"Skin of Evil"...better than I remembered

[Trekfan21]

Just caught the first part of "Skin of Evil" on sci-fi. I forgot how strong the first part of this episode was. Nice character moments between Yar and Worf. I recall an interview where Crosby said if the whole season had been written like that, she might never have left.

The scene in sickbay is outstanding for McFadden. She's intense, and you sense how desperate her efforts are. Frakes looks genuinely worried. Kudos to the composer of the music of that scene as well. The music is ideal.

 

[startrekwatcher]

I agree and the memorial scene is great. Yar's death is very well done and I have no problem with her not going out in a heroic manner. And Armus is creepy. Definitely an underrated episode.

 

[jimbtnp2]

Just caught the first part of "Skin of Evil" on sci-fi. I forgot how strong the first part of this episode was. Nice character moments between Yar and Worf. I recall an interview where Crosby said if the whole season had been written like that, she might never have left.

The scene in sickbay is outstanding for McFadden. She's intense, and you sense how desperate her efforts are. Frakes looks genuinely worried. Kudos to the composer of the music of that scene as well. The music is ideal.

I think you'll find the entire 1st season that way

superior story telling, GR touch and style can be felt

 

[mr.peany]

I for one never understood the hate for this episode or Yar for that matter. The memorial and the aforementioned sickbay scenes were highlights.

 

[mswood]

Damn, I try and watch all of Trek at least once every third year and most of the first season including this episode, play worse and worse to me.

I do still really like the character bit with Worf and Yar (after all I love having small character bits in the shows and it was nice to see, but I think its dialogue and execution is just average), and Beverly's attempt to save Yar is fairly dramatic for TNG (damn they must not really care that much about anyone else she is trying to save, kidding), and the memorial is still touching though I get more bothered by some of the dialogue and delivery as time goes by (but again it is still touching and a very nice coda for the episode and the character, but at the time I absolutely loved it).

Now there are some episodes of Trek that I do tend to enjoy far more now then when I watched them originally. The one that always stands out for me was TOS "The Empath" which I hated when it originally aired (though I was not even a ten at the time). Now I really rather like it.

 

[WillsBabe]

I've always rated this episode. Any episode that kills a character and makes them stay dead (more or less!) always impresses me. There are lots of good moments in this episode, I think, including Deanna isloated in the shuttle.

 

[RAMA]

I didn't really miss Yar's character much after this episode. The one thing I hate is Armus. I don't really understand what it's supposed to be. It sounds like out and out fantasy to me.

RAMA

 

[Timo]

Also, splendid special effects, as opposed to pure VFX. The pan from the crashed shuttle miniature to the full-scale away team is smooooooth. The Armus oil slick is a cool-sounding concept that by all accounts should have failed miserably in practice, yet it actually works just fine; it's IMHO more convincingly creepy than some of the Odo CGI morphs in DS9. The only minus point here is the silly monocolor studio sky, as the rest of the set could have done justice to an attempt to seriously portray an alien planet.

damn they must not really care that much about anyone else she is trying to save, kidding

Well, I'm not - it jarred quite a bit that Crusher would go to exceptional effort for this Lieutenant just because she is a main character. I'm thankful the effort wasn't even more prolonged and intense...

I rather liked the scale of things here. On one hand, it's compact and intimate: a simple shuttle crash endangering just two people instead of the entire universe, a single annoying creature that provides a temporary delay in the rescue ops, a sad story quickly forgotten. On the other, there's the high-concept nature of Armus, a nice scifi touch that doesn't really require any more exposition or extrapolation.

And I never got the argument that Yar's death wasn't good drama. It's not supposed to be universe-rattling, as these people barely know each other anyway. It's a simple death, something they could have done with any redshirt, and it's just a dramatic bonus that it happens to a main character. Nice to see how these folks do eulogies or wakes, and this episode gave the excuse to show one; it would have felt out of place in any other episode, for any other death that already carried more of a dramatic ballast.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Superman]

I didn't really miss Yar's character much after this episode. The one thing I hate is Armus. I don't really understand what it's supposed to be. It sounds like out and out fantasy to me.

RAMA

What's not to understand? Armus was the physical manifestation of the darkness and evil of an entire "race of titans" who shed their "skin of evil" and left it behind.

It's a very TOS concept, the idea of a highly advanced civilization who have godlike power and awareness. This kind of element is another great bit of TOS flavor in the first and second seasons which would be sucked out of the show once Berman got more and more control.

\S/

 

[cmdr_forst]

I didn't really miss Yar's character much after this episode. The one thing I hate is Armus. I don't really understand what it's supposed to be. It sounds like out and out fantasy to me.

I always wished Armus had been revisited or we got to meet the Vagrans and see how their civilization turned out. In the pantheon of Star Trek creatures, I would say Armus is hardly the most fantastic of the bunch, but the idea that a race could "shed" their evil thoughts and they would in turn accumulate and form a nasty pit of tar is a bit much, I agree.

 

[RAMA]

I didn't really miss Yar's character much after this episode. The one thing I hate is Armus. I don't really understand what it's supposed to be. It sounds like out and out fantasy to me.

RAMA

What's not to understand? Armus was the physical manifestation of the darkness and evil of an entire "race of titans" who shed their "skin of evil" and left it behind.

It's a very TOS concept, the idea of a highly advanced civilization who have godlike power and awareness. This kind of element is another great bit of TOS flavor in the first and second seasons which would be sucked out of the show once Berman got more and more control.

\S/

Oh yeah that really makes sense!!! I know what the explanation is on the show I just don't think that kind of fantasy explanation really means anything.

RAMA

 

[Philo]

They're a little trite, but my favorite parts of this episode are actually the scenes in the shuttle with Deanna. I mean how can you not like the idea of a therapist psychoanalyzing the embodiment of evil? Seriously. It's a great science fiction concept that was executed surprisingly well, in my opinion.

And it juxtaposes very nicely with Yar's death. The ending's actually a little tragic. Not because of Yar but because of Armus.

 

[Jon1701]

Always like this episode.

Love the shot of data on the hillside at the end.

 

[PhoenixIreland]

I never understood the whole "she died for nothing" bit

She was stuck when she tried to get past the thing to rescue troi....seems like an honerable death to me!

"no she was killed as a demonstration of the creatures power"-Data later
Thats not what happened

 

[jimbtnp2]

I didn't really miss Yar's character much after this episode. The one thing I hate is Armus. I don't really understand what it's supposed to be. It sounds like out and out fantasy to me.

RAMA

What's not to understand? Armus was the physical manifestation of the darkness and evil of an entire "race of titans" who shed their "skin of evil" and left it behind.

It's a very TOS concept, the idea of a highly advanced civilization who have godlike power and awareness. This kind of element is another great bit of TOS flavor in the first and second seasons which would be sucked out of the show once Berman got more and more control.

\S/

well said

 

[AstroMike]

Not a bad episode. It had a few highlights in it. While I was never a Yar fan, I liked the way her death and memorial were written. The memorial might have been a little goofy, but the Data and Picard interaction at the end was excellent. I do remember thinking all of the first season that Worf would be a better security officer and that it was more of a natural fit. This episode just set it in motion. I think with all the Trek out there this episode often get overlooked twenty years later.

 

[Kira Nerys]

I was never a Yar fan but the scene after words saying goodbye to her crew mates brought tears to my eyes.

 

[tobindax]

it's a good episode in the sense that it got rid of yar. it was the only person that irritated me from the original cast. tng was a great sci-fi series for the extra reason it knew where it sucked at that regard.

(I had no idea they'd get rid of her, by doing it so fast was a treat).

 

[Red Ranger]

I didn't really miss Yar's character much after this episode. The one thing I hate is Armus. I don't really understand what it's supposed to be. It sounds like out and out fantasy to me.

RAMA

What's not to understand? Armus was the physical manifestation of the darkness and evil of an entire "race of titans" who shed their "skin of evil" and left it behind.

It's a very TOS concept, the idea of a highly advanced civilization who have godlike power and awareness. This kind of element is another great bit of TOS flavor in the first and second seasons which would be sucked out of the show once Berman got more and more control.

\S/

Well, I am more a fan of the later seasons of TNG, but I also liked the bit you cite of Deanna psycholanalyzing a being that claims it's pure evil. It's one of the few times we see Deanna using her expertise beyond saying stuff like, "Captain, I sense a powerful mind." Another TOS touch -- leaving Armus behind on that planet to face a lonely exile, and his cry of rage at his impending fate. Was actually somewhat satisfying how Picard taunted Armus at the end. -- RR

 

[Scarebaby]

I really liked this episode. It felt very intense and put many of the characters in a new light, giving insights on their personal relationships with each other. I actually really liked Lt. Yar because she was mentally and emotionally strong and very professional.

I for one never understood the hate for this episode or Yar for that matter.

I only ever disliked her because she hooked up with Data, so that's just pure jealousy.