Discuss Star Trek: The Next Generation
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Though correctly remembered as one of the weaker TNG episodes, Naked Now certainly has its guilty pleasures.
It is a virtual remake of Naked Time. The crew is once again effected by "something" that causes the mind to behave as if under the influence of alcohol. It was the 80s, though, and TV had broken free from many of the restrictions of 60s programming standards. While the original Naked story hinted at sex, this one took full advantage. Practically the whole crew thinks about getting laid. It could have been daring, but really ended up kind of silly.
Wesley, being obsessed with science rather than females, turns into Kevin Riley with a Charlie Evans attitude. Dangers pile up from outside and inside the ship but the whole story is strangely without tension.
Still, it gives us some peeks into the psyches of our main characters. Picard and Dr. Crusher like each other and they've been suppressing their sexual tension. Ditto for Riker and Troi. Data wants to be human. Yar is secretly very horny. Geordie wants to see beauty instead of energy fields. Wesley wants to be treated like an adult. Worf doesn't get infected. He just stays gruff. I kind of felt the same way.
A disappointing story, but not a complete loss.
(Personally, I recall giving up on the show somewhere early in the second season. My younger brother told me was getting better, so I gave it another try. I hope my memory is correct in that it does get better.)
Reply by sukhisoo
on February 9, 2018 at 11:46 AM
One annoying aspect of these early episodes is that Data is overly pedantic. He is puzzled by proverbs (such as "searching for a needle in a haystack") and takes the time to criticize Riker for saying "suck" instead of "blow." That will get annoying very quickly if the writers don't rein that in.
Reply by revengine
on February 11, 2018 at 8:04 AM
Riker seemed pretty much unaffected the the infection as well. And no worries, Data's pedantic behaviour is pretty much completely reined in by season 3. I got a good laugh during All Good Things where Data is right back at it - made you realize just how much Data's character had matured.
Reply by sukhisoo
on February 11, 2018 at 11:41 AM
Yes, Riker is rising my estimation. He was infected with the virus (or whatever) but still managed to function.
It's effects on Data seemed wildly inconsistent. John D. F. Black has described the effects of the Naked Time virus as being drunk without the stumbling around or slurring of the speech. After Data is done proving himself to Yar as being fully functional, he shows up on the bridge and starts stumbling around. Granted, this is not an exact duplicate of the Naked Time virus, and it is certainly possible that it effects androids differently than it effects humans. Still, in subsequent scenes, Data's coordination shows remarkable improvement as he rapidly reinstates the computer chips back into their appropriate slots.
Reply by revengine
on February 12, 2018 at 5:17 AM
I never understood why the infection affected Data at all unless there is supposedly more similarities between the human and positronic brain than I realize. Why didn't the infection affect the Emterprise's computer in that case? But I realize it's all part of Star Trek's Liberal "progressive" messaging that we're all the same, even those who are clearly not.
Reply by Moonglum9
on February 12, 2018 at 9:05 AM
I agree. He should not have been affected. I'm sure it was just one of those "Let's give the unemotional guy emotions for an episode" which they did without giving much thought to it. It was too early in the series to do something like that, they should have waited a bit for it to have more resonance with the viewers.
Reply by Knixon
on February 14, 2018 at 1:40 PM
Supposedly, Data's positronic brain is unique. (More or less. There was also Lore, and then Lal...) None of the ships' computer systems are positronic.
Reply by revengine
on February 16, 2018 at 6:40 AM
Also the android of Data's "mother" Juliana Tainer and in the movies we meet B4. My real point was would an alcohol like molecule have the same effect on a non-biological brain as it would on a biological one. Does it even make sense for a being like Data, who does not have emotions, to suddenly have them because of this infection? Why wouldn't it just affect his motor skills, hand-eye co-ordination, speech/language centre (i.e. make him slur) as it seemingly did but without the emotions because he never had them in the first place.
Reply by Knixon
on February 16, 2018 at 5:29 PM
Oh, you mean if anything, it would be able to mess up things he HAS - coordination, etc - but not things he DOESN'T have - emotion. Well, their "explanation" for it messing him up at all, was pretty weak.
Reply by Nexus71
on February 17, 2018 at 6:16 PM
I noticed recently that Data's line "being fully functional" wasn't that original after all if people had seen the movie Heavy Metal they will recognise an android saying something similar after having sex with a human female in one of the movie's segments.
Reply by Knixon
on February 17, 2018 at 6:33 PM
But was the Heavy Metal robot "programed in multiple techniques. A broad variety of pleasuring"?
And why would Noonien Soong think that was important to include anyway?
Reply by Jetfire59
on February 17, 2018 at 9:14 PM
"So Beautiful, So Dangerous" The robot was voiced by the late John Candy.
Reply by Nexus71
on February 17, 2018 at 9:29 PM
Yeah that one in the spacecraft with the two dope heads who are sniffing white powder (Plutonian Nyborg not so subtle hint btw)
from the ground after some machine has laid lines.
Reply by Knixon
on February 17, 2018 at 9:52 PM
Bender knows how to have sex, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGjiJLdvnIE
Reply by revengine
on February 18, 2018 at 7:24 AM
I was trying to get at that point as well when I asked why the infection didn't affect the Enterprise's computer as well because I agree, Data being affected at all was pretty weak.
Reply by revengine
on February 18, 2018 at 7:26 AM
Is that when the robot sticks its middle finger in the air and spins it rather quickly? I hope they were using lube, otherwise ouch.