The Next Phase 

A transporter malfunction, combined with a Romulan ship under stress and a damaged cloaking device, creates the illusion that Ensign Ro and Geordi are dead, but Geordi doesn't believe it to be so, and he acts accordingly.

Director:

David Carson

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (created by), Ronald D. Moore

Stars:

Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Patrick Stewart	...	Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes	...	Cmdr. William Riker
LeVar Burton	...	Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
Michael Dorn	...	Lt. Worf
Gates McFadden	...	Dr. Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis	...	Counselor Deanna Troi
Brent Spiner	...	Lt. Commander Data
Michelle Forbes	...	Ensign Ro Laren
Thomas Kopache	...	Mirok
Susanna Thompson	...	Varel
Shelby Leverington	...	Chief Brossmer
Brian Cousins	...	Parem
Kenneth Meseroll	...	Ensign McDowell

Storyline

After successfully responding to a Romulan vessel's engine failure distress call, Riker's Enterprise rescue team loses all traces of Geordi and Ensign Ro Laren while they beam back aboard; Data ponders on an appropriate memorial service given their different cultural traditions. The two find they are transported aboard but immaterial, unnoticed by other Enterprise crew. Lo thinks they're dead, Geordi gradually works out, like Data aboard, they must be affected by a Klingon-type cloaking technology aboard the Romulan ship interfering with another damaged system. Lo discovers there's a Romulan beamed up with them, who is ready to protect the secret by killing them.

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Plot Keywords:

shot in the leg | federation starship | outer space | warp speed | starfleet captain | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 May 1992 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

46 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Thomas Kopache has played Mirok in TNG "The Next Phase", Train Engineer in TNG "Emergence", Enterprise-B communications officer in Star Trek Generations, Viorsa in Voyager "The Thaw", Kira Taban in DS9 "Ties of Blood and Water" and "Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night", Tos in Enterprise "Broken Bow" and a Sphere Builder test subject in Enterprise "Harbinger".

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Goofs

When Ro is running through the ship to escape the Romulan, she runs in a straight line even though this is the least likely strategy to succeed. As evidenced by her attempt to attack the Romulan in the Holodeck, neither phased being can see through walls, so Ro could have tried to attack again or simply have run in a different direction, and the Romulan would have had no way of knowing which way she went.

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Quotes

Lt. Commander Data: In almost all societies, it is traditional to say a ritual farewell to those you call friends. I never knew what a friend was until I met Geordi. He spoke to me as though I were human. He treated me no differently from anyone else. He accepted me for what I am. And that, I have learned, is friendship.
[pause]
Lt. Commander Data: But I do not know how to say goodbye.

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Connections

Referenced in Star Trek: The Next Generation: Timescape (1993)

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Soundtracks

When the Saints Go Marching In
(uncredited)
Traditional
Played at the Wake

User Reviews

Geordi and Ro become ghosts!

When this episode begins, the Enterprise is doing something VERY unusual--it's providing assistance to a damaged Romulan ship! The crew seem grateful but soon a serious problem becomes apparent when the transporter malfunctions--making several folks disappear. They are assumed to be dead but Ro and Geordi are actually 'out of phase'. In other words, they are alive and no one can see them. Well, the crew starts mourning for their lost comrades...during which time Ro and Geordi can walk through walls and see and hear everyone. Surprisingly, they learn that the Romulans have tampered with the Enterprise's engines--and it will blow up when they engage the warp drive! Can they possibly warn their crewmates and also return to normal?

The best thing about this episode are the cool special effects. Seeing folks running through things is pretty nifty and the story is exciting and weird (in a good way). Well worth seeing.