Where Silence Has Lease

The first part of the episode is a stupid attempt at misdirection. Picard is worried about... a Holodeck simulation? What? The simulation itself has dreadful fight choreography even by the low, low standards of Star Trek personal combat.

The second part is yet another all-powerful being testing the Enterprise. The first season already had 4 episodes dealing with this, and they were all bad as well. The main problem with all of them is that there is no tension. By putting the Enterprise against an overwhelming force you know the only conclusion can be a succesful escape, because the only other option is utter destruction. The supreme beings involved also are overly interested in "us" and always end up respecting "us".

The nadir of the episode is that Wesley is suddenly replaced by a black redshirt. It would only have been a surprise if he had survived.

In all of the incarnations of Star Trek, the crew of the Enterprise run into species that can instantaneously conjure up complete facsimiles of Earth/Federation existence, and do so for unfathomable reasons.

In general, these entities want to test humanoids, for their worthiness, and humanoids are "curious" because they have indomitable wills, which, apparently, are unique to earth humans.

This is just another example of the superior species test of humans/Vulcans/Klingons. We don't learn much new from this one.

1. Humans still don't pick up any new technology tips, after all of these exposures. 2. You would think they would look for an alliance with one of these super duper species. 3. As usual, the Captain, whether it is Kirk, or Picard, earns the grudging respect of the superior alien. 4. We learn the superior race's ethics are questionable and our conventional morality is probably superior. Go us. 5. Star ship captains are the most interesting subjects for superior beings.

Enterprise enters a void in space where the crew experience strange events.

This is a difficult episode to review as it's hard to know if the writers are taking it seriously or not. I will take the assumption that it's meant to be serious and consider it an entertaining episode for being so bad it's good.

The story is another God-like being v Enterprise and contains a lot of comically bad scenes of dialogue, visuals and performance.

Everything from the fantastic 'hole' related dialogue near the start to the final scene is hilariously entertaining. The abuse directed from Pulaski to Data feels ridiculously forced, then we have a break with long periods of the bridge crew slowly pondering and speculating about the 'nothing' appearing on the visual screen. I do not recall seeing actors standing still and observing blank space for so long.

That especially bad scene with Riker and Worf on the Yamoto is comical. "Is this the same bridge? Or did we step from one bridge..... to another bridge?" Worf is one of the best characters in the franchise, but this episode presents poor characterisation.

Then we have more bad dialogue and body language back on Enterprise. Picard's response to Dr Pulaski's suggestion they are in some kind of laboratory is as bad as Pulaski's reaction to Nagilum.

The death related discussion towards the end is bizarrely philosophical for something that up until that point is so random. I maybe overthinking it, but the whole episode struck me as some kind of strange meditation on the meaning of existence and the nature of reality.

The visuals are mostly forgettable, particularly the Nagilum effects which resemble a sort of creepy, dark version of the Teletubbie sun. Although considering the amount of bridge time the camera moves effectively enough to prevent it from feeling totally static, which is good work by the director.

Most of the actors are good, however the physical aspects of the performances I do not think are particularly well directed.

I watch these over n over and worf gets dumber every time! He says hes familiar with the Yamato,no its the same dam ship! Not to mention he pretty much always gets his ass kicked..

The Enterprise encounters a space phenomenon unlike anything else the Federation has discovered, a mysterious void which fails to register on any scanners. After investigating a little further, the void envelops the ship and plunges the crew into a nightmarish trap.

Yes, it's another godlike entity treating the Enterprise like a play thing but unlike Q, this one is a bit more secretive and a bit less enjoyable. Still, it at least has some of the old TOS spirit about it and seeing Worf go slightly mad in fun, if a bit beneath the character. A decent mystery that generates a bit of tension for a while but its conclusion feels a bit of a let down. Personally, I was hoping it was the monster Worf spoke about...