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Star Trek: TNG 1x23 Full Reaction! (Patreon)

Published:
2024-02-03 18:00:06
Imported:
2026-06
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Star Trek TNG 1x23 Full Reaction

Download Full Reaction (3.2 GB) Full Reaction You are now able to stream the full reaction directly from this website. Alternatively, you can download it to your computer using

Comments

Dave Hampton

Great reaction and post episode thoughts Jess. I have been looking forward to this one. Not that the whole episode is great because I agree with you on the main plot of this episode and how it was carried out. I was looking forward to it for the last scene and your comments on Tasha. When Tasha first dies, I expected her to be saved somehow. Maybe the creature can put life back into her body or some other sci fi fix. When the funeral happens it really hits, and I knew you would have a heartfelt reaction to it just as I did. Yes, Denise wanted to leave the show. As far as how Tasha died and having an episode where she "earned" her death as you say I understand what you are saying and agree but also like what the show did. In the end scene Tasha tells us this is kind of what she was expecting, and it happens to so many "red shirts" on Star Trek that it has become a joke now even in pop culture. To have a main cast member go out that way ups the stakes that a main cast member can die and that it is not always just the red shirts. I am not sure I explained that as well as I hoped but there it is none the less. I was also curious about your knowledge of Tasha. You seemed to be really enjoying her and not knowing much about her (probably because you have not seen these episodes because most to not have season one on the key episodes to watch/rewatch list). I figured you knew she must leave the show somehow but did not know exactly what your thoughts where. I am glad you commented on it. I think it was last episode that you said you really wanted a back story on her. I just thought ouch. Thanks for the wonderful video.

Ian Smith

Yes, this episode is infamous. Tasha's random,pointless death was unsatisfying yet entirely intentional - in so many instances, a person's death genuinely can seem to be meaningless. A freak accident; a terrible car crash caused by someone else's negligence; a previously unsuspected health condition which apparently comes out of nowhere,calamitously. One moment,everything is absolutely fine; the next,all is gone. In written drama, of course, it leaves a lot to be desired - but I admire the writers intent. To that end, Joseph Stefano (the co-author of this story) wrote the script for Psycho - a film which also contains seemingly random and pointless deaths! Behind the scenes, Denise Crosby had been offered the female lead in Stephen King's Pet Sematary; and Gene Roddenberry allowed her to leave on completely good terms. It had even been contemplated that one of the lead characters ought to be killed off anyway. Deanna Troi had been comparatively under-used in this season, and her character was a potential target...until Crosby stepped forward.

Ryan

As you might imagine, this is one of the most controversial and polarizing episodes of the entire franchise. The first thing that needs to be made clear is that, unlike some other cases of fridging or otherwise getting rid of female characters out there (even elsewhere in this very show!), it was entirely Denise Crosby's own decision to leave the role. She started out very excited at getting to play a tough, strong woman of a kind you didn't see much on TV back then, but quickly grew disillusioned at how that seemed to be all the writers cared about giving her to do, along with the occasional dab of sex trauma, so she asked to be written out. Of course, this exact method wasn't exactly what she had in mind, though she did thank the writer for her scene discussing the tournament with Worf, saying she definitely would have stayed if she'd gotten more dialogue like that. And apparently filming the episode was a pretty miserable experience for everyone, especially poor Jonathan Frakes who had to get dunked head to toe in a pit full of printer ink and then roll around in sand (he'd probably say to Anakin "Oh, you think YOU hate the stuff?"). Joseph Stefano, who wrote the first draft, hated the end product so much that he refused to ever talk about it again, and Maurice Hurley didn't last much longer as show runner with the new team under Michael Pillar being quick to call out Skin of Evil as a perfect figurehead of everything he'd been doing wrong. There are still a sizable contingent of fans who stick up for the episode, and even call it a harbinger of current prestige TV where you can never trust that anyone is safe, but I'm very much not one of them. The most I'll say is that Ron Gans does some superb, intimidating work as Armus, totally unrecognizable from his usual work in kids' shows like Welcome to Pooh Corner and Dumbo's Circus. I just wish that voice got to come out of something more impressive than a guy covered in oil, which didn't even look convincing in 1988. And I can never not laugh at Tasha's funeral in the Windows 98 background. Crosby has also come to deeply regret how things worked out, though she's at least been able to do some killer work in the Star Trek Online game recently to make up for it.

Thomas Corp

Before starting this episode, knowing what was to come, and I knew about the big moment in this episode back when I first started watching it, I had to mentally and emotionally prep some for the rewatch. Finally, was reasonably ready, and said, “Welp, this is going to hurt. ...Fuck it. Let’s do it.” I had to do the same for the reaction too. Just seeing the thumbnail alone was a small dagger straight to the heart. As we’ve been progressing through our Next Gen journey, it was starting to register that you didn’t know about our dear Tasha’s death; you weren’t giving any real hint or inference about possessing that piece of information. You have now said that you were aware that Tasha would not be in the show given her absence from later episodes which you remember, you just didn’t know how or when. So, this reaction hurt some, Jess, seeing your shock at Tasha being taken from us far too soon. I was crying even before we got to the moment in your reaction. The reason for Tasha’s death is that Denise had grown frustrated, as were you ironically enough, that Tasha was not given any sort of rich character focus. She has said that if she had more moments like her speech in last week’s episode, and her most heartwarming scene of conversing with Worf about the martial-arts competition, I so adored your reaction to that scene, by the way, she would have stayed on. We have Roddenberry to thank, or condemn, depending on how you look at it, for Tasha’s completely anticlimactic and ignominious death. Naturally, this has led to vigorous fan debates. I agree with both sides of the argument when the topic comes up, I say, “There are no sides here. You’re right and they’re right too.” and then invariably, someone else points out you can’t have both sides be right, to which the reply to that is, “You know... you are also right.” Everything about your post-episodes thoughts sums up my feelings in that we were truly robbed of great Tasha focus, her story, and her life. And to go out in the manner which she did, like you said is the theme in The Walking Dead, the death was not earned. Yet, that’s where it in a way narratively works, because you’re left as you were with the anger and pain of the loss. And it is echoed by the rest of the crew, for instance, in Beverly’s efforts to save Tasha, although Beverly is putting on the cool and collected facade whilst trying to save Tasha, Gates delivers in her performance that you can tell Beverly is thinking, “Come on, live, damn it, live. Don’t let the bastard win.” It is also well echoed with Worf, which to answer your one question of Worf staying aboard for fear that he would fuck things up out of a desire for revenge, that was my assessment as well, and I think Michael played the scene with that in mind. All your reactions and shock to Tasha’s death tore my heart and soul into pieces. Yes, “Holy SHITballs.” indeed. And I don’t begrudge you, Jess, your dissatisfaction of Tasha’s senseless death, especially that means the episode was sans martial-arts competition that you and I would have loved to have seen. One thing I often hold onto is that Tasha’s final moment is such a perfect encapsulation of her character. Her final act is to defy a being of pure evil in an effort to save people, and she is even compassionate to the being of pure evil by saying she means no harm to him. I still understand the frustration people feel, and I don’t blame anybody for being pissed off about what happened.

Thomas Corp

Addressing your other points of criticism. First, concerning Armus, who yes, does have a Venom symbiote vibe to his appearance. Hadn’t thought of that myself until you said that. I see your point that though not uninteresting, the backstory isn’t thoroughly delved into. I concur that his unpleasantness is most abhorrent. And he killed Tasha. I take that very personally. Armus is regarded as one of the most loathsome and hated villains of Star Trek to the point that practically none of the fandom express fondness for him as a villain, not even me. I so loved the crew defying him. My favorite instances of that are Beverly offering her own life when Armus says to choose who dies, and I especially loved Data refusing to allow himself to be used to hurt Geordi, KNEW you would have a reaction to that scene. Patrick was magnificent in his scene of Picard’s final confrontation with Armus. I also strongly concur that I so adored Marina’s scenes where Deanna has the emotional battle of wits with Armus, and the desire to have had more of that. Tasha and Deanna are robbed of having strong episodes that focused on them, like you said. Now, varied opinions on the episode notwithstanding, everyone seems to agree that the final scene of Tasha’s memorial is one of the saddest moments of Star Trek. And as you said, I’m of a similar opinion, it redeems the episode. Denise gives such a heartfelt performance in Tasha’s recording. Amusingly, this was not the last scene Denise filmed as this was filmed before last week’s episode. If you know where to look, you will see Denise waving goodbye to the camera. As you say, a strength of the cast of this show is that everything Tasha says about her family, you are in total agreement. When Tasha got to Geordi in her message, it got to me for the reasons of one, just what a sweet thing she said about him, two, I’m dead serious about this, Jess, I could preemptively feel your reaction to that, and it was making me weep even more than the already relentless weeping that I was experiencing whilst seeing the final scene again. I had another potent weep with you, your own reaction to that scene which was striking, Jess. Then to end on Data’s question to Picard of did he miss the point, and Picard assuring him quite the opposite, is such a touching moment that I love, and I love the reaction you had. And it also ties into another thing that helps with the pain of Tasha’s death. That at the very least, the absolute minimum, Tasha found a family. The hints of backstory we got, combined with her message here, she never really had that before. So, though her life is tragically cut short, she did find true happiness with such a wonderful family. And though her time with them is tragically brief, as River Song said, “Happy ever after doesn’t mean forever. It just means time. A little time.” And Tasha will live on in their hearts and memories, and ours too, seeing as this episode was thirty-six years ago, and Tasha has remained a beloved character, whom short though her time on this show was, I so adored sharing her journey with you, Jess, just as I so adored your sublime, honest, and so heartfelt reaction. I thank you so very, very much for it.