The actors are still a bit away from their comfort zone in their roles

When Paris and Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) dine in the home of Banean scientist Tolen Ren (Ray Reinhardt), Tom becomes distracted by the restless beauty of the man's wife (Robin McKee), leading to an illicit liaison that ends with the murder of Ren. Paris is accused, found guilty, and uniquely punished by experiencing Ren's death, from the victim's point of view, every 14 hours in his mind. It's up to Commander Tuvok (Tim Russ) to get to the bottom of the mystery.

There's lots of controversy about the value of this episode. One camp believes Paris is unfairly stereotyped, that the film noir elements in the script and visual style are perfunctory, and that the story is a rehash of The Next Generation's "A Matter of Perspective." Others, particularly writer Michael Piller, believe it to be a blend of detective drama and The Twilight Zone. In fact, all those assessments are valid: the episode is both overly predictable and dark. --Tom Keogh