star trek tng geordi turns into alien

Geordi La Forge

• View history

Geordi La Forge was a human male Starfleet officer, who was originally a lieutenant junior grade while serving as the helmsman of the USS Enterprise -D , during 2364 . As his career progressed, he transitioned to engineering , and was promoted to lieutenant , and later lieutenant commander , rising to become the chief engineer of the Enterprise -D, and later USS Enterprise -E , both under Captain Jean-Luc Picard . ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ", " Where No One Has Gone Before ", " The Child ", " Evolution ", " Booby Trap "; Star Trek: First Contact ) By early 25th century he attained the rank of commodore and held the position of curator at the Fleet Museum . ( PIC : " The Next Generation ")

• 1 Early life
• 2 Early Starfleet career
• 3.1.1 Conn Officer
• 3.1.2 Chief Engineer
• 3.2 The Enterprise -E
• 4 Later life
• 6 Engineering interests, talents, and specialties
• 7 Legendary forces
• 8 Personal life
• 9.1 Friendships
• 9.2.1 Christy Henshaw
• 9.2.2 Leah Brahms (hologram)
• 9.2.3 Aquiel Uhnari
• 10 Alternate realities and timelines
• 11 Holograms
• 12 Chronology
• 13.1 Appearances
• 13.2 Background information
• 13.3 Apocrypha
• 13.4 External links

Early life [ ]

Geordi La Forge was born on February 16 , 2335 in Mogadishu , Somalia to parents Captain Silva La Forge and noted exozoologist , Commander Edward M. La Forge . Due to a birth defect , he was born blind . As an adult, he stood 170 centimeters (appr. 5'7") tall and was right-handed. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ", " The Masterpiece Society ", " Cause And Effect ", " Identity Crisis ", " Ship In A Bottle ")

Around 2340 , when he was about five years old, Geordi was trapped alone in a burning building; he later remembered this as one of the most frightening moments of his life. ( TNG : " Hero Worship ")

Sometime, not long after, Geordi received his first VISOR , which allowed him to see (although not the same way the average Human does) for the first time in his life. ( TNG : " Hero Worship ") At age eight, Geordi was brought his first pet , a Circassian cat , and he remembered his excitement for years to come. ( TNG : " Violations ")

Young Geordi spent time with both his parents as a child, sometimes separately. For a time, Geordi lived with his father, Edward, while Edward studied invertebrates in the Modean system . On other occasions, Geordi was away from his father, on outposts near the Romulan Neutral Zone with his mother, Silva. ( TNG : " Imaginary Friend ")

Geordi attended to Zefram Cochrane High School sometime prior to 2353 . ( Star Trek: First Contact )

Early Starfleet career [ ]

He attended Starfleet Academy from 2353 to 2357 , where he excelled at engineering and idolized Zefram Cochrane . ( Star Trek: First Contact ) Among his reading during the Academy, La Forge read about the USS Stargazer . ( TNG : " The Battle ")

La Forge graduated with a Starfleet specialty in antimatter power and dilithium regulators . His first deep-space assignment was as an ensign aboard the USS Victory under Captain Zimbata . ( TNG : " Elementary, Dear Data ") In 2362 , La Forge participated in the investigation of the disappearance of the Federation colony on Tarchannen III . ( TNG : " Identity Crisis ")

La Forge later transferred to the USS Hood , where he served under Captain Robert DeSoto . On the Hood, La Forge knew William T. Riker , but only professionally. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ") Riker knew La Forge the longest of all of their shipmates aboard the Enterprise , and the two developed a close friendship during their later years together at that assignment. ( TNG : " The Next Phase ")

At one point in his career as a young officer, La Forge was assigned to pilot Jean-Luc Picard on an inspection tour . En route to their destination, Picard made an off-hand remark about the shuttle 's engine efficiency not being what it should be. In response to this, La Forge stayed up all night refitting the shuttle's fusion initiators . When Picard discovered what La Forge had done the following morning, he knew immediately that he wanted La Forge with him on his next command. ( TNG : " The Next Phase ")

Aboard the Starships Enterprise [ ]

The enterprise -d [ ], conn officer [ ].

In 2364 , he was named conn officer on the USS Enterprise -D under Captain Jean-Luc Picard . ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")

While investigating the deaths of the SS Tsiolkovsky crew , La Forge contracted a variant of polywater intoxication , causing him to lose his inhibitions. Dr. Beverly Crusher used La Forge to test her vaccines and was able to develop a cure. ( TNG : " The Naked Now ")

The first test of his ability as a starship commander came during an encounter with an advanced planetary defense system in orbit around the planet Minos . With the senior officers' away teams entrenched at the planet's surface, La Forge gave the order to send the Enterprise 's saucer section to safety and then returned to Minos with the stardrive section to work out a way of evacuating the away teams. While battling a cloaked drone in orbit, he devised a strategy to lure the opponent into the planet's atmosphere, thus revealing its location. In this tense situation, he proved that he had the ability to successfully lead a skeleton crew to victory. ( TNG : " The Arsenal of Freedom ")

His special vision was impressively demonstrated during an away mission to the drifting freighter Batris . The VISOR data was directly transmitted to the Enterprise -D's main bridge viewscreen via his visual acuity transmitter , allowing the bridge crew to gain an insight into Geordi's view of the world and to follow the progress of the mission until the datalink failed. ( TNG : " Heart of Glory ")

Chief Engineer [ ]

Lieutenant La Forge as chief engineer in 2365

In 2365 , La Forge was promoted to full lieutenant . He transferred from the command division to the operations division and was named chief engineer . Over the course of the next several years, it became evident that this transfer had been a wise decision. His technical and analytical abilities, his versatility, and his cooperative leadership style were very well suited to the requirements of a senior engineering officer aboard a major starship. Just one year later, in 2366 , he was promoted to lieutenant commander . ( TNG : " The Child ", " Hollow Pursuits ", " Evolution ")

An especially demanding situation arose in 2365, after the ship's main computer had been infected by an Iconian computer virus by way of the log files of the USS Yamato . Those files were the only useful item that remained of this Galaxy -class starship after a catastrophic loss of antimatter containment had caused it to explode with the loss of all hands. La Forge was eventually able to disprove suspicions of a general design flaw in Galaxy -class starships which had arisen when the alien program caused more and more shipboard systems to fail. Working with Lieutenant Commander Data , whose positronic brain had been infected as well, he found the solution to the problem in time to save the Enterprise -D from seemingly inevitable destruction. ( TNG : " Contagion ")

As a lieutenant commander

Geordi learned about one particular disadvantage of following in the footsteps of Starfleet's legendary engineers when members of a race known as the Pakled took him hostage, hoping to gain technological knowledge. Although injured, he successfully devised an escape method without further bloodshed. ( TNG : " Samaritan Snare ")

La Forge used a hologram of Dr. Leah Brahms , the engineer who designed the Galaxy -class, after the Enterprise was ensnared in a Menthar booby trap. He and the hologram Brahms worked extremely well together and figured out an escape route for the Enterprise . In the process, Geordi became strongly attracted to Brahms. ( TNG : " Booby Trap ", " Galaxy's Child ")

Later that year, Geordi was trapped on Galorndon Core with a Romulan named Bochra . He and Bochra at first tried to kill each other, but soon resolved their differences and worked together to survive. ( TNG : " The Enemy ")

In 2367 , he met the real Leah Brahms . La Forge was ecstatic at the chance to meet her, even if on a solely professional level, but he was in for a surprise. Whereas the hologram Geordi had assembled was kind, creative, and warm, the real Brahms was rude and, much to Geordi's chagrin, married. They worked together to solve a problem on board, but Dr. Brahms found out about the holoprogram and became infuriated. They were eventually able to laugh about it, but a romantic future for the two seemed unlikely. ( TNG : " Galaxy's Child ")

Temporarily transformed into an alien

He met an old friend named Susanna Leijten whom he had served with aboard the Victory . She told La Forge that several of their crewmates, with whom they had formed an Away team to Tarchannen III , had disappeared. Shortly afterward Leijten started to transform into an alien being. La Forge too became infected, but before he was transformed into an alien, he discovered that shadow aliens on the planet had implanted a parasite into the away team members that turned them into the aliens. This was how they reproduced. La Forge was rescued and given an antidote that stopped the transformation. ( TNG : " Identity Crisis ")

Undergoing severe brainwashing after having been captured by Romulans

At the end of 2367, La Forge was captured by the Romulans, who brainwashed him into assassinating the Klingon Governor Vagh . Klingon ambassador Kell worked with the Romulans from the inside. By tracing Kell's signal to La Forge's visor, they were able to stop the assassination attempt. ( TNG : " The Mind's Eye ")

When the Enterprise was hit by a quantum filament that caused massive power failure throughout the ship, La Forge and Dr. Crusher were trapped in a cargo bay with dangerous explosive materials. They daringly decompressed the bay while they were still in it, to jettison the materials into space. ( TNG : " Disaster ")

He worked with the scientists on Penthara IV after the planet's mantle was damaged by an asteroid hit. His first plan failed, but a new one more risky than the first worked and the planet was saved. ( TNG : " A Matter Of Time ")

Later that year, the Enterprise discovered an injured Borg drone in the Argolis Cluster . La Forge helped to repair the drone and, in the process, made friends with him, naming him " Hugh ". Starfleet initially planned to use Hugh to infect the Borg Collective , but Hugh's emotions, including those he felt towards his friend Geordi, prevented this plan. La Forge asked Hugh to remain onboard, but he declined in order to ensure the safety of the Enterprise . ( TNG : " I Borg ")

La Forge with Ro Laren in 2368

After answering a distress call from a Romulan ship, La Forge and Ro Laren disappeared during a transporter cycle. They could see each other and everything around them, but no one was aware of them, and they were presumed dead. They discovered that the Romulan distress call was related to an accident with their cloaking device , and decloaked themselves by creating enough chroniton fields to force Data to use Anyon particles to decontaminate the fields, which also rematerialized La Forge and Ro. ( TNG : " The Next Phase ")

La Forge with Deanna Troi in 19th century disguise

In 2369 , La Forge, along with the rest of the Enterprise principal crew, traveled back to 19th century Earth to save Data. In the process, Geordi encountered Samuel Clemens . ( TNG : " Time's Arrow ", " Time's Arrow, Part II ")

One of Geordi's dreams came true later that year, when the Enterprise answered a distress call sent out by the USS Jenolan . He discovered that the ship's transporters were configured in a strange manner and was able to rematerialize someone. That someone turned out to be Montgomery Scott , the Chief Engineer from the original USS Enterprise . Scott had preserved himself in the transporter buffer for 75 years. Geordi was initially overjoyed to be working with such a legend, but Scotty's constant nitpicking about 24th century technology led Geordi to snap at him. This plunged Scott into a brief depression. Geordi eventually consoled him, pointing out that age does not dictate usefulness, and the two worked together to save the Enterprise . ( TNG : " Relics ")

He was abducted by solanogen-based lifeforms , who experimented on him. ( TNG : " Schisms ")

Later that year, he became romantically involved with fellow Starfleet officer Aquiel Uhnari , who was suspected of murdering her coworker. He eventually proved that the murderer was a coalescent organism . ( TNG : " Aquiel ")

In 2370 , he was captured by Lore , who was leading a group of rogue Borg, who had left the collective due to the individuality Hugh displayed, which Geordi helped to foster, in attacks against the Federation. Lore brainwashed Data into attempting to turn La Forge into a cybernetic organism. This plot was narrowly foiled. ( TNG : " Descent, Part II ")

Later that year Geordi's mother, Silva , was listed as missing in action during a mission. Upon further investigation, Geordi found that her image was being used by aliens to lure him into helping them. ( TNG : " Interface ")

He helped to prove that the Hekarans Serova and Rabal were correctly asserting that warp drive was damaging the fabric of space, which was instrumental in creating the warp 5 "speed limit". ( TNG : " Force of Nature ")

La Forge realizes that a Warp core breach is about to occur.

In 2371 , while on an away team investigating the Amargosa observatory with Lieutenant Commander Data, Geordi was knocked unconscious by Tolian Soran . Soran then kidnapped Geordi and escaped aboard a Klingon Bird-of-Prey . The Klingons traded him for Captain Picard . They put a spy device in Geordi's VISOR and used it to obtain the Enterprise 's shield frequency. The device was removed after the destruction of the Klingon ship, but unfortunately the damage suffered from the Klingons caused a coolant leak which he was unable to fix. This meant a warp core breach was imminent and also meant the inevitable destruction of the Enterprise . ( Star Trek Generations )

The Enterprise -E [ ]

La Forge in engineering aboard the Enterprise -E

After the destruction of the Enterprise -D, he transferred to the new Sovereign -class USS Enterprise -E in 2372 . He and the Enterprise then spent a year on a shakedown cruise .

La Forge in 2373

Some time between 2371 and 2373, he received ocular implants capable of even more impressive functions than his VISOR. This advanced technology no longer required an external apparatus to see.

In 2373 , the Borg attacked the Federation colony on Ivor Prime. The Enterprise was told to patrol the neutral zone; Geordi argued that the Enterprise -E was the most advanced ship in the fleet and should therefore be at the front lines. After Geordi made his case, Captain Picard decided to head to the battle. After destroying the Borg cube , the Enterprise followed the Borg sphere that had left the cube into a temporal vortex it had opened in Earth's atmosphere.

Geordi, along with the entire crew of the Enterprise -E, was transported to 2063 . He and an engineering team beamed down to help repair the Phoenix , and La Forge got to work with his hero, Zefram Cochrane . He told Cochrane about his attendance at a high school named after him and a large marble statue erected in his honor. This rattled Cochrane, but he pulled together and made first contact as planned. The Enterprise then returned to the 24th century. ( Star Trek: First Contact )

At the helm of the Enterprise , 2375

In 2375 , while investigating an incident involving Data on the Ba'ku planet , La Forge was able to temporarily see naturally through real eyes as a result of the metaphasic radiation emanating from the planet's rings. Despite this apparent gift, he, along with the rest of the senior staff , still assisted Captain Picard in working against the Federation's plans to exploit the planet, insisting that he would be unable to look at another sunrise when he was fully aware of the price that the Ba'ku would have to pay for his restored vision; in doing so, he was able to convince a reluctant Picard to accept the crew's help in saving the Ba'ku. ( Star Trek: Insurrection )

In 2379 , Geordi took part in the Enterprise 's mission to Romulus . After a fierce battle with the Scimitar , he helped his best friend Data in his task of self-sacrifice to save the Enterprise crew. ( Star Trek Nemesis )

Later life [ ]

Geordi later rose to the rank of commodore and had two daughters, Alandra and Sidney , both of whom joined Starfleet. Alandra became an engineer like her father, while Sidney trained as a pilot, becoming the helmsman of the USS Titan -A . ( PIC : " The Next Generation ", " The Bounty ")

As of 2399 , retired Admiral Picard still considered La Forge a loyal colleague who would not hesitate to join him on a mission if asked. ( PIC : " Maps and Legends ")

By the early 25th century , La Forge was the head of the Fleet Museum on Athan Prime , during which time Admiral Picard wanted to donate his artwork of the Enterprise -D to La Forge. ( PIC : " The Next Generation ")

During Frontier Day , La Forge revealed that he had spent the last twenty years rebuilding the USS Enterprise -D , intending to reveal her as a surprise one day. Although not fully rebuilt, the ship was functional enough to be pressed back into service against the Borg by her old command crew. ( PIC : " Võx ")

• Main article: VISOR

La Forge, who was born blind, often wore a VISOR , a crescent-moon-shaped device attached at the temples that allowed him to see. It enabled him to "see" throughout the electromagnetic spectrum, from heat and infrared through light and radio waves. With the cybernetic technology connected directly to his brain, it required such a complex and broad-based input that the user had to concentrate to focus on one area. Eventually, he received ocular implants with electric blue irises and even more abilities. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ", " The Masterpiece Society ", " Hero Worship ", " Heart of Glory "; Star Trek: First Contact )

Engineering interests, talents, and specialties [ ]

La Forge works to repair the Enterprise 's warp core .

La Forge had a great talent for engineering and a keen judgment for needed modifications in the field; his faith in technology and his ability to master it were normally an inspiration to those around him. As a junior officer, his specialties included antimatter power , dilithium regulators , holodeck programs , and climate-control computers . His intense focus enabled him to master the complexities of warp engineering and other starship systems. Geordi's all-night refit of a shuttle engine after an off-hand comment by Jean-Luc Picard garnered the attention of the captain , as it was a testament to his no- nonsense skill and insight. ( TNG : " The Last Outpost ", " Elementary, Dear Data ", " Homeward ", " Sub Rosa ", " The Next Phase ")

During the Zefram Cochrane project, he recalled the Phoenix test vehicle's intermix chamber from memory. ( Star Trek: First Contact )

During the 2369 visit to Deep Space 9 , Geordi wished to shop on the station's Promenade , where he wanted to take a look a number of Ktarian antiques on display, including a rumored 21st century plasma coil that was in perfect condition. ( TNG : " Birthright, Part I ")

Legendary forces [ ]

In 2063 , La Forge helped his idol Dr. Zefram Cochrane , Human scientist , eccentric genius, and inventor of the warp drive , to launch his warp test vessel Phoenix in order to make the historic initial meeting with the Vulcans . ( Star Trek: First Contact ) Similarly, when a transporter loop allowed Geordi to come into contact with the near-mythic engineer Montgomery Scott in 2369 , the two joined forces to free the Enterprise from a Dyson sphere 's interior. ( TNG : " Relics ")

Personal life [ ]

The major childhood trauma of being alone in his burning home caused him great distress, though he was pulled to safety after only two minutes. His isolation from his field-assigned officer parents amplified his feelings of solitude. ( TNG : " Hero Worship ")

Despite this, his outstanding characteristic was his adaptability to change and satisfaction with life. His sense of humor and affable nature remained strong, despite his growing responsibilities. ( TNG : " The Child ", " Code of Honor ", " The Masterpiece Society ", " Relics ")

He enjoyed the senior officer's weekly poker game, and though his artificial "eyes" allowed him to detect bluffing and see his opponents' cards in the ultraviolet spectrum , he never "peeked" until a hand was over. ( TNG : " Ethics ")

La Forge with a beard

On occasion, La Forge wore a beard . ( TNG : " The Outcast ", " A Fistful of Datas ", " The Quality of Life ") When he began showing stubble in early 2369 , he was asked by Data if he was attempting to grow another beard. When La Forge asked his opinion on the attempt, Data responded, " [a]s is the case with many natural growth processes, it is difficult to envision the end product based on an intermediate stage. " With that response, La Forge decided that he'd " [g]ive it a few more days. " ( TNG : " A Fistful of Datas ") La Forge continued to grow his beard in, and when asked by Worf if he intended to keep in, during one of their weekly poker games, La Forge was not sure at first; Riker, however, felt that it looked good on him. Their discussion lead to Dr. Crusher's challenge that the reason why men still wore beards, was that they were trying to hide something, and/or, that since the razor was invented , beards were little more than an affectation . While La Forge argued that "some of the most distinguished men in history have worn beards," when Crusher offer to "up the stakes" of their poker game, bet that the three men wouldn't be willing to shave their beards off if her hand won. La Forge took Crusher's bet and told him he had "the hand to beat". When it seemed as if La Forge bit off more than he could chew, their game was interrupted by Captain Picard with a call to return to duty , without knowing the hand's final outcome. ( TNG : " The Quality of Life ") He wore a beard again, in the form of a goatee , while serving aboard the USS Enterprise -E in the mid- 2370s . ( Star Trek: Insurrection , Star Trek Nemesis ) He also wore it in an alternate 2390 and in the anti-time future . ( VOY : " Timeless "; TNG : " All Good Things... ")

A model of the HMS Victory , built by Geordi La Forge

He also delighted in scale model building of old sailing ships, namely the HMS Victory , ing chess , swimming , skindiving , fencing , the history of his profession. ( TNG : " Elementary, Dear Data ", " The Loss ", " Relics ") He was not well suited for writing or the mandolin , despite a preference for guitar music. He liked iced tea and pasta , such as fungilli . ( TNG : " Booby Trap ") Due to his nomadic upbringing, he was adept at various languages including Haliian . ( TNG : " Aquiel ")

Personal relationships [ ]

Friendships [ ].

La Forge with Data in 2366

La Forge always tried to be on friendly terms with everyone around him, yet he only seemed completely at ease in company of his closest friend, Data. The two of them often role-played in holodeck simulations of Sherlock Holmes stories, in which Data assumed the role of Holmes and La Forge was Dr. Watson. ( TNG : " Elementary, Dear Data ", " Ship In A Bottle ")

Geordi was also close friends with Miles O'Brien and Susanna Leijten . Possibly because of his own tendencies to retreat to fictitious settings, Geordi became friends with the extremely shy and nervous genius Reginald Barclay , trying to keep him in reality. ( TNG : " Data's Day ", " Identity Crisis ", " Hollow Pursuits ", " The Nth Degree ") Geordi also forged an unlikely bond with fellow Enterprise Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott after rescuing him from the crashed USS Jenolan . ( TNG : " Relics ")

Romance [ ]

Geordi was slightly insecure concerning dating and women, though he had significant relationships with Christy Henshaw , Lt. Aquiel Uhnari , and Dr. Leah Brahms. He may have also harbored a slight romantic attraction to his crewmate Natasha Yar . ( TNG : " Booby Trap ", " Transfigurations ", " Aquiel ", " The Naked Now ", " Hide And Q ")

Self-conscious and slightly nervous, it took him considerable effort to get in contact with potential female partners. This apparently contributed to his falling in love with two women's holographic audiovisual representations when it appeared that he would never get to meet them in person. ( TNG : " Booby Trap ", " Hollow Pursuits ", " Galaxy's Child ")

Christy Henshaw [ ]

Efforts to date Enterprise -D crewmate Christy Henshaw were initially unsuccessful, although she became much more interested in him after an encounter with the Zalkonian known as John Doe left him feeling much more confident. ( TNG : " Booby Trap ", " Transfigurations ")

Leah Brahms (hologram) [ ]

Working with a holographic representation of engineer Leah Brahms , a key member of the Galaxy -class Starship Development Project and, in a way, the mother of the Enterprise 's warp propulsion system, La Forge fell in love with her. Despite this attraction, he later noted that he still knew when it was time to turn off the holodeck and say goodbye.

Upon meeting the real, married Dr. Brahms one year later, in 2367, things were anything but rosy; after discovering the holoprogram, she resented his usage of her image and accused him of exploiting her. Both had to work hard to find a way of cooperating, but eventually they became friends. ( TNG : " Booby Trap ", " Hollow Pursuits ", " Galaxy's Child ")

Aquiel Uhnari [ ]

Investigating the supposed death of one and disappearance of another officer at a remote subspace relay station in 2369, Geordi reviewed the personal correspondence of the suspected victim, Lieutenant Aquiel Uhnari. In the process, he came to know and like her so much that upon her unexpected apprehension, they formed a short relationship. ( TNG : " Aquiel ")

Alternate realities and timelines [ ]

In an alternate timeline created when the Enterprise -C accidentally traveled to the future, La Forge had been fighting in a war with the Klingons for the duration of his Starfleet career. He was still Chief Engineer, but was a lieutenant for reasons unknown. ( TNG : " Yesterday's Enterprise ")

In two alternate quantum realities , La Forge was killed in 2370 . In one of them, he died during an attack on the Enterprise -D by a Cardassian Galor -class battle cruiser. ( TNG : " Parallels ") Later that year, in an alternate timeline , La Forge's optic nerves regenerated due to the anti-time particles emanating from a temporal anomaly , restoring his vision. ( TNG : " All Good Things... ")

Geordi La Forge in 2390

In another alternate timeline , La Forge had been promoted to the rank of captain by 2390 and was in command of the Galaxy -class USS Challenger . In that year, he pursued Chakotay , Harry Kim , Tessa Omond and The Doctor in a stolen Delta Flyer to the Takara sector in an attempt to stop them from changing history by preventing the destruction of the USS Voyager fifteen years earlier . ( VOY : " Timeless ")

Geordi La Forge in the " anti-time future "

In an alternate future, around 2395 , Geordi had retired from Starfleet to become a novelist and was married to someone named Leah (possibly Leah Brahms ). The couple were living on Rigel III and had three children, Alandra , Bret and Sidney . Leah became the director of the Daystrom Institute as well as quite a gardener . ( TNG : " All Good Things... ")

Holograms [ ]

Geordi as one of The Three Musketeers : "We shall thrash them!!"

Geordi La Forge was holographically duplicated on a number of occasions.

• In 2366 , as part of the investigation into the destruction of the Tanuga IV research station , copies of Geordi were created based on the depositions given by the witness in the programs Deposition Program Riker One and Manua Simulation One . ( TNG : " A Matter of Perspective ")
• As part of Reginald Barclay 's holo-addiction , he created at least two programs that had representations of Geordi. One was a recreation of the USS Enterprise -D ; the other, Barclay Program 15 , had Geordi as one of The Three Musketeers . ( TNG : " Hollow Pursuits ")
• Barash recreated the entire command crew of the Enterprise -D in 2367 on Alpha Onias III to keep Commander Riker there, creating an illusion of the Enterprise crew sixteen years in the future. The La Forge hologram appeared without his VISOR – apparently the result of improved medical technology restoring his eyes – but Riker deduced that the simulation wasn't real when La Forge took too long to conduct basic repairs on the Enterprise (really the result of Barash having trouble creating a completely convincing simulation), informing La Forge that he was " incapable of that level of incompetence. " ( TNG : " Future Imperfect ")
• Later that year, La Forge created a holoprogram based on the reports of the Tarchannen III outpost 's investigation in 2362 by an away team of the USS Victory , including himself. ( TNG : " Identity Crisis ")
• The James Moriarty hologram recreated the entire Enterprise -D in 2369 as part of a ploy to escape the holodeck . Data finally realized the trap laid by Moriarty and revealed it to Captain Picard when they were both in the holographic engineering. Data tossed a tool to "La Forge" who caught it with his left hand, although he was actually right-handed. Data recognized this as one of the holodeck's initial malfunctions and used the visual lesson to show Picard that they were on the holodeck. ( TNG : " Ship In A Bottle ")
• When Deanna Troi took Riker's version of the Bridge Officer's Test in 2370 , it contained a recreation of La Forge. In order to pass the test, Deanna needed to know that on some occasions she might be required to order one of her officers to sacrifice himself for the good of the ship. During an antimatter leak simulation, Deanna ordered the La Forge recreation to repair the leak at the cost of his own life. ( TNG : " Thine Own Self ")

Chronology [ ]

• 2335  : Born in African Confederation , Earth .
• 2340s  : Receives his first VISOR .
• 2353  : Admitted to Starfleet Academy .
• 2357  : Graduates Starfleet Academy, assigned to USS Victory .
• 2361  : Assigned to USS Hood under Captain DeSoto .
• 2364  : Assigned to USS Enterprise -D as helmsman .
• 2365  : Promoted to lieutenant and chief engineer .
• 2366  : Promoted to lieutenant commander .
• 2370  : Receives word that his mother, Captain Silva La Forge of the USS Hera , has died.
• 2371  : The USS Enterprise -D is destroyed over Veridian III . ( Star Trek Generations )
• 2372  : Assigned to the USS Enterprise -E.
• 2373  : Travels back in time to 2063 in order to defeat an attempt by the Borg to create an alternate timeline in which the Federation is never created. ( Star Trek: First Contact )
• 2375  : Assists in Picard's rebellion against Starfleet Admiral Dougherty in order to protect the Ba'ku ; La Forge's eyes temporarily gain sight because of the Ba'ku planet 's effects. ( Star Trek: Insurrection )
• 2379  : Attends the wedding of William Riker and Deanna Troi . Participates in Battle in the Bassen Rift . ( Star Trek Nemesis )
• Between 2376 and 2401 : Has at least two daughters: Sidney La Forge and Alandra La Forge . Promoted to commodore and assigned curator of the Fleet Museum .

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " Encounter at Farpoint "
• " The Naked Now "
• " Code of Honor "
• " The Last Outpost "
• " Where No One Has Gone Before "
• " Lonely Among Us "
• " Justice "
• " The Battle "
• " Hide And Q "
• " The Big Goodbye "
• " Datalore "
• " Angel One "
• " 11001001 "
• " Too Short A Season "
• " When The Bough Breaks "
• " Home Soil "
• " Coming of Age "
• " Heart of Glory "
• " The Arsenal of Freedom "
• " Symbiosis "
• " Skin Of Evil "
• " We'll Always Have Paris "
• " Conspiracy "
• " The Neutral Zone "
• " The Child "
• " Where Silence Has Lease "
• " Elementary, Dear Data "
• " The Outrageous Okona "
• " Loud As A Whisper "
• " The Schizoid Man "
• " Unnatural Selection "
• " The Measure Of A Man "
• " The Dauphin "
• " Contagion "
• " The Royale "
• " Time Squared "
• " The Icarus Factor "
• " Pen Pals "
• " Samaritan Snare "
• " Up The Long Ladder "
• " The Emissary "
• " Peak Performance "
• " Shades of Gray "
• " Evolution "
• " The Ensigns of Command "
• " The Survivors "
• " Who Watches The Watchers "
• " The Bonding "
• " Booby Trap "
• " The Enemy "
• " The Price "
• " The Vengeance Factor "
• " The Defector "
• " The Hunted "
• " The High Ground "
• " A Matter of Perspective "
• " Yesterday's Enterprise "
• " The Offspring "
• " Sins of The Father "
• " Allegiance "
• " Tin Man "
• " Hollow Pursuits "
• " The Most Toys "
• " Ménage à Troi "
• " Transfigurations "
• " The Best of Both Worlds "
• " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II "
• " Brothers "
• " Suddenly Human "
• " Remember Me "
• " Reunion "
• " Future Imperfect "
• " Final Mission "
• " The Loss "
• " Data's Day "
• " The Wounded "
• " Devil's Due "
• " Galaxy's Child "
• " Night Terrors "
• " Identity Crisis "
• " The Nth Degree "
• " The Drumhead "
• " Half a Life "
• " The Host "
• " The Mind's Eye "
• " In Theory "
• " Redemption "
• " Redemption II "
• " Ensign Ro "
• " Silicon Avatar "
• " Disaster "
• " The Game "
• " Unification I "
• " Unification II "
• " A Matter Of Time "
• " New Ground "
• " Hero Worship "
• " Violations "
• " The Masterpiece Society "
• " Conundrum "
• " Power Play "
• " The Outcast "
• " Cause And Effect "
• " The First Duty "
• " Cost Of Living "
• " The Perfect Mate "
• " Imaginary Friend "
• " The Next Phase "
• " The Inner Light "
• " Time's Arrow "
• " Time's Arrow, Part II "
• " Realm Of Fear "
• " Man Of The People "
• " Schisms "
• " Rascals "
• " A Fistful of Datas "
• " The Quality of Life "
• " Chain Of Command, Part I "
• " Chain Of Command, Part II "
• " Ship In A Bottle "
• " Face Of The Enemy "
• " Tapestry "
• " Birthright, Part I "
• " Birthright, Part II "
• " Starship Mine "
• " Lessons "
• " The Chase "
• " Frame of Mind "
• " Suspicions "
• " Second Chances "
• " Timescape "
• " Descent "
• " Descent, Part II "
• " Liaisons "
• " Interface "
• " Gambit, Part I "
• " Gambit, Part II "
• " Phantasms "
• " Dark Page "
• " Force of Nature "
• " Inheritance "
• " Parallels "
• " The Pegasus "
• " Homeward "
• " Sub Rosa "
• " Lower Decks "
• " Thine Own Self "
• " Eye of the Beholder "
• " Genesis "
• " Journey's End "
• " Firstborn "
• " Bloodlines "
• " Emergence "
• " Preemptive Strike "
• " All Good Things... "
• Star Trek Generations
• Star Trek: First Contact
• Star Trek: Insurrection
• Star Trek Nemesis
• VOY : " Timeless "
• " The Bounty "
• " Dominion "
• " Surrender "
• " The Last Generation "

Background information [ ]

Geordi La Forge was played by LeVar Burton in all of the character's television and film appearances.

The creation of the character began when Gene Roddenberry proposed having a disabled crewmember aboard the Enterprise . David Gerrold subsequently wrote a memo which listed various disabilities, from which Roddenberry selected blindness. Gerrold ultimately disapproved of how little of La Forge's face was usually visible due to wearing a VISOR. ( The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years , pp. 98 & 99)

This character and all other La Forges were named for the late quadriplegic Star Trek fan George La Forge . ( Star Trek Encyclopedia  (2nd ed., p. 256); Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 15); The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years , p. 99) After having helped select blindness as the character's disability, it was David Gerrold who suggested naming the character after George La Forge. " Gene thought that was a terrific idea, " Gerrold noted. ( The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years , p. 99) In the documentary " Trekkies ", however, Jonathan Frakes states that the fan's name was "Jordan".

After David Gerrold proposed the character should be named after George La Forge, it was also Gerrold who thought up the idea that Geordi La Forge be a black man. " I suggested that we didn't have any black people on the ship in terms of our regular characters, " Gerrold reflected, " and in keeping with the ethnic character of the show, and if neither the captain or the first officer were black, then it was perhaps Geordi who should be black. " ( The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years , p. 99)

The original Writers/Directors Guide for TNG , dated 23 March 1987 , had La Forge with somewhat different interests and talents than in the actual series. He wasn't listed as the helmsman or even a bridge officer, instead being simply an "away mission regular". His "specialty" aboard the Enterprise was the "starship school for children". The guide also stated that there was a plan to visit a planet where Geordi would receive the equivalent of Human eyes, "and their limitations lead to the major disappointment of his young life." ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Writers'/Directors' Guide , pp. 7 & 31)

Aside from LeVar Burton, other contenders who the preproduction staff considered casting as La Forge included Reggie Jackson , Tim Russ , Wesley Snipes , Victor Love , Chip McAllister , Clarence Gilyard, Jr. , and Kevin Peter Hall . As of 13 April 1987 , all those performers were being considered for the part, with Reggie Jackson appearing to be the favorite option. [1] According to Rick Berman in an interview in the 1995 special Star Trek: Voyager - Inside the New Adventure , Tim Russ auditioned for the role and almost got it, but was beaten by Burton. (Russ later won the regular role of Tuvok in Star Trek: Voyager .)

It was Robert H. Justman who ensured LeVar Burton's audition, the two having worked together (on television movie Emergency Room ) in the past. Burton himself later remarked, "Star Trek certainly represented an opportunity to do good work. I like Geordi for a lot of reasons. First of all, his energetic attitude is much more loose than that of a lot of other characters. He has a sort of cynical sense of humor, and I like that about him. I liked the opportunity to play a character who is handicapped, yet that handicap has been turned into a plus for him, and there are all the emotional issues that go along with that. " ( The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years , p. 98)

Geordi has held more ranks on screen than any other Star Trek character: he was an ensign in a flashback in TNG : " Identity Crisis ", a lieutenant junior grade in TNG Season 1 , a full lieutenant in TNG Season 2 , a lieutenant commander in TNG Seasons 3 through 7 and the four Next Generation feature films, a commander in the illusory future of TNG : " Future Imperfect ", a captain in an alternate timeline in VOY : " Timeless ", and a commodore in PIC Season 3 . (For further information on who has held the most ranks on screen, see also Nog .)

Geordi is notable for easily establishing friendships with initially hostile aliens, such as Bochra in " The Enemy " and Hugh in " I Borg ".

Geordi La Forge appeared in the first draft script of VOY : " Death Wish ", though his part in the episode was rewritten to feature William T. Riker instead. Jonathan Frakes once explained that the reason La Forge was written out of the script was that LeVar Burton's head had recently been shaved and Burton, therefore, didn't look much like how audiences were used to seeing La Forge look. ( TV Guide , 17-23 Feb.) His cameo in VOY : " Timeless " was after audiences had already seen the changes in Burton's appearance in Star Trek: First Contact .

Geordi La Forge was also originally to have been referenced in VOY : " Flashback ". In the first draft of that episode's script, Kathryn Janeway critiqued, " You read the diaries of Geordi La Forge and what he saw on the Enterprise -D... and you realize that only some things have changed [since the 22nd and 23rd centuries , compared to the 24th century ]. " All mention of La Forge was excised from the episode by the time the final draft of the script was issued.

In 1999 , Geordi and his VISOR influenced the creation of an optical viewing device that was developed based on NASA technology to help the visually impaired see and read and was named JORDY (Joint Optical Reflective Display) after the character. [2]

In developing the characters for Star Trek: Lower Decks , Mike McMahan described all four leads in an 10 August 2020 TrekMovie.com interview as a combination of other Star Trek characters, parts of himself, and people in his life. Sam Rutherford gets some character traits from Geordi, symbolized by his cybernetic implant being "a half- VISOR ." McMahan described Rutherford as " really great at what he's doing, but he's not able to solve everything at the end of 40 minutes, because he's not the chief engineer on the Enterprise," that Rutherford is "still learning," and part of science is that sometimes he will test things and get things wrong. [3]

Apocrypha [ ]

Geordi La Forge in 2387 in Star Trek: Countdown

The comic book series Star Trek: Countdown , a tie-in to the 2009 Star Trek film, depicts Geordi as having left Starfleet by 2387 to design starships, including the Jellyfish , which is given to Spock prior to his confrontation with Nero . It is also established that Geordi was originally going to pilot the Jellyfish , but Spock convinced him otherwise as the mission the stop the Hobus supernova was a one-way trip and Geordi is still a young man, while Spock was reaching the end of his adventures. Spock also felt obliged to carry the mission out to the end, as it was he who first warned of the star's danger and who failed to predict when it would go nova. Having the modifications to the Jellyfish completed and the vessel ready for its mission into the Hobus star, Geordi informs Spock that the ship's controls are encrypted and will only respond to his voice. He then accompanies Captain Data and Ambassador Picard onboard the Enterprise -E as they go to assist Worf in his battle against Nero.

The novel Losing the Peace by William Leisner establishes Geordi's hometown as Mogadishu , Somalia , part of the African Confederation and a thriving 24th century city. This was later included in La Forge's biographical data seen in the remastered version of " Cause And Effect ".

The computer game Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Transinium Challenge establishes that Geordi's blindness was caused by an "incurable optical nerve defect."

The novel Ghost Ship establishes that Geordi was one of the few individuals who was able to successfully function with a VISOR as the VISOR was a very taxing prosthetic to wear because of the amount of energy it used and the painfully large amount of information it sent to the Human brain.

In The Path to 2409 from Star Trek Online , Geordi reentered Starfleet in 2397 and became the captain of the USS Challenger . He is played by TNG actor LeVar Burton first appearing in the mission "Beyond the Nexus", aiding the player in investigating the anomaly of the same name . He later appears helping establish a colony of Lukari and Kentari who are attempting to live together on a new world after being separated for centuries. He then helps the player repel a Tzenkethi attack on the colony, and later another Tzenkethi attack on Bajor , as well as joining the player in debriefing a Tzenkethi defector seeking asylum with the Alpha Quadrant Alliance.

In just about all the TNG novels set after the events of Star Trek Nemesis , La Forge's rank is established as being that of full commander .

In the Genesis Wave series, set in 2377 , Geordi La Forge admits his love for Leah Brahms, but assures her that he expects nothing in return. La Forge only asks her to meet him at an engineering conference in a few months' time, and she agrees.

In the novel Indistinguishable from Magic set in 2384 , La Forge served in a temporary detached role of operations and second officer aboard the USS Challenger under Captain Montgomery Scott . Their assignment was to investigate a phenomenon described as trans-slipstream drive. He was reunited with Dr. Brahms, who served the Challenger as a civilian specialist. Their reunion was awkward at first, but after Geordi was nearly killed in a battle with the former Ferengi DaiMon Bok , they began a romantic relationship. Scotty was badly injured and his first officer killed in the battle. Unable to meet Starfleet fitness requirements for service any longer, Scotty retired to become a civilian specialist like Dr. Brahms and recommended that Geordi be promoted to captain and take command of the Challenger . His first mission as captain was to continue investigating the trans-slipstream phenomenon. During their search, the Challenger was thrown outside the galaxy (along with a Romulan ship), where they found a spatial anomaly surrounding the remains of the Hera . They investigated the site, rescued the surviving Hera crew and learned that Geordi's mother died in a rockslide some time ago. The Challenger was destroyed in the process of getting the Starfleet crews and the Romulans home, and Tal Shiar chairwoman Sela returned the Starfleet officers to the Enterprise rather than hold them captive. When he returned to the Enterprise -E, Captain Picard named La Forge to the role of Captain of Engineering based on the precedent set by Scott in the same role aboard the USS Excelsior and the USS Enterprise -A . Dr. Brahms decides to stay with Geordi and moves in with him on the Enterprise .

The storyline in the Star Trek: Countdown comic indicates that La Forge and Brahms were married by 2387.

The eBook The Insolence of Office states that La Forge was ordered to have his VISOR replaced with ocular implants by Admiral Hayes or be reassigned to a less sensitive post. This was due to the Romulans manipulating La Forge through his VISOR in " The Mind's Eye " as well as the VISOR being used by the Duras sisters in their attack on the USS Enterprise -D in Star Trek Generations , which resulted in the destruction of the Enterprise .

Geordi pulled into the alternate reality by the quantum storm

In the thirtieth issue of the Star Trek: Ongoing series set in the alternate reality , Geordi appears when an anomaly called a "quantum storm" causes the crew of the USS Enterprise to meet gender-swapped versions of themselves and the quantum storm starts pulling in Enterprise crewmembers from infinite realities, with Geordi being pulled in and appearing next to the female version of Montgomery Scott .

Geordi La Forge in 2385 in Star Trek: Picard - Countdown

In the first issue of the prequel comic Star Trek: Picard - Countdown , Geordi is overseeing the construction of the evacuation fleet at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards in 2385 before he is informed of a call from the USS Verity . After being told that the first wave of ships is ahead of schedule and could be in Romulan space within the month, La Forge takes the call, being greeted by Admiral Picard. Once Picard is informed of Starfleet's progress in constructing the escape ships, both he and Geordi express their dissatisfaction that even with the impending supernova, the Romulans still adhere to secrecy.

External links [ ]

• Geordi La Forge at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Geordi La Forge at Wikipedia
• Geordi La Forge at StarTrek.com
• 2 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Was Star Trek's Geordi La Forge Going to Become an Alien?

In the latest TV Legends Revealed, learn whether Geordi La Forge was nearly revealed to be an alien!

TV URBAN LEGEND : At one point, the writers of Star Trek: The Next Generation considered revealing that Geordi La Forge was secretly an alien!

LeVar Burton's Geordi La Forge was one of the constant presences throughout the seven season run of Star Trek: The Next Generation...

He is best remembered for the iconic visor that he wore that allowed his character to see despite being blind...

La Forge was a well-liked character, but it is also fair to say that he was, if not an enigma, certainly not quite as developed as some of the other characters. Many of the characters had elaborate back stories that would be checked in on repeatedly throughout the series. We didn't even meet La Forge's family until the final season of the series, and at that point, show writer/producer Ronald D. Moore even joked that the fact that the show was finally showing Geordi's mother was a sign that the show had been on too long, noting to IGN, "I think it was a point where we were in the room and we were talking about bringing Geordi's mother in, and we all kind of looked at each other and we were like, 'This is sad. This is the best we can do? Is this the best we can do, is Geordi's mother?' It was such a "who cares" idea that we were just sort of, 'Oh man… This show has got to end'"

This lack of a look into Geordi's back story led to a proposed idea where Geordi would be revealed to be an alien. In Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman's seminal work, The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years, show writer/producer Jeri Taylor explained, We wanted to make Geordi an alien. He was going to discover that his father was not who he thought he was, and his mother had an almost Rosemary's Baby-kind of thing and had been impregnated by an alien. As a result, Geordi was actually half alien and now, at his present age, his people were coming back to get him. I thought that would have given Geordi's character a lot of elaboration."

The idea was never adopted. Although, it's amusing that Geordi was temporarily turned into an alien in the Season 4 episode, "Identity Crisis"!

The "reveal a human character was secretly an alien" idea was later almost used on Star Trek: Voyager , as well, with Garrett Wang's Harry Kim....

I don't know if the two plots were connected or if it was just a coincidence.

The legend is...

STATUS : True

Thanks to Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman and Jeri Taylor for the information.

Be sure to check out my archive of TV Legends Revealed for more urban legends about the world of TV. Click here for more Star Trek legends!

Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future installments! My e-mail address is [email protected].

Screen Rant

Star trek: tng plan to make geordi an alien revealed by executive producer.

Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge almost had a very different backstory on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

• Geordi La Forge's backstory was originally planned to involve him being half-alien and pursued by his alien people, but this idea was abandoned in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• Geordi's character development in TNG was limited compared to other characters, with his family being introduced in the seventh season and his engineering talent being his main focus.
• In Star Trek: Picard season 3, it is revealed that Geordi is now a Starfleet Commodore with two daughters, working as the Head Curator at the Starfleet Museum, and has rebuilt the USS Enterprise-D.

Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) almost had a very different backstory on Star Trek: The Next Generation . Despite being one of the most famous actors at the beginning of TNG's run, LeVar Burton's character Geordi didn't always have much to do during TNG season 1. Geordi's ultimate role on the USS Enterprise-D was unclear until he took over the role of Chief Engineer in T NG season 2 . Still, not much about Geordi's life before the Enterprise was ever revealed during TNG , and that might be because the writers abandoned the original idea for his character.

Although Geordi grew and developed as a character as Star Trek: The Next Generation progressed, he never got as much of his backstory filled in as many of the other characters. None of Geordi's family members were introduced until TNG season 7, episode 3, "Interface," in which his mother was killed on a mission. Outside of his friendship with the android Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), his obvious engineering talent, and his bad luck with romance, Geordi was one of the least-developed TNG characters. In the Star Trek oral history, The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, TNG executive producer Jeri Taylor spoke about the original plan for the character of Geordi La Forge. Read her quote below:

We wanted to make Geordi an alien. He was going to discover that his father was not who he thought he was, and his mother had an almost Rosemary’s Baby–kind of thing and had been impregnated by an alien. As a result, Geordi was actually half alien and now, at his present age, his people were coming back to get him. I thought that would have given Geordi’s character a lot of elaboration.

The writers on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine would eventually give a similar backstory to Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). Sisko's mother had been possessed by a Prophet from the Bajoran wormhole to ensure Benjamin Sisko's birth, as he was destined to become the Emissary of the Prophets.

Geordi La Forge’s Best Star Trek TNG & Picard Episodes Ranked

Geordi la forge remains one of star trek's most underdeveloped main characters, star trek: picard season 3 helped by introducing geordi's daughters..

Along with the other main crew members of the USS Enterprise-D, Geordi La Forge returned in Star Trek: Picard season 3. Now a Starfleet Commodore, Geordi has two daughters, Sidney (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) and Alandra (Mica Burton) , and La Forge works as the Head Curator at the Starfleet Museum on Athan Prime . When Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) initially approaches Commodore La Forge for help, Geordi, at first, is hostile toward his former Captain and the USS Titan-A. Geordi has moved on from the dangerous nature of life on the Enterprise and does not wish to put his daughters' lives in danger.

It's Sidney and Alandra who help their father realize that helping his old friends is the right thing to do. Geordi gains the character trait of being a devoted and caring father, but his wife is never revealed. Picard season 3 also reveals that La Forge has spent the last twenty years rebuilding the USS Enterprise-D , and he clearly remains a talented engineer. Geordi also reconnects with his best friend, Data, which makes for a beautiful scene but doesn't provide much new information about Geordi as a character. Hopefully, Geordi La Forge will return in a future Star Trek project, and more will be revealed about the life of the former Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise-D.

Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard are available to stream on Paramount+.

Source: The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams: The Complete, Uncensored, and Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek The Next Generation: Identity Crisis

5 comments:

I enjoyed the mystery aspect of this one as well, and that was pretty funny about alien "rock patting". I guess they didn't want the aliens to just stand there, so they had to do something and they didn't have any baskets to weave. My favorite part was the shadow scene. Besides it being cool that they were finding out what was casting what, it just looked neat to have the people being taken out of the scene one by one.

We operate by instinct. We pat rocks. #goaliens

JRS, this is a terrific review because it made me think more about the content of this episode. It does have that weirdass Roanoke mystery vibe and features an extremely strange method of procreation, and it absolutely showcases the Federation policy of respecting other lifeforms. It's not just an episode where Geordi turns into a neon critter.

In an earlier draft, I called post-transformation La Forge "Neon Punk Clubber Geordi in Spandex coming down off his alien high" and it was a great line but totally didn't fit.

I must agree with Billie, JRS, your review made me go back and ponder my own feelings on this one, and it does come off better for that reflection. I didn't 100% recall this one as well as some others, but this review and me going over it elsewhere on the web brought it back more reliably for me. It is quite good, and I do like it when the Federation actually respects alien life and doesn't just bomb the place and take their stuff. I want to add that 'Neon Punk Clubber Geordi in Spandex coming down off his alien high' sounds like a great punk song!

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.

• Show Spoilers
• Night Vision
• Sticky Header
• Highlight Links

Follow TV Tropes

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E18IdentityCrisis

Recap / Star Trek: The Next Generation S4E18 "Identity Crisis"

Edit locked.

Original air date: March 25, 1991

On Tarchannen III, Lt. Cmdr. Susanna Leijten leads an away mission with Starfleet officers Hickman, Brevelle, Mendez, and a young Lt. Geordi La Forge, still in a red uniform. They're investigating the disappearance of 49 colonists. Since this event, two of these officers have themselves disappeared mysteriously, and the third, Hickman, has stolen a shuttlecraft to return to the planet. On the Enterprise , Leijten briefs the bridge crew as the ship journeys to intercept Hickman. On the way there, she and Geordi reminisce about their time serving together, revealing that Leijten has been a big sister to Geordi.

The crew arrives just in time to see Hickman barreling his stolen shuttlecraft recklessly into the planet. Picard tries to talk him down, but the fugitive burns himself up in the atmosphere. Riker leads an away team to the planet to get some answers, with Leijten and Geordi in tow. The officers locate another stolen shuttlecraft and the tattered remains of a Starfleet uniform, evidence that Mendez had arrived here. While exploring the area, Geordi discovers Leijten having some sort of psychotic break and has her beamed back to Sick Bay.

Crusher notes that Leijten is having a histamine reaction to biological material from the planet and attempts to treat her. Leijten remains jittery and becomes increasingly fixated on returning to the planet. She begins to have another psychotic break, causing her to collapse into Geordi's arms, where he notices that she's physically transforming into an alien form. In Sick Bay, Crusher confirms that Leijten is transforming into an alien, one whose skin is highly sensitive to light and reacts to it with radiance of its own. Crusher tells La Forge that his own transformation is likely imminent.

La Forge decides to spend what time he has left as a human studying the mystery on the planet. He simulates the away mission's recording in the holodeck and discovers that a human-shaped shadow was standing right next to them the whole time. Meanwhile, Crusher has located an alien parasite in Leijten's body, the source of the transformation. She removes it, and Leijten begins to recover. Leijten says that the parasite is how the aliens procreate. They try to locate Geordi to have his own parasite removed, but Geordi is nowhere to be found.

The Chief Engineer's transformation has already completed. The Geordi-Alien turns invisible and beams itself down to the planet. An away team is sent to recover him. Using UV lights brought by Data, they manage to locate the invisible aliens. Leijten leverages her relationship with Geordi to contact the small remnant of himself still lingering in the alien body. He embraces Leijten and allows himself to be returned to the ship.

Tropes featured in this episode include:

• Author Appeal : Writer Brannon Braga seems to have a thing for humans mutating/evolving into alternate life forms; he also wrote the seventh season's "Genesis" , as well as the infamous Voyager episode "Threshold" . And was also executive producer on the short-lived series Threshold .
• Bittersweet Ending : Geordi and Leijten are safe, but the other two crewmen can never be returned to normal and Hickman died trying to get back to the planet; Geordi mentioned previously that he had a family, and now they'll never see him again. The most the crew can do is leave them in peace and set up a warning marker.
• Body Horror : Oh, yeah. We see the beginnings of Geordi's transformation, and he's quite horrified and pained by it.
• Brevelle and Mendez in their mutated forms were portrayed by Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps, the hosts of the popular radio talk show The Mark and Brian Show .
• Mona Grudt, the 1990 Miss Universe winner from Norway, appears as the helmsman, Ensign Graham.
• Casts No Shadow : Inverted; the normally invisible creatures do cast shadows.
• Continuity Nod : For the scenes set in 2362, the Victory crew are wearing the one-piece jumpsuits and carrying the older "dustbuster" phasers. Geordi is also wearing an older-model VISOR as well as a red uniform, like he did in season 1 before he transferred to engineering.
• Enhance Button : Executed somewhat more plausibly than the norm. In order to determine the source of a particular shadow in a video log, Geordi has to feed the holodeck computer a series of assumptions and speculations—and even then, the result is somewhat inconclusive (as seen above).
• Face Full of Alien Wing-Wong : The Tarchannen III aliens reproduce by implanting a parasite that transforms other organisms into a member of their species. This happens to the inhabitants of a Federation outpost and several Starfleet officers sent to investigate.
• Forced Transformation : The parasites injected into the humans begin re-writing their DNA, slowly mutating them into something non-human. The brief glimpses we get of Brevelle and Mendez, whose mutations have progressed further than Geordi's or Leijtion's did, show them with hunched-over postures and what looks like a large ridge going along their spine. Their heads have also become noticeably less human.
• Foreshadowing : When the Enterprise crew beams down the first time, they find the shuttles Mendez and Brevelle stole along with a pair of torn Starfleet uniforms.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight : Leijton to the Alien-Geordi. Reversed and Downplayed earlier with Geordi to a slightly-mutated Leijton.
• Invisibility : The creatures are invisible in normal light (though they do cast shadows), but can be seen using ultraviolet light.
• Invisibility Flicker : When illuminated by blacklight. A more brief instance is when an invisible Geordi uses the transporter.
• Let's Split Up, Gang! : When Leijten goes missing on the planet, the other members of the away team split up to look for her. Nobody seems to worry that this makes them vulnerable to being picked off one by one.
• Like Brother and Sister : Geordi's relationship with Susanna Leijten clearly has this dynamic.
• Loss of Identity : The end result of the Viral Transformation . The creatures that remain are nothing more than instinctive animals. Geordi remarks that he was only a few minutes away from completely losing his humanity.
• Painful Transformation : The initial symptoms include tremors, panic, and the fusing together of the victim's fingers. Then the real pain kicks in.
• Send in the Search Team : What kicks off the whole plot—the Victory was sent in five years ago to find out what caused the entire crew of an outpost to disappear.
• The Shadow Knows : When Geordi starts reviewing the Victory 's recording in the holodeck, he notices a shadow that doesn't belong to any of the people or objects present. He activates the computer's Enhance Button , but all it can do is project a vague shape of the source.
• Shapeshifter Mode Lock : Of course, once the human DNA has been completely overwritten, there's no going back.
• Shapeshifting Excludes Clothing : See Wham Shot , below.
• Viral Transformation : How the entities on Tarchannen III reproduce—they infect visitors with a parasite that eventually compels them to return to the planet and slowly mutates them into another creature.
• Visible Invisibility : The Geordi-Alien employs the Predator Cloak.
• Was Once a Man : Mendez and Brevelle are too far gone to be saved by the time the Enterprise figures out what the cause is.
• Wham Shot : When Riker, Worf and Data go looking for La Forge on the holodeck. Worf calls out, then holds up La Forge's torn uniform and VISOR.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation S4E17 "Night Terrors"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Star Trek: The Next Generation S4E19 "The Nth Degree"

Important Links

• Action Adventure
• Commercials
• Crime & Punishment
• Professional Wrestling
• Speculative Fiction
• Sports Story
• Animation (Western)
• Music And Sound Effects
• Print Media
• Sequential Art
• Tabletop Games
• Applied Phlebotinum
• Characterization
• Characters As Device
• Narrative Devices
• British Telly
• The Contributors
• Creator Speak
• Derivative Works
• Laws And Formulas
• Show Business
• Split Personality
• Truth And Lies
• Truth In Television
• Fate And Prophecy
• Edit Reasons
• Isolated Pages
• Images List
• Recent Videos
• Crowner Activity
• Un-typed Pages
• Recent Page Type Changes
• Trope Entry
• Character Sheet
• Playing With
• Creating New Redirects
• Cross Wicking
• Tips for Editing
• Text Formatting Rules
• Handling Spoilers
• Administrivia
• Trope Repair Shop
• Image Pickin'

Advertisement:

Den of Geek

Revisiting Star Trek TNG: Identity Crisis

Another Enterprise B-lister is in the spotlight in this week's TNG look-back as La Forge begins to transform...

• Share on Facebook (opens in a new tab)
• Share on Twitter (opens in a new tab)
• Share on Linkedin (opens in a new tab)
• Share on email (opens in a new tab)

This review contains spoilers.

4.18 Identity Crisis

In the observation lounge, Picard, Riker and La Forge are sitting around watching La Forge’s old away missions as presented by his former crewmate, Susanna Leijten. The mission involved investigating the disappearance of 49 colleagues, and while they ultimately came up short (probably because they didn’t have a telepath or a robot on their team) the other members of the away mission have themselves disappeared. Spooky!

Tracking one of the team members who stole a shuttle after deserting her post, the Enterprise find the ship but watch helplessly as it burns up in the atmosphere of the planet Geordi’s team originally investigated. Well, you can’t save everyone. Apparently.

Ad – content continues below

On the surface they find two more stolen shuttles and a bunch of torn starfleet uniforms. Leijten, who has joined the search party, herself goes missing, only to be found by Geordi staring blankly into the darkness and muttering about being able to feel the rest of the crew calling. Geordi tries to help but she starts shaking violently and collapses. Luckily, in the absence of anything useful he can do, Geordi orders a medical beam-out.

Leijten wakes up in sick bay and Crusher advises her that she’s got some weird blood chemistry happening, and she’s ordered to stay put. She admits to Geordi that she’s worried about what’s happening to her, which is probably not unreasonable because then her fingers spontaneously fuse together and she grows weird blue spider webs on her head. Yeah, that’s probably not great.

As the crew investigates strange footprints on the surface, Leijten’s eyes become incredibly sensitive to light and she has to sit in a darkened room, much like Chief O’Brien does when he’s off duty. Geordi reconstructs the mission footage on the holodeck to try and determine what happened to them, and notices a strange shadow that can’t be accounted for. He realises that something else was down there with them. But then his fingers fuse together, and he realises it may be too late. Not least to wear that pair of designer gloves he just bought.

In sickbay, Dr. Crusher and Nurse Ogawa figure out what’s happening, and discover a strange parasite in her body which is trying to transform her DNA. They quickly reverse the process before the transformation is complete and they plan to check Geordi as well, but the computer says he’s not on board. They find his shredded uniform and VISOR in the holodeck. Meanwhile, in the transporter room, transporter chief Hedrick (Miles is off-duty, sitting in a dark room somewhere) is attacked by an invisible alien, which then transports to the surface of the planet.

Data quickly figures out that the aliens are only visible in ultraviolet light so he, Crusher, Riker, Worf, and Leijten beam to the planet and locate three of the weird aliens, who glow in UV light and look like they could probably get a grant from an arts council if they pretended they were doing modern dance. Leijten is able to convince the one that used to be La Forge to trust her, and Crusher is able to reverse the DNA damage the same way she saved Leijten. They decide that the other two are probably too far gone to save, though.

At the end of the episode Picard drops a warning beacon to tell people not to beam down to the surface of the planet, postulating that this is simply how the aliens reproduce and the planet must be quarantined. Though it seems to me that if you’re going to essentially condemn a race to death by starving them of a chance to reproduce, you might as well just nuke them from orbit and have done with it. But hey, that’s probably why I’m not usually in charge of anything.

TNG WTF: This is one of those episodes that, as my friend observes, someone gets completely transformed into an alien and then changed back and somehow manages to retain their original hairstyle. You can forgive a lot with pseudoscience, but I have to admit, that does stretch it.

Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!

Also, you have to wonder why the Victory’s away team filmed this mission years ago, but it’s still not standard procedure to do so. Seems like a smart idea, to me!

TNG LOL: You can’t help but laugh at the early scene where La Forge describes himself as “enjoying the bachelor’s life too much”. But not too much to spend an entire episode hitting on a married woman he’d never actually met in person about two weeks ago, right?

To Boldly Go: Intercepting a stolen shuttlecraft. Because that sure seems like a job for the Federation flagship rather than one that could be done by just about any random starship, right?

Mistakes and Minutiae: It’s only a small detail, but I like that Geordi has an older version of his VISOR in the footage from the past. Also, it’s worth noting that the USS Aries, the ship the shuttlecraft was stolen from, was one of the ships Riker has turned down command of (in season 2’s The Icarus Factor ).

Who’s That Face?: This episode features no less than three weird guest stars, though we don’t see all of their faces. Ensign Graham is played by Mona Grudt, a former Miss World from Norway, while two of the mutated aliens are played by Los Angeles DJs, Brian Phelps and Mark Thompson.

Time Until Meeting: 0:00. JACKPOT! This episode STARTS in a meeting. Well, technically, it starts with the video that they’re watching in the meeting, but 40 seconds in you get a pull-back and reveal and everyone’s sitting around a conference table. Whether you go with the 00:00 or 00:40 timestamp, this is by far the earliest meeting TNG has ever done.

Captain’s Log: I remembered really liking this episode back in the day, and on a rewatch I think it pretty much holds up. The design of the aliens is weird and original (so original they never tried anything similar again) and the (mercifully platonic) interplay between Geordi and Susanna is compelling stuff. I also really enjoyed watching La Forge use the holodeck to do some practical investigation work and not have it completely blow up in his face.

If anything about the episode is bad (aside from the technobabble solution to the problem) it’s the timing of it. We just had a Geordi episode, followed by a Troi episode, followed by this Geordi episode. I like the B-listers as much as anyone, but spread them out a bit!

Read James’ look-back at the previous episode, Night Terrors, here .

Follow our  Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here . And be our  Facebook chum here .

The 10 Best Geordi La Forge Episodes Of Star Trek: TNG

• Share on Gab
• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Flipboard
• Share on Reddit
• Share on News Break
• Share via Email

Reading Rainbow and Star Trek: The Next Generation actor LeVar Burton recently got into a spat with Bounding Into Comics over some questionable comments he made about his character Geordi La Forge. He decided to block us on Twitter as a result, because that’s the standard solution for getting caught up in your own fallacious argument.

Source: The View, YouTube

This, in the aftermath of Burton bringing race into question regarding La Forge’s time on Star Trek: TNG, which seems to mirror his own real-life attitudes about race, in general. According to Burton, he assumes the worst about white people, because he believes white people assume the worst about him. 

Archive Link Source: LeVar Burton Twitter

This bizarre, and rather racist take had us scratching our heads, and we doubt we’re the only ones. We decided to extend a bit of an olive branch to Mr. Burton, by going back in time to memorialize Geordi La Forge’s best TNG episodes of all time. He may not care much for the character, but Star Trek fans clearly do, and we’d like to honor him right here, right now.

The Arsenal Of Freedom (Season 1)

Source: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Paramount

This season 1 episode split the Enterprise crew apart in order to solve a mystery regarding the disappearance of a Federation ship. It was also the first episode where Geordi La Forge was given full command, allowing him to prove himself.

The story revolved around a deadly weapons platform capable of bettering itself with each new version. When one of the weapons attacks the Enterprise in orbit, La Forge is tasked with overcoming his own lack of command experience, while inspiring his officers to find their own self confidence, and courage under fire.

Samaritan Snare (Season 2)

In this episode, Geordi transported onto a ship piloted by the Pakleds, an intellectually stunted race who gain technological advancements by stealing them from other cultures. They use their supposed lack of problem solving skills to convince their prey that they’re not a threat, and require help.

Geordi is all too happy to lend a helping hand, until the Pakleds spring their trap. With nothing to go on besides a few subtle hints from his fellow officers, he participates in a ruse designed to gain his freedom, and give the Pakleds a taste of their own medicine, without harming any of them.

Booby Trap (Season 3)

This classic season 3 episode has Geordi racing against time to prevent an ancient booby trap from killing the Enterprise crew. The trap involves energy converters which drain power from the Enterprise, and feed it back to the ship via lethal radiation bursts.

Geordi calls up a hologram of Leah Brahms, a propulsion designer for the Enterprise, and the two work out a solution to escape the trap. Along the way, Geordi develops feelings for Brahms, which would play out in a future episode – just not the way he hoped.

The Enemy (Season 3)

Geordi bridged the gap between races in this season 3 episode, featuring the nefarious Romulans. The trouble starts when the Enterprise investigates Galorndon Core, a hostile alien planet where a Romulan ship appears to have crashed.

A severe electromagnetic storm strands Geordi on the planet, where he’s held up at gunpoint by a Romulan officer. As conditions get worse on the planet, Geordi’s visor fails, and the two must work together to escape with their lives. Geordi manages to break down the walls of racial animosity between himself and the Romulan, and the two become friends by the end of the episode. 

Identity Crisis (Season 4)

In this episode, Geordi is haunted by his own past when an old away mission begins wreaking havoc on the original team. It starts when his former away team members begin disappearing, one by one. Geordi speculates that it has something to do with the mysterious planet they visited.

It soon becomes apparent that the crew had become infected with a parasite, which was transforming their DNA, in order to convert them to another species. Geordi races against time to gather as many clues as possible, before he becomes the next victim of the parasite.

The Next Phase (Season 5)

This episode dealt with the concept of death and the afterlife when Geordi and Ensign Ro are pushed out of phase with the rest of the universe. The Enterprise crew believes both had died, but Geordi isn’t ready to give up. He takes advantage of their newfound ability to walk through walls in order to test a series of hypotheses.

While Ensign Ro is ready to give up and believe that she’s stuck in the afterlife, Geordi is the one who keeps them grounded and focused. It pays off when he’s able to cause a series of disruptions aboard the Enterprise that lead Commander Data towards a solution.

I Borg (Season 5)

After the Borg invasion of Earth failed, tensions were high in Starfleet. Those fears were accentuated when the Enterprise stumbled upon a crashed Borg vessel, with one surviving drone left among the wreckage. Against his better judgment, Picard allowed the drone to be brought on board.

Rather than succumb to hatred and feelings of vengeance, Geordi treated the Borg drone, whom he dubbed “Hugh,” with kindness and respect. Over the course of the episode, the two became friends as Hugh started breaking off from the collective, and finding his own meaning in life.

Relics (Season 6)

This episode brought a classic Star Trek character to the TNG era, and it was an excuse to have a little bit of fun with the premise. It began when the Enterprise discovered an awe-inspiring Dyson Sphere in the middle of space, and a crashed Federation vessel on the surface.

They soon discover that Montgomery Scott from the original Enterprise managed to survive in the ship’s transporter buffer. He develops a friendly relationship with fellow engineer Geordi La Forge, but it starts off rocky. Geordi learns the value of making the elderly feel purposeful, especially when they’re decades behind the times.

Aquiel (Season 6)

This season 6 episode saw Geordi with a romantic interest that might just be a murderer. Convinced that she’s telling the truth about herself, he takes her side in an attempt to figure out what’s really going on, and clear her name.

He later discovers that a lethal alien life form was responsible for the entire incident, and manages to clear the woman’s name in the process. It’s an example of La Forge trusting his gut, when all the evidence suggested otherwise.

Force Of Nature (Season 7)

This episode attempted to parallel environmental issues by revealing a horrible truth about space travel via warp drive. The very thing that allowed Starfleet to explore strange new worlds was causing severe damage to the fabric of space itself, and the repercussions would be even worse if left unchecked.

Geordi features prominently in this episode, which makes a lot of sense, given his status as an engineer. An officer in his position would never want to accept the fact that his own engines were causing so much damage, but Geordi demonstrates his honesty and convictions by listening to the theories, and later confirming them.

So, to wrap things up, we sincerely hope Mr. Burton will have a change of heart regarding his latest rhetoric. We are confident that we speak for millions of fans who grew up watching LeVar Burton on Reading Rainbow , Roots and Star Trek: TNG , and want to see that guy make a comeback. 

To us, Geordi La Forge represented so many things that stood out as exemplary. He was a blind man who saw the world differently than we did, and he never let his condition get him down. He was a consummate perfectionist, a brilliant engineer, and part of the finest crew in Starfleet. 

And yes, he didn’t have a lot of luck with women. Many of us who grew up watching TNG had the same problem, and it helped us relate better to the character, and learn from him. His criticism of the writers who penned the Leah Brahms arc is completely out of touch, and smacks of woke. That’s not a sex offender stalking someone. It’s every guy who ever fell in love with a woman, and tried to woo her affections, only to fall on his face in the process. Do we even need to bring up the very, very white Lieutenant Reginald Barclay?

So, Mr. Burton, you may have your questionable views on race, but we’re willing to gamble that none of your fans noticed, or cared when you were starring on the show. We love Geordi, and we valued his contribution to the show. Maybe it’s time to learn a lesson or two (or three) from the character you played for so many years, and never uttered a single regret about it… until five minutes ago.

You’re better than this, Mr. Burton. We know you are. 

More About: Television

Star Trek Almost Gave LeVar Burton's Geordi La Forge A Wild Alien Backstory

While there are plenty of fantastical alien species that call the world of "Star Trek" home, the vast majority of main characters throughout the franchise are plain old humans. Spock aside, just about every single Enterprise captain across "Star Trek" history hails from Earth, as do a large swath of their Starfleet-affiliated crew members. However, it just so happens that one beloved human character from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was originally slated to have a far more sci-fi-infused backstory. Indeed, LeVar Burton's Geordi La Forge was once primed to learn of his very own alien heritage.

In the "Star Trek" oral history "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years," "Star Trek: The Next Generation" writer Jeri Taylor revealed that the show's creative team once played around with idea of Geordi turning out to be of half-human and half-alien descent. "He was going to discover that his father was not who he thought he was, and his mother had an almost 'Rosemary's Baby' kind of thing and had been impregnated by an alien," Taylor explained. "As a result, Geordi was actually half alien and now, at his present age, his people were coming back to get him. I thought that would have given Geordi's character a lot of elaboration."

Geordi did have alien and family-related storylines

While the proposed storyline of Geordi La Forge turning out to be half-alien was ultimately scrapped in its entirety, the character's family life does end up being a point of focus later in the life of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Not only that, but the series also actually sees him become an alien at one point — if only for a little while.

In "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Season 4, Episode 18, titled "Identity Crisis," Geordi gets caught in the crosshairs of a bizarre alien conspiracy. In the episode, he reunites with a member of an exploration team he was once a part of, only to discover that the alien residents of the planet they once ventured to have infected them with parasites meant to transform them into aliens as well. Indeed, the Enterprise crewmate nearly becomes a permanent alien, though the rest of the team manages to synthesize an antidote to save him just in time.

Meanwhile, Season 7, Episode 3, titled "Interface," puts the story of the La Forge family front and center for one of the saddest "Star Trek" episodes ever . In this installment, Geordi discovers that his mother, Silva (Madge Sinclair), a Starfleet captain, has completely vanished in space alongside her crew. With the help of his crewmates and his father, Edward (Ben Vereen), Geordi works through his grief and ultimately accepts the loss of his mother.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series)

Identity crisis (1991).

• User Reviews

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews

• User Ratings
• External Reviews
• Metacritic Reviews
• Full Cast and Crew
• Release Dates
• Official Sites
• Company Credits
• Filming & Production
• Technical Specs
• Plot Summary
• Plot Keywords
• Parents Guide

Did You Know?

• Crazy Credits
• Alternate Versions
• Connections
• Soundtracks

Photo & Video

• Photo Gallery
• Trailers and Videos

Related Items

• External Sites

Related lists from IMDb users

Recently Viewed

Geordi La Forge of Star Trek: TNG scores a solo mission in IDW's 'Star Trek: The Mirror War' one-shot

Geordi is trapped in an agony booth in this new Mirror Universe tale from IDW

Expanding upon IDW Publishing's dip into " Star Trek: The Next Generation " and their uncanny encounters in the Mirror Universe that we first relayed to you back in 2021, a new one-shot comic set in the same realm shines a spotlight on the fan favorite character of Geordi La Forge (portrayed by actor LeVar Burton).

The new title, called " Star Trek: Mirror War - Captain La Forge ," is written by J. Holtham ("Cloak & Dagger") and accented by riveting artwork courtesy of Carlos Rodriguez and colorist DC Alonso. This reflective dimension offers many illuminating keys to La Forge's upbringing as a bullied child and how he overcame his sightless childhood.

Related: 'Star Trek: Klingons' reveals the legend of Kahless in new IDW comic

Star Trek: The Mirror War—Captain La Forge e-book: $3.99 at Amazon

How would Geordi survive in Star Trek's Mirror Universe? IDW asks the question in this new one-shot from the Mirror War saga.

The storyline of " Star Trek: The Mirror War – Captain La Forge " finds the popular Starfleet officer deployed on an investigatory scouting mission at the request of Jean-Luc Picard when he's kidnapped and suddenly teleported inside a glass confinement cell called an agony booth. 

The strange abductor is a mysterious hooded figure who relishes in torturing La Forge while the imprisoned Starfleet captain tries to understand his captor’s connection to his past. Check out a 5-page preview in the gallery below.

The seminal TV series, "Star Trek: The Next Generation," never received a proper Mirror Universe treatment in its heyday, but all that changed in September of last year when IDW launched "Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Mirror War." 

Scribes Scott and David Tipton teamed up with series artist Carlo Nieto for this ongoing 13-issue event. It will see a ruthless Captain Picard hungering for limitless power when his dark reflection discovers information that can change the fortunes of the debilitated Terran Empire.  

Get the Space.com Newsletter

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

This year-long offering rolled out with issues #1 – #8 chronicling a main narrative followed by four planned interwoven tie-in one shots, the first of which appeared in December and focused on the sentient android Data.

IDW Publishing's " Star Trek: The Mirror War – Captain La Forge #1 " hit stores and online shops March 2.

Follow us on Twitter  @Spacedotcom  and on  Facebook .

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Jeff Spry is an award-winning screenwriter and veteran freelance journalist covering TV, movies, video games, books, and comics. His work has appeared at SYFY Wire, Inverse, Collider, Bleeding Cool and elsewhere. Jeff lives in beautiful Bend, Oregon amid the ponderosa pines, classic muscle cars, a crypt of collector horror comics, and two loyal English Setters.

ULA chronicles the rise of Vulcan rocket in new employee-drawn comic book

'The New World on Mars' offers a Red Planet settlement guide (exclusive)

Evidence for Planet 9 found in icy bodies sneaking past Neptune

Most Popular

• 2 NASA crew announced for simulated Mars mission next month
• 3 NASA's Viper moon rover gets its 'neck' and 'head' installed for mission later this year
• 4 China releases world's most detailed moon atlas (video)
• 5 What would happen if the moon disappeared?