History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E6TheGame

* PhlebotinumProofRobot: Since Data is an android and thus immune to the game due to having no brain per se, Dr. Crusher, while being brainwashed by it, turns him off. Luckily, Wesley Crusher succeeded in re-enabling him before being forced into this game.

** Wesley goes to Engineering to execute ThePlan, sees Robin at her console and starts telling her about it...and then sees the blank look on her face...
--->'''Wesley:''' ...Robin?\\

--> '''Riker:''' Would you like me to leave the two of you alone?

-->'''Troi:''' I never met a chocolate I didn't like.
-->'''Riker:''' Doesn't it taste good?
-->'''Troi:''' Of course it does, but it's not just a matter of taste. It's the whole experience. First of all, you have to spoon the fudge around the rim, leaving only ice cream in the middle. Then, you gently spoon the ice cream around the sides, like you're sculpting it. Relish every bite. Make every one an event. And then, with the last spoonful, close your eyes.
-->'''Riker:''' I had no idea it was such a ritual.
-->'''Troi:''' [[SeriousBusiness Chocolate is a serious thing]].

* RubberForeheadAliens: Etana Jol the Ktarian is still human-looking enough to seduce Riker, though her design makes her look a little like [[Film/{{Mask}} Rocky Dennis]].

--> '''Picard:''' Quomodo tua Latinitas est?[[note]]"How's your Latin?"[[/note]]\\

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Ktarians are later revealed to be Federation members and the next Ktarian character who is seen (well, half-Ktarian) looks absolutely nothing like Etana Jol in any way.

* FlashinthePanFad: Discussed. Robin Lefler initially thinks The Game is just a passing craze. "It's a fad. This week it's popular, next week we won't even know it existed."

[[caption-width-right:350:[[Music/{{Queen}} "Play the game, everybody play the game..."]]]]

* LotusEaterMachine.

Wes meets Lefler in Engineering, and discovers that she's been compromised (off-screen) when she tries to foist the Game upon him. Wesley initiates a lengthy game of cat-and-mouse with the crew, but is eventually caught, brought to the bridge, and forced to play the Game. At that moment, Data steps onto the bridge, lowers the lights and flashes a strobe into everyone's eyes, bringing them back to normal. Wesley reveals that sometime in the interim, he had repaired Data and played the cat-and-mouse [[WeNeedADistraction to give Data time to come up with a way to circumvent the brainwashing]]. The cleansing strobe effect has already been sent throughout the ship, and Crusher is sent to help the remaining stragglers.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
** Dr. Crusher is embarrassed when Wesley catches her doing something very pleasurable by herself.
** Even more apparent when the episode reveals that The Game stimulates the pleasure centers of the brain, complete with users gasping and twitching, making it a very literal form of 'mental masturbation.'

* FailedASpotCheck:
** When Wesley contacts Picard to discuss his concerns regarding the game, we see Picard putting an object off to the side on his display mount. Turns out it is the game, and Wesley should have seen that Picard was already compromised.
** Later when Wesley uses a phaser to distract several guards, he enters a room to hide from them as they pass by. The door is open when the guards pass, but they clearly ignore a suspiciously open door to deactivate the phaser.