What was it like watching "Skin of Evil" for the first time?

[NigellaDeanna20]

I was shocked by her supposed "death". Hadn't seen anything like that done on television prior to that. Certainly at the time, didn't expect her to come back in Yesterday's Enterprise, Redemption, Unification, etc. so my general thought process was "Well, that's it then." Little did I realise how wrong I was.

 

[NigellaDeanna20]

No, spoilers weren't a big deal back then, we fans wanted to know what was going on in the shows as soon as possible. At least the fans I knew did. I can't speak for everybody did. And that's fine. I find the concept of spoilers silly anyway. " I agree completely with that. It kinda spoils the episodes in a way.

 

[Qonundrum]

No, spoilers weren't a big deal back then, we fans wanted to know what was going on in the shows as soon as possible. At least the fans I knew did. I can't speak for everybody did. And that's fine. I find the concept of spoilers silly anyway.

Anything to hook the audience for ratings. Especially as first-run syndication (which didn't stop some stations from making cuts at the time for even the first airing).

I was shocked by her supposed "death". Hadn't seen anything like that done on television prior to that. Certainly at the time, didn't expect her to come back in Yesterday's Enterprise, Redemption, Unification, etc. so my general thought process was "Well, that's it then." Little did I realise how wrong I was.

Only one character in "Blake's 7" where, despite hokey incidental music, was a generally stronger scene, though Tasha's demise was unexpected as to how, plus the brilliance in how Yar (and Denise) came back, even if the writing for various episodes was a mixed bag. She deserved far better in "Unification"...)

 

[Takeru]

I was 10 years old and watched the episode having no idea what was going to happen, I still remember the moment when Armus blasted Tasha and I thought "Oh no, she's hurt!" because obviously getting hurt was the worst that could happen and then she was dead but I still didn't really believe it, I assumed they would find a way to safe her in the end. It only really hit me that she was gone during the goodbye message and I started crying and couldn't stop, I really liked Tasha, she was one of my favorite characters and I couldn't imagine the show without her.

 

[Riley]

I was eleven and enjoyed the show for the most part. I liked Tasha much more than Troi and much, much more than Bev Crusher. I didn't expect her to die and the memorial service was genuinely moving. I was surprised that the show decided to make her death out to be "insignificant," since she died doing her job. I never agreed with that nor liked her return in "Yesterday's Enterprise" or the Sela arc. I've only come to dislike those episodes more over the decades.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

TNG was scraping bottom. I thought it was worse than TOS S3. "Skin of Evil" didn't move the needle one way or the other. It was pretentious schlock. The only reason I kept watching was because it was Star Trek.

 

[Orphalesion]

By the time I saw any Star Trek, Skin of Evil was Ancient History and I saw many episodes of the core cast without Tasha.
I vaguely knew that there was a blond woman as part of the cast in older episodes (I had seen a photo of the cast from Season 1 in an old magazine owned by a cousin) but when I saw Shelby in Best of Both Worlds I thought that the blond woman from Season 1 was Shelby, who had simply left the ship (similarly to how I thought that the doctor from "Ethics" was Pulaski)
However eventually I ended up learning that the blond woman from season 1 was Tasha and that she died in Skin of Evil, long before I saw the episode.
So my strongest reaction was that I was surprised how early into the episode Tasha died and how unspectacular her death ended up being. I know that this was inteded to be the point, but I still think the offhand manner of Tasha's death was a bit lame.

 

[Leviathan]

"whoa...they actually KILLED a main character?"

 

[drt]

Add my name to the list of watching first run and knowing in advance of Tar's demise.

I seem to remember it being common knowledge that Crosby was leaving, as it was pretty well publicized that she didn't like being on the show. I'm not sure how I obtained that information, since none of my college friends watched the show, and I didn't really watch Entertainment Tonight, get TV Guide and was an infrequent reader of Starlog. I did join the reboot of the official fan club that occured with TNG, because I wanted the TNG communicator badge gift they sent upon joining, so it's possible i learned it there, but I also remember the fanclub magazine topics being months behind what was was on the show.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

Back when I marathoned TNG, I had no idea this was coming.

On the one hand, it lent the show a little bit of danger. There won’t always be another reset button.

On the other hand, I was neither taken with the character, nor the actress, so I was glad when she got tarbabied.