History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E2WhereSilenceHasLease

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Kirk and crew encountered a similar void in space 97 years earlier, despite the fact that Data claims such an area had never been encountered before. This probably has to do with Creator/GeneRoddenberry's attitude that the only things he really considered in canon at this point were the movies (like the lack of familiarity with Kirk and usage of the movie-era ''Enterprise'' image in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E2TheNakedNow The Naked Now]]").

* ChekhovsGunman: Later in season 2, the USS ''Yamato'' would show up for real in "Contagion" and drive the plot of that episode.

Once the away team is back onboard, Picard orders the ship to make for a small opening in the blackness that suddenly opens up, but once they start heading toward it, it closes. This happens several more times before Picard decides that he's had enough of being toyed with and orders a full stop. Other crewmembers, including Dr. Polaski, agree that they're being experimented on. Troi also begins to detect an intelligence that was previously beyond her understanding.

The ''Enterprise'' is underway. Captain Picard is worried about Worf and Riker, who seem to be stranded in a mysterious jungle. The pair are attacked by monstrous humanoids and fight back. After defeating their foes, Worf gets caught up in battle fever and nearly turns on Riker, who sharply stands him down. It turns out that they're in the holodeck, doing what Worf describes as rather light "calisthenics."

The ''Enterprise'' encounters a patch of space that is completely black, with no stars visible. After it swallows two probes without a trace, Worf is reminded of an old Klingon legend about a space monster that devours ships. Suddenly the ''Enterprise'' is engulfed in the blackness. When they try to leave, they discover that they simply loop back around to where they started. Then a Romulan Warbird appears and fires upon them, but is immediately felled with one photon torpedo, leaving no debris. Things get weirder when the ''Enterprise'''s sister ship, USS ''Yamato'' arrives with no life signs aboard. Riker and Worf beam abort to find that ntohing in the ghost ship is where it's supposed to be. As reality seems to loop in on itself, Worf starts to become unhinged, but the ''Enterprise'' beams them back aboard before anything can get worse.

Once the away team is back on board, Picard orders the ship to make for a small opening in the blackness that suddenly opens up, but once they start heading toward it, it closed. This happens several more times before Picard decides that he's had enough of being toyed with and orders a full stop. Other crewmembers, including Dr. Polaski, agree that they're being experimented on. Troi also begins to detect an intelligence that was beyond her previous understanding.

Suddenly they're confronted by an entity calling itself "Nagilum." It studies to bridge crew, inquires about sexual procreation, and comments on the fact that humanoids die. It kills the redshirted pilot on the spot to observe the concept. It decides to conduct a test on "all kinds" of a third and assures Picard that the test will not eliminate more than a half of the ''Enterprise'''s crew. Picard decides to set the ship to Autodestruct to thwart Nagilum's plans.

While the Autodestruct counts down, Troi and Data go to Picard's quarters. Troi tells Picard that she has sensed that Nagilum will not be dissuaded from his intentins by the autodestruct. Data asks Picard to define death, and Picard explains several common theories as well as his own thoughts. The pair then join together to request that Picard cancel the self destruct, saying that it is unfair for him to make the choice to die for them. Picard realizes that neither of them should be acting this way, and gets the computer to confirm that Data is actually on the bridge, whereupon they both vanish. Picard says, "Nice try, Nagilum."

Nagilum finally acquiesces and backs out on its desire to conduct its experiments. Picard cancels the autodestruct, and Nagilum remarks that humans and its species are too different to associate. Picard says, "We do have one thing in common. Curiosity." Nagilum says, "The point is well taken, Captain!" and chuckles. The episode ends with Picard saying, "We will meet again, but next time, it will be out here, among the stars."

Nagilum finally acquiesces and backs out on its desire to conduct its experiments. Picard cancels the autodestruct, and Nagilum remarks that humans and its species are too different to associate. Picard says, "We do have one thing in common. Curiosity." Nagilum says, "The point is well taken, Captain!" and chuckles. The episode ends with Picard saying, "We will meet again, but next time, it will be out there, among the stars."

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Worf is more bestial in the early episodes, no so more than in this episode, where he practically turns into a rampaging baboon after a single fistfight. Later episodes would establish that Worf is a highly disciplined officer who keeps a tight lid on his Klingon urges.

* {{Flanderization}}: Worf suffers badly from it in this episode, acting more like "an easily confused baboon" as WebSite/SFDebris put it.
* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Nagilum adopts a mostly human face to communicate with the crew of the Enterprise, which ends up looking like some sort of fish-human hybrid.

The ''Enterprise'' is underway. Captain Picard looks worried, and Troi can tell. She asks whether he's worried for Worf or for Riker, and he replies, "Both." And for good reason, since the crewmembers in question appear to be stranded in a mysterious jungle, where they come across some rather industrial-looking ruins, full of rusty girders and exposed piping. While Riker keeps a lookout, Worf creeps down and growls in satisfaction to find a weapon--a spiky gauntlet. Suddenly, they're attacked by a mace-wielding bug-faced Ninja Turtle, and a Skeletor lookalike with an ax! They fight off the foes, but it seems Worf's blood is up; he menaces his commander with the ax until Riker sharply orders him to stand down, "the exercise is over." Turns out they were [[DangerRoomColdOpen on the holodeck]] the whole time! Apparently, this is how Klingons do "calisthenics," except the sessions where Worf ''doesn't'' invite any humans along are even more intense.

The ''Enterprise'' encounters a patch of space which is completely black, with no stars visible. As they investigate it (it swallows two probes without a trace), Worf is reminded of an old Klingon legend about a space monster that devours ships. Suddenly the ''Enterprise'' is engulfed in the blackness. When they try to leave, they find they can't get anywhere, which they discover when they drop a probe behind them, and come up on the same probe up ahead. Then a Romulan Warbird appears and fires upon them, but is immediately felled with one photon torpedo, leaving no debris. They are further toyed with inside the anomaly with what appears to be another ''Galaxy''-class Federation starship, the USS ''Yamato''. No life signs are detected, so Riker and Worf beam aboard the ''Yamato'', aiming for the bridge. However, they each materialize on different parts of the ship, in the corridors. Nothing is the way it is supposed to be, but they both end up on the bridge eventually, only to discover another, identical bridge, ''with them on it'', through one of the doors. This causes Worf to start shouting, "There is ONE BRIDGE! ONE BRIDGE!" and Riker has to calm him down. Again.

While this is going on, Picard notices a small opening in the blackness, where they can see stars and normal space. But with Riker and Worf on the ''Yamato'', and unable to establish a transporter lock, they cannot head for it without leaving Riker and Worf behind. They finally get Riker and Worf back just as the ''Yamato'' starts fading into nothingness. When they make for the opening, it closes. They try again, without success, and finally clue into the fact that they're being toyed with and experimented upon, like rats in a maze. They're then confronted by an alien being that calls himself "Nagilum". He is curious about humanoids and the fact that they die, and wishes to conduct experiments on how they react to it. He kills the redshirted pilot on the spot. He becomes curious about Dr. Pulaski next, saying that she's different from the other (male) bridge crew members (although Troi is on the bridge as well, and Worf is also obviously different), and when it is explained that she is female and having both male and female is how they propagate the species, Nagilum requests a demonstration but is told no. He then says that he'll need to study "all kinds" of death (starting with the RedShirt sitting in Wesley's chair), and the experiments he wants to conduct should only take about a third of the ''Enterprise'''s crew. Picard decides to set the ship to Autodestruct to thwart Nagilum's plans.

While the Autodestruct counts down, Troi and Data go to Picard's quarters and talk to him about death, telling him "You shouldn't be doing this. It is wrong of you [to decide for the rest of the crew], Jean-Luc." Picard remarks that neither of them should be acting this way, and gets the computer to confirm that Data is actually on the bridge, whereupon they both vanish. To which Picard says, "Nice try, Nagilum."

Nagilum finally acquiesces and backs out on his desire to conduct his experiments. Picard cancels the autodestruct, and Nagilum remarks that Humans and his species are too different to hang out together. Picard says, "We do have one thing in common. Curiosity." Nagilum says, "The point is well taken, Captain!" and chuckles. The episode ends with Picard saying, "We will meet again, but next time, it will be out there."

While the Autodestruct counts down, Troi and Data go to Picard's quarters and talk to him about death, telling him "You shouldn't be doing this. It is wrong of you [to decide for the rest of the crew], Jean-luc." Picard remarks that neither of them should be acting this way, and gets the computer to confirm that Data is actually on the bridge, whereupon they both vanish. To which Picard says, "Nice try, Nagilum."

* CessationOfExistence: {{Discussed}} by Picard when Data [[spoiler:(actually Nagilum)]] asks him what happens when you die. Picard rejects both this view and {{Heaven}}, stating he thinks the afterlife is beyond our comprehension.

While this is going on, Picard notices a small opening in the blackness, where they can see stars and normal space. But with Riker and Worf on the ''Yamato'', and unable to establish a transporter lock, they cannot head for it without leaving Riker and Worf behind. They finally get Riker and Worf back just as the ''Yamato'' starts fading into nothingness. When they make for the opening, it closes. They try again, without success, and finally clue into the fact that they're being toyed with and experimented upon, like rats in a maze. They're then confronted by an alien being that calls himself "Nagilum". He is curious about humanoids and the fact that they die, and wishes to conduct experiments on how they react to it. He kills the redshirted pilot on the spot. He becomes curious about Dr. Pulaski next, saying that she's different from the other (male) bridge crew members (although Troi is on the bridge as well, and Worf is also obviously different), and when it is explained that she is female and having both male and female is how they propagate the species, Nagilum requests a demonstration but is told no. He then says that he'll need to study "all kinds" of death, and the experiments he wants to conduct should only take about a third of the ''Enterprise'''s crew. Picard decides to set the ship to Autodestruct to thwart Nagilum's plans.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitue: As the quote under the above image indicates, Nagilum has many qualities in common with Q.

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Wesley inexplicably leaves his station early in the episode and is replaced by Ensign Haskell, a black RedShirt. Guess who's the first person Nagilum kills. Downplayed ''slightly'' in that Haskell is one of two black guys on the bridge at the time, but given that the other is Geordi, who has PlotArmor, the result is inevitable.

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Wesley inexplicably leaves his station early in the episode and is replaced by Ensign Haskell, a black RedShirt. Guess who's the first person Nagilum kills.

* CaptainObvious: Riker, when he is beamed into a hallway on the ''Yamato'' instead of on the bridge: "This isn't the bridge."

* CompleteImmortality: Nagilum does not age and cannot die, which is why the concept of death fascinates it so. He then decides to sacrifice a large part of the Enterprise crew to satisfy his curiosity, and only Picard planning to blow up the ship in defiance manages to dissuade him.

While the Autodestruct counts down, Troi and Data go to Picard's quarters and talk to him about Death, telling him "You shouldn't be doing this. It is wrong of you [to decide for the rest of the crew], Jean-luc." Picard remarks that neither of them should be acting this way, and gets the computer to confirm that Data is actually on the bridge, whereupon they both vanish. To which Picard says, "Nice try, Nagilum."