"Star Trek: The Next Generation" The Naked Now (1987)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Paul Lynch

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (creator)
D.C. Fontana (teleplay)

TV Series:

"Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987)

Original Air Date:

3 October 1987 (Season 1, Episode 2)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The crew of the Enterprise is infected with a virus that causes them to behave as though they were intoxicated. |

Plot Keywords:

Drunken Sex | Sex With Robot | Dirty Little Secret | Unlikely Lovers | Spontaneous Sex

Cast

Patrick Stewart	...	Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes	...	Commander William T. Riker
LeVar Burton	...	Lieutenant Geordi La Forge
Denise Crosby	...	Lieutenant Tasha Yar
Michael Dorn	...	Lieutenant Worf
Gates McFadden	...	Doctor Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis	...	Counselor Deanna Troi
Brent Spiner	...	Lt. Commander Data
Wil Wheaton	...	Wesley Crusher
Brooke Bundy	...	Sarah MacDougal
Benjamin Lum	...	Jim Shimoda (as Benjamin W. S. Lum)
Michael Rider	...	Transporter Chief
David Renan	...	Conn
Skip Stellrecht	...	Engineering Crewman
Kenny Koch	...	Kissing Crewman

Trivia:

Deanna Troi's clothing has changed from the blue skirt-type uniform she wore in "Encounter at Farpoint," to a dark grey jumpsuit that she would wear for the remainder of the first season.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Data informs the Captain of a similar event having taken place on Captain Kirk's Enterprise the computer graphic shows a model of the refit-version of a Constitution class Starship. But Kirk had to deal with the psi200 virus on his first five year mission (first season of TOS) way before the refit of the Enterprise.

Quotes:

Lt. Tasha Yar: Do you know how old I was when I was abandoned?
Lt. Cmdr. Data: Chronological age? No. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with...
Lt. Tasha Yar: Five. Five years old. I survived. I learned how to stay alive, how to avoid the rape gangs. I was fifteen before I escaped.
Lt. Cmdr. Data: I am sorry, I did not know.

Movie Connections:

References "Star Trek: The Naked Time (#1.4)" (1966)

My review of TNG's "The Naked Now"

This first season episode was produced after the pilot "Encounter at Farpoint," where the crew of the newly commissioned Enterprise-D is infected by a strain of psi-2000 virus, which has the effect of easily making the crew members who catch this disease act extremely intoxicated.

Unfortunately, this causes the entire crew of the ship to abandon their duty stations, and the entire ship becomes a "big party" and an outright orgy, while a huge chunk of an exploding stars asteroid is headed towards the path of the Enterprise-D. While intoxicated under the influence of the psi-2000 virus, Picard and Beverly flirt with each other; Geordi desires to see with "normal vision"; Data acts outrageously; Tasha sleeps with Data; Worf becomes bedridden; Wesley takes over the ship; and it is up to first officer Commander William Riker to save the day!

All in all, this episode provided insight into the main crew members' deepest wishes and hidden heartfelt desires. I understand that the purists who enjoy the original show deride this particular episode for borrowing liberally from the original series episode "The Naked Time," but I found it to be tense, edge of your seat adventure, filled with humor and character insights. I recommend this episode as a primer to those viewers out there who want to get a better understanding of the 9 main characters of this sensational show. :)