Star Trek: The Next Generation 6.02

Realm of Fear

The Enterprise finds the USS Yosemite, a science vessel, which was observing a plasma stream in the Igo sector. The Yosemite is caught in the plasma stream and fails to respond to communications from the Enterprise. Captain Picard wants to send a team over to investigate but doesn't want the Enterprise to enter the plasma stream or to send a shuttle into it.

Lieutenant Reginald Barclay comes up with a way to get over to the Yosemite via transporter. Lieutenant Commander La Forge asks Barclay to join himself, Commander Riker, Doctor Crusher, and Lieutenant Worf on the away team. The team members have to beam over one at a time due to the current conditions. Reg loses his cool when it is his turn to beam over.

The other four members of the away team discover that there is only one person aboard the Yosemite when there should be five. That one person is dead. There is no sign as to what happened to the other four crew members of the Yosemite. 

Barclay visits Counselor Troi. He explains that he has a deadly fear of transporters. She teaches him a technique that helps him to calm down enough that he is able to beam over to the Yosemite. Barclay notices something strange when it is time for him beam back while he is in the midst of transporting. He sees some sort of creature looking at him while he is mid-transport.

Barclay tells La Forge and others about what he saw. Later he starts to experience weird sensations in his left arm. Barclay stats to think that he is suffering from Transporter Psychosis.

Barclay goes to Chief O'Brien and convinces him to try transporting him over to the Yosemite and then back again. Barclay sees the creature he saw before while he is in the transporter beam. He tells the others what he saw.

They try repeating an experiment that was being conducted on the Yosemite. This leads to them trying to transport Barclay back again but this time they leave him in the transport beam for a longer period of time. He sees the creature again. This time he grabs it. Once he rematerializes on the Enterprise the creature is revealed to be one of the missing crew members of the Yosemite.

Thoughts

This is the third of five episodes in which Lieutenant Barclay appeared.

This episode was very science jargon heavy, especially in the last couple acts. I think it is my least favorite of the three Barclay episodes that I have seen at this point. It isn't bad it just lost me a bit when they started talking tech is the last two acts.