Just watched Skin of Evil last night. I didn't remember the dialog being that bad. Was all of 1st season like that or just that episode?
Love this episode. I thought giving Tasha a 'meaningless death' was absolutely the right way to go, gave it a real impact that even a regular character can simply be alive one minute and dead the next. Armus despite his physical short-comings was also a terrific villain, he oozed with maliciousness (pun intended ) and it was great to have a bad-guy who is an evil bastard just because he IS evil. A refreshing change. On the whole it's a favourite of mine.
The first season definitely had its share of clunky dialogue, but I don't recall this episode being particularly bad. I always thought Tasha's farewell message was well-written. Now if they just had the budget or the technology to really do Armus justice, the episode would be much more fondly remembered.
I've never cared for it either. It's not Spock's Brain bad or anything, but it's one of the lesser episodes of Season 1 of TNG which isn't a great season to begin with. Armus was just not handled well in my opinion.
Aside from Tasha's poorly executed death, I thought it was an OK episode. It's Troi's best episode of season 1. Her and Picard's interactions with Armus were a highlight. Funny that Spock's Brain is brought up as the quintessential "bad" episode. I found The Alternative Factor and And The Children Shall Lead to be on a completely different level of awfulness. Spock's Brain is tame and somewhat enjoyable by comparison.
Another terrific episode from TNG's finest season. Armus is one of those inimitable Trek villains that could easily have come from a TOS script. The dialogue is fine, and in keeping with the rest of the season.
One of my favourite scenes in all of TNG is in the briefing room, right after Tasha dies in Sick Bay and everyone is talking about what happened ... speaking over eachother. It was a nice follow-up. Everything on the planet was dragged out for too long, and having a trashbag in an oil slick as the villian is hard to accept, at first, if I haven't watched it in a while. But this episode has its strengths, as well. For an "F.U." episode directed at Denise Crosby, it still manages to hold interest, somehow.
Always enjoyed this episode, with the exception of that silly red mark on Yar's face (supposed to be blood?) after she's hit. Looks painfully fake.
...Lost In Space Oil-Slick Bad Guy aside, this episode was not terrible...however, I wish Denise had had better career advice than to go do a "Mclaine Stevenson"...as Spock said, "...your first best destiny" ...wonder how TNG had evolved differently, had she stayed...???
I always liked to see Yar as some kind of proto-Ro Laren, who had a similar background. I think there would have been wonderful opportunities to utilize the character, much like there were for all the other characters in the later seasons. As for "Skin of Evil", it's easily one of my top five episodes from the first season. I love the idea of a race shedding itself from all evil. I love Armus' voice and his design. And I think it was a great idea to have a main character die in what looks like a trivial incident. Plus, I love Ron Jones' music for this episode, especially the piece for Tasha's funeral. And: The episode was written by Joseph Stefano, the brilliant writer/producer of the original Outer Limits and author of the screen adaptation of Robert Bloch's Psycho.
+1 I love "Skin of Evil" exactly the way it is. I love TNG season one exactly the way it is. I actually prefer the dialogue and creativity of season one far more than anything else the spinoffs did. With season two close behind.
I agree with everything said above. I wonder if moving Yar's death in the episode to later would have changed anything, but the briefing room scene is a favorite also. I just wish they could have figured something else except the jam stain for blood on her face.
I really, really love Armus as a villain. Sure, he's got his defeciencies production-wise, but the concept is terrific. A villain who is evil simply "because", who can't be reasoned with, one who torments Troi and ridicules Geordi and who kills Tasha arbitarily for no reason other than because he can, and then just says "I'm bored now" and moves onto the next victim. Ron Gans gives an excellent vocal performance, truly putting across the character's sheer maliciousness. He's a genuinely interesting (and very different for Star Trek) type of villain. He could have stepped straight out of TOS, but in a very good way. He gives the regular cast plenty to play off.
Yet it wasn't a really recurring theme and many knew that it had been deliberately done to create an "exit" for Denise Crosby (sometimes, ignorance is bliss, I guess). Imagine they would have killed of Will Riker and left Thomas Riker alive in "Second Chances". But I presume that would have been too bold (I was already excited that they let Thomas Riker live, because I had not expected it). After the intense discussions I had here at the BBS regarding which of Tasha's four deaths in TNG would qualify as "meaningful" or "meaningless" I'm really not so sure if her death was really that "meaningless". In a manner of speaking, if it hadn't been her, Armus would have killed another crew member. In that sense, her death isn't that "meaningless" after all. She "sacrificed" her life on behalf of somebody else, but the decision to do or not to do so wasn't hers. Bob
Well, the real point of Tasha's passing (intended or otherwise) is that death isn't "meaningful". We place meaning behind some deaths, we use patriotism and doing one's duty to as icing to sweeten up the deaths of soldiers for example, but in the heat of the moment somebody can be doing a job one minute and simply be gone the next. Ultimately it is those of us who left behind attribute meaning to death, we ascribe honor to those passed, mostly as a means of coping with our own losses. But at the most basic level a human life is gone. Finito. "Skin of Evil" is incredibly clever in using this. We see Tasha doing her regular duties on the Enterprise, we see her talking with Worf about a competitive event they're both scheduled to take part in soon, we get a flavour of her friendships, the minutea of her day-to-day life, we see her being part of an away team mission that is just like any other away team mission... and then she's just suddenly and irrevocably gone. And that's what gives her death a real and very human impact. On a fundamental level I actually find her sacrifice in "Yesterday's Enterprise" somewhat trite. It's what we expect fictional characters to do when they face death, it's caught up in the mythology and romance of sacrificing your life to save others, noteable and honorable things. But for my money, it just doesn't present her death as well as "Skin of Evil". The lack of any foreshadowing is what makes Armus killing her such a Wham Moment for the viewer, and gives it a (perhaps unintended) impact and emotional connection. Denise Crosby might have regretted her decision to leave so soon in the years afterwards, but she should at least take solace that if her character was going to die, then what a way to go. The character of Tasha Yar is more memorable for her death than she ever will be for anything she actually contributed to the series while she was still alive. (My own older brother, *not* a Star Trek fan like myself, still talks fondly of having watched Season One when it first went out, and cites Tasha's death as one of the most memorable things about it. Which means "Skin of Evil" did its job well. It's shock value, but good shock value. )
I've been rewatching Season one. I just finished this episode again for the 50th time.... :'( I still tear up at her "eulogy"
Skin of Evil is a fine episode. It's just one or two production problems that hamper it I think. The problem with Armus was just his appearance really, though we have to see quite a lot of him. Then there's the strange black blob on Yar's face as she dies, which was distracting. I already knew Yar was a goner when I watched it, due to starting TNG in season seven before it looped back to the start - All Good Things probably did a massive job in convincing me to watch the series from the start, but when I asked about Yar, my friend told me she died. I think this lessened the impact of her death somewhat when I was anticipating it. I did like Troi speaking to Armus though. Armus himself was a very intriguing idea, and the thought of him leaving the planet was a bad idea. The thing I loved the most, though, was the gathering in the holodeck. It was perfect. And then Data questioning his understanding of his thoughts on what had happened was brilliant for his character.