Star Trek The Next Generation
Character
Lieutenant
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Susanna

vulnerable decisive professional determined loyal authoritative
Lieutenant Susanna Leijten leads Starfleet away teams through high-stakes planetary investigations. She forged a deep bond with Geordi La Forge during missions like Tarchannen Three, blending professional command with personal trust. Dynamic and striking, she drives probes decisively while revealing vulnerability in crises. Her loyalty anchors teams amid unknowns, pushing her to face alien threats head-on despite personal risks.
47 appearances
Starfleet Away Team Investigations
Also known as: Susanna, Leijten, Susanna (hologram)

Susanna's Journey

A timeline through the narrative

47 moments
S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Tarchannen Outpost’s Vanished Crew Revealed

Focused and in control, but the discovery of the torn uniform and the absence of struggle betray a growing unease. Her command to freeze the visual suggests a moment of realization—this is not a typical disappearance, and the stakes are higher than anticipated.

Lieutenant Susanna Leijten stands as the commanding presence in the recording, her dynamic and striking demeanor immediately asserting authority. She confirms the recording device is active, then moves with purpose …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Torn Uniform Reveals Violent Abduction

Focused intensity with simmering urgency—her professionalism is a thin veil over the growing realization that this is no ordinary disappearance, but something far more sinister and personal.

Lieutenant Susanna Leijten commands the investigation with sharp focus, her dynamic presence cutting through the desolate twilight. She confirms the recording device is operational and immediately takes charge upon Hickman's …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Susanna reveals Tarchannen Three’s vanished crew

Determined yet somber; she carries the burden of being the last survivor to retain her humanity, and her resolve is tinged with a quiet urgency to prevent Geordi from sharing the same fate.

Susanna Leijten stands beside the monitor in the Observation Lounge, pointing to the images of Brevelle, Mendez, and Hickman as she methodically presents the evidence of their disappearances. She confirms …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Hickman’s Betrayal Confirmed

Grave but resolute; a mix of professional duty and personal dread

Susanna Leijten stands beside the monitor, pointing to the images of Brevelle, Mendez, and Hickman as she methodically outlines their disappearances. She sits beside Geordi, her voice grave as she …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Last Survivors Confirmed

Solemn and urgent, masking deep resignation beneath a professional facade

Susanna Leijten stands beside the monitor, pointing to the images of Brevelle, Mendez, and Hickman as she methodically outlines the timeline of their disappearances. She sits beside Geordi, her voice …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Riker interrupts Geordi and Susanna’s fragile moment

Anxious yet determined, masking fear with nostalgia and professionalism, but ultimately revealing her vulnerability to Geordi before being pulled back into duty.

Susanna Leijten initiates a tense, nostalgic exchange with Geordi, recounting her near-marriage to Paul Bogrow with a mix of humor and vulnerability. She admits her fear about the Tarchannen Three …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Enterprise detects erratic shuttle descent

Urgent yet composed, his focus sharpens as the stakes rise, balancing the need for action with the weight of potential loss.

Picard stands at the center of the bridge, his voice calm but authoritative as he directs the crew’s response. He orders Worf to hail the shuttle and escalates to Priority …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Shuttle’s fatal descent confirmed

Gravely concerned, with an undercurrent of frustration—he’s seen this pattern before, and the helplessness of watching another officer lost to the unknown gnaws at him, but he channels it into action.

Picard commands the bridge with measured authority, his voice steady as he issues a series of rapid-fire orders: slow to impulse power, hail the shuttle, and—when Hickman doesn’t respond—escalate to …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Hickman’s shuttle crashes into Tarchannen Three

Shaken by the shuttle's destruction, with a quiet determination to act. Her shock is tempered by her professionalism, but there's an undercurrent of fear—both for the crew and for her own fate.

Susanna stands near the turbolift entrance, her presence initially unnoticed as the crew focuses on the shuttle crisis. She reacts with visible shock as the shuttle burns up, her hand …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Hickman’s shuttle crashes; abandoned wrecks discovered

Subdued shock, masking a deepening fear of her own transformation and the irreversible fate of the shuttle’s pilot.

Susanna stands near the back of the bridge, her reaction to the shuttle’s destruction delayed but no less profound. She registers shock as the explosion flashes on the viewscreen, her …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Hickman’s shuttle destruction triggers away team

Shocked and concerned, with a growing sense of urgency as she realizes the away mission’s dangers and her own potential vulnerability.

Susanna stands on the bridge, her presence initially unnoticed but her shock at the shuttle’s destruction is palpable. She watches the viewscreen in stunned silence, her hands gripping the edge …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Tarchannen Outpost’s Decay Reveals Time’s Erasure

Determined resolve mixed with lingering grief—she knows the stakes and is driven to prevent history from repeating itself.

Susanna Leijten is also not physically present in this shot, but her past connection to the outpost and her role in the current investigation are implied. The desolation of the …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Shuttle discovery confirms Mendez’s fate

Urgent and focused—her professionalism masks a deep concern for Geordi and the team’s safety.

Susanna Leijten leads the approach to the shuttle, her sharp eyes scanning the vessel’s identification markings. Her recognition of the shuttle as Mendez’s stolen craft is immediate and decisive, escalating …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Geordi enters the abandoned shuttle

Urgent and focused, with a undercurrent of protective instinct—she’s not just investigating; she’s racing to save Geordi and the others from the same fate as Mendez.

Susanna leads the team toward the shuttlecraft, her movements purposeful and her expression focused. She quickly identifies the shuttle’s origin, her voice sharp with urgency as she confirms it belongs …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Susanna’s Alien Senses and Collapse

Grim alertness with underlying concern

William T. Riker leads the team’s search for Susanna after she disappears, reacting grimly to the torn uniform and ordering a fan-out to locate her. Though not directly involved in …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Susanna’s confinement and mission pivot

Frustrated yet compliant, masking deep concern about her condition and the mission’s stakes with professionalism.

Susanna Leijten lies in the diagnostic bed, initially dazed and weak, her physical state betraying the alien transformation’s progression. She attempts to downplay her condition with dark humor ('Do I …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Susanna’s transformation and Geordi’s vow

Desperate and fearful, but momentarily relieved by Geordi’s vow—her grin a fleeting mask over the terror of her transformation.

Susanna Leijten’s agitation escalates as she advocates for aggressive away teams to Tarchannen Three, her voice sharp with frustration. Her plea for proximity detectors and infrared sensors is abruptly cut …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Geordi’s protective vow in crisis

Frantic and desperate, but momentarily reassured by Geordi’s vow—her fear of the transformation is palpable, yet she clings to his promise as a lifeline.

Susanna Leijten’s agitation escalates as she argues for aggressive action on Tarchannen Three, her voice trembling with desperation. She notices her hand shaking violently, confirming the alien transformation has begun. …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Alien evidence confirms extraterrestrial threat

Skeptical but determined—her frustration with unanswered questions masks a deeper fear that the truth about her missing crewmates may be worse than she imagined.

Susanna leans over the science station, her sharp gaze locked on the monitor as Data presents the evidence. She crosses her arms, her skepticism evident in her posture and tone. …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Susanna and Geordi hypothesize mission trigger

Determined with a flicker of urgency—her frustration at the abductions’ illogic fuels her focus, but there’s an undercurrent of protectiveness toward Geordi, given his potential vulnerability to the same fate.

Susanna Leijten stands with arms crossed, her posture tense but focused as she locks eyes with Geordi. Her voice cuts through the turbolift’s hum with precision, challenging the illogical timing …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Susanna’s collapse reveals irreversible transformation

Overwhelmed by a mix of panic, pain, and an inescapable pull toward Tarchannen Three. Her emotional state oscillates between frustration (at Geordi’s suggestions) and terror (as her body betrays her), culminating in a breakdown that reveals the full horror of her transformation.

Susanna’s physical and mental state unravels in Geordi’s office as she fixates on Tarchannen Three, her desperation manifesting in restless pacing, trembling, and a violent rejection of medical help. She …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Susanna’s Transformation Revealed

A heartbreaking blend of terror and resignation—she is acutely aware of the alien entity’s control over her, yet her love for Geordi and her Starfleet training compel her to fight until the very end. Her emotional state is a fragile balance between hope and despair, with despair ultimately winning as she succumbs to unconsciousness.

Susanna lies motionless in the emergency medical bed, her body wracked by the alien transformation—black veins spidering across her skin, her hair slick and dark, her eyes no longer human. …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Susanna’s Desperate Confession

Desperate resignation tinged with fleeting hope as she clings to Geordi’s presence, her voice a fragile thread connecting her to her humanity before the alien entity fully consumes her.

Susanna lies in the emergency medical bed, her body wracked by the alien transformation. She regains a hazy consciousness, her non-human eyes locking onto Geordi as she whispers his name. …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Beverly reveals the transformation truth

Anxious professionalism masking fear of failure

Beverly Crusher delivers the devastating truth about the Tarchannen Three transformations, her clinical precision masking deep anxiety. She presents magnified cell samples of Susanna’s altered skin and Data’s alien cells, …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Geordi demands to continue investigation

Anxious and cautious, but professional; her internal conflict between medical protocol and Geordi's desperation is palpable.

Beverly Crusher presents the findings of the alien cell analysis, explaining the transformation process with clinical precision. She warns Geordi of the imminent risk of infection, opposes his request to …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Geordi's Exhausted Dead End and Data's Concern

The computer, as an artificial intelligence, does not experience emotions. However, its responses serve as a narrative device to amplify Geordi's frustration and hopelessness, creating a sense of inevitability.

The USS Enterprise Computer responds to Geordi's commands with mechanical precision, its voice flat and uninflected. It methodically reports the absence of anomalies in the mission records—no audio irregularities, no …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Bioluminescence reveals hidden infection

Physically and emotionally overwhelmed; her body is a battleground for an unseen invasion, leaving her in a state of helpless vulnerability.

Susanna Leijten lies unconscious on the biobed, her body now a canvas of oily black swirls and bioluminescent reactions. When Nurse Ogawa shines a penlight across her face, her skin …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Geordi isolates the shadow anomaly

Absent but implied as desperate or terrified (given her eventual transformation and the urgency of Geordi's investigation).

Lieutenant Susanna Leijten is visible in the mission footage as part of the away team, her shadow analyzed by Geordi. She is not physically present in Engineering during this event …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Geordi overrides warnings to enter holodeck

Absent but haunting—her presence is felt through Geordi’s physical and emotional reactions, which are a direct reflection of her own deteriorating state. Geordi’s determination to save her is tinged with the weight of her potential loss.

Susanna Leijten is not physically present in this event but looms large as the catalyst for Geordi’s actions. Her earlier symptoms—trembling hands and the alien transformation—are directly mirrored in Geordi’s …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Geordi reconstructs Tarchannen holodeck

None (as a frozen hologram), but her presence evokes a sense of loss and urgency—her past self is a ghost of the mission that went wrong, haunting Geordi’s present.

Susanna Leijten appears as a frozen hologram, her body locked in a mid-mission stance within the reconstruction of Building One. Her shadow stretches sharply across the wall, one among the …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Geordi isolates the Tarchannen shadow

Detached (as a hologram, but her presence evokes Geordi’s personal connection to her and the mission’s failure).

Susanna’s hologram appears as part of the away team simulation, giving orders and moving with the team before being systematically removed by Geordi. Her shadow is one of the first …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Geordi isolates the shadow’s origin

Neutral (as a hologram), but her removal from the simulation underscores the mystery of the shadow’s origin and the fate of the away team.

Holo-Susanna appears as a holographic recreation of Lieutenant Susanna Leijten, interacting with the holograms of Mendez and Geordi as part of the reconstructed Tarchannen Three outpost scene. Her shadow is …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Geordi’s transformation begins in the holodeck

Determined (as part of the simulation's recreation of her leadership during the mission), but emotionally hollow (as a hologram, she lacks agency or awareness of her own fate).

Susanna appears as a holographic recreation of Lieutenant Susanna Leijten, giving orders to the away team during the simulation. She is the first hologram removed by Geordi as he systematically …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Beverly discovers Susanna’s genetic erasure

Drifting between consciousness and oblivion, her physical and emotional states are consumed by the parasite’s invasion—fear and despair are implied, though she lacks the strength to vocalize them.

Susanna lies in the biobed, her body further transformed and barely conscious, her skin faintly bioluminescent. She is the silent epicenter of the crisis, her deteriorating condition a ticking clock …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Geordi’s undetectable transformation revealed

Controlled dread—her Starfleet training keeps her from panicking, but the underlying fear is visceral. She’s acutely aware that Geordi’s life—and possibly her own—hangs in the balance of a biological process they don’t fully understand.

Susanna Leijten is physically present on the bridge, her posture rigid as Beverly’s voice transmits the dire news. She stands near Geordi, her eyes flickering between him and the comms …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Beverly reveals parasitic threat’s stealth

Unseen but critically endangered; her plight is a catalyst for the crew's mounting desperation.

Susanna Leijten is not physically present on the bridge during this event, but her condition is the focal point of Beverly's urgent transmission. Her absence looms large, as the crew …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Susanna reveals the alien reproductive truth

Alarmed yet resolute, her fear for Geordi overriding physical weakness and medical caution.

Susanna Leijten regains consciousness in Sickbay, her human eyes now clear but her body still partially alien. Weak but insistent, she interrupts Beverly’s explanation about the 'parasite' removal, correcting her …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Susanna reveals alien reproduction threat

A volatile mix of terror (for Geordi’s fate), urgency (to act before it’s too late), and frustration (at her own body’s betrayal). Beneath it all, a creeping dread that her connection to the aliens might be irreversible. Her professionalism is eroded by the alien biology, leaving her in a liminal state—neither fully human nor fully alien, but both at once.

Susanna Leijten regains consciousness in Sickbay, her body still weak from surgery but her mind sharpened by the alien DNA strand’s lingering influence. She sits up abruptly, her voice raw …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Susanna lures Geordi from the aliens

Determined yet vulnerable; her empathy for Geordi is tinged with the fear of losing him—and perhaps herself—to the transformation.

Susanna disables the team’s palm beacons to avoid triggering the transformed creatures’ aggression, then leads the away team into the treacherous underbrush. She uses her intimate knowledge of the transformation …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Geordi’s transformation exposed and escape

Steely resolve masking profound empathy—her surface calm belies the urgency of saving Geordi, a mission personal enough to make her voice tremble with unspoken fear.

Susanna takes immediate command upon materializing, her discomfort with light revealing her intimate knowledge of the transformed creatures' triggers. She leads the team into the underbrush, her sharp instincts honing …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Susanna coaxes Geordi from alien refuge

Steely resolve masking deep empathy—she knows the cost of failure, but her focus is on saving Geordi, not the horror of what he’s becoming.

Susanna steps into the secluded area behind the rocks, isolating Geordi from the other transformed beings. She speaks to him with a quiet, steady intensity, invoking their shared history and …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Picard accepts irreversible transformations

Profoundly empathetic toward Geordi’s trauma, but her own survival grants her a quiet strength—she is both a survivor and a lifeline for others.

Susanna serves as the emotional linchpin of the scene, her presence a counterbalance to the clinical grief of Picard’s acceptance and Geordi’s trauma. She confirms the irreversible fate of Brevelle …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Geordi confirms irreversible transformation

A blend of relief at Geordi’s survival, sorrow for the lost crew members, and a quiet pride in the trust he places in her. Her humor is a coping mechanism, but her embrace reveals the depth of her care and the unspoken bond they share—a bond forged in the fires of shared danger and mutual reliance.

Susanna stands as Geordi’s emotional anchor, her hand in his providing steady reassurance as he awakens. She confirms the irreversible fate of Brevelle and Mendez to Picard with quiet finality, …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Picard orders Tarchannen Three quarantine

Relieved and affectionate, with a quiet sorrow beneath her composure. She is the emotional anchor for Geordi, her actions rooted in care rather than duty.

Susanna Leijten stands at Geordi’s bedside, fully recovered from her own transformation, her presence a steadying force. She takes Geordi’s hand immediately upon his awakening, her voice warm and reassuring. …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Geordi’s Vulnerable Gratitude to Susanna

Compassionate and emotionally open, though initially deflecting with humor to mask the depth of her own feelings. Her embrace of Geordi reveals a profound sense of relief and connection, underscoring the strength of their bond.

Susanna stands at Geordi’s bedside, fully recovered from her own transformation. She takes Geordi’s hand as he regains consciousness, reassuring him of her presence and offering emotional support. She deflects …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Data modifies UV beacon for Geordi’s rescue

Anxious yet resolute; her emotional investment in Geordi’s safety is palpable, even in her absence.

Susanna Leijten, though not physically present in this final moment, is deeply connected to the emotional core of the scene. Her bond with Geordi La Forge—forged during their past missions—adds …

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S4E18 · Identity Crisis
Geordi and Susanna’s Transporter Room Moment

Relieved but still vigilant, her absence in this moment reflects her focus on the broader mission and the lingering threat from Tarchannen Three.

Susanna Leijten is also not physically present in this moment, but her role in Geordi’s rescue and their shared bond are implied by the scene’s context. The transporter room, where …

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Affiliation

Starfleet
Federation Starship Command, Classified Intelligence, and Hierarchical Operations