6x02 Realm of Fear

[7.3/10] I’m on record as being, if not quite opposed, then certainly skeptical of Gene Roddenberry’s “no interpersonal conflicts, all enlightened professionals” mandate for Star Trek: The Next Generation. There’s myriad reasons why the show improved after its first couple of seasons, but one of the big ones is the way the strictures of Roddenberry’s vaunted “vision” for the series were relaxed after the advent of new blood and new perspectives.

But “Realm of Fear” is a reminder of the merits of Roddenberry’s mandate. There’s a sensitivity and trust at play that grounds an outsized story and is, not for nothing, quietly heartwarming. The way the senior staff treats Barclay’s phobia, and his wild theory about giant bugs in the transporter beam, speaks to the compassion and collegiality among the officers aboard the Enterprise, and how far the onetime “Broccoli”’s come.

The episode sees a fairly standard TNG mystery unfold. The crew investigates a lost Starfleet ship adrift in a “plasma stream” with nearly all of the crew missing under confounding circumstances. This big cloud of plasma is a convenient excuse for there to be nebulous science-y issues that affect the crew’s ability to beam over to the neighboring ship. And that provides the perpetually nervous Reginald Barclay to reveal his latest anxiety -- a bout of transporter-phobia.

Now let’s be real here -- the transporter is one of those Star Trek storytelling conveniences that we really shouldn’t think too hard about. (“Hello, Andrew, have you met your fellow Star Trek fans?”) It saved The Original Series from having to depict shuttle voyages to each planet of the week, but it has all sorts of troubling implications that legitimate philosophers have unpacked over the years. More than that, it should be able to solve pretty much every medical and physical problem our heroes encounter. Digging too deeply into it should threaten to break an episode like this one.

And yet, it works in tandem with Barclay’s fears. He’s right. It is a little nuts to have your atoms split apart, turned into data, and reassembled somewhere else. And we’ve seen some gruesome accidents and issues over the years. (Poor Sonak in The Motion Picture) But “Realm of Fear” implicitly analogizes Barclay’s feelings to people who are afraid of getting on airplanes. If you look at the numbers, it’s safer than scads of activities most people engage in without a thought. But to some folks, the experience of a giant metal tube rising into the sky feels unnatural and unnerving.

So when Barclay’s not so subtly tries to avoid beaming over to the other ship given the combination of his phobia and the marginal increase in risk due to the plasma, it’s recognizable and sympathetic. Like a lot of Barclay’s shtick, Dwight Schultz plays the tics and terror a little over-the-top, but the core of the idea works. That way, when Barclay abandons the mission at the last minute, we feel both the awkwardness of the situation and we pity Barclay for what he’s going through.

It’s what happens next that really elevates “Realm of Fear” though. Barclay goes to Counselor Troi to get help! She gives him coping techniques! He’s still scared, and rushes his recovery a bit, but he faces his fear! This isn’t the same Barclay who’d hide away in the holodeck, but rather one who addresses his problems head on and tries to face them. Maybe it’s just different writers in different seasons with different approaches to the character, but I’d like to think it’s growth.

More to the point, he’s treated with kindness and care. Geordi, his commanding officer, doesn’t chastise him for his fearful reaction to the transporter but simply sets Barclay to his task. Likewise, Riker doesn’t dress down the lieutenant, and instead just tells him they’re glad he’s here. The two officers who were leading the charge (and, frankly, behavior that verged on bullying) against Barclay in his debut episode are now treating him with respect and taking his emotional difficulties seriously. It’s not overdone, and it’s wonderful.

Beyond Barclay’s anxieties here, “Realm of Fear” also speaks to the benefits of fostering a working environment full of mutual trust and acceptance. After seeing giant worms in the matter beam as he beamed between ships, and experiencing a glowing blue arm, Barclay worries he’s experiencing “transporter psychosis”. He’s afraid that some combination of his hang-ups and the macguffin sauce of the plasma stream have made him lose his mind and hallucinate.

And yet, while he initially hides his concerns and stews in his neuroses, eventually he uses his scientific background, finds some empirical backdrops, and comes to the senior staff with his concerns. His theory would explain both his visions and afflictions, and possibly the disappearance of the other ship’s crew. The senior officers could easily dismiss Barclay as a kook, given his history of irregular behavior and his particular lack of objectivity about all things transporter. Instead, after barely a moment’s pause, Picard orders a full volley of tests and diagnostics to potentially support the theory, without a moment’s hesitation or dissent from anyone.

That too is downright heartwarming in its way. One of the nicest parts of “Remember Me” (the Beverly Crusher pocket universe episode) is the way a self-doubting Bev asked Picard to help her test theories she admitted sounded crazy, and he reassured that however outlandish those ideas might seem, he’d never steered her wrong before. Likewise, as rightfully scorned as “Turnabout Intruder”, the series finale for TOS is, one of my favorite parts of it is how the crew hears Spock’s body switch theory and when pressed, he basically says, “Look, we’ve seen a lot of crazy shit over the years, guys.”

Both approaches come to the fore here. Barclay’s ideas sound a little nuts, but the Enterprise has seen a lot of weird things in its travels across the galaxy. More than that, however fidgety and odd Barclay may be at times, they respect him as a fellow officer worth listening to, and their “trust but verify” approach bears that out.

Sure enough, Barclay’s hypothesis pays off. Not only does he justify what he saw when beaming between ships, but he faces his fears by being the guinea pig for those tests and figures out how to rescue the other ship’s crew in the process. The answer is satisfying, with that crew trying to solve the same problem our heroes are, reaching similar conclusions, but not quite being able to fix the problem without the Enterprise’s knowhow. There’s enough of a science-y bent to pass the smell test with some creative ideas on how the plasma stream caused the problem. And most of all, Barclay gets to be the hero who saves the day, thanks to the help and trust of his friends.

It’s hard to believe that’s how things would play out in the real world. It’s optimistic, to say the least, to see someone’s phobias treated with such reflexive care and their opinions on the subject of their anxiety taken so seriously.

But despite its willingness to delve into gray areas and legitimate darkness, Star Trek: The Next Generation remains an aspirational show. It shows us a glimpse at what humanity might one day become. And far from the show’s first couple of seasons, which often devolved into judgy monologues about how misguided man was in the past (our present), an episode like “Realm of Fear” shows rather than tells that enlightenment.

A man facing psychological difficulties is cared for and supported rather than shamed or ostracized. He’s part of a workforce where, despite his own hang-ups, he feels comfortable bringing bold ideas to his superiors. And when he does, those higher-ups follow-through on his ideas and explore them, even while seeking hard evidence that they’ll work. It’s not how things often work today, but it’s how they ought to. Roddenberry’s view of the future could be constricting for great storytelling at times, but it could also be inspiring, in the ability for even the least-heralded officer to save the day, and for a community of friends and colleagues acting with compassion and spurring one another to be their best.