Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series) Night Terrors (1991) User Reviews

Night Terrors

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 24 May 2012]

"It's a terrifying prospect, to lose control of one's mind."

The Enterprise has been pursuing a missing ship, the USS Brittain, finding it adrift, 34 of the crew dead, having murdered each other, only one survivor being a Betazed officer overcome with total fear. It seems that now the Enterprise crew has become trapped in a "rupture in space" where energy is absorbed, leaving the warp engines powerless. This is known as Tyken's Rift, named after a ship's captain who escaped from one.

It seems that perhaps another group of lifeforms have been trapped as well, needing assistance from the Enterprise in order to be set free, communicating to Counselor Troi in a repeating loop when she "sleeps" (it is considered a nightmare to her and therefore sleeping regularly has become too difficult, although she, being Betazoid, has "buffers" that keep her from succumbing to paranoia, fear, and hallucinations) where she appears, floating in a greenish cloud, approaching its center as an ominous voice mentions, "Eyes in the dark. One moon circles." This could be a message, a plea for help and the answer to how to combat the rupture imprisoning the Enterprise in the area of space they find themselves. Meanwhile, the lifeforms in the vicinity of the Enterprise cause everyone on board to lose REM sleep because of their communications to Troi; in other words, in reaching out to Troi in her sleep, it deprives the others of their REM sleep.

Fascinating story examines the importance of deep sleep and dreams, how without them insanity is assured and cognitive function deteriorates. This episode offers a first-hand look at the terrors that come when dreams are lost and REM sleep is kept from the crew. Riker hears strange sounds, has the feeling that he's being watched yet no one's there, and sees snakes at the foot of his bed. Picard has a terrible moment where he believes he's about to be crushed in the turbolift. Chief O'Brien becomes ridiculously jealous that his wife is spending too much time with a science officer. A Starfleet officer in Ten Forward is becoming paranoid that those in command plan to keep his fellow officers held inside a room against their will, with nefarious plans in store for them. But the ultimate spooky scene has Crusher in sickbay as the 34 dead Brittain crew are sit up in their body bags! Another awesome scene has Worf nearly committing a ritualistic Klingon suicide because he considers himself no longer a warrior thanks to fear…thankfully Troi is there in time before he can complete the form of Hirikiri he was about to perform.

Seeing the Enterprise crew losing control, weakening from lack of rest, unable to remember basic things that are the norm, is really quite intriguing. The results are predictable (you don't think the crew of the Enterprise will wind with the same fate as the Brittain, do you?), and Troi gets a chance to be heroine once again. Data as "Acting Captain" because he is an android, therefore not encumbered by the night terrors, is really cool, although it doesn't necessarily have the same awesome impact as, say, Geordi's command in "The Arsenal of Freedom".

A Spookier Episode Than Normal TNG

[Samuel-Shovel · 6/10 · 14 January 2020]

In "Night Terrors" the Enterprise wanders into a spacial void where they find a missing Star Fleet ship. The ship's crew only has one survivor and seems to have gone mad. Soon the Enterprise crew finds themselves going mad and conspiratorial.

I love the vibe of this episode but the plot itself doesn't really work. I think the horror music and backdrop work really well but found the sleep reasoning laughable. It all wraps up rather too quickly. I do love the haggard looks of everyone by the end of the ep. The ambience here saves this episode from being a complete disaster, even though the story itself is meh.

A real nightmare

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 12 September 2017]

This episode of TNG speaks of the possibility of lack of sleep causing all kinds of ill effects. I can tell you that a lack of REM sleep where you cannot dream can lead to all kinds of hallucinations. I remember getting on a Greyhound bus one time and I hadn't really been able to fall asleep. I remember going New York State's southern tier and passing one of the Finger Lakes I had a hallucination of black helicopters coming down on the lake. I can identify with what the Enterprise crew was going through.

The Enterprise is heeding a distress call from the USS Brattain sent about 3 weeks ago and finds the ship with only one survivor a Betazoid like Counselor Troi. Everyone else is dead and it looks like the crew was the victim of a mass hysteria.

Soon the Enterprise might go the same way as the ship is trapped in a space rift and the fatigue is telling on all the crew.

The two key people in this crisis are Deanna Troi and Data the Android who takes over the command. Data is not affected at all and Troi is affected differently. Together they bring about the solution to their troubles.

This episode really hit home.

What happens when you can't sleep?

[russem31 · 23 April 2006]

ST:TNG:91 - "Night Terrors" (Stardate: 44631.2) - this is the 17th episode of the 4th season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

When the Enterprise locates the Brattain, a science vessel that's adrift in space, the Enterprise discovers that everyone is dead except for their Betazoid counselor - and it turns out they killed each other! Soon, everyone begins exhibiting paranoia with the exception of Troi who has nightmares and Data who is an android. Dr. Crusher soon realizes that the root cause has something to do with REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement) - which is the level of brain activity in which one dreams. But that's not all that's going on.

Can the Enterprise crew figure out what's happening before the same thing happens to them? Trivia note: Whoopi Goldberg stars again as Guinan. And Data suggests using a technique used against the Borg in "The Best Of Both Worlds".

Iconic Troi flying in space episode.

[thevacinstaller · 6/10 · 27 March 2021]

This episode has been getting some high reviews on IMDB --- it didn't land well for me. It's a great premise ---- An alien entity is trapped like the enterprise and is using telepathy and some crazy dreams to attempt to communicate a solution to Troi.

I did not feel the unsettlement that the show was trying to get across with the character focused scenes. The acting was fine but it just didn't gel together.

It is ironic that a show about sleep depravation nearly put me to sleep.

I did find the alien entity to be interesting ---- communicating through telepathy/dreams would be an excellent base for a great trek first contact episode.

Plot is Very Creative; But How Did They Know to Do What They Did?

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 26 August 2014]

A Starship is found floating in space. It is functioning for the most part but only one crew member is left alive. He is Betazoid but in a catatonic state. Records show that the crew had lapsed into fear and paranoia. They had actually killed each other. Now the proximity of the disabled ship begins to affect the Enterprise crew. People are unable to dream and this leads to the symptoms that finished off the previous crew. The Enterprise has one advantage: Commander Data. As is usually the case, he is not affected by forces that humans face. As order disintegrates, Deanna Troi is the only one having dreams, and she is having nightmares. She is floating into a void, heading for a light, while a voice speaks to her in what seems to be nonsense. I decided not to be too critical because I wanted to see things play out. For me, a weakness is that sometimes the solutions to problems in this series are so far-fetched, so sophisticated, or so complex, it blows my mind as to how even Data can come up with an answer on such short notice. Still, I think this is one of the most imaginative episodes of the series.

This episode puts my feet to sleep

[pickfair14 · 7/10 · 21 December 2019]

The crew can't sleep after finding a derelict ship full of dead bodies. As tempers flare only Troi and Data are immune. This begs the question - Does Data dream of android sheep?

The scariest episode of the series

[CCsito · 8/10 · 8 October 2010]

The Enterprise comes upon another Star Fleet vessel drifting in space. They find that the crew has killed each other off and there is only one survivor, a Betazoid crew member. Deanna tries to communicate with the Betazoid crew member to find out what happened. The Enterprise crew then starts to exhibit the same problems that the other ship experienced. Humans appear to be not be able to have deep sleep (REM)anymore. Only Data, the android, and Deanna, the Betazoid, are immune to the loss of deep sleep. Deanna and Data become the only crew members who can work to find out how to get out of the situation. The scariest moment of the episode is when Doctor Crusher is working in a room with the dead victims from the other ship. With her lack of REM sleep, she hallucinates that all of the corpses all of sudden sit upright on the tables that they are laying on.

Just about entertains

[snoozejonc · 6/10 · 19 July 2021]

Enterprise discovers the missing starship USS Brattain and the crew begins to experience mysterious hallucinations.

This is mixed bag of an episode with good ideas but some uninspired execution.

The basic plot is good and contains a number of solid concepts. I like notion of the effects of REM sleep deprivation. I loved the hydrogen atom idea and how the mystery gets solved. As good a solution as it is, it feels like it takes an age to get there and when it we actually see it put into action it is fairly unsatisfying.

From a character perspective it is okay. Troi, Crusher and Data have strong moments of contribution, but others, although frozen out quite logically by the plot, do feel missed.

The visuals are the most inconsistent part of the episode. There are some scenes that are genuinely creepy like the Crusher morgue sequence and the way certain other scenes are filmed and edited, but then it's ruined by the obvious and repetitive bluescreen effect of Troi floating through space.

Performances are a mixed bag. Marina Sirtis and Gates McFadden are okay, but their scenes do not showcase their abilities particularly well. Brent Spiner is great as ever, but everyone else feels like they are going through the motions.

Slick, Cool, and Loads of Fun

[RestlessRust · 8/10 · 6 June 2013]

Coming off the disappointing resolution of Clues, TNG bounces back with another mystery that has a much more satisfying conclusion. But I'll get to that (no spoilers in this review).

It starts off with the Enterprise arriving on the scene of a derelict ship: the Brattain. The Brattain's engines have no power, and all its crew are dead (save one, who only has a single vital purpose for the plot) -- it turns out they killed each other. The Brattain's logs indicate an increase in paranoia and erratic behavior in the weeks leading up to everyone's demise. What happened?

The lack of power to the engines is also a mystery. Geordi says everything should work, but nothing does. They decide to put the Brattain in tow, but then the Enterprise starts experiencing engine problems, as well.

The crew also starts to have issues with aggressive behavior, hallucinations, memory loss, and the like. Even when Crusher discovers the cause, there isn't anything they can do about it. Meanwhile, Troi is having nightmares about floating through space and hearing voices. And as Picard realizes that he, too, is not immune, he confides in Data that he may be the one crew member that can keep them from ending up like the Brattain.

All this sets up for a nice, tight resolution to the mystery, but there are also some neat little touches along the way. For example, as the days progress, Troi's hair looks more disheveled. Picard looks visibly older. Crusher fumbles in search of her communicator pin. They sell it. And we buy it.

This is an all-around enjoyable episode. It's everything that's good about Star Trek, rolled up into a suspenseful hour-long episode. Easily one of the best of the season, if not the series.

Great episode until the last 5 minutes

[a-gordon-2374 · 7/10 · 31 March 2022]

This was a great episode that was spoiled by the end. The premise was sound, the episode was entertaining, and it was a creative play on nightmares and horror.

The ending did not make any sense, though. They should have come up with a better explanation for what happened (not going to include spoilers). Also, they never described how Troi was able to do what she did. It just showed an outline of a humanoid in her dream and... the end.

Bad ending, but the rest of the episode was fun.

Ultimate Guilty Pleasure Episode

[tmcgough · 8/10 · 6 August 2021]

The concept of this episode I love, even if it doesn't really make any sense. The improbability of the resolution and how they come to that decision is cryptic for seemingly no reason. Despite the weird cryptic messages and awkward but charming Troi dream sequence, I just love the episode as a thriller/horror scenario. Maybe not very fitting for a Star Trek concept, but the atmosphere and some schlocky effects/scenarios are just lovely to me as a viewer for some reason.

"Are we talking about hallucinations?"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 30 January 2024]

When the Enterprise encounters the U. S. S. Brattain, the ship had already been missing for twenty-nine days after sending out a distress signal. It turns out the crew were made subject to the mind-altering effects of a space anomaly described as a Tyken's Rift, leading everyone aboard to go insane and start killing each other. With only one survivor aboard, Science Officer Andrus Hagen (John Vickery), a Betazoid, the mystery boiled down to an effect of the Rift that prohibited those in its midst to experience REM sleep. Although it's known that sleep deprivation psychosis can cause hallucinations, Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) probably took things a step too far to suggest that it could induce insanity, but that's the tack the story took. Attempting to communicate with the barely conscious Betazoid, Counselor Deanna Troi (Marin Sirtis) began experiencing strange nightmares of her own, the only one aboard the Enterprise who could at least have them while everyone else began feeling out of sorts, approaching a level of violence that had overtaken the Brattain. Wisely, Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) turned over command of the Enterprise to Data (Brent Spiner), who wasn't affected by the Rift's forces. I think the writers for this episode probably ran out of a creative way to end this story, since they had Counselor Troi encounter some giant nebulous figure in a nightmare and somehow their contact produced an explosion strong enough to free the Enterprise of the Tyken's Rift. I really don't know how they did it, and just guessing here, neither will you.

Just say what you want!

[cmcphee1965 · 3/10 · 27 December 2017]

So Troi keeps hearing the aliens tell her, "Eyes in the dark, one moon." The crew figures out that his means that they need to send hydrogen to the aliens, because they figure that one moon is one electron revolving around one proton. But if the aliens can send a message in English, and are sophisticated enough to use metaphors, why can't they just say, "send hydrogen." It makes no sense and the entire episode is base on it.

To sleep perchance to dream

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 2 June 2015]

The crew of the Enterprise find the USS Brittain adrift in space; all but one of its crew, a Betazoid, are dead. It soon becomes apparent that they killed each other; the captain's log showing they grew more and more paranoid over a period of three weeks until they turned on each other. The Enterprise prepares to tow the Brittain it loses engine power; they are working perfectly but it appears something is draining energy as soon as it is produced. They are caught in something known as a Tyken's Rift with no obvious means to escape. As time passes the crew start hallucinating and like the crew of the Brittain they start to become more paranoid. Dr Crusher has noticed something else; since they entered the rift the crew, with the exception of Counsellor Troi, have stopped dreaming and Troi is having recurring identical nightmares. If the Enterprise is to avoid the fate of the Brittain they will have to discover what Troi's dreams mean.

This episode may lack novel aliens and dramatic action but that doesn't mean it is boring; the growing sense of paranoia and the crew's increasing concerns give the episode the feel of a well-made chiller. This works as the effects are gradual, almost unnoticeable but by the end everybody apart from Data is becoming distinctly fraught and struggling to hold onto their sanity. The cast do a fine job; Gates McFadden standing out particularly as Dr Crusher; there is a great scene where she sees the dead of the Brittain sit up in the makeshift morgue and some fine scenes between her and Patrick Stewart's Captain Picard. Overall a gripping episode.

One of my favorite episodes

[tom992 · 10/10 · 18 November 2020]

This is one of my absolute favorite episode of TNG, it's clever a little scary and mysterious. I love seeing the crew solve mysteries. Night terrors will give you nightmares

I've always loved this one

[fhazduzj · 9/10 · 5 July 2022]

I know not everyone does but I like this episode because it's a bit eerie with some creepy moments that I remembered when watching this as a kid.

Not the best episode of TNG but definitely worth watching.

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.

Oh dear. It's very difficult to call this episode to mind without focusing on Marina Sirtis's badly-concealed flying harness and the dreadful special effects of her dream world. The only thing to say about these is that they do throw into sharp relief the high quality of many of the other episodes of the time. In so many ways, the production values of The Next Generation were way ahead of their time but occasionally a clunker like this creeps in.

The rest of the script wasn't actually too bad as the remaining cast battle the extreme fatigue and clouded judgement that is associated with lack of REM sleep. Gates McFadden gave a particularly convincing performance and Colm Meaney's turn as a jealous husband was chilling. The story's resolution is a "blink and you'll miss it" anti-climax and probably not worth a re-wind.

Not given much to do in this episode except lay catatonic in sickbay as the unfortunate Betazoid, Ardrus, John Vickery is well known to Science Fiction fans from appearances in both Deep Space Nine and Star Trek Enterprise, not to mention an unforgettable turn in Babylon 5.

Meh....

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 19 November 2014]

This is another episode where the Enterprise is stuck in space and not a whole lot happens--no landing party to meet aliens or battles or anything that is that interesting. In a word, the show lacks ENERGY.

The ship finds some other ship where everyone but one is dead (a familiar theme) and this time it appears as if they killed each other. Soon, folks on the Enterprise star acting goofy-- paranoid, having difficulty thinking or giving orders. Because of this, Data is placed in charge. The reason, it turns out, is that people are not experiencing REM sleep and something out there is disrupting this needed deep sleep. Soon, they'll all go mad unless they stop this, because in addition the ship is stuck and cannot move.

So, the ship is stuck and everyone is slowly wasting away. Sounds exciting, no? NO! A pretty dull episode through and through will little to recommend it.

REVIEW 2022

[iamirwar · 5/10 · 8 September 2022]

A surreal mystery which I enjoyed but I would have enjoyed it more had it all taken place within Troi's monochrome dream.. or nightmare.

Sometimes you get the feeling that in Star Trek, if one character goes down with an illness, they all claim to have it.

A spooky, things that go bump in the night kind of story. I would have believed this first aired on Halloween, but it actually aired in March 1991.

If this episode had been pitched to an older audience maybe the script-writers could have gone further with it, but I get the feeling that the restraints placed on the writers and producers due to age limitations is what really held this story back. There are one or two spine-tingling moments, especially for the Doctor.

This one is trying hard to keep the suspense going, but is having problems keeping that impulse going.

This weeks clue. "I don't sleep I dream"