TROI: I've been working with Ensign Brooks since the death of her husband. She's avoided the reality of what happened, denied it to herself, and I realise I've been doing the same thing about my condition.
Too little, too late, writers! You could've had her come to this realization a lot earlier.
PICARD: There was a teacher of mine at the Academy who had been confined to a wheelchair since birth. She was a woman
TROI: Captain, spare me the inspirational anecdote and just accept my resignation.
"Spare me." I call that insubordination, no matter her condition. Furthermore, if we're still supposed to be in Gene's "humans are perfect, they don't mourn" period, where did this episode come from?
RIKER: You always had an advantage. A little bit of control of every situation. That must have been a very safe position to be in. To be honest, I'd always thought there was something a little too aristocratic about your Betazoid heritage. As if your human side wasn't quite good enough for you.
She wasn't aristocratic because she was a Betazoid, she was aristocratic because she was born to the nobility and her mother was always grooming her for big things.
LAFORGE: The energy we wanted to transfer to the nacelles was absorbed by the graviton wake instead. It set up a torsional wave that rebounded back to the ship.
How does that work? The warp plasma was drained, twisted, then fed back into the nacelles?
TROI: I just know you're not serious.
GUINAN: Have I given you any indication that I might not serious?
TROI: Not really, but
GUINAN: Then how do you know? Are your empathic abilities coming back?
TROI: No. I suppose it's just instinctive. I get it. You're trying to make me see that I have other abilities to draw on. Human intuition, instincts. Guinan, those skills only develop after years of experience. It's not that easy.
So how long as Guinan been a bartender? We sure got the implication that Picard met her as a bartender in the Stargazer days decades ago.
PICARD: If there is a psychology to these creatures, we must discover it. If there is an explanation for their behaviour, we must know what it is. Even in your current condition, you are the most qualified person aboard this ship to assist. Data is in Observation attempting to formulate a strategy. I want you to join him. Deanna, we need you.
I get the plot device, but that doesn't mean it's not forced.
PICARD: How do you simulate a cosmic string? It has the gravitational force of a hundred stars.
DATA: I do not suggest simulating the gravitational field of the string fragment, rather the string's vibration.
RIKER: Vibration? We're not talking about a violin, Data.
LAFORGE: No, Data's right. The principle is still the same. A cosmic string emanates a characteristic set of subspace frequencies as atomic particles decay along its event horizon. I could use the ship's parabolic dish to amplify and reflect those frequencies back toward the cluster. The Enterprise itself would echo the cosmic string.
"Parabolic dish"? I'm pretty sure that the main deflector is nowhere near a perfect parabola given its shape.
The Fiver
Picard: Well, there's nothing to see here. Let's go.
(BOOM)
Ensign Allenby: The ship just stalled. And we're being pulled somewhere.
Riker: See what happens when you steal lines from Archer?
I can't find this quote from Enterprise, but I did find
this fiver over at TrekToday.
Troi: You don't understand -- I'm completely useless!
Riker: And you're stating the obvious.
Picard: Am I supposed to be seeing something out of the ordinary here?
Ha ha.
Captain's Log: We're screwed. On the plus side, if you stare at the images of the creatures long enough you can see a picture of a fish.
I could never see Magic Eye pictures. I guess my prescription is too strong.
Picard: I've called you here because we only have a few hours left to live.
Troi: Sir, I'm flattered, but....
Picard: Eew!
I didn't nee that mental image, Kira.
Memory Alpha
* The writing staff considered making the loss permanent, but I do question how you could've made that work long-term. Troi is mainly used as a psychic tricorder as it is, what else would she have to do? Without her powers there's nothing she can do that Guinan can't.
* First mention of the structural integrity field.
* First mention of the Breen.
Nitpicker's Guide
* "Tin Man" clearly said that Betazoids develop their powers at adolescence. Troi should have plenty of experience not having it