A Look at Identity Crisis (Star Trek TNG)

[@aoxby8037]

I like how the Federation is capable of building an indestructible research base and also building a ship that could be destroyed by cheese.

[@remimaloney2028]

Sounds like a Stellaris minmaxed empire. "Science ship health -90%, Survivability of Archeological Expedition +10,000%"

[@dwavenminer]

To be fair, I think it's just a case of: If you try to make something idiot proof, the universe will just make a bigger -Nelix- idiot that will remind you of your folly.

[@Stingmon21]

It was Voyager, sh!t got weird.

[@JWK1101]

Making an outpost that can withstand decades of neglect is one thing, making something that can withstand Neelix is something else entirely.

[@lipingrahman6648]

That’s about right for any government project.

[@Kalaida]

Gotta give this episode bonus points for it's attention to detail with regards to time period appropriate props and costumes. When you look at the recordings, some of the actors are seen with season 1-2 era uniforms and props. The phaser that Chuck kindly pointed out is the Dustbuster!

[@clearspira]

I am rather impressed that they used the season 1 uniforms and phaser design for the flashback scenes. It's a little thing but they very easily could have been lazy and not bothered.

[@vonshroom2068]

They were just cheap and re-used the season 1 uniforms. Sadly no attention to detail just a budget.

[@BYWhistory]

Meanwhile Voyager would do episodes with flashbacks taking place before 7of9 joined the crew and not even bother to put the wig on Janeway.

[@Tubewings]

Two of the aliens (or Wuss Lizards as they called them) were played by noted radio personalities Brian Phelps and Mark Thompson. They talked about their experience on the 25th Anniversary Special.

[@JosephDavies]

I never listened to them, but even I knew Mark & Brian were a pretty big deal at the time. They had billboards up everywhere in SoCal. These little cameos (that so often are buried under makeup) are always fun. I'm guessing it was a blast for them, too.

[@SingularityOrbit]

If I were an canon-obsessed type of fan, I might observe that they wouldn't have wanted to shut off the holodeck to search for Geordi because, if he weren't showing up on sensors anymore, then the safety protocols couldn't protect him -- if he were up inside the facility, or standing on a large rock, he'd end up falling when everything disappeared. Also, if I were that sort of obsessive fan, I'd note that this was set in the year prior to Season 1 of TNG. The next year showed off a device that transmitted Geordi's VISOR view to the ship. This suggests that somebody in Starfleet was focused on researching ways to record everything that happened on away missions, including extra head-mounted sensing devices. That recording had 3D image data, so there was a lot more to it than just a camera. Of course, somebody eventually realized that they already had tricorders which could be used to generate that level of detailed observation, and that ended Project I-Must-See-Everything. Someone obsessed with canon would feel a need to comment on such things. Fortunately, I seem to be . . . immune . . .

[@vanDaalstad]

i think this was one of the first episodes of TNG i caught a glimpse of as a child, it certainly made an impression.

[@planescaped]

For me that would be the Voyager episode where all the lady vampires are beating Harry Kim with sticks... specifically that scene too.

[@Redshirt434]

How did Holodeck use go from this, to "Red Ring of Death" Fair Haven bullshit???

[@lyinarbaeldeth2456]

The use of the holodeck here and in Schisms as a crime-scene-recreation tool was super cool.

[@lordmontymord8701]

To be fair: The holodeck was a horrible idea even before Fair Haven. It probably killed more Starfleet personel than away missions.

[@murrvvmurr]

7:58 RIP Ogawa

[@myuphrid]

Between this and Threshold, there seems to be an unusually high risk in Starfleet of being turned into a lizard.

[@scockery]

What about "Genesis"? Spot turned into a lizard.

[@slinkerdeer]

This was one of my favorite episodes, when the estimation of the figure was shown by the computer I got goosebumps

[@ImagineMySurprise510]

I want to mention the audio sound scaping of the scenes on the planet. There is sound, but something about it contributes to the atmosphere that there is something weird and possibly dangerous nearby. Also, the actress playing Suzanna has a pleasantly hoarse voice that makes it easy to like her and care about her. Good choice.

[@stryke-jn3kv]

I have no clue why but I love your pronounciation of 'futanari' so much

[@drunkenmaster226]

Spoken as if he had his pinkie in the air. It's a small gag, but an all-timer in my book.

[@otaking3582]

I'm just surprised that someone who only watches anime as part of his job would know what that word means.

[@KairuHakubi]

he kinda says it like 'futonari' bringing to mind Roots and the discussion of how a boy's futo differs from the futo of a man.

[@antney7745]

If he was undetectable by the ship's sensors, how did the transporter room door open for him to escape?

[@allanolley4874]

How did the transporter lock on to beam him down and so on.

[@Willpower-74205]

Even though Geordi himself couldn't be seen, he still produced a visible distortion effect, which is what likely triggered the door's motion sensor. 🖖😎👍

[@kommodore6691]

Still same problem, the door is a sensor it detected him, the ships sensors cant.

[@Swiftbow]

I've been hoping for this review for a long time ENTIRELY to hear Chuck mention the idea of simply turning off the holodeck when Geordi is missing. Because seriously, lol.

[@LocksAndChains]

If I had a nickel for every time a male chief engineer of the Enterprise got unwillingly knocked up by an alien species, I'd have two nickels. It's not a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

[@SubtleStair]

The other one was Trip from Enterprise, right?

[@anyonecanart3394]

I don't know why but when I was a kid this episode scared the s*** out of me something about it just scared me and I was used to watching Star Trek and I was about 8 9 years old just something was weird about it.

[@Willpower-74205]

What I found really disturbing was the fact that Mendez (the woman) and Brevelle (the cameraman) will never be human again. I can't help but wonder what Starfleet told their families. Simply "killed in action" as a cover story (to allow them to mourn the loss and move on) or the whole truth? If it's the latter, would the surviving family (or families) be motivated to head to Tarchannen III and look for them? It'd be nice if someone wrote a Beta Canon story about this. A lot of potential here. 🤔

[@kimango60]

​@@Willpower-74205sounds like a job for division 14 hehe

[@murrvvmurr]

9:19 how in all my years did I never notice the phaser-phallus? I saw this live as a teen and I never.... well now it will be all I see. Lol

[@SirMarshalHaig]

Soo...who do these alien knock up, when they don´t catch visitors from space without protection?

[@lordmontymord8701]

This belongs on the pile of species who could never have developed that way naturally. Maybe that was just the Progenitors being really funny ...

[@JosephDavies]

@@lordmontymord8701 We know the Dominion has practiced this on their side of the galaxy with at least a few species. It makes one wonder if there's someone going around doing there in the Alpha Quadrant, or was at some point...

[@marshallhuffer4713]

The name of the creatures was not mentioned in dialogue but an internal reference document that lists aliens appearing in TNG's first five seasons that was later released by Roddenberry Entertainment identifies them as "Tarchannes." In it, they were described as "non-sentient humanoid race, frightened by normal light and visible only under ultra-violet light". They were otherwise identified in the episode's script as "TARCHANNEN CREATURES".

[@mikegates8993]

Interesting, I feel like shows like Star Trek don't make humanoids non-sentient very often.

[@Willpower-74205]

​@@mikegates8993It makes a decent entry in the body horror genre as well. Not quite on Cronenberg levels, but good enough for a family show. 🖖😎👍

[@steelgriffin7716]

Honestly, your assessment is on par for my thoughts on it. I enjoyed it well enough, but while interesting it was nothing *truly* special, even if it's one of the most memorable for me. Probably because of the Transforming Geordi scenes. His hands, escaping in the transporter room, the aliens at the end. As you said, powerful shots, but otherwise just a decent episode.

[@KairuHakubi]

Hmm, the front page doesn't link to this, and.. another restoration wasn't on the schedule. EDIT: okay now this one is up. though there's no full motion version.

[@Nebagram]

Looking at the comments, I'm glad I'm not the only one who was majorly creeped out by this episode as a kid.

[@Willpower-74205]

What I find really disturbing is the fact that Mendez (the woman) and Brevelle (the cameraman) will never be human again. I can't help but wonder what Starfleet told their families. Simply "killed in action" as a cover story (to allow them to mourn the loss and move on) or the whole truth? If it's the latter, would the surviving family (or families) be motivated to head to Tarchannen III and look for them? It'd be nice if someone wrote a Beta Canon story about this. A lot of potential here. 🤔

[@DeconvertedMan]

This ep scared me when they showed that shadow man, gave me chills first time I saw it!

[@jamesabernethy7896]

I think episodes like this were the heart and soul of Star Trek, while If I had to list great episodes this one would be quite the way down the page, they gave a different type of story that was more than just mere filler between the really good ones. I can see you cleaned up Schism about 3 years ago so are unlikely to be doing it again. That one is kind of special to me. Again, not the best TNG episode but their recreating the abduction spoke volumes to me (there's a payoff coming just wait for it) Sound can sometimes be quite intense for me, a group of 20 people can sound like 100 and wedding or a party is hard to cope with at times. I'm not saying it's always easy but other people can sort out voices and hold a conversation. To me, it just sounds like this chaotic cacophony.

[@ImaginaryTerrie3]

I remember that holodeck scene scaring little kid me, something about a rogue shadow doesn't sit well, and the computer making that void figure didn't help.

[@Scripture-Man]

Hi Chuck. I must admit I haven't been to your channel for over 10 years. I wasn't even sure if you were still on KZbin so it's nice to find you again. I was wondering if all your old Trek reviews (2008 onwards) are online anywhere now, or if they're still banned? There are SO many review channels now, it's hard to imagine videos still being taken down just for reviewing stuff?

[@lynngreen7978]

Too bad Geordi didn't consult Jonathan Archer's logs from the NX-01, where this exact thing happened 215 years earlier.

[@antney7745]

Nobody kept any records back in those days. See: "Regeneration".

[@lynngreen7978]

@@antney7745 Or Acquisition. Ferengi were even worse.

[@scockery]

@@antney7745 And "Acquisition."

[@scockery]

They just take what's her name's word that the other two are too far gone to turn back. She a doctor? No.

[@Randee15]

All I know is that this episode _terrified_ me as a child. I have no idea why, it just did. I even had a specific fear of my fingers spontaneously fusing for years! Obviously, not fun for me as a kid. But as an adult, it genuinely impresses me that this episode managed horror well enough to be so effective for me, kid or not! (As you pointed out, "Schisms" was similarly horrific, though for some reason it was quite a bit less traumatic to kid-me. Still spooky, though!)

[@o0alessandro0o]

I expected her last name to be something Polish, or possibly middle-eastern. Turns out it's a rather plain Dutch name: Leijten, also spelled Leyten (especially if you are doing crosswords).

[@Rocketboy1313]

I think this is a surprisingly underrated spooky episode.

[@ImperatorPenguin]

Kermit: Actually, those foot prints were mine... we were trying to do a Dune sketch. But if fell through.

[@Deadxman616]

Wondering why chuck is "cleaning"this vid....then seeing it came out nearly 8 years ago...😑

[@bthsr7113]

A mystery titled "Identity Crisis"? I've got a bad feeling about this one.

[@hariman7727]

I understand that reference.

[@otaking3582]

There's a mystery, retcons, and even unwanted sexual activity! All that's missing is murder and Batman having his mind erased!

[@bthsr7113]

@@otaking3582 I didn't expect to be so on the money.

[@Bored_Barbarian]

6:41 “I simply revealed their true form” lol

[@Robizoid]

Oh' Suzanna, don't you cry for me. I was mutated into monster & that's the end for me!🎼🎶

[@DProductions0]

Which move is referred to in this video, the one to blip, or vimeo?

[@DanteCorwyn]

Wait, so Geordi doesn't have his VISOR when he's mutated, and he's able to use the transporter when he's at least partially transformed. So, did the mutation reverse his blindness?

[@otaking3582]

It's more likely that A) he's used the transporter so many times he can do it from muscle memory, or B) the mutation heightened his other senses, like Daredevil or Ben 10's Wildmutt transformation

[@KairuHakubi]

it logically should... kinda weird when they fixed him they couldn't keep that part. but that's Geordi for you. the universe just hates his optic nerves.

[@wakeangel2001]

Well, his blindness was a genetic defect, so it is quite possible that re-writing his DNA to make him an invisible purple man fixed it...I'm guessing they couldn't use it as a gene therapy because A- they couldn't isolate the eye fixing part from the finger fusing and loss of sentience bits. B- since they had to reverse the effect ASAP they couldn't adaquately study the intricacies of the transformation, or C- genetic manipulation was still illegal in the federation at this time because of the eugenics wars...

[@Freefall347]

I mean, it changed his entire species, why not his eyeballs?

[@KairuHakubi]

@@Freefall347 i'm not sure there's anything wrong with his eye BALLS beyond profound cataracts, isn't the idea that his optic nerve is malformed, doesn't connect to the eyes, or is completely absent requiring the visor to speak directly to his vision center?

[@bthsr7113]

I mean, Those Old Scientists ran into Apollo, so maybe Circe really is out there doing a remix of her old tricks. Or maybe she's running a nightclub while doing occasional bad standup by badmouthing her extended family.

[@Willpower-74205]

Most likely. That, and she's given Wonder Woman a few headaches over the years. 😁

[@sirrliv]

"Move"? Has Chuck finally been freed from the Chimney of Surprise?

[@bradwolf07]

I remember liking this episode when I first saw it, but I have since cooled on it. Maybe that's because once the mystery is gone, it's not as entertaining

[@allanolley4874]

An issue with saying Data's complex motivational and cognitive relationship with Geordi is not emotional because it seems to me that different human beings may have functionally similar sets of relationships with people and things (emotional connections and reactions) but that in their essence will be different, but we call them both emotions because of their functional similarity (one person will feel angry when they have aggressive aversive and hostile thought and behaviour patterns, another won't feel angry but have a mostly functionally equivalent pattern of thought and action). Likewise when we attribute emotions to animals or aliens its recognizing a functional similarity not some shared essence it seems to me. At least that's always my take, I may be overestimating the diversity of human emotional/intellectual phenomenon. Once again the biofilters on the transporters have one job and they fail to do it (fail to identify and remove the parasite that transforms people)!☺

[@Swiftbow]

Yeah, this is one of many reasons that I thought Data always DID have emotions, he just thought that emotions would "feel" different because he assumed he didn't have them. The mere fact that he desires to do something is an emotion, really. Just not a biochemical one. It would have been more interesting, frankly, if that had been the final revelation instead of the emotion chip, where all his character growth is just ignored and now all that matters is plug-n-play.

[@frankandstein8618]

Tarkannon, third of his name.

[@KingSidJames]

Geordis getting pegged!

[@otaking3582]

Identity Crisis? So is there gonna be an insane murder-mystery involving retcons? *EDIT:* So there's no murder, but there IS mystery, retcons, and even squicky sexual content. And here I was just trying to make a DC joke.

[@KairuHakubi]

nobody who refers to anything sexual as 'squicky' deserves to call himself otaking, or bear Nabeshin's image.

[@otaking3582]

@@KairuHakubi I mean "squicky" as in "the type of thing I can't go into detail over without KZbin removing my comment". Believe me, you would not wanna see my Pixiv bookmarks.

[@KairuHakubi]

@@otaking3582 Ah, you inadvertently used the term of the prudes as if you shared their sentiments. I should have known I misundastood. (and I probably would. Hell maybe my art is in there)

[@otaking3582]

@KairuHakubi Apology accepted.

[@MKDumas1981]

Spelled Leitjen, Pronounced "Lighten"; the J is silent.

[@RobertReed-r6z]

Fourth! That's a thing... right?

[@OhShitSeriously]

"Leitner?" Oh, sure, that's a tough name, Mr. _Sonnenburg_