Star Trek: 12 Best Alternate Reality Episodes

Frame of Mind is a highly disturbing episode of The Next Generation's sixth season. From the beginning through to the end, the audience is on the back foot as to what exactly is real, with the twists and turns of the episode coming rapidly, never truly allowing us to rest.

The jumping off point is a play that Riker is appearing in, wherein he is playing a man who is losing his mind. This play quickly becomes his waking nightmare as he is transported to a mental prison, held by the Tilonians after a mission to interact with them.

This was one of the early attempts at discussing mental health in Star Trek, however convoluted the plot. Riker is held in a mental institution and is left to continuously wonder what is real and what isn't. Even the ending of the episode, while all returns to the norm, leaves the viewer with just that little question in their minds as to whether reality really is what it seems to be.

Jonathan Frakes is excellent in the episode, serving up Riker's seeming psychosis again and again, slowly depicting the unraveling mind. It is a rough hour to get through, one made even more so by the frequent moments of hope that pop up, only to be dashed again almost as quickly.

As far away from comedy as an alternate reality episode could get, Frame of Mind is one of the darkest entries in the Next Generation.