The Naked Now (TNG episode)

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Star Trek: TNG episode
"The Naked Now"
Tasha and Data share a night to remember in "The Naked Now"
Episode no.	3
Prod. code	103
Airdate	October 5, 1987
Writer(s)	J. Michael Bingham John D.F. Black
Director	Paul Lynch
Guest star(s)	Brooke Bundy, Benjamin W.S. Lum, Michael Rider, David Renan, Skip Stellrecht
Year	2363
Stardate	41209.2
Episode chronology
Previous	"Encounter at Farpoint"
Next	"Code of Honor"

"The Naked Now" is an episode from Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was the second episode broadcast of the series, and was first aired on October 5, 1987. It is episode #3, production #103.

This episode is a sequel to the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Naked Time". The author of that episode, John D.F. Black, took a story credit on the episode, which was otherwise written by D. C. Fontana (using the pseudonym J. Michael Bingham). It was directed by Paul Lynch.

Overview: A bizarre virus causes impaired judgment in the crew of the Enterprise.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

On stardate 41209.2, the USS Enterprise investigates strange reports from the science vessel SS Tsiolkovsky, which has been monitoring the collapse of a supergiant star for the past 8 months. The final message from the Tsiolkovsky is nothing but outrageous laughter that is abruptly cut off by an explosion. Lt. Cmdr. Data identifies the sound as an emergency hatch to outer space being opened.

Upon arrival, Captain Picard sends over an away team to investigate the ship. They find the crew frozen to death from a deadly change in environmental settings. Stiff bodies lie about in various stages of undress in what Data describes as evidence of a "wild party". Geordi finds a fully clothed female crewmember frozen in a shower. The body falls and he instinctively catches her. Meanwhile, Commander Riker reports their grisly findings to Picard.

The away team returns and preparations begin for towing the Tsiolkovsky away from the star. Suspicious of a possible contamination, Dr. Crusher has everyone in the away team report to sickbay for full examinations. Everyone checks out except for Geordi who is sweating profusely and complaining the room is too hot. Dr. Crusher takes him off duty and confines him to sickbay, but when her back is turned, Geordi slips away.

Geordi enters Wesley Crusher's lab where the boy is busy working on a new tractor beam device. Wesley shows Geordi another device that consists of a series of intercom recordings of the captain barking various orders to different crewmembers. He uses it to "pretend" he is on the bridge. Geordi is amused by the toy and places an encouraging hand on Wesley's shoulder, but suddenly complains the room is too hot and quickly leaves to Wesley's bewilderment. Soon afterward, Lt. Tasha Yar finds Geordi on an observation deck staring off into space. He turns and grabs her arms, begging her to help him get the "wild thoughts" out of his head. Geordi is returned to sickbay and monitored closely by Dr. Crusher. She remains at a loss for a logical explanation; simply stating that Geordi has the symptoms of someone who is intoxicated.

On the bridge, Riker has discovered a similar medical condition mentioned in the logs of the Constitution class, USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk. The records show the crew suffered impaired judgment and wild behavior after investigating a planet in the midst of a gravitational break up. It was theorized the gravity distortions created polywater - a complex water molecule that caused a chemical imbalance in the minds of the crewmembers. To Picard's relief, the report contains the complete medical data for a cure. He quickly forwards the information to Dr. Crusher.

Later, a clearly-affected Lt. Yar is walking through a corridor, her usually straightforward stride replaced with a sexy saunter. Other personnel run through the hallways laughing and acting childish. Tasha grabs a crewman as he passes, planting a passionate kiss upon him. It is obvious that the boisterous behavior is spreading rapidly through the ship.

Down in engineering, Wesley uses his recordings of Picard to lure Chief Engineer MacDougal and her attendant, Mr. Shimboda, away from their stations. The boy sneaks in and starts playing around with the engineering console. MacDougal reports "as ordered" to Picard, but he claims he gave no such order. Suddenly, Picard hears his own words coming over the main intercom stating he has given full control of the ship to "Captain Wesley Crusher".

More odd reports come in. Data reports that an odd limerick was being broadcast from the shuttlebay, "There was a young lady from Venus, whose body was shaped like a..." Picard cuts off Data before he can complete the obscene limerick. Data wonders if he said something wrong, to which Worf replies that he doesn't understand human humor either. Picard soon realizes the crew are starting to lose their minds. He orders Data to find Lt. Yar and restore order immediately. Shimoda returns to engineering and finds the boy has activated a force field with his tractor beam device that blocks the doorway. By now, Shimoda is acting loopy himself. He hails "Captain Wes" and Wesley deactivates the field to let him in.

Data arrives at Lt. Yar's quarters, and finds the security officer in a revealing gown. She throws her arms around him, telling him she wants "gentleness, and joy, and love." Yar asks Data if he is sexually functional. The android tells her he is fully functional - programmed for pleasure and is "programmed in multiple techniques". Yar tells him that's exactly what she's looking for, and then pulls the bewildered android into her bedroom.

Back on the bridge, Picard is informed that the main engines are offline and the engineering computer has been cut off. At engineering, Riker and MacDougal work to bypass the system hoping to cut power to Wesley's force field device, but suddenly, counselor Troi arrives and distracts Riker with passionate advances. He knows she's not herself and hurriedly carries her to sickbay. There, Dr. Crusher tests the old Enterprise serum on Geordi, but is shocked when it doesn't work. According to the logs, the serum should work instantly. Riker enters and places Troi on a bed. He finds the doctor in her office and listens to her dismay over the failure of the serum. Riker puts a confiding hand on her shoulder while she wonders if the virus had mutated and is no longer affected by the old antidote formula. She discovers physical contact is what spreads the virus, and is horrified when she realizes Riker has just infected her.

On the bridge, Lt. Worf reports the star is becoming dangerously unstable. Picard tries to reason with Wesley, explaining the urgency of returning control to the bridge. Wesley ignores Picard, saying he need not worry about anything, and that he has everything under control and to Picard's annoyance cuts the communications link. Outside of engineering, Riker and MacDougal continue to work desperately to bypass Wesley's force field, but their attempts fail. Data finally returns to the bridge, looking disheveled and incoherent. His biochemical systems have themselves been affected by the virus, and he is still dazed by his recent encounter with Lt. Yar.

Soon, the star explodes, and Worf reports that a huge chunk of stellar matter is headed directly at the Enterprise. With moments left until impact, MacDougal finally deactivates the force field, and rushes in to regain control. She is furious when she finds Shimoda has removed and scattered all the isolinear chips from the computer bank. Replacing them correctly could take hours, and without the computer, the Enterprise is dead in space. Wesley indicates that Data could shuffle isolinear chips "like a deck of cards" and replace them faster than anyone. Riker rushes Data down to engineering to reinsert the chips. He does so at lightning speed, however there are too many to deal with and time is running out.

Picard enters sickbay, where Dr. Crusher's more potent antidote is ready to be tested. She injects Geordi, who pops to attention with a cleared head. Excited, Crusher injects herself and then the Captain. They quickly gather the prepared hypos and rush out to inject the others.

Picard heads to engineering, where Data is still "shuffling" the chips and placing them in the correct slots. He injects him with the cure. He pauses briefly, and continues his work even faster than before. Then Picard administers the cure to everyone else in the room.

With seconds remaining, it is clear that Data will not have the chips replaced in time. Wesley modifies the tractor beam and uses it to push the Tsiolkovsky away. The force pushes the two starships apart and allows the Enterprise to drift out of the path of the stellar debris. Seconds later, the stellar matter collides with the Tsiolkovsky and destroys her. This results in the Enterprise being pushed far enough away that Data has enough time to replace all the chips. Once done, power is restored and the Enterprise is able to warp away from the stellar matter.

Soon everyone and everything is back to normal, Data is approached by an embarrassed Lt. Yar who quickly informs him "it never happened." Picard sees the potential of the crew of the still new Enterprise, and orders the ship to proceed to its next assignment.

[edit] Trivia

This episode uses a specific sound effect to indicate that a crew member had been affected by the contaminant. However, when Doctor Crusher infects Captain Picard in his ready room, no sound effect is heard. But Picard not only gets the infection, the onset of effects is much quicker than the other crew members.
Riker, on the other hand, is infected but maintains a clearer mind throughout the rest of the episode than any other crew members. This was likely necessary to have an officer that could save the ship while still dealing with the contaminant.
The contaminant in this episode was originally introduced in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, The Naked Time
Years later, during the movie Star Trek: First Contact, the Borg Queen asked Data how long it had been since he had sex. Data gave the length of time from his encounter with Lt. Yar to that moment in the film as eight years, seven months, sixteen days, four minutes, and twenty-two seconds.
Until it was established in the episode "Datalore" that Data could not use contractions, Data used them several times. An example of this is shown here when Riker comments about the bridge crew being sucked out into space. Data replies "Correction, that's blown out."
As the episode opens Picard says "Captain's log stardate 41209.2: We are running at warp seven to rendezvous with the science vessel SS Tsiolkovsky...", however, the Enterprise is clearly moving at impulse power rather than warp as he states this.
Although the ship was referred to as the Tsiolkovsky in the episode, its dedication plaque, seen briefly in the background when the away team first beams aboard, is rendered in Cyrillic: К. Э. Циолковский.
This episode is the only time where Troi (or anyone) calls Riker "Bill" in the entire series.
Worf is the only regular cast member not infected and does not leave the bridge throughout the episode.