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“Skin of Evil” remains one of the most shocking and controversial episodes in the long-running saga of Star Trek. More often than not, the different eras of the franchise have taken a while to find their space legs, and that’s particularly true of the first live-action sequel to The Original Series. Star Trek: The Next Generation may have presented a more enlightened Federation of the 24th century than its 1960s predecessor, but its first year was notoriously troubled.
The show suffered from a revolving door of writers, with many falling out with Star Trek’s creator Gene Roddenberry, who kept a tight grip on the series' direction. Roddenberry rewrote 15 episodes of the first year’s run, which also included some blatant remakes of TheOriginal Series episodes. The result was a dysfunctional environment that found actors like Denise Crosby, who played Security Chief Tasha Yar, unhappy with their character development. Crosby’s decision to end her contract during The Next Generation’s first year resulted in the events of the 23rd episode of the first season. The repercussions of “Skin of Evil" would be felt for a long time.
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What Happens in 'Skin of Evil?'
Skin of Evil | |
|---|---|
Director | Joseph L. Scanlan |
Writers | Joseph Stefano and Hannah Louise Shearer |
Cast | Patrick Stewart, Denise Crosby, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, Mart McChesney, Ron Gans |
Season and Episode | Season 1, Episode 23 |
Original Air Date | April 25, 1988 |
“Skin of Evil” finds the crew of the Enterprise-D attempting an unusual rescue mission. When a shuttlecraft transporting Counselor Deanna Troi and Lieutenant Ben Prieto mysteriously crashes on the deserted planet Vagra II, the Enterprise crew is blocked from beaming up their missing personnel. An away team comprising Data, Dr Crusher, and Lieutenant Tasha Yar, led by Commander Riker, discovers why: A sentient ‘oil slick’ that calls itself Armus is using its impressive powers, including psychokinesis and teleportation, to block access to the crashed shuttlecraft.
Picard frowns at Riker’s description of Armus as “Trouble,” but the Enterprise’s first officer is soon proved right. When Yar attempts to cross to the craft, Armus lashes out, apparently killing her instantly. Despite Crusher’s best efforts on board the Enterprise, the ship’s security chief is pronounced dead.
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The remainder of the episode is split between somber scenes aboard the Enterprise and return trips to the planet as the crew desperately tries to rescue their hostage shipmates without any further loss of life. While taunting Troi, who’s conscious aboard the crashed craft, Armus reveals itself as a single-minded, rage-filled creature driven by loneliness and emptiness. As the counselor discerns that it’s the rejected side product of an alien culture that managed to separate and maroon their “dark and vile” side, the enterprise notices power fluctuations in the shield Armus has projected around the craft.
The game of oily cat and Starfleet mouse continues, including some haunting visuals when Riker is sucked into the creature and held captive. It ends when Picard beams down to confront the creature, and Armus reveals its goal is to leave the planet to rejoin those who abandoned it. Picard bargains a meeting with Troi, confirming his suspicions that the creature’s powers diminish as its rage grows. He then taunts it into a fury that weakens its shield enough for the Enterprise to beam up everyone safely. Armus, the skin of evil, is left raging on the surface as Picard orders the remote destruction of the shuttle so there’s no chance it can ever leave its prison planet.
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How Does 'Skin of Evil' End?
Despite declaring Vagra II off-limits and ensuring Armus cannot escape, Picard admits that "the damage has been done." The senior crew steps into a blue-skied paradise aboard one of the ship’s holodecks, where the captain conducts a short and emotional memorial to his lost Security Chief. In a farewell unlike any Star Trek fan had seen before, Picard hands over to a holographic recording of Tasha Yar.
In a moving speech, she praises each of the assembled crewmembers for their contributions to her life, explaining that she had expected to die quickly and on duty. It’s a lovely narrative move that makes good use of the innovation of the holodeck, although it doesn’t stand up to scrutiny unless Yar regularly re-recorded it during her year aboard the Enterprise-D.
Where it succeeds is putting an emphasis on the crew she’s left behind, with “no goodbyes, just good memories.” That’s summed up in the final lines of the episode when Data queries why his thoughts are not with Tasha but how empty he will feel without her presence. Picard simply confirms that the android’s “got it’.”
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The Reputation Of 'Skin Of Evil' And Its Impact On The Star Trek Franchise
Unsurprisingly, “Skin of Evil” was instantly controversial, and its bad reputation has persisted for 30 years. Star Trek supremo Gene Roddenberry intended Yar’s blunt and senseless death to show the dangers facing security officers. However, the general response was that the result was that Yar’s death just felt pointless. It’s even worse that it fails to add any real threat to the villain Armus, who, despite some ingenious physical effects, is barely remembered beyond being a relatively shapeless dark blob.
The decision to kill Yar was prompted by Crosby’s disappointment with the character’s development over the season. However, it was fitting that the show’s eulogy turned attention to the surviving crew. With Worf’s immediate promotion to Acting Chief of Security, taking point behind the command chairs, the core crew started to resemble the one the show became famous for.
Geordi La Forge would become Chief Engineer in the second year, and Yar’s departure allowed secondary characters like Chief Miles O’Brien to become more prominent. It was this restructured team that helped propel the series’ massive success. However, Tasha Yar’s death also provided the show’s creators an opportunity they couldn’t resist, leading to one of The Next Generation’s classic episodes.
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In the third season’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” the USS Enterprise-D’s crew is amazed to see the long-destroyed USS Enterprise-C emerge from a spacetime rift. However, the ship’s arrival in 2366 immediately transforms the 24th-century timeline. Picard now commands a warship in a fleet locked in a devastating war with the Klingons, with a crew including a survived Tasha Yar as tactical officer. Only the El-Aurian bartender Guinan senses something is wrong and that Yar shouldn’t be there — a neat touch, as Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan was a female character introduced to fill the gap left by the departure of Denise Crosby.
“Yesterday’s Enterprise” is regarded as one of Star Trek’s greatest time travel episodes, featuring a solid meditation on fate and choice. Picard must wrestle with the decision to restore a timeline he doesn’t remember by sending the crew of the Enterprise-C back to its death, including volunteer Tasha Yar, who realizes she doesn’t quite belong. However, this great episode was also a clever way for Crosby to retain a role in the franchise.
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Future seasons brought the actress back as the villain Sela, the half-Romulan daughter of Yar, born from the paradox of her mother being sent back in time to 2344 and captured before the destruction of the Enterprise-C. Sela’s vengeful masterplan as a Romulan commander was the backbone of the Season 4 cliffhanger two-parter “Redemption,” and she would later become a primary antagonist in Star Trek: Online.
For a little-loved episode, overshadowed by a significant but poorly received death, “Skin of Evil” had major repercussions for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Yar never gained the chance to enjoy the celebrity of her crewmates, but her death was more than the repeat of Spock’s legendary death five years before in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. This was the first time Star Trek permanently killed a regular character, and thanks to the show’s time-twisting potential, her tragic journey didn’t stop there. The Security Chief is one of very few Star Trek characters with the tragic distinction of dying twice.
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