Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series) The Nth Degree (1991) User Reviews

The return of Broccoli

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 20 November 2014]

A season ago, in "Hollow Pursuits", the character Reg Barkley was introduced. Barkley is a character who is painfully shy and self- conscious and who had a habit of retreating into the holodeck instead of interacting with real people. Here in his return, Barkley has changed a bit. While he is still very shy, he's trying- -and the show begins with him performing on stage with Doctor Crusher for an audience on the ship. While his performance wasn't exactly brilliant, the fact that he's expose himself to others this way is a huge step. However, the next step he's about to take is beyond anything anyone could have anticipated. During a mission aboard a shuttle craft, Barkley is hit by a beam from an alien probe. Soon, he begins to show amazing intellectual prowess. Additionally, his confidence now seems to know no bounds. At first, all this is great and he becomes a much more valuable member of the crew. But, when he's assuming almost god-like abilities, it scares the crap out of everyone. And, by this point, can anyone stop him?!

Apart from how incredibly stupid the crew was in this one (it took WAY too long for anyone to suggest that contact with the probe is what changed Barkley), this is a great episode. I'd like to say more, as the way all this works is wonderful, but I don't want to spoil it. Enjoyable, a bit funny but also very clever.

Cyrano de Barclay

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 28 August 2014]

Dwight Schultz returns as Ensign Barclay, the stammering introvert who, despite great engineering expertise, has a terrible time with human relations. He is a project for Geordi who tries to boost his confidence. He is take on a shuttlecraft to assist Geordi. On the trip, they encounter a pulse that sends a ray of light to the craft and Reg (Barclay) is knocked unconscious. When he recovers on board the Enterprise, he is a new man. He has confidence, flirts with the women, including Deanna, and begins a quantum leap in the world of physics. He even corrects a theory of Einstein's on the holodeck. Fortunately (or unfortunately) he begins to exhibit powers beyond anything that the crew has ever seen. Ultimately, he hooks his own brain up to the computer because it is too slow. He is working his way to a star system in another part of the galaxy and won't let anything dissuade him. Is he insubordinate, does he have a purpose, or is he being manipulated. I really enjoy this character and like when he appears on "Voyager" later.

Excellent Story from The Great Bird of the Galaxy

[mooreorlessdesign · 9/10 · 16 March 2013]

While watching this episode recently, it occurred to me that it bore a strong resemblance to the second pilot of TOS, "Where No Man Has Gone Before". In that episode, Lt. Cmdr. Gary Mitchell, the first to hold the navigator chair, obtains increasingly more powerful abilities, i.e., telekinesis, telepathy, etc. Those new powers corrupt the all-around-good-guy Mitchell, a colleague of Kirk's from a prior ship assignment they both shared. He eventually has to be destroyed in order to save the ship, if not the Federation.

ST:TNG "The Nth Degree" has a similar premise yet very different build up. The very flawed Barklay, alternately to Mitchell, who is well-adjusted in the extreme, uses his powers for the good of the ship and the Federation. His actions automatically assume one of greater good, opposite Mitchell's ego driven actions.

So it's rather comforting to know that both were penned by Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the franchise, and how, just before his death, he had gained a little more hope for the species than he had at the first series' birth.

Smarter than Einstein.

[russem31 · 23 April 2006]

ST:TNG:93 - "The Nth Degree" (Stardate: 44704.2) - this is the 19th episode of the 4th season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Dwight Schultz makes a welcome return as the terribly shy Lt. Reginald 'Reg' Barclay III, who because of a powerful charge knocking him unconscious while he's on an Away Team to repair the Argus Array (a remote sub-space telescope), he starts exuding newfound confidence.

But soon this newfound confidence makes him the smartest being who ever lived, and that's not the end of it - soon he will "interact" with the computer itself! How far will the process go and can he be reverted back to normal?

Trivia note: the Argus Array will be seen in a future TNG episode (in the 7th season episode "Parallels"), as well as Jim Norton as the holodeck simulation of Albert Einstein (in the 5th season closer "Descent, Part I"). It's also hilarious to see Barclay bumbling through a play!

Pretty good Barclay episode

[snoozejonc · 8/10 · 21 July 2021]

Enterprise encounters an alien probe that has a bizarre effect on Lieutenant Reg Barclay.

This is a reasonably strong episode with a good idea and central performance. If you like the character you will enjoy it.

The story unfolds quite slowly with a lot of attention paid to Barclay's character. What happens to him is an integral part of the plot so it fits well with the great sci-fi concept at the heart of it all.

It is pointless critiquing Barclay's best moments because he is generally a liked or disliked character for most people and I do not think this episode is likely to change any minds either way. He is presented in different way here, which makes the character feel fresh, but as always he reflects the weird quirks of the actor. If there ever was a quintessential 'trekkie' represented by a character within the franchise, intentional or not, it is him.

The visuals are mostly excellent with some strong cinematography, lighting and effects during the holodeck scenes. I was not particularly sold on the floating head, but this is Star Trek!

Performances are mostly good, with Dwight Schultz on top form as ever. Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, LeVar Burton and Jonathan Frakes support well. Patrick Stewart is solid as ever but does not have his usual prominent lead role.

It his is a 7.5/10 for me but I round upwards.

The return of Barclay

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 4 June 2015]

While investigating a strange probe that has damaged the Argus Array Space Telescope a sudden flash leaves the introvert engineer Lt. Reg Barclay unconscious. When he awakens he seems slightly more confident; that isn't the only change though; he is also growing more intelligent. As time passes his intelligence increases exponentially; he solves problems in ways others wouldn't even consider and ultimately, frustrated by the slowness of the Enterprise's computer he creates a neural interface; effectively making him one with the computer. While this is going on the senior crew are unsure what to do about Reg; his changes are helpful at the moment but how long will it be until he is so much more intelligent that they no longer concern him?

This enjoyable episode sees a welcome return for Dwight Schultz as occasional character Reg Barclay; he does a fine job depicting Reg's change from a highly introvert character to one who is both supremely confident and incredibly intelligent. The nature of this change means we don't know whether he is becoming a threat or will prove benevolent. The ultimate answer fits in well with the series overall ethos that not every unexplained event is the act of malevolent forces. The rest of the cast perform well as one would expect. Overall a fine episode that sees the return of an interesting character.

Sci Fi brilliance combined with Schultz Performance = Greatness

[thevacinstaller · 9/10 · 28 March 2021]

Wonderful.

I am one of those huge dorks that considers Barclay to be one of the (if not the) best star trek character of them all. He's endlessly fascinating to watch with his attempts to conquer his anxiety and awkwardness.

On top of having Schultz deliver his standard brilliant performance we get a truly Sci Fi episode of an alien society that uses advanced technology to bring people of interest to them for mutual information exchange. It is a clever premise that you would never see coming given the content of the episode up to the reveal.

The scene of Barclay collaborating with Einstein is absolutely hilarious as well.

Shout out to Troi for being awesome and going on a 'date' with regular Barclay at the end of the episode.

What a great episode!

The Return of Broccoli

[Samuel-Shovel · 8/10 · 21 January 2020]

In "The Nth Degree" the Enterprise heads out to an outpost to try to repair a non-functioning deep range telescope. While there, they find some kind of unidentified probe nearby. While investigating this further, Lt. Barclay is knocked out by a flash of light and wakes up with an increasingly powerful intelligent. The episode culminates with Barclay tying himself into the ship's computer and taking over control of the Enterprise's navigation. They end up warping to uncharted territory where the probe's creators fix Barclay and establish friendly relations with the Federation.

The floating head on the bridge always looks a bit silly but everything else in this episode is pretty perfect. The plot, the acting and the effects all hold up for the most part. I just can't poke too many holes in this ep. One of Season 4's best!

God like powers

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 4 June 2019]

I'm surprised somewhat that none of the previous reviewers of this TNG story have mentioned the classic Star Trek prime episode where Gary Lockwood is hit with a beam from an alien probe and becomes super intelligent with God like powers. It seem so obvious that this story was borrowed from that.

This episode marks the return of crewman Reg Barkley played by Dwight Schultz who this always seem to happen to. The Enterprtse is trying to repair the futuristic version of the Hubbell telescope when a beam from an alien probe hits Barkley who this always happens to.

Barkley is a fun character sort of a futuristic schlamazzel. Reg never quite fits in.

Are you up for a involuntary vacation?

[amusinghandle · 9/10 · 24 February 2024]

Shultz delivers another memorable performance as the underdog who gains marvel like superpowers through an alien probe discharge.

It's interesting that in Barclays first episode, he is too awkward and socially inept in the view of the crew but in this episode he is way too advanced. The guy just can't win, right?

It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling to watch Troi/Crusher/Riker all being a positive force in accepting Barclay into the enterprise family before the alien probe situation.

It's a cool concept ---- explore the galaxy by bringing others to see you. Maybe try a postcard first?

This is another textbook example of a wonderfully paced TNG episode. I am a fan of Shultz performance and that keeps me engaged in pretty much any episode he is in.

"I've finally become the person I've always wanted to be."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 31 January 2024]

We first met crew member Barclay (Dwight Schultz) in the third season episode 'Hollow Pursuits' under similar circumstances where he appeared to gain self confidence in the holodeck by impersonating someone else. This time, a different set of circumstances turns him into the most intelligent human that ever lived after getting hit by an energy flash from a strange space probe that coincidentally disrupted the entire telescope system in the Argus Array. The funniest thing the writers came up with here was showing Barclay in the holodeck instructing Albert Einstein - that was a hoot! With Barclay casually coming up with significant enhancements aboard the Enterprise, the next step in his evolution turned out to be a merge with the ship's computer systems! I get a kick out of the way the series story lines frequently arrive at virtually impossible distances like the thirty thousand light years the Enterprise was flung by Barclay upon repairing the Argus telescopes. At which point we learned that an alien race called the Cytherians were the ones who integrated Barclay with a vast knowledge that they wished to engage with. Afterwards of course, Barclay returned to normal, hopefully with a little of that former self confidence left intact.

Not the way I expected this episode to go. I appreciate that.

[makiefer-87128 · 8/10 · 24 February 2024]

This episode ultimaty takes the viewer to the centre of the galaxy. Is there something ST script writers understand that no one else does ? Because at our galaxy's centre, the Enterprise finds surprisingly little. A hologram of a giant head appears on the flagship's bridge. Which is impressive. But that's it. In general, STTNG script writers' imagination is unmatched. In other episodes, we saw living space ships, robotic Borg, time travellers. Other SciFi books attribute the weirdest worlds to our galaxy's centre. Enough to spawn another seperate Star Trek show. The writers of this episide didn't get overly excited. At least not about that particular region. Which made me wonder whether our galaxy's centre really isn't very interesting.

A Senior Trekker writes.......................

[celineduchain · 5/10 · 27 January 2022]

Season 4 contains the 80th episode of The Next Generation, at which point it surpassed the output of the Original Series. A number of extended themes played out during this season delving into both the political backdrop and the personal lives of the crew. These continuing storylines proved extremely popular, however they did not detract from the use of Science Fiction to tell interesting stories. Senior Trekker continues to score every episode with a 5.

How we loved to see Dwight Schultz return to TNG back when he was so well known as Mad Murdock from the A Team. Nowadays he is recognised as an accomplished and versatile actor but in those days many viewers closely associated him with his crazy on-screen antics. Apparently he joined Star Trek after asking his friend Whoopi Goldberg for an introduction and this was his second appearance in the Franchise.

It's a wonderful episode in which the character, Reg Barclay, having been exposed to the contaminant of the week, develops rapidly expanding mental capacity until he is literally too clever for the human brain and downloads himself into the ship's computer. Mr Schultz navigates some rapid personality changes, tongue-twisting tech and lighter comedic moments with such skill that we can enjoy a completely ridiculous story without worrying about such irrelevant things as continuity or plot holes.

Whoever thought up all that nonsensical tech-speak and especially the higher mathematics that Reg is seen sharing with the hologram of Albert Einstein, deserves special recognition.

A god

[anthonylesley · 10 April 2020]

In this episode Barclay from season 3 episode 21 returns and when an alien probe knocks him unconscious he wakes up smarter and even becomes the ships computer before taking the crew to a giant floating head that looks like god!

REVIEW 2022

[iamirwar · 5/10 · 9 September 2022]

Reg is back... Reg is a bit timid. No longer playing in holodeck fantasies, he's taken to the stage now.

Interacting with other thespians to bring the play to life, but he's a terrible actor. Although Bev Crusher isn't much better considering she is his teacher.

The Reg character was originally intended for a once only appearance in the TNG: Hollow Pursuits episode from Season Two, but his character proved so popular that the writers brought him back again. But how did he make it to the rank of Lieutenant?

The story is similar to so many where a man of limited abilities, hits his head, or is bitten by a radio-active spider, or walks through an electric magnetic force which changes him into something extraordinary.

The problem with TNG chronicles such as these are that they focus so much on the character and his interactions with other crew members and the underlying story tends to take a back seat.

There are great TNG episodes and then there are filler episodes. This one fits into the latter category.

This Episodes Clue: Guardian of Lo.