Shades of Gray

"Shades of Gray" is the last episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. During a routine geological survey on Surata IV, Commander William Riker is accidentally struck by a sharp thorn growing on a vine plant. The away team immediately beams back to the U.S.S. Enterprise, where Doctor Katherine Pulaski finds out that the thorn has released a deadly virus into Riker's body. Within a matter of hours, the virus will reach Riker'... more

"Shades of Gray" is the last episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. During a routine geological survey on Surata IV, Commander William Riker is accidentally struck by a sharp thorn growing on a vine plant. The away team immediately beams back to the U.S.S. Enterprise, where Doctor Katherine Pulaski finds out that the thorn has released a deadly virus into Riker's body. Within a matter of hours, the virus will reach Riker's brain, killing him. To try to save Riker's life, Pulaski puts him into a machine that will artificially stimulate his brain neurons, keeping them active and resisting the virus. This causes Riker to dream of his past adventures aboard the Enterprise. Riker's first dreams are of reasonably neutral occasions, such as his first meeting with Lieutenant Commander Data (see "Encounter at Farpoint"). He soon moves on to more passionate and even erotic dreams, such as meeting the cheerful young Edo women on Rubicon III (see "Justice"), the matriarch... less