The Mind's Eye (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

"The Mind's Eye"
Star Trek: The Next Generation episode
Geordi undergoes brainwashing treatments.
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 24
Directed by	David Livingston[1]
Story by	René Echevarria Ken Schafer
Teleplay by	René Echevarria
Featured music	Dennis McCarthy
Cinematography by	Marvin V. Rush
Production code	198
Original air date	May 27, 1991 (1991-05-27)
Guest appearances
Larry Dobkin - Kell John Fleck - Taibak Colm Meaney - Miles O'Brien Edward Wiley - Vagh Denise Crosby - Voice of Romulan Commander Majel Barrett - Computer Voice
Episode chronology
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Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4
List of episodes

"The Mind's Eye" is the 98th episode of the American syndicated science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 24th episode of the fourth season. David Livingston made his directoral debut at the helm of this episode.^[2]

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, Geordi La Forge sets out for a vacation on Risa, but his shuttle is apprehended by Romulans who hope to use him in a plot to drive a wedge between the Federation and its Klingon allies. La Forge returns to the Enterprise with no memory of the encounter — nor of the fact that he's just been exposed to days of mind control techniques that have turned him into the perfect assassin.

This episode is inspired by the 1962 movie The Manchurian Candidate, with Levar Burton (Geordi) in the Laurence Harvey role, Romulans in the role played by Khigh Dhiegh (best known as the villainous Wo Fat in Hawaii Five-O), and a Klingon in the Angela Lansbury role. Director David Livingston was an admirer of the movie, and had hoped to include a cast member from the movie as an extra, but was unable to do so. Instead, Livingston introduced an homage shot in the scene where a brain-washed La Forge kills a holodeck version of O'Brien.