"Where Silence Has Lease" is the second episode of the second season of the American
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
Winrich Kolbe
Winrich Ernst Rudolf Kolbe (9 August 1940 – September 2012),Jack B. Sowards.
Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the
Starfleet
Starfleet is a fictional organization in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Within this fictional universe, Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conduc ...
crew of the Federation starship ''Enterprise''-D. In this episode, the ''Enterprise'' becomes enveloped by a void in space where the crew is tested by a powerful alien presence.
Plot
While on a charting mission, the
Federation
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...
Enterprise
Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to:
Business and economics
Brands and enterprises
* Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company
* Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company
* Enterpris ...
'', under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, discovers a zone of pure blackness in space; probes launched into the area simply disappear. As they study it further, the zone expands and soon envelops the ''Enterprise'', leaving them in a black void with sensors reporting nothing outside. Picard orders the ship on a return course but they find that they cannot escape; they leave a stationary beacon behind them, only to have it reappear ahead of them.
A
Romulan Warbird
The Romulans () are an extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial race in the American science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. They first appeared in the series ''Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek'' (1966–1969). They have appeared ...
suddenly decloaks in front of the ship and attacks; Picard orders the crew to return fire, they destroy the Warbird but Picard is suspicious of how easily this occurs. The crew then detect what appears to be their sister ship, the USS ''Yamato'', approaching but it does not respond to hails. Commander Riker and Lt. Worf beam over to search the ship, where they find it empty with various inconsistencies in its construction, including more seemingly impossible physical loops. The ''Enterprise'' then detects an exit from the darkness, but cannot lock onto the away team to retrieve them before the opening disappears. The ''Yamato'' begins to fade away, but the ''Enterprise'' is able to beam Riker and Worf back just in time. More openings appear in the blackness, each closing as soon as the ''Enterprise'' approaches them. Picard realizes that they are being manipulated and orders a full stop.
Suddenly, an entity with a distorted, almost childlike face as a result of it attempting to look humanoid, appears in the void, calling itself Nagilum. It announces its curiosity about humans and their "limited existence" and would like to test the limits of the human body. It causes Ensign Haskell to experience violent convulsions and he then falls to the floor dead. Nagilum then states that it wants to know everything about death, asserting absent-mindedly that it would take between a third and a half of the ''Enterprise''s crew to complete its experiments. Picard decides to activate the ship's self-destruct sequence rather than to submit to Nagilum's whims. As the crew prepares for their end, Picard is tested again by Nagilum through peculiar behavior displayed by doppelgangers of Counselor Troi and Lt. Commander Data, both of whom question the self-destruct order. After these facsimiles are gone and the countdown nears zero, the void suddenly vanishes, leaving the ''Enterprise'' in normal space. Picard orders the ship to move away at high speed and when he is finally satisfied that they are truly free, cancels the self-destruct sequence. As the ''Enterprise'' continues on its mission, Picard is met by the face of Nagilum on his ready-room computer. Nagilum offers its evaluation of humanity, criticizing the species's faults and claiming they have nothing in common with its kind. Picard disagrees, pointing out that their recent encounter shows that both species are curious, a logical statement to which Nagilum concedes before disappearing.
Production
* The character of Nagilum was originally named "Nagillum", after actor
Richard Mulligan
Richard Mulligan (November 13, 1932 – September 26, 2000) was an American character actor known for his roles in the sitcoms ''Soap'' (1977–1981) and ''Empty Nest'' (1988–1995),. Mulligan was the winner of two Emmy Awards (1980 ...
, whom the show's co-executive producer, Maurice Hurley, originally wanted cast in the role. "Nagillum" is "Mulligan" spelled backward.
* When Picard is approached by the doppelgängers of Troi and Data, he is listening to one of Erik Satie's compositions, '' Gymnopédie No. 1'' (1888).
* The title of the episode is from the last stanza of a 1907 poem, " The Spell of the Yukon" by
Robert W. Service
Robert William Service (January 16, 1874 – September 11, 1958) was a British-Canadian poet and writer, often called "the Bard of the Yukon". The middle name 'William' was in honour of a rich uncle. When that uncle neglected to provide for hi ...
.
* When Picard and Riker decide to set the ship on auto-destruct, the computer asks how long until that should happen (they choose 20 minutes), which is a direct contradiction — or development subsequent — to a first season episode ('' 11001001'') when the captain and first officer set the auto-destruct, and Riker comments that they have no choice as to the length of time until the ship destroys itself (5 minutes).
Reception
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
compared the episode to the original ''Star Trek'' "it's back to the God-like beings and technology-indistinguishable-from-magic storytelling" and had mixed feelings about the episode putting a new spin on familiar ideas.
Tor.com
''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction.
From 20 ...
rated it 4 out of 10.
Den of Geek
''Den of Geek'' is a US and UK-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a bi-annual magazine.
History
''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ...
recommended the episode "Not just because it's a very Star Trek-y episode of Star Trek, but because it’s full of fun character moments and interesting direction."
In 2018, CBR ranked the Nagilum as a strong characterization of Star Trek; in particular they note how it deceives yet also causes trouble for the crew of the Enterprise 1701-D. The appearance of the spacecraft USS Yamato was also noted. (The Yamato is the same type as the Enterprise 1701-D)
In 2020, ''
ScreenRant
''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scree ...
'' noted this as a frightening episode of ''Star Trek'', elaborating "... the audience were subjected to psychological stress in this season 2 episode."