History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E6BoobyTrap

* AFatherToHisMen: The Promellian captain comes across as this in his VideoWill, praising his crew while [[ItsAlMyFault taking responsibility for their deaths]].

Geordi [=LaForge=] is on a holodeck date with Christy Henshaw, but things don't go quite as planned, as Data and Wesley Crusher note when he shows up in Ten Forward rather early--and alone.

* SeriesContinuityError: Although Worf claims he never "played with toys" when Picard asks if anyone has ever made model ships in bottles, we did in fact see Worf trying to put together a model ship back in season two's [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E21PeakPerformance Peak Performance]]. To be fair, on that occasion it was not specifically a [[InsistentTerminology ship in a bottle]], but it seems strange that he wouldn't make the connection.

Geordi [=LaForge=] is on a holodeck date with Christy Henshaw, but things don't go quite as planned, as Data and Wesley Crusher note when he shows up in Ten Forward rather early - and alone.

About a thousand years ago, two ancient spacefaring races, the Promellians and the Menthars, wiped each other out in a galactic war. The ''Enterprise'' is investigating the asteroid field - the former planet Orelious IX - that was the site of the final battle that led to their extinction. A surviving Promellian battle cruiser is discovered in the field, a find that excites Captain Picard, who compares it to the ships in bottles he built when he was a child. Much to his disappointment, the analogy falls flat, as apparently Chief O'Brien is the only other member of the crew to have built ships in bottles. As Picard, Data, and Worf beam over to the cruiser, O'Brien notes a slight power drop that seems to correct itself.

While Geordi commisserates about his bad luck with women with Guinan, the away team finds the remains of the Promellian crew, still at their posts. Picard marvels at the resilient design of the ship, and Data finds the final recording from the ship's captain, taking full responsibility for the fate of his ship. They return to the ship, Picard quite pleased with the discovery, and they prepare to leave...

... only to find that their power is being drained. Even with the engines running at full warp, they're not moving. Geordi comments that everything appears to be operational, but as they're unable to move, he recommends slowing down to prevent burning out the engines. The crew come to realize that they're caught in a Menthar booby trap, just like the Promellian ship was a thousand years earlier.

Needing to figure out a way to escape before their energy reserves run out, Geordi decides to go back to the beginning - to the logs of the designers of the ''Enterprise'''s engines. He has the computer play back the engineering logs of one of the designers, Dr. Leah Brahms, but Geordi soon finds out it's not enough, and needing a more interactive experience to work on the problem, he heads to the Holodeck. There, he recreates the design room at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards at Mars, where final construction of the ''Enterprise'' was completed. He continues to work with the voice of Dr. Brahms guiding him, but when he asks the voice to show him something in particular, the computer creates a virtual Leah to point it out.

Meanwhile, Data and Riker have salvaged the remaining data cylinders from the cruiser, and discover that the booby trap is a series of energy collectors embedded in many of the asteroids. Phaser energy would merely be absorbed, while the ship is too close to the collectors to safely use photon torpedoes, especially without full shields. Combined with an increase in ambient radiation in the field, the crew faces dying of exposure even before their air would run out. Nevertheless, Picard has Worf try the phasers. Unfortunately, this only accelerates the power drain and increase the radiation, forcing the ship to automatically shut down nonessential systems - including the holodeck, just as Geordi might be making a breakthrough.

Geordi says his goodbyes to Leah, noting that as much as technology has improved their lives, there are times where it just needs to be turned off. Leah reminds him that she will be with him as long as he's on the ship. They kiss, and Geordi ends the program... which [[SarcasmMode is sure not to come back to bite him in the ass later]]... [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E16GalaxysChild right?]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The holographic violinist in Geordi's holoprogram plays Johannes Brahms' "Hungarian Dance No. 5".

* TakeAThirdOption: The ''Enterprise'''s options seemed to be do nothing and perish or do so much and perish anyway until Geordi finds another solution. In this case, it's actually taking a ''fourth'' option: the third option, the one presented by the computer, seemed too risky, along with lacking the "human element".
* YouWereTryingTooHard: Geordi realizes this by talking to Guinan about why his date with Christy didn't work out, and by himself as to how the ''Enterprise'' can escape.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: This episode was originally written with Picard in Geordi's place, being the one working with the holographic Dr. Brahms.
** Originally, Leah Brahms was named "Navid Daystrom", who was intended to be a descendent of Dr. Richard Daystrom from the TOS episode "The Ultimate Computer". However, the casting department didn't realize that they would require a black actress until after Susan Gibney had been cast ([[UnfortunateImplications Unfotunately implying]] that a 2nd- or 3rd-generation descendant ''must'' be the same race as their ancestor). So the character was renamed, but they added a nod to Daystrom with a line that Brahms graduated from the Daystrom Institute.

* CargoShip: We're essentially watching a romance between Geordi and the ''Enterprise''.

Meanwhile, Data and Riker have salvaged the remaining data cylinders from the cruiser, and discover that the booby trap is a series of energy collectors embedded in many of the asteroids. Phaser energy would merely be absorbed, while the ship is too close to the collectors to safely use photon torpedoes, especially without full shields. Combined with an increas in ambient radiation in the field, the crew faces dying of exposure even before their air would run out. Nevertheless, Picard has Worf try the phasers. Unfortunately, this only accelerates the power drain and increase the radiation, forcing the ship to automatically shut down nonessential systems - including the holodeck, just as Geordi might be making a breakthrough.

** Originally, Leah Brahms was named "Navid Daystrom", who was intended to be a descendent of Dr. Richard Daystrom from the TOS episode "The Ultimate Computer". However, the casting department didn't realize that they would require a black actress until after Susan Gibney had been cast. So the character was renamed, but they added a nod to Daystrom with a line that Brahms graduated from the Daystrom Institute.

* TakeAThirdOption: The ''Enterprise'''s options seemed to be do nothing and perish or do so much and perish anyway until Geordi finds another solution.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The piece of music played in Geordi's holoprogram at the beginning was Johannes Brahms' "Hungarian Dance No. 5".

* ForeShadowing: The piece of music played in Geordi's holoprogram at the beginning was Johannes Brahms' "Hungarian Dance No. 5".

* MortonsFork:

* DefrostingIceQueen: Invoked by Geordi. The original hologram of Leah Brahms is extremely cold and impersonal, so Geordi has the computer reprogram Leah's personality based upon her archived personality profiles, and "Leah" becomes much more friendly and personable.

* SpaceFriction: Both averted, in that Geordi's solution involves exploiting letting the ship coast without power, and played straight, in that this is treated as an amazing insight rather than something that happens all the time.

Meanwhile, Data and Riker have salvaged the remaining data cylinders from the cruiser, and discover that the booby trap is a series of energy collectors embedded in many of the asteroids. Phaser energy would merely be absorbed, while the ship is too close to the collectors to safely use photon torpedoes, especially without full shields. Combined with an increas in ambient radiation in the field, the crew faces dying of exposure even before their air would run out. Nevertheless, Picard has Worf try the phasers. Unfortunately, this only accellerates the power drain and increase the radiation, forcing the ship to automatically shut down nonessential systems - including the holodeck, just as Geordi might be making a breakthrough.

Geordi says his goodbyes to Leah, noting that as much as technology has improved their lives, there are times where it just needs to be turned off. Leah reminds him that she will be with him as long as he's on the ship. They kiss, and Geordi ends the program... which [[SarcasmMode is sure not to come back to bite him in the ass later]]... [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E16GalaxysChild right?]]