"The Loss" is the 84th episode of the American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', and the tenth episode of the fourth season. It originally aired on December 31, 1990. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the

Starfleet Starfleet is a fictional organization in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Within this fictional universe, Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conduc ...

crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, the USS ''Enterprise'' becomes trapped within a field of two-dimensional lifeforms, while

Counselor Troi Deanna Troi is a main character in the science-fiction television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and related TV series and films, portrayed by actress Marina Sirtis. Troi is half-human, half-Betazoid and has the psionic ability to s ...

struggles with the sudden unexpected loss of her empathic abilities.

Plot

Traveling through deep space, the ''

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

'' stops to investigate an odd phenomenon of phantom sensor readings. Meanwhile, ship's counselor Deanna Troi experiences pain and loses consciousness as her empathic abilities suddenly cease to work. The crew discovers they cannot resume course, as the Enterprise is caught up in a group of two-dimensional lifeforms. Without her powers, Troi suffers a tremendous sense of loss, and goes through several classic psychological stages, including

denial Denial, in ordinary English usage, has at least three meanings: asserting that any particular statement or allegation is not true (which might be accurate or inaccurate); the refusal of a request; and asserting that a true statement is not true. ...

fear Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...

and

anger Anger, also known as wrath or rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat. A person experiencing anger will often experience physical effects, su ...

. Ultimately, despite the reassurances of her friends, she resigns as ship's counselor, believing that without her empathic abilities she cannot perform her duties. Commander Data and Commander Riker determine that the two-dimensional creatures are heading for a

cosmic string Cosmic strings are hypothetical 1-dimensional topological defects which may have formed during a symmetry-breaking phase transition in the early universe when the topology of the vacuum manifold associated to this symmetry breaking was not simp ...

, with the Enterprise in tow, and that once they reach the string the ship will be torn apart. Realizing that Troi's loss and the ship's predicament are somehow linked,

Captain Picard Jean-Luc Picard is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, most often seen as the captain of the Federation starship . Played by Patrick Stewart, Picard has appeared in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (''T ...

pleads with her to try and communicate with the strange creatures. After attempting to warn the creatures of the danger posed by the cosmic string, Troi posits that they are seeking out the cosmic string in much the way a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

is drawn to a flame. Working from this hypothesis, Data simulates the vibration of a cosmic string, using the deflector dish at a position well behind the ''Enterprise''. The simulations eventually cause the creatures to briefly reverse their course, breaking their momentum long enough to allow the ''Enterprise'' to break free. Freed from the two-dimensional creatures' influence, Troi's empathic ability is restored. She discovers that her powers were never lost, but were instead overwhelmed by the two-dimensional creatures' strong emotions. Troi returns to her old job with a renewed confidence.

Production

This episode was overall written by Hilary J. Bader. Bader began as TNG season 3 writing intern, and would also write for " Dark Page" and one other episode " Hero Worship" (3 total for TNG). The

teleplay A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or a ...

was written by Hilary J. Bader, Alan J. Alder, and Vanessa Greene.

Reception

In 2019, ''ScreenRant'' ranked it the 8th worst episode of ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' based on

IMDB IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

ratings, which was 6 out of 10 at that time. In 2020, '' Syfy'' highlighted this episode for the character of Troi, noting how it gives her a "dramatic moments of crisis" rather than having to more typically offer advice to others.

Releases

"The Loss" was released in the United States on September 3, 2002, as part of the ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' season four

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

box set. On April 23, 1996, episodes "The Loss" and "Final Mission" were released on LaserDisc in the United States by Paramount Home Video. Both episodes were included on a single double sided 12 inch optical disc, with a Dolby Surround sound track.

References

* Star Trek The Next Generation DVD set, volume 4, disc 3, selection 2.

External links

* *
The Loss
rewatch by Keith R. A. DeCandido {{DEFAULTSORT:Loss, The Star Trek: The Next Generation (season 4) episodes 1990 American television episodes