Episode of the Week: Skin of Evil

[jimbotron]

Dunno about you guys, but that silly purple stain on Tasha's cheek kinda undercuts the drama of her death. It just....looks silly. Nothing at all like a fatal wound.

[Dale Sams]

I rewatched this just a couple of days ago. There's a lot to love about this ep. As you mentioned the music, the writing.

The 'taken at face-value stuff' of his being a 'Skin of Evil'. No technobabble explanation of what the hell he's doing to Riker, and how "He had to let Riker go out of frustration" ....I guess he turned Riker to psychic energy??...

Picard being dead-on in his speech about evil. The fact that Armus does have my pity...err (bad choice of words Troi) SYMPATHY! That's it...

And while season one generally sucks, it's interesting because the actors can still surprise you with their choices. I love how in the middle all the actors are arguing over each other and Picard just taps on the table...juxtaposed..with Worf staring straight ahead not getting involved in the argument. Great choices, great direction.

I honestly have no idea why this ep got such a bad rep. i love everything about it. Leland T. Lynch. The bit at the beginning that Crosby says if they had done more often she might have stayed (the martial arts bit). The shot near the end ,"The gathering is concluded" and everyone else crosses in front of Picard's closeup, but the focus stays on Picard.

[Mr_Homn]

it's always been one of my favorite episodes

[Mott the barber]

jimbotron wrote:

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Dunno about you guys, but that silly purple stain on Tasha's cheek kinda undercuts the drama of her death. It just....looks silly. Nothing at all like a fatal wound.

Yeah, that's my one disappointment in the whole sequence starting with Tasha saying "Enough!" on the planet through the beam up, attempt to save her, and her death.

I was really hoping they'd somehow make that wound look more realistic because everything else was perfect.

[MikeS]

Another thumbs-up form me. Another episode that I have remembered through shit-tinted spectacles and that has surprised me. I was going to mention that crappy blood-stain on Yar's face, but it's already been mentioned. I usually type something about the continuity errors, but someone already mentioned the matter-antimatter 35:1 intermix ratio. So instead I'll focus on the excellence -

Troi and Worf both shine in this. It really does feel as though one character has stepped aside to allow these two to shine. You do feel pity for Armus - totally unexpected. This is where the writing begins to shine - "All spirits are enslaved that serve evil" - from Percy Shelley. I love the lines in the funeral scene - "Jean-Luc, the heart of an explorer and the soul of a poet", "death is that state in which one exists only in the memories of others, which is why it is not an end. No goodbyes, just good memories." My Dad died recently and I realise now that I must have subconciously gotten my philosophy on death from watching this as a kid! Then the moment where Data "get's it". Had me welling-up! Brilliant.

And I'm glad we never got those episodic promo's in the UK - that left no surprises unsprung!

[jimbotron]

It's one of those episodes where everything is hitting on all cylinders, except for the purpose of the episode. Everything was great except for the circumstances of Tasha's death.

It would have been a great episode without it. Rescuing Troi from Armus would have worked by itself.

[MikeS]

But then you wouldn't get the funeral scene and that really was a great piece of writing. Ironically Yar's best-written and Crosby's best-performed of the series!

[Dale Sams]

Couple of things:

1) I don't understand people's complaints about the circumstances of Tasha's death. Shit happens. You're there one second and gone the next. And if you want to say, "If i wanted realism, then I'd look out the window..." Then can't you give it credit for inverting the usual trope?

2) So according to Piller, Roddenberry told him (when Piller was presenting a second season script) "People in the 24rth century have moved beyond grieving over loved ones".....uhhhh...did they sneak this one past Gene? Did Sirtis just say "**** you, I'm going to do the funeral scene how I want." Admittedly, no one is out and out sobbing, and it makes it so much more effective, but they ARE grieving.

[Timo]

...I just wish they had done the mirror image of this in some later episode, fighting this hard for keeping some completely nameless yellowshirt alive, and succeeding in the end.

That would erase the stain of favoritism from this one: it now looks as if the heroes put so much effort into Tasha only because she was a main character. But perhaps they do so offscreen for every yellowshirt? Actually seeing it happen at least once would be cute.

Timo Saloniemi

[Dale Sams]

Timo wrote:

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...I just wish they had done the mirror image of this in some later episode, fighting this hard for keeping some completely nameless yellowshirt alive, and succeeding in the end.

That would erase the stain of favoritism from this one: it now looks as if the heroes put so much effort into Tasha only because she was a main character. But perhaps they do so offscreen for every yellowshirt? Actually seeing it happen at least once would be cute.

Timo Saloniemi

And Picard's reaction is kind of funny. "Gone?" (Are you shitting me?)

Yes, gone Picard. Wern't you paying attention?

[inflatabledalek]

A pretty solid episode with a memorable villain and some good tense direction and some fantastic chances for the cast to show how they've developed over the year.

They don't quite have the bravery to follow through on their intent with Tasha's death. It's supposed to be brutal and harsh and sudden and- as she says herself when she "Comes back"- meaningless. Which is well done, but the final funeral scene somewhat undoes this attempt at small scale realism by having her ghost float down from heaven (or if you want to be mean about the production values, Tellytubie land) and give a great big seemingly endless goodbye speech.

Oddly enough, I think Data's wake in Nemesis (in one of the few good bits of that film) did what they were aiming for much better. The slightly stunned, awkward small talk would have felt much more real and human here.

Though in both cases you've got to feel sorry that neither character apparently has any other friends outside the main cast who could be bothered to turn up.

[BillJ]

inflatabledalek wrote:

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They don't quite have the bravery to follow through on their intent with Tasha's death. It's supposed to be brutal and harsh and sudden and- as she says herself when she "Comes back"- meaningless. Which is well done, but the final funeral scene somewhat undoes this attempt at small scale realism by having her ghost float down from heaven (or if you want to be mean about the production values, Tellytubie land) and give a great big seemingly endless goodbye speech.

She was a security officer and knew she could lose her life at any time. In the funeral scene, I simply saw her say the things that were likely inappropriate to say to other officers in a military organization. She wanted the people around her to know the impact they made on her life.

I thought the funeral was incredibly well done, especially the exchange between Picard and Data at the end. What undoes the realism of the death is the alternate-Yar non-sense in Yesterday's Enterprise and the entirety of the character of Sela.

[Danny99]

Two things said that I definitely agree with:

1) Picard's exchange with Armus at the end is amazing. Patrick Stewart always shines in these kinds of scenes.

2) Tasha's pink blood tattoo. Was makeup so behind the times in 1987?

I know they wanted Tasha's death to be a surprise, but the dialogue before is just painful. It's an easy fix: show Armus in his goo, have him move still if you want to and then let them pass for a split second before killing Tasha. Cuts out that horrible "Enough!"

[Captrek]

Danny99 wrote:

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I know they wanted Tasha's death to be a surprise

Not really. Check out the episode preview.

Cuts out that horrible "Enough!"

That horrible “Enough!” was actually in character. It’s like “I must!” in E@F and “You’ve gone too far!” in H&Q. If only she’d learned her lesson after the first two times, she’d still be alive.

[Dream]

Captrek wrote:

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That horrible “Enough!” was actually in character. It’s like “I must!” in E@F and “You’ve gone too far!” in H&Q. If only she’d learned her lesson after the first two times, she’d still be alive.

Kind of sad that her outbursts were at Q and Armus, two superbeings. But Q actually showed her mercy instead killing her outright like Armus did.