Episode no. Season 2
Episode 2 Written by Jack B. Sowards Cinematography by Edward R. Brown | Directed by Winrich Kolbe Featured music Ron Jones Production code 128 | |
"Where Silence Has Lease" is the second episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 28th episode overall. It was originally released on November 28, 1988 in broadcast syndication. Directed by Winrich Kolbe, it was written by Jack B. Sowards.
Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Federation starship Enterprise. In this episode, the Enterprise becomes enveloped by a void in space where the crew is tested by a powerful alien presence.
Plot
While on a charting mission, the Federation starship Enterprise, under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, discovers a zone of pure blackness in space; probes launched into the area simply disappear. As they study it further, the zone expands and soon envelops the Enterprise, leaving them in a black void with sensors reporting complete nothingness outside. Picard orders the ship on a return course, but they find that they cannot escape; they leave a stationary beacon behind them, only to have it reappear ahead of them again.
A Romulan Warbird suddenly decloaks in front of the ship and attacks, and Picard orders the crew to return fire; they destroy the Warbird, but Picard is suspicious of how easily this occurs. The crew then detect what appears to be their sister ship, the USS Yamato, approaching, but it does not respond to hails. Commander Riker and Lt. Worf beam over to search the ship, where they find it empty with various inconsistencies in its construction, including more seemingly impossible physical loops. The Enterprise then detects an exit from the darkness, but cannot lock onto the away team to retrieve them before the opening disappears. The Yamato begins to fade away, but the Enterprise is able to beam Riker and Worf back just in time. More openings appear in the blackness, each closing as soon as the Enterprise approaches them. Picard realizes that they are being manipulated, and orders a full-stop.
Suddenly, an entity with a distorted, almost child-like face appears in the void, calling itself Nagilum. It announces that is curious about the humans and their "limited existence" and would like to test the limits of the human body. It causes Ensign Haskell to experience violent convulsions, and he then falls to the floor dead. Nagilum then states that it wants to know everything about death, asserting that it would take less than half of the Enterprise's crew to complete its experiments. Picard decides to activate the ship's self-destruct sequence rather than to submit to Nagilum's whims. As the crew prepares for their end, Picard is tested again by Nagilum through peculiar behavior displayed by doppelgangers of Counselor Troi and Lt. Commander Data, both of whom question the self-destruct order. After these facsimiles are gone and the countdown nears zero, the void suddenly vanishes, leaving the Enterprise in normal space. Picard orders the ship to move away at high speed, and when he is finally satisfied that they are truly free, cancels the self-destruct sequence. As the Enterprise continues on its mission, Picard is met by the face of Nagilum on his ready-room computer. Nagilum offers its evaluation of humanity, criticizing the race's faults and claiming they have nothing in common with its kind. Picard disagrees, pointing out that their recent encounter shows that both races are curious, a logical statement to which Nagilum concedes before disappearing.