DISCUSSION ON THIS EPISODE AVAILABLE NOW! - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/esiljcl9y7esY4E.htmlsi=3Y5IhTYfOtWgUMCq Testing posting both the reaction & discussion videos simultaneously, so if that is your preference make sure to watch the discussion and let us know

This is actually one of my favorite Trek episodes of all time, though I get why it isn't for everyone. It's pure atmosphere throughout - weird sci-fi and horror vibes, Nagillum is truly alien and inhuman, and I like how the characters approach the situation. There are some goofy bits, especially since it's early TNG, but it's a great ride that I love revisiting.

After Haskell dies, Wesley comes back after his bathroom break: "What did I miss?"

I really like the Data and Troi fake out; it's really well done from a storytelling perspective. Also, it's very funny how telegraphed it is that this one guy will die, like they could've at least had him be on the bridge beforehand instead of literally switching him out with Westley for the one scene he's going to die in. That was kind of goofy.

Welcome to Worf’s calisthenics program. It’s a real killer.

Who knew the Geico gecko was going to evolve into an evil space laboratory director?

Poor Red Shirt Guy...sent in to save Wesley and forever be part of the Red Shirt Guy meme. 😁

V'ger approves of clouds consuming spaceships

The voice of the alien is the psychologist from the first 2 Terminator movies.

The direction for this episode by Winrich Kolbe really raises the bar for TNG going forward. This is where you begin to see the look of the show start to improve. When I see Kolbe listed as director for an episode it usually means it's going to be pretty good. He directed 48 episodes over all of Star Trek, Where Silence Has Lease was his first directed episode for the series.

Man, that guy was the all-time champion red-shirt.

Riker really loves to explore/experience other cultures with the personal touch, and Klingon culture becomes one of his favorites... probably due to the time he spends befriending Worf. He really loves trying alien food, too. Riker & Worf: one of Trek's many best-friend pairings.

Even though it seems a bit disconnected from the rest of the episode, the opening does show how the psychology of a relatively familiar alien, Worf, is still quite different from ours. Then we see another creature whose psychology is even more off the charts disturbing and difficult to deal with by comparison. A reminder that there are always more scary unknowns waiting for our crew 'out there' ...

Wow. Don't remember this being this early in the season but it's a highlight of the season for me. Good haunted house episode. Newer slimmer design for the phasers. And I guess they coulnn't kill Wesley so he went to the bathroom and this poor soul that took his place. Really liked the appearance of Nagelum.

@22:30 Damn Wesley can't even go take a shit without you guys complaining about it!

Something you can’t unsee once you’ve noticed it: count how many times Worf’s ideas get shot down in this series.

Wait, I just realized: Is that fight in the opening act on the holodeck the first fight Worf has ever won!? I feel like this episode was the first one where the characters start to settle into themselves and become a bit more like what they are in the future episodes.

Winrich Kolbe went on to direct a lot of Star Trek, across multiple series. He dated Voyager lead Kate Mulgrew for several years as well. He died in 2012.

Mr. Worf: Apparently humans never heard of "curiosity killed the cat!" in the original Klingon!

A very different type of episode, where instead of Q or some other type of powerful character, we have one that is curious and wants to experiment on what it's encountered. Nagilum isn't nefarious or evil, it just doesn't understand human existence or life and death.

Knowing the Enterprise isn’t going to blow up….

I never really thought about it before, but it’s a hard thing for Picard to set a timer on the self destruct and basically make that decision for everyone and leave them waiting while the clocks ticking. It’s terrifying if maybe rather take my chances with Armus. Wesley probably left post because he had to go to class he’s still a teenager he’s got to fit class in between his duties.

17:02 the mentality of blowing up the ship is so that everyone gets taken out of their own volition, quick and simple…as opposed to the potentially torturous and visceral ways in which nagilum intends. it’s similar to the concept of a bratty child demanding to have its play time with a toy despite being punished for misdeeds, and the parent, rather than succumbing to demands, gives the ultimatum “stop or not only do you not get your toy, I’m going to throw it away/break it so you don’t get it back”

Well its kind of ironic that the Yamato is the sistership of the Enterprise. Both the Enterprise and the Yamato were involved in the Battle of Midway on opposing sides in 1942.

Reposted from Patreon: This episode’s title comes from the 1907 poem “The Spell of the Yukon” by Robert W. Service. Service’s work was extremely popular in the early 20th century, when poetry in general was of far more interest to the public than it is now. I recently read “The Spell of the Yukon” for the first time; I was not favorably impressed. Although the "Chaos on the Bridge" documentary contains too many spoilers for later episodes for Alex and Josh to see it yet, the time has come when we can tell them about one of the most outrageous anecdotes revealed in that film. The turmoil behind the scenes on TNG at the end of Season 1 was so bad that the production team briefly considered firing the entire cast and starting Season 2 with the destruction of the Enterprise with all hands. The series would then have followed the crew of another Starfleet vessel investigating what had happened to the Enterprise. I mention this now because I presume the new ship in this scenario would have been another Galaxy-class vessel identical to the Enterprise, allowing the show to continue using the standing sets (and, with a little repainting, the filming models of the starship). This episode, of course, does something similar with the scenes aboard the Yamato, making this a “bottle episode” in the strictest sense, filmed entirely on the standing sets. Fans often point out an egregious continuity error with TOS in this episode: Data states that no Starfleet vessel has ever encountered anything like the void in space, but Kirk’s Enterprise had encountered a similar zone of blackness around the space amoeba in “The Immunity Syndrome.” Patrick Stewart read Picard’s speech about the nature of death and the afterlife from the climax of this episode as part of his eulogy at Gene Roddenberry’s memorial service in 1991, three years after the episode aired. This speech also explains why Picard said, “Au revoir, Natasha,” at the end of the funeral scene in “Skin of Evil” (since “Au revoir” is French for “Till we meet again,” not “Goodbye”). Picard’s descriptions of the two views of the afterlife that he rejects are both oversimplified strawman characterizations. Members of the Abrahamic religions (including Roman Catholics such as myself) would disagree that “the purpose of the entire universe” is to maintain people’s existence in Heaven; the purpose of the universe, rather, is to give glory to God and reflect His mind. God could have chosen to create a universe in which sentient beings ceased to exist when they died, and the ultimate purpose of the universe would not have changed. On the other hand, atheists who do not believe in an afterlife would not necessarily agree that “all of our experiences and hopes and dreams [are] merely a delusion;” rather, many would say that the meaning of the universe is what we ascribe to it, that our “experiences and hopes and dreams” are real in this life and in the present moment, and that some part of them are carried forward after death in the memories of those who loved us (as Tasha’s hologram states in “Skin of Evil”). Nagilum’s name is “Mulligan” spelled backwards (dropping one of the “l”s); the actor Richard Mulligan was Maurice Hurley’s original choice for the role. Colm Meaney reprises his role as the transporter operator from the previous episode. Annoyingly, the closed captions include the surname of Meaney’s character, which the show has not yet established in dialogue.

Wesley could have had other duties off the bridge... Like classes and studies or something... Maybe they needed him in engineering or something... Perhaps his mother hailed him from Starfleet Medical and ordered him to go clean his room.... In front of the entire bridge staff, and overriding the Captain... Regardless of the potential onscreen reasons, there is no denying the real reason he is not on the bridge when they need someone to "Red Shirt"... Gene Roddenberry would never approve of his "Avatar" character to go out in such a way....

I remember seeing this as a child and it was pleasantly chilling. Since that first viewing over 30 years ago I have always thought it would be mind-blowing if it was eventually revealed that Picard and the rest never actually left Nagilum and everything they have experienced since this episode was simply an illusion to help Nagilum learn about death.

This episode was my first introductions to cosmic horror. I remember hiding behind the couch as a child watching it. One of my favorites.

I think the point of Haskins being on the bridge was that Picard wanted a senior officer to man the helm instead of a cadet because the situation was dire enough and then after he died there was no one else cleared for the helm except Data but he's got to have the other control down. That and someone had to die.

With this episode we're getting rewarded for having stuck with it through the first season. Even with a mostly silly premise, you can see that they are starting to up their game in story telling, script writing and acting. I was glad that you enjoyed this one, and more + better good stuff to come I promise!

On the topic of phasers, FYI: the smaller version we first see in season one is a Type 1. The larger, still handheld model, is the Type 2. We’ll see this design constantly evolve throughout the series’ and movies. Finally, the Type 3, or the phaser rifle. Meant to be fired like a traditional rifle or fired from the hip, shotgun style. This type will also evolve over the series’ and films.

They really tried to force a similar dynamic between Pulaski and data as Mc Coy and Spock, but the show is better served by doing something new with new characters. Universe is the same. Star Fleet is Star Fleet. But trying to recapture the magic of TOS characters does not work. That being said there will be some good Pulaski stuff.

"Mom, Thank you again for letting me stay on the Enterprise! We had an exciting week here. The ship was caught in a space wedgie that was some kind of pocket universe controlled by a godlike alien who did experiments on us. I took a short break from ny bridge duties and while I was gone, my relief, Haskell, was killed by the alien to see what death was. Captain Picard grew tired of his nonsense and set the ship to self-destruct which he only reversed at the last second. Anyway, I have to wrap this up to go get a drink at the Ten-Forward bar. Love, Wesley" Dr. Beverly: "Jean-Luc!"

"Easy, Gene". Nice!

8:29 they're in a smaller universe it bends back around itself in another dimension. And while you are traveling in a straight line in three dimensions The other dimension you are making a curve that takes you back to your starting point.

Josh & Alex: "Building tension with the destruction of the Enterprise, which we know is never gonna happen." Me: /laughs in [REDACTED] Effect/

HAHA the yawn at the end was contagious, now I'm sleepy at work. Also, Wesley leaving so the red shirt could die, maybe he was using the space toilet, or taking a break and having a space snack.

One of my top favorites 👍

Love how Wesley is conveniently missing when someone is about to be killed

Turns out the next six seasons are actually just various simulations taking place within this phenomenon. :p

Every time Worf goes to the holodeck, the ship goes to yellow alert.

Great! You got to the episode from which that one meme comes from. This is awesome.

I like this episode better than the first, for sure. On Wes not being in the chair: there’s a regular rotation of crew from the duty positions, but they don’t really point it out enough to make it feel more natural. There’s no doubt it’s to kill red shirt guy, but simple establishing shots of them changing out would have solidified the change. A failing of TNG, and other serialized shows like it, is that we never deal with the trauma of losing a bridge member to a crazy alien being. No one talks about it ever again. It takes TNG a while to get better at carrying over emotional baggage from previous episodes. But this one would have been a great opportunity to deal with those traumatic events.

I’ve always liked this one. Earl Boen has always been underrated.

It was nice of Riker to have that little "birds and bees" discussion with Wesley at the end. I'm sure Beverly appreciates it.

I did like that *thematically * the Worf/Riker opening was teaser, as it was about illusion and "this isn't real".

14:46 Hascal dies so the Meme can be born

Dedicated season 1 hater here and... we're getting better! There's actually some really good stuff in season two I'm looking forward to it.

As a kid watching this episode, I thought of Nigillum as the opposite of the "sun baby" from Teletubbies. I always referred to him in my mind as the "evil space baby"

Always love the opening scene with Riker and Worf.

Season 2 has some real gems. I think the best/most interesting episodes are: 2, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 16, 20, and 21. I think the strengths of what TNG evolves into from season 2 onward are demonstrated in these episodes.

10:48 Wesley just went for an ice cream and/or extended tinkle break. 😁 A surprising effective tension-based piece, despite a paper-thin plot. In all cases, good execution is key and this story nails the visceral tone. Definitely is a great Riker and Worf piece, with Picard getting the philosophical waxing of the week. Haskell (no relation to Eddie) had a creepy death scene, but he was breathing afterward and that's either due to not doing a retake or because it have Picard a clue about Nagilum possibly bluffing? 17:50 true. Given how badly Tasha was written, it's almost as if the episode is fighting as hard anout Tasha as it eas the big void area that is nothing like The Immunity Syndrome. As always, great music. As always, great review - thanks much!

Couple of thoughts 1 I really appreciate both Worf’s and Data’s reaction to contradicting info…. Worf instinctually reacts to the dual bridges and dual rikers like a silverback gorilla seeing a mirror for the first time. Meanwhile Data is stuck….. he cannot decide which is giving him false data , his own optics or the ship’s sensors. Because of this he he keeps reporting ships sensors because what he sees is the same things the others see and is thus redundant 2 one of the rare times a TNG red shirt gets TOS red shirted …. I have a way to solve both the absence of wesley and the fact that the red shirt kept breathing… First you negelum first experiment with non lethal pain on wesley…. Giving him burns….. This has the doctor take him off the bridge for treatment …. Then as redshirt is dying they use artificial breathing technology (just little chips they put on his chest ) ….. after he dies Wesley returns to duty….. this could be a homage to chechov in wrath of khan

Nagilum's voice is Earl Boen, who played Dr Silberman, Sarah Connor's psychiatrist in _Terminator 2_

I always love a good mindfuck episode.

Wesley is really lucky to have had to go to the bathroom at the time.

The music in that fight scene sure has a nice TOS musical score overtone. Also, the alien has a TOS alien voice.

14:49 Ladies and Gentleman TNG First Official Redshirt. 😆

Good thing Westly got out of the pilot seat before that random guy got killed there

It's really interesting to see how cultural-crossover is handled in early Star Trek. By the modern era the idea of Riker joining Worf for this little holodeck adventure would be seen as a fun challenge and the crew would be excited to hear how they got on, rather than the crew being actively worried for Riker. But I guess writing and watching cultural-crossovers many times breeds that kind of familiarity, it's understandable that they haven't developed that kind of storytelling yet.

One of my favorites from Season 2, to be sure. Don't remember it being scary, but I can see how it would be shocking to some people. Nagilum is definitely a menacing villain.

Pulaski subscribes to the ideology of the Butlerian Jihad, I guess.

Worf's training program is the 24th century version of Diamond-rank Battle Royale, duos.

"You think his conversation with his mom happened off screen?. Producer: Gates, do you think you could come in for a brief cameo where you give Wesley permission to stay with the Enterprise? Gates: "Da Shiong La Se La Ch'Wohn Tian" Producer: Oh, sorry . Didn't know you were up for a part on Firefly. We'll just do it off scrren.

14:45 Alas, poor Hascal. We barely knew you.

Always love Riker's cancel self destruct line.

That is Skeletor mask from the Movie, Masters of the Universe

Good episode. I like Picard's speech near the end to fake Data. I think I've seen the guy that died in past episodes.

First Star Trek-Episode (of 48 across four Series) to be directed by Winrich Kolbe. RIP

Nagillum is Mulligan spelled backward, they wanted to cast Richard Mulligan for the role but it didn’t pan out

Saw this when it first aired when I was 8. The appearance of Nagilum and the multiple bridges of the Yamato are both core memories for me.

Charles Douglas (Haskell) had one job, one role, one scene. He signed up to be redshirted AND THE MAN COMMITTED. Top tier #1 death of all Trek. Good thing Wesley had to attend his calculus seminar. Really lucked out on that one!

Once again, we have another amazing example of Ron Jones’s work. Some of his best music is in this season and it really is a highlight of pretty terrible to mediocre episodes will there is one piece that sticks out above all else in the season three finale. It is pretty messed up that when Rick Berman took over the first thing he did was fire Jones.

I LOVE how u edit your videos and your whole setup; keep it up

Great reaction, gents! Thank you for your work.

I suspect that Wesley leaving the bridge is something that ended up on the cutting room floor. He might have had a role down in engineering. When I first saw it I assumed it was some kind of trick played by the face thing.

10:39 The bog clunky phasers, as you'd called them, are the Mark II phasers

the actress that plays dr. polaski is also the actress that played a character in the original series of "return to tomorrow"

Great sets and character development episode

Oddly, I found this episode's Nagilum more unsettling than Remmick's demise in "Conspiracy."

"tension surrounding whether the enterprise will blow up, which we know doesn't happen in this show..." Looks down and away, not suspicious at all...

When I attended one of the star trek movies on an opening weekend, (first contact, I believe) the actors names were displayed on screen and each one got an applause, then when the actor themselves showed up they also got an applause from the theater crowd.

There is a theory that Nagilum is of the same race as the being at the end of the film, "The Final Frontier." It's an interesting theory.

Haskell dying - while tragic, did give us an awesome gif.

"No Captain's log either!" 0:15 - What do you think Picard was doing before he came back out onto the bridge? *flushhh*

The really funny part of this is that the alien head effect was terrible even then, but it kind of rides that uncanny valley feel like a pro. Your brain kind of builds it up to be better than it actually is.

I dig the anti-bit bit.

Troi crazy hair

Two episodes in to S2, and we alrteady have two godlike aliens that are not Q. Klingon fighting games are little more intense than today's computer games. Starfleet never encountered a "hole in space" like this before? Um, what about "The Immunity Sysndrome"? "Where's Wesley?" Well, we needed a random redshirt in this scene because... The other Galaxy Class ship being named Yamato was apparently an homage to the anime "Space Battleship Yamato".

Now you're seeing the quality.

One of my favorite episodes…

A redshirt we've never seen before shows up in a position that should be held by a main character. - Oh, I wonder what will happen to him?

It was frustrating to have Data keep saying there's nothing there. I think this must be part of the reason why techno-babble creeps in later. It's more interesting to hear he's tried a different type of scan on some other wavelength and still found nothing. Later when they meet things they don't understand the crew are more able to speculate about its nature using the wider vocabulary that techno-babble allows for. I think it makes them appear more competent too, as currently Data is just some guy going "computer says NO" which feels inadequate.

0:19 Yes.

Fun fact: Nagillum is Mulligan spelled backwards.

Ah the U.S.S. Yamato,...a sister ship to the Enterprise. I wonder if we'll see it or any other Galaxy-class ships in the future. I guess the guys will need to keep going to find out which is the answer. 🙂

Got a Trulane vibe with this one.

Terrific death scene.

Wesley didn’t “suddenly disappear”. There was a shift change and Wesley went off duty.

To me this episode creeped me out as a kid. Still kinda does not as bad as an adult. The voice of Nagilum is Earl Boen