The Naked Now
Captain Picard and the Enterprise crew must contain a mysterious contagion that causes intoxication-like madness, spreading from a doomed science vessel to their own ship, threatening their command and lives as they race to regain control before a collapsing star destroys them.
The USS Enterprise races to rendezvous with the science vessel S.S. Tsiolkovsky, which has sent strange, erratic messages before all life signs abruptly cease. Upon boarding the drifting Tsiolkovsky, Commander Riker’s away team discovers the crew dead or frozen in bizarre circumstances, evidence of a catastrophic event involving the ship’s emergency hatch blown open into space. The source of the disaster is unclear, but the eerie signs of a wild, uncontrolled party and environmental manipulations suggest a descent into chaos and madness. Back aboard the Enterprise, the team’s members begin to exhibit unusual symptoms resembling intoxication—emotional instability, impaired judgment, and erratic behavior—despite no physical illness or contamination detected by Dr. Crusher and Counselor Troi. Relationships strain as the contagion spreads among officers, including Chief Engineer Wesley Crusher, who seizes control of Engineering with a potent tractor beam, and Security Chief Lieutenant Yar, whose demeanor turns provocatively uncharacteristic. Captain Picard struggles to maintain command amid the escalating breakdown of discipline and rationality, battling both the external threat of a collapsing red supergiant star and the internal threat of this mind-altering contagion. The crew races against time to decode historical parallels discovered by Data and Riker, revealing a similar outbreak aboard the original Enterprise under Captain Kirk, traced to a unique water-carbon molecular compound acting like a powerful hallucinogen. Dr. Crusher formulates a remedy based on archival data, administering hypo-sprays that begin to restore clarity to those afflicted. Meanwhile, Riker and MacDougal fight to restore power and control in Engineering, as Wesley and Data struggle with the infected ship’s sabotaged command systems. The climax converges on a tense sequence where Data, regaining focus, reassembles critical isolinear optical chips to bring the engines online just as a massive flare of star debris threatens to obliterate the Enterprise. The successful tractor beam capture and evasive maneuver spare the ship, and the crew recovers from the contagion’s grip. The ordeal exposes vulnerabilities in human (and android) judgment and the fragility of order, but ultimately reinforces the resilience and unity of the Enterprise crew. The story closes on a restored ship and crew, with a nod to the lessons learned in maintaining vigilance and the strength of teamwork under extraordinary circumstances.
Events in This Episode
The narrative beats that drive the story
The Enterprise races to the S.S. Tsiolkovsky, a science vessel monitoring a collapsing star. Erratic, party-like transmissions from the Tsiolkovsky abruptly cease after an explosive sound. Data identifies an emergency hatch blow-out. Riker's away team beams aboard, discovering a macabre scene: crew members dead, some frozen, some sucked into space, amidst signs of a chaotic, uncontrolled event. Geordi La Forge, examining a frozen body, touches a wet surface, unknowingly exposing himself to a mysterious contaminant. The initial mystery of the Tsiolkovsky's fate is established, hinting at a deeper, unseen threat that has already begun to infiltrate the Enterprise crew through Geordi's contact.
The Enterprise races at Warp 7 to rendezvous with the science vessel S.S. Tsiolkovsky, responding to erratic, unsettling transmissions that initially suggest a chaotic party atmosphere but abruptly end with …
As the Enterprise races at Warp 7 to rendezvous with the S.S. Tsiolkovsky, the bridge crew intercepts an eerie and erratic transmission. Initially laced with laughter, flirtation, and a provocative …
As the Enterprise races to rendezvous with the science vessel S.S. Tsiolkovsky, the crew intercepts a disturbing transmission: raucous laughter and a provocative, unhinged woman's voice culminate in a violent …
In the eerie, disheveled corridor of the disabled Tsiolkovsky, Data methodically surveys chaotic signs of a frenzied breakdown among the crew, noting the remnants of what looks like a 'wild …
In a tense corridor marked by chaos, Data and Riker uncover the grim aftermath of the Tsiolkovsky's fate: a blown emergency hatch vented the crew into the vacuum of space, …
Geordi La Forge enters the personnel quarters only to be confronted by a chilling tableau: the room coated in frost and littered with frozen, lifeless crew members in various states …
Geordi La Forge investigates the eerily frost-covered personnel quarters of the doomed S.S. Tsiolkovsky and discovers a chilling tableau of frozen, lifeless crew members in various states of undress. His …
In the stark confines of Crusher's office, Dr. Beverly Crusher confronts a confounding medical mystery: despite the crew’s mounting physical symptoms, all tricorder diagnostics return normal. Captain Picard presses urgently …
In a tense moment of mounting uncertainty aboard the Enterprise, Captain Picard confronts the baffling contagion affecting the away team. With Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher unable to identify any …
The contagion's insidious grip tightens on the Enterprise. Dr. Crusher's medical scans find no physical abnormalities in the away team, yet Geordi La Forge exhibits alarming emotional instability and perspiration, baffling medical science. Troi senses an unsettling mix of confusion and exhilaration, akin to intoxication. Geordi, confined to Sickbay, escapes, driven by an inexplicable desire for normal human sight, a poignant yearning for connection. Meanwhile, Wesley Crusher, unaware of the spreading affliction, demonstrates his ingenious miniature tractor beam and voice simulator, foreshadowing his later, infected actions. Tasha Yar, responding to Geordi's distress, brings him back to Sickbay, but not before she too shows subtle signs of the spreading, invisible malady, hinting at its pervasive nature.
In the Enterprise Sickbay, Dr. Beverly Crusher’s playful compliment to Data highlights their unique rapport, underscoring his android identity with subtle humor and warmth amid growing tension. The mood shifts …
In Sickbay, Geordi La Forge undergoes thorough medical scans that reveal no physical abnormalities, confounding Dr. Beverly Crusher. Despite normal diagnostic readings, Geordi’s unusual perspiration and an uncharacteristic, unsettling joke …
As Lieutenant Geordi La Forge exhibits baffling symptoms of emotional instability and excessive perspiration with no discernible physical cause, Dr. Crusher orders his immediate confinement to Sickbay, signaling the onset …
Amid growing uncertainty over the crew's baffling symptoms, Riker enlists Data’s analytical prowess to investigate historical records for any precedent of similar afflictions. Their exchange on the bridge marks a …
In Crusher's quarters, Wesley showcases his inventive brilliance by manipulating a miniature tractor beam and activating a voice simulator device that plays back Captain Picard's bridge commands. These inventions symbolize …
Within Crusher's quarters, Wesley showcases his inventive prowess by manipulating a miniature tractor beam and replicating Captain Picard’s voice commands through a device, highlighting his resourcefulness despite being barred from …
Captain Picard brings an emotionally distraught Geordi La Forge into Sickbay, where Geordi lies overwhelmed and expresses a desperate desire for normal human vision, symbolizing his vulnerability amid the contagion’s …
In Sickbay, Dr. Beverly Crusher conducts an exhaustive physical examination of Lieutenant Geordi La Forge, whose erratic behavior and emotional turmoil baffle the medical team as no tangible illness or …
In Sickbay, under intense pressure to understand the contagion causing self-destructive behavior on the Tsiolkovsky and now threatening the Enterprise, Dr. Beverly Crusher examines Geordi La Forge, who exhibits emotional …
The true nature of the Tsiolkovsky contagion erupts, transforming from a medical puzzle into a full-blown ship-wide crisis. Troi's empathic abilities pinpoint Geordi's state as 'intoxicated,' a crucial breakthrough. Data and Riker, tirelessly sifting through Starfleet archives, unearth a chilling historical precedent: a similar outbreak on the original Enterprise, caused by a water-carbon molecular compound mimicking alcohol, offering a glimmer of hope for a cure. Picard orders the solution downloaded, believing the threat contained. Yet, the contagion's relentless march continues, infecting Tasha Yar, who sheds her disciplined demeanor for provocative flirtation. The situation spirals into full-blown chaos as Wesley Crusher, now visibly afflicted, leverages his engineering genius to seize control of the Enterprise's main engines, declaring himself 'Acting Captain' and locking out the Bridge, plunging the ship into an unprecedented internal struggle.
On the Enterprise bridge, Data and Riker scour the Starfleet archives for clues to the mysterious contagion afflicting the crew. Their breakthrough reveals a striking parallel: a past outbreak aboard …
On the Enterprise bridge, Data and Riker uncover a crucial historical precedent from Captain Kirk's Enterprise involving a similar contagion that mimics intoxication caused by molecular changes in water combined …
On the Enterprise bridge, Data methodically researches historical precedents for the crew’s bizarre contagion-induced behavior, uncovering parallels with a past Constitution-class Enterprise crew similarly afflicted during a planetary crisis. As …
In the privacy of Troi's quarters, a visibly distressed and disoriented Tasha Yar tries on Troi's elegant gowns, signaling her desperate attempt to grasp a new, unstable self-image under the …
In Troi's quarters, an unsettling scene unfolds as a visibly agitated Tasha Yar experiments with Troi's dresses, signaling her internal disarray under the contagion’s influence. Troi’s empathic concern quickly escalates …
In the midst of a ship-wide contagion crisis, Beverly Crusher is interrupted from her urgent medical analysis by Wesley, who demonstrates his technical prowess by expanding the tractor beam to …
In the tense confines of Crusher's office, Beverly grapples with the mounting medical crisis as Wesley experiments with an enhanced tractor beam, his nervous energy underscoring the shipwide tension. When …
Captain Picard receives a critical update from Data confirming that the Tsiolkovsky's accumulated scientific data will be fully downloaded in forty-one minutes, while the star around which the doomed ship …
Chief Engineer MacDougal is urgently called to the bridge, leaving Assistant Chief Shimoda alone in the Engineering office amid rising operational strain. Shimoda hesitates at the prospect of being solely …
Captain Picard logs the dire situation aboard the Enterprise as the contagion spreads, overtaking crew members and undermining ship discipline. With Wesley Crusher, under the contagion's influence, forcibly controlling Engineering, …
As the contagion's chaotic influence spreads, Captain Picard confronts the unraveling discipline aboard the Enterprise. Reports from Worf reveal bizarre shipwide orders—officers summoned to metaphysics lectures—and Data recites an inexplicable …
As the psychological contagion spreads throughout the Enterprise, Captain Picard is confronted with escalating signs of breakdown across the ship, including bizarre orders and nonsensical behavior. When security reports Lieutenant …
Amid the escalating contagion that undermines discipline aboard the Enterprise, Captain Picard decisively consolidates command on the bridge. Confronted with bizarre behavior—such as officers attending a metaphysics lecture and nonsensical …
Chaos engulfs the Enterprise as the contagion's spread accelerates, dismantling discipline and rationality. Picard grapples with bizarre reports from across the ship—metaphysics lectures, limericks—as his command unravels. Tasha Yar, deeply affected, seduces Data in her quarters, revealing her profound desire for gentleness and love, a stark contrast to her usual guarded persona, highlighting the contagion's power to strip away inhibitions. The external threat intensifies as the collapsing red supergiant star begins to glow brighter, menacing the helpless vessel. Riker discovers Wesley has sabotaged the ship's core by removing isolinear optical chips, rendering the engines inert, while his tractor beam blocks access to Engineering. Dr. Crusher's attempts to administer the historical cure fail, revealing a mutated contaminant, plunging her into despair as she realizes the ship's last hope is gone and the contagion has begun to claim her, and Riker, as well.
The Enterprise hurtles towards oblivion as the dual threats converge. Picard desperately attempts to reason with Wesley, who, though respectful, remains deluded and focused on his 'tractor beam' project, oblivious to the ship's peril. The red supergiant star erupts in a massive flare, sending a deadly chunk of debris directly towards the Enterprise, sealing its doom. Key bridge officers succumb to the contagion, abandoning their posts, leaving Picard increasingly isolated and compromised. Riker and MacDougal's attempts to regain control of Engineering fail, trapped by Wesley's enhanced tractor beam. Dr. Crusher, now visibly infected, struggles to find a new cure, while Data, also affected, grapples with his own 'human' intoxication. The contagion's insidious reach extends to Picard himself, who, giggling uncontrollably, struggles to maintain command. In a desperate, final exchange, Wesley inadvertently reveals Data's unique ability to reassemble the critical isolinear chips at superhuman speed, offering a razor-thin chance at salvation amidst the escalating disaster.
In Sickbay, Dr. Beverly Crusher attempts to administer a hypo-spray cure to Geordi La Forge, hoping to halt the mysterious contagion. Despite her initial optimism, the treatment fails, underscoring the …
In Sickbay, Dr. Beverly Crusher administers the historic hypo-spray cure to Geordi La Forge, the first infected crew member, only to realize in horror that it fails against the mutated …
As the volatile red supergiant star erupts with a massive surface explosion, Worf detects a colossal fragment hurled directly toward the Enterprise, triggering urgent red alerts on the bridge. Captain …
As a massive chunk of the red supergiant star's surface erupts and hurtles toward the Enterprise, Captain Picard confronts the escalating external threat with resolute command. Despite Worf's frantic efforts …
As a massive flare from the star violently ejects a colossal chunk of stellar material hurtling toward the Enterprise, Worf frantically manipulates multiple bridge consoles in a desperate effort to …
In the cramped Engineering office, Wesley confidently maintains control over the tractor beam lock targeting the entrance, defying MacDougal and Riker's concerted efforts to sever its power. While Shimoda quietly …
In the tense confines of Engineering, Shimoda mechanically sorts isolinear optical chips on the floor, his distracted play underscoring his creeping infection. Meanwhile, MacDougal and Riker work feverishly at a …
Amid the escalating chaos aboard the Enterprise, Worf urgently reports that the tractor beam has successfully locked onto the drifting, disabled science vessel Tsiolkovsky, halting its threat and buying precious …
On the bridge of the Enterprise, as the tractor beam locks onto the drifting Tsiolkovsky, Picard attempts to reassert command amid chaos. Wesley Crusher remains fixated elsewhere, increasing Picard’s isolation. …
As the Enterprise’s bridge descends further into chaos under the influence of the intoxicating contagion, Captain Picard struggles to maintain command and contacts Wesley Crusher via tractor beam lock. Data …
In the Captain's Ready Room, Dr. Beverly Crusher confesses she has fallen victim to the enigmatic contagion, which manifests as a disarming intoxication blurring professional boundaries and unleashing suppressed desires. …
In the Captain's ready room, the insidious contagion reveals its devastating hold as Beverly Crusher confesses her infection, exhibiting uncharacteristic flirtation and impaired judgment. Despite Picard's urgent demand for a …
As the red supergiant star violently erupts, Worf detects a massive fragment hurled directly toward the Enterprise, triggering urgent alarms and red alert conditions on the bridge. Captain Picard, visibly …
As the Enterprise faces an imminent collision with a massive chunk of a flaring red supergiant star, Worf desperately attempts to wrest control of the ship’s systems from the contagion-induced …
The climax explodes as the Enterprise faces imminent destruction. With mere minutes before impact, Riker, now fully infected, desperately urges Data to reassemble the engine chips. Dr. Crusher, in a moment of clarity, perfects a new, broader-based remedy, administering it to Geordi, who instantly recovers. She then injects Picard and herself, restoring their faculties. Picard races to Engineering, delivering the antidote to Riker and MacDougal. In a stroke of accidental genius, Wesley, still under the contagion's influence, experiments with his tractor beam, inadvertently reversing its polarity and pushing the Tsiolkovsky away from the Enterprise. Data, now clear-headed, completes the reassembly of the isolinear chips, bringing the engines back online just as the star debris obliterates the Tsiolkovsky, sparing the Enterprise. The crew, now recovered, resumes their duties, reflecting on the ordeal. Tasha, back to her disciplined self, attempts to erase her intimate encounter with Data, highlighting the lingering personal aftermath of the contagion, but the ship endures, a testament to resilience and teamwork.
Under relentless pressure as the star collapses and threatens to obliterate the Enterprise, Wesley and Shimoda painstakingly attempt to reassemble critical isolinear optical chips to restore engine power. Their fragile …
In a tense moment amid the ship’s power crisis, Chief Engineer MacDougal forcefully breaks through the Engineering forcefield, dismissing Riker’s urgent communications. Her abrupt entry scatters vital isolinear control chips …
As the contagion ravages the Enterprise bridge crew, Riker desperately maintains control amidst collapsing systems. MacDougal reports the catastrophic loss of isolinear control chips essential for ship operations, with no …
As the Enterprise hurtles toward imminent destruction, the bridge crew confronts a critical systems failure: vital control chips have been forcibly removed, and Engineering estimates replacement will take hours—far too …
In the cramped chaos of the Engineer's Office, as star debris hurtles toward the Enterprise, MacDougal struggles to organize scattered control chips while Riker urgently commands Data and an intoxicated …
Under the lingering haze of the contagion’s intoxicating effect, Dr. Beverly Crusher painstakingly prepares a blue liquid antidote despite her fogged mind. Captain Picard asserts his authority firmly, cutting through …
As the star debris rapidly closes in on the Enterprise, Data works feverishly to reassemble the isolinear optical chips necessary to restore the command computer's critical functions. Under the tense …
In the cramped tension of the Engineer's Office, Wesley reveals his accidental breakthrough: reversing the tractor beam's polarity to create a repulsor effect. This spontaneous innovation offers a chaotic but …
In the high-stakes pressure cooker of the Enterprise's engineering office, Wesley showcases his breakthrough of reversing the tractor beam into a repulsor beam, a serendipitous innovation that buys crucial time. …
Following the harrowing contagion crisis that nearly unraveled the Enterprise's crew, Captain Picard, Riker, and Data return to the bridge to reassert command and operational order. The crew, visibly relieved …
Following the harrowing contagion crisis that threatened the Enterprise, the bridge regains order as Picard, Riker, and Data return from the turbolift to their posts. Tasha, restored to her disciplined …