Line #40 Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E2TheNakedNow


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/02a3.jpg]]
2	[-[[caption-width-right:350:"Hmm, I'm getting a really weird sense of déjà vu right now."]]-]
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4	'''Original air date:''' October 5, 1987
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6	The ''Enterprise'' comes across the science vessel SS ''Tsiolkovsky'' (which looks peculiarly like the USS ''Grissom'' from ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock''--apparently, TheFederation doesn't update their designs much) to find the entire crew dead. It turns out they were all acting crazy and died when someone blew the hatch. The bodies all look like the ones from the [=TOS=] episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E4TheNakedTime The Naked Time]]"; Geordi finds the body of a woman who was taking a shower with her clothes on, causing him to start sweating and acting strange. Can you see where this is going? Riker does and enlists Data to look through their library to find out where he's heard about something like this before. When even the characters notice the episode is a rip-off, you know you're in trouble.
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8	Dr. Crusher decides that Geordi should be confined due to his strange behavior. Naturally, Geordi is left unsupervised and unconfined, and he wanders off. Meanwhile, Wesley has decided to take recordings of Picard and [[TwistingTheWords Twist the Words]] to make it sound like he's putting Wesley in command. Geordi, of course, doesn't see any problem with this and compliments Wesley on his ingenuity. Data finds the relevant information after much difficulty (apparently Website/{{Google}} didn't survive to the 24th century) and then the episode ends. No, of course not--this is a mutation immune to [=McCoy's=] antidote. Instead, Yar gets infected from Geordi and Troi from her. Yar becomes hot for Data and improbably infects him. Troi throws herself at Riker, who takes her to Sickbay and infects Crusher. Crusher now wants to get it on with Picard. Interesting how the infection causes the women to get horny, but not the men.
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10	Wesley has also been infected from Geordi and inevitably the first thing he does after losing his senses is hijack the ship, using ([[ChekhovsGun you guessed it]]) that recording of Picard which was [[SarcasmMode totally innocent fun]]. To make matters worse, the star whose collapse the ''Tsiolkovsky'' was supposed to be examining is starting to... well, collapse. Picard is forced to ask Captain Wesley to save the day and Wesley cheerfully decides to follow through. Wesley realizes Data can put back the command chips removed by the infected assistant chief engineer at super speed. This still doesn't give them enough time, so Wesley throws the ''Tsiolkovsky'' into the way of the core fragment with the tractor beam. By this time, the elder Crusher has developed a modified vaccine and the day has been saved.
11	----
12	!!Tropes:
13	* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: The episode's antics are the result of polywater intoxication, meaning that the crew is effectively drunk.
14	* AllWomenAreLustful: The infection has this effect on the female crewmembers of both the ''Enterprise'' and the ''Tsiolkovsky''.
15	* BridalCarry: Riker uses this method when he carries Troi to sickbay.
16	* CanonDiscontinuity: When the crew research the previous incident with the original ''Enterprise'', the computer shows a diagram of the movie refit version rather than the TV version. This was apparently deliberate, with the production team not wanting to acknowledge the now-dated look of the original TV series and always using movie-style aesthetics to mean "old ships." This policy changed later on in [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E4Relics "Relics"]] when we finally get to see the original ''Enterprise'' bridge again, and in the Blu-ray release, which changed the diagram to the TV version.
17	* CharacterShilling: The episode's ending has the crew making a big deal out of Wesley being the one who saved the ship. None of them point out that it was only because of Wesley himself (albeit while he was effectively inebriated) that they were even in any danger to begin with.
18	* ChekhovsGun:
19	** Wesley shows Geordi his voice recorder early on; he later uses it to take control of Engineering. In addition, the handheld TractorBeam that he plays with and turns into a repulsor beam inspires him to do something similar with the full-scale one on the ''Enterprise''.
20	** While surely not the intent of the writers at the time, Data getting intimate with Tasha Yar ends up becoming a ChekhovsGun, which fired in season 2's "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E9TheMeasureOfAMan The Measure of a Man]]".
21	* CompositeCharacter: Wesley fills the roles of both Lt. Riley and Scotty from the original "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E4TheNakedTime The Naked Time]]".
22	* CrossReferencedTitles: With the Original Series episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E4TheNakedTime The Naked Time]]".
23	* CurseCutShort:
24	--> '''Data:''' And there was a rather peculiar {{limerick}} being delivered by someone in the shuttlecraft bay. I'm not sure I understand it. "There was a young lady from Venus, whose body was shaped like a--"\
25	'''Picard:''' Captain to security! Come in!\
26	'''Data:''' Have I said something wrong?\
27	'''Worf:''' I don't understand their humor either.
28	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
29	** Data gets drunk, and is still using contractions. His explanation of how the virus can affect him is the clearest artifact of the original conception that he was actually more of a cyborg with several organic components.
30	** Kirk and the ''Enterprise'' are treated as being obscure, rather than LegendaryInTheSequel.
31	** As mentioned under CanonDiscontinuity, the original airing of the episode treats the refit look of the movies as the original Enterprises' canon look, when a lot of later TNG era material very explicitly shows the original bridge in its' unaltered glory. The Blu-Ray edition rectifies this.
32	** Troi refers to Riker as "Bill." He's only ever referred to as such in this episode and "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E10Haven Haven]]", otherwise it's always "Will".
33	** Sarah [=MacDougal=] is the first of several chief engineers on the ''Enterprise'', before Geordi is promoted to that position in Season 2.
34	* EverybodyHasLotsOfSex: Zig-zagged with the main cast apart from Tasha, but [[FunnyBackgroundEvent judging by what we see the background extras doing in corridor shots]], there seems to be a ''lot'' of it going on...
35	* FailedFutureForecast: The SS ''Tsiolkovsky'''s dedication plaque says it was manufactured in the USSR. Oops.
36	* {{Fanservice}}: Tasha Yar wears an [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7SVSAcj5xz4/TR6iuvzrfdI/AAAAAAAAC2I/se_5X1lis0s/s1600/Tasha_Yar.JPG extremely revealing outfit]], to such a degree she displays everything from hipbones to {{Underboobs}}.
37	* ForegoneConclusion: When our heroes find what looks like the solution to their problem before the episode is half-over, you can pretty much guarantee that it won't work.
38	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: As the infection spreads, more and more of the ''Enterprise'' crew leave off their duties and start hanging all over each other in the corridors.
39	* GrammarNazi: Data pointing out to Riker that the correct term is to be "[[ThrownOutTheAirlock blown out]]" into space, not "sucked out". [[note]]Riker isn't technically incorrect, however. When you drink through a straw, it's atmospheric pressure that pushes the liquid up the straw when you create a vacuum with your mouth, so the act of sucking a fluid through a hole is the same as it being blown through the hole. Data was, in effect, merely rewording Riker's statement, not correcting him.[[/note]]
40	* GratuitousRussian: Rather embarrassingly, the ''Tsiolkovsky''[='s=] [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/6/60/Tsiolkovsky_plaque.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20050818195703&path-prefix=en dedication plaque]] spells the ship's name as "''K.Z. Tsiopkovsky''"[[note]]For those not in the know, K.Z. is an abbreviation for [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust "Konzentrationslager"]].[[/note]].
41	* HandOrObjectUnderwear: You'd think having inhibitions removed and being dead they wouldn't care, but one of the corpses frozen has their arm covering their breasts.
42	* HumansThroughAlienEyes: When Captain Picard cuts off Data repeating an obscene limerick being broadcast from the shuttle bay, Worf chalks it up to more wacky human humor that he understands about as much as Data.
43	* IdiotBall: When Wesley barricades himself in Main Engineering, using his portable tractor beam to put up a force field in the doorway, the Chief Engineer has to go through a complicated process to cut power to his device. Nobody thinks to just grab a phaser and melt the unprotected glass. Nobody thinks to use the transporter to beam past the obstruction either.
44	* KissingUnderTheInfluence: Data and Tasha Yar having sex together while intoxicated. After they're cured, Tasha tells Data that the whole thing never happened.
45	* LampshadeHanging: The crew finds computer records that point out that this is exactly what happened in ''[[Recap/StarTrekS1E4TheNakedTime The Naked Time]]''. Even Riker immediately notes that this situation seems familiar somehow.
46	* LegendaryInTheSequel: Averted--when the crew looks up the original ''Enterprise'', none of them seem particularly familiar with the ship or James Kirk. This is in contrast to ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' and ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', both of which play this trope straight with Kirk being famous and much admired. Note that Bones gave the show a send-off an entire episode ago.
47	* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: Invoked by Tasha about her liaison with Data. Considering that Tasha is later revealed to have grown up on a hellish colony, constantly dodging rape-gangs, there might be a very ''good'' reason that she doesn't want to be reminded of the polywater intoxication turning her into the ship's bicycle. This incident might have brought up some very painful memories that she'd rather just forget about.
48	* LoopholeAbuse: When Data tells Tasha that Captain Picard has ordered him to escort her to Sickbay, she dodges the issue by asking "Did he say when?" Data unsuccessfully tries to talk sense into her with the obvious response "I am sure he meant ''now''."
49	* LoveableSexManiac:
50	** Every female character who is infected becomes obsessed with sex, either in general or with a specific man.
51	** Also a matter of TruthInTelevision. Alcohol intoxication reduces testosterone production in men, leading to an eventual inability to perform. In women, however, it actually increases testosterone production, which in turn ramps up their sex drives. The combination of reduced inhibitions and an increased sex drive is the source of the idea that [[ButLiquorIsQuicker women become looser when they're drunk]].
52	* LoveIsInTheAir: The intoxication-infection spreads only by direct contact, but at the same time, induces its victims to touch others. It takes over the ''Enterprise'' in short order.
53	* MaleGaze: The camera zooms in right on Tasha's ass during her SupermodelStrut.
54	* MoodWhiplash: In TheTeaser, our heroes look bewildered and slightly amused by what sounds like a party aboard the ''Tsiolkovsky'' -- until they suddenly hear the explosive sound of everyone being spaced.
55	* NegativeSpaceWedgie: The collapsing sun.
56	* NotHimself: Just about everybody by the end of the episode -- Worf is the only main character not to be affected at all, Riker doesn't start showing any symptoms until right before he's cured anyway, and Dr. Crusher is eventually able to shrug off the effects of the virus -- though it's been noted how odd it is to have this kind of story as just the second episode. We've just barely gotten to know these characters, so how is their acting out of character supposed to be any fun?
57	* NothingIsScarier: The ''Enterprise'' hears a crazy party on the bridge of the ''Tsiolkovsky'', including some male voices egging someone else on to "do it". Then there is an explosion and...absolute dead silence on the open comline as the Data states the sound they just heard was the ''Tsiolkovsky'''s emergency hatch being blown open.
58	* OrphanedSetup: Data is cut off before he can finish a limerick about a woman from Venus.
59	* PeekABooCorpse: Geordi gets his infection from a corpse that falls on him when he opens a closed door.
60	* PlotArmor: While most of the characters who get infected by the polywater virus start showing symptoms almost immediately, Riker gets infected by Troi at the halfway point of the episode, and doesn't show any symptoms until the very end, just in time for him to be cured anyway. In fact, Riker himself infects Dr. Crusher, who in turn infects Picard, and both become symptomatic long before Riker does. This is TruthInTelevision to a degree, as people have differing level of resistance to viruses, but it's convenient that the first officer is so resistant to it.
61	* PunnyTitle: One might say that Tasha wants to get naked. Now.
62	%%* ReadyForLovemaking: Tasha Yar
63	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: A writers' strike caused the need to recycle the ''Original Series'' episode. Why they decide to recycle this ''specific'' episode is still a mystery (there were plenty of options that didn't rely on discredited scientific concepts or the characters you have just started getting to know acting odd, after all).
64	* ReverseThePolarity: For the first time in the series! Wesley turns his miniature tractor beam into a repulsor beam, which he uses to create SomeKindOfForceField to block the entrance to Engineering. [[ChekhovsGun During the episode's climax, he scales the idea up]] to use ''Enterprise's'' tractor beam to push off of the ''Tsiokolvsky''.
65	* {{Robosexual}}: Data is apparently fully functional in every way of course, and gets to prove it at Tasha's very strong insistence.
66	-->'''Tasha:''' How fully?\
67	'''Data:''' In every way, of course. I am [[SexGod programmed in multiple techniques. A broad variety of pleasuring]].\
68	'''Tasha:''' Oh! You jewel, that's exactly what I hoped!
69	* ScottyTime: Continuing a fine Trek tradition, only this time, it's the ''chief engineer'' who says it will take hours to put all the control chips back in, only to be upstaged by Wesley who suggests having Data sort them. She also says it would take weeks to convert the tractor beam into a repulsor, and once again, Wesley is able to do it in a few minutes.
70	%%* SexyBacklessOutfit: Tasha Yar, again.
71	* ShoutOut:
72	** Among the tools Riker asks for when trying to break into engineering is [[Series/DoctorWho a Sonic Driver]].
73	** The SS ''Tsiolkovsky'' is named for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konstantin_Tsiolkovsky Konstantin Tsiolkovsky]], an early rocket scientist[[note]]He is famous for devising the famous rocketry equation that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsiolkovsky_rocket_equation bears his name]], which is used to calculate not only how much fuel you need to move a ship and it's cargo, but how much you need to move the fuel that is also taking up space and weight (aka, the more fuel you need, the more fuel needed to ''move'' that fuel, and so on)[[/note]].
74	* SpaceIsCold: Yar mentions that most of the crew of the ''Tsiolkovsky'' froze to death after someone disabled the environmental controls, allowing the heat on the ship to "bleed out into space". In reality, given that they're so close to a star (even a red giant, one of the colder types of star), the actual result would likely have been the crew dying of heatstroke.
75	* SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion: Data recounts a limerick beginning "There was a young lady from Venus, whose body was shaped like a..." as an example of strange behaviour by the crew, before being cut off by Picard calling security.
76	* SupermodelStrut: The [[AlcoholInducedIdiocy "Drunk"]] Tasha starts moving in a sensuous strut, which is emphasized by MaleGaze shot of her hips swaying back and forth.
77	* ThrownOutTheAirlock: The bridge crew of the ''Tsiolkovsky'' did this to themselves.
78	* TooDumbToLive:
79	** Both the chief engineer and assistant chief are called away, and ''Wesley'' is left in charge over the several qualified engineers in the room. By the way, this is ''before'' the assistant chief is infected with the virus.
80	** Apparently, Starfleet does not (and has never, and will never) utilize even the most basic hazmat protocols. While the transporters are supposed to be able to screen out biohazards, given that they don't seem to work on anything they can't ''recognize'' as a biohazard, you'd think that the crew might take at least a few extra precautionary steps to keep the ''entire ship'' from being infected, even something as simple as gloves and a facemask. (And as ''Star Trek: Enterprise'' would later show, there had been quarantine procedures available before; why not now?)
81	* {{Underboobs}}: Tasha Yar's out-of-uniform outfit has a belly window that leaves the underside of her breasts exposed.
82	* {{Vaporwear}}: Tasha Yar. That outfit has the least amount of cloth possible to make a wrap out of; it's clear that there's nothing under it. Fully justified, as it's something she threw on between partners in a marathon sex session.

Context Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E2TheNakedNow