I was expecting something different following the opening sequence in which Worf (Michael Dorn) and Riker (Jonathan Frakes) almost came to blows in the holodeck simulation. It felt like Worf was going to revert back to some of his Klingon heritage to cause havoc on the Enterprise. Instead, the starship encounters a monstrous black void in space, totally bereft of matter and energy, which eventually envelops the ship in its grip. Once again, Dr. Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) demonstrates her dismissal of Data (Brent Spiner) before catching herself. And wasn't it curious how crewman Haskell replaced Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) right at the time Nagilum made his presence known? Otherwise, it would have been Wesley who the entity executed.
I don't know if I totally agree with Captain Picard's (Patrick Stewart) decision to destroy the Enterprise if the Nagilum attempted to carry out a threat to examine the concept of death by killing off up to half of the crew. Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) had the better reaction, as taking a chance on that outcome would have been better than killing everyone aboard for certain. And once again, I was surprised as in the first season episode '11001001' how easy it was for Picard and Riker to initiate the destruct sequence on the Enterprise. You would think there would be more to it, involving multiple layers of security and physical identification of the officers.
In any event, Picard smokes out the imposter Riker and Pulaski, which convinces Nagilum to slink away without taking anyone else's life in his temporary bid to learn about humans. Why Picard waited until about a second left to stop the destruct sequence was a little tense, if not downright foolish, but did anyone think the Enterprise would have been destroyed in the first place?
I don't know if I totally agree with Captain Picard's (Patrick Stewart) decision to destroy the Enterprise if the Nagilum attempted to carry out a threat to examine the concept of death by killing off up to half of the crew. Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) had the better reaction, as taking a chance on that outcome would have been better than killing everyone aboard for certain. And once again, I was surprised as in the first season episode '11001001' how easy it was for Picard and Riker to initiate the destruct sequence on the Enterprise. You would think there would be more to it, involving multiple layers of security and physical identification of the officers.
In any event, Picard smokes out the imposter Riker and Pulaski, which convinces Nagilum to slink away without taking anyone else's life in his temporary bid to learn about humans. Why Picard waited until about a second left to stop the destruct sequence was a little tense, if not downright foolish, but did anyone think the Enterprise would have been destroyed in the first place?