1x22 Symbiosis - Star Trek: The Next Generation Episode Guide

Star Trek: The Next Generation

- Episode 01x22

Episode: 01x22
Title: Symbiosis
Type: Regular Episode
Production Code: 123
First Aired: Apr. 18, 1988

Season 1 » Episode #22 - Symbiosis

Star Trek: The Next Generation - 01x22 Symbiosis

Summary: Stardate: Unknown While on a routine survey mission, Enterprise answers a distress call from a nearby cargo vessel. After the survivors and the cargo are beamed to Enterprise, it becomes clear that something is amiss. The survivors are from two different planets, but both claim the “critically important” cargo. The cargo appears to be a relieving suave for one of the planet’s ongoing medical plague problem. However, the cargo and the people who developed it are not what they appear to be, and have their own ulterior motives. Picard must weigh the “prime directive” restraint against interfering in what he feels is the right thing to do. His solution in the matter must avoid this issue, but also resolve the two planet’s dilemma.

Who appeared in this episode?

Guest Stars:

Captain Jean-Luc Picard	played by Patrick Stewart
Lieutenant Geordi La Forge	played by LeVar Burton
Lieutenant Tasha Yar	played by Denise Crosby
Doctor Beverly Crusher	played by Gates McFadden
Counselor Deanna Troi	played by Marina Sirtis
Lt. Commander Data	played by Brent Spiner
Wesley Crusher	played by Wil Wheaton
Armus	played by Mart McChesney
Voice of Armus	voiced by Ron Gans

	Season 1 / Episode 22: - Symbiosis Doctor Beverly Crusher: What is it made of? Lt. Cmdr. Data: It did not register on the tricorder. Voice of Armus: "It"? Does that mean I am not alive? Lt. Cmdr. Data: No. Clearly you are some kind of intelligent form. Voice of Armus: But you said I did not register on your instrument. Perhaps your instruments are useless.
	Season 1 / Episode 22: - Symbiosis Doctor Beverly Crusher: [on Tasha's death] That thing just sucked the life right out of her. There's nothing I can do.

[More Quotes]

MISTAKES/GOOFS

CONT: The cloud patterns behind Yar's farewell address alternate between close and far away.
FAKE: Geordi's phaser falls out of the holster when he runs up to the oil slick. Poor prop workmanship.
CONT: Geordi's phaser falls off into the oil slick-like creature (Armus) when he runs up to try and rescue Riker. Later, we see Geordi with his phaser again.
CREW: As Captain Picard walks up to the pool of slime for the first time, two white lights reflect off the surface. This has to be a reflection of studio lights, since there is no other sign of life on the planet and no other white light on the planet.
FAKE: When Armus re-emerges from his pool for the first time, the slime can be seen bubbling right at the area where the mouth would be. (This is because the actor in the costume had to spit out the goo in order to breathe after coming to the surface.)

TRIVIA

SPOILER: This is Denise Crosby's final episode as a regular performer. She would play Tasha Yar twice more as a guest actress, as well as Tasha's own daughter, Sela, in two more episodes.
SPOILER: The death of Tasha Yar marked the first (but not the last) time a continuing Trek character was killed off. (Spock doesn't count as he was revived).
Armus was in all likelihood named after TNG writer Burton Armus.
Picard quotes the dark spirit Demogorgon in Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Prometheus Unbound" when he says, "All spirits are enslaved which serve things evil."