| "Skin of Evil" | |
|---|---|
| Series Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1, Episode 22 | |
| |
| Air date | April 23rd, 1988 |
| Writers | Joseph Stefano Hannah Louise Shearer |
| Director | Joseph L. Scanlan |
| Producers | Robert Lewin; Herbert Wright; Robert H. Justman; Rick Berman; Maurice Hurley |
| Starring | Patrick Stewart; Jonathan Frakes; LeVar Burton; Denise Crosby; Michael Dorn; Gates McFadden; Marina Sirtis; Brent Spiner; Wil Wheaton |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous "Symbiosis" |
Next "We'll Always Have Paris" |
"Skin of Evil" is the twenty-second episode of season one of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the twenty-third episode of the series overall (if one counts the two-part pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint" as two episodes). Combining the episode count of all Star Trek-related TV shows to date, it is the 127th episode of the entire franchise. This episode was directed by Joseph L. Scanlan and written by Joseph Stefano and Hannah Louise Shearer based on a story treatment developed by Stefano. It first aired in syndication in the United States on April 23rd, 1988.
Cast[]
Principal Cast[]
Guest Stars[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Mart McChesney | Armus |
| Ron Gans | Armus (voice) |
| Walker Boone | Leland T. Lynch |
| Brad Zerbst | Medical technician |
| Raymond Forchion | Ben Prieto |
| Tim McCormack | Ensign Bennett |
| Majel Barrett | Enterprise computer |
Crew[]
Notes & Trivia[]
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- Production code number: 40271-122.
- Stardate: 41601.3 - 41602.1. The events of this episode take place in the year 2364.
- This is the second episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation directed by Joseph L. Scanlan. He previously directed "The Big Goodbye". His next episode is "Contagion".
- This is the only episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation written by Joseph Stefano. Following this episode, Stefano will go on to write episodes of the Swamp Thing television series on the USA Network.
- This is the second episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation written by Hannah Louise Shearer. She previously wrote "When the Bough Breaks". Her next episode is "We'll Always Have Paris".
- Actor Tim McCormack is uncredited for his participation in this episode.
- This is the first television acting work for Mart McChesney. He also plays the role of Sheliak in the season three episode "The Ensigns of Command". This will be his final television acting work.
- This is the only episode of the series featuring the voice talents of Ron Gans. He is best known for providing the voice of Drag Strip on the Transformers animated series. This is Gans' final television acting work.
- This is the third and final appearance of actor Brad Zerbst playing a medical technician. He previously appeared in "Heart of Glory" and "Justice". Zerbst is primarily a camera operator.
- First and only appearance of Walker T. Lynch.
- First and only appearance of Ben Prieto.
- This is the eighteenth appearance of the character of Ensign Bennett.
- This episode is notable as being the final canonical appearance of Lieutenant Tasha Yar, who dies in this episode. Actress Denise Crosby will continue to receive opening title credit for the remainder of the season. Denise Crosby will return to the series several more times in subsequent seasons to play alternate versions of the Tasha Yar character, usually as a hologram. She will also play the Romulan character Sela in "Yesterday's Enterprise", who is the daughter of Tasha Yar from an alternate timeline.
Home Video[]
- Star Trek: The Next Generation VHR 4648
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Complete Season One/DVD
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Complete Season One/Blu-ray
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 1-7
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Full Journey
Quotes[]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Captain's Log, Stardate 41601.3. We are crossing through the Zed Lapis sector where we will rendezvous with Shuttlecraft 13 carrying Deanna Troi who is returning from a conference. Because engineering is involved in preventive maintenance on our dilithium crystals, we are presently traveling on impulse power.
....
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Captain's Log, supplemental. We've lost all contact with shuttlecraft 13 and can only assume they've crash-landed on Vagra II. Meanwhile, main engineering is trying to return us to warp power.
....
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Captain's Log, supplemental. While on a mission to rescue survivors from an unexplained shuttle crash, the away team has encountered a strange creature which seems able to assume different forms including one which resembles humanoid.
....
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Captain's Log, supplemental. There is grave danger to the crew on Vagra II. My first officer is missing - attacked by this entity known as Armus.
- Captain's Log, Stardate 41602.1: The shuttlecraft has been destroyed to prevent any possibility of Armus leaving the planet. Vagra II will be declared off-limits but the damage has been done. One of the saddest duties I've ever had to perform is now ahead of me.
....
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: We are here to honour our friend and comrade, Lieutenant Natasha Yar. Coming to terms with the loss of a colleague is perhaps the most difficult task we must face in the work we have chosen to pursue. We will all find time to grieve for her in the days that are ahead.
....
- Lieutenant Tasha Yar: My friend Data, you see things with the wonder of a child. And that makes you more human than any of us.
....
- Lieutenant Tasha Yar: Captain Jean-Luc Picard. I wish I could say you’ve been like a father to me but I’ve never had one so I don’t know what it feels like. But if there was someone in this universe I could choose to be like, someone who I would want to make proud of me, it’s you. You who have the heart of an explorer and the soul of a poet. So, you’ll understand when I say: death is that state in which one only exists in the memory of others; which is why it is not an end. No goodbyes, just good memories. Hailing frequencies closed, sir.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Au revoir, Natasha...
....
- Lt. Commander Data: Sir, the purpose of this gathering confuses me.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Oh, how so?
- Lt. Commander Data: I find my thoughts are not for Tasha but for myself. I keep thinking, how empty it will be without her presence. Did I miss the point?
- Jean-Luc Picard: No... no, you didn't Data. You got it.