Transfigurations

"Transfigurations" is the 25th episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the 73rd episode of the series overall.

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, the Enterprise rescues a critically injured amnesiac who is undergoing a mysterious transformation.

The Enterprise discovers a crashed escape pod in an unexplored star system. The crew find one critically injured passenger and bring him aboard the ship. Dr. Crusher determines the survivor will live due to his amazing recuperative powers, and notes that his cells are mutating.

When the stranger awakens, he has no memory of his identity; Crusher nicknames him "John Doe". As weeks pass, John recovers physically, but occasionally suffers from severe pain which is somehow tied to his ongoing mutation. He also begins emitting strange, bright energy bursts. John soon discovers that he can use this energy to heal injuries.

In the meantime, Geordi La Forge investigates a device recovered from John's vessel and determines the location of John's home planet. However, John's memory has begun to return, and he senses that he must not return yet. Soon, a vessel approaches the Enterprise, and John declares he must leave. He tries to steal a shuttlecraft, and accidentally knocks Lieutenant Worf from a walkway with an energy burst, killing him. John uses his healing powers to revive Worf. Prevented from escaping, John explains that he wanted to leave as he is becoming a danger to himself and the crew.

Commander Sunad of the intercepting ship communicates with the Enterprise, announcing he is from the planet Zalkon, and that John is a criminal facing a death sentence. Captain Picard refuses to release John to the Zalkonians without more information as to the charges. When Picard mentions John's strange powers, Sunad is alarmed and triggers a device which causes the entire Enterprise crew to become unable to breathe. John heals everyone aboard the Enterprise with one bright flash of his energy.

Tras recuperar la memoria, John teletransporta a Sunad a la Enterprise y le explica que su raza ha alcanzado una nueva etapa evolutiva, en la que se están convirtiendo en seres de energía. El gobierno de su planeta natal teme lo que está sucediendo y asesina a cualquiera que muestre signos de transformación; John y otros escapaban de su planeta cuando fueron atacados. John se convierte entonces en el primero en completar la transformación, volviéndose invulnerable.

John se ofrece a ayudar a Sunad a realizar también esta transformación, pero Sunad se niega. John lo envía de vuelta a su nave, advirtiéndole que su gobierno ya no puede mantener a su pueblo en la ignorancia. La nave zalkoniana se retira. John se despide de la tripulación del Enterprise , se transforma en energía y abandona la nave.

Keith RA DeCandido de Tor.com le dio al episodio 7 de 10. ^{[ 1 ]}

El 3 de octubre de 1995, "Best of Both Worlds, Part I" y "Transfigurations" fueron lanzadas en LaserDisc en Estados Unidos. ^{[ 2 ]}

El episodio se lanzó con el set de DVD de la tercera temporada de Star Trek: The Next Generation , lanzado en Estados Unidos el 2 de julio de 2002. ^{[ 3 ]} Este set contenía 26 episodios de la tercera temporada en siete discos, con una pista de audio Dolby Digital 5.1 . ^{[ 3 ]} Se lanzó en Blu-ray de alta definición en Estados Unidos el 30 de abril de 2013. ^{[ 4 ]}

• 2001: Una odisea del espacio – Película de ciencia ficción, famosa por explorar temas similares relacionados con la evolución humanoide.

• Colección de DVD de Star Trek: La Nueva Generación , volumen 3, disco 7, selección 1.

• "Transfiguraciones" en IMDb
• Transformaciones en Memory Alpha