[1] Set in the late 24th century, the series follows the crew of the starship USS Voyager, after the ship was displaced to the Delta Quadrant, far from the rest of the Federation.
The crew finds a set of stasis pods containing five of the planet's inhabitants; two are dead from heart attacks, and the other three should have been reawakened already.
Since the planet has recovered from the disaster, Captain Kathryn Janeway decides to revive the other three, but the crew cannot wake them, their brains tied to a central computer connecting all the pods.
Torres and Kim learn from the aliens that the virtual reality was intended to make a utopia based on their thoughts, but grew on their fears instead and gained the power to induce death.
The Doctor, after communicating with the crew, informs the clown that Janeway will offer herself as a brain for the system in exchange for the remaining hostages.
[3] When he read the script he said "it was a subject matter and a notion that really resonated with me", he saw it as an essay on the nature of fear and he really wanted to tell the story.
[3] The show features several guest stars including: Thomas Kopache, Carel Struycken, Tony Carlin, and Shannon O'Hurley.
[4] In 2012, Den of Geek ranked this the seventh best episode of Star Trek: Voyager, but calling it creepy, for including a virtual "clown of fear".