Sub Rosa
Dr. Beverly Crusher returns to her family home after her grandmother's death where she becomes entangled in a passionate, centuries-old romance with a seductive ghost, threatening her life and the safety of the Enterprise crew.
Following the death of her grandmother, Felisa Howard, Beverly Crusher returns to the Caldos Colony, a planet modeled after the Scottish Highlands. At the funeral, she notices a mysterious man who looks to be in his thirties at the service. Once back in her grandmother's home a warm Scottish country home, Beverly is intrigued by Felisa's journal, which reveals a secret love affair with a man named Ronin, who, according to the writings, is thirty-four years old. She also finds a family heirloom a candle that the 'enduring spirit of the Howards' and has been in the family for twenty generations and keeps it lit. That night, Beverly experiences an erotic dream featuring an unseen presence and hears a seductive voice calling her name.
Meanwhile, the Enterprise, at Picard's command, decides to delay course to help the Caldos Colony. The colony's weather control system is malfunctioning, leading to unusual weather patterns. Data and Geordi work to stabilize the systems. The colony’s governor, Maturin, is worried that the malfunctions will prevent the caber toss scheduled for the next day. While the engineers are at work, Beverly recounts her dream to Deanna Troi with whom she’s going over personnel reports. That night she meets the man from the funeral and believes his name is Ronin. She experiences him when she is alone at the house. While there, she meets Ned Quint who encourages her to get rid of the candle because the candle is a curse on her family. She doesn’t, and he angrily washes his hands of the situation.
As the malfunctions worsen, the weather brings a storm to the Caldos colony, and fog rolls through the Enterprise because the engineering team is having difficulty getting a handle on the problems. Further complicating matters, they discover Ned Quint sabotaging the weather control systems, leading to his accidental death by plasma discharge. Beverly is confused by the science and it's soon discovered that his death was not caused by the plasma, but from anaphasic energy. Beverly, meanwhile, falls deeper under Ronin's spell, seeing him regularly. Encouraged by her therapist, Beverly admits knowing him to Deanna Troi who can sense her feelings. However, she leaves out important details; she seems to be holding information back.
As Beverly grows enmeshed with Ronin, Picard becomes concerned about her behavior. Beverly’s change in behavior concerns Picard, who presses the issue, causing her to angrily defend herself and Ronin. Data and Geordi trace the anaphasic energy signature to Felisa Howard's coffin, suspecting something supernatural is at play. Picard confronts Ronin, who appears to him, but refuses to answer basic questions about his life, increasing Picard's suspicion. Data and Geordi discover the energy is around her grandmother’s body. Soon, Beverly plans to leave Starfleet to be with Ronin, leaving Picard very suspicious.
With Maturin's permission, Data and Geordi exhume Felisa's coffin, but Felisa Howard rises from the coffin, possessed by Ronin’s force and attacks the pair which is stopped by Picard. Picard is injured in the process, by the couple, shocking Beverly, but it helps her break free from Ronin's control. He hopes to infuse Beverly for good, giving her green eyes. Discovering Ronin is not what he seems, she fights back to save her and other people’s lives, rejecting him and his promises. Beverly confronts him in the cemetery and vaporizes the candle to weaken Ronin. In a final confrontation, Beverly uses a phaser to destroy Ronin, freeing herself from his influence. In the end, Beverly reflects on her experience with Troi, acknowledging the happiness Ronin brought to her grandmother. With the crisis averted, the Enterprise leaves the Caldos Colony.
Events in This Episode
The narrative beats that drive the story
Dr. Beverly Crusher attends her grandmother Felisa Howard's funeral on the Caldos Colony, delivering a heartfelt eulogy. During the service, a mysterious, pale man with striking green eyes throws a camellia onto the coffin, staring intensely at Beverly, sparking her curiosity. Following the funeral, Captain Picard agrees to delay the Enterprise's departure to assist the colony with malfunctioning weather control systems. Beverly returns to her grandmother's Scottish-style home, where she discovers Felisa's journal detailing a passionate, secret affair with a 34-year-old man named Ronin. She also finds and lights an ancient family heirloom candle. Ned Quint, Felisa's caretaker, confronts Beverly, attempting to extinguish the candle and warning her it brings misery and is a curse. Beverly dismisses his warnings, asserting her ownership of the house and its contents. Later, in her quarters, Beverly reads the journal and falls asleep. The candle's flame sputters to life on its own, and an unseen presence caresses her, whispering her name, leaving her breathless and shaken by the erotic dream.
Beverly Crusher delivers a deeply personal eulogy for her grandmother Felisa at the funeral, weaving together memories of her healing wisdom and culinary warmth to honor her legacy. The moment …
At Felisa Howard’s funeral, Governor Maturin subtly pressures Picard to delay the Enterprise’s departure by appealing to his sense of duty and offering a tour of the colony’s historic terraforming …
At her grandmother Felisa Howard’s funeral, Beverly delivers a heartfelt eulogy that blends personal memories with the colony’s cultural traditions, evoking warmth and nostalgia among the mourners. The moment is …
In the Howard family home, Beverly shares intimate memories of her grandmother with Deanna Troi, revealing the emotional weight of her mother’s absence and the symbolic significance of the family’s …
Beverly’s quiet reflection on her grandmother’s legacy is violently disrupted when Ned Quint, the Howard family’s long-time caretaker, bursts into the home and attempts to extinguish the sacred candle—a centuries-old …
In Engineering, Governor Maturin expresses growing unease about unexplained tremors on Caldos Colony, which he dismisses as minor disruptions to daily life. Geordi La Forge detects an undocumented power fluctuation …
In Engineering, Data and Geordi analyze Caldos Colony’s systems at Governor Maturin’s request, uncovering a previously undetected power fluctuation in the weather control system—a flaw that has persisted for 22 …
Beverly recounts her vivid, erotic dream to Deanna Troi, describing the physical sensations and the man's voice, acknowledging its profound effect on her. She mentions reading an erotic chapter in her grandmother's journal about Ronin, which she believes influenced the dream. Later, Beverly revisits the cemetery and finds Ned Quint tending Felisa's grave. Quint, more vulnerable now, reiterates his warnings about the house being haunted and the candle bringing the ghost, claiming the entity is causing the weather malfunctions. He urges Beverly not to light the candle or enter the house, fearing she will suffer the same fate as her grandmother. After Quint departs, Beverly discovers dozens of camellias strewn across Felisa's grave, which were not there before. A sudden, violent storm then breaks, forcing Beverly to flee. On the Enterprise bridge, the storm's severity prompts Picard to order a power transfer to stabilize the colony's weather systems. Beverly returns to her grandmother's home, finding it inexplicably filled with camellia flowers.
Inside the flower-filled Howard home, the door mysteriously shuts. Beverly calls out, initially suspecting Ned Quint, then confronts the unseen presence. A mirror rattles, then briefly reflects the image of the mysterious man from the funeral behind her. Beverly, shaken, demands the entity reveal itself. Ronin's seductive voice responds, confirming his identity as Felisa's lover and the presence from Beverly's dream, claiming he has returned for her. He seduces Beverly into a narcotic-like state, causing her combadge to fall and her to experience intense physical sensations. Ronin reveals himself as an 800-year-old spirit, who has moved with the Howard women through generations, and now with Beverly. Beverly struggles to maintain her Starfleet objectivity against his mesmerizing influence. Meanwhile, on the Enterprise, a dense fog rolls onto the bridge, caused by a feedback loop in the power transfer beam. Data and Geordi beam down to the weather control substation to address the problem, where they discover Ned Quint sabotaging the equipment. As Data attempts to stop him, a burst of green plasma energy fatally jolts Quint.
Beverly returns to her grandmother’s storm-lashed home, calling out to Ronin in a moment of vulnerability. He materializes before her, his corporeal form flickering with instability, and reveals his dependence …
Beverly returns to her grandmother’s home, where Ronin materializes in physical form for the first time, exploiting her grief over Quint’s death to manipulate her into relighting the candle—a lifeline …
Data and Geordi investigate Ned Quint's death, initially attributing it to a plasma discharge. However, Beverly's medical scan reveals Quint was killed by an anomalous anaphasic energy residual, matching the signature of the weather system fluctuations. Data and Geordi decide to scan the colony for this energy signature, while Beverly, visibly distracted, delegates further tests on Quint's body. Beverly returns to the Howard home, calling for Ronin. He appears in corporeal form, explaining his weakening state away from the candle, which he calls his 'home,' and reveals the Howard women kept it lit to sustain him. He asks Beverly to light the candle on the Enterprise, claiming he can travel along the power transfer beam. After a passionate kiss, Ronin vanishes. Beverly, now completely under his spell, returns to her quarters, lights the candle, and eagerly awaits Ronin. He appears, promising to merge with her and offer a love she has never known. Swept away in ecstasy, Beverly falls onto her bed. Soon after, Beverly appears in the Transporter Room with suitcases and the lit candle, informing a shocked Picard she is resigning from Starfleet to stay on Caldos and become a healer with Ronin. Picard, disturbed, reluctantly allows her to transport.
In the Ready Room, Deanna Troi reveals Beverly Crusher’s emotionally charged, intimate connection to Ronin, describing her defensive posture and the counselor’s suspicion that Beverly is withholding the full truth. …
In the Ready Room, Picard and Troi debate Beverly’s growing attachment to Ronin, with Troi revealing Beverly’s emotional defensiveness and Picard questioning whether Ronin’s influence is unnatural. Their discussion is …
In the ready room, Picard and Troi discuss Beverly’s increasingly erratic behavior, with Troi revealing Beverly’s emotional defensiveness and possible romantic entanglement with Ronin. Picard dismisses the idea of Beverly’s …
Picard and Troi discuss Beverly's sudden, uncharacteristic decision, suspecting Ronin's undue influence. Data reports an anaphasic energy signature emanating from Felisa Howard's coffin in the cemetery, prompting Picard to send Data and Geordi to investigate and to confront Ronin himself. In the Howard home, Ronin's green mist form merges with Beverly, causing her eyes to turn emerald green. Picard enters, startling Beverly, who appears dazed. He confronts her about her changed eyes and rash decision, leading to an angry defense from Beverly. Ronin then appears to Picard, refusing to answer questions about his origins or presence on Caldos, instead accusing Picard of jealousy. Data's report confirms the energy source is Felisa's coffin, and Picard grants permission to exhume the body, despite Ronin's protests. When Picard presses Ronin for answers, Ronin vanishes. Green plasma energy then bursts from thin air, striking Picard, which shocks Beverly and breaks Ronin's hypnotic hold; her eyes return to blue. Picard, recovering, urges Beverly to go to the cemetery. There, Data and Geordi exhume Felisa's coffin, only for her possessed body to sit up and attack them with green plasma. Beverly arrives, confronting Ronin, who now appears next to the limp body. Beverly reveals her understanding that Ronin is an anaphasic lifeform using organic hosts and the candle as a receptacle. Ronin threatens Geordi, but Beverly, feigning compliance, grabs Geordi's phaser and vaporizes the candle, weakening Ronin. She then fires the phaser at Ronin, destroying him in a final flash of energy. Beverly reactivates Data and checks on Geordi, then reflects with Troi on her grandmother's happiness with Ronin despite his true nature, as the Enterprise departs.
Beverly, under Ronin’s supernatural influence, experiences a feverish, intimate merging with the ghostly entity—her eyes shifting to an unnatural emerald green as his vaporous form coalesces into her. The moment …
Picard’s arrival at the Howard home interrupts a deeply intimate moment between Beverly and Ronin, where the ghost’s anaphasic energy has already begun merging with her. Beverly’s physical transformation—her eyes …
Beverly, under Ronin’s supernatural influence, lies in a trance-like state as he merges with her through an anaphasic vapor, her eyes shifting to emerald green—a visual cue of his domination. …
In a desecrated cemetery under the cover of night, Data and Geordi La Forge open Felisa Howard’s coffin, only to trigger her violent resurrection. Felisa’s corpse, now a vessel for …
Beverly arrives at the cemetery to find Data and Geordi investigating Felisa’s grave, only for Felisa’s corpse to violently reanimate under Ronin’s control. The possessed body attacks Data and Geordi, …
Cornered in the cemetery, Beverly confronts Ronin—now possessing her grandmother’s corpse—after he disables Data and nearly kills Geordi with anaphasic energy. She feigns surrender, placing the candle (Ronin’s power source) …
In the cemetery at night, Beverly arrives to find Data and Geordi incapacitated by Felisa Howard’s reanimated corpse, now possessed by Ronin. Beverly confronts Ronin, who threatens Geordi’s life to …