rift to create the explosion, but this fails to produce any effect. Meanwhile, as Troi listens to Hagen, she hears him mention "eyes in the dark" and realizes that he has been having the same dream she has. This leads her to realize that it is not a dream, but a message. As Data looks for other solutions with Troi, they realize that "eyes in the dark, one moon circling" may be a description of a hydrogen atom. Data and Troi work out that there must be another ship from a psychic race trapped on the other side of the rift who is aware of their presence but looking for hydrogen to create an explosion. Troi goes to sleep to contact the other species through the dream, while Data vents hydrogen into the rift. An explosion soon occurs, and both the Enterprise and the alien ship are freed. As the crew recovers, Data returns the ship to Picard, but not before ordering everyone to get some sleep. Production The episode was intended as a vehicle for Marina Sirtis; however she disliked it due to her fear of heights and the requirement that she be strapped into a flying harness. The model used for the USS Brattain is the same as was used for the USS Reliant in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The ship is occasionally referred to as the USS Brittain due to a spelling error on the exterior of the model. Reception TechRepublic placed the episode in its list of "The five worst Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes ever". Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club noted that the episode "...lacked that mild twist at the end to make it memorable" but also that "This kind of episode is really the meat-and-potatoes of this sort of show, so it's impressive to realize that TNG has gotten to the point where delivering the expected is no longer entirely satisfactory". According to James Hunt of Den of Geek "It’s not completely incompetent, but it’s hard to imagine anyone loving this episode". In 2015, Den of Geek felt the episode was "weird" and was critical of the Troi dream sequences and outfits. They remark about Troi's sleep attire, "..a sleeveless halter neck with a choker-style collar? Did she just get back from clubbing..?" Jonathan Frakes referred to the episode as "a yawner". In 2017 this episode was noted as