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| One of the more absurd plots and an extremely unpalatable ending This episode is one with a very weak plot and an ending that just falls completely flat. Commander Riker is on an R & R break with a woman and she introduces him to a game. A headset generates images of funnels that can be moved via thought and the goal is to capture disks in the funnels. While it appears innocuous, the game is one that stimulates the brain in such a way that the person can be manipulated and controlled. Riker brings the game back to the Enterprise and introduces it to the rest of the crew. The crew becomes incrementally addicted and under the control of the woman who originally gave Riker the headpiece.
Wesley Crusher is on leave from Star Fleet Academy and back on the Enterprise. There is a young woman who was recently assigned to the Enterprise played by Ashley Judd. They become friends and notice how the crew is becoming attached to the game and acting strangely. Wesley is particularly concerned when Data somehow becomes incapacitated and no one seems to be willing or able to help him. Finally, when Wesley and his new friend run a simulation on the device they learn that it is addictive and leaves the player open to suggestion.
Wesley notifies Captain Picard of the effects, but it is too late, Picard has already come under the influence of the game. Wesley learns what has happened to Data and attempts to repair him. Finally, Wesley and his friend are in engineering and too late, Wesley learns that she is now under the influence of the game. This sets off an extreme form of pursuit, where the entire crew is chasing Wesley throughout the ship. He is eventually captured at the time when the Enterprise crew is being ordered to turn their ship over to the criminals and begin passing the mind control devices to other Federation ships. Fortunately, Wesley was able to restore Data and Data discovers and executes a cure for the affliction.
What makes this episode so weak is how easy it is for the bad people to take over the minds of the Enterprise crew. The Enterprise is the flagship of the Federation, so one would think that there would be more checks on the behavior of the crew than what is exhibited here. Recall how many times the original Enterprise crew encountered species capable of entering their minds. Finally, even though Wesley saved the Enterprise and perhaps even the entire Federation, he receives no commendation or even a thank you from Picard. He simply packs his bags and goes back to school. In an organization like Star Fleet such a commendation or a positive note in the Captain's log would be a very natural action.
Great episode, but HUGE DISAPPOINTMENTThis engrossing episode involved an evil electronic device that lured almost everyone on the Enterprise into a state of addicted, malleable euphoria. ALMOST everyone, that is, except for Wesly Crusher, who was visiting from Starfleet Academy. Wesley noticed the crew behaving strangely, analyed the device, located the knocked-out Data and determined how to reactivate him, then arranged for same to appear just at the right moment and de-hypnotize the command staff -- which saved not only the Enterprise itself, but (per instructions being executed) several star bases, the Academy and, pretty much, the entire Federation. Wesley, at this point, having bravely and cleverly prevented enslavement of the whole civilized universe, deserved nothing less than to be promoted to full starship captain... but no, he just kissed Ashley Judd goodbye and went back to school. It was a grave injustice, and I have never been more depressed after watching a Star Trek episode. Captain Crusher -- alas.
Great "suspense" episode!This ST:TNG episode was full of mystery and fun, and also had a little hint of conspiracy to it. It all starts when Commander Riker is shown a game by a woman he likes, and then he quickly pursuades the crew to try it, and then it eventually leads to the conspiracy, where a chase for Wesley Crusher begins. What happens then is what you'll just want to find out yourself, so I hope you get this show!
My all time favorite episode!My son's favorite episode is "Remember Me", which I admit is AWESOME. But this one, "The Game", is the one that fascinates me the most.It seemed to be an innocent game. Riker was introduced to it by one of his female companions while on leave. It was HIGHLY addictive. He brought it back on board ship, had it replicated, and the game caught on like wild fire! EVERYONE was hooked! They played the game even while they worked. Only Wesley Crusher and one other female friend of his were wary. They realized the addictive game was not natural. Wesley Crusher vs the entire ship. Talk about bad odds! But this nimble and intellegent teenager amazed me. To tell more would spoil it. Considering only 3 episodes stand out for me ("True Q", "Remember Me", and "The Game"), I cannot help but post this in hopes that someone else will fall in love with these perticular 3.
The greatest episode of allI really love all of the Star Trek Next Generation episodes but this one really tops them all, I think. It's taken me forever to get my hands on it, and through amazon.com I finally did. In my quest for this episode, I even wrote the tv studio asking them to air it again so I could tape it off of the tv, but the show was completely taken off the air recently. Then I was looking in stores for it but no one had it. They said it was a very popular episode. Now I have it and I love it. This episode shows that kids can be just as important as adults and truly make a difference when they are needed.
Amazon.comLong before she was a glamorous movie star, before even her breakthrough performance in Ruby in Paradise, Ashley Judd was a good lookin' television actress who twice played Ensign Robin Lefler, an engineering mission specialist, on Star Trek: The Next Generation. In "The Game," she teams up with visiting Starfleet cadet Wesley Crusher to save the Enterprise and flirt a little. The ship's problems start when Commander Riker returns from Risa with a game he was given by some alien prostitute. Immediately addictive, the game hooks into the mind and stimulates the pleasure centers. Everybody who plays it wants to share it with the poor, unfortunate souls who haven't yet tried it. Not only does the spread of the game interfere with their mission to chart the Phoenix cluster, it turns out to be a form of mind control from an alien race. Soon enough, the whole ship is hooked and following alien orders. Everyone, that is, except Wesley and Robin, who were too busy enjoying the endorphin rush of their first date to play it. Soon enough they suspect the worst and need to act. As a tribute to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, this is an entertaining episode (though the game itself is cheesy to look at), with the climax handled in a particularly exciting way. After the excitement, Wesley and Robin share a closed-mouth kiss and promise to see each other again once he goes back to Starfleet Academy, where he'll likely learn that long-distance relationships don't work. --Andy Spletzer
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