Television Review: Where Silence Has Lease (Star Trek: The Next Generation, S2X02, 1988)

Where Silence Has Lease (S02E02)

Airdate: November 28th 1988

Written by: Jack B. Sowards
Directed by: Winrich Kolbe

Running Time: 46 minutes

Star Trek, despite being built upon Gene Roddenberry's optimistic and utopian vision of humanity's future, has never shied away from taking its audience to profoundly dark places, delivering content that challenges the very foundations of that utopian ideal. This willingness to explore the shadows was established early in The Original Series, and the tradition continued with vigour in The Next Generation. The first season's Skin of Evil demonstrated that the new series would tackle subjects the original had never dared approach, and by the beginning of Season 2, Where Silence Has Lease emerged as arguably the most disturbing Star Trek episode produced to that point in the franchise's history. This episode represents a fascinating contradiction—a series ostensibly about hope and progress confronting existential horror and meaningless cruelty, forcing viewers to question whether Roddenberry's vision could withstand such philosophical challenges.

The episode begins with deceptive calm, establishing the USS Enterprise-D engaged in routine exploratory work within the Morgana Quadrant. Captain Picard orders the launch of probes toward a strange area of pure blackness, only for these probes to mysteriously disappear. Soon afterwards, the Enterprise itself becomes surrounded by this same impenetrable void, finding itself utterly unable to escape the great nothingness that has ensnared it.

As the situation deteriorates, increasingly bizarre phenomena begin to manifest. The Enterprise is suddenly confronted by a Romulan Warbird, which it destroys in a swift battle—a momentary victory that proves meaningless in the larger context. Then, the Federation starship USS Yamato appears but fails to respond to hails. Commander Riker and Lieutenant Worf beam aboard to investigate, only to discover inconsistencies in the ship's construction that defy explanation. As the Yamato begins to fade away, the two officers are beamed back to the Enterprise, which, after catching fleeting glimpses of regular space, attempts to escape the void without success.

The true horror emerges when the entity responsible—Nagilum (voiced by Earl Boen, best known for his role as Dr. Silberman in the Terminator franchise)—reveals itself and explains that it has trapped the Enterprise as part of a scientific experiment. Having never encountered humans, their biology, or the concept of death, Nagilum demonstrates its callous nature by killing Ensign Haskell (played by Charles Douglass) before declaring its intention to study human mortality by causing various forms of death among the Enterprise crew. The entity estimates it would need to observe the deaths of a third to half the crew before gaining sufficient data. Faced with an apparently omnipotent being against whom resistance is futile, Picard makes the extraordinary decision to initiate the ship's self-destruct sequence—a desperate attempt to spare his crew from agonising deaths and deny Nagilum its experimental data. After Nagilum's attempt to trick Picard into aborting the sequence fails, the entity relents and allows the Enterprise to leave the void. The graphic nature of Ensign Haskell's death marked the most disturbing death scene in Star Trek history to that point, establishing Nagilum as one of the franchise's most unsettling villains precisely because of its complete lack of human morality.

Where Silence Has Lease holds historical significance as the first entirely original TNG script written after the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, authored by Jack B. Sowards, who had earned considerable respect as co-writer of the acclaimed Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. This pedigree may explain why the episode demonstrated such marked improvement over the underwhelming Season 2 premiere, The Child, which had been adapted from an earlier Star Trek: Phase II script. Another factor contributing to the episode's quality was the competent direction by Winrich Kolbe, who would go on to become one of the most prolific and praised directors during Star Trek's Golden Age. Despite being largely confined to the bridge and thus qualifying as a "bottle episode," Kolbe approached the material with seriousness and creativity, notably by cleverly reusing the Enterprise bridge sets to represent the USS Yamato, demonstrating resourcefulness within production constraints.

However, the episode's narrative foundation lacks originality, drawing heavily from previous Star Trek concepts. The Enterprise's entrapment within an inescapable void closely mirrors the TOS episode The Immunity Syndrome, while the god-like alien entity recalls Q's appearances, albeit with crucial differences. Nagilum, rendered through the primitive CGI technology of the late 1980s, presents a stark contrast to Q—not merely in appearance but in its complete moral vacuum. While Q often displayed a perverse sense of humour and occasional respect for humanity, Nagilum exhibits total disregard for human life, making its sadistic experimentation particularly horrifying. The dissonance between Nagilum's childlike, teddy-bear-like appearance and its utterly callous nature creates one of the most disturbing villainous presences in the franchise's history.

One of the episode's most enduring elements is Picard's philosophical discussion with a fake versions of Troi and Data as he prepares to self-destruct the ship. In this scene, Picard articulates profound views on death and existence that resonated so deeply they were later quoted by Patrick Stewart during Gene Roddenberry's 1991 memorial service. This moment represents a rare instance where the series directly engages with Roddenberry's philosophical underpinnings while simultaneously challenging them—a testament to the episode's thematic depth.

Despite these strengths, Where Silence Has Lease suffers from significant flaws. Most apparent is its lack of focus and relatively slow pacing. While Kolbe provides some effective red herrings, beginning with the holodeck combat training sequence featuring Riker and Worf, too much time elapses before Nagilum's appearance and the genuine dramatic tension emerges. By the time the central conflict materialises, viewers have endured clumsy attempts to establish Dr. Pulaski as the TNG-era counterpart to McCoy, complete with a semi-hostile dynamic with Data that mirrors McCoy's relationship with Spock—a forced character dynamic that never quite lands.

Continuity issues further undermine the episode's credibility. Most notably, the 24th Century Federation apparently maintains no records of the original Enterprise's similar encounter with The Immunity Syndrome, representing a failure of internal consistency within the Star Trek universe. Additionally, Transporter Chief Miles O'Brien (played by Colm Meaney, who would be formally named Miles O'Brien just weeks later) is incorrectly referenced with the rank of Lieutenant, a continuity error that persists despite the character's established enlisted status.

Perhaps most grating to critical viewers was the convenient timing of Wesley Crusher's departure from the bridge just before Ensign Haskell's horrific death, only to return to the same position afterwards. By this point in the series, Crusher had become widely perceived as Roddenberry's Mary Sue-like alter ego—a brilliant teenager inexplicably granted bridge privileges on Starfleet's flagship. This narrative contrivance, where Wesley conveniently avoids the episode's most disturbing moment while Haskell suffers the terrible fate, likely alienated many critically minded Trekkies who already harboured resentment toward the character's privileged position.

In the end, Where Silence Has Lease represents both the strengths and weaknesses of early TNG. It successfully delivers genuine horror and philosophical depth while suffering from pacing issues, continuity errors, and forced character dynamics. The episode's willingness to confront the darkest implications of Roddenberry's vision—questioning whether humanity's moral development could withstand encounters with truly amoral cosmic entities—remains its most significant contribution to the Star Trek canon.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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