apparently Data, Troi and O'Brien have to go through the whole thing again the following week (it is the two times in a row that Data's positronic brain gets hijacked that bothers me the most). I also find it ironic that Marina Sirtis gets better scenes as Troi being possessed than she does when Deanna is in complete control of her mental faculties. With all that her brain gets put through on this series, you have to hope she is getting some counseling of her own. Ultimately, "Power Play" is an average episode for this series; we can trace the "beings without bodies have possessed key members and are not telling the whole truth about who they are and what they want" back to the original Star Trek series. We are also getting close to the point where Captain Picard needs to stop being so understanding and so compassionate. Where is Q when we need him?


Action-Packed Fun   December 6, 2000
  3 out of 3 found this review helpful

In a season dominated by dull political episodes("Redemption Part II" and the major Spock let down), kiddie stories("Hero Worship", "New Ground" and the god awful "Imaginary Friend"), and sappy episodes like "I,Borg"(which ruined one of the greatest alien villains ever created), it's good to see TNG get back to it's action-packed,cheesy Sci-Fi roots. This episode is merely an action episode with a neat sci-fi twist; Criminal aliens have taken over the bodies of Data, Couseler Troi, and Transporter Chief O'brien, and they hold the ship hostage. They claim to be the "spirits" from the missing U.S.S. Essex but their ruthless antics betray them. The fun is watching the bridge crew try to outmenuever the aliens, and there is some juicy conflict between the criminal who possessed Data and Worf. "Power Play" features a tense and moody score by Jay Chataway(evocative of Ron Jones's fabulous TNG scores),and Director David Livingston imbues the episode with style and excitement.