‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘Where Silence Has Lease’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

If there is one thing that the entire Star Trek franchise has made clear to its fans over the course of its epic existence, it would have to be that Starfleet officers are about as tough as they come. Because every crew we’ve ever been introduced to, have faced insurmountable odds and they’ve handled everything that’s come their way in a calm and cool manner, and that’s allowed for them to get the win time and time again. But while we’ve seen our favorite crews face impossible situations and come out on top every single time, the franchise rarely dives into the fact that most of these characters are human beings and have emotional and physical limits. But sometimes Trek does indeed take the time to dive into such matters and when that happens; we are often treated to an outright intriguing story. As is the case with the next episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Because ‘Where Silence Has Lease’ sees the crew of the 1701-D be pushed to their outright limits in every way imaginable and the end result makes for one compelling tale, one that once again gives us a sneak peek into how good this series was going to become. And it accomplishes all of that, by having the ship encounter something unexpected on the next leg of their mission; a void in space. One that of course envelops the Enterprise when it moves closer to investigate said void. Which should have been challenge enough for this intrepid crew since escape from the void seemed quite impossible. But as it turns out, this sea of darkness had some serious surprises waiting for the crew within its murk. Because it doesn’t take long for this void to outright test the crew.
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First by inspecting their skills in combat by way of a quick battle with a phantom Romulan Warbird, and then by presenting Picard and the senior staff with the appearance of the U.S.S. Yamato. Which turns out to be nothing more than a ruse, since Worf and Riker come to discover it is devoid of life, but full of funhouse-esque nightmares, the kind that frustrate the cool Commander and wily Klingon to no end. But truly, where this episode takes quite the turn, is when the void reveals itself to be alive. For it takes on a human face and introduces itself as Nagilum and announces to the crew that it fully intends to learn more about humanity and what it stands for and how it works and sadly, in order to get a fine understanding of how our species functions; it is going to have to kill at least one third of the ship’s crew. Something that leaves Picard stunned. 

After all, this isn’t quite what a captain signs up for, and while some in his bridge crew believe that acceptable losses in order to be free would be fine, Picard struggles with the fact that an alien entity can in fact, control people in this manner and quite possibly the ship. Which means the only logical course of action at this point, would be to destroy the Enterprise, in order to keep the crew from severely suffering and to keep the ship from being toyed with by this strange alien and well, that leads to one supremely powerful and philosophical moment. One where the captain explains to an in disguise Nagilum, what death means to mankind and the beauty and the terror that comes with it, something that once again sets up the future in regard to Jean-Luc Picard’s path. But what matters more in this moment, is that what he has to say, is enough to convince Nagilum to let the ship go in the nick of time. For if he kept the captain’s attention but a few seconds longer, the Enterprise would be no more.

In the end however, this really was quite the wonderful tale. For it offers up a brisk and entertaining story, one that introduces us to a strange new life form, all while challenging the characters in every way imaginable. And truly, that moment where Picard ponders upon the nature of death is one that stays with you for a long time. Because not only does it leave you pondering upon the meaning of everything, it features some top notch acting from Patrick Stewart and well, if there is really any flaw to this particular episode, it would have to be that it needed more Nagilum. Because it would have been fascinating to see the crew deal with his curiosity further since it would have allowed for more of the cast to shine. But the final product is a solid story for certain and it really does remind one of the glory years of TNG that are ahead and well, now that this adventure has come to a close, it is time to press on and have a little fun. Because the next episode takes the time to return us to the holodeck and that, dear Watson, is where we shall pick up, next time. Until then.    

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