The scary/creepy moments of TNG

[2takesfrakes]

The Traveller from "Where No One Has Gone Before" was creepy. Blatantly, he hankered after Wesley Crusher. And poor Wes, being so naïve, completely failed to clue in on this. He even mistook The Traveller's odious intentions for earnest and meaningful friendship ...

 

[SPCTRE]

Genesis was a very creepy episode to my younger self way back when and I still enjoy it a lot, ignoring the "science" I love all of Act III, especially Picard and Data locating and boarding the Enterprise, aimlessly adrift.

 

[Ghrakh]

The strange alien that kept trying to take Janeway into his "matrix" so that she would "nourish him" for a very long time.

The look on his face when he says "Im trying to spare you unnecessary pain".

Brilliant.

Definitely one of the creepier TNG moments.

 

[Captrek]

I think one of the creepiest characters on TNG wasn't intended to be creepy: Okana. He's supposed to be charming, but he comes across on screen as more creepy than charismatic.

 

[2takesfrakes]

The strange alien that kept trying to take Janeway into his "matrix" so that she would "nourish him" for a very long time ...

 

[agent1138]

I think the scene in OP's post is so scary because the scene starts off normally, its all completely normal and in line with the entire show, so when the bodies do all sit up, it hits hard since the rest of scene is 'realistic' with everything else.

 

[GalaxyX]

The Traveller from "Where No One Has Gone Before" was creepy. Blatantly, he hankered after Wesley Crusher. And poor Wes, being so naïve, completely failed to clue in on this. He even mistook The Traveller's odious intentions for earnest and meaningful friendship ...

Now don't be dissin' my favorite TNG episode now!

I never hated Wesley. Wasn't that a typical 80's trope, showing super duper smart kids outsmart the dumb adults?

I forgive stuff that was part of its era. I think Wesley vastly improved post season 4 anyway, so much that he redeemed himself IMO.

 

[Captrek]

I think Wesley vastly improved post season 4 anyway, so much that he redeemed himself IMO.

By leaving the series?

 

[Marsden]

I think the "Trill" from The Host and how it uses sentient beings for it's own convienince is very creepy. It reminds me of Roddenberry's proposal for "The Cattlemen"

 

[EnsignRedshirt]

The scene in Identity Crisis when Geordi is in the holodeck and tracks down the source of the mysterious shadow....followed by his transformation into a lizard guy.

It's not too creepy for me now, but as a nine year old kid it gave me nightmares.

 

[phontondave]

I think pen pals was a creepy episode something about it gave me the chills

 

[Amaris]

I'm sure it has been said many times already, but the holodeck scene in "Schisms," where they're describing the examination table, was enough to give me the creeps for weeks.

 

[PaleMoonlight]

I'm sure it has been said many times already, but the holodeck scene in "Schisms," where they're describing the examination table, was enough to give me the creeps for weeks.

Its a great scene, minus the small question of how the holodeck knew exactly what the actual table looked like, but a very effective moment nontheless. Everytime I watch that episode I laugh at how bored Troi seems in this scene

 

[2takesfrakes]

I think pen pals was a creepy episode something about it gave me the chills

I can understand that. Seeing what looks to be a man in, or around, his mid-30's with albino make-up on spending a lot of time talking over the phone, in secret, with what seems like a 10 year old girl ... raises a lot of red flags. They even revisited this Data and the kids angle years later with INSURRECTION. "Data, do you remember anything before you were shot?" "I was following a group of children into some hills ..." and, of course, he decides he's going to play with one of them for a quarter of the movie. We're meant to understand that Data's an innocent machine, but that's not what we're looking at ... so it's disconcerting. I'm not trying to imply anything sinister on the TNG staff's part, but their ability to be objective about Data's perceived innocence - particularly when he's previously described himself as being programmed in multiple techniques of pleasuring - is debatable, at best.

 

[Tosk]

I think it says more about the viewer than the writers.

 

[Mudd]

Indeed. That appears to be a uniquely creepy reading of the show.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Says what, exactly, Tosk? Spell it out, sir.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Says what, exactly, Tosk? Spell it out, sir.

Pretty self-explanatory, really. It's weird to take a completely innocent series of scenes like the ones in Insurrection and make some bizarre child molestation insinuation about it that has zero authorial intent or evidence to back it up. When you have to stretch that far to imply that something sinister and creepy was going on, it says more about your own bizarre hangups and paranoia than it does anything about the writers, producers, or actors involved.

You seem to have a habit of over-sexualizing practically everything in often misogynistic ways, but taking it in the direction of Data potentially molesting children is certainly a new one. There was never ANY implication of that kind at all.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Why try to get personal? You don't like me. Yes, I "heard" you. I don't do that with anyone posting here. You're pretty fond of referring to me as "misogynistic," yet I certainly have never acted that way towards any self-identified women on these boards. Arguing on The Internet, now that's just crazy. And I defy you to find a woman on these boards who can honestly say that I "stalk" them, or try to make their "lives" miserable.

Occassionally, I have said something unpopular in the past, like uhm ... I referred to breasts as "Fun Bags" and the reaction to that went on for pages. But I never responded to it, never fanned those flames, I just let it die. I certanly have never participated in these Babe of the Week/Month whatevers. In fact, my "name" is noticeably absent from most drama on these boards. I do not go out of my way to draw that kind of attention to myself, though - rarely - it has happened. And for the most part, I consider myself well-behaved. Anyway, I thought we were talking about fictional characters, here? Like Data.

He was not realized on screen by a plastic puppet, obviously. He's portrayed by a Man wearing a lot of face paint. Is it that impossible to believe that someone watching this might find it somewhat disconcerting that a seemingly grown, adult "Man" would be phoning a kid, all the time and that a "friendship" was even possible? Talking about what? Cartoons? Homework? What do they have in common? ... A child and a STARFLEET officer? As I recall, none of the crew was that happy to find out about it. Not for reasons of "abuse," but because it was inappropriate. Picard, in fact, ordered it terminated.

And this theme of Data being associated with children runs throughout TNG, for instance that time some kid was obsessed with Data and decided he'd dress like him all the time. To what purpose does all of this serve? It's all made-up, none of these stories had to ever be written, but they were. Why? to underscore Data's supposed child-like innocence? I'm not accusing Data of being a child molestor, OK? Of course, he isn't. But, his (long) association with children could raise questions in the back of a viewer's mind.

Especially when said viewer is not particularly tuned-into, concerned with, or enchanted by his innocence. But saying something like that in STAR TREK LOVE CENTRAL, might not be viewed objectively, I suppose. As it's Friday, any expected response from me on this will have to wait until Saturday, or Sunday morning, perhaps.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

You're pretty fond of referring to me as "misogynistic," yet I certainly have never acted that way towards any self-identified women on these boards. And I defy you to find a woman on these boards who can honestly say that I "stalk" them, or try to make their "lives" miserable.

Is that what you think misogynistic means? I never accused you of stalking anyone or trying to make anyone's lives miserable, so I don't know where that's coming from. I just think you frequently express some rather anachronistic views about women.

He was not realized on screen by a plastic puppet, obviously. He's portrayed by a Man wearing a lot of face paint. Is it that impossible to believe that someone watching this might find it somewhat disconcerting that a seemingly grown, adult "Man" would be phoning a kid, all the time and that a "friendship" was even possible? Talking about what? Cartoons? Homework? What do they have in common? ... A child and a STARFLEET officer? As I recall, none of the crew was that happy to find out about it. Not for reasons of "abuse," but because it was inappropriate. Picard, in fact, ordered it terminated.

I don't remember the episode all that well, but wasn't the reason Picard ordered Data's conversations terminated because it was a potential Prime Directive violation since they were a pre-warp society? No mention of a Lolita situation between Data and the alien girl being on Picard's mind, that I recall.

Also, your description of Data fails to take into account that despite his outward appearance, age since activation, and great intellect, he is in many ways like a child himself. Inexperienced in social interaction, extremely curious, eager to learn new things. So he would actually have a great deal in common with a child, which is a point they made on multiple occasions on the show (and in Insurrection).

I find it comical that you seem to think an adult male and an unrelated child should never have any sort of interaction whatsoever, much less one via radio where there was no expectation of contact (at least not until the end, and not by choice). It's not like Data was luring her to a sexual encounter like something out of To Catch a Predator. It's the worst kind of child molestation paranoia that takes a legitimate concern but blows it completely out of proportion to the point where you can't even have fathers on a playground without them getting suspicious looks.

And this theme of Data being associated with children runs throughout TNG, for instance that time some kid was obsessed with Data and decided he'd dress like him all the time. To what purpose does all of this serve? It's all made-up, none of these stories had to ever be written, but they were. Why? to underscore Data's supposed child-like innocence? I'm not accusing Data of being a child molestor, OK? Of course, he isn't. But, his (long) association with children could raise questions in the back of a viewer's mind.

Data's Peter Pan essentially. If you want to see that as something sinister, again, that's on you. There was never any intent on the writer's part to suggest anything negative about it.