Synopsis: Beverly nearly loses the most epic of hide and seek games.
Memory Alpha Summary: I’m a doctor, not a traveler!
Review: The premise of this episode is fantastic. Every scene where the Enterprise loses more people is both creepy and hilarious as her senior officers begin to think Beverly is crazy. Data explaining why the Enterprise crew would only consist of 100 or so people is great. The best is when Picard tries to comfort Beverly when it’s just the two of them by saying, “We’ve never needed a crew before.” It’s bone-chilling stuff. We even get Beverly’s second “Jean-Luc I need to pour my heart out to you” moment right before he vanishes.
But then, dammit all, we end up having to watch from the other side of the glass, as the Traveler shows up in the real world to help Wesley get his mom back (and to ask him out now that he’s legal). This instantly removes all tension for the remainder of the episode, as we’re now watching Beverly try to figure out the solution when we’ve been secretly let it on it by the writers. Argh!
That said, this is by far Gates’s best episode to date. She actually shows some range here rather than being just the nice-looking doctor. Her conversation with the computer is wonderfully written and performed.
Then she’s saved by Wesley, and the hug they share is so devoid of emotion that you wonder if they need family therapy.
Money Quote (by the computer): The universe is a spheroid region, 705 meters in diameter.
Death By Troggles 
Definitely one of my favorite episodes. All the tension goes when we see the other side? I don’t think so. Maybe all the mystery goes, but there’s still tension.
I still think McFadden is pulling punches, though. Her frustration level (and her hug, as you mention) are a bit stilted,
I think I like Schisms for the same reason I like this one; the plots have many similarities, although more people are involved in the “crossover”, and the stories flip-flop which side is the focus throughout the story.
Eh, maybe you’re right. There’s still tension, but I still feel less of it because Wonderboy is there to save the day. If I liked the traveler segments it may have helped, too.
Aparently, McFadden did all her own stunts then found out she was pregnant.
Yeah, definitely a different kind (and level) of tension at that point.
I’m not a fan of the traveler at all. He’s basically a variation on Q that stops by a few times to solve problems rather than pose them. His very existence is a literary travesty.
bingo