In the second episode of the second season of The Next Generation, THIS IS FUCKING HORRIFYING. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch The Next Generation.
Trigger Warning: For talk of murder, racism.
So, I’m writing this review while attending Penguicon for the first time. (It’s been a lot of fun so far, but I’ve got most of my panels later today. I’m writing this on Saturday morning!) I had someone last night ask me an interesting question while I was in a room party: Has my audience adapted to my taste? It perplexed me at first because I didn’t understand what they meant. But since a lot of the shows and books I have chosen to read were based on fan interest, they explained that they wondered if people recommended I read things because they knew I’d enjoy.
That’s definitely been the case for a ton of shows I’ve watched. Veronica Mars and In The Flesh are the two I think of instantly because it was clear those shows would appeal to me for VERY OBVIOUS REASONS. I imagine that this is the case with Star Trek for fan favorite episodes I’ve seen already and the many that are coming up. (I also know that about half of this fandom is eager for me to watch Deep Space 9 because apparently I will love it intensely??? WE’LL SEE.) But I’d like to think that over the course of these reviews, y’all can get a good sense for what tropes or archetypes I’ll lose my shit over. This particular one at the heart of “Where Silence Has Lease†is one Star Trek has used before, and I DON’T CARE. I LOVE IT. THIS EPISODE RULES SO MUCH, AND I’M FUCKED UP.
Let’s discuss.
The Holodeck
I’m slightly perplexed by the cold open of this episode, but I don’t want y’all to consider that a negative thing. Looking back on this episode, I think I have an idea why this was placed within the story. First of all, I like the concept of Riker trying to learn more about Worf by sharing a personal experience like this with him. I don’t imagine that Worf has ever brought anyone into his life like this. But it’s also responsible for character building for Worf. Through that violent scene, we understand his intensity better. We understand why he’s so eager to be defensive. And that matters when Data first discovers the hole in space because it informs Worf’s fear over the Klingon legend.
However, I wonder if there’s another reason this episode starts with a Holodeck scene: misdirection. During the final act of “Where Silence Has Lease,†I started to suspect that all of the manipulations of matter and reality weren’t happening. What if the entire thing was a Holodeck simulation? I admit I wouldn’t have been as satisfied with this story if that had been the ending, so I’m glad it didn’t turn out that way.
A Hole in a Space
If you’re going to do something as weird as this is, then commit to it. That’s why I like this episode. The writers had no problem not only dropping us and the crew into a hellish, ambiguous nightmare, but they stuck with it. It’s a slow burn of a thriller, one that methodically escalates until this becomes HORRIFICALLY NOT OKAY. I always find myself slightly shocked at the lack of shock on this show, though. I mean, no one on the crew seemed to all that upset by what was going on around them. However, I think that’s because what they go through while exploring the universe is so different from my conception of what’s surprising or scary. Like, I get the sense that Picard was standing around going, “Well, it’s another nebulous threat to the Enterprise, must be Tuesday.â€
Which means that when they do start reacting with horror and shock, IT’S REALLY UPSETTING.
Abandoned Spaceships
Why do I love this trope? WHY DOES IT ALWAYS MAKE ME EXCITED? No one ever invokes it and does something different with it, at least not in any huge way, and I STILL LOVE IT. Actually, I’d like to think this episode does twist the use of this trope significantly, given that the floating Yamato ISN’T ACTUALLY REAL. So bravo, Star Trek.
Rats in a Maze
And I can’t even comment on the use of that kind of trope without talking about how it’s intricately tied to the eventual reveal of what the hole in space actually is. I think that’s why I suspected the Holodeck simulation answer, because this felt so much like a test. Now, this is not the first time that we’ve seen an antagonist like this one in the Star Trek universe. Indeed, even within The Next Generation’s canon, you could categorize the villain in “Skin of Evil†and Q as enemies who torment others just for their own amusement. Nagilum is the same way, though his cruelty is due to his curiosity. Nagilum is detached from their experiments and deliberately remains that way the entire time. Their questions are brusque and mean, often times downright filthy. They have no problem toying with the crew just to see how humans will react.
And then they have no problem murdering Haskell just to explore the concept of human death. Look, I understand that the scene works so well because the escalation of the conflict increases so rapidly. It’s a way to demonstrate to the crew and the audience that shit has gotten real. It is also egregious to watch the show kill off a black man mere minutes after he appears in an episode. There’s a reason that the trope of black people dying first in horror/sci-fi/practically any genre is a thing. It happens disproportionately to them, so much so that I can’t unsee it here.
Auto-Destruct
The third act of this episode is just so unbelievably uncomfortable, and it’s supposed to be that way. Is it fair for Captain Picard to initiate auto-destruct to spare the Enterprise’s crew of suffering? That’s a difficult question to answer, so I’m very fascinated by Nagilum’s choice to try to trick Picard into agreeing to cancel the self-destruct button. It’s honestly such a good scene, though it’s hard to parse my feelings for it because it wasn’t actually Data and Troi speaking of death. I should have realized that because Data had experienced death, relatively recently. It was out of character for him to ask about it. Still, that didn’t mean it wasn’t an effective scene. Troi, begging for a chance to live over certain death? SO GOOD.
I think the ambiguous end works best here. This show is about exploration, and the lack of closure lends itself to the idea that this is what comes with the territory. The crew are going to come across beings whose understand of other living beings is… well, this. And they accept that. It’s what the Federation is there for, at least for the most part. BUT SHIT, THIS EPISODE WAS MESSED UP.
The video for “Where Silence Has Lease†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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