Episode of the week: 2x02 Where Silence Has Lease

[MikeS]

This episode is burned in my mind for the "One Riker, one bridge" scene. I think they were still working on Worf's characteristics here.

That episodic promo sure looked exciting, I'd love to see that episode one day!

Still a very spooky feeling episode even if the conclusion is a bit contrived; I used lab mice to complete my Physiology degree and if one of them had threatened to blow themselves up rather than continue with the experiments, I would have been more inclined to carry on studying rather than release it. This episode has a nice "old-trek" vibe to it, ie, exploring the unknown. I had not realised this was a bottle-episode before this rewatch - definitely one of the better ones.

"Yes, absolutely, I do indeed concur, whole-heartedly"
"A simple 'yes' would have sufficed Number one."

[Jeyl]

Dangit, I started two episode of the week on Wednesday, the Child was done on a Tuesday, and now we're on a Monday? Why can't we just say what day it is and stick with it? GRRRRRRRR.

Where Silence Has Lease

This episode is just fantastic. I remember watching it when I was around 11 or 12 and being really creeped out on the concept of being trapped in a starless space where there was no escape, and weird things happened for no logical reason. Just goes to show that having a limited budget and being set entirely on the Enterprise can yield interesting results.

Special call out to guest star Earl Boen who did the role of Nagilum. Even though his face is heavily distorted, his voice work really brings this character to life. Boen's performance brings a sense of superiority, dread and even curiosity. For those who are unfamiliar with the actor, Earl Boen played Doctor Silverman in three of the Terminator movies and is the narrator of World of Warcraft. Hehe. Now I can officially label him as someone who took part in trapping people in a universe that they cannot escape both in the fictional world and the real world. :P

Even the scenes onboard the Yamato were very well done. The earie music of Ron Jones coupled with some very creepy sound effects in a darkened set really sell the creepy factor. In regards to Worf losing his cool? Classic. If I may nitpick here a little, Galaxy Class Starships have TWO BRIDGES! You should know this Worf!

This episode also helped spawn a meme that is in such bad taste I'm almost afraid to post specifics about it here in the forum. It involves the red shirt who dies at his station.

I also liked Picard's speech regarding death. The way he describes how different societies see it and what how he views it. That line "our existence is part of a reality beyond what we understand now as reality." really got me thinking. I asked myself if animals actually understood that we're living on a planet orbiting a sun. And if they don't, what is it that we're missing out on that we're not fully aware of? That's good Star Trek.

Over all, a perfect example of a limited budget and story being used to tell a simple and meaningful story that we can all relate to while still feeling alien.

REMASTERED HD THOUGHTS:

If there was ever an episode to showcase the lower end quality of the remastering work done by HTV, this episode would be the one I'd go to. There are several instances where not only was the quality not that good, but some shots weren't even done properly.

1. Inconsistent Grain Levels. Take the shot of the CGI Enterprise launching the probe. The picture has absolutely zero grain in it making it look like a super clean modern FX job. Quite inconsistent with the grain levels seen in both the live action shots and fully restored shots of the Enterprise.
2. Didn't Nagilum have teeth?
3. The shot of the Yamato uses the incorrect stock footage of the Enterprise. In the original, the Yamato isn't facing directly at the Enterprise where in the remastered episode, it is. Some have speculated that this is because they couldn't find the film stock of the Enterprise from that angle. That turned out to be incorrect because the shot of the Enterprise is from "The Last Outpost", which was fully remastered.

Not the kind of thing you want to see happen when the studios said the quality would remain consistent.

STINGER: Picard has a fascination with Riker's Butt.

[Timo]

Why should the Yamato be facing a certain way as opposed to another? How is that a "quality" issue?

Much of the TNG space VFX work consists of footage reuse, which soon grows tedious, not to mention it skips opportunities for showing the ship from more interesting angles. A bit of variety would surely be welcome, even if it doesn't go to the same lengths as TOS-R.

Timo Saloniemi

[Use of Time]

I loved this episode. Poor ENS Haskill.

[Jeyl]

Timo wrote:

---

Much of the TNG space VFX work consists of footage reuse, which soon grows tedious, not to mention it skips opportunities for showing the ship from more interesting angles. A bit of variety would surely be welcome, even if it doesn't go to the same lengths as TOS-R.

It's funny you should mention variety when discussing the Yamato footage because the stock footage of the Yamato approaching the Enterprise that HTV used is the SAME FOOTAGE that will be later seen in Contagion. So in essence, we get less variety with this remastering work than we did with the original.

[sonak]

MikeS wrote:

---

This episode is burned in my mind for the "One Riker, one bridge" scene. I think they were still working on Worf's characteristics here.

That episodic promo sure looked exciting, I'd love to see that episode one day!

Still a very spooky feeling episode even if the conclusion is a bit contrived; I used lab mice to complete my Physiology degree and if one of them had threatened to blow themselves up rather than continue with the experiments, I would have been more inclined to carry on studying rather than release it. This episode has a nice "old-trek" vibe to it, ie, exploring the unknown. I had not realised this was a bottle-episode before this rewatch - definitely one of the better ones.

"Yes, absolutely, I do indeed concur, whole-heartedly"
"A simple 'yes' would have sufficed Number one."

I agree with you about the episode having a creepy or spooky vibe to it, and also that it has a very "TOS" feel to it. An interesting riff on the "subject of advanced alien experiments" that was a pretty common Trek plot idea.

[MikeS]

Jeyl wrote:

---

Dangit, I started two episode of the week on Wednesday, the Child was done on a Tuesday, and now we're on a Monday? Why can't we just say what day it is and stick with it? GRRRRRRRR.

I'm sure it's always been Tuesday. And it was Tuesday when I posted this (Auckland, New Zealand). There are more than four timezones across the globe.

Excellent post btw.

[BillJ]

Excellent episode. In my TNG top-10.

[T'Girl]

The short conversation that Picard has with the fake Data/Troi concerning Picard philosophy on death is a fantastic. It's interesting to see him so urban and calm, as he approaches his own death.

[Melakon]

It probably wasn't as creepy for me, as I was 37 when it first aired. But it has its share of mindbender situations, which I always like. Earl Boen was familiar to me for some time, perhaps from Battle Beyond the Stars (John-Boy in Space! Spaceship with Boobs! Sybil Danning! TOS' Jeff Corey and Morgan Woodward!), where he was one of the Nestor clones. He has a distinctive face, and a fine voice.

[JirinPanthosa]

When it came out was probably the best TNG episode to date.

Though I have to seriously question:

"Look, it's a random hole in space."
"Take the ship into it!"
"Yes sir!"

Early TNG couldn't quite find the line between curiosity and stupidity, they were always willing to touch the stovetop to see if it burned them.

[Lance]

BillJ wrote:

---

Excellent episode. In my TNG top-10.

Same here. Can't add more to what people have already said. Love that spooky vibe, love the fact that it's got the feel of TOS mixed with the evidently growing confidence that TNG exhibited going into its second season, love just about every aspect of this one. Some great moments: the false USS Yamoto, that scene with the sound of the probe slowly receeding into the darkness and then resurfacing... just about the only scenes which let it down are the Ensign at the Conn being killed off (more because of the improbability of Wesley suddenly not being there, despite being at the helm for the rest of the episode), and that final scene where Picard sagely commends Nagilum for it's curiosity, despite the fact one of his men has been murdered! Picard must have really hated Ensign Haskill.

Riker and Worf seem to have quite an antagonistic relationship in this one too. Maybe partly down to the Son of Mogh still being decidedly 'feral' at this point, but Will looks shit scared of him at times.

[MikeS]

JirinPanthosa wrote:

---

When it came out was probably the best TNG episode to date.

Though I have to seriously question:

"Look, it's a random hole in space."
"Take the ship into it!"
"Yes sir!"

Early TNG couldn't quite find the line between curiosity and stupidity, they were always willing to touch the stovetop to see if it burned them.

But that's not what happened. They were "swallowed" by the void.

[Trek Survivor]

Love this episode. TNG Season 2 was great.

[Captrek]

BRUCE: I will not stand by while the people of my city are slaughtered.
MIRANDA: Bruce, you may have to face the fact that there isn't anything you can do to prevent it.
BRUCE: Yes, there is.
LUCIUS: What?
BRUCE: Detonate the reactor core.
LUCIUS: Isn't that a little like curing the disease by killing the patient?
GORDON: It's better than standing around helplessly.
LUCIUS: Why do I get the feeling this script needs a few more rewrites?