130. Skin of EvilFORMULA: The Wrath of Khan + Obsession + And the Children Shall Lead + lots of corn syrup
WHY WE LIKE IT: Tasha is killed. Some effective, horrifying moments.
WHY WE DON'T: That planet set is straight out of the original series.
REVIEW: So this is it. The episode I've been waiting for since Encounter at Farpoint. The one where Tasha Yar is killed.
I'm not really kidding. Whether the character was badly conceived, badly written, badly utilised, badly acted, or all four, Tasha Yar never worked. Her best showcase was Code of Honor, and that wasn't very strong either. And she dies as she lived: Pointlessly. Usually, when a main character is killed, there's a build-up through the episode, and if you didn't like them before, you often do by the time they're dead. Not so here! Tasha is killed a little over 11 minutes into the episode, with barely a moment with Worf at the beginning to prefigure her demise.
The way she dies, then, is all the more of a shocker. We've seen this sort of stuff before, of course, but the standard way to go is to somehow resurrect the person before the end. No reset button here though, and I must admire how gutsy that was. You do this to anyone else, and I'll be rightly peeved however! She was looking for it though, making her usual mistake of aggressively moving on a super-powerful enemy. And Armus keeps dishing out the hits. He's a well-realized monster, whether just a pond or a creature (though the black animation doesn't quite get us there), and his various cruelties work well. Riker getting smothered, Data used as russian roulette, it's all pretty wicked stuff.
Better yet, the main cast is wonderfully defiant, and you can believe Armus can't get his groove on as a result. Picard and Troi are especially effective, pushing Armus to the breaking point. There are weaker points, such as the magical nature of Armus' existence (what kind of people did he spring from?) and the terrible planet set.
And then there's the funeral scene. If I was touched - and I was - it was because the actors played their grief so well, each in their own way. Tasha's little speech is only the necessary catalyst. It's a schmaltzy, self-congratulating speech that creates relationships where none existed onscreen. Oh, Tasha had THAT relationship with that crewmember! Ahh! Well, had they ever explored it, she might have been more interesting. Simply put, it says things (about her or the target character) instead of showing us things. But the reaction shots, those are great.
LESSON: Just because you've got your name in the opening credits doesn't mean you're safe.
REWATCHABILITY - High: Historically important, sure, but the horror actually works rather well despite the lack of atmosphere on that planet. The characters make a strong showing for the most part, and the ending does pack an emotional punch.
Comments
You know, it's sad that the only particularly memorable thing her character ever did was prove Data was "fully functional".
That and the fact she died. Well, I've been pretty vocal about my feelings about the character, so I'm not complaining.
This made me laugh out loud for at least 40 seconds!